“Emily? Oh Emily?” Sarah smiled as she saw her friend behind the counter at the bakery.

“Good morning, Mrs. Hines."

"Oh right. Good morning, Mrs. Jackson."

"Or, Mrs. Grossman, I still haven't made up my mind. Why are you down here specifically? Did we have plans?”

“No. I just came downtown to buy some flour for the church baking contest. You really need to enter.”

Emily whined, “I never win contests.”

“Come on, Em. You make a fantastic fudge swirl. You’ve got to at least try. I’ll make one, Mrs. Griggs, the mayor’s wife and Lynn will try to make one without dog hairs in the frosting this year. Besides, we all won the game of love last night.”

“That was amazing.”

“I dreamed about Kevin again.”

"I'm not surprised."

Sarah motioned with her hands. “Well?”

Emily stretched. “Well what?”

“You and Pete?”

Emily dramatically put both hands at her forehead, parting her hair away from her face. She sighed. “Pete and I… are… a mystery. He kissed me goodnight but… it was one peck. There was not much desire for follow up. I liked him last night, but, when I dreamed, along with his face I saw animal carcasses scattered around my room.”

“So you don’t think…?”

“I think last night was a lot of fun and I’ll leave it at that. If he wants to pursue me, then, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Sarah, up until last night Pete Jackson was a lanky misfit who smelled like burnt elk hide. For whatever reason, call it fate, call it chemistry or the romantic charge of the place, we sort of got together. Kissing him wasn’t too bad. It felt nice to have a boy on my arms, especially with two other girls there.

I just don’t know, Sarah. If we never smooched again, I wouldn’t loose any sleep. On the other hand, if he asked me to dance with him, I might. I am more attracted to the concept of having a boyfriend than I am attracted to Pete Jackson. However, did you see his muscles?”

“Emily? I was with Kevin.”

Emily looked at her with much suspicion.

Sarah laughed. “I was watching Tommy’s muscles.”

Emily picked her skirt up like she was doing a can-can. Sarah fanned herself.

“Emily? What’s today date?”

Emily raised her head to look at a calendar. "April 23rd."

Sarah shook her head slowly. “Last night, seems like it was a million years ago. Em, things are moving so fast. Think about it. Last Saturday, Tommy and I went on a date. The Saturday before that we were trying on the corset.”

Emily grabbed her sides. “Don’t remind me; I still have the scars.”

“Within a few days, my world has been sent tumbling down a hill. I’m changing, Em. You are changing. We are becoming women.

Everything is spinning. I am no longer a little girl. It’s as if all this time I was riding the carousel at the carnival on a little pink pony with a blue bow. My mother and father were on either side of me. There was sweet music playing. The smell of cotton candy wafted through the air. I was happy, carefree and… and innocent. I thought that I would just keep going around and around forever: me and my pony, forever bounding among the days of peaceful mirth.”

Sarah stopped talking. She lowered her head.

Emily came out from behind the counter.

“Sarah? Sarah? What’s wrong?”

Sarah looked up at her friend; she closed her eyes and slowly shook her head.

“Emily, I’m dying. You are dying too.”

Emily nodded. “Oh, is that all?”

Sarah scrunched her face. “Is that all? Emily, I just revealed that you are mortal.”

“Yes, Sarah, I realized that I was a mere human last night when I tried to flap my arms and fly to Mars.”

Sarah laughed. “You goon! Emily, don't you get it? We’re no longer little kids! We've entered a more… dangerous, unpredictable world. Last night, when Kevin kissed me…that was it! My childhood died!”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Sarah, you were going to grow up anyway with or without Kevin Hines. In other words, you, miss perfect, from the teeny tiny, wholesome, red, white and blue town of Eagle Creek, you were going to loose your innocence one way or another. Lynn was more than willing to kiss Tommy on the first date. And…."

Emily paused. "Oh, that’s it?”

Sarah nodded.

“You feel like you compromised yourself?”

Sarah shrugged. “I did.”

Emily stood behind her fiddling with her hair.

“Goldilocks, I’m sorry about that, I really am. Basically, you tasted some of your porridge too quickly?”

Sarah did not respond, but Emily instinctively knew she’d hit a cord.

“Em, it was like I was a different person last night. It was as though me, you and Lynn were in a competition, who could win a boyfriend the fastest.”

Emily laughed.

Sarah shrugged. “It was crazy. I wanted to be with Kevin so badly but then I wanted to be with Tommy and Pete too. Em, by the time Kevin finally kissed me in the Tunnel of Love; at the exact moment that I got everything I always wanted… the world seemed… empty.”

"So you don't want to be with Kevin?"

"I do."

"Then you are happy."

"I'm miserable."

"Why?"

"I have no clue! For some reason, I have had everything handed to me on a silver platter and now it repulses me. By the time Kevin kissed me, it’s almost like it didn’t matter. I wanted him more than anything in the world and now, I don’t know what to do with him. It's as if he's an object, a prize. He is something I earn and then I put him on a shelf.”

Emily was trying to follow but she was mostly lost.

“Emily, if men only see women as objects for desire, which according to you they do; and if women only see men as objects for our emotional fulfillment then what is the point of ever feeling anything? What is love? Is it just an excuse? Is it a goal?”

Emily shrugged. “It’s a license, a permit. Love is tumultuous bliss. Love is a signal for the woman to cast aside her inhabitations.”

Sarah’s face was sullen. “That’s all it is?”

Emily sighed. “I guess so. A man loves you once he is willing to put it all on the line for you whether that means marriage or serious courting. If a man loves you, that’s pretty much everything that a woman can hope for.”

Sarah whispered, “Emily, that isn’t the answer and you know it. There must be something more.”

“Nope. I think that’s about it. We have something they want; they have something we want. We force them, more or less to make a commitment of some type in exchange for our services.”

Sarah wiped a tear from her eye. “Then, I should be happy?”

Emily swished her mouth. “What is happiness? Sarah, you have all of your needs met. You are not starving. You have a good family who takes care of you. You live in a nice but boring town. You have the wisest best friend in the entire world. And, and, and, last night, a boy whom you adored kissed you. Now then, be happy. So what if you don’t have all the answers- just live in the moment.”

“Em, I don’t feel good about this. Something is askew.”

“What?”

“I don’t know, but, something here is not right.”

Emily threw her hands into the air and playfully screamed.

“Sarah Conrad you are maddening! Two weeks ago, according to you, we were naïve little rays of sunshine forever destined to dwell in a fantasy land with magical elves. Every once in a while your heart would skip a beat but after a few moments alone, poof!, its gone in a snap.

You picked out a boy to love from afar precisely because he was from unattainable. You could never have Kevin, he was too old. But now, for some reason, he’s back home to stay and he likes you or loves you or whatever you want to hear and that is not good enough for you.

I opened the Pandora’s box and gave you a reason to expect a little more sensations from life but it was you who took that knowledge to its conclusion by making your lips and potentially more available to him. It’s like I finally showed you where to buy your own toys and now you’d rather wait for Santa Claus but guess what, you can’t.

In retrospect, I may have corrupted you, but sooner or later you would've discovered that babies do not come from storks!"

"Em, we're in over our heads.”

“So what else is new?”

"I'm serious! I love Kevin, but, now I don't know what's gonna happen next. It’s like a blizzard. It feels like it’s gonna be there forever, but, in my mind, I know for certain that it’s temporary. But this is like… I dunno. What is love supposed to feel like any way?”

Emily stepped back. “So, Sarah, you’re going to make a cake?”

Sarah was exasperated. “Pineapple upside down: like me.”

Emily laughed. “Good one.”

Sarah shrugged.

“Miss Conrad, let’s decipher the meaning of life on another occasion. Today is Saturday; let’s live like it’s one. We’re sixteen-years-old; let’s be sixteen for now. I don't have all the answers. No one has all the answers.”

"I don't believe that. Someone has the answers."

Sarah bobbed her head. “You’re right. So, then, are you going to bake a cake for the contest?”

Her confidence bolstered, Emily smiled. “Absolutely.”

Sarah walked to the door. “Well, Em, we don’t know men, but you know cakes so I’ll let you alone. I’ve gotta get going myself if I am going to make a reasonable effort this year.”

Emily nodded. “I’ll speak to you tomorrow, by then; I’ll have everything figured out.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “No doubt.”

Emily laughed. “Go on! Get to the Dry Goods Store, let me bake in peace.”

Sarah got her supplies and walked home. As she meandered down the road to her house she tried to concentrate on the pretty tweets of songbirds. Their melodies helped her relax. When she saw the kittens squirming on the front porch and Sarafina casually sunning herself on the top step she smiled. Sarafina heard her coming, she stretched and sat up. She meowed at the kittens to stop wrestling and pay attention to her favorite human. There was much to learn from simply watching people go about their daily lives.

As Sarah reached the steps, Sarafina rubbed up against her and then stretched out in front of her. Sarafina had trained Sarah to respond to this action by scratching her ears.

An ear scratch meant, “I’m glad to see you.”

The kittens came tumbling behind, falling over Sarah’s feet disrupting their bonding time. Sarafina started to growl but she was mostly patient with their antics. The kittens were confused and had many questions, few of which Sarafina could answer. But still, the little one’s managed just the same.

Both girls, half a mile apart but seemingly in sync, each added flour, sugar, and mixed them in the bowl. Next came the eggs, water, baking powder, vanilla extract. At the same time, they each put the cake pans into the ovens. In unison, they removed them. A refreshing Spring breeze brought a measure of relief from the oppressiveness of the oven. The curtains flapped, the cakes cooled. Decoration time.

“Here is where I have the edge.” Emily reasoned. Her grandmother had been a professional cake decorator making splendid creations for customers all over the state. On one occasion she’d been escorted to Helena to arrange a cake for the governor’s daughter's wedding.

Additionally, her parents owned a bakery. It was in her blood to succeed. She expertly mixed the dyes. She filled the tubes with care. Her top was to be a salute to spring, an astounding collage of pink, gold, green, amber and violet flowers. It took a couple of hours, but with patience she made it.

“Grandma Millie would be so proud of me. Better yet, mom’s going to be impressed. ‘My daughter is an expert at frosting? Am I living in a dream?’ Maybe. Possibly. Yes. Yes. It is flawless.”

The clock chimed, Emily looked up. “Yup, I can run to the Post Office right quick.”

She locked up the bakery and put on the “Back In 5 Minutes” sign.

When she walked back into the kitchen her Siamese cat, Bell, was licking the last flower atop the now horrendously distorted cake. She froze. Her mouth agape she was shaking like a kettle about to burst with popcorn.

Bell paused from her sweet snack and with a rainbow of colors on her whiskers meowed, “I approve.”

“No, no, no” she blew up at the puzzled, yet now satisfied feline. She quickly grabbed the glass cover. She covered the now ruined cake. Her head was swimming with emotions, mostly rage. She looked at the clock. “It can’t be five!”

She raced like a comet to Sarah’s house.

“Help! Help! Help!”

Sarah woke up. She was exhausted from the house work, the heat of the oven and the stress of the baking.

“Sarah, Sarah, emergency!,” she yelled as she drew closer to the door. Sarafina sensed the approaching storm and directed the kittens to safety.

“Em?,” Sarah reached for the door. “Em, what is it?”

“Oh Sarah, oh Sarah.” Emily broke down on her shoulder.

Sarah patted her friends back. “It can’t be all that? What happened?”

“I made an amazing fudge swirl. I decorated it with a lovely pastoral representation. It had flowers. It had clouds. It had eight different colors.”

“It sounds wondrous,” Sarah replied.

Emily shook. “The cat ate it! She was licking her paws when I came in.”

Sarah gasped. “But, you worked so hard.”

“Yes. Yes. It’s a nightmare,” she spun around. “Everyone is expecting me to bring something spectacular for the competition after church tomorrow.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m going to look like a… like a… like a… what do you call someone who bakes elaborate desserts for their cat?”

“Let me get my coat,” Sarah whispered to her friend with a tone of assuredness.

“In the bureau, there’s a notepad and a pencil, get it for me.”

Emily flew from the kitchen into the parlor and grabbed the items.

“I’m going to leave a note for my parents,” she said as she scribbled on the paper. “We’ll save the day.”

Emily placed her hand on Sarah’s cheek. “What would I do without you?” her eyes darting.

“Spend your life with little excitement employed as a feline pastry chef in Paris?”

Emily stopped crying and burst into laughter. “Let’s go!”

They held hands and ran out the door.

“Ok, Em,” she panted.

“Number One: I think we just broke the world’s record for cross-country running.” Sarah wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Number Two: where is the kitty crepe?”

Emily pointed to the delicious monstrosity under glass. Sarah pulled off the covering.

“Well,” she rubbed her chin. “I have an idea. Move closer to me.”

Emily put her chin on the table, inches from the cake and squinted. “You know,” Sarah whispered, “Bell didn’t eat any of the cake itself,” she traced the tongue tracks with her finger, “she just licked off the frosting.”

Emily moved in closer. “You’re right” she whispered, “so that leaves us where exactly?”

Sarah rose from the table. Emily joined her.

“You don’t mean…,” Emily reluctantly inquired, “you do mean…but I can’t…,” she looked around the room, “but I can if no one sees us.”

Sarah silently nodded. “Em, you remember the design and the colors, right?”

“Of course,” she smirked, “Can you mix the frosting?”

Sarah winked. “It would be delighted to. Emily, if my plan works, then this cake will be the greatest ever known. Let’s get started.”

Sarah wiped off the counter tops.

Emily began to pull the various spoons out of the drawers. Slowly, but surely, each delightful flower returned to the edible Eden. Each delicate petal had its place. As the night wore on they lost track of time, chatting as they mixed and mastered the reconstruction.

“Done!” Emily sighed. rubbing her fingers together. “I am so glad that crisis was adverted… 9? 9?”

Sarah tilted her head. “What?”

“Its 9 o’clock!” Emily tossed her hands in the air. “As in three hours until Sunday as in you’ve got to hurry… oh no… oh no! Sarah, you don’t have time to finish your cake.”

“I don’t care,” Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “Let’s go to bed. If we don’t get enough sleep tomorrow and miss church none of this will matter anyway.”

Emily yawned. “I agree.”

The next day, after services, just before lunch as folks were milling around the building, a table was set up in the social hall. A banner dominated the wall, “Cake Contest” in silver letters.

Mrs. Griggs placed hers on the table as did Mavis Tallard, the mayor’s wife, Lynn Watson and a couple of others. After lunch, Preacher Sam and his son Kevin had a thin slice of each offering. When they came upon the garden scene they were most impressed.

“Outstanding!,” said the preacher.

“Is it a fudge swirl?” Kevin unwittingly directed his question to Sarah.

Sarah smiled. “I call it, Friendship Cake,” she took a deep breath, still amusingly puzzled at the attention. It then occurred to her, she had taken credit for Emily’s work. Her head snapped to the right. “No, no, no Em. I didn’t mean to take away….”

Emily smiled in return. “Sarah,” her head lowered and directed toward Kevin, “you don’t have to explain.”

The two judges compared notes.

Kevin stood up.

“The prize for best cake goes to….”

The women sat on the edges of their seats.

“Sarah, and her idyllic masterpiece, Friendship Cake.”

Emily began furiously clapping. “Go up there,” she whispered through her smile, “he wants to talk to you.”

Sarah approached the dapper gentleman. “Well, done,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her hand. Sarah’s mother clapped as well and chuckled imagining but otherwise clueless about the details of the antics that must’ve transpired the night prior.

“Bravo, bravo.”

“And the prize,” Kevin stepped behind Sarah. “Courtesy of Evan’s Jewelry Store,” Sarah felt his manly fingers slide around her neck, “a cameo.”

More clapping.

“Here-here!”

For the first time in her life Sarah felt breathless. “Thank you.” she squeaked and filled the house with laughter.

“Once more, thank you, Preacher Sam, Kevin and thank you Evan’s Jewelry Store and Kevin, did I say that twice?”

Kevin gave a “Who me?” look.

“I am grateful and, and, and” she moved her arms up in the air, “let’s eat!”

The cameo sparkled as did her heart.