“We need to come up with a new cupcake of the month,” Kylie told her fellow PLC-ers. “Something that’s wintery.” They had spread dozens of cookbooks on Kylie’s bed and were flipping through the pages, searching for ideas.
“What about angel food cake…with snow angels on top?” Lexi suggested, holding up her notebook. Sadie checked out her sketch: it was beautifully drawn as always, and the cupcakes looked heavenly.
“I’m thinking candy cane cupcakes—with peppermint frosting,” Jenna piped up. “Or what about hot cocoa cupcakes…with mini marshmallows? You know me…it’s all about the flavor.”
“I think those are all cool,” Kylie agreed. “Especially with the forecast this week. They’re predicting a major blizzard in the Northeast.”
“Can you say, ‘Snow Day’?” Jenna exclaimed. “I have this awesome flying saucer sled. Vamos a la nieve! Let it snow!”
“Snowball fight!” Kylie chimed in. “You are so going down, Jenna!”
“I’m just hoping it hits before Friday’s math quiz,” Sadie added. “Don’t you think they’ll close school if we get a foot of snow?”
“Probably, and that will give us a chance to work on our designs,” Lexi said, getting down to cupcake business. She grabbed her sketchbook and began drawing. “What if we sprinkled the top of a white chocolate cupcake with shredded coconut to look like a snowball?” She held up her sketch.
“Mr. Ludwig will love those for the Golden Spoon,” Kylie said. “Snowball cupcakes in honor of the blizzard!” The girls knew their steady customer would want a brand-new batch of cupcakes to sell in his gourmet shop in Greenwich as soon as possible. He’d already left Kylie two messages asking when he could get his delivery this week.
He was a loyal friend to Peace, Love, and Cupcakes. After all, he’d given them their very first business contract after sampling one of their chocolate cupcakes at a school event. Thanks to Mr. Ludwig, they had become more than just a Blakely Elementary School cupcake club. They were now a real baking business. But he wasn’t the most patient person on the planet!
“Maybe we should send out an email blast,” Jenna pointed out. “Let our customers know we’ve got new flavors. It might help our business pick up a little…”
Kylie flipped through their accounting log. Jenna was right. They had been selling five or six dozen fewer every week. Even Mr. Ludwig had reduced his weekly order from 300 to 240 cupcakes, and just this past weekend they’d had a birthday order cancellation at the last minute.
“I think it’s the economy,” Sadie said. “My dad says things are tough all over.”
Jenna nodded. “You can say that again.”
“Is your family okay?” Sadie had almost forgotten that Ms. Medina was a single mom with five kids. Jenna’s family didn’t have a lot of money to begin with, and her mom relied heavily on her job in a tailor shop.
“My mom says people always need their clothes sewn and hemmed. The less new stuff you can afford to buy, the more you have to fix what you have. She and my two older sisters have been pretty busy lately.”
Sadie was relieved. At least someone was doing well. She wished she could say the same for her family. She didn’t dare tell her parents that her basketball coach had mentioned buying new team uniforms this year. They’d freak because the uniform would cost a fortune.
“Maybe your mom could get a job as a seamstress,” Jenna suggested.
Sadie chuckled at the thought. Her mom couldn’t even sew on a button. Last year, Sadie had torn her track shorts before a meet and asked her mom to sew them. Her mom had no idea what to do with a needle and thread, so she’d used a stapler and tape to repair the shorts. Just as Sadie crossed the finish line, she heard “Rip!” and felt a draft. She didn’t realize what had happened until the track team captain pointed to her butt and giggled, “Nice polka-dot panties!”
“I don’t think my mom is the sewing type,” Sadie reflected.
“Well, what is she good at?” Lexi asked. “She must be good at something.”
Sadie twirled her ponytail. “Well, she’s good at being a mom. She always says it’s the best job anyone could ever have.”
“That’s true,” Lexi replied, “but it doesn’t pay much, does it?”
“Maybe you could help. Do some baby-sitting on the side,” Kylie offered.
Sadie already felt like she had three full-time jobs: the cupcake club, the basketball team, and being a fifth-grader. She couldn’t imagine piling more on her plate, but she felt like she needed to do something to help her family.
“We’re just going to have to make more money with PLC,” she told her friends. “I think the more money my family has, the less my parents will fight.”
She noticed that Kylie had been awfully quiet this whole time—which usually meant she was cooking up a crazy cupcake plan.
“Kylie?” Sadie tapped her friend on the shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
“I got it!” Kylie spun around in her desk chair. “Peace, Love, and Cupcakes Points!”
Sadie raised an eyebrow. “Points? Points for what? Like a video game?”
“It’s like the frequent-shopper cards my mom uses at the pharmacy and the grocery store,” Kylie explained. “For every cupcake you buy, you collect points until you earn enough to get a dozen free. In our case, if you buy three dozen cupcakes in a month, you get one dozen free.”
“That’s a great idea, Kylie!” Lexi exclaimed. “People will order from us every week to earn their cupcake points. We’ll have tons of orders!”
“And tons of deliveries to make,” Jenna pointed out. “What do we do about that?”
“Tyler and Corey will help with the deliveries,” Sadie volunteered. She knew she could convince them—especially if it helped make peace between their parents.
“Maybe we should paint Tyler’s car to look like a cupcake-mobile,” Lexi suggested. “Cupcake trucks are really popular in New York City. I saw a lot of them there when I was staying with Aunt Dee.”
Sadie shook her head. “I don’t think my brother would appreciate that. He thinks his Honda is a ‘babe magnet.’” The girls all giggled.
“What should we say in the email subject line?” Kylie asked. She opened her laptop and began typing.
“What about ‘Get to the point!’” Jenna joked. “As in PLC Points.”
Sadie thought about what would get her attention in an email. “How about, ‘Sweet Rewards: Free Cupcakes for PLC Customers!’”
“Love it!” Kylie high-fived her. “This is going to be our biggest selling week ever!”