Heidi Heckelbeck Has a New Best Friend

by Wanda Coven

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Spy Guy

  Chapter 2: Bryce Is Nice!

  Chapter 3: Motormouth

  Chapter 4: Ouch!

  Chapter 5: A True Friend

  Chapter 6: Friend or Foe?

  Chapter 7: Complicated

  Chapter 8: A Funny Feeling

  Chapter 9: The Whole Thing

  Chapter 10: F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

  'Heidi Heckelbeck and the Snoopy Spy' Excerpt

  About the Author and Illustrator

  SPY GUY

  “Ha-a-a hu-u-um,” Heidi yawned.

  She rubbed her eyes and padded across the kitchen in her bunny slippers and pink polka-dot pajamas. It was a quiet and peaceful morning. Heidi loved to have breakfast in her pj’s every Sunday.

  But she didn’t love it when Henry acted like an unexpected alarm clock.

  “GUESS WHAT!” Henry yelled as he walked through the back door.

  Heidi was so surprised, she spilled her milk.

  Henry didn’t even make fun of her, so the whole family knew he must have big news. “We have NEW NEIGHBORS!”

  Heidi wiped up the mess. “We do?”

  Henry put his hands on his hips proudly. “Yep. There’s a moving truck and everything. RIGHT. NEXT. DOOR.”

  Heidi’s bunny slippers hopped across the floor as she ran to the window to see.

  “You’re right!” she cried.

  “TOLD YOU!” Henry said. “I’ve been spying on them ever since I got up.”

  Mom set her teacup on her saucer. “HENRY!” she scolded. “It’s not polite to spy.”

  Henry shrugged. “But, Mom, how else am I going to find out important stuff, like that they have a GIANT trampoline?”

  Mom frowned. “Nobody likes a snoop, young man.”

  Heidi whirled around. “I DO!” she announced. “Especially if there are trampolines involved. Hey, snoop! Do they have any KIDS?”

  Henry nodded. “A GIRL,” he said as he made a gross face. “And she looks like she’s your age. I heard her mom call her Bryce.”

  Heidi clapped her hands. “Yay!” she cried. “I wonder if we’ll be friends!”

  Heidi always dreamed of having a friend next door. Then she had an idea. “Mom, can we bake chocolate chip cookies for our new neighbors?” she asked excitedly.

  “I think that sounds sweet, Heidi,” her mom said with a smile. “But listen up, Henry. It’s time to stop your spy-guy game. You’re going to be on cookie patrol with your sister.”

  Henry and Heidi stood up straight and gave Mom a salute. Operation: Welcome to the Neighborhood was a go.

  BRYCE IS NICE!

  Ding-dong!

  Ding-dong!

  Ding-dong!

  Henry rang the new neighbors’ doorbell three times in a row.

  “Please stop ding-donging!” Heidi said. “It’s not good manners!”

  Henry giggled. “I can’t help it. I love pressing doorbells.”

  A girl with long black hair and bangs opened the door.

  “Welcome to the neighborhood!” Heidi said, looking the girl up and down. She had on a navy-and-white-striped outfit and matching flats with an adorable ankle strap.

  “What cute shoes!” Heidi exclaimed.

  The girl glanced at her feet and back at Heidi. “Thanks,” she said, smiling.

  Then the girl’s mother and father came to the door.

  “We’re the Beltrans,” said the mom.

  “Nice to meet you. We’re the Heckelbecks from next door,” Heidi’s mom said.

  Heidi remembered the cookies and held them out. “And I’m Heidi.”

  Mrs. Beltrans accepted the cookies. “How thoughtful,” she said. “This is our daughter, Bryce.”

  Heidi waved, but Bryce took a step behind her mother.

  Then the parents began to talk with one another. Heidi asked Bryce what grade she was in.

  “Second,” Bryce said. “What about you?”

  “Same!” Heidi said.

  Their parents and Henry the spy went inside while the girls sat down on the stoop.

  “Who’s your teacher?” Heidi asked.

  “Mrs. Rayburn.”

  Heidi stuck out her front lip. “Oh merg. I have Mrs. Welli—the other second-grade teacher. But they’re both really nice. And we’ll still have lunch and recess together.”

  Bryce nodded and stayed quiet.

  “Would you like a tour of the neighborhood?” asked Heidi.

  “Sure,” said Bryce.

  After getting their parents’ permission, Heidi showed Bryce around. They rode their scooters to the bus stop and to the park. The girls climbed the monkey bars and chatted some more.

  “So, tell me what are some of your favorite things?” Heidi asked.

  Bryce sat on a bar. “Hmm, well, pink is my favorite color.”

  Heidi’s was yellow.

  “And my favorite food is cheesy enchiladas.”

  Heidi’s was pizza.

  “Hmm, let’s see. Do you have favorite book?” Heidi asked.

  “Yes! Charlotte’s Web,” Bryce said. “Which is weird because I hate spiders.”

  That made Heidi laugh. “Hey, you know what? That is my favorite book too!”

  For the rest of the day Bryce shared every favorite thing she could think of, and Heidi didn’t mind a bit. She was so happy to have a new friend—right next door.

  “Thanks for the tour!” Bryce said, parking her scooter outside her back porch. “I had SO much fun!”

  “Me too!” Heidi said. “See you in the morning!”

  MOTORMOUTH

  Heidi zoomed to the bus stop the next day. She wanted to make sure she was there first. Bryce skipped down the sidewalk in a pink skirt, white tee, and gray cardigan. She even had on matching gray booties.

  “Hi!” called Heidi as the bus pulled up and the doors folded open.

  “Hey,” said Bryce as they lined up to board. She grabbed Heidi by the arm and chattered away.

  “It took me FOREVER to pick an outfit for my FIRST day of school,” Bryce said. She stood back. “Do you like it?”

  Heidi was about to say I LOVE it, but Bryce didn’t give her a chance.

  “I didn’t want to look too flashy,” Bryce went on, “but I didn’t want to look too plain, either. It’s so hard to decide when you’re new, you know?”

  Heidi totally understood. She was about to say that the only flashy dresser at Brewster Elementary was Melanie Maplethorpe, but Bryce kept right on talking.

  “At my OLD school, there was this super-stylish group of girls,” she said. “They always wore the latest fashions. There was this one girl who even wore sunglasses to school, and—get this—she wore them INSIDE the building. Can you believe that?”

  Heidi slid onto a seat and scooched over to make room for Bryce. She was about to ask Bryce about her old school, but just as she opened her mouth, Bryce rattled on.

  “And that very same girl was on the cheerleading team with me,” she said. “Now that I think about it, she was really actually nice—just kind of spoiled, if you know what I mean. Anyway, are you a cheerleader, Heidi?”

  Bryce tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and waited briefly for an answer.

  “Um, no,” Heidi managed to say.

  “Well, I think cheerleaders have one of the MOST important jobs in the whole school,” she explained. “That’s because they have to be LEADERS. They also have to have TONS of spirit—PLUS they have to be amazing dancers and tumblers. Did you know all that?”

  Heidi nodded as the bus pulled in to the next stop. She waved to her friends Lucy Lancaster and Bruce Bickerson as they boarde
d the bus. Bryce didn’t notice and went right on talking as if Lucy and Bruce weren’t even there.

  “So, what else do you like to do for fun, Heidi?” Bryce asked. But again, she didn’t leave time for Heidi to answer.

  “Well, I like to make crafts, play the guitar, ride my scooter, play board games, read, draw with sidewalk chalk, and bake,” Bryce said. “Did you know I just learned how to make blueberry muffins all by myself? They came out so yummy. Do you like to bake?”

  Heidi opened her mouth and . . .

  “OH YEAH!” blurted Bryce. “You DO like to bake. I know because you made scrummy chocolate chip cookies for us. Did you know ‘scrummy’ is a cross between ‘scrumptious’ and ‘yummy’? GET IT?”

  Heidi nodded as the bus finally pulled into the drop-off lane.

  “By the way, would you take me to Principal Pennypacker’s office?” Bryce asked. “I’m supposed to go there first thing.”

  Heidi sighed. “Sure,” she said. “No problem.”

  Heidi dropped Bryce off at the principal’s office and walked to her classroom, but she didn’t go inside. Instead, she leaned against the wall to rest. Lucy and Bruce saw her standing outside the classroom door and hurried over.

  “There you are!” Lucy said.

  Bruce shrugged off his backpack. “Who was that girl you were with?”

  Heidi breathed in deeply. “That was my new next-door neighbor. Her name is Bryce, and she’s really nice and very talkative.” Heidi patted her ears to make sure they hadn’t fallen off.

  Lucy and Bruce laughed.

  “Well, she’s probably just excited about going to a new school,” Lucy said.

  “Probably,” Heidi said as they entered the classroom. Then Heidi thought back to her first day at Brewster. Being new hadn’t made her talkative. It had made her kind of quiet. And right now all she wanted was quiet.

  OUCH!

  Boppity!

  Boppity!

  Bop!

  Melanie Maplethorpe’s blond hair bopped up and down as she pranced through the hallway to lunch.

  “Wait UP, you guys!” Melanie called. Then she boppity-bopped right up to Heidi, Lucy, and Bruce.

  “SO!” she said. “Who’s this NEW girl I keep hearing about?” Melanie looked right at Heidi. She seemed to know Heidi had the scoop.

  “Her name is Bryce Beltran,” Heidi said, “and she moved in next door to me.”

  Melanie gasped. “Oh, that POOR girl! Does she know she moved in next door to a WEIRDO?”

  Heidi felt her face flush.

  Melanie laughed and skipped down the hall toward Stanley Stonewrecker.

  “Oh MERG!” Heidi grumbled. “That girl makes me SO mad.”

  Lucy patted Heidi on the shoulder. “Don’t let her get to you. That’s exactly what she wants.”

  Bruce agreed.

  “Grrr,” Heidi growled as they walked into the cafeteria and sat at their favorite table by the window.

  “May I sit with you?” Heidi heard someone in front of her say.

  She looked up from her lunch to see Bryce.

  “Sure!” Heidi said and pointed to an empty chair across from hers. Then she quickly introduced Bryce to Lucy and Bruce. She didn’t feel like talking after her run-in with Smell-a-nie, but luckily Lucy and Bruce did.

  “So, how do you like Brewster so far?” Lucy asked.

  Bryce pulled a strawberry yogurt from her lunch box and peeled back the lid. “The best part so far is being next-door neighbors with Heidi,” she said.

  Heidi smiled weakly and took a bite of her turkey sandwich.

  “And how do you like your new teacher?” Bruce asked.

  Bryce smiled. “She’s fine.”

  Heidi dipped a carrot in ranch dressing, but before she could take a bite, the dressing dribbled onto her shirt.

  “Ugh!” Heidi complained. “I need a napkin.” She hopped up from the table to get one.

  With Heidi gone, Bryce turned to Lucy and Bruce. “Hey, why didn’t you offer Heidi one of your napkins? I thought you were Heidi’s best friends.”

  Lucy and Bruce looked at each other helplessly.

  “Oopsie,” Lucy said. “Maybe we should have.”

  Bryce shrugged and asked, “So what’s up with Heidi, anyway? She seems mad about something.”

  Lucy peeled her banana. “Well, she is a little mad,” she said. “This girl in our class was mean to her on the way to lunch.”

  Bryce took a bite of her yogurt. “And did you stick up for Heidi? Best friends should ALWAYS stick up for each other.”

  Lucy swallowed uncomfortably.

  Then Heidi sat down and dabbed at her shirt with a napkin. “Now it’s smearing!” she complained.

  Bryce pulled a wet wipe from her lunch box and offered it to Heidi. “Try this,” she said.

  Heidi took the wipe. “Thanks,” she said, rubbing the spot on her top.

  The stain disappeared. “It worked!” Heidi exclaimed. She balled up the wipe and tossed it in the garbage behind her. Then she shut her lunch box. “I’m done,” she said.

  Bryce closed her lunch box. “Me too! Do you want to go outside?”

  “Yes, I do,” Heidi said. Then she announced, “My new friend and I are going outside!”

  The girls stood up and left.

  Lucy and Bruce sat and watched them walking away.

  “Ouch,” Lucy said.

  “Total ouch,” added Bruce.

  A TRUE FRIEND

  Heidi breathed in a great big breath of fresh air. “AHHH, it feels good to be outside.”

  Bryce linked her arm in Heidi’s. “It sure does! Do you want to be my tour guide again and show me around the playground?”

  Heidi stood up straight. “Just follow ME!”

  The two friends galloped down the stairs and onto the blacktop. Heidi showed off the hopscotch first. They hopped across one. After that Heidi showed Bryce the ball wall, the foursquare court, the map of the United States, the monkey bars, and the basketball courts. Then they skipped to the swing sets.

  “Swings are my favorite thing on the playground,” Heidi said, plunking herself onto a blue rubber seat.

  Bryce grabbed the chains and plopped onto a green one. “ME TOO!” she agreed.

  The girls pumped their legs and squealed as they went higher and higher.

  “You know what’s crazy?” Heidi said. “Bruce doesn’t even like to swing anymore!”

  Bryce’s mouth dropped open. “That’s so WACKY!” she said. “I could NEVER be friends with someone who didn’t like to SWING.”

  Heidi laughed, but she knew she would always be friends with Bruce—even if he didn’t like to swing. Then she pumped her legs two more times, jumped off the swing, and landed without falling.

  Bryce scuffed the dirt with her boots to slow down the swing. “Way to go!” she cheered. “I wish I could do that, but I’m too clumsy to land on my feet.”

  Bryce took a smaller jump and almost landed it.

  “It just takes practice—that’s all,” Heidi said.

  Bryce nodded and pointed to a ball on the grass behind them. “Look!” she cried. “Somebody left a soccer ball on the field. Let’s play!”

  She ran to the ball and kicked it to Heidi. It whizzed right by her.

  “Ugh, sorry,” Heidi said as she chased after the ball. “I STINK at soccer, but Lucy is a total star. One time in a practice game she faked me out so bad, I had grass stains on my skin!”

  Heidi kicked the ball back, and Bryce stopped it with the sole of her boot.

  “What kind of a friend does that?” Bryce questioned. “True friends would never ever embarrass each other like that on purpose.”

  Heidi tilted her head to one side. She didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like Lucy had been trying to be mean to her. Or had she been?

  The bell rang, and the girls ran back inside.

  Heidi felt all mixed up.

  What’s the difference between a true friend and a best friend? she wondered
.

  FRIEND OR FOE?

  After school, Heidi spied Lucy, Bruce, and Bryce talking at the bus stop. Oh yay! she thought. Now we can ALL be friends! As she hurried along, Heidi noticed something weird. Lucy and Bruce were walking away from Bryce—and they both looked upset.

  “What just happened?” Heidi asked Bryce when she reached the bus.

  Bryce shrugged. “Beats me. I don’t think Lucy and Bruce like me. They told me to stay away from you because you’re THEIR best friend.”

  Heidi shook her head in disbelief. “Uh, whoa, that does not sound like my friends at all.”

  Bryce nodded. “And that’s what I told them. I said they didn’t sound like they’re your friends at all. After that, they stormed off. Lucy’s mom is giving Bruce a ride home.”

  Heidi ran her hand through her hair, trying to understand what was going on.

  “And do you know what they said when I asked if we could have a ride too?” Bryce went on.

  Heidi shook her head slowly.

  “They said, ‘NO WAY.’ ”

  Heidi’s jaw dropped. She could not believe what Bryce was saying.

  Then the bus driver had to clap her hands sharply to make the girls look up.

  “Are you two going to join us today?” the driver asked. “I’m closing the doors.”

  Heidi followed Bryce onto the bus.