Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker - Megan Mcdonald [8]
Stink got to school early and slipped the letter inside Webster’s desk. He watched Webster read it. Webster looked up. He looked over at Stink. “You mean you didn’t miss my birthday on purpose?”
“No way,” said Stink. “Just like I didn’t sucker-punch you on purpose. You gotta believe me.”
Webster grinned from ear to ear.
“Friends?” asked Stink.
“Friends,” said Webster. “So what’s the big surprise, huh? What’s C.G.? C’mon! Tell me! I can’t wait!”
“My lips are sealed,” said Stink, zippering his lips.
“Does it stand for Card Game?” asked Webster.
“Cinderella’s Glass slipper?” asked Sophie of the Elves.
“Cucumbers and Grapes?” asked Webster. “Crazy Glue?”
“No, no, and nope,” said Stink. “You just have to wait. My dad’s bringing it. But Mrs. D. said not until the end of the day.”
Waiting was harder than writing letters. Harder than punctuation. Harder than spelling sincerely.
At the end of the day, Mrs. D. read eleven pages from Sophie of the Elves’ favorite chapter book about a brave mouse and an evil rat.
Finally! At last! An announcement over the PA system.
“Special Delivery for Class 2D! Stink Moody to the front office!”
“Wow! Cool! Hey! What? Huh?” everybody buzzed.
Stink walked-not-ran down to the office and came back to class with Dad, a rainbow-bright rooster piñata, and 21,280 jawbreakers. Not to mention all sorts of candy bars, microbots, and monkey pencils.
“Candy-Gram!” Stink announced. “I repeat. Candy-Gram for Webster Gomez.”
Webster was already at the door. He had never ever seen so much candy in his whole entire life. “For me? WOWEE!”
“To celebrate your birthday,” said Stink. “With the whole class!”
“Piñata party!” everybody was saying.
“A Candy-Gram!” said Sophie of the Elves. “C.G. is for Candy-Gram!”
“I never got a Candy-Gram before. It’s like a telegram, only better.”
“Where’d you get all the candy and stuff?” asked Sophie.
“I got it FREE. Sort of by mistake on purpose.”
Dad and Mrs. D. filled the piñata with candy and goodies. Dad got to stand on the teacher’s desk! He hung the piñata from the ceiling.
“Who wants to go first?” asked Dad, pointing to the bright red rooster.
“Webster!” called Stink.
Dad asked Webster to close his eyes and handed him the stick. “Stand back, everybody,” Dad called.
“On the count of three!” said Mrs. D.
Webster swung the stick. It sliced the air, this way and that. Whoosh! Swoosh!
“Go, Webster, go!” everybody yelled. “Over this way. You’re getting warm!”
Bam! Webster finally hit the piñata! Nothing. Class 2D was super-quiet.
“Let’s try again — in French,” said Mrs. D. “Un, deux, trois . . .” Bam! Webster hit the piñata again! Still nothing.
“That rooster doesn’t want to crow,” said Dad.
“I’ll help!” called Stink. “Let’s swing the stick together.”
“Three’s a charm,” said Mrs. D. “Give it your best try. In Spanish, everybody! Uno, dos, tres . . .”
Ka-POW! Webster and Stink hit the piñata again. Bam! Bam! Bam! Crack! They cracked open the piñata.
Cock-a-doodle-doo! The rooster let out a loud sound, for real! Everybody screamed. A flood of candy rained down. Jawbreakers and Tweezlers, Milk Dudes and Peanut Butter Yucks. The kids raced to the front. They grabbed candy from all over the floor, under desks, behind the bookcase, even in the trash can.
“It’s raining cats and dogs!” said Stink. “Kool Katz and Scottie dogs!”
“We really hit the jackpot!” said Webster.
“That was more fun than a barrel of monkeys!” said Sophie of the Elves.
“Marvelous! I can see we’ve really learned our idioms,” said Mrs. D. “Now let’s divide up all the treats fair and square. Share and share alike!”
Stink stared at his own sweet pile of treats and treasures on his desk. It was a lot smaller than 21,280 jawbreakers. But when he saw Webster’s face, and a whole classfull of grins, he felt good inside. UN-rotten to the core, like the sweet, gooey bubblegum center of a jawbreaker.
“I’m proud of you, Stink,” said Dad. “I think you proved a leopard can change its spots.”
“I like the way you and your dad worked together,” said Mrs. D., smiling.