Mia's Recipe for Disaster (8 page)

“Oh man, this is crazy!” Katie said happily as we stepped inside.

George pushed his way past a kid dressed as a
mummy and walked up to us. He was dressed like a hot dog: he wore a big stuffed hot dog in a bun, with mustard, over his shirt. On the bottom he wore jeans and sneakers.

“Katie! You're a chef! You can cook me!” he cried.

Katie waved the rubber chicken at him. “Hot dogs and chicken, mmm.”

Then he looked at me. “Wow, is that you, Mia? Awesome. But where's your big red nose?”

“I told her she should wear it,” Katie said.

“Hey, I'm in costume, right?” I pointed out. “And I don't see any other clowns here.”

Most of the boys had opted for gory zombie costumes, with gross, bloody faces and torn clothes. And most of the girls wore cute costumes from the party store, with short, frilly skirts.

“Well, I'll
ketchup
to you later,” George joked, pushing off into the crowd again.

“But you're wearing mustard!” Katie called after him, laughing.

“Oh my gosh, Mia!”

I spun around to see Alexis, Matt, and Emma standing there. Alexis had on a cute black dress and a black witch hat. Matt was dressed like a basketball player (which he is in real life). And Emma was an
adorable fairy in a pink dress with a fluffy organza skirt, glittery white wings, and a fairy wand with an aluminum foil star at the top.

“You look amazing!” Emma said. “I love your makeup.”

“Thanks!” I said. “Katie hooked me up with a costume at the last minute. I know it's goofy, but—”

“It's supercute,” Emma interrupted. “And nobody else here is wearing anything like it. But there are a dozen fairies here.”

“You could start a fairy baseball team,” Katie joked.

“And, anyway, your dress is really beautiful,” I said.

Emma nodded. “Mona lent it to me,” she said. Mona is a Cupcake customer who owns The Special Day bridal shop, where Emma models part-time. “It was a special-order bridesmaid's dress, and then the order was canceled. I got the cheapest wings at the costume store and put glitter on them, and Jake helped me make the wand.”

“It's perfect!” Katie said. “How about you, Alexis?”

“Well, I borrowed this dress from Dylan, and I got the hat at the dollar store,” Alexis said.

“Economical and chic,” I told her, laughing.

Then her expression suddenly changed to a look of unhappy surprise.

“Alexis, what's wrong?” I asked.

“Um, well, Chris is here,” she said.

I turned and followed her gaze to the front door, where Chris was walking in . . . with Talia Robinson. She's in a couple of my classes, but I don't really know her. I didn't think Chris knew her, either, but he obviously did, because it looked like he had come to the party with her.

Chris was dressed like the old-fashioned kind of vampire, with a red bow tie and black cape. Talia looked like a girl vampire with pale makeup, a black T-shirt, a short denim skirt, tights, and boots. Plastic fake fangs stuck out from her red lipstick. She looked totally cute.

I looked down at my polka-dotted clown suit and red, floppy shoes and wished I could sink into the floor. Chris had taken another girl to the party. Another girl! And she wasn't wearing a ridiculous clown costume, either.

Katie must have read my mind. “Maybe they're just walking in at the same time,” she said.

But then George walked up to them and started talking to them, and I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were all laughing, and then Chris
kind of put his arm around Talia and led her over to the food table in the dining room.

“Unbelievable,” Alexis said, and she sounded a little bit angry. “What is he doing here with her? He likes you.”

“It's my fault,” I said miserably. “Matt is right. I totally blew him off, and he took somebody else.”

“He shouldn't have given up on you,” Emma said. “He wouldn't have if he really liked you.”

I looked at Matt. “What do you think?”

Matt shrugged. “Maybe Talia asked him, and he figured, why not? He could still like you.”

Then the song “Monster Mash” came on over the speakers. Katie grabbed my hand.

“I love this song! We have to dance,” she commanded.

“Dance? In this clown costume? I will trip over my own feet!” I protested.

“We'll all dance,” Emma said, and I let Katie drag me into the middle of the room. She started doing this dance, where she waved the rubber chicken over her head, and then George came up and started break-dancing (which was impressive, considering he was wearing a hot dog costume). Then other people started joining us, like my friends Lucy and Sophie, and Eddie Rossi, who
is taller than anybody in our grade, but he didn't look goofy at all when he danced.

Pretty soon I forgot about Chris and started having fun. Everyone was talking and dancing and hanging out. Then I got thirsty.

“I'm going to get some water,” I told my friends, heading toward the dining room.

That's when my big clown feet bumped right into Chris! He turned around, and for a second he didn't recognize me. Then I saw him blush underneath his vampire makeup.

“Oh, hi, Mia,” he said.

I looked behind him, but I didn't see Talia. “I thought you were here with Talia Robinson,” I said, trying to sound like I didn't care, but I could hear my voice shaking.

“Well, yeah, I am, but uh . . . she's outside.” Chris shifted back and forth on his feet. This whole situation was Awkward with a capital
A
.

I took a deep breath. “Listen,” I said. “I'm sorry I didn't talk to you in the cafeteria the other day. I'm entering this big fashion design contest, and it's kept me busy for every second.”

Chris nodded. “Yeah, okay.” Then he kind of looked away from me. “I guess I thought you were just blowing me off.”

“I didn't mean to,” I said. I wanted to say,
I like you—why would I blow you off?
For some reason I couldn't bring myself to say the words. “Anyway, you could have asked me before you asked Talia.”

“That's not what happened,” Chris said. “It was— Whatever. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

“Me too,” I said, and then there was just awkward silence.

“Okay, then,” I said finally. “Happy Halloween.”

“You too,” Chris said, and I grabbed a bottle of water and got out of there as fast as my floppy feet could carry me.

When I got back to the living room, Katie, Emma, and Alexis were all staring at me.

“What did he say?” Alexis asked.

“He said he was sorry,” I reported. “It was kind of awkward. Can we just forget about it for now?”

“Of course,” Katie said, grabbing my hand again. “George says he's bobbing for apples on the front lawn. I have got to see this!”

So I let Katie drag me out into the night, and because I was with my friends, and because Katie and George are hilarious, I had a good time, no matter what was happening with Chris.

And how lame is it to dress like a vampire, anyway? I mean, vampires are so last year!

A
fter I washed off my makeup that night, I climbed into bed, exhausted. I was glad I was so tired. Otherwise, I might have had trouble sleeping, because my mind was full of thoughts about Chris and Talia, not to mention that the contest deadline was only days away.

I woke up groggy but with a weird energy coursing through me—it was now or never. I'd heard people use the expression “adrenalin rush”—when you're really nervous or excited and get a sudden burst of energy—but it had never happened to me personally. I had about three hours left to finish the dress before I had to head to Angelo Ricco's party with the Cupcake Club.

“Mia, you have to eat breakfast,” Mom insisted
when she heard the sound of my sewing machine going.

“Can't eat. Have to finish,” I told her.

“Mia,” Mom said sternly, and I sighed and went downstairs. After a bowl of granola and a glass of OJ, I was back at work.

Finally, I finished the last seam. I carefully cut my thread and slid the dress out of the machine. I hung it on a hanger and put the cape over it.

“Not bad,” I said, admiring my own work. I could see a few places where thread was hanging out, and the back zipper looked a tiny bit crooked, but I could probably fix that after the fitting.

Then I looked at the clock. It was only eleven! I had plenty of time to get ready.

I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I took a long, hot shower and left the conditioner on my hair for a full three minutes, just like the bottle said. I properly blow-dried my hair and even used some shine oil on it. Then I put on my pink Cupcake Club T-shirt and my favorite pair of skinny jeans.

By the time Alexis's mom came by in her minivan to pick me up, I was feeling like myself again. Like the old, calm, confident Mia. I would go to the party and help out the Cupcake Club. I would
enter the contest on time—and win! And then I would talk to Chris and see if he still liked me. I had a feeling that he did.

Mom had lent me a garment bag, so I could safely get the dress to the party. I carefully hung it up on a hook in the backseat of the minivan. Alexis, Emma, and Katie were already in the car, and our cupcakes and table decorations were stacked back in the hatch.

“Mia! I missed your face,” Katie said when I climbed into the seat neat to her. “You didn't look like you with that makeup on last night.”

Mrs. Becker turned and smiled at us. “Do you girls have everything? Are we set to go?”

“Check and check, Mom,” Alexis told her, and then we drove to the Riccos' house.

The Riccos lived in a ranch-style house with a big, green front lawn covered with orange and yellow leaves and dotted with jack-o'-lanterns.

“It's like a regular pumpkin patch,” Katie remarked as we made our way to the front door.

A woman dressed like a fortune-teller greeted us.

“Hi, Mrs. Ricco,” Emma said.

“Emma! I'm so glad you're here,” she said.

Emma introduced us. “This is Alexis, Katie, and Mia,” she said. “We'll set up the cupcake table and
then help you with whatever you need, okay?”

“Oh, I am so glad to see you girls,” Mrs. Ricco said, motioning for us to follow her inside. “I've got the rest of the food set up, but I still need to fill all the goody bags. If you wouldn't mind helping me with that, I'd love it.”

“No problem,” Emma said. “It won't take us too long to set up the table.”

Mrs. Ricco led us down to the bottom floor of the house, which was one big family room. Orange and black crepe-paper streamers looped down from the ceiling, and handmade paper ghosts decorated the walls.

She stopped in front of a small folding table in the corner. “Will this work?” she asked.

“It's perfect,” replied Alexis. “We'll get started right away.”

I was still holding the garment bag. “Um, Emma said it would be okay if she tried on the dress here, later. Is there someplace I can put it?”

“Oh, sure,” Mrs. Ricco said. “I think it's so fantastic that you've designed your own dress. I can't wait to see it. Here, we can hang it up in the laundry room.”

“Thanks,” I said, following her, and soon the dress was safely hanging from a metal rack.

Then I got to work helping my friends. Alexis had bought two tablecloths, one orange and one black, and I folded them and draped them so that you could see both colors on the table. Then Katie set up the two round black tiers that we used to hold our cupcakes (we have two sets, white and black, and they manage to work for all kinds of events). I took some of the cobwebby stuff that Alexis had bought and piled it all around the tiers.

“Spooky!” Katie said, standing back to get a good look.

“And now, the cupcakes,” Emma said, holding up the carrier. “I think we should put a mix on each tier.”

“Good idea,” Alexis agreed.

Mrs. Ricco came over to watch. “Oh my gosh, these look yummy!” she said. “I just have to taste one.”

Alexis handed her a jack-o'-lantern cupcake. “This one is pumpkin, our new flavor.”

Mrs. Ricco didn't grab a napkin or anything. She ripped off the wrapper and bit right in.

“This is delicious,” she said after her first bite. Then she walked toward the stairs. “Angelo! Come and see the delicious cupcakes these wonderful girls made for you.”

Ten seconds later a little boy in a Spider-Man costume (without the mask) came bounding down the stairs.

“Cupcakes! Yay!” he said. Then he looked at Emma. “Where's Jake?”

“Hi, Angelo! He'll be here soon, when your party starts,” Emma promised.

Then the doorbell rang. Mrs. Ricco sighed. “That must be my sister, Laura. She's always early. I'll be back down with the goody bag stuff!”