Cupcake

Breakfast was one of my favorite meals. On my list of faves, it came right after dessert and brunch. With school starting so early, I usually settled for yogurt and berries or a bowl of cereal. Every time I got to have a hot breakfast, though, it was a treat.

But I could’ve done without the running commentary.

“Are you seriously going to eat all that?” Lana asked.

The horror in her voice was clear, but as I turned, I noticed that both her and Bryleigh looked hungry. They stared at the omelets on my plate, eyes flaring as I added a dollop of sour cream.

“No,” I said, “I’m making one for Toni, too. She loves these things.”

Lana crossed her arms. “This is supposed to be Homecoming breakfast, Cupcake. It’s an exclusive event. You know, for members of the court only.”

“There’s more than enough food for everyone.”

“Yeah, because most of the girls are too embarrassed to eat, but what if the guys want seconds?” She shrugged. “And besides, that’s not the point. It’s a perk of being on the court. That food is for us—whether we eat it or not.”

My brow scrunched as I thought over her statement. “That’s just silly. Why would they be embarrassed? The guys are stuffing their faces; why can’t we? Plus, food is fuel to get us through the day. And I could eat both.” If I wanted to be sick all day, I mentally added. “But I’m choosing to share instead.”

“How nice of you,” Lana snarked.

“What’s in it?” Bryleigh asked, her eyes going a bit wider.

I shrugged. “Just eggs, tomato, peppers, cheese, sour cream, and salsa.”

The head cheerleader licked her lips. “That sounds…really good.”

“No,” Lana said, “it sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen.”

“They’re all fresh ingredients,” I said. “Ms. Weaver put out a good spread. If you want, I could make you one, too.”

“Well, we’re not interested. Right, Bry?”

When the other girl didn’t immediately agree, Lana nudged her with a sharp elbow.

“Right,” Bryleigh said, then reached past me. “But I will grab a banana.”

Lana gave her a look, and she threw up her hands.

“What?” she said. “I’m hungry.”

Zander came up behind us then. He placed his hands on Lana’s shoulders and said, “Hey, my lady, you’re looking extra good today. How’s it going?”

“Fine.” She shrugged him off. “And I asked you not to call me that. It’s embarrassing.”

“But it’s what I call you in my heart,” he said with a pout, causing Bryleigh and me to laugh. Zander’s gaze landed on my plate, and he lifted his chin. “What you got there, Cupcake? Looks good.”

“Just an omelet,” I said.

“Ooh, can I get one of those—or possibly two? I’m starving.”

I smiled at his enthusiasm. “Sure, no problem. You can have these actually. I’ll just make some more.”

“Awesome,” he said.

Lana walked away in a huff, and I rolled my eyes.

Zander took a bite of his omelet, watching her go with a frown. “What’s her problem?” he said around a mouthful of food.

“I have no idea,” I said. “Maybe she missed breakfast.”

We all stopped to look at the barely touched spread in front of us. “Yeah…maybe that’s it,” Zander said with a slight grin. “I’ll bring her a little something,” he added, snagging a muffin and plastic fork. “Thanks again.”

When I came out of the staff room, which indeed had a sign on the door stating, Homecoming Court ONLY, Toni was waiting for me in the hall.

“I can’t believe they reserved a room for you guys,” she said. “Or that there’s something called Homecoming breakfast. How ridiculous.”

I shrugged. “Eh, don’t knock it. If there wasn’t, you wouldn’t have this omelet, my friend.”

“Good point,” Toni said and took a bite.

We walked the halls, enjoying our breakfast.

“So, did you do anything else interesting this weekend?” she asked. “Besides spend time with a certain quarterback, I mean?”

Rhys’s face passed through my mind, but I shook my head.

“Not really,” I said. “I think I told you everything on the phone. But ooh, hey, I did get a Homecoming dress.”

It took me a second to realize Toni had stopped walking. Looking over my shoulder, I lifted my brows.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“Oh no,” she said, walking forward, “my bestie got her dress for the big day without consulting me first. There’s no problem at all.”

“You got yours ages ago,” I pointed out, “and didn’t tell me until last Friday.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but that was just because I was embarrassed. I had a dress, but no one had asked me—I didn’t want to jinx anything. What’s your excuse?”

“Hm, let’s see. Shopping is the bane of my existence. In the mall, I’m surrounded by advertisements of girls with zero acne, zero body fat, and seemingly zero real-life problems. Not to mention, the clothes never fit right. It’s like they don’t even know curvy girls exist—which is why it took me ten seconds to search and find a dress—which is also probably the reason I forgot to mention it,” I said and gave her a shrug. “But it’s coming tomorrow if you want to stop by. You and Mom will be the first to see it.”

“I accept your invitation,” Toni said, locking her arm with mine. “Besides, I’m sure you were distracted after your Saturday tryst with Rhys at the grocery store.”

I sighed. “Oh my God, it was nothing. Just a few minutes in the frozen food aisle.”

Toni’s smile grew. “Sounds fun to me.”

“Listen, for the hundredth time, there’s nothing going on,” I said. “Rhys and I are just partners for a project, that’s all.”

“Sure…but the boy stuck with you to shop for groceries.”

I lifted a shoulder. “He was avoiding homework.”

“You said he checked out your vlog. That’s interesting.”

I waved that away. “So do a lot of people.”

“Okay,” Toni said, “I’m loving the confidence. You should be proud of your vlog following. But I thought the majority of your viewers were females between the ages of twenty-five and fifty.”

“It’s oddly impressive how you remember these things,” I muttered.

“Which,” she added, “would make a male teenager an outlier.”

“I guess,” I conceded. “But don’t make it into more than it is, Toni. I’m begging you.”

“He also carried your bags,” she put in.

“He did, because it turns out Rhys is actually a nice guy. I’m sure he would’ve done that for anyone.”

Toni nodded as if she’d finally figured something out.

“You like him,” she said.

I blinked, not having expected that. “N-no, I don’t.”

“And she stutters on the denial.” Toni stared at my face then shook her head. “You must like him a lot, huh?”

My tongue felt paralyzed for a moment. I was so surprised.

“I—why would you even say something like that?” I asked.

She held up a hand. “Please. As your best friend, I know these things.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” I said while crossing my arms.

Her brow scrunched. “It’s not like it’s a big deal, Ariel. I’ve liked a ton of people. Everyone gets crushes, all the time—especially on guys like Rhys. He’s a good-looking jock, who’s also apparently nice.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but you know I’m more interested in baking than boys. I have goals, Toni. Those do not include getting my heart broken by some guy I met in high school. No thank you.”

“Why do you think he’d break your heart?” she asked.

I shrugged. “You know my romantic history—or lack thereof. My crushes literally end up crushing me. And not in a good way.”

Toni’s eyes softened a bit. “If you’re talking about Darryl—”

I winced at hearing the name again.

“—he was a rotten little weasel who never deserved your love. We’ve been over this a million times.”

“Yeah, but I should’ve known better than to fall for his charming BS.”

Darryl had been my biggest crush. There were others before him, sure. But he was the first guy to ever like me for me—or so I’d thought.

Darryl was my lab partner in eighth grade. We’d talked a lot during class, gotten to know each other. I thought we had a real connection. But it turned out he’d only been using me, both so he could copy my homework and for the sweets. I brought him something almost every day. At the end of the semester, I’d finally worked up the courage to tell him how I felt—but he was surrounded by his friends when I approached him at his locker. Darryl, my sweet, charming lab partner, pretended like he didn’t know me. He laughed in my face when I asked if he wanted to hang out later—though during class, he’d been the one who kept saying “we should hang out sometime.” When I suggested we go somewhere more private to talk, one of his friends had called me a derogatory name. More laughter. And that was that.

My thoughts about relationships had shifted.

I was still a hopeless romantic.

I still believed in love—just not for me.

“Rhys seems like he’s capable of major damage,” I told my best friend.

“You’d have to like him a little for that to happen, though, right?” Toni said.

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, even if I did have a small, miniscule, teeny tiny crush, it wouldn’t matter anyway.”

“Why not?”

“Because Rhys Castle is an enigma. His moods are unpredictable—offensive and arrogant one moment, nice and thoughtful the next. There’s definitely something going on with him, something he’s hiding. Plus, he would never be into someone like me,” I said.

“Ah,” Toni said, “because he’s into guys? Sorry I didn’t realize.”

“He’s not gay,” I said, “at least as far as I know. He used to date Lana.”

“Okay, then he’s into mean girls, so he could never appreciate my best friend’s kind, sweet soul. I get it now.” She tilted her head. “But didn’t they break up?”

I shook my head with a grin. “Rhys and I only hang out for Homecoming stuff. He wouldn’t even talk to me if it weren’t for that.”

Before Toni could say anything, another voice spoke over her.

“Hey Princess,” Rhys called out.

“You forgot to mention the pet name,” she whispered as we watched the crowd part for him.

I spoke through a forced smile. “That’s because it wasn’t relevant.”

“Oh, I definitely think it is.”

Rhys’s long legs ate up the distance between us. No one got in his way, and soon he was standing right in front of me.

“Hey,” he said and threw a thumb over his shoulder. “I just passed Zander in the hall with these amazing-looking omelets. You responsible for those?”

“Yeah, I am,” I said.

“I knew it.” Rhys nodded. “There was no way he did that by himself. They looked too good.”

I held up my empty plate. “I would offer you some, but we already ate ours.”

“It’s cool,” he said. “I was kind of bummed about you making food for someone else, though. I thought that was our thing.”

“Sorry,” I said, “I didn’t realize we had a thing.”

Rhys gave me a half smile. “I was joking, Princess.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Funny. I didn’t know you did that, either.”

“I’m full of surprises,” he said. “But that’s not why I’m here.”

“What’s up?”

“Got a question for you. Do you want to come over to my house later?” he said.

It was a good thing I was done with that omelet, I thought. Otherwise, someone probably would’ve had to perform the Heimlich. As it was, I choked on air.

“You okay there?” he asked.

“She’s fine,” Toni said and patted my back. “This happens sometimes. It’s nothing.”

Rhys was quiet, but when I looked up, I noticed him staring at me with concern.

“I thought you had football,” I said when I got my hacking under control.

“I do,” he said. “But I figured we could meet up after.”

Toni’s face was smug as she took our plates and chucked them in a nearby bin.

“Shoot, I should get going,” she said. “Wouldn’t want to be late to homeroom.”

“But—”

Toni shot me a grin as she walked away. “Don’t worry, Princess. We’ll talk later.”

Once she was gone, I turned back to Rhys.

“That was Toni,” I said unnecessarily. “She’s my best friend.”

“Yeah, I think we might’ve had some classes together,” he said. “Are you really okay? That cough didn’t sound good.”

Gah, just kill me now.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I ran a hand over my cheek. “You just surprised me, that’s all.”

Rhys cocked his head. “I asked if you want to come over. Why would it cause that kind of reaction?”

Because for a second I thought you were asking me out.

Ugh. It was so embarrassing. My conversation with Toni was the only explanation for my bizarre thoughts, but there was no way I’d admit the truth. Rhys would laugh till he was blue in the face.

“I don’t know,” I lied.

“Okay,” Rhys said slowly. “But do you want to come? To my house? I practiced the dances over the weekend.”

“Oh yeah?” I said. “How’d it go?”

He shrugged. “It went well. My brother says I suck way less than when I first started.”

The warning bell rang as I was still trying to take in the realization that Rhys was not in fact an only child like me. Why this surprised me, I didn’t know. But it did.

“So will you come?” he asked.

I lifted a brow. “You want me to come so you can show me your sweet dance moves? Sure, I’ll be there. What time?”

“Five o’clock work for you?” His throat bobbed, and there was this guarded look in his eyes as he added, “I also have an appointment. You know, one of those mystery ones you like to tease me about. So, it can’t be earlier than that.”

“Yeah, I have to go by my mom’s work, but I’ll come after.”

“See you then, Princess.”

With that, Rhys disappeared back into the thinning crowd. My eyes lingered on him far longer than they should have, my pulse pounding harder than necessary. The guy was definitely not good for my heart, I decided.

Now, if I could only stop staring, it would all be fine.

…

After last period, I drove home to pick up a few things before heading across town to Mom’s school, Blue Skies Elementary.

“Ashley, take that finger out of your nose right now,” Mom said. “That goes for you, too, George. Young ladies and gentlemen do not pick their noses. They use a tissue.”

Mom was having this talk with the kids in her after-school class when I walked through the door.

“And is Clarence back from the bathroom yet?” she asked.

“Not yet, Ms. Duncan,” a little girl with black hair said. “He’s been in there for a long, long time.”

“I know, sweetheart,” she said.

“A looong time,” she repeated.

“I’ll go check on him in a second.”

“What do you think he’s doing in there?”

“Heaven only knows,” Mom mumbled. Her eyes went to me, and she smiled. “Oh hey, Cupcake. I hope you haven’t been standing there long.”

“No, just got here,” I said. A glance at her face let me know she was happy among the chaos. Her classroom was colorful yet organized, the perfect place for kindergarteners to learn and play. “How are you? Can I help with anything?”

“I’m good,” she said. “These little ones are testing me today, but we’re about to settle down for a movie. Then we get to have some yummy cake to celebrate a very special someone’s birthday.”

The little girl’s eyes widened. “Is it me, Ms. Duncan? It’s my birthday today!”

“Why yes, Shamika, it is,” Mom said. She gestured with her head as the girl jumped, then went over to another girl and started talking. “She’s so sweet. Baby, could you put the cake down and watch the little ones while I go check on Clarence? He’s been gone a minute. There’s no telling what’s happening.”

I winced. “Yeah, you go ahead. We’ll be fine.”

“Thank you so much,” she said then hurried past me to the bathrooms. A few seconds later, I heard her saying, “Now Clarence, what did we say about soap? It’s for cleaning, sweetheart, not painting the walls.”

Setting the cake down on her desk, I straightened up and saw a little boy staring at me.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Hi,” I said, “I’m Ariel. What’s your name?”

“George.” The boy’s finger started to travel up to his nose, and I quickly grabbed a Kleenex. “I’m five,” he said.

“Oh, that’s nice,” I said. “Do you want to hear a joke, George?”

His hand paused. “Sure, I like jokes.”

“How do you make a tissue dance?” I asked.

The boy tilted his head.

“You put a little boogie in it.”

George smiled, and as I held up my tissue-covered hand, instead of picking his nose, he blew it—thank goodness. Then he laughed.

“Look, look,” he said. “I made it dance. With my boogies!”

I chuckled, too.

“I know, George. Good job.”

“You’re funny and nice,” he said then grabbed a clean tissue to show his friends his new trick.

Mom’s voice came from behind me as I was sanitizing my hands.

“I saw that,” she said. “Well done.”

I shrugged. “It was nothing.”

“That boy has been picking his nose on and off since the last bell rang,” she said. “I’d say it’s something.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But my talents lie in baked goods. Little kids scare me, as you know.”

“And yet, you’re good with them.”

I smiled at her. “It must be in the genes.”

“Darn right it is,” she said. Grabbing a plastic cake cutter, Mom went to the desk and removed the cover. “And this cake is gorgeous.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Here. I brought the plates, napkins, and party hats as well.”

Mom shook her head, her eyes a little glassy. “This is going to make Shamika feel so special, and I know the other kids are going to love it, too.”

I stared down at the cake. It was a simple, round chocolate cake with yellow, pink, green, and white frosting. Mom had told me Shamika loved flowers, so I’d added a bunch of them. The daisy chains framing the cake looked good, but the roses really tied it all together.

A lot of the kids in the after-school program weren’t well-off. Mom had confided in me once that often the families couldn’t afford to celebrate birthdays, and she just wanted to give them something. The kids didn’t always stay in the program; some moved, and new ones came in all the time. And yes, a few wealthier kids were in the mix. But rich or poor, it didn’t matter. I’d made a cake for each of their birthdays ever since.

“You did well, baby,” Mom said.

I shook my head. “You got this program started. You buy them coloring books, crayons, snacks, and who knows what else. These kids are lucky to have you, Mom.”

She smiled. “Thanks for that. Are you staying for the movie?”

“No, I actually have to go in a few minutes,” I said.

“Well then, let’s sing and give you a piece for the road.”

Mom clapped her hands, calling all the kids over.

“Today we’re celebrating a very special young lady,” Mom said. Shamika was smiling as she bounced up and down. “She is turning six, and we all get to celebrate together. Isn’t that wonderful? Happy birthday, Shamika!”

“Thank you, Ms. Duncan,” she said.

“And now we get to eat this beautiful cake my daughter made.”

The kids cheered.

“And then we’ll watch Shamika’s favorite movie, Tangled.”

After singing the birthday song, the kids all lined up for cake, and I helped Mom pass out the pieces. Shamika, of course, got to go first. Her eyes widened as she gazed at the cake, and then she looked at me.

“You made this?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I hope you like it.”

“Oh, I do! It’s beautiful. Thank you so, so much.”

“Happy birthday, Shamika.” I gave her a wink. “Also, good choice. I love Tangled.”

“You do?” she asked. “It’s my favorite.”

Mom threw an arm over my shoulders. “My daughter loves it, too. And guess what else? She is actually a princess! Isn’t that awesome?”

“Mom,” I mumbled.

Another little girl stepped up then. “No she’s not.”

“Actually, Ashley, she is,” Mom said with a laugh. “Her school picked her to be one.”

“Well, where’s her crown?”

Shamika rolled her eyes. “Maybe she left it at home.”

Ashley shook her head, her lips set in a mulish frown. “No she’s not. She can’t be.”

“And why do you think that?” Mom said.

“Everyone knows there are no fat princesses.”

Shamika, who had a little pudge, put her hands on her hips. “There are, too. Girls and boys can be anything they want to be.”

“That’s right,” Mom said. “Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.”

“Name one,” Ashley said. “Go on, name one fat princess.”

Shamika and my mom blinked but didn’t respond.

“See? Told you so.”

The little girl shrugged, took a plate of cake from my stiff hand, and walked away. My jaw was still on the floor, but maybe it shouldn’t have been. A lot of times kids spoke without thinking. Her words shouldn’t have felt like a punch to the gut.

But they did.