by Suzy Kline
I took my jar of coins to the teacher’s desk and stood behind Dexter. He was humming an Elvis tune, “I’m All Shook Up.”
That’s for sure, I thought. I felt all shook up. I had done my horrible deed. And for what? I glanced back at Harry. He was still sitting in his chair, fuming with anger.
Ida dumped her earnings into the GSUSA jar. “Twelve dollars and fifty cents!” she said proudly.
ZuZu and Song Lee dropped their change into the UNICEF jar. “Twelve dollars and fifty cents, too,” Song Lee said.
“Fifteen dollars and twenty-five cents,” ZuZu added.
Dexter and Sidney poured their money into the ASPCA jar.
“I earned ten dollars by selling handmade Elvis bookmarks! ” Dexter said.
“I earned so much money I couldn’t count it all!” Sidney bragged.
I put my eight dollars and seventy-five cents into the ASPCA jar, too. Harry got his cat, the Goog, from the animal shelter. I was glad they rescued stray cats like him.
“Wonderful!” Miss Mackle exclaimed. “Has everyone come up?”
Mary pointed to Harry. “He hasn’t. Harry’s the last one!”
I couldn’t look at Harry anymore. I just stared at the three jars on Miss Mackle’s desk. The Girl Scout jar had the least money. That’s probably why Mary was frowning.
I heard Harry’s chair moving and his footsteps. He was right behind me. I stepped aside. All eyes were on Harry.
How the Cookie Crumbled
Everyone watched Harry dump the money from his baby food container into the Girl Scout jar. “Seven dollars and fifty-five cents,” he said.
And then he did something else.
Harry pulled out his brown coin purse, unzipped it, and shook all the change into the Girl Scout jar! “And seven dollars and fifty-five cents more,” he mumbled.
Mary was jumping up and down. The three jars were just about even now.
I let out the biggest sigh. Harry couldn’t do it after all! I started clapping. Everyone joined in with me.
Miss Mackle stood up from her desk. “Yes! You all did such a great job. Just look how full these donation jars are!” The teacher clapped with us. “We’ll count the money tomorrow in math,” she added.
When the three o’clock bell rang, Harry made a beeline for the hallway. His grandma always waited for him at the top of the ramp in her red truck. I quickly grabbed my jacket and bag and headed for the door.
Mary was behind me. “Wait up!” she called. She was just getting her jacket off the hanger. She always zipped hers up so it wouldn’t fall on the floor and get dirty.
I couldn’t wait for her. I had to catch up with Harry. He was running now, so I did, too.
“Harry, wait!” I called out.
He kept running.
“Please wait up,” I insisted.
Harry finally stopped at the bottom of the ramp. “What for?” he growled.
“I’m glad you couldn’t do it,” I said. “And I know you’re mad.”
Harry didn’t say anything.
I opened up my lunch box and held up the plastic Baggie with the chocolate chip cookie inside. Harry immediately took a step back. “You didn’t eat it?”
“No. I just said I did.”
“You made me feel like I was being robbed!” Harry replied. “Like you stole my life savings.”
“I had to,” I said. “You were going to do that to someone else. The Girl Scouts!”
Harry paused. “I didn’t know it felt like that.”
“No fun, huh?” I said.
“No,” Harry agreed. “It felt like the time Sidney smashed my spider with a rock.”
I put my arm around Harry. I remembered Charlie the spider.
“I can’t steal anything,” Harry confessed. “Not even for Grandma.”
I opened up the Baggie and broke the cookie in two. Then I gave half to Harry.
“Thanks, Dougo,” he said. “You stopped me from being a thief.”
“Well, actually our cookie did. It was a super cookie.”
Harry looked at his half. “It doesn’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, but it does fight crime. Thanks, super cookie,” he said, and he gobbled it down.
I ate my half, too.
While Harry licked the chocolate off his fingers, I looked around for something to wipe my hands on. That’s when I saw Mary running toward us.
She was out of breath. “I want . . . to talk to . . . you, Harry.”
Oh boy, I thought.
“I overheard you . . . talking to Doug . . . about your broken oven.”
Harry was in a much better mood now. “You did? So, do you have a stove for me, Mare?” he joked.
“Well, actually, Harry, I do. I was wondering if you might want our old stove. It works fine. It’s only a few years old, but it’s the wrong color for our new kitchen. Mom was wondering what to do with it. So, if you want it—”
“Want it? Are you kidding!” Harry interrupted. “We’d love your old stove!”
Harry gave Mary a bear hug. Then he raced up the ramp, yelling, “Grandma, guess what?”
Mary looked embarrassed. But I didn’t care, I gave her a hug, too. She really showed Harry how friends can help.
“Eweyee!” she groaned. “You guys got chocolate on my jacket.”
“Ooops!” I tried not to laugh.
Suddenly Harry hollered from his truck. “Thank you, Mare! My grandma will call your mom!” And they drove off with the window down. I could see Harry’s big toothy smile as he waved back at us.
Sidney’s Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
What you need:
2 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons imitation vanilla (cheaper and it’s just as good)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
l. Ask an adult to help you.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in one bowl. Set aside.
4. Mix butter and sugars in a larger bowl. Beat until creamy.
5. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well.
6. Stir in flour mixture.
7. Add chocolate chips.
8. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Cook 11 minutes.
Makes 30 good-sized cookies. (You can split one and share it with a friend.)
Tip: Best if eaten warm. The next day, just microwave the cookie for 10 seconds.
