Heidi Heckelbeck and the Wacky Tacky Spirit Week

by Wanda Coven

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: THING-A-MA-BOBS

  Chapter 2: PURPLE STREAK

  Chapter 3: NOT TOO CRAZY

  Chapter 4: SODA POP TOP

  Chapter 5: WRONG DAY

  Chapter 6: A WACKY TACKY IDEA

  Chapter 7: QUEEN OF TACKY!

  Chapter 8: SPELL POWER

  Chapter 9: SUPER HEIDI

  Chapter 10: SUPER DAY!

  Heidi Heckelbeck Takes the Cake Teaser

  About the Author and Illustrator

  THING-A-MA-BOBS

  Heidi Heckelbeck handed a brown paper bag to her little brother. She had written his name, Henry Heckelbeck, on it.

  “You can put YOUR thing-a-ma-bobs in here,” she said. “And I’ll put MY thing-a-ma-bobs in this bag.”

  Henry wrinkled his brow. “Okay. But I have one question. What’s a THINK-a-ma-bob?”

  Heidi sighed loudly. “The word is ‘THING-A-MA-BOB.’ They are like doohickeys and random stuff we may need for this week. Do you understand?”

  “Kind of,” said Henry.

  Heidi looked at the clock. “Ready? On your mark. Get set. GO!”

  Then Heidi and Henry took off on a wild thing-a-ma-bob hunt.

  Henry ran to the desk in the kitchen and yanked open the top drawer. He stuck two rubber bands and a plastic spider in his bag.

  Heidi found the leftover party favor drawer and pulled out a purple tiara. There were also silver-and-pink beaded necklaces. Then she searched all the cupboards in the family room.

  “Score!” she cried, holding up a can of unopened neon-green Silly String. She plopped it into her bag.

  Her next stop was the art supply cabinet. Heidi grabbed a tube of sequins, a handful of pom-poms, and a fistful of pipe cleaners. She had no clue how she was going to use all this stuff, but she would worry about that later.

  Down the hall, Henry was busy checking the bathroom drawers. He crammed dental floss and cotton balls into his bag.

  Meanwhile, Heidi headed all the way up to the attic. She opened a tub of Christmas decorations. There have to be good thing-a-ma-bobs in here, she thought.

  Heidi pulled out a tinsel garland and wound it around her neck like a sparkly boa. Then she thumpity-thumped downstairs to the kitchen.

  Henry had jammed an empty box of Chocolate Oaty-O’s on his head.

  “What do you think of my hat?” he asked.

  Heidi giggled. “I think it’s CRUMBY. Get it? Cereal? Crumbs?”

  Henry rolled his eyes. “I’m supposed to be a cereal BOX-er.”

  He punched the air with his fists.

  “I get it!” Dad said, air-boxing as he walked into the room with Mom.

  “Well, I don’t get it at all,” said Mom. “What in the world are you guys up to?”

  Heidi and Henry looked at their mom like this was the silliest question on the planet.

  “You mean you don’t KNOW about this week?” Heidi asked.

  Her parents shook their heads.

  “Spirit Week starts tomorrow!” Heidi explained. “Each day we have to show our school spirit in different ways. It starts with Crazy Hair Day!”

  Henry pranced in front of Heidi with the cereal box still on his head. “Tuesday is Silly Hat Day!”

  Then Heidi bumped her brother to the side and fluffed up her boa. “Wednesday is Wacky Tacky Day!”

  Across the room, Henry climbed onto a chair and struck a pose with his fists on his hips. “Can you guess what THURSDAY is?” he asked his parents.

  Dad snapped his fingers. “Is it Crazy Kids Standing on the Furniture Day?”

  “Nope! It’s SUPERHERO Day!” Henry cheered. Then he jumped off the chair and pretended to fly.

  “I hope Friday is Normal Day,” Mom said.

  Heidi shook her head. “Friday is the FUND RUN! Students run as many laps around the track as they can, and their friends and family donate money to the school for each lap.”

  Dad put his arm around Mom. “Well, is there anything we can do to help?”

  Heidi and Henry shot each other a look.

  “YES!” Heidi cried. “Can you help us DYE our hair?”

  PURPLE STREAK

  Heidi and Henry couldn’t wait to go to school on Crazy Hair Day.

  Henry had lime-green hair with a Silly String spiderweb on top. Mom had even clipped a plastic spider to the web.

  It looked crazy!

  Heidi worried that Henry might have gone a bit too crazy with his hairdo. She had decided to put one purple streak in her hair. That felt like the right amount of crazy to her.

  “Swag on!” Heidi said. Then she snapped her fingers and swaggered out the back door.

  But Heidi lost her swag when she got to the bus stop. Everyone had incredibly crazy hair. Bryce Beltran had teased her hair up high and given it white stripes to look like a total glamour ghoul.

  “Wow!” Henry exclaimed. “You look frightful!”

  Bryce twirled around.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I love yours, too!” Then she turned to Heidi. “How come you didn’t do anything for Crazy Hair Day?”

  Heidi pointed to her purple streak, and Bryce squinted as if the streak were hard to see.

  “It’s different,” Bryce said, “but it’s not exactly CRAZY.”

  Heidi’s face flushed as she got on the bus. There were fantastic hairdos in every row.

  One boy had a Mohawk. Eve Etsy had a pink wig with curlers, and Natalie Newman had pigtail braids that tied together!

  Heidi sat next to her friend Bruce Bickerson and stared in wonder. He had electrified hair, like a mad scientist. He also wore safety goggles and a lab coat with little clouds puffing out.

  “I used cotton balls to make the clouds,” Bruce said excitedly. “They make it look like an experiment gone bad. Do you like it?”

  Heidi nodded glumly and said, “It’s great.”

  Then Bruce nudged Heidi with his elbow. “SUPERCOOL purple streak!” he said.

  Heidi looked up and smiled. “You really think so?”

  “Totally!” Bruce said. “Not everyone has to go bonkers on Crazy Hair Day!”

  Heidi looked out the window. She sure hoped Bruce was right.

  NOT TOO CRAZY

  Heidi’s hope fizzled when she arrived at school. Everybody had crazier hair than Heidi.

  As she stepped into the crowd, somebody mysterious tapped Heidi on the shoulder. It was her best friend Lucy Lancaster.

  Her hair was swirled in a bun and bejeweled with tiny pearls. She looked like a queen.

  “You look STUNNING,” Heidi said with a happy gasp.

  “You look great too!” Lucy said.

  Heidi smiled and looked away. Bruce didn’t even have a chance to respond. He had a crazy hair fan club forming around him.

  Lucy grabbed Heidi by the hand. “Come on! We should go check out everyone’s crazy hairstyles!”

  They found Stanley Stonewrecker. He had dyed his hair green and put plastic dinosaurs and trees in it.

  “He has an ancient forest on his head!” Lucy cried. Stanley waved at Heidi and Lucy.

  “Check out Mr. Doodlebee!” Heidi said, pointing at their art teacher. “He has an OCTOPUS on his head!” The girls giggled. Mr. Doodlebee had a bun on top of his head with two googly eyes on it. The rest of his long hair had been braided to look like tentacles.

  Heidi elbowed Lucy as Melanie Maplethorpe pranced up to the girls and spun around.

  “Neigh!” Melanie announced. “Can you guess what I am?”

  Melanie’s hair had been styled with a horn in front and a mane in the back. She had woven rainbow
ribbons into her hair to complete her look.

  “Wow, Melanie,” Heidi said. “Your hair looks MAGICAL.”

  “That’s because I am a unicorn!” Melanie smiled. “And it looks like you have only a tiny streak of school spirit, Heidi. Maybe you should try a little harder tomorrow.”

  Heidi frowned as Melanie trotted off.

  “Hmm. Why did I just say something so nice to that mean unicorn?” Heidi mumbled.

  Lucy gave a shrug. “Well, her hair was kind of amazing.”

  Heidi scowled because she knew this was true. “Merg!” she grumbled. It was going to be a very hairy day.

  SODA POP TOP

  THUD! Heidi dropped her backpack to the floor. Next she kicked off her sneakers, which bounced off the wall. Kabonk! Kabonk! Then she stomped into the kitchen and slammed open a cabinet looking for food.

  “What’s all the ruckus?” asked Dad.

  Heidi folded her arms. “I’M all the ruckus, okay?”

  Dad didn’t react. Instead, he opened the cupboard and pulled out cocoa packets and two mugs.

  “Have a seat,” he said. “I was just about to make some cocoa.”

  He emptied the packets into the mugs, poured warm water on top, and stirred. Heidi sat down.

  Dad slid a mug in front of his daughter. “So, what’s up?”

  Heidi stuck a finger in her cocoa and licked it.

  “I had a yucky day,” she admitted. “My crazy hair was Blahsville, USA.”

  Dad listened and sipped his drink slowly. Then he asked, “What’s tomorrow’s theme?”

  Heidi sighed. “It’s Crazy Hat Day, and I haven’t thought of anything.”

  Dad set his mug on the table and got up. “I have an idea,” he said, and zipped into the family room.

  After searching through several bookshelves, he came back with an old photo album. Then he pulled his chair close to Heidi’s.

  “These are pictures of me from before you were born,” Dad said. He opened the album and flipped through the pages.

  “Your hair was so LONG!” Heidi exclaimed with a laugh.

  “Got you to smile!” Dad said.

  They looked at pictures of Dad from cradle to college. Then Dad found the picture he’d been looking for. “This is me on my Crazy Hat Day.”

  Heidi leaned closer to get a better look. Dad had a soda bottle and a plastic cup on top of his head. His hair was the soda pouring into the cup.

  Heidi turned to her dad. “I WANT TO DO THAT!”

  Dad smiled. “I was hoping you’d like it,” he said, “because I can help. All we need is an empty soda bottle, an empty cup, a ponytail tie, and a hair clip.”

  Heidi and her father raced off to collect all the items and met back in the kitchen.

  “First we put your hair in a high ponytail,” Dad said.

  Heidi hung her head upside down and gathered her hair into a ponytail on top of her head. She wrapped a ponytail tie around it.

  “Perfect,” Dad said. “Now have a seat.”

  He took the clean plastic soda bottle and cut the side of it. Then he tucked Heidi’s ponytail inside the bottle and threaded the end of her ponytail through the opening at the top.

  “Now I’m going to clip this plastic cup to the side of your hair.” Dad fastened the cup with a clip. Then he placed the end of Heidi’s ponytail inside the cup.

  “Ta-da!” Dad exclaimed. “I give you the winner of Crazy Hat Day!”

  Heidi raced over to the mirror and squealed. “I LOVE it!”

  Then Henry ran into the kitchen and asked, “Love WHAT?”

  Heidi turned so Henry could see her new look.

  “Whoa!” he shouted. “I love it TOO!”

  Heidi clapped her hands and did a little happy dance. Wait until Smell-a-nie sees THIS!

  WRONG DAY

  Heidi made sure that she was the first one to arrive at the bus stop in the morning.

  Henry had to run to catch up. He was wearing his favorite secret spy hat. They waited for the other kids to arrive.

  As Bryce walked toward the waiting area, Heidi waved to her. Bryce had on a riding helmet. She stopped and stared at Heidi.

  “HOW did you DO that?” Bryce asked.

  Heidi shrugged. “It’s a little trick I learned from my dad.”

  Bryce circled Heidi. “That has to be the coolest hat I’ve ever seen!”

  Heidi beamed. “Thanks! Your hat is fun too.”

  Bryce patted her helmet. “Well, it’s not as great as yours, but you know me. I LOVE horseback riding!”

  Heidi nodded and looked around at the other kids who had begun to arrive.

  She saw a chef’s hat, a stocking cap, and a graduation cap. The craziest hat—besides hers—was a sombrero, which really wasn’t very crazy.

  But Heidi didn’t mind standing out. She was getting tons of attention for her soda bottle hat. As she boarded the bus she heard:

  “Hey, soda pop girl!”

  “Nice hat, Heckelbeck!”

  “That’s SO-DA-mazing!”

  “You’re the queen of pop, Heidi!”

  Heidi sat next to Bruce, like always. He had a cereal box on his head.

  “I hope that’s not full,” said Heidi.

  Bruce laughed. “Um, it was at first, and I kind of spilled cereal all over the floor at home. But that’s the good thing about having a dog.”

  Heidi’s eyes bugged out. “He ate everything that spilled?”

  Bruce nodded. “EVERYTHING. It’s like having an automatic vacuum cleaner!”

  Heidi turned and faced forward. Maybe she could train her little brother to do that too.

  At school Lucy greeted Heidi and Bruce at the bus. Lucy had on a homemade hat with one puffy cloud around the rim and a rainbow arching across the top of her head. Lucy and Heidi pointed at each other and squealed.

  “I LOVE your hat!” Heidi cheered.

  “No, I love yours MORE!” Lucy said.

  Bruce stepped between the girls and pulled out a small handful of cereal. “Well, MINE’S the yummiest!” he said.

  They all busted up laughing as they walked up the steps and into the school building.

  Stanley ran up to Heidi and grabbed her by the arm. “Yours is the BEST hat I’ve seen yet!” he exclaimed.

  He was wearing a shark hat with the jaws clamped around his head. It looked like the shark was about to take a big bite out of Stanley!

  “Thanks!” Heidi said. “And your hat is totally terrifying!”

  Stanley shrugged. “I mean, it’s from a store,” he said. “I wish I’d made one like you did! It’s great!”

  Then he waved bye and dove back into the stream of kids going to class.

  Principal Pennypacker passed by. “Are you a POP star?” he asked.

  Heidi laughed, but then she did a double take when she saw that the principal had on a wizard’s hat. A real one. Heidi would have to ask him about that later.

  Then somebody bumped Heidi, and she almost fell over. Of course it was Melanie. She had on a pink cowgirl hat with rhinestones all over it.

  “So that’s your hat?” was all Melanie said. “It’s pretty cool.”

  Heidi’s eyes widened. “Thanks, Melanie.”

  But then the pink cowgirl hat dipped down as Melanie added, “Well, except for ONE thing.”

  Heidi took a deep breath and braced herself for what was coming next.

  “You wore it on the WRONG day,” Melanie said. “That’s NOT a crazy hat. It’s crazy HAIR.” Then she skipped away as usual.

  Now Heidi wanted to scream. She stomped her foot and said, “Merg! No matter what I do, Melanie ALWAYS has to win.”

  Lucy rested her hand on Heidi’s shoulder. “Only if you LET her win. Now let’s get to class before you get fizzy.”

  A WACKY TACKY IDEA

  After school Heidi ran to her bedroom and slammed the door. She unclipped the cup on the side of her head and freed her hair from the soda bottle. Then she flopped onto her bed and buried her face in her pill
ow.

  “Heidi?” It was her mom.

  The door squeaked open and closed. Heidi felt the mattress bend as her mom sat on the bed. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

  Heidi sighed and rolled onto her side. “You know my crazy hat? Well, it was TOO crazy!”

  Mom tilted her head to one side. “But isn’t that what you wanted?”

  Heidi propped herself up. “Yes, but then everybody wore REGULAR hats. It made me stick out like an elephant on a trapeze. And to make matters worse, Melanie said my hat was a crazy hairdo, NOT a crazy hat.”

  Heidi flopped back down on her pillow.

  Mom sighed. “Well, it really doesn’t matter what Melanie thinks,” she said. “She’ll always say the opposite of what you want to hear. And it’s definitely not your job to please her either—or anyone else, for that matter.”

  Heidi rolled back over. “I know,” she mumbled. “But she just makes me SO mad.”

  Mom nodded. “I understand.”

  Then Heidi yawned. “Tomorrow is Wacky Tacky Day,” she said. “But I’m not even going to try.” She yawned again and snuggled into her pillow. In no time at all, she fell asleep.

  When Heidi woke from her nap, it was almost dinnertime. She padded downstairs, rubbing her eyes.

  When she got to the kitchen, she saw Lucy and Bruce sitting at the table—eating tacos!

  “Wait, am I dreaming?” Heidi said, pinching her arm.

  Mom set a plate of tacos at Heidi’s seat and waved her over.