Recipe for Trouble (10 page)

“I'm worried about all these Valentine's Day orders,” Kylie said. The girls had planned on working the entire weekend to make sure every cupcake was ready by Monday, Valentine's Day. They arrived at eight o'clock sharp at Kylie's house Saturday morning, eager to bake.

“My dad and brothers said they'd help us deliver,” Sadie said, placing a purple candy heart that read
Be mine
on top of a frosted cupcake.

“It's not just that,” Kylie explained. “This is turning out to be our biggest holiday yet. We have over 100 orders here.”

Jenna did some quick math. “Two hundred thirteen dozen is…2,556 cupcakes. Not to mention the thousand cupcakes we promised Ms. Fontina for the Blakely Valentine's Day party and a thousand for the Golden Spoon.”

Lexi was very quiet. She was focused on sketching a pink peony she planned to pipe on two dozen chocolate-cherry cupcakes.

“I think we need help,” Kylie replied. “Even with us working all day today and tomorrow, we'll never be able to bake and frost all these cupcakes. Maybe I could call my friend Delaney from Camp Chicopee—”

Lexi suddenly snapped to attention. “What? You want to ask Delaney to help us? She doesn't know how to bake cupcakes!”

“Well, we'll teach her,” Sadie said, carefully measuring a teaspoon of baking powder and adding it to the mixing bowl. “None of us knew how to bake when we started out last year.”

Jenna nodded. “Lex, you can't possibly decorate 5,000 cupcakes all by yourself. You need extra hands—we all do.”

Lexi was not happy but gave in. “Fine. But if she messes up, I'm saying TYS—told ya so!”

• • •

A half hour later, Kylie's doorbell rang. “That's Delaney!” she said racing to get the door.

“Great,” Lexi grumbled under her breath. She could hear lots of happy squeals as Kylie reunited with her camp friend.

“They sure sound happy to see each other!” Sadie said.

Kylie brought Delaney into the kitchen to meet PLC. “Jenna, Sadie, Lexi, this is Delaney Noonan.”

Lexi glanced up to get a look at the girl Kylie had raved about. She didn't seem anything special: she had long blond hair and braces and wore jeggings and a sweatshirt with a peace sign on it.

“She looks a little like you, Lexi!” Sadie whispered.

“I don't see it!” Lexi sniffed, but she thought the same thing.

Jenna handed Delaney an apron and set her up scooping the batter into the wrapper-lined pans.

“Keep it really neat and no more than two-thirds full,” Jenna instructed.

“Yes, sir!” Delaney joked.

Jenna kept a close eye on her. “Not bad, not bad at all!” she said, pleased. “Delaney, you may have a future in cupcakes!”

Kylie smiled. “TYS! Delaney's great at everything she does—remember Color War?”

“OMG, how could I forget! That swimming relay was insane. But we came in first with my butterfly stroke and your backstroke.
Go
Blue!
”

Lexi fumed. “Let's try her out on piping.” She knew a beginner could never master a pastry bag and tip the first time. She handed Delaney a bag filled with passion-fruit buttercream.

“Do it like this,” she commanded, demonstrating a perfect swirl with a peak in the center.

“I think I got it,” Delaney replied. She held the bag in her hand and squeezed it expertly with the palm of her hand. It took her seconds to duplicate Lexi's swirl.

“Wow! Impressive!” Jenna whistled. “Delaney, you're a natural.”

“Here,” said Lexi, shoving a dozen more in front of her. “Make yourself useful.” Delaney topped two dozen white chocolate raspberry cupcakes with a vanilla cream cheese frosting, then piped dark chocolate buttercream on three dozen devil's food cupcakes. Kylie showed her how to cut shapes out of fondant with tiny cookie cutters.

“Like this?” Delaney asked, holding up a perfect red heart.

“Exactly!” said Kylie. “You rock!”

Lexi hated that Delaney could handle whatever they threw at her—and was so cheerful about it. She and Kylie sang Lady Gaga songs as they worked.

“This is so much fun!” Delaney exclaimed, putting red lips on some mascarpone whipped frosting. “You're so lucky to have this awesome cupcake club.”

“Maybe you could join PLC?” Kylie suggested. Lexi saw that one coming!

“Really?” asked Delaney. “That would be so cool! Then we could hang out all the time!”

Lexi interrupted—she had to change the subject fast. “This next order is for Red Hot cupcakes. What does that mean? We don't have any recipe yet for that.”

“I was thinking Red Hot candy hearts on top and a spicy cupcake and frosting,” Kylie said.

“We could do a Mexican Chili Chocolate Cupcake,” Jenna suggested, “and top it with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. But we'll need chili powder and ground cayenne pepper.”

“We should have all those spices from our family taco nights,” said Kylie. “You get working on the batter with Delaney. Sadie and I will tackle the frosting.”

Jenna put all the ingredients on the counter. “We want the cupcake to have a kick,” she explained. “A pinch of cayenne should do it.”

Delaney looked at the small container of orange powder. She gave it a shake into the dry ingredient bowl. “A pinch of cayenne! Check!”

About twenty-five minutes later, the cupcakes emerged from the oven a deep, dark chocolate color. “These look perfect,” Jenna observed. She opened one wrapper and took a taste.

“
Dios
mío!
” she cried, fanning her tongue. “Water! I need water!”

Sadie raced to get her a glass, and Jenna gulped it down and asked for another…then another.

“That cupcake is way too spicy—my mouth is on fire! Delaney, how much cayenne did you put in there?”

“A pinch, just like you said,” Delaney answered.

“A pinch is about one-eighth of a teaspoon,” Kylie explained.

“Oh,” said Delaney. “I kind of sprinkled in a little more than that. Like maybe three or four tablespoons?”

Jenna was still gulping down water. “Yeah, you sure did!”

Lexi felt bad for Jenna…but she couldn't help chuckling. “I guess Delaney still has a lot to learn about baking cupcakes.”

Delaney looked sad and embarrassed. “I'm really sorry. I didn't know.”

“It's okay,” Kylie said, putting an arm around her friend. “We've all made tons of mistakes. Right, Lexi?”

Lexi shrugged. “I guess,” she replied, and went back to decorating.

In seven hours, the girls had managed to bake, decorate, and box half the Valentine's Day orders. They were all covered, head to toe, in flour and frosting.

“This is hard work!” Delaney yawned. “We've been at it all morning and afternoon! I'm exhausted!”

“So I guess you won't be joining PLC,” Lexi said hopefully.

“I'd have to think about it,” Delaney replied. “I'm on the swim team at my school and we have a lot of weekend swim meets.”

“That's okay, Delaney,” Kylie answered. “I understand. Maybe you could help us when you're not swimming.”

“That would be great!” Delaney untied her apron and handed it to Lexi. “I guess I won't be needing this?”

Lexi felt a little bad. Delaney
had
been very helpful…

“You can keep it…for next time,” she said.

“Thanks, Lexi!” Delaney said, suddenly hugging her.

“Yeah, thanks, Lexi.” Kylie smiled and walked Delaney out to the door where her mom was waiting to drive her home.

“I guess Delaney wasn't
so
bad,” Lexi said helping Jenna and Sadie sweep up the mess of flour, sugar, and candy all over the floor.

“She was super nice,” said Sadie.

Jenna agreed. “Kylie does have excellent taste in friends…”

Lexi was too tired to be jealous or angry anymore. Her fingers ached from piping frosting and rolling fondant. And tomorrow they had a ton more work waiting for them; they hadn't even discussed what they'd be making for the Blakely Valentine's Day party.

Since the
Romeo
and
Juliet
performance was on February 14, Principal Fontina thought it was only fitting that the cast and audience have a Valentine's Day party following the show. She asked PLC if they would make a romantic cupcake display in honor of the event.

When Kylie returned to the kitchen, she immediately took out her notebook and pen. “We need ideas for an amazing cupcake display. Let's have 'em!”

“What do you think of a giant Cupid that shoots cupcakes?” Jenna suggested. “We could launch cupcakes at people as they walk in.”

Kylie shook her head. “Cool but messy. We'd have cupcakes flying all over the cafeteria.”

“Good point,” Jenna said.

“I got it!” exclaimed Sadie. “A giant pair of lips made out of red velvet cupcakes.”

Lexi winced. Working on cupcakes all day, she'd almost forgotten about the play. “Please, let's not make anything to remind me of that kiss onstage! I'm nervous enough!”

“Do you have any ideas, Lexi?” Kylie asked.

For once, Lexi was stumped. She had nothing in her sketchbook that was this big or romantic. Then she remembered Juliette's story…

“A giant Valentine's Day card made out of cupcakes! We can create a huge pink heart and trim it with white lace doilies. We can make light pink and dark pink frosted cupcakes and spell out
love
in the dark ones.”

Kylie nodded. “I like it. But how do we get the cupcakes to stay on the card?”

“Let's cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Sadie. “We better ask my dad to bring his wood and contractor tools and get started on the heart.”

While the girls mixed pink buttercream and baked dozens of mini vanilla cupcakes, Mr. Harris used his saw to cut a six-foot tall heart out of plywood.

“Wow,” gulped Sadie, coming outside to check. “That is one ginormous heart!”

“Go big or go home, I always say,” her dad replied, sweeping up the sawdust on Kylie's front walk. “And now
I'm
going home and leaving the baking to the experts.” He planted a kiss on Sadie's head. “Later, hon!”

“So now comes the tough part,” said Kylie. “How do we get the cupcakes to stick to the heart?”

“We need something super sticky to hold them,” Lexi said. “What about honey…or molasses…or cream cheese?”

The girls gathered the ingredients from the kitchen and started to experiment. Each cupcake slid down the heart and landed on the lawn.

“Okay, plan B. We need to think outside the box and outside the kitchen,” Jenna said. She handed Lexi a pack of Fun-Tak from her backpack. “Try this.”

Lexi took a big piece of the blue goo and rolled it into a ball. She attached it to the bottom of a cupcake wrapper and stuck it to the heart.

At first, it seemed to work, and Jenna patted herself on the back. “My goo is working!”

Then the cupcake suddenly sprang off the wood and landed on Lexi's sneaker.

“Really, Jenna?” She tried to shake the pink frosting off her laces. “If it won't hold longer than five minutes, we are in big trouble.”

Lexi thought hard. “When I want to hang my artwork, I pin it on my bulletin board in my bedroom,” she said. “What if we put Styrofoam over the heart and use toothpicks to pin the cupcakes in place?”

“It's worth a try,” Kylie replied, and raced downstairs to her basement to get a few pieces of Styrofoam she had left over from last year's science fair project.

The girls asked Mrs. Carson to help them hot-glue the Styrofoam to the heart. Once it dried, Lexi placed a toothpick through the center of an unfrosted cupcake and stuck it to the board. “We'd have to pipe the frosting on top to cover the toothpick,” she explained. “But I think this is going to work. We'll need a lot more Styrofoam and toothpicks, and we can set it all up in the cafeteria the morning of the play.”

“That's a great idea, Lex,” Kylie added. She also thought piping 1,000 mini cupcakes would help take Lexi's mind off the show…and that kiss!

The Blakely auditorium was packed, standing room only, for the fifth-grade production of
Romeo
and Juliet
. Lexi's Aunt Dee arrived an hour early to make sure she got a front-row seat.

Lexi peeked out from behind the curtain and saw her pink, floppy hat and purple clogs. It made her smile and calm down…for a moment.

“You're going to be fine,” Sadie assured her. She promised Lexi she'd be right behind her if she panicked.

“What if I forget my lines?” Lexi asked.

“You won't!” Sadie assured her. “You've been reciting them all week!”

“Oh, Lex, you look gorgeous!” Kylie exclaimed. Lexi was wearing a blue velvet dress and a blue cap over her long, blond hair.

“You look great too,” Lexi managed. Kylie had on a long brown robe and carried a basket of herbs in her hand.

“You think?” she said, twirling around. “I wanted to wear a bald cap, but Juliette said no. I think Friar Lawrence would look more villainous if he were bald.”

“Places! Places!” Mr. Higgins called suddenly. “Five minutes till curtain!” Lexi felt a chill race up her spine. This was it! There was no turning back now!

Juliette placed her hands on Lexi's shoulders. “Put everything out of your mind,” she advised her. “You're Juliet, not Lexi. Just go with it.”

The first scenes went flawlessly. Meredith threw in a slight British accent now and then as the nurse, and the audience loved when she boomed, “Good MAHROW, good gentleMAHN!” and curtsied. Jack Yu was also a sensation as Tybalt, leaping around the streets of Verona, brandishing his sword in the fight scene. He didn't even mind wearing tights, as long as he got to yell, “Romeo! Thou art a villain!” and chase Jeremy around the stage.

Kylie convinced Mr. Higgins to let her play Friar Lawrence with a hint of dastardly flair. “These violent delights have violent ends!” she said…then cackled mischievously.

As the play unfolded, Lexi was actually amazed at how easily the words came to her. It felt a little like she was running on autopilot. She pretended she was just rehearsing once again in the drama classroom. There was no audience, just her and her classmates reading the lines.

Then in Act Four, came the death scene…and the kiss.

“Remember to lie very still,” Juliette instructed her in the wings. “Don't move a muscle.”

Lexi nodded. She just hoped her knees wouldn't knock together too loudly!

“Here lies Juliet,” Jeremy began. Then he drank from a small red bottle in his pocket. “With a kiss, I die…” He bent over and kissed Lexi's cheek. She tried hard not to smile. It kind of tickled. The “poison” worked, and Jeremy collapsed to the ground. The audience broke into thunderous applause.

Now it was time for Lexi to wake up and see her beloved Romeo dead at her side.

She stood up and cried, “My Romeo!” Then she glanced out at the audience. They were silent, waiting for her to make the next move. There were
so
many
people
! Where did they all come from? And everyone was watching
her
! Lexi froze. She couldn't remember what came next. Not a word, not a syllable! She knew in the back of her mind Juliet was supposed to die too—but she couldn't move.

“Oh no!” Kylie whispered to Jenna. “This is not good!”

“We have to do something!” Sadie said.

“The dagger! Get the dagger out of Romeo's belt!” Mr. Higgins called to Lexi from backstage.

Lexi just kept staring at the crowd.

Kylie thought quickly. “Can you get me one of the extra pink cupcakes we baked?” Jenna nodded and raced backstage, grabbing one out of a box. She handed it to Kylie.

Cupcake in hand, Kylie tiptoed across the stage. She cleared her throat.

“Fair, Juliet!” she began improvising. “Do not be frightened…”

Mr. Higgins gasped. “Oh no! What are they doing? That's not Shakespeare!”

Juliette hushed him. “I think I know…and it's
brilliant
!”

Kylie reached Lexi and tried to distract her. “I bring you a poisoned cupcake so that you can be with your love, Romeo,” she continued.

Lexi still didn't bat an eyelash.

“Take the cupcake and eat it,” Kylie said through clenched teeth. “Lexi! Snap out of it!”

Lexi took the cupcake—but said nothing.

“The poison will be swift!” Kylie said, pushing it toward her face. “Take a bite…
now
!”

Lexi nodded and took a lick of the pink frosting.

“Now
die
!” Kylie said, exasperated, giving her a little push.

Lexi fell down onstage.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Mr. Higgins sighed. He was mopping his brow with a hanky.

The audience cheered.

“Drop the curtain! Fast!” Juliette called.

Sadie and Jenna raced over to Lexi.

“Are you okay? Say something!” Sadie pleaded, shaking her.

“Lexi?” said a quiet voice. It was Jeremy and he was holding her hand.

Lexi opened her eyes. “What happened? Why do I have frosting on my nose?”

Kylie laughed. “Death by cupcake!”