Chapter One
I knew my night was going to be a disaster when I picked up my phone and saw how many calls I got from Alison. With all the work in the bakery, I totally forgot to check my phone, and now Alison was going to be mad at me for two reasons. First, for not picking up her calls, and second, for telling her I couldn’t go to her masquerade ball because I was helping my parents at the bakery. Alison’s dad was the mayor of our small town in California, so every month, Alison had a huge party at her house, and her dad always asks my parents to cater the party.
I still remember the first time we met back when we were four when she first moved here. Our parents introduced us to each other, and ever since then, we have been best friends. We were four then, and we were thirteen now, and we were still the same. Sometimes it felt really good to think about the past. That was, until you flashed forward to the present and realized that you had some problems on your hands. I saw my dress and mask laying on top of my bed waiting to be worn. That made my decision for me. I was going to go to the masquerade ball.
So, I picked up my phone and texted Alison, I will meet you at your masquerade ball.
Alison texted back, I can’t wait to see what you’re wearing Jade!
I grabbed my red long dress with gold designs and my gold mask and quickly put it on. I did my makeup and put on my golden high heels. I walked to the mirror and couldn’t recognize myself. I wondered if anyone else could recognize me.
With that thought in my mind, I walked out of my room and yelled to my mom, “Mom I’m going to Alison’s party! Bye!”
“Okay, Jade. Don’t get into any trouble, and if you need anything ask your dad. He is at the party!” my mom yelled from her room.
After hearing that, I quickly headed out the door because it was already 7:55 p.m., and the party started at eight p.m..
Chapter Two
It was a good thing Alison only lived two blocks away from me. As I walked underneath the night sky, I felt the breeze blowing my hair. The walk to Alison’s party was very peaceful, but once I got to Alison’s house, I couldn’t even recognize her house. Alison went all out for this party. The house looked like a winter palace, like the one Elsa made in the movie Frozen. There were so many people going in and out of the house. I walked up to the front door and opened the door and walked in. As I did, I could see that everyone was staring at me. I felt like Cinderella when she walked into the ball and no one could recognize her. I quickly walked to the center to join everyone because I hated being the center of attention. As I walked to the crowd of people dancing and talking to each other, I realized something. I couldn’t recognize anyone. Something else I realized was that I was the only one wearing red. At that moment, I regretted wearing that dress because I hated standing out. So I walked out of the dance floor and walked to one of the
empty tables. As I tried the maccaron and the doughnuts that were at the table, I overheard two girls talking about a celebrity.
They were saying, “Bella, did you hear the rumors that have been going around?”
“What rumor, Isy?”
“Well, rumor has it that Alison invited Cabe Swift to the masquerade ball because he is working on a movie here.”
“Anyways, Alison asked, and Cabe said he would come.”
“O-M-G, I can’t believe I am going to see Cabe Swift,” said both of the girls.
When I heard that, I was so confused because I knew everyone who was invited to the ball, but I never saw Cabe Swift’s name on the guest list. I guess it made sense that she invited him because she was a really big fan. Alison watched every movie that Cabe had ever made and has had a huge crush on him since the sixth grade. She said Cabe and her had a lot in common because they were the same age. I, on the other hand, didn’t hate him, but I didn’t love him either, so I guess you could say I liked his acting. But Alison loved him.
As I was sitting there and thinking to myself, I suddenly heard someone ask me, “Do you mind if I sit here?”
“Sure, go ahead!” After that, we started talking.
Me: “Are you having fun at the party?”
Him: “Not really, I don’t have any friends here.”
Him: “Why are you sitting here all by yourself?”
Me: “Let’s just say I don’t like being the center of attention, and as you can see, I am the center of attention today thanks to this red dress.”
Him: “Anyways, do you have any hobbies?
Me: “Well, I like to bake and listen to music.”
Him: “I like to bake too! Who is your favorite artist?”
Both of us at the same time: “Selena Gomez.”
Me: “O-M-G! Did you hear her new song ‘Back to You?’”
Him: “Yes!”
Both of us: “LOVED IT!”
Me: “Anyways, did you hear that we have a celebrity here tonight?”
Him: “Who’s the celebrity?”
Me (rolling my eyes while saying the name): “Cabe Swift.”
Him: “So are you a fan of Cabe?”
Me: “Let’s just say I am not a big fan. He seems so spoiled.”
Him (with a smirk on his face): “Wow!”
From that point on, our conversation took off, and we talked for the rest of the night. He was really nice and mysterious. He had the same haircut as Cabe Swift, which looked really good on him. We took a lot of pictures and soon realized the party was almost over. So when I was about to leave, he asked for my phone number, so I gave it to him and walked home. When I actually got home, I realized that we never got to tell each other what our names were. So I started wondering, what could be his name be?
Chapter Three
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of my parents arguing. I quickly got out of my bed and walked to where they were arguing because they didn’t usually fight. When I walked up to them fighting, I asked what they were fighting about, and my mom told me to sit down because I wasn’t going to take it well. So I did. My mom told me the most horrible thing I could think of. She told me that my dad got a letter in the mail saying that we would have to close the bakery if we couldn’t pay all the bills.
I asked, “How much are the bills going to be for the bakery?”
“About 15,000 dollars.”
“I am so sorry, sweetie, but we can’t afford to pay that much money.”
“Plus, we haven’t been getting a lot of customers lately.”
“Maybe if we get more customers, we can keep the bakery longer.”
“Right now we can only keep the bakery for ten days.” Hearing that made me want to cry even more than I had already been doing since I heard about the bakery. I ran to my room and laid down in my bed when I realized that I was going to be late for school. I got out of my bed and got ready as fast as I could while trying to look cute. Then, I ran to school, somehow managing to get before the bell.
When I walked into the hallway and walked to my locker, I looked around and saw that everyone was on their phone saying, “O-M-G, who is that girl?!”
Then suddenly, I heard someone calling my name from down the hall, so I turned around and saw Alison running up to me and yelling, “Check Cabe Swift’s Instagram!”
So I got my phone out of my backpack and went to Cabe Swift’s Instagram. I couldn’t believe what I saw.
There it was, the picture of me and that mysterious boy at the party. I was so confused at first, wondering how the picture ended up in Cabe’s Instagram, when something finally clicked inside of my head, and I realized that the mysterious boy that I was talking to at the party was no one other than Cabe Swift! I started freaking out. I couldn’t believe it. I just spilled my heart out and embarrassed myself in front of the biggest teen celebrity!
I was about to faint when I heard Alison asking me, “Are you okay, Jade?”
I tried to play it cool by saying, “I am fine,” even though I was dying inside.
“So, did you check Cabe’s Instagram?”
“Yeah.”
“So who do you think that girl in the the red dress is next to Cabe? Who do you think it is?
“Well, I don’t know.”
“But whoever that is, she is a very lucky girl.”
“Also, did you read what it said under the picture?”
“No, what did it say?”
“Well, it said, ‘hashtag the best night of my life (Thank you mystery girl for making it the best).’”
Hearing that just made me scream out, “I am the girl in the red dress with Cabe in the picture!”
After screaming that out, I saw that everyone was staring at me in confusion, then started talking again saying how jealous they were that they didn’t get to be his mystery girl. After that, I looked at Alison’s face, and she looked so happy. She was congratulating me, and right at that moment the bell rang, and I had to get to class. After doing a lot of work in class, school was finally over. So, Alison and I walked and talked about last night and everything that happened. I also told her about the part when I gave Cabe my number.
Hearing that, Alison said, “I bet he’s going to text you to meet him later.”
“No way!” Right at that moment, I got a text from an unknown number. It said, Hey. You probably know who I am by now. It’s Cabe and I was wondering if you wanted to meet up? So text me your address and I will come pick you up in my limo!
So, I texted him my address and called my mom to let her know that I was going somewhere with a friend. Then, Cabe arrived in his limo. I said bye to Alison and got in the limo. As I sat in the limo, I could sense the awkwardness between us.
So, I asked, “How come you didn’t tell me you were Cabe Swift last night when we were talking?”
“Well, Jade… ”
“Wait, how do you know my name, because I never told you?”
“I might have done some digging around. Now back to what I was saying. Last night I had a lot of fun not having to be Cabe Swift, because whenever I talk to someone the conversation is always about me, and I really get tired of that. But last night, the conversation wasn’t only about me. It was about both of us, and I really liked talking to you. Plus, it didn’t sound like you were a really big fan of Cabe Swift last night, so I was hoping you would like Cabe better. So do you want be friends?”
“Sure.”
“Anyways, I was hoping we could go to your bakery.”
“Sure! It’s Friday, so the bakery is closed today, so we can have it all to ourselves.”
Chapter Four
Once we got to the Sweet Storm Bakery, I took out my spare key, and we both walked inside. I told him how our specialty was doughnuts, and since we didn’t have the doughnuts premade, we decided to make doughnuts from scratch. We went to the back of the the bakery and took out all of the supplies we needed. I had a lot of fun baking with Cabe. We decided to make two of my favorite doughnuts: ocean blue (vanilla doughnut with blue icing and and candies on top to make it look like the bottom of the ocean) and Choco coconut storm (chocolate doughnut with coconut and white frosting on top.) To my surprise, Cabe was a really good baker. I thought he was spoiled and wouldn’t even know how to crack an egg. I guess I didn’t really know who Cabe was on the inside. After we were done making the doughnuts, Cabe took a knife, cut two doughnuts in half and put the two doughnuts together into one. He took a bite from the side so that he could taste both of the doughnuts.
He said, “Wow! Two doughnuts can sometimes make the perfect match.”
Hearing that made me laugh, so I tried the doughnut the way he did, and I had to admit they tasted amazing together. After finishing our doughnuts, we started talking, and I told him about the bakery and suggested that we should let customers switch up the donuts, like making one side one doughnut and making the other side a different doughnut. He said he would post about it on his Instagram.
When I thanked him for his help, he said, “What are friends for?”
He also asked me if I wanted to audition for a small part in his movie. I told him I would think about it. After talking to him for what seemed like a few minutes, I realized that it was nine p.m.. Had we really been talking for two hours? After that, Cabe dropped me home, and for the rest of the night, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Talking to him felt different than talking to everyone else. Was I really falling for him?
Chapter Five
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of someone texting me. I picked up my phone and saw that my mom had called me two times and that Cabe texted me, Good Morning. So, I texted back, Good morning to you too.
Cabe: I posted about the bakery last night, and it looks like you might be getting a lot of new customers because it already has 2.6 million likes.
Me: O-M-G really. Thanks a lot.
Cabe: My pleasure. By the way are you auditioning for the movie?
Me: Uh I guess I will give it a shot.
Cabe: Awesome I will send you the script. The auditions are held at my hotel at 5.
Me: K bye.
After I was done texting Cabe, I called my mom, and she said the plan to get new customers was working. She also said that if we kept having this kind of customers, we could pay off the bills by next week, and we could keep the bakery. Hearing that made me really happy. So for the rest of the day, I helped my mom out at the bakery while trying to practice my lines. I wanted the day to slow down because I was not looking forward to the auditions. But when you want time to slow down, time does the opposite and goes as fast as it can. Soon, it was five p.m., and I was at Cabe’s hotel waiting to be called in. There were a lot of girls auditioning for the same part which made me even more nervous.
Then, it was my turn. I auditioned in front of Cabe’s manager and the director for a character named Bella, the main character’s best friend. She helps her best friend Isabel and Jake (Cabe) get together. When I was auditioning, I was very disappointed not to see Cabe in the audition room. But I auditioned anyway, and the director told me they would let me know if I got the part by tonight. I walked home and was so happy the audition was over and done with. As I was walking I felt a sudden burst of happiness, and there I was again thinking about Cabe. I thought about Cabe all the way home. Once I opened the door and walked in, I saw both of my parents waiting for me at the door with their happiest faces.
“Jade, did you get the part?” asked my dad.
“I don’t know yet, Dad.”
After telling my parents everything that happened at the audition, I headed to my room and watched Netflix for the rest of the day, until I realized it was nine p.m.. I took out my phone and was going through Cabe’s Instagram when I got a call from Cabe.
I answered it and said, “Hello?”
“Hey, Jade. Guess what?”
“What? What’s going on?”
“Well, you got the part!”
“O-M-G, seriously!” My face turned bright red. I was so overwhelmed and in disbelief.
“Yeah, the director loved the way you really got into the character.”
After he told me I got the part, I told my parents, and we were all really happy. That night, Cabe and I talked until midnight. He told me about how he never really had a real friend on set and how lucky he was that I was going to be on set with him. When he said that, I blushed. He made me feel really special. The next morning, I headed off to set, bright and early. Cabe and I really had fun being on set together. For the rest of the week, I filmed after school on set. It was the best week of my life. First, because my mom was able to pay off the bills, so we got to keep the bakery, and second, because I got to spend the whole week having fun with Cabe on set. The parts of the week that I didn’t like were when Cabe and his co-star had to do a scene where they danced and went on dates. Even though I knew they were acting, it felt like they were an actual couple. For some reason, I felt a way that I never felt before. I was jealous. At that point, I knew I was falling for him. I didn’t want to tell him because what if he didn’t like me in that way — then it would be awkward between us. I thought he just wanted to be friends. That is, until he asked me to be his date to the movie premiere. I totally died inside when he asked me. I said yes. Now my problem was what was I going to wear to the premiere. I went shopping with Alison and my mom. I bought a long white dress with silver designs on the bottom. I also bought some silver jewelry.
Finally, premiere night arrived. Cabe came to my house in his limo and had a cupcake flower bouquet because he knew how much I loved sweets. He came up to my door and knocked. I opened the door, and when he saw me, he stared at me for a second, then said, “Jade, you look amazing!” I said thank you, and we got in the limo, and we drove to the premiere.
On the way there, he took my hand and said, “Jade, I really like you more than just a friend. Do you like me too?”
I said shyly, “I like you too.”
“I didn’t tell you because I thought things would be awkward between us if you didn’t feel the same way.”
“Well, I am glad this turned out well.”
“Me too.”
“You know you were right: two doughnuts can sometimes make a perfect match even if they are from two different worlds.”
After talking and embarrassing ourselves, we arrived at the premiere. He announced that he had a girlfriend at the red carpet, and then we watched the movie. It felt so weird to watch myself in a movie. But I had to say, Cabe made me feel comfortable when I wasn’t. We got a lot of questions about how we became a couple, and let’s just say I didn’t know how Cabe dealt with so many people asking questions and taking pictures, because I couldn’t deal with that kind of stuff. After we were done watching the movie, we went to the after party and had a lot of fun. From that point on, my life felt like a fairy tale. Even though we both had our own busy life, we made it work. But the bakery and I didn’t really work out. I wasn’t home a lot because of all the movies I was in. I mostly spent my time in LA, filming. But when I was at home, I spent as much time as I could at the bakery.