Cupcake
: Chapter 1

“If you could date an Avenger, who would it be?”

Okay, my best friend and I talked about everything under the sun, so that was a completely legitimate question. I thought about it a second.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “My instinct says Captain America because he’s kind, confident, loyal, and just yum. But it’s hard because Thor is gorgeous, too, and he could probably pick me up if I ever fell down a hill in the rain.”

Toni snorted as she braided my hair.

“That was random,” she said.

“Not really. I watched Sense and Sensibility last night.”

I heard her sigh. “Again, Ariel? You know they make new movies every year, right? You don’t always have to watch the same things over and over.”

“Yeah”—I rolled my eyes—“but I know what I like. And romances nowadays just aren’t what they used to be.”

I couldn’t see her, but I knew Toni was smiling.

She loved to tease me about my obsession with romance movies, but we both knew she’d discovered plenty of her favorites because of me.

“Who would you pick?” I asked. “From the Avengers?”

“Black Widow,” she said. “No question. She kicks butt, and I’d love to ask her where she gets her cat suits and that red hair dye.”

“Ooh, good choice.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey,” I said, touching a strand of my dark brown locks, “speaking of hair. I was thinking of adding some highlights. Do you think you could—”

She tsked, then gave a sharp tug, making me gasp.

“Ouch! What the heck?” My eyes shot to the front of the classroom, but there was no need to worry. Our substitute teacher was currently nose-deep in his crossword.

Toni and I were seniors. This was Health, our final class of the day, and he’d given us the last ten minutes to talk. It was all good.

Well, except for my hair-pulling bestie.

“What was that for?” I asked.

“You ruin a mane like this with cosmetic enhancement and I’ll never forgive you,” Toni warned, running her fingers through my hair. She always made me look like I’d just visited a professional stylist—the girl could’ve charged for her amazing skills. “Don’t even think about it. Your natural mahogany already has hints of auburn in it anyway.”

I frowned. “But you color your hair. You change it up nearly every month,” I pointed out.

“I’m an artist,” she said, as if that explained everything.

“Hey, I’m creative, too.”

Toni laughed. “Yeah, but that’s just with tasty treats.”

She finished by pinning the Swiss braids over the top of my head, then had me turn around to pull out a few tendrils.

I lifted a brow. “I didn’t see you complaining when you were eating that jasmine vanilla cupcake I brought you earlier.”

Toni’s eyes closed as she groaned. “Oh, girl, that was sooo good! And pretty, too.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Keep the flattery coming, and I might just forgive you for that crack about my art. Making food that looks beautiful and tastes good takes skill, you know.”

“Oh please, I didn’t mean it like that,” Toni said. “My love affair with your food is my longest relationship to date.”

I laughed.

“Seriously A, you’ve been doing it since you were what? Six?”

“Five,” I corrected. “Grandma D always stressed how important it was that the food not only tasted good, but looked pretty, too. We eat with our eyes first—that’s what she always said.”

My grandma Duncan had started me out early. We baked cupcakes every Sunday, and she’d let me choose the decorations and guide my hand as we frosted them together. My mind traveled back to those days of baking in my grandma’s kitchen, and I couldn’t help but smile. They were some of the best times of my life.

“Deep.” Toni gave a nod. “And true for more than just food.”

“Yeah, she was the best. I miss her.”

“Well, at least her baking lives on through you,” my best friend said. “I can’t even cook spaghetti, let alone make those little yummy flowers made from that stuff…what is it called again? Farquaad?”

“Nope, Lord Farquaad would be the short guy from Shrek.” I grinned. “The flowers are fondant. I’ve been working on them the past few days. Helps me keep in practice for the baking competition next month.”

“Well, they’re beautiful.” Toni twisted one last piece of my hair around her finger, released the curl, then nodded and pinched my cheeks. “And so are you! Seriously, give me that hair, and I could rule the world.”

“Toni, you play too much. Your hair is awesome! That magenta really suits you.”

“You think so?”

“Yes,” I said, “total rock star art goddess.”

“You’re right.” She nodded, fluffing her ever-changing bob, then looked down at herself. “Hair wouldn’t be a problem, but for true world domination, I would definitely need your amazing rack.”

I nearly swallowed my tongue. “Toni!”

“What? You have great boobs.”

“My breasts thank you for the compliment,” I murmured as heat rose to my cheeks. “But seriously, you’re gorgeous, and you know it.”

“I guess my girls are perky, if a little small,” she said.

I shook my head. “Stop that! You’re my best friend, and your boobs rock. Just accept it.”

Toni suddenly grabbed my hand and placed it against the center of her chest.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Just giving our little eavesdropper over there something to smile about,” she whispered and tilted her head to the side. Sure enough, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Ben Shultz watching us with avid attention. He was pretending not to look, but his gaze kept coming back to my best friend and me. The small smile on his face was filled with awe.

“How long has he been watching us?” I asked.

Toni shrugged. “No idea. But I think he’s enjoying all the boob talk.”

“I think you’re right.” I leaned forward and kissed her cheek, chuckling when I heard what sounded like a notebook hit the floor. Leaning back, I snuck a glance just in time to see Ben retrieve his binder and then look at Toni. “Bet he’s happy about that, too.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Ben’s a sweetheart…if a bit of a perv.”

I scoffed with a smile. “Says the girl who was checking out my ‘rack.’”

Toni’s gaze narrowed. “Did you just air-quote me?”

“Sure did,” I said. “You are quite quotable.”

Toni thought about that a second, then grinned. “I am, aren’t I?”

The intercom system beeped, and the end-of-school-day announcements began a second later.

“Hello, students of Honeycomb High! This is Principal Maxine. I have some exciting news for you today.”

“Is it just me,” Toni whispered, “or does Principal Max sound extra happy?”

I shrugged. “Her voice is always upbeat.”

“It’s about Homecoming Court,” the principal went on, and I could feel the whole room shift to listen. “As you know, ballots went out at the beginning of the week, and now the results are in. There will be princesses and princes representing every grade, so please pay attention.”

“Hey, how did you do on that test in Bio?” I asked, but Toni waved me off.

“Eh, not bad. Let’s listen.”

“Why?” I laughed. “I thought we didn’t care about Homecoming. Every year the popular people get voted in and fawned over, and we usually stay home, binge-watch rom-coms, and eat ice cream.”

“Yeah, but who knows? There could be some surprises this year.”

“I still—”

The girl a couple seats in front of Toni turned around to give us a glare.

“Will you two please be quiet?” Lana said. “Some of us care about our school traditions.”

“Sorry,” I said and meant it. “I didn’t think we were being loud.”

Lana rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Cupcake, just keep it down. Some of us actually have a chance at getting our name announced.”

Okay, so most of the school called me “Cupcake” in a sweet way, an endearment of sorts (though there was little warmth in Lana’s voice), thanks to my love of baking. And I wasn’t really offended by the Homecoming comment either—it was the truth. Girls like me were never chosen, and I was totally cool with that. I didn’t even want to be a princess.

But my bestie seemed to take Lana’s words personally, as she narrowed her eyes. “You sound real sure of yourself there, Leavengood. You rig the ballot box or something?”

“As if I’d need to,” Lana said, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Unlike you two, I have goals and a reputation.”

With that, she dismissed us with a flip of her hair and turned back around.

“Yeah,” Toni mumbled, “a reputation as a snotty brat.”

If Lana heard the insult, she didn’t show it. Principal Max was still talking, announcing the sophomore and junior nominees. Lana was listening hard; she even seemed to be taking notes. A little overboard if you ask me, but hey, I guess some people took this Homecoming stuff seriously.

To be honest, Lana was a bit of a snot, but it wasn’t totally her fault—the whole senior class fed into her obsession with herself. And yeah, mean girls weren’t supposed to exist. In this day and age, girls were supposed to be lifting one another up instead of tearing one another down—but I guess Lana had never gotten the memo.

She had two faces: the one she showed to the people she thought could help her get ahead, and the one she showed when those people weren’t looking. Obviously, Toni and I were beneath her notice, so we saw glimpses of her dark side. But to everyone else? Lana was an angel. She’d been elected to Court every year we’d been at Honeycomb High, so there was next to no chance she’d be left out this time.

“And now, we have our senior nominees! Oh, this is so exciting,” Principal Max gushed. “Four princesses and four princes will represent Honeycomb High this year.”

I leaned over to tug on Toni’s shirt.

“Why do you think they need so many?” I whispered. “Is it like the Hunger Games? Will only one survive?”

“They nominate two girls and guys from every class,” she said as if it was common knowledge. “Except seniors, who get more because it’s our last year and all.”

I guess that made sense.

“And our first senior nominee is…” The principal paused. “Can I have a drumroll, please?”

To my surprise, an honest to goodness drumroll played through the speakers.

“Must’ve gotten someone from the band,” Toni murmured. “Nice touch.”

Principal Maxine spoke again after a loud cymbal crash. “Lana Leavengood! Congratulations, Princess Lana, and welcome to the Honeycomb High Court!”

Lana’s friends hugged her and tittered as she pretended to wipe away a tear.

“I can’t believe it,” she said insincerely. “Thank you guys so much! I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Of course Lana would be the first girl announced, I thought. Of course.

No one else probably noticed the haughty glance she threw Toni, but I did. My best friend answered her with a scowl.

“Did you want to come over after school?” I said, trying to cheer up my BFF. “We could watch Crazy, Stupid, Love again.”

Toni gave me a look. “Ariel. You know I never get tired of seeing Ryan Gosling without a shirt.”

“And our second nominee is—” The drumroll came again as the principal’s voice rose, followed by the cymbal. “Bryleigh Davis! Congrats, Bryleigh!”

“But I’ll only come,” Toni went on, “if you promise to make more of those awesome red velvet cupcakes.”

I gave her a smile. “You got it.”

Toni looked up to hear the third nominee announced—it was Tessandra Mendoza. At that, my bestie let out a sigh. She seemed so invested in this. I wasn’t sure why, but I was growing concerned.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“Huh?” she said, then shook her head. “Oh no, it’s nothing. I was just hoping someone we could actually root for would be nominated this year.”

“Like who?”

“I don’t know.” Toni shrugged and gestured in Lana’s direction. It looked like she was still giving her acceptance/thank-you speech. “Someone more genuine and less…well, fake.”

I lifted my shoulder in return. “So would I. But you know how these things go, Toni. It’s all shallow fluff anyway.”

“I guess you’re right.” Toni smiled. “So, for the movie, should I bring the chips and salsa?”

I was just about to say heck yeah when Principal Maxine’s voice came over the speaker again.

“Only one more princess to go,” she said, her voice echoing out to the entire school. “Who will the lucky girl be? I’ll tell you in a moment!”

“You were right,” I said on a laugh. “She is really into this.”

“I know,” Toni said, “it’s like she’s puking up rainbows with every new name or something.”

The visual of Principal Max spewing rainbows everywhere soon had me giggling. But that would disappear in the next second.

“Our final princess is…Ariel Duncan!”

An earthquake right here in Georgia would’ve been less of a shock.