Sweet Victory (3 page)

Sadie perched herself on one kitchen stool and rested her cast on another.

“Well, look who's here! Welcome home!” said Herbie, PLC's new advisor. Juliette, their original advisor, had left her younger brother in charge when she got married and moved to London. Herbie tried hard, but he didn't
quite
get the whole cupcaking thing. He was more of a robotics-engineering guy—though he did have a sweet tooth and a good heart.

“Yeah, I'm back,” Sadie said with a sigh. It felt strange to be in the Blakely teachers' lounge after so many weeks. She couldn't help feeling like an outsider. Hadn't the girls gotten along just fine without her? What could she possibly do to help them in this condition?

“First order of new business,” Kylie said, calling the meeting to order. “I want to welcome back Sadie to the mix!”

Lexi and Jenna applauded enthusiastically. “And I'm sure Delaney will second that motion when she gets here,” Kylie added.

“Did I just hear my name?” Delaney asked, racing through the door. Her school, Weber Day, was a few miles away from Blakely. “Sorry, my mom was late picking me up. What did I miss?”

“Just Sadie's return to cupcaking,” Kylie said.

“Yay, Sadie!” Delaney cheered. “We missed you!”

“It's good to be back,” Sadie replied, “but a little weird. What if I forgot how to do stuff? What if I mess up a recipe?”

“Only one way to find out.” Kylie handed her a glass bowl and a carton of eggs. “Work your magic.”

In seconds, Sadie had expertly cracked all twelve eggs with one hand without even breaking a sweat.

Jenna examined her handiwork. “Amazing. Not a single eggshell.
Chica
, you've still got it.”

Sadie smiled. “So what's on the agenda for the weekend?”

Kylie held up an email on her phone. “How about a hula-rious cupcake order? It's for a surprise thirtieth birthday with a Hawaiian luau theme.”

“Ooh! I can pipe those pretty Hawaiian flowers,” Lexi said, grabbing the phone out of Kylie's hand to read the details. “You know, white, pink, and yellow plumeria?”

“I think we should use a decorating tip and make green grass icing,” Delaney suggested. “Like those grass skirts the hula girls wear?” She snatched Jenna's fringed scarf from around her neck and tied it around her waist.

“Aloha-oy! Aloha-oy!” She sang and swayed around the kitchen, waving her arms in the air.

“Aloha-oy…
dios mío
!” Jenna quipped. “You look like you're swatting mosquitoes!”

“I believe it's ‘aloha oe,'” Herbie pointed out, arriving just in time to add his two cents. “It means ‘farewell to thee' or ‘hello' or ‘love.'”

Sadie chuckled. She had missed her friends acting silly and Herbie being a know-it-all. The way they acted made every cupcake club meeting more than just business—it was fun.

“What if we sprinkled blue frosting with something that looked like sand?” she suggested. “Like crushed graham crackers.”

“That's brilliant, Sadie!” Lexi exclaimed. “Why didn't I think of that?”

Jenna smacked her lips together. “The flavors could be very Hawaiian: pineapple, coconut, and passion fruit.”

Kylie climbed up on a step stool and rummaged through the pantry shelves. “I know I saw some cans of crushed pineapple in here,” she said. “We used it for that pineapple upside-down cupcake order a few weeks ago.”

“Toss me down some shredded coconut while you're at it,” Jenna said. “And some brown sugar and cream of coconut too. We can do a test batch on the pineapple coconut ones and pick up the rest of the ingredients tomorrow.”

“Hey, Lanie—luau's over.” Lexi snapped her fingers. “I need help making the frosting and filling the piping bags.”

“Fine,” Delaney said, taking off her makeshift hula skirt and handing it back to Jenna. “But I still think it would be awesome to go to a luau.”

“Then why don't we?” Sadie suggested. “Why doesn't PLC deliver these cupcakes wearing authentic Hawaiian costumes?”

“My mom could sew them,” Jenna volunteered. “
No problema.
I'm thinking some really loud Hawaiian print tops, silk flower leis, and grass skirts.”

“Just make a skirt long enough to cover Sadie's cast,” Delaney reminded her. “It kinda clashes with the rest of the outfit.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. Delaney was always concerned about looking stylish!

“
No te preocupes
,” Jenna insisted. “Not to worry.”

Herbie held up his hand in protest. “Oh no! I draw the line at wearing a coconut-shell bikini top.”

“You're off the hook, Herbie,” Kylie assured him, trying not to crack up. “You can drive us to the country club where they're having the party, but we'll do the actual hula entrance and cupcake handoff.”

“Phew!” Herbie mopped his brow with the back of his sleeve. “I'd be happy, however, to accompany you on the ukulele for your presentation.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “You play the ukulele? Seriously?”

“I've been known to dabble,” Herbie answered.

“Sand…hula skirts…Hawaiian flavors…Herbie's ukulele…” Kylie jotted down a list. “Are we leaving anything out?”

“Hello? The big 3–0!” Lexi reminded her. “It's a thirtieth birthday party. How do we represent that?”

“We could use thirty ingredients in each cupcake!” Delaney piped up.

“And we could be up all night baking!” Jenna corrected her. “That's a whole lotta ingredients to pack in one tiny cupcake.”

“What about arranging the cupcakes so they form the numbers three and zero?” Sadie said. “I'm no math genius, but I think that's a simple solution.”

“Sadie scores again!” Lexi patted her friend on the back. “That's perfect. We could build a wooden sandbox, fill it with our cookie crumb sand, and arrange the cupcakes to form a thirty in it.”

“Then it's a plan,” Kylie said, shutting the cover to her Peace, Love, and Cupcakes club binder. “And a pretty cool one at that!”

Jenna insisted the girls meet extra-early Saturday at Kylie's to try on their Hawaiian costumes.

“This is yours,” she said, handing a light-pink floral crop top to Lexi. Each top had a matching grass skirt. “And this…” she announced, pulling a baby-blue shirt with dolphins on it and an extra-long skirt out of a bag, “is yours, Sadie.”

“What about me?” Delaney asked, trying to sneak a peek in the other bag Jenna had brought with her.

“
Paciencia!
” Jenna said, playfully slapping Delaney's hand. She handed Kylie a bright-green top with palm trees on it and donned her own royal-blue shirt, dotted with the Hawaiian Islands.

“Last but not least,” she said, pulling a bright-red halter top covered in sequined flowers out of her bag, “this is for Delaney!”

“Whoa!” Delaney said, holding it up for size. “This is so me!”

“That is so loud!” Lexi gasped, shielding her eyes. Even the grass skirt was made of red metallic fringe instead of the ordinary green.

“Like I said, it's so me!” Delaney squealed with delight. She threw her arms around Jenna. “Thank you, thank you!”

Jenna squirmed. “
De nada!
I thought you'd go loco for it.”

“Are we ready to head out?” Herbie asked, inviting himself in to gather the girls and the cupcakes. “I've got my ukulele all tuned up.”

“In a sec,” Sadie said, placing her crutches under her arms. She watched as her friends each took a box of cupcakes. She felt useless.

“It's okay, Sadie.” Kylie read her mind. “We got it.”

“I know. I just wish I could pitch in more. I'm not used to being on the bench.”

When they arrived at the party, the birthday girl's bestie, Bernadette, was in the party room shushing everyone and instructing them to duck under tables and behind chairs. The girls found a large table in the center of the room and arranged the cupcakes in the sandbox to form the numbers three and zero.

“Oh, these are amazing—and you guys even dressed the part!” Bernadette exclaimed.

“I choreographed an authentic Hawaiian hula for us to do for the birthday girl,” Delaney bragged.

“Wow, that's what I call a special delivery,” Bernadette replied. “Melanie will love it.”

“Melanie will be here any minute,” a guest said, waving her watch in Bernadette's face.

Bernadette flew into action. “Oh my gosh! Shut off the light! Hide! We don't want to ruin the surprise!”

The PLC girls did as they were told, scooting behind the long red velvet curtains in the party room. The room was now pitch-dark.

“I love a surprise!” Delaney said, barely able to contain her excitement.

“Here she comes!” another one of the friends whispered. “Everybody, on the count of three, yell ‘surprise.' One…two…three…”

“SURPRISE!” the guests all shouted—but the lights didn't come on. Melanie couldn't see a single decoration or partygoer.

“Um, who's there?” she asked, confused.

“Someone get the light,” called a voice from across the room.

“Don't you think I tried?” moaned Bernadette. “There's something wrong with it.”

Sadie came out from behind the curtains and hobbled her way over to the center of the room, using her crutches to feel the way in front of her. She leaned on one crutch while she held the other one high above her head, trying to reach the light fixture hanging from the ceiling. She was tall, but the ceiling was nearly seven feet high.

“I've almost got it.” She strained, trying to reach while keeping her balance. Finally, the rubber tip of her crutch tapped the fixture and the light flickered on.

“
Hooray
!
” the crowd cheered.

Sadie smiled. For the first time in a long time, she felt useful.

“How did you know what to do?” Kylie asked her.

“It happens all the time with our basement light,” Sadie explained. “The bulb sometimes gets a little loose and you have to jiggle it.”

“Good show, Sadie,” Herbie commended her. “You saved the day.”

“No,” Delaney corrected him before picking up a cupcake to hand out. “You saved our hula! Hit it, Herbie!”

Dr. Cohan examined Sadie's X-ray one more time. “I think it's time we took that cast off,” she said brightly.

“Today? You can take it off today?” Sadie's eyes lit up. She had waited patiently for nearly six weeks to hear those words.

“Of course, you'll have to go easy on your foot at first. No running down the court and no skateboarding till it gets stronger,” the doctor told her. “And I'll want you to start physical therapy—”

“Anything!” Sadie cut her off. “Anything at all. Just as long as I can toss these crutches out the window!”

“How about you toss them in the closet instead,” Dr. Cohan suggested. “Just in case you ever need them again.”

“Oh no,” Sadie vowed. “I learned my lesson! From now on, no crazy stunts that can land me in the hospital!”

Mrs. Harris smiled. “Can I get that in writing?”

• • •

Sadie couldn't wait to go to the PLC meeting at Kylie's that night and show all her friends she was back.

“No more cast!” Kylie cheered as Sadie skipped into the living room. “I'm so happy for you!”

“That makes two of us,” Sadie said. “I feel light as a feather.”

“How long till you can play basketball?” Jenna asked. “Coach Walsh will be psyched.”

“At least another month.” Sadie sighed. “But it's so close, I can taste it!”

She decided she'd go to her coach's office the next morning and share her great news. She found Coach Walsh sitting at her desk, taking notes and studying her laptop screen.

“Hey, Coach!” Sadie called, then excitedly repeated everything the doctor had said. Coach Walsh didn't look up once from her work.

“Did you hear me? I can come back to the team in a few more weeks,” Sadie said.

“I heard you,” her coach replied, still staring down. “The Bears will be very happy to have you back.”

Sadie couldn't believe her ears. Has she said or done something wrong? “But, aren't you happy to have me back?”

Coach Walsh sighed and put down her pen. “Sadie, there's something I need to tell you. I'm not going to be coaching the team for a while.”

Sadie shook her head. “What? Why?” She couldn't imagine the Blakely Bears without Coach Walsh.

“I have to take a break,” her coach said softly.

Sadie's heart did a flip-flop in her chest. “What do you mean
a brea
k
? Why would you do that?”

“I'm going on a leave of absence for a while,” her coach explained. “I haven't told any of your teammates yet, so please keep this between us until I do.”

“But, Coach,” Sadie said, “we need you!” She could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes. What she really wanted to say was, “I need you!” When she'd been so scared of her surgery, her coach was the only one who knew how to help her through it.

“I don't want to leave,” Coach Walsh said. “Believe me, it's the last thing I ever wanted. But I don't have a choice, Sadie.”

Sadie tried to wrap her brain around what her coach was saying. Why wouldn't she have a choice to stay or go? Then she saw what her coach was jotting notes on—a cancer awareness website—and it came to her.

“You're sick, aren't you?” Sadie said, the tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. “Is that it?”

“Doughnut worry, okay?” Coach Walsh said, forcing a smile. “Remember what I told you about staying positive?”

That was easy to say when it was a broken bone. But Sadie could tell that her coach was putting on a brave face for her.

“Will you be alright?” Sadie asked her.

“I hope so.”

“But you don't know for sure?”

“Sadie,”—Coach Walsh put a hand on her shoulder—“nothing in life is sure. And to be honest, I prefer it that way. If you knew you would win every basketball game, what would be the point of playing? Isn't not knowing part of what makes it exciting?”

“And scary,” Sadie added.

“Yes, and sometimes scary. But like I told you once before, you have to face the fear head-on. I'm going to fight this. In the meantime, I'm trying to find a coach to replace me.”

“No one could replace you,” Sadie insisted. “That isn't possible.”

“I appreciate that. But I still need to find someone fast.”

• • •

The entire day, Sadie couldn't shrug off the heavy feeling weighing her down. She had no idea how to help Coach Walsh—or if she even wanted Sadie's help. She couldn't bear the idea of her coach
not
getting better. And she'd promised to keep this a secret, as hard and painful as that was.

Kylie spotted Sadie at her locker and raced over to show her a crazy cupcake order that had just come in over email. “You won't believe this,” she said. “This lady wants us to bake cupcakes for her pet rat! What flavor are we supposed to do? Stinky cheese? Garbage?”

Sadie was too distracted and upset to care. “Whatever,” she said.

Kylie knew instantly something was up. Usually Sadie would have laughed and tossed out a few funny suggestions. “You okay, Sadie?” she asked gently. “I thought you were so happy about getting your cast off.”

“I was. I am,” Sadie replied.

“Well, you have a funny way of showing happy. You look like you just lost a friend.”

“Don't say that!” Sadie snapped at her. “Mind your own beeswax!”

Kylie raised an eyebrow. “Sadie, what's wrong?”

“I have to go,” Sadie said, pushing past her. “I'm late to class.”

She knew Kylie meant well, but it hurt too much to think about losing Coach Walsh—for the rest of the season or forever.