Page 127 of What I Like About You

BookCon is two months away. I need a Plan B—and fast.

April 1

Kels@OneTruePastry—April 1

See you soon @NYU!!!

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Direct Messages

Nash to Kels

Thursday, January 2, 2:13 PM

I hope everything’s okay. I really wish you would’ve just talked to me if it wasn’t. It sounds so stupid now—but I thought we had something real. I guess we don’t.

Bye, Kels.

Wednesday, April 1, 5:04 PM

[Nash typing]

TWENTY-TWO

As it turns out, it takes minor deception and a lot of planning to bake three hundred bookish cupcakes.

I spent two days baking the cupcakes at Maple Street Sweets. It was the most difficult part, because I couldn’t start until the Davidsons left. Sawyer thinks it’s all for a chemistry project—which is only half a lie. Mr. Portmandidassign a creative project where we are supposed to present chemistry in everyday life. Baking is kind of a perfect example of that. But Gramps is okay with baking again, so theoretically I could have done that at home. For the event, though, I need all the industrial equipment—I couldn’t bake this many cupcakes in Gramps’s kitchen even if Iwantedto. Between Wednesday and Thursday night, all three hundred vanilla bean and double dark chocolate cupcakes have been baked and sealed unfrosted in airtight containers to keep them fresh.

Since frosted cupcakes don’t last as long, frosting must happen at the last possible second. Which is why I’m spending Friday night notgoing to Shabbat, but in Gramps’s kitchen, music blasting, meticulously frosting each cupcake with different colors of buttercream. I have three designs—black and white swirled with red sparkle sprinkles, red and gray swirled with edible pearls, and chocolate ganache with a white stripe, to have the whiteout effect of the title.

I don’t know what’s more of a miracle—Gramps letting me use the kitchen, or Gramps letting meskip Shabbatto frost cupcakes. Gramps does okay when I bake the occasional batch, but he keeps himself busy today. He goes to Ollie’s baseball practice; they go out for dinner before Shabbat. All so I have plenty of time to frost and clean up before he gets home.

My phone buzzes. It’s Nash. But not for me.

He liked Kels’s most recent NYU tweet.

Kels@OneTruePastry 1hr

Apparently NYU has a Milk & Cookies club and WOW I didn’t know how badly I needed that in my life?!?!

I switch my phone to silent. It’s jarring, Nash suddenly engaging with Kels again. I have no clue what he’s thinking—and it’s not like I canask. I wish I didn’t tweet about NYU. Because it’s like Nash suddenly remembered that Kelsisreal.

Kels ghosted Nash, but for whatever reason, he wants her to know that he’s still here. The more Nash likes and engages with Kels’s content online, the weirder Nash seems IRL. Maybe I’m overthinking. But yesterday, I asked him if he wanted to study for our impending AP exams before I had to work, and he said hehad, you know,so muchEnglish homework and bolted. It didn’t even occur to me until I got inside thatwe’re in the same English class. And no, we did not haveso muchhomework.

It’s probably REX related. Or the Nick thing. Whatever that means.

I transfer two finished tubs of cupcakes to the basement storage refrigerator. Each container has two tiers, holding twenty-four cupcakes. Two containers down—eleven more to go.God. How did I think I’d be able to do this myself? These cupcakes areendless.

I fumble with my phone on my way back to the kitchen.

I’m going to text Nash and check in.

Hey

6:50 PM

Nash Kim

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