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party?”
    â€œSaturday morning?” Katie asked.
    â€œOr we could bake Friday night and decorate Saturday morning,” Emma suggested. “It’s always easier to decorate when the cupcakes are cool.”
    My mind was racing. Friday night. Saturday morning. When would I find time to sew?
    â€œUm, would you guys mind if I skipped baking Friday night?” I asked. “I only have a week to sew the dress for the contest and . . .”
    â€œOf course!” Katie said quickly. “But you can decorate Saturday morning, right? I mean, we really need you for that.”
    I nodded. I’d make it work somehow. “Sure.”
    â€œThat works for me,” Alexis said. “And that will give us time to get ready for the party that night.”
    The timer went off, and Alexis took the cupcakes out of the oven. Katie did that trick where you stick a toothpick in the center, and if it comes up clean, it means the cupcakes are done. Then we put them in the fridge to cool off quickly, because if you put icing on warm cupcakes, it will just be a melted mess.
    We started talking about George’s party again.
    â€œSo, Katie, are you and George going to his party together?” Alexis asked.
    â€œWell, George will already be there, so it’s not like we can go together,” Katie said.
    â€œYou know what I mean,” Alexis said. “Are yougoing together, like hanging out at the party as a couple?”
    Katie’s cheeks turned pink, and she shrugged. “Not really. It’s not like a school dance or something. And it’s not like he asked me. Why, are you going with Matt?”
    Matt is Emma’s brother, who’s a grade above us. Sometimes it seems like he and Alexis are all flirty with each other, and other times they’re just friends. It’s sometimes really weird for Emma to be in the middle.
    Now Alexis’s cheeks turned pink. “Well, George only invited kids from our grade, so Matt’s not going.” Then she looked at me. “What about you and Chris?”
    I’m pretty sure Chris likes me, because we have gone to stuff together, like the pep rally parade. I’d been so busy working on the dress that it hadn’t occurred to me that Chris hadn’t asked me to go to the party with him yet.
    â€œUm, I don’t know,” I answered, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “I haven’t talked to him much lately.”
    â€œWell, the party’s still a week away,” Katie said. “Maybe he’s just waiting to ask you.”
    I shrugged. “There’s no rule that says he has toask me to go with him. As long as we’re both there, right?”
    â€œOf course,” Emma assured me, only I wasn’t feeling so assured. It was kind of weird that Chris hadn’t asked me yet.
    Katie opened the fridge and poked one of the cupcakes. “They’re good,” she said. “Let’s get decorating.”
    â€œWe should taste test one without icing first, to see how the pumpkin flavor came out,” Alexis suggested.
    â€œGood idea,” Katie agreed. She cut one of the cupcakes into four pieces, and we each took a bite.
    â€œMmm, pumpkiny!” Emma said.
    â€œYes, the pumpkin flavor is nice,” Katie said thoughtfully. “It might just need a pinch more cinnamon, though.”
    I looked at the bowls of icing that Emma and Alexis had made: lime green, orange, purple, and dark chocolate brown.
    â€œSo, let’s do, like, four cupcakes in each color,” I suggested. “Then we can try different techniques on each.”
    Katie raised her hand. “I call purple!”
    A few minutes later we had the whole batch iced, and I quickly forgot about my dress and Chriswhile we experimented with the decorations. First, I took a chocolate-iced cupcake and stuck four pieces of licorice on each side to make spider legs. Then I added candy eyeballs.
    â€œHmm,” I mused,