Chapter 1

"What do you mean you're taking Amber to the dance? Homecoming is tomorrow!" Lila screeched into the phone. "Are you breaking up with me?" She said her eyes filling up with tears.

"What's going on?" Celia asked as she stepped into their bedroom. She ducked out of the way as Lila hurled her phone against the wall, before burying her head in a pillow on the bed and screaming. Celia tried not to laugh, but her older sister was pretty dramatic. "Men are pigs!" Lila said in a muffled scream through the plush pink pillow.

Before Celia could say anything else, Lila was jumping to her feet. "Where's mom?!" Lila demanded as she stomped across the room toward the door. "Next door, I think," Celia replied as Lila stormed past.

Lila burst through the door of the MacBride house with her mascara running down her cheeks. "Mooooom!" she yelled through her sobs. The Gilberts and the MacBrides were close family friends. They did practically everything together and their moms, Lisa and Dina had started their own bakery business right out of The MacBride's garage. Each family had a mess of kids and they were always running between each other's homes.

Lila made a B-line for the kitchen, where she knew she'd find her mother. Celia was hot on her heels. "Incoming!" Celia called in a joking tone as they greeted their mother Lisa and Dina, who were sitting at the kitchen island going over invoices. Both women looked up in surprise at Lila's state.

Sure Lila did have a tendency to cry, especially now that she was so stressed out with college applications. But this was different. Lila was wailing and weeping. She was so loud Maggie and MacKenzie came downstairs to see what was going on.

"Did someone die?" Maggie asked Celia. "Just her relationship with Kyle," Celia said dryly.

"I'm glad that you think my romantic life is a joke, Celia," Lila said before blowing her nose on a tissue that Dina had handed her.

"Honey, calm down," Lisa said calmly before lifting a plate of chocolate macadamia nut cookies. "Have a cookie." Lila sniffled and then took a cookie in each hand.

"Here have some cocoa," Dina said, presenting Lila with a mug. If there was one thing these women knew it was how to solve your problems with food.

"What am I going to do?" Lila said after swallowing a large gulp of cocoa. "I can't find another date for the dance now. And I already have a dress!"

"Maybe Wayne?" Celia offered and Maggie stifled back a laugh."I'm not taking my little brother." Lila said sharply.

"Honey, you're smart and nice and very cute." Lisa said, trying to reassure her daughter. Lila nodded and took another cookie. It was true. Lila was smart, she got straight As and was in honors classes. She was applying to some pretty competitive college programs. And she was nice, she was friends with almost everyone at school. Which was why she was so popular and had even been nominated for Homecoming Queen. And she was drop-dead gorgeous. She had long blond hair that was always blown out into Victoria Secret style waves, and her makeup was always perfectly done. She had even sweet-talked her dad into getting her mink eyelash extensions for Homecoming. She was short, only about 5'4, but she had huge boobs, Ds at least and years of dance class had kept her toned and trim. A far cry from her mother who was a portly 300 pounds and only 5'2.

"What if you went stag?" Dina offered as she refilled Lila's hot cocoa.

"No," Lila said softly. "I'm already the girl who got dumped the day before homecoming. I might as well just stay home and eat cookies." But when she looked down she realized that she had eaten all of the cookies on the plate. Which made her cry.

Lisa and Dina both wrapped Lila in a warm pillowy hug. "Don't worry, Honey," Lisa cooed in her ear, "we'll get you more cookies."

And then as if on cue Matt MacBride came into the kitchen with a box of the leftover confectionaries from the bakery.

Lisa and Dina's eyes went wide as they seemingly had the same thought at the same time.