Excerpts

Chapter 1

Sadie Harris zipped down Frisbee Street on her new RipStik board, imagining herself carving down a powdery white ski slope.

"Yes!" she cheered as she took each curb expertly. She came to a screeching halt at Kylie Carson's house and waved to her friend. Thanks to her new speedy means of transportation-a Christmas gift from her two older brothers-she was the first to arrive at the cupcake club meeting.

"Does that thing only have two wheels?" Kylie gasped. "Sadie, you are a maniac!"

"It's so cool!" Sadie said, picking up the bright-red caster board and flipping it upside down to show Kylie its design. "I can do all these sick tricks-even a three-sixty turn. It's like a snowboard on wheels!"

Kylie nodded. "Yeah, I almost broke my neck on the bunny slope when my parents took me skiing last year. Better keep me far away from anything that goes fast and downhill."

Sadie smiled. "I could teach you sometime. It's really not hard."

"Not hard for you," Kylie replied. "You ace every sport you try. My parents nicknamed me 'Kylie Klutzarina' when I was three for a reason."

"It has a nice ring to it," Sadie teased her friend. She gave Kylie a playful punch in the arm.

"Since you're so sporty, you're gonna love our latest order," Kylie said. "It's pretty over the top."

No cupcake order could surprise Sadie anymore. Peace, Love, and Cupcakes had created cupcakes for an Elvis impersonator; cupcakes decorated to look like raw sushi; and even cupcakes for dogs, cats, and horses to eat.

"Go ahead-spill," Sadie said. "What's the new order, and are we renaming the club Peace, Love, and Crazy to Bake This?"

"I think we should wait till the rest of the girls get here," Kylie said, stalling her. "But I will give you one little hint: you'll be jumping up and down when I tell you what it is."

* * *

By the time Jenna Medina, Lexi Poole, and Delaney Noonan-the remaining members of PLC-arrived, Kylie had laid out all the details on her kitchen counter. "So the delivery is Saturday morning, which gives us a week," she said, glancing at the order form. "And the order is for four dozen in two different flavors-something chocolate, something vanilla." She opened her recipe binder and started flipping through it.

"It doesn't sound so complicated." Lexi weighed in. "Sadie told us you said this order was over the top."

"Well, the customer is leaving the design up to us, and the sky's the limit," Kylie replied.

Jenna realized her friend was trying to be punny. "There is no way I am delivering these cupcakes jumping out of a plane!"

"Relax! No skydiving." Kylie chuckled. "But you're right about the 'up in the air' part."

"Is this a cupcake order for birds?" Lexi guessed. "'Cause feathers and fondant don't exactly go well together."

"Nope, no birds," Kylie said. "And no helicopters or bungee jumping either."

Jenna scratched her head. "Qué pasa, chica? What are you not telling us?"

"The order is for a trampoline birthday party!" Kylie finally revealed. "How much fun is that?"

"Please tell me we don't have to make cupcakes that bounce," Jenna said, groaning.

"Can we do that?" Delaney asked excitedly. She loved to kid around, but she could also be a little clueless sometimes.

"The birthday boy is turning five and has invited his whole kindergarten class to Up, Up, and Away Trampoline Center in Stamford."

"Cool!" Sadie said. "So we have to come up with cupcakes that have a trampoline theme."

"Exactly," Kylie said. "Any ideas?"

For a few minutes, the room was silent as the girls thought hard.

"Feet!" Lexi suddenly tossed out. "Or maybe socks? Isn't that what you wear to jump on a trampoline?"

"Flies," Sadie added. "They're always in the air. And little boys love bugs, right?"

"Falling," Jenna grumped. "As in splat on your face or butt. Which is what I would do on a trampoline."

"Um, I'm not seeing any of those things on a cupcake," Kylie tried her hardest to envision their suggestions, but all she could see was Jenna flopping on a trampoline face-first. As cupcake club president, Kylie had the power to veto an idea-and smelly feet and flies didn't sound particularly appetizing.

"What about balloons-balloons go up, up, and away if you accidentally let them go," Delaney suggested. "And they're pretty and colorful-and every birthday party has them."

"That's just it," Sadie jumped in. "Cupcakes with balloons on them are so ordinary. We're PLC. We can do better than that."

Lexi took out her sketchbook. Designing cupcake decorations was her job. "Sadie's right. What if we did something like this..." She drew a cupcake with blue piping around the edges and a black fondant top to represent the trampoline. In the middle of the cupcake was a small figure of a boy bending his knees with his arms in the air.

"Ooh, that is amazing," Kylie said, watching as Lexi used her colored pencils to bring the cupcake to life on the page. "We could use fondant to mold the little jumping guys."

"And no boring vanilla or chocolate flavors either," Jenna insisted. As the official taste tester, it was her job to make each cupcake delectable. "I'm thinking chocolate-chocolate chip cake filled with marshmallow and churro cupcakes with a hint of cinnamon to give the vanilla a kick."

"Nice." Sadie high-fived her. "Do you suppose we'll get to try out those trampolines when we make the delivery?"

"Tu mejor que yo-better you than me!" Jenna said. "I get motion sickness if my little brothers bounce on the couch."

"Then I'd say we have a plan," Kylie said, taking notes in her binder. "Let's get jumpin' on those cupcake recipes."

Excerpted from Sweet Victory by Sheryl Berk, Carrie Berk All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.