Heidi Heckelbeck and the Big Mix-Up

by Wanda Coven

  Next she plucked a clothespin from the clothesline. After that, she measured three tablespoons of strawberry jam and plopped them into a mixing bowl. She followed this with a glob of glue. Then she grabbed a serving spoon and snuck back up to her room.

  Heidi dropped the candy hearts into the mixing bowl one at a time. She added the clothespin and stirred the mix. Then she slipped on her Witches of Westwick medallion and chanted the spell.

  Whoosh! A rainbow cloud floated up from the bowl and sailed out the window.

  “Happy friendships, here we come!” Heidi cheered.

  Heidi tapped her pencil on her desktop and looked at the clock. Where on earth are Lucy and Bruce? she wondered. They’re never late for school! Then Mrs. Welli called the class to attention.

  “Good morning, boys and girls!” she sang. “Let’s begin by moving our desks around. You may sit next to whomever you’d like.”

  The students looked at one another in surprise. Mrs. Welli never let friends sit next to one another! It was too tempting to talk. Heidi wondered if this had something to do with the Kindness Charm. Then everyone began to move desks around.

  Heidi pushed her desk next to Lucy’s and Bruce’s desks—even though they hadn’t gotten to school yet. Laurel pushed her desk to the other side of Heidi’s. Of course, Melanie banged the edge of her desk next to Stanley’s.

  “Now, who would like to change up our lesson order today, too, so that we can work on our thankful project first?” asked Mrs. Welli.

  “ME!” shouted the entire class.

  “Good!” said their teacher. Then she passed out orange, yellow, and red construction paper.

  Mrs. Welli had the class make hand-y thank-you wreath decorations. She showed everyone how to trace a hand on the construction paper. They each traced twelve hands in all. Then they cut them out. The hands became the leaves. They arranged the leaves in the shape of a wreath and glued them together. On each leaf, they wrote something to be thankful for.

  “This is way better than starting the day with math,” said Laurel.

  Heidi agreed.

  Melanie stopped in front of Heidi’s desk on her way to the pencil sharpener. She smiled sweetly. “That’s a cute owl top you have on,” she said.

  Heidi looked at her shirt and then back at Melanie.

  “Thanks!” said Heidi. Had Melanie just given her a compliment? Now Heidi was sure that it was the Kindness Charm talking. Still, it was a nice change. Then she wrote, I’m thankful for kind words on one of her leaves.

  Laurel tapped Heidi on the shoulder. “Do you know where Lucy and Bruce are today?” she asked.

  Heidi shook her head. “I’ve been wondering the same thing.” She raised her hand and asked Mrs. Welli.

  Her teacher went and reviewed the attendance sheet. “It looks like both Lucy and Bruce called out absent today,” she said. “I hope they’re feeling all right.”

  “I hope so too,” Heidi said as she started a second thank-you wreath. Oh darn, thought Heidi. Lucy and Bruce have to be near each other in order for the Kindness Charm to work on them.

  The charm seemed to be working in full force on everyone else. Melanie gave Heidi a red licorice rope at lunch. Principal Pennypacker declared it More Recess Day and gave Heidi’s class three recesses. And then Mrs. Williams gave all her students hedgehog erasers. Kindness was in full bloom for everyone at Brewster Elementary—everyone except Lucy and Bruce.

  Heidi sighed. She knew that this charm only lasted for a single day. It was time to come up with a new plan.

  On Friday, the Kindness Spell had worn off completely. Melanie insulted Heidi’s outfit. Mrs. Welli made everyone move their desks back to their original places. And Lucy and Bruce had returned to school, but they still weren’t talking. Well, at least we’re having the publishing party today, Heidi thought. She had worked on her story until way past bedtime.

  The children unfolded chairs and set them in rows for the party. They also hung a banner with quotes from their favorite children’s books. Heidi chose “Let the wild rumpus start!” The class also laid out snacks on a party table. Melanie’s mother had brought homemade sugar cookies in the shape of open books.

  Near the end of the day the parents filled all the chairs. Heidi opened her folder to the story she had written. She couldn’t wait to share it.

  Mrs. Welli greeted the parents and thanked them for coming. She told them how hard the children had worked on their stories.

  “Who would like to share first?” the teacher asked.

  Heidi’s hand shot up, and her teacher called on her. Heidi picked up her notebook paper and stood beside her desk. She nodded to Mrs. Welli and began to read.

  “ ‘Best Friends,’ by Heidi Heckelbeck. Have you ever been the new kid at school?” Heidi began as she looked at the audience. Most of the parents smiled and nodded with understanding.

  “Well, I have,” she went on, “and it’s pretty scary. When I started second grade at Brewster Elementary, I didn’t know ANYBODY in my whole class. I felt like an ALIEN. Then the girl who sat two rows away turned around and smiled. Her smile made me feel a teensy-weensy bit better.

  “At lunch I sat at a table all by myself. I felt so uncomfortable. Then something wonderful happened. That same girl who had smiled at me in class asked if she could sit next to me. I said, ‘Yes, of course!’ Lucy and I have been great friends ever since.”

  Heidi stopped reading and smiled at Lucy. Lucy smiled back.

  “On the second day of school,” Heidi went on, “I had to take the bus for the first time. I sat next to Lucy’s friend Bruce. Then something crazy happened. The school bully, who was sitting in the seat behind us, bonked Bruce on the head with his backpack! Bruce’s glasses went flying! I quickly dropped to my knees and found his glasses on the floor. I also found the bully’s feet, so I untied his shoelaces. This made the bully trip when he got off the bus.”

  Heidi’s classmates and the parents all laughed.

  “Bruce and I laughed our heads off too,” Heidi continued. “We have been great friends from that day on.

  “Now the three of us do everything together. We make leaf piles and jump in them. We do school projects and play games together. Once in a while, but not very often, we have a misunderstanding—like the time when Lucy got a sparkly light-up lollipop pen. I loved her pen SO much, and I wanted one just like it! Then one day the lollipop pen went missing. To make matters way worse, Lucy thought I was the THIEF! That hurt my feelings.

  “When Lucy’s pen still hadn’t turned up, I felt terrible. That afternoon Bruce and I played a game of Frisbee in his backyard. His dog, Frankie, kept stealing the Frisbee! Then Frankie ran off with the Frisbee and hid it inside his doghouse. Bruce had to crawl into the doghouse to get it. Do you know what else he found in there?” asked Heidi, looking up. “Lucy’s lollipop pen! The dog had been the thief all along.

  “What I’m trying to say is that sometimes friends get mad at each other. Sometimes they get so mad, they won’t even talk about why they are mad, and they can’t remember why they like each other. And that’s why I wrote this story, because I love my two best friends. They make me smile and laugh every day. My friend Lucy is so nice, and Bruce is the smartest, most inventive person I know. I hope we can stay best friends forever.”

  Heidi glanced at the audience and walked back to her desk. Then everyone clapped and cheered.

  Heidi grabbed a sugar cookie from the party table and took a huge bite. Yum! she thought. Nothing like a good book! Then Lucy and Bruce ran up to Heidi and wrapped their arms around her.

  “Group hug!” Lucy declared. Heidi dropped her cookie and squeezed her two friends happily.

  “Heidi, your story was the BEST,” Lucy said.

  “And we both needed to hear it,” added Bruce.

  Lucy and Bruce looked at each other within the huddle.

  “I’m so sorry I said those things about you, Bruce,” said Lucy.

  “No, I’M sorry!” Bruce insist
ed.

  “No, really,” said Lucy, “I am!”

  Then Heidi pulled out of the hug. “Will you two stop?” said Heidi. “It was all just a big mix-up.” Then she handed her friends two paper plates. “Here, have some snacks!” she suggested.

  The friends loaded their plates and sat down in the reading nook.

  “I just have to admit one more thing, Lucy,” said Bruce, lowering his eyes. “I really didn’t mean to tell Melanie your secret. It just kind of slipped out. The truth is, I felt so left out when you and Heidi went shopping without me the other day. Then Melanie told me it meant that maybe you guys didn’t like me anymore.”

  Lucy and Heidi both dropped their cookies.

  “Oh no!” exclaimed Lucy. “You’ve got it ALL wrong!”

  Heidi nodded wildly. “The only reason we left you out was because we had a super-big surprise for you!”

  Bruce stared at the girls in disbelief. “A surprise?” he said.

  Lucy and Heidi both nodded at the same time.

  “Come on—let’s go get my mom!” said Lucy. “Then we can show you!”

  Lucy, Bruce, and Heidi followed Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster to their minivan. Mrs. Lancaster reached into the back of the van and pulled out a blue plastic bag. She handed it to Lucy.

  “This is what we were up to,” said Lucy. She pulled a T-shirt from the bag and held it up.

  It read: BEST FRIENDS FOREVER across the front.

  “We had one made for all three of us,” Heidi added triumphantly.

  Then the three friends put on their new T-shirts.

  “We should’ve told you sooner,” said Heidi, “but we wanted it to be a surprise.”

  Bruce laughed. “Well, it’s NO surprise to me because we are definitely best friends forever.”

  Then they all bumped fists and burst out laughing. Heidi was so happy to have Lucy and Bruce back because friends truly are the best kind of magic.

  Sporty cardboard signs dangled from the gym ceiling. Each one had something written on it in fat, colorful letters: RUN!, JUMP!, KICK!, and BATTER UP! There was even a banner on the wall behind the bleachers that said GET MOVING! Tables with ruffled skirts stood all around the gym. Each table had a poster with a different sport on it: SOCCER, BASEBALL, VOLLEYBALL, BASKETBALL, TRACK AND FIELD, and CHEERLEADING.

  “What’s up with all the sports stuff?” Heidi asked.

  Lucy Lancaster shrugged and nudged Bruce Bickerson. “Do you know?”

  “Looks like a sports fair,” Bruce said as they climbed the bleachers and sat with the rest of the students.

  Principal Pennypacker stood in front of the school with a microphone. “Good morning, Brewster sports fans!” he said as he smoothed one of the tufts of hair on the side of his head.

  “Good morning!” the students responded.

  The principal motioned toward the tables. “Who likes sports?” he asked.

  The students clapped and hooted their approval. Everyone except Heidi. She didn’t dislike sports, but they had never really been her thing. She waited to hear more.

  “Today we kick off our new after-school sports program,” he explained. “Everyone gets to pick a sport and try it out.”

  has always loved magic. When she was little, she used to make secret potions from smooshed shells and acorns. Then she would pretend to transport herself and her friends to enchanted places. Now she’s able to visit other worlds through writing. Wanda lives in San Jose, California, with her husband and son. They have three cats: Hilda, Agnes, and Claw-dia.

  has illustrated numerous books and materials for children, parents, and teachers. She enjoys painting cakes and creating art for products, which include murals, greeting cards, and rubber stamps! Priscilla lives with her family in Southern California.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  First Little Simon paperback edition September 2016

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  Designed by Ciara Gay

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Coven, Wanda, author. | Burris, Priscilla, illustrator.

  Title: Heidi Heckelbeck and the big mix-up / by Wanda Coven ; illustrated by Priscilla Burris. Description: First Little Simon hardcover/paperback edition. | New York :

  Little Simon, 2016. | Series: Heidi Heckelbeck ; 18 | Summary: An embarrassing rumor about Lucy spreads at school and she thinks Bruce is behind it so Heidi gets involved and uses some magic to bring the trio of friends back together. Identifiers: LCCN 2015047703| ISBN 9781481471701 (hardback) | ISBN 9781481471695 (paperback) | ISBN 9781481471718 (eBook) Subjects: | CYAC: Friendship—Fiction. | Witches—Fiction. | Rumor—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | BISAC:

  JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic. | JUVENILE FICTION / Imagination & Play. Classification: LCC PZ7.C83393 Hal 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015047703