For Emme, Baked with Love

For Emme, Baked with Love — page 7 — Who doesn’t like cake Emme answered with a meek shrug Well Daisy always says people don’t eat enough cake We open tomorrow officially by the way Carlos said grinning Whatever you do don’t miss the apple bars Daisy’s food is pure magic baked love What’s baked love Emme giggled You’ll know when you taste it Carlos said and laughed And when you meet Daisy It’s like this place just appeared overnight Emme said Last time I looked there were saws and hammers on display Magic everywhere I’ll tell ya Carlos said winking We’d been planning for a long time and then Daisy found this perfect location available right here in the middle of everything Now we’re installing ovens tables cabinets It’s going to be a special spot Carlos said He headed off down the block boxes perched high on his shoulder Come to the opening tomorrow he called back Emme’s stomach rumbled again at the idea of magic cake Who could resist something called baked love Not Emme She could use some extra love right about now Things at home had been a little tense When she peered inside the shop again Emme’s eyes fell upon an enormous clock mounted to the wall It was as large as a window The clock read

For Emme, Baked with Love — page 8 — eight-thirty Oh no How had it gotten so late Emme was going to miss the first bell at school She slung her bag back over her shoulder and speed-walked the four blocks over to PS 33 on the corner of 7th Luckily a handful of other kids were just making it up the steps in time for the second bell like she was Emme slipped quietly into her seat in the auditorium unnoticed Each morning all the classes gathered in the assembly room and waited for the teachers to come and collect their students But once a week there was a faculty meeting so the kids could count on the teachers being a little late those days Lucky for Emme today’s meeting seemed to be running extra long She could daydream for a little bit and she wouldn’t even get a late slip I’m so glad you’re here finally Lizzie said sneaking into the seat next to Emme She flipped her blond curly bob Did you finish the English homework Because I didn’t understand anything and I swear that math test next week is going to be impossible don’t you think I guess Emme mumbled her mind in a cloud of powdered sugar and chocolate frosting Lizzie leaned in and cocked her head I swear sometimes I think I could just die we get so much homework Emme Are you even listening Emme was always listening of course

For Emme, Baked with Love — page 9 — How could she not Because Lizzie was always talking Lizzie with her perfect purple top and harem pants Do you like apple bars Emme asked Apple what Lizzie frowned What are you talking about See I knew you weren’t listening Incoming a very peppy Trish decked out in bright green sweats and an orange hoodie came over and squeezed into a seat near the pair OMG that homework was so hard right I had volleyball last night and I waited until after practice to do it I thought it was going to be easy NOT Trish was Emme’s other best friend at school She had long auburn brown braids with rainbow beads that clicked and clacked every time she tossed her head As one of the top volleyball players on the middle school team Trish always made a racket when she spiked the ball She loved sports as much as Emme loved dessert Do you like apple bars Emme asked Trish What’s with the apple bars Seriously Ems Lizzie asked making a funny face Trish just laughed Actually she said I love apple bars Do you have one I’m still hungry even though I ate two breakfasts The loudspeaker boomed and one of the aides announced that the faculty meeting was running long Obviously Lizzie said so the teachers would not be down for ten more minutes The girls pulled

For Emme, Baked with Love — page 10 — out their homework to compare notes Emme plucked her English notebook from her backpack and showed the girls her answers You knew what to put for number six Lizzie asked Ugh I’m so jelly roll Jelly roll Emme asked and thought again of Daisy’s Desserts You know like jealous Trish said and highfived Lizzie And I’m a bit jelly too You are so much smarter than us Ems It must be so easy being you For sure Lizzie said sighing Emme shrugged like always Not really but thanks I guess Emme wished she could do more than just shrug but she wasn’t feeling anything more than meh Lizzie and Trish knew something was up but Emme wasn’t saying much lately She wasn’t doing much either besides her homework and hanging out in her bedroom playing Blox on her smartphone or reading another Inspector Morgan book This was a big change from how Emme usually acted Emme used to be the one who planned crazy activities for the three of them like beach day in January or dressing backward for school-spirit day Emme was the one who always texted the funniest cat memes or suggested they sell cotton candy instead of cookies for a school sale

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