Runway Ready by Sheryl Berk

with this?”
    â€œJust flash your badge. No one will know,” JC said. “At least it will get you close to the front door. Then you just have to find Cordy and have her help you get back into Granny’s good graces.”
    â€¢ • •
    Mickey had counted on the party being crowded, but she never expected one hundred–plus kids and their fashionable moms to be storming the doors of Dolly’s Candy Bar. The store was stocked with wall-to-wall candy, everything from gummy bears and Gobstoppers to chocolate, taffy, and Twizzlers arranged in floor-to-ceiling glass containers. Just inside the entrance was a giant, flowing chocolate fountain with marshmallows and pretzels for dipping, and downstairs was a do-it-yourself ice-cream bar. The guests—both kids and grown-ups—could barely contain their excitement.
    Mickey had carefully chosen her outfit for the day: a black satin trench coat with a red sweater, a plaid skirt, and a vintage heart-print scarf. She “disguised” herself in a pair of tortoiseshell glasses, hoping she’d blend in with the rest of the media covering the long red carpet outside.
    â€œHeidi, over here!” one paparazzo shouted as Heidi Klum escorted her daughter Lou into the party. She obliged with a pose and a bright smile.
    Normally, Mickey would have been starstruck by all the fashion celebs on the scene. But today she was looking for only one person: Cordy.
    Victoria’s limo pulled up and she stepped out of the car, holding Cordy’s hand tightly. The little girl looked miserable! She was wearing a white lace dress buttoned up to her neck, a white satin headband, frilly ankle socks, and shiny white Mary Janes. She noticed that Cordy’s favorite pink pearls were wrapped around her wrist. Everything else she was wearing had been dictated and decided for her.
    Oh no! Mickey thought. That’s not at all what she wanted to wear for her big day. Her heart sank, knowing Jade had designed this prim-and-proper outfit for the little girl. But it was Cordy’s birthday, and she should have been allowed to wear whatever she wanted.
    As Victoria posed and paused at each reporter’s microphone to be interviewed, Mickey managed to push through the crowd and position herself in front of Cordy.
    â€œCordy!” Mickey shouted. “Over here!”
    The little girl squinted at her. “Mickey? Is that you? Those are silly glasses!”
    â€œCan I come to your party?”
    Cordy made sure her granny was busy and motioned for Mickey to duck under the velvet rope and follow her. “This way,” she said. “Let’s play hide-and-seek with Granny Vicky.”
    While Victoria was giving interviews, Cordy silently slipped away and took Mickey’s hand. The pair snuck into Dolly’s through the back service-entrance door. Amazingly, no one noticed them in all the commotion outside. They hid behind a giant twenty-foot-tall chocolate teddy bear in the basement.
    â€œHow do you do that?” Mickey marveled.
    â€œDo what?” Cordy asked, tugging at the neck of her dress.
    â€œDisappear?”
    Cordy shrugged. “Dunno. Granny Vicky says I’m the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.”
    Mickey ruffled her curls. “You are! And I think I have a better idea for a game. Hide-and-seek isn’t your granny’s fave. This game is called ‘Fashion Star.’”
    Cordy’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, fun! What do we do?”
    â€œWe figure out a way to make your party dress more Cordy, less icky,” Mickey said.
    â€œYes! Yes!” Cordy cheered. “It’s icky and itchy.”
    Mickey pulled a small sewing kit and fabric paints out of her tote bag.
    â€œYou design the skirt, and I’ll loosen up the neckline and sleeves,” she instructed the little girl.
    Cordy stared at the paint markers. “It’s okay to draw on my dress?” she asked.
    â€œIt’s more than