Cupcake

Mom’s car was in the driveway when I got home. I wasn’t eager to tell her about my homecoming news, so I opened and closed the door as quietly as I could. Luck seemed to be on my side—the hinges didn’t make a peep. As I tiptoed toward my room, stealth was my middle name, my steps so silent I could’ve been a ninja extra in a movie.

Unfortunately, my mother had hypersensitive hearing—or a sixth sense that told her when I was trying to hide something.

I was only a few feet away from my room when Mom walked out of the kitchen in yoga pants and a black tank top with Elsa, snowflakes, and the words Keep Calm & Let it Go on the front.

“Oh yay, you’re here,” she said, smiling at me. “Weren’t you going to say hi?”

“Thought you might be busy,” I said, and it wasn’t even a lie. I had hoped she’d be doing something to keep her from questioning me. “It’s been a long day, Mom. I was just going to take a nap.”

“Well, don’t hurry off. Come sit and chat for a bit. I feel like we never see each other anymore.”

I gave her a look. “Mom. Come on. We spent like four hours this weekend watching Disney movies.”

“I thought you enjoyed that.”

“I did,” I said. “Maleficent is now my new BFF, and you know I salivated over Belle getting to be around all those books. But you can’t say we don’t hang out when we do. Our mother-daughter relationship is on point.”

“Still.” She walked to the couch, took a seat, and patted the cushion next to her. With a sigh, I sat. “See? Was that so hard?”

I shrugged. “No, but seriously, there’s nothing to talk about. I had a test today. I think I did a good job.”

“You are one smart cookie,” she said. “Anything else?”

I couldn’t meet her eyes. “That’s pretty much it.”

If you don’t count me being Honeycomb royalty.

But I couldn’t say that to Mom. She’d blow it waaay out of proportion.

“So nothing interesting happened?” Mom pressed. “You’re home a little later than usual.”

“Oh yeah, I had to stay after,” I said quickly.

“For what?”

Hmm, how to answer that…

“There’s this thing,” I began, then didn’t know how to finish.

Mom nodded after a moment, gesturing for me to keep going.

“Well, it’s nothing really. Just…there was this thing.”

“You said that already, Ariel,” she reminded me gently.

Gah. Why was this so dang hard?

I should just tell Mom the truth and get it over with. I opened my mouth, but at the same time my phone rang, saving me from having to explain.

“It’s Toni,” I said with relief. “I should take this.”

“Of course.” Mom’s face was serene. “I’ll wait.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I’ll wait,” she repeated and reached across to pat my hand.

After I hit the accept button, Toni’s voice came streaming out before I could say a word.

“Rhys Castle! Oh my gosh, you’ve gotta be kidding me!”

I winced. “Hi, Toni.”

“Yeah, yeah, hi to you, too. But seriously…Rhys freaking Castle!” she said again—shouted really. There was no way Mom wasn’t getting an earful. “You get paired with a guy that fine, and you don’t even tell your best friend? How does that work, A?”

Turning away, I lowered my voice. “I was going to but didn’t get the chance yet. The omecoming-hay eeting-may ran long.”

“Are you speaking pig Latin?”

“Es-yay, why?”

“Ugh, you are so weird.”

“But you love me and all my quirks,” I said.

“Yeah well… Anyway, you have to be home by now, so what kept you?” she said. “It better be something good.”

“My mom wanted to ‘talk’ when I got home.” I dropped my voice even more. “She’s been acting kind of strange, actually.”

“Ah, okay.” Toni was silent a beat then, “But it’s Rhys! Ugh, he is so…gah!”

“I know,” I mumbled. “Listen, can I call you later? I promise we’ll discuss all this then.”

“No problem. But next time something this big happens, A? I better receive a text, smoke signal, a good old-fashioned skywritten message. Okay?”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. “You got it, Toni. I’ll have a carrier pigeon on standby. Talk later.”

“Sure, sure,” she said, and I heard her mumble Rhys’s name and the words “can’t believe it, so hot” just before she hung up.

When I turned back to Mom, her look was expectant.

“Sorry about that.” I laughed, putting my phone on the table. “You know how Toni can be.”

“She sounded excited about something,” Mom remarked.

I shrugged, silently hoping she hadn’t heard the entire conversation—or one name in particular.

“So who’s Rhys Castle?”

Ugh, why me?

“Ariel,” Mom said when I didn’t respond immediately. She waited until I looked at her and then said it again. “The guy Toni couldn’t seem to stop talking about—Rhys. Who is he?”

Just play it cool, I thought. She’s only asking because my bestie was overly enthusiastic, not because she knows anything.

“He’s a boy from school,” I said, but it was clear Mom wanted more. “Rhys is the quarterback of the Honeycomb High football team. Word on the street is he’s very good, already has college scouts looking at him.”

“Ah, I knew I’d heard that name before.”

Unlike me, Mom actually liked sports. Lord knew why.

“But why did Toni call you about him?” Mom asked.

“We kind of got paired up for this thing,” I hedged.

Mom tilted her head. “The same ‘thing’ you had to stay after school for?”

“Yeah,” I said, then abruptly stood from the couch. “But it’s no big deal. Like I said, Mom, my day was boring as usual. I have a lot of homework. See you later.”

“Okay, sweetie,” she said then added, “but you know, it’s the strangest thing.”

Her tone made me freeze in my tracks. Looking at her, I saw a sparkle in her eyes that hadn’t been there a second ago.

“I got an interesting text about ten minutes before you walked in.”

I couldn’t help it. I took the bait, hook, line, and sinker.

“Oh yeah, from who?” I asked.

“A woman I’ve never met,” she said while lifting a brow. “Like I said, it was so unexpected. Her name is Juliana, and she said that you were selected to be a princess for Homecoming Court today.”

I gulped as Mom’s hands went to her hips.

“She also said something about being excited to work with you this month—which implies it is, in fact, a big deal.”

My mouth opened, but no words came out. It was okay, though. Mom wasn’t done talking.

“What I don’t understand is why you, my wonderful daughter, didn’t tell me about this yourself.”

So busted.

“Mom, I—”

She held up a hand. “Just tell me one thing. Is it true?”

I nodded, wincing as her smile bloomed.

“Ariel!” she squealed then grabbed me up in a hug. “This is so exciting! I can’t even… Why wouldn’t you tell me? It’s like a dream come true!”

“Ugh, not really,” I said, and Mom took in my face.

“Why aren’t you more excited about this?”

Hmm, let’s see. 1) Homecoming is an antiquated idea. 2) I love my body, but I’ll never fit the mold of what society thinks a princess should be. 3) I never want to be the center of attention, avoid it pretty much like the plague. 4) I’ve been paired with Rhys Castle, and I’m 99.9 percent sure he’s a jerk. 5) If people are going to judge me based on some unattainable ideal of perfection…uh thanks, but no thanks. I’d rather stay home.

Instead of saying any of that, I shrugged.

“Ariel, what’s wrong?” she asked. “This is going to be so fun! Juliana was telling me about all the cool things coming up. And ooh! I can’t wait to let all the girls at work know.”

“Mom, don’t go overboard,” I said. “It’s just Homecoming.”

She sniffed. “Must you steal my joy? You are a princess whether you like it or not.”

I laughed at her mulish expression. “It’s not like I’m marrying into the royal family.”

“This is the next best thing,” she declared. “And it’s going to be amazing! Just you wait.”

“Yeah. Amazingly awkward,” I muttered.

“Oh pish, you’re going to love it.” Mom grabbed my hands and met my eyes. “You are the sweetest, loveliest, most wonderful girl, and I love you.”

I blushed. “Love you, too, Mom.”

“I know you do,” she said. “Now, is there anything else I need to know?”

Her eyes were penetrating, but the cat was out of the bag. So I figured why not tell her everything?

“Rhys Castle, the guy we were talking about,” I said.

Mom nodded. “The one who according to Toni is ‘gah, so hot’?”

“That’s the one,” I said. “We were divided into pairs at the meeting, and he’s my prince.”

“I see. And is he gorgeous?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” I said.

“Got it. So, you’re a reluctant princess with an unfortunately hot prince. Is that everything?”

I thought it over. “Yeah, that’s the gist.”

Mom’s smile was slow. “So, do I have to bow to you now? Since you’re royalty and all?”

I rolled my eyes. “Mom.”

“Yes, your highness?”

“Ugh! I’m going to my room now.”

Mom laughed and actually did curtsy as I walked past her, and I bit back a smile.

“You know, this is all your fault,” I said.

“Me?” she asked.

“Yes.” I held out a hand and gestured to her. “Jeez, you even named me after a princess. You hoped something like this would happen. Don’t even try to deny it.”

“Maybe I did. Or maybe I just watched The Little Mermaid one too many times.”

Mom suddenly got this faraway look in her eye.

“My baby girl is a princess. Ooh, I can’t wait to tell everyone!”

And I knew she would the minute my door closed, but there was no help for it. As I was about to enter my room, I switched course, heading straight for the kitchen. Lifting my apron off the hook and over my head, I started pulling down ingredients.

It had been one heck of a day. The kitchen was my happy place, and it was time for some major baking therapy.

If I happened to eat a cookie along the way, so be it.

Goodness gracious, I thought as I stirred the dry ingredients together, unable to clear my mind. The homecoming packet we’d received was mocking me from where I’d placed it on top of my bag across the room. I could already hear Mom in the living room, telling her friends the news.

Cookie dough, I decided.

This definitely called for a spoonful or two of the good stuff.