The Cupcake Diaries Collection: Katie and the Cupcake Cure; Mia in the Mix; Emma on Thin Icing; Alexis and the Perfect Recipe by Coco Simon

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    Emma groaned. “I don’t think I can look at another cupcake today.”
    “I can always look at a cupcake,” I said, examining the trays. They looked normal—chocolate with chocolate icing, and I could tell the icing came from a can.
    “Speaking of cupcakes,” Alexis said. “I talked to my parents at dinner about our PTA cupcake order. You know, they’re accountants, so they can help us figure out what to charge so we make a profit. They said they could even set us up as a business if we want.”
    “Our own business?” I asked. I hadn’t thought about our little Cupcake Club as anything more than . . . well, making and eating cupcakes. But making money, too? That couldn’t be bad. “I like it!”
    “I could design the logo!” said Mia.
    “I bet I could make more than I do babysitting my brother!” said Emma excitedly. “I’m in!”
    “Then,” proclaimed Alexis, “we are officially the Cupcake Club. Open for business!”
    “Yay!” We all laughed and went in for a group hug. It felt good. For the first time in a while I wasn’t really worrying about anything. Not Callie. Not middle school. Not even math.
    Then some girls I didn’t know came up to us.
    “Those cupcakes you made were sooo good,” one of the girls said.
    “Yeah,” said her friend. “How did you make them?”
    “It’s easy,” I said. “You just follow the recipe.”
    Then a funky beat blared through the gym. “Hey, I love this song!” Mia said. Before I could say no, she grabbed my arm and dragged me onto the dance floor. Alexis and Emma followed us. We danced to the whole song, and then the next one.
    George Martinez was dancing by himself. He pointed at me.
    “Hey, Silly Arms!”
    I started waving my arms around like the Silly Arms sprinkler. George cracked up. Then Mia started doing it too.
    “Hey, that’s pretty fun!” she said.
    Then the gym got quiet. Principal LaCosta walked up to the DJ and took the microphone from him.
    “Students, welcome to Park Street’s first dance of the year!” she cried, and a bunch of people cheered and whistled. “Now it’s time to announce the winners of our first contest. The winning table today raised four hundred dollars for our school.”
    Alexis gasped. It still wasn’t sinking in with me, though. Not until Principal LaCosta called our name.
    “Let’s hear it for the Cupcake Club!”
    Emma let out a loud squeal. Then I realized I was squealing too. We won! We actually won! It was like the sweet icing on top of a delicious cupcake.
    The four of us ran up to the DJ booth and Principal LaCosta handed us our prize. “Congratulations, girls! You’ve each won a Park Street Middle School sweatshirt!”
    Everyone clapped. I still couldn’t believe it. Then the DJ started to blast the song, “Celebrate!”
    Mia draped the sweatshirt over her shoulders. “Victory dance!” she yelled.
    Just then Callie ran up to me and gave me a big hug.
    “Katie, that’s so awesome!” she said.
    Then we both stopped, stared at each other, andstarted to laugh. We were both wearing the same dress! I had forgotten that purple was Callie’s favorite color.
    “You look great!” she said.
    “You do too!” I laughed. I wondered if Sydney told Callie she thought the dress was ugly.
    Mia, Alexis, and Emma were running out to the dance floor. I didn’t know I was doing it, but I must have been following them with my eyes. A kind of sad smile crossed Callie’s face.
    “Go dance with your friends,” she said.
    Callie was the one who said we should make new friends in middle school. When she first said that, I was hurt. But she was right. It felt good to have new friends, but it felt good to have old friends, too.
    “Come dance with us,” I said.
    Callie shook her head. “No, you go. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
    “Okay,” I told her, moving toward the club. Then I looked back. I saw her walking toward Sydney, Maggie, and Bella. Sydney did not look happy.
    “Hey, Callie!”