Katie and the Cupcake War by Coco Simon

said, emphasizing the last word, and then she winked.
    â€œI’ll have ten!” Wes cried, and then he ran to the table.
    Mia looked at me, and her eyes were wide. “I can’t believe they’re doing this!”
    Then it hit me. “Wait, I recognize those cupcakes. Mrs. Wilson makes them for Christmas every year. She calls them rum ball cupcakes, but she uses imitation rum extract. I know because my mom told me. I’ve been eating them since I was little. They taste like rum, but there’s no alcohol in them.”
    â€œMaybe. But they’re trying to make everyone think there is,” Mia pointed out.
    â€œWe’d better tell Alexis and Emma,” I said, and we made our way back to the booth.
    Emma and Alexis were shocked after we reported what the BFC were doing.
    â€œSo that’s their secret plan,” Alexis said. “They must think they’ll sell tons of cupcakes if everyone thinks there’s alcohol in them.”
    â€œWell, it’s working,” Emma said, glancing at their booth. “Look!”
    There was a long line at the BFC stand, mostly made up of boys.
    Alexis shook her head. “This is so unfair.”
    â€œI guess, but they’re not really doing anything wrong, are they?” I asked. “We knew they were going to do something big. So we’ve just got to try harder, that’s all.”
    â€œKatie’s right,” Mia said. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Get your groovy cupcakeshere! Tie-dyed cupcakes! You’ve never seen anything like them!”
    I joined in. “See how delicious peace can be!” I yelled. “Give peace a chance!” I knew I sounded silly, but I had to say something. I wasn’t going to let the BFC win!

CHAPTER 14
Big Trouble for the BFC
    F or the next hour I stayed focused on selling. I poured milk. Mia and Emma handed out cupcakes, and Alexis worked the cash box. I tried not to think of all the great business the BFC was getting, but it was hard not to. Those marching band kids kept playing the same school spirit songs over and over.
    â€œThat music is making me crazy!” I cried. “I wish we had our own band. Then we could drown them out.”
    â€œHey, I have an idea,” Mia said. She took out her cell phone and then nodded to Emma. “Be right back.”
    A few minutes later Mia came back with a big smile on her face, but she didn’t say what she was planning. After about fifteen minutes her stepdadshowed up with one of those boom-box docking stations. He popped in an iPod.
    â€œWhere do you want this, Mia?” Eddie asked.
    â€œOn the end of the table,” she said. “And crank it up!”
    Eddie nodded and then turned on the iPod, and a song by the Beatles started playing.
    Mia grinned. “Eddie has a whole playlist of sixties songs. Perfect, right?”
    â€œGlad I could help,” Eddie said. “How are your sales going?”
    I glanced at the table. A lot of cake stands were empty.
    â€œWe’ve sold one hundred and thirty-two cupcakes, but we’ve got to sell them all if we’re going to meet our total from last year,” Alexis reported.
    â€œDon’t forget the milk,” Emma reminded her.
    â€œOh, that’s right!” Alexis said. She looked down at her notepad. “We’ve sold fifty-nine cups of milk.”
    I looked in the cooler. “We’re almost out of milk,” I reported. “And we still need to recycle the bottles before the end of the fund-raiser.”
    Eddie gave us a funny little bow. “At your service, ladies. I’m going to walk around. Give a yell when you want me to take them back to the store for you.”
    As Mia’s stepdad started to walk away, he stopped and did a goofy dance to the music. Mia groaned and rolled her eyes. “Stop! Please! You’re going to drive away all our customers!”
    Eddie smiled and danced away. He might have been