Cupcake

Fun fact: I read a study once that said 40 percent of people eat more and/or skip meals in response to stress. I used to do that sometimes.

But typically, I took the road less traveled.

Instead of stress eating, I liked to stress bake.

Measuring and mixing ingredients together, following instructions, focusing my full attention on a recipe really put me at ease. The act of creating something out of nothing was so satisfying.

And okay, yes, I’d snag a little taste here and there.

But hey, I had to test the results! It was a rule. No one could eat anything I made until I tried it myself first. This was for their sake as well as mine. I wanted my food to provide comfort, joy, and add a little sweetness to someone’s day. If I forgot an ingredient by accident, I didn’t want to make anyone sick (which hadn’t happened yet, thank goodness). Plus, I cared enough about my baking skills to always strive for the best.

It could take a few tries to get there, to completely de-stress.

That was why I ended up taking two large containers of cookies to school the next day.

“These are so good,” Toni said as she chewed. “There is literally a party going on in my mouth.”

“Am I invited?” I said.

“That depends. Can I get a second cookie?”

I didn’t even bother to answer, just handed her one.

“Okay, I guess you can come.” Toni winked.

“Hey, Cupcake,” Jon Wu called out as he came even with my locker. “What have you got today?”

“Chocolate chip cookies,” I said back.

“Can I get one?”

“Sure.” I tossed him a cookie. “Hope you like it.”

“You rock,” he said, giving me a nod as he took a bite and kept walking.

“Seriously,” Toni said, “look at all of them loving your food.” She nodded to the students up and down the halls with cookies in their hands and smiles on their faces. “Keep this up, and you’ll be a shoo-in for Homecoming Queen.”

“That’s not why I made them.” I scoffed. “It took me three batches to get over the stress of listening to my mom call literally everyone on her contacts list. She even told the dentist! Also, let’s be real. I have about as much chance of being Homecoming Queen as I do at fitting into your skinny jeans.”

Toni looked me up and down. “I think you could if you really wanted to.”

Was she serious?

Gah, my best friend was clearly losing it.

“No, Toni, I couldn’t.” I gestured from my curvy frame to her much slimmer silhouette. “Unless those have some kind of magical Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants deal I don’t know about.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not the jeans, silly. I was talking about Homecoming. You have as good of a chance as anybody.”

A girl and guy I didn’t know came up to me just as I was about to argue.

“Hey,” the guy said, “we heard someone named Cupcake was giving out free food.”

“Yep, that’s me,” I said, handing him and the girl two cookies. “Hope you enjoy.”

She smiled. “Thanks, that’s so nice of you.”

“No problem,” I said.

“It is nice. Isn’t it?” Toni put in. “This is Ariel Duncan aka Cupcake, and she’s running for Homecoming Queen. We’d appreciate your vote.”

I blushed. “No, I—”

“That’s awesome. Congrats,” the girl said and took a bite of her cookie. Her eyes went wide. “Oh, you’ve definitely got my vote.”

“Mine, too,” her boyfriend mumbled through a mouthful. “Thanks again for the sweets.”

“Welcome,” Toni said and waved them away.

Once they were out of earshot, I turned on her with a frown.

“What?” she said, all innocent.

“Toni, why did you do that?” I asked. “I’d never use food or anything else as some kind of bribe to get votes. That would just be sad, not to mention unethical.”

Toni finished chewing, then jerked her head at something behind me.

“Tell that to her,” she said.

I looked over my shoulder. Lana and a couple of her friends were currently coming toward us down the hall, each carrying a tray filled with little cups. There was a sign hanging from each tray. As they got closer, I could finally make out what it said.

Take a shot and make good choices! Vote Lana Leavengood for Homecoming Queen!

Lana stopped by my locker, giving Toni and me a smile.

“Would you like a royal shot?” she asked, and I noticed there were gold crowns on the cups. Wow, she had really gone all out.

“Sure,” I said, reaching forward, “these look great, Lana.”

Toni slapped my hand away. “We’ll pass, but thanks.”

“I see you brought something as well,” she said. “Sweets aren’t really as good for you as espresso, but to each her own.”

“Oh, these don’t have anything to do with Homecoming,” I said, then had to correct myself. “Actually, they’re the result of stress that was brought about by Homecoming. But that’s all.”

A few girls from the varsity basketball team came over.

Toni handed them cookies, saying, “Enjoy, and make sure you vote Ariel Duncan for queen.”

“Sure,” one of them said while I sputtered.

“You always make the best stuff, Cupcake.” Heather Newsome smiled at me. We’d sat next to each other and survived Mr. Baxter’s Econ class last year. In the end, I’d only learned one thing: I never wanted a career in economics. Ever. “These cookies are awesome.”

“Thanks, girl,” I said. “How are you doing?”

Heather shrugged. “Eh, not bad, just waiting for the season to start. You?”

I considered telling her the truth—that it was weird to be nominated for something I hadn’t even known I was in the running for—but decided against it. We were friendly, but not that close.

“I’m okay,” I said. “Just hoping for a calm, uneventful senior year.”

“You and me both,” she said. “See you around. Good luck on the Homecoming thing.”

Before I could tell her I wouldn’t need luck, I wasn’t planning on winning, she’d already walked away. Tank came over next, taking the cookie Toni handed him. Before he could say anything, Lana stepped between us with a big smile.

“Hi Teddy,” she said. “Would you like a shot of espresso?”

“Nah,” Tank said, “I better not.”

“Ah come on. You look like someone who has good taste. Espresso is the healthy choice.”

He shrugged. “Cupcake’s cookies always taste healthy to me. Plus”—he patted his stomach—“too much caffeine can make you gassy.”

Lana’s face turned red at that.

Tank nodded to me and then was off. When I glanced at Toni, she was smiling, and I didn’t realize why until I looked to my left. Lana was currently giving my cookies the stank eye.

“Would you like one?” I asked, but she was already shaking her head before I could finish.

“All that sugar would go straight to my waistline,” she said.

“I actually used maple syrup as a sugar substitute. It’s supposed to be better for you.”

Lana sniffed. “I’ll pass.”

“Oh okay.” Throwing Toni a stern glance, using telepathy to tell her not to smack my hand again, I took two cups off of Lana’s tray. “This was really clever and kind of you. Thanks.”

“Hmm,” she said. “Ladies, we still have more cups to hand out, more votes to secure.”

Lana and the girls in her posse came to attention. They headed down the hall, passing people cups along the way, Lana smiling all the while. It didn’t even look the least bit strained. I definitely couldn’t have pulled that off, I thought. My jaw hurt just from looking at her.

After handing one of the cups to Toni, I took a drink.

“Ooh, that’s good,” I said with a nod. “And just look at these cute little cups.”

Toni drank hers in one go then shrugged. “It’s okay, kind of leaves a bitter aftertaste, though. Unlike your delicious choco chips.”

I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t some sort of competition.”

“Actually”—she put a hand on my shoulder—“that’s exactly what it is.”

“But I always bake things at home and bring them to school,” I said. “It’s a common thing. There’s no ulterior motive. I just want to give people a pick-me-up.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. I know.” Toni shook her head. “And so do a whole bunch of the students here. I think it’s one of the reasons they voted for you.”

“Huh?”

“You’re so sweet, A—some might say too sweet for your own good. Heck, you were nice to Lana just now, even though she was being her usual snobby self.”

I crossed my arms, taking a bite out of one of the cookies.

Fresh and sweet with just a little bit of softness in the center.

Delicious.

“That’s exactly why you’d make the perfect queen,” she finished.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said after swallowing. Geez, this was a good batch. “I’d be terrible.”

“No, you’d be wonderful,” she countered.

Great. Now she sounded like Mom.

“Someone probably did it as a joke,” I muttered.

The more I’d thought about it, the more it made sense. Just because there hadn’t been a Carrie moment at the time of the announcement didn’t mean there wasn’t one coming. Kids could be cruel; Toni and I knew that better than most. But I also knew there were good people in the world.

“Pssh, whatever. I, for one, cannot wait to hear about all of your awesome adventures.”

Glancing at her out of the corner of my eye, I finished the rest of my cookie. “I can’t believe you’re actually asking people to vote for me. Could you stop, by the way? I love you, but that’s totally unnecessary.”

Toni thought it over, then nodded. “You’re right. We’ll attract more people if they just think you’re bringing the cookies out of the kindness of your heart.”

“Toni.”

“Which I know you are,” she added. “I was just saying.”

I sighed. “Seriously, why do you care so much about this anyway?”

“Well…you know I can’t stand to see people like Lana win. They always get everything they’ve ever wanted. Does she really need a crown, too?”

She already has a few, I thought. Lana had won Miss Honeycomb High School as a sophomore, the first underclassman to ever do that if I wasn’t mistaken. And she was also the reigning Miss Sweet Northern Plains—whatever that meant. There was even a billboard in town with her smiling face on it.

“And I love a good underdog story,” Toni added.

I nodded. “We both do.”

There had to be more to it than that, though. Toni seemed to be deeply invested in the Homecoming outcome. I wanted to know why.

“Plus,” she said brightly, “you’re my best friend, so of course I have to root for you.”

I lifted a brow, waiting.

“Annnd I may or may not have been the one to nominate you.”

My jaw dropped as I looked at my bestie with new eyes.

“Oh goodness, please tell me you’re kidding,” I said.

It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. Toni loved me like I loved her. She knew I hated the spotlight—and yet, she’d entered me into an event that put me smack-dab in the center of it? Good grief.

Toni shrugged. “I have no regrets. This is your destiny, A.”

I groaned. “Ugh, Toni, why? Why would you subject me to something like this?”

“Whining doesn’t suit you, my friend. And I told you already. You’re going to be wonderful. I can picture it now: Queen Cupcake,” she said, spreading her hands as if the words were on a marquee or something. Oh, the horror. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”

I was literally speechless.

“And hey, now you get to spend time after school with Rhys Castle. It was an unintentional side effect, but you can thank me later.”

As the bell rang, she skipped away, leaving me with my jaw on the floor and two empty cookie platters. Toni, my own best friend, was the one who set this whole thing in motion.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.