Super secret valentine, p.1
Super-Secret Valentine, page 1
by ABBY KLEIN
illustrated by
JOHN MCKINLEY
To my Super-Secret Valentine—J.K.
Love you forever … Smoochie,
A.K.
I have a problem.
A really, really, big problem.
I want to give Jessie a special
valentine for Valentine’s Day,
but I don’t want anyone
else to know.
Let me tell you about it.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Epigraph
Dear Reader
Chapter 1: The Chase
Chapter 2: Valentines Are for Everyone
Chapter 3: Crooked Hearts
Chapter 4: K-I-S-S-I-N-G
Chapter 5: Laundry Day
Chapter 6: The Super-Secret Valentine
Chapter 7: The Big Day
Chapter 8: A Red Tomato
Freddy’s Fun Pages
Super-Secret Valentine Word Search
Valentine’s Day Puzzle
Valentine Happy-Face Waffles
Freddy’s Other Adventures!
Copyright
DEAR READER,
Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. When I was little, my mom and dad always had a special surprise waiting for me at the breakfast table on Valentine’s Day morning. One year when I walked into the kitchen, I saw a huge, stuffed bear sitting in my seat at the table. He was wearing a T-shirt that said, “You are beary sweet. Will you be my valentine?” I will never forget that.
I still love getting and giving cards and treats to my friends and family on Valentine’s Day. I also love to eat all the chocolates!
I hope you have as much fun reading Super-Secret Valentine as I had writing it.
HAPPY READING!
CHAPTER 1
The Chase
“AHHHHH! HELP! HELP!” Chloe screamed as she raced around the playground, waving her arms wildly in the air. “He’s gonna get me! He’s gonna get me!”
As I peeked around the side of the building where I was hiding, I saw Max, the biggest bully in the whole first grade, chasing her. I turned to my best friend, Robbie. “At least he’s not chasing us right now,” I whispered. “This is a good hiding place.”
“Yeah,” said Robbie. “He’ll never find us back here. We’re safe.”
Just as he said that, Chloe ran right past us, and Max discovered our secret hiding place. “There you two wimps are,” he said, grinning. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
I gulped. Great. Just great.
“I’d start running if I were you,” said Max.
Robbie and I took off like lightning. We ran through the basketball courts, across the grass, and under the slide, with Max right at our heels. “You guys are never going to get away this time!” Max yelled.
It felt as if we had been running forever. My heart was beating so fast, I thought it would explode. Didn’t this guy ever get tired? Every recess he chased us all over the playground.
“Hurry up, Freddy,” Robbie called. “He’s catching up. Don’t slow down now.”
I could feel Max’s hot breath on my neck.
He reached out to grab my shirt and got a small piece of it, but I yanked my body away, made a quick turn, and started running in the opposite direction. As Max turned to see where I was going, he accidentally knocked into Chloe, who was still running for her life. He sent her sailing onto the pavement.
“OWWWW! OWWWWW!” Chloe wailed, grabbing her knee. “I’m bleeding! Help me! I’m bleeding!”
We stopped running and gathered around her to see what all the crying was about.
“Look what you did, you big meanie,” she screamed at Max. “My tights are ripped, my party dress is dirty, and my new shoes have scratches all over them. Do you know how much these shoes cost? They are very expensive. You are in big trouble!”
“Maybe you shouldn’t wear such fancy shoes to school,” Max snarled.
Just then our teacher, Mrs. Wushy, came running over.
“Oh my goodness!” she said. “Chloe, what happened to you?”
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Chloe sobbed, pointing to Max. “That big bully over there was chasing me, and he knocked me over.”
Mrs. Wushy turned to Max. “Is that true, Max? Did you push Chloe?”
“Well … um,” he stammered.
“Max, I asked you a question. I’m waiting for an answer,” Mrs. Wushy continued.
“I … uh … I … uh.”
“Max Sellars, if you don’t answer me this instant, then you are going to go sit on the bench over there until you have an answer.”
“It was an accident.”
“No it wasn’t!” Chloe screamed. “He pushed me. He’s lying.”
“I didn’t push you, you little fancy pants,” said Max. “I was chasing Freddy, and I bumped into you by accident.”
“And he was chasing me, too,” Chloe whined. “Like he does every recess.”
“Max,” said Mrs. Wushy, “were you chasing kids again?”
“I just bumped into her by accident.”
“Liar!” Chloe cried. “You’re a big, fat liar!”
“All right, Chloe. That’s enough,” said Mrs. Wushy. She turned back to Max. “But if you weren’t chasing kids, then accidents like this wouldn’t happen. Right? What is the rule about chasing?”
“No chasing allowed,” Max mumbled.
“What’s that? I didn’t hear you,” said Mrs. Wushy. “Please look at me when you speak.”
“No chasing allowed,” Max grouched.
“That’s right. I don’t like you chasing other children because somebody always ends up getting hurt.”
I poked Robbie in the side and whispered, “He never gets hurt. Only the rest of us.”
The bell rang, signaling the end of recess.
“Well, Max,” said Mrs. Wushy, “this recess is over. It looks as if you are going to have to sit on the bench at lunch recess.”
“What?” Max protested. “That’s not fair!”
“Oh, I think it’s very fair. You need to start remembering the rules. Maybe sitting on the bench will give you some time to think.”
Mrs. Wushy reached her hand out to Chloe to help her up. “Come on, Chloe, honey. Let’s go inside and get you cleaned up.”
“But what about my brand-new shoes?” she whimpered. “They’re ruined.”
“We’ll see what we can do about those, too. When I’m done, you won’t see a scratch.”
As the rest of us went to get in line, Max came up behind me and whispered in my ear, “It’s all your fault. I’m gonna get you for this.”
CHAPTER 2
Valentines Are for Everyone
After we all came back to the room from recess, Mrs. Wushy washed off Chloe’s knee and put a Band-Aid on it. Then Chloe limped over to the rug to sit down.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Wushy. I don’t know if I can bend this knee to sit down.”
“Waa, waa, waa … She is such a drama queen,” I whispered to Jessie. “She is always whining about something.”
“I know,” Jessie whispered back. “The way she’s acting, you’d think she broke her leg.”
Jessie never whines or complains. She is one of the toughest kids in the class. In fact, she is one of the few kids who stands up to Max. She isn’t afraid of him at all. I wish I could be more like Jessie. I like her a lot. She is a really good friend.
Just then, Max’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “Oh, just sit down, you little baby!” he yelled at Chloe. “It’s just a little scrape.”
“It is not little at all. It’s huge,” she said. “For your information, mister, it was bleeding all over the place.”
“Bleeding all over the place?” Robbie whispered. “What planet is she living on? I think I saw two drops of blood.”
Jessie, Robbie, and I started to giggle.
“Stop laughing at me!” Chloe said, pouting. “It’s not funny. It really hurts.”
“OK. That’s enough, everyone,” said Mrs. Wushy. “Chloe, I think you’re going to be fine. If you don’t think you can sit on the rug right now, then just sit in a chair, and put your leg out straight.”
Chloe pulled out a chair and slowly sat down. She stuck her sore leg straight out in front of her.
Max spun around. “Hey, watch it, you little priss. You just kicked me in the back.”
“I did not. I was just sticking my leg out like Mrs. Wushy told me to do.”
Max started to push Chloe’s leg back.
“Stop it! Stop it! You’re hurting me!” she cried. “You’re hurting me!”
Mrs. Wushy ran over and stood in between the two of them. “I don’t want to hear another word out of either of you. Max, you need to go find another spot on the rug.”
“But … why me?” he groaned.
“Because I said so,” Mrs. Wushy answered. “I want the two of you as far away from each other as possible.”
“How about moving her to another class?” Max said, pointing to Chloe. “That’s pretty far away … but not far enough.”
Now Mrs. Wushy was really angry. You could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. “One more word out of you, Max, and you’ll be going to see Mr. Pendergast.”
Mr. Pendergast is our principal. Max had actually been to see him a few times. Luckily, I had never been sent to the principal’s office. It was not a place you wanted to go.
&nb
“Well, boys and girls,” said Mrs. Wushy, “I’m glad to see that everyone is ready to listen now, because we have some very important business to discuss. Does anyone know what special day it is on Friday?”
Robbie’s hand shot up. He is a genius. He knows all the answers.
“Yes, Robbie?” said Mrs. Wushy.
“Friday is Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s right.”
“I just love Valentine’s Day,” Jessie whispered in my ear.
“Me, too,” I whispered back.
“On Valentine’s Day,” Mrs. Wushy went on, “we are going to have a little party, and you can all pass out valentines to your friends.”
“Cool,” I said. Next to Christmas, I think Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday.
Chloe raised her hand. “Excuse me, Mrs. Wushy. I have a question.”
“Yes, Chloe?”
“So, for the party we only have to make valentines for our friends, right?”
“That’s a good question. No. You need to make one for everyone in the class.”
“But you said that we were going to pass out valentines to our friends. Not everyone in this class is my friend,” she said, glaring at Max.
“That’s not true,” said Mrs. Wushy. “We are all friends in this class.”
“B-b-but,” Chloe stammered.
I agreed with Chloe on this one. I wasn’t too excited about making a valentine for Max.
“No ‘buts,’ Chloe. I make the rules, and I say that you have to make a valentine for everyone. You cannot pick and choose. Does anyone know why I made this rule?”
Robbie raised his hand again.
“Yes, Robbie, what do you think?”
“I think you made the rule because you didn’t want anyone’s feelings to get hurt.”
“That is exactly right,” said Mrs. Wushy, smiling. “Chloe, how do you think you would feel if Robbie got twenty valentines, and you only got three?”
“Three?” Chloe laughed. “I would get way more than three.”
“Three?” I whispered to Jessie. “She’d be lucky if she got that many. She should be glad that Mrs. Wushy has that rule.”
“Well, this way I know no one will be left out,” said Mrs. Wushy. “So if you don’t count yourself, you need to bring in nineteen valentines on Friday. I wrote everyone’s name down on this note for your parents. You can check the names off as you go, and that way you’ll know you’ve made one for everybody in the class.”
Jessie raised her hand. “Can we put candy in the envelopes?”
“Yes, Jessie, you can put a little piece of candy in your valentine if it’s OK with your parents. Just check with them first.”
My eyes got big just thinking about all that yummy candy.
“Any other questions? Yes, Freddy.”
“What are we going to put all of our valentines in?”
“That’s a great question,” said Mrs. Wushy. “Tomorrow we are going to decorate special bags to collect all of the valentines.”
“How about treats?” Max blurted out. “How can you have a party without treats?”
“Max,” said Mrs. Wushy, “you need to remember to raise your hand and not just call out. To answer your question, we will be having some treats on Friday. I’m not going to tell you right now. I’ll let it be a surprise.”
“I love surprises,” Jessie whispered.
“Me, too!” I said, smiling at her.
This was going to be the best Valentine’s Day ever. I was going to surprise Jessie with the biggest, best valentine she ever saw!
CHAPTER 3
Crooked Hearts
Usually we buy our valentines at the store, but this year my mom and my sister, Suzie, decided they wanted to make valentines. My mom had bought red and pink paper, stickers, glitter, markers, stamps, and doilies.
“All this stuff is for girls,” I groaned. “How am I going to make my valentines?”
“Well, I thought you could cut out a big red heart, put one of these cool shark stickers on it, and write ‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’” said my mom.
“That’s going to take forever. Why couldn’t we just buy them like we always do?”
“Stop your complaining, you little pain,” said Suzie. “Mom got some really awesome stuff. This is going to be so much fun!”
“Maybe for you, but not for me. I don’t even know how to cut out a heart!”
“Don’t worry, honey,” said my mom. “I’ll help you. They’re going to be beautiful.”
“Beautiful is for girls,” I said. “I want mine to look cool.”
“Then we’ll make them look cool. Here, cut out this heart I traced,” my mom said as she handed me a piece of paper.
I reached for a pair of scissors, but Suzie pushed my hand away and grabbed them first. “Those are mine, Shark Breath!” she yelled.
“Suzie, there is no reason to fight. I bought all of these things for you two to share. There is plenty of stuff here for both of you.”
“Well, these are my scissors. The little baby can use that pair over there.”
“Whatever, Brat,” I said, sticking my tongue out at her.
“Enough, you two,” said my mom. “Do you think we can do this without fighting? This is supposed to be fun.”
Neither one of us answered.
“Well?”
“Yeah, I guess,” I said. “Thank you very much, Freddy. Now how about you, Suzie?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. Now, Freddy, just cut right on that line I drew.”
I tried to cut carefully, but the heart came out all crooked. I crumpled it up and threw it on the floor.
“Freddy, what are you doing?” asked my mom. “Why did you just crumple it up?”
“That one was all crooked. I told you that I can’t cut a heart!”
“Oh, now you’re just being silly. Of course you can cut a heart. Here. Try again.”
She handed me another heart, and I tried to cut even slower this time but I messed up again. “There. You see? It’s all crooked,” I said, shoving it in my mom’s face.
“No, it’s not. It’s just fine. You’re being too hard on yourself. Now why don’t you choose one of these stickers to put on it?”
Sharks are my favorite animal, and my mom had found some really great shark stickers for me to put on my valentines. “These are cool, Mom. My friends are going to love them.”
“I know. Aren’t they great? I thought of you the minute I saw them.”
Suzie looked up from the valentines she was making. “Sharks, sharks, sharks!” she moaned. “You know, you are a shark freak. You have to dress up as a shark every Halloween. Every T-shirt you have has to have a shark on it. You’re always rubbing that stupid shark’s tooth for good luck. Ugh!”
“My shark’s tooth is not stupid, and it does bring me good luck!”
“So what if Freddy likes sharks?” said my mom. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Well, if you like them so much, maybe you should marry them,” Suzie teased.
“Well, since you like the bathroom so much, maybe you should marry it!”
“Stop it, you two!” yelled my mom. “If you can’t get along, then we just won’t make any more valentines.”
“But I have to make one for everyone in my class. That’s the rule.”
“Then I suggest the two of you leave each other alone,” said my mom.
“Fine,” I mumbled. “Now what do I have to do next?”
“You just have to write the person’s name at the top, use this stamp that says, ‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’ and then sign your name.”
“That’s going to take forever!”
“It will if you keep complaining instead of working,” said my mom. “If you just do it, you’ll see it won’t take very long, and you’ll have fun doing it.”
“Oh, all right,” I said.
I got to work, and before I realized it, I had made eighteen valentines. “You were right, Mom. This is a lot of fun.”
“Yeah,” said Suzie. “I love making my own valentines. This glitter is really sparkly. Thanks for buying it, Mom.”
