Page 79 of It's in the Contract
“Well, not—" I begin.
“Yes,” Zeke says. “Callie made all of it.”
“Well . . .”
“You are amazing. These are amazing.” Suzy opens her eyes and steps aside for another customer, who Caroline steps forward to help.
“This is it! I’ve got it.” Suzy grins.
“What?” I hand a sample of a unicorn cookie to a little girl after getting a nod from her parents. “What?”
Suzy grabs me by the arm and pulls me to the back of our area, so Zeke takes over, selling the parents three cookies.
“What?” I ask. “Tell me!”
Suzy’s dark eyes light up. “This is how we overtake Brielle in the campaign.”
“What? How?”
“See there?” Suzy steps aside, and I look where she’s gesturing. A few of our fellow Monte Ville High students are drifting through the stalls. “Our classmates love you. They love your treats. It’s so simple! How did I not come up with this before?”
“I have to get back to help Caroline—” I notice that the line is piling up, and anxiety pokes me in the stomach.
“Visualize this,” Suzy says. “We make a bunch of cookies that say, ‘Vote for Callie’ and hand them out at lunch. Brilliant, right?”
I pause. “Will that really work? How is that different from the posters and voting badges we’ve already passed out?”
Suzy punches my arm.
“Ow!” I rub the spot.
“Of course it’s different! People love food. This is how we get them to love you.” Suzy gives me an imploring look with her black eyes. “C’mon, Cal. We need something big to give us an edge. After that article about you?—”
“None of that was true!”
“I know, I know. I’m just saying we need to do something if you have any hope of catching back up.”
I sigh. A moment passes while Suzy gives me puppy dog eyes. “Itisa good idea.”
“Yes! I’m going to get permission from the school, and you learn how to do that really cool icing.” Suzy glances around. “Like her!” She points at Amanda’s stall.
“Ugh.” I hold back a sigh. “But I hate that?—”
“You hate the way it tastes, it’s too hard, blah blah blah.” Suzy levels me with a stare. “Callie. You can do this. Conquer the royal icing! Do it for me.” Her eyes turn pleading. “Please?”
I hold back a laugh. “Okay.”
“Tell me I’m brilliant.”
“You’re brilliant.”
“So who is that?” She gestures back at Amanda. “No . . . Brielle’s here?” We both move forward, and I help to restock the cookies that have been sold.
“Yes,” I say with a grimace. I pause, not wanting to be too mean in front of potential customers. “She wasn’t very nice to Caroline.” I lower my voice. “It would be amazing if we sold more than her.”
Suzy levels her stare at Amanda. “On it.” She raises her phone for a selfie. “Say, ‘Cookies!’”
“Cookies!” I grin at the camera.
