Cupcake Wars!

Chapter 1

Angela’s class sat cross-legged on the carpet. This morning Miss Darling had something important she wanted to talk about.

“Can anyone tell me what’s happening on Saturday March 21st?” she asked. “Yes, Tiffany?”

Tiffany Charmers’ hand was up.
“The Spring Fair!” she cried.

“Well done, Tiffany,” said Miss Darling. “It’s the Spring Fair and we need lots of exciting stalls. We’ve already got a lucky dip, face painting and a toy stall, but what else could we have?”

“A dinosaur stall,” cried the twins.

“A Spiderman stall!” shouted Spike.

“They’re both lovely ideas, but they might be difficult,” said Miss Darling. “Try to think of things we can bring into school or make ourselves. Jewellery or badges, for instance.”

Angela had come up with a brilliant idea, something that was a certain winner. She turned to Laura and whispered it. But Tiffany overheard and raised her hand.

“Yes, Tiffany?” said Miss Darling.

“A CAKE STALL!” cried Tiffany, smirking at Angela.

“That’s a marvellous idea!” said Miss Darling. “I’m sure we can make some lovely cakes with the help of your parents.”

Angela looked daggers at Tiffany. A cake stall was HER idea. Trust Tiffany to steal it! She must have been earwigging as usual. She couldn’t stand anyone else winning praise, especially if it happened to be Angela. Tiffany always had to be top at everything.

“Well, keep thinking,” said Miss Darling as the bell went. “And we’ll need lots of helpers to run the stalls, so I’ll be looking for vounteers.”

Angela stomped outside to the playground. She was still hopping mad with Tiffany.

“It’s so unfair!” she stormed. “The cake stall was my idea. Tiffany stole it!”

“We’ll just have to think of something else,” said Maisie.

Laura sighed. “Tiffany always gets her own way.”

“Well, not this time,” said Angela. “We should run our own cake stall.”

“But we don’t have any cakes,” Maisie pointed out.

“So? We could make them,” said Angela. “My mum makes amazing cakes – ginger, lemon, chocolate fudge…”

“Cupcakes!” cried Laura suddenly.

They both looked at her.

“Everyone likes cupcakes! And you could make loads of them,” she explained.

Angela’s eyes shone. It wasn’t such a bad idea. They could make all different cupcakes – chocolatey, lemony, strawberry, banana-ey, even heart-shaped ones.

Chapter 2

Later on, Miss Darling drew up a list of stalls and took the names of the children who wanted to help. Some of the class had stalls in mind, while others were happy to help with anything.

“What about you, Angela?” asked Miss Darling.

“I’m running a cake stall with Maisie
and Laura,” said Angela firmly.

Tiffany stared. “YOU CAN’T!” she squawked. “I’m doing a cake stall. It was my idea!”

“I thought of it first,” said Angela.

“You did NOT!” cried Tiffany.

“I did, you stole my idea!” said Angela.

Tiffany pulled a face. “LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE!” she sang.

“Girls, girls!” sighed Miss Darling, holding up her hands. “It really doesn’t matter who thought of it first. If you both want to run a cake stall, why don’t you do it together?”

Tiffany stuck her nose in the air. No way was she working with that big-mouth Angela. Angela folded her arms. No way was she working with that snooty show-off Tiffany.

“Very well,” groaned Miss Darling, giving up. “We’ll have
two
cake stalls at the fair. I’m sure they’ll both be a great success.”

Tiffany smiled to herself. She knew whose cake stall would be the best.

Angela narrowed her eyes.
You wait
, she thought.
OUR cake stall’s going to be the star of the fair
.

When Angela got home she found her mum in the kitchen on her laptop.

“Mum,” she said. “You know cupcakes – are they easy to make?”

Mrs Nicely looked up. “Cupcakes? They’re not difficult. Why?”

“Because I’m probably going to need a hundred,” replied Angela.

“A HUNDRED?” cried Mrs Nicely. “What on earth for?”

“The Spring Fair,” explained Angela. “Me, Laura and Maisie are running a cake stall – and it’s got to be better than Tiffany’s.”

Mrs Nicely rolled her eyes. She might have known that Tiffany Charmers would be involved. Hardly a week went
by without Mrs Charmers boasting about her daughter’s latest brilliant achievement. Well, this time Tiffany wouldn’t have it her own way.

“And who’ll be making all these cupcakes?” Mrs Nicely asked.

“We will – me and my friends,” answered Angela. “But we might need a teeny bit of help.”

She threw her arms round her mum.

“Go on then,” laughed Mrs Nicely. “As long as you help clear up and don’t leave a mess.”

“I promise!” cried Angela.