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standing back. “It still needs something.”
    â€œSprinkles!” Katie said, handing me a small jar of chocolate sprinkles. “That will make the body look nice and fuzzy, like a tarantula.”
    I carefully applied sprinkles to the top of the cupcake. “You’re a genius!” I cried. “This looks great.”
    Katie grinned. “I learned from the best.”
    Emma held up a cupcake with purple icing. She had made a monster face with jelly bean eyes and a gel-icing mouth with candy-corn teeth.
    â€œThat is so cute!” Katie cried. “Now I want to make a monster, too!”
    I took a cupcake with lime green icing and stared at it. Then I picked up six round fruit candies in different colors and put them on top to look like eyeballs. I used a gel-icing pen to draw a black dot inside each “eye.” Then I picked up a skinny length of red licorice, cut off a short piece, and shaped it into a grimace on the monster’s face. A jelly bean made the perfect tongue.
    â€œThe kids are going to love these monster cupcakes,” Alexis said. “Perfect. We’ll need to take pictures of the cupcakes we make for the party and add them to our website. I’ll bet we get a lot more Halloween bookings next year.”
    â€œGood idea,” I said. I wiped off my hands and took out my phone. “Let me take some pictures now, so that we can remember what we did when we make them for real next week.”
    Then I yawned. It had been a really long weekend.
    â€œMia! You just made me yawn too!” Katie said, covering her mouth.
    â€œYawns are contagious,” Emma said, yawning. “It’s a scientific fact.”
    â€œIs that really true?” Alexis asked, but then she broke into a yawn too. “Okay, maybe it is.”
    â€œLet’s get everything cleaned up,” Katie said. “Suddenly, I can’t stop thinking about my comfy bed.”
    I took pictures of our designs, and then we all cleaned up the kitchen. I texted Mom, and she came to pick me up a few minutes later.
    â€œSo, did you and Katie work things out?” she asked.
    â€œYes!” I replied. “Right away.”
    Mom smiled. “That’s nice, Mia. And it makes me happy.”
    â€œMe too,” I said. “But I’ll be happier when my dress is done and all these Halloween parties are over. I don’t know how I’m going to do it all!”
    â€œJust take it one day at a time, Mia,” Mom said. “Then it won’t seem like such a big mountain to climb.”
    â€œI guess,” I said, leaning back in my seat, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to be so easy.
    I didn’t know it yet, but some things were going to be easier than I thought—and some things were going to be a lot harder.

CHAPTER 7
If I Could Go Back in Time . . .
    S o, in the week leading up to George’s party, I did two pretty dumb things. I hate to use that word, but I still look back on that week and think, You know, you really could have done that differently, Mia. That was really dumb.
    But I should start at the beginning. The day after our cupcake test was a Monday, and it ended up being a pretty regular day. As soon as I got home from school, I did all my homework, which took me two long hours. I started sewing right away, but by the time I threaded my sewing machine and lined up my seams with the needle, Mom was calling me for dinner.
    At the table, I started shoveling chicken breast and sautéed broccoli into my mouth even fasterthan Dan usually does. Eddie raised an eyebrow.
    â€œWhere’s the fire, Mia?” he asked.
    I dropped my fork. “Fire? What fire?”
    Eddie chuckled. “Sorry, it’s an expression. You’re eating so fast, I thought maybe you were hurrying to put out a fire somewhere.”
    â€œWell, I guess it’s like a metaphor,” I said, channeling my English homework. “Finishing this dress is