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adoctor, and I almost failed science! He was mad at first, but then when he was helping me with my homework, he saw how hard it was, so I had a tutor. It really helped.”
    I imagined Eddie and Mom sitting in Señora Delgado’s class and smiled. “I wonder if Mom and Eddie could even do my homework. It’s hard!”
    â€œJust ask for help,” Ava said. “They’ll understand. I’m sure they’d rather help you than have you fail the class.”
    â€œI will,” I told her, but I wasn’t sure if I meant it. After all, things had been pretty crazy the last few months, with the move and the wedding and everything. Maybe I just needed to catch up, I told myself.
    Suddenly a loud screeching came through the bedroom wall, followed by the thump, thump, thump of a bass line.
    Ava covered her ears. “Oh my gosh! What is that?” she yelled over the music.
    I grinned. “I told you!” I shouted back.
    â€œDAN! Turn it DOWN!” I yelled, and banged on the wall. “Not so cute now, is he?” I said, and then we both started laughing.

CHAPTER 6
    A Different Kind of Cupcake Meeting
    S pending Saturday with Ava was awesome. We went to the mall, and after that Mom made spicy chili for dinner. Then we all watched a movie together (well, except for Dan, who was out with his friends). And Ava and I stayed up way late talking and talking. I love my cupcake friends, but it’s also great to have a friend who knows your history. Someone you don’t see all the time, but every time you reconnect, you can pick up right where you left off. Every time I see Ava it’s like we just hung out the day before.
    In the morning we helped Mom make chocolate chip pancakes, and then we got the kitchen ready for the Cupcake Club meeting. Eddie was making a turkey-and-swiss sandwich on a superlong loafof bread while I got out the baking stuff.
    â€œI ordered the bread special from the bakery,” he told us. “This is a lunch meeting, right? You can’t have a lunch meeting without lunch!”
    I hadn’t even thought about that. Eddie’s pretty good that way. I think he likes to take care of people.
    To tell the truth, I was a little bit nervous about the meeting. Besides baking the cinnamon-frosted cupcakes, we were also going to talk about the cupcakes we were making for Ava’s birthday party in a few weeks. I was invited to the party, but my cupcake friends weren’t.
    Of course, we bake stuff all the time for events we’re not invited to, like that baby shower for our science teacher’s sister. So maybe that wasn’t such a big deal.
    I was also worried that Ava wouldn’t get along with my Maple Grove friends. But then I realized that everyone is really nice, so that shouldn’t be a problem. At least, I hoped it wouldn’t be!
    Then the bell rang, and Katie, Alexis, and Emma all arrived at once. It took a few minutes for everyone to take off their coats, hats, gloves, and scarves, but soon we were all around the kitchentable and Eddie was cutting up his giant sandwich for us.
    â€œI like your shirts,” Emma said to Ava. She was wearing the striped shirt with the butterfly shirt that she had borrowed from me.
    â€œThanks! They’re Mia’s,” she replied. “The butterfly one has always been my favorite.”
    I noticed that Katie suddenly got kind of a weird look on her face. Was she jealous? No, probably not. Katie’s just insecure , I thought. Her old best friend, Callie, dumped her, so she’s always afraid someone else is going to do the same thing.
    Then Ava started to talk really fast about stuff, like she does when she’s excited or nervous.
    â€œYou guys live in such a nice town,” she said. “I’m kind of jealous. I sort of wish I had an older brother like Dan too.”
    Emma rolled her eyes. “You’re lucky. They can be so annoying.”
    â€œMore annoying than a