Heidi Heckelbeck and the Secret Admirer Read online

  Dad had food coloring in his lab, but his lab was off-limits. Maybe I can mix colors like Mr. Doodlebee showed us in art, thought Heidi. She set a small container on the counter and squirted yellow food coloring into it. She added two squirts of blue. Then she stirred it with her finger. The colors swirled into a beautiful shade of emerald green. Perfect!

  Heidi snapped the lid back on and grabbed a plastic bowl and a spoon from the kitchen. Then she snuck upstairs to her room and put everything into her backpack. Wait! I almost forgot, Heidi thought. She grabbed a stick of peppermint gum from her desk and dropped it into her backpack too.

  Now I will find out who likes me once and for all!

  On the day of the science fair Heidi carried her fishbowl into the Brewster Elementary gym. Her spell ingredients were safely hidden in her backpack. She was wearing her Witches of Westwick medallion, but it was tucked underneath her shirt. Dad carried the rest of Heidi’s science experiment supplies in a shopping bag, and Mom held Henry’s hand as she chatted with Aunt Trudy. Aunt Trudy rarely missed a family event.

  A banner on the gym wall welcomed everyone. Tables with white tablecloths had been set up all around the room. The judges’ table sat on a raised platform. The judges were Brewster’s mayor, Lou Billings, and the editor of Science Time! magazine, Clyde Jones.

  Heidi found her table. It had a tent card with her name and Stanley’s name in black curvy letters. There was also a white envelope with Heidi’s name on it. What’s that? she wondered. She set down the fishbowl. Dad placed a wooden stand on the middle of the table. Heidi covered the stand with a white scarf and set the bowl on top of it. She wanted her experiment to stand out, so her dad had helped her make a special stand.

  “Looks great!” Dad said.

  “Thanks,” said Heidi.

  Then she picked up the envelope and turned away so no one would see what she was looking at. Inside the envelope she found a five-dollar gift card for Scoops ice-cream shop.

  There was also a note:

  Here’s the Scoop!

  I think you’re cool!

  From,

  Your Secret Admirer

  Heidi stuffed the note, gift card, and envelope in her backpack. When she looked up, Aunt Trudy winked at her. Could Aunt Trudy be my secret admirer? Heidi wondered.

  She would have to find out later. Right now Heidi

  needed to set up her science project. She and Dad went to the water fountain and filled the measuring cup with two quarts of water.

  When they got back, Stanley had arrived with his portable music player and a sea-green poster. Fat paper letters spelled DANCING RAISINS across the top. Stanley had drawn step-by-step pictures of how the science experiment worked. Note cards explained everything in words. He stood the poster on a stand beside the fishbowl.

  “That looks amazing,” said Heidi.

  “So does the fishbowl,” said Stanley.

  Stanley and Heidi got to work. They had to get the raisins dancing by the time the judges got to the table.

  Henry peered into the fishbowl. “I wike the poo-poo wah-wah,” he said with a mouthful of food. He really meant “I like the purple water.”

  “What are you eating?” asked Heidi.

  Henry swallowed.

  “Raisins,” he said.

  Heidi grabbed the box of raisins and looked inside. “OH NO!” she shouted. “I can’t believe it! You just ate the most important part of our science experiment!”

  Heidi grabbed her brother’s arm.

  “Ow!” cried Henry. “What’s the big deal?”

  Dad pulled Heidi and Henry apart.

  “Settle down,” said Dad. “We can work this out.”

  “But he ruined our experiment!” wailed Heidi.

  “Hold on,” said Aunt Trudy, putting her hand on Heidi’s shoulder. “I have an idea.”

  Aunt Trudy pulled out a tin of gumballs from her purse. “I always keep gumballs on hand,” she said. “They keep me from snacking.”

  Aunt Trudy chose a few sour-apple gumballs from the tin. “These feel just like mothballs,” she explained. “The carbon dioxide bubbles can collect on their surfaces too. So they’ll also work in your experiment.”

  Heidi stared at the lime-green gumballs.

  “But our project is called ‘Dancing Raisins,’” said Heidi. “Not ‘Dancing Gumballs.’”

  “I can fix that!” said Stanley. “I brought my art supplies just in case.”

  “You did?” said Heidi.

  Stanley nodded.

  Heidi let out a sigh of relief.

  “You know what?” she said. “I’m glad we’re partners.”

  “Me too,” said Stanley.

  Plink!

  Plink!

  Plunk!

  Heidi dropped the gumballs into the fishbowl. Stanley fixed the poster so it said DANCING GUMBALLS. Then he glued the word “gumballs” over the word “raisins” on all the note cards.

  “I’m kind of glad that Henry ate the raisins,” said Heidi.

  “Me too,” said Stanley. “Gumballs are cooler than raisins.”

  Henry ran up to the table. “The judges are walking around,” he said.

  Heidi spotted the judges at the first table.

  “They won’t get to us for a while,” said Heidi. “Let’s go look at the other experiments.”

  “Good idea,” said Stanley.

  Heidi and Stanley watched Lucy and Charlie show how a lemon battery works. They had five lemons with pennies, nails, and little cables attached to them. When they hooked up the cables to a tiny blue Christmas bulb, it lit up.

  The judges clapped.

  “Very well done!” said the mayor.

  “I bet they’ll win,” said Heidi.

  Stanley nodded.

  Then they went to see Bruce and Melanie show off their volcano. The volcano sat on fake grass with mini plastic trees and houses all around it. Bruce was about to add the vinegar to the volcano when Melanie grabbed the bottle out of his hand.

  “Let ME do it,” said Melanie.

  “Stop!” cried Bruce.

  But it was too late.

  Glug! Glug! Glug! Melanie poured half the bottle of vinegar into the volcano.

  “Stand back!” shouted Bruce.

  Everyone—except for Melanie—backed away from the table.

  Ka-BOOM!

  The volcano blew up. Melanie screamed as lava—which was really a stream of clay and bits of paper—splattered all over her face and clothes. A plastic tree hung from her long blond hair. Heidi, Lucy, and Bruce burst out laughing. Even Stanley laughed! Melanie clenched her fists and ran to the girls’ bathroom.

  “I’d say that was a huge success,” said Bruce.

  The judges frowned and wiped their sleeves.

  Pop!

  Fizz!

  Boogie!

  Stanley and Heidi’s experiment was really in full swing once they were back at their table. The gumballs bounced up and down in the fishbowl.

  “They’re dancing like crazy!” said Stanley.

  “Start the music!” said Heidi.

  Stanley switched on the music player. The Charlie Brown theme song began to play. Doo da doot doot, doo da doo . . . doo!

  “The gumballs look like they’re really dancing to the music,” said Heidi.

  “It’s magical,” said Stanley.

  “I agree,” said the mayor, who had just arrived at their table.

  The judges watched the gumballs dance to the music. They jotted some notes on their clipboards.

  “What makes the gumballs dance?” asked the magazine editor.

  “The music!” said Henry.

  Everyone laughed. Then Heidi and Stanley took turns telling the judges what made the gumballs dance.

  “Clever use of color,” said the mayor.

  “This is really great music,” said Principal Pennypacker as he snapped his fingers to the beat.

  Then the judges moved on to the next table.

  “Be right back,
” said Heidi.

  Stanley nodded.

  Heidi grabbed her backpack and raced to the water fountain. Now’s my chance to find out who my secret admirer is, she thought. She took the plastic bowl from her backpack and filled it with a cup of water. Then she pushed open the door and stood in the hall. Heidi dropped a stick of gum in the bowl of water. Next she added two drops of the green food coloring and stirred it with a spoon. She put the bowl on the floor and stooped down next to it. Heidi pulled her medallion out from under her shirt and held it in her left hand. She placed her other hand over the mix and chanted the spell. The potion began to swizzle and swirl. Letters began to form in the fizzy green water.

  Then—wham! The door to the gym banged into Heidi’s back. She fell flat on her belly, and the potion spilled onto the floor before she could read the name.

  “Ew, gross!” said someone behind her.

  It was her brother, Henry.

  “What are you drinking?” asked Henry. “Slime juice?”

  Heidi jumped to her feet and grabbed her brother in a headlock.

  Before she could really give it to him, the judges announced they had a winner. Heidi let go of Henry.

  “Now come on, Dr. Destructo,” said Heidi.

  Heidi stuffed the bowl in her backpack and wiped up the mess with a paper towel.

  Then they ran back inside.

  “Thank you, second graders of Brewster!” said the mayor. “We’re so proud of each one of you.” Everyone clapped. “This year’s winning science project showed both hard work and imagination. Principal Pennypacker, would you please open the envelope?”

  Principal Pennypacker pulled a piece of paper from the envelope.

  “The winners of the second-grade science fair are . . . Heidi Heckelbeck and Stanley Stonewrecker!”

  Everyone clapped and cheered.

  Heidi squealed and Stanley pumped his fist in the air. Then they jumped up and down and hugged.

  “I never even dreamed we’d win!” said Heidi.

  “Well, I did!” said Stanley.

  “Will the winners please come to the judges’ table and accept your award?” asked Principal Pennypacker.

  Heidi and Stanley made their way to the judges’ table. Kids high-fived them and whistled as they walked by. The mayor put a medal around Heidi’s neck, and then he put another one around Stanley’s. The golden medal had three pictures: a beaker, a microscope, and the symbol of an atom.

  Wow, thought Heidi as she and Stanley had their picture taken with the judges and Principal Pennypacker. I’ve never won a medal before. The excitement made her forget all about the ruined spell.

  “It was fun being partners,” said Heidi as she and Stanley walked back to their table.

  “Yeah, it sure was,” said Stanley.

  “And now the party’s OVER,” said Melanie, who still had crusty lava spattered all over her clothes. Melanie grabbed Stanley by the arm. “Come on, Stanley. Your weirdo duties are over, and I need help with my stuff.”

  “See ya,” said Heidi.

  “See ya,” said Stanley.

  When Heidi got back to the table, Dad, Mom, and Aunt Trudy had already packed everything up.

  Bruce walked over and tapped Heidi on the shoulder. “Congratulations, Heidi,” he said shyly. Then he handed something to her. “This is for you,” he said. “It’s a lava candy dispenser. It shoots Red Hots out of the top.” It was Bruce’s latest invention.

  “Cool,” said Heidi.

  She pressed a button and a red candy popped out.

  “I should’ve known you were my secret admirer all along,” said Heidi.

  Bruce looked puzzled, but before he could answer, his mother steered him toward the door.

  “Your grandmother is waiting,” said Bruce’s mother.

  They hurried off.

  I’m sure Bruce is my admirer, thought Heidi. Who else can it be? She hugged her fishbowl and headed out the door with her family.

  On the other side of the gym, Stanley Stonewrecker watched Heidi disappear behind the swinging doors.

  “Don’t tell me you like her?” said Melanie as she turned and walked toward the doors.

  “Nah, of course not,” said Stanley—with a smile.

  Amy and the Missing Puppy

  All of a sudden, Amy heard the jangle of a dog collar. Around the desk came a blur of brown and white fur. Amy felt a paw on either shoulder as she toppled off her chair. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor and a drooly Saint Bernard puppy was covering her face with doggy kisses.

  Amy giggled and squealed. The Fitter Critter treats fell out of her pocket and scattered onto the floor. The puppy sniffed them before he gulped down three.

  “Bad boy, Rufus! Naughty!” said Ms. Sullivan sternly. The puppy returned to Ms. Sullivan’s side. He sat and looked up at her. His tail was wagging a mile a minute.

  Still giggling, Amy picked herself up off the floor. She dried her face with the sleeve of her hoodie.

  “Well, it looks like you’ve made a new friend,” Ms. Sullivan said to Amy.

  Amy looked up. For a split second, she thought she saw Ms. Sullivan’s mouth turn up at the corners. Was that a smile? Amy had never seen Ms. Sullivan smile before. She’d never seen her with a puppy before either. Huh, she thought. Ms. Sullivan doesn’t seem like a pet person.

  Just then Amy’s mother, Dr. Purvis came into the waiting room. “Hello, Marge! Hello, Rufus!” she said. She led them to an exam room.

  Amy looked down at her favorite yellow hoodie. Below each shoulder was one perfect muddy paw print. Guess Rufus found the wet flower bed on his way in! Amy thought. She laughed and tried to wipe off the prints with a paper towel. It didn’t help.

  Rufus had left his mark.

  WANDA COVEN 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.

  PRISCILLA BURRIS 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.

  Jacket design by Laura Lyn DiSiena

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2012

  by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster

  New York

  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.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 2012 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Coven, Wanda.

  Heidi Heckelbeck has a secret admirer / by Wanda Coven ; illustrated by Priscilla Burris. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: When Heidi is paired with Stanley, her worst enemy’s best friend, for the Brewster Science Fair and she suddenly starts getting notes from a secret admirer, she tries to use magic to discover th
e note-writer’s identity.

  ISBN 978-1-4424-4174-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4424-4175-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4424-4176-7 (ebook)

  [1. Science projects—Fiction. 2. Science fairs—Fiction. 3. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Witches—Fiction.] I. Burris, Priscilla, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.C83392Hf 2012

  [Fic]—dc23

  2011027868