Page 1 of Kylie’s Kakes

1

KYLIE

I carried the cake into Poppy's Place with both hands gripping it like my life depended on it. It was three layers of lemon and strawberry with buttercream piped into little ribbons and roses that I'd practiced on wax paper for hours before I trusted myself to do it for real. Super tall cakes were new for me, and this one was extra special.

It was for Poppy, and nothing was more special than her.

She opened the door before I could knock and pressed both hands to her mouth. "Kylie! You brought a cake?"

"It's your birthday cake." I stepped past her, carefully watching the top layer for any sign it was about to slide. "I know your birthday isn't until next month, but I wanted to test it out on people I trust before I try it again for real."

"You test cakes on us all the time, and I have never once complained." She shut the door and trailed me straight to the kitchen counter, hovering the way she always did when something exciting was happening. "It’s amazing. Everyone is gonna freak when they see this."

She wasn't wrong. By the time I had it placed on the cake stand and stepped back to look at my own work, Willa had already wandered over with a juice box in one hand and huge eyes.

"Okay, wait." She put the box down without drinking any of it, and I could see her finger priming to dig into it. "How did you make something that looks like a wedding cake for a birthday cake?"

"It's just three layers." I rolled my eyes on the outside but was jumping for joy on the inside as I wiped my hands on my apron. I was wearing the one with little bumblebees that Poppy's mom had made me for Christmas. "It’s not that impressive. I’ve been practicing with piping and figured this was the best way to experiment."

"If this is an experiment…" Willa glanced at Poppy like they were sharing a secret, "I will be your guinea pig every day of the week."

Poppy and Willa each sliced off a piece as the other girls filed in. “Jasmine, try some too.” Poppy handed Jasmine a fork and Willa did the same to Cassie.

I stood there wringing my apron strings while the Little Lovelies all tasted my cake and made noises I couldn’t completely comprehend. They sounded good…but they might also be bad. “Well?”

"Oh my god." Jasmine closed her eyes and shook her head. "It’s sooo good, Kylie."

"Yeah?" I already thought it was good from my own taste-testing, but hearing someone else say it out loud was a totally different thing.

"It's not good." Willa pointed her fork at me like it was a weapon. "It's amazing. Orgasmic, even."

Everyone laughed, and Cassie leaned over the counter to cut herself a second piece before the first one was even finished.

"I don’t know how your orgasms work, but mine aren’t like this at all." Poppy licked frosting off her thumb. "But this is still very good."

"I'm just saying." Willa shrugged and went back to her slice. "Somebody needs to lock this down before the rest of us start hoarding her for ourselves."

"You should be selling these." Cassie said it around a mouthful of cake, which somehow didn't make it less convincing. "Like, actually selling them. Not as a hobby thing for your friends."

"I have a job." It was my go-to excuse whenever this subject came up. And it came up more and more often as my cakes got more elaborate. "And I like my job."

"You can like your job and also have a side hustle." Poppy handed me a plate of my own cake, and I reluctantly accepted it. I hated eating my cakes in front of other people. I was always afraid my face would give away how much I liked them. "You can totally handle a few paying customers now and then in addition to the Bean Box."

“Maybe.” I laughed it off like usual, but the idea was always in the back of my mind. Maybe someday… “Who wants to help set up the paper dolls?”

“I do!” Everyone was quick to chime in and move on to a funner subject. That was what I appreciated most about the Little Lovelies. They knew when to give tough love, but they also knew when to back off.

For the rest of the night, we had a perfect playdate. Poppy strung fairy lights along the bookshelf and set out a table full of goodie bags. We got lip gloss and stickers and those little foil-wrapped candies that always ended up stuck to the bottom of a bag, but we ate them anyway. Jasmine made friendship bracelets for everyone, and I immediately put mine on. It was a soft pink with a tiny cake charm on it that she must have hunted down specifically for me.

“It’s so amazing, Jas!” I stared at it on my wrist and didn't take it off for the rest of the night.

We had paper dolls spread out across the living room floor for a fashion show. Lying on my tummy, I was walking my doll down the runway when Poppy straddled my back to fix my hair.

“It’s coming loose.” She pulled out my ribbon and then worked her fingers through my hair to comb through it. “I’mma fishtail it.”

“Okay, thanks!” It was nice to have someone just jump in and do stuff for me. Nobody had to ask for help when we were together. Someone was always around to notice when help was needed and do it.

But then I always had to go home and be all by myself again.