Heidi Heckelbeck Has a New Best Friend Read online

  Heidi still had no words, but Bryce sure did! She talked the entire way home.

  “You want to come over?” Bryce asked when they got off the bus.

  Heidi was pooped. “Sorry, I can’t,” she said. “I promised my mom I’d clean my room.”

  Bryce laughed as she walked back to her house. “Ha! Whatever you say, Cinderella!”

  Heidi shuffled in through the back door and dumped her backpack on the floor.

  Her mom came in and held out the phone.

  “It’s for you,” she whispered.

  Heidi put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

  “HELLO!” responded a loud voice. It was Lucy. “We’re both really MAD!”

  “That’s right!” added Bruce.

  Then Lucy and Bruce both began talking at the same time.

  “WAIT!” interrupted Heidi. “Will you guys PUH-LEASE talk one at a time?”

  The phone went quiet for a moment. Then Lucy said, “Your new friend Bryce is NO GOOD. Do you know what she said to us at the bus stop?”

  “Um, no,” Heidi answered.

  “She said YOU are HER new best friend,” Lucy said. “And that you only PRETEND to be nice to us.”

  Heidi slumped into a kitchen chair.

  “Bryce is SO mean,” added Bruce. “If you’re friends with her, then . . . then we can’t be friends with you.”

  His words made Heidi stare at the phone in shock.

  “You’re going to have to CHOOSE, Heidi!” Lucy said. “It’s either HER or US.”

  Now, that was a choice Heidi didn’t ever want to make.

  COMPLICATED

  Heidi skipped her after-school snack and trudged upstairs to tidy her room.

  Mom popped in her head a minute later. “Everything okay?”

  Heidi crumpled an old math sheet and tossed it in the wastebasket.

  “No. Not really,” Heidi mumbled. She plopped down on her bed. “Lucy and Bruce are mad at me.” Then she told her mom about her weird day.

  Mom sat down beside her. “True friends always come around,” she said.

  Heidi flopped onto her stomach. “What about BEST FRIENDS? I already have two best friends, and three is just too COMPLICATED.”

  Mom laughed and smiled. “It is complicated. But you have a great big heart, and I know there’s room in there for all kinds of friends.”

  Then she ruffled Heidi’s hair.

  Heidi moaned.

  “What you need is time to think about things,” Mom said, heading for the door. “I know! Maybe the perfect solution will reveal itself as you clean up your room.”

  Heidi rolled off the bed and began to pick up her dirty clothes. That’s when she noticed her Book of Spells. She felt a twinge of hope. Maybe there’s a spell in there that will give me a vacation from friends to figure things out, she thought.

  Heidi opened the magic book and thumbed through the pages. She found a spell called All by Myself and read it over.

  All by Myself

  Are you finding it impossible to get along with your friends lately? Maybe it feels like everybody’s mad at you. Do you secretly wish your friends would stop bugging you? If you’d like to get away from your people problems for a while, then this is the spell for you!

  Ingredients:

  1 picture of yourself alone

  1 cornflake

  1 sock

  1 drawing of yourself

  Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Then hold your Witches of Westwick medallion in one hand and hold your other hand over the bowl. Chant the following spell:

  Heidi gathered the first three ingredients and sat down at her desk to draw a picture of herself. When she was done, she tossed everything into a bowl. Then she held her Witches of Westwick medallion in one hand, placed her other hand over the mix, and chanted the spell.

  Heidi felt a warm glow wash over her. She yawned. Then she got ready for bed and fell fast asleep.

  A FUNNY FEELING

  Heidi sat up and looked at the clock.

  Oh my gosh! she said to herself. I’m going to be late for school! She slid out of bed, got dressed, and ran downstairs to have breakfast. That’s weird, she thought. There are only three place mats on the table, and everyone has already eaten. She opened the cupboard to grab the cereal. Then she remembered it was upstairs in her room. She decided to have yogurt.

  Heidi stopped in front of the refrigerator door. What? My picture is missing! She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. But then she laughed. Of course my picture is missing, she said to herself. It’s SUPPOSED to be missing. I used it to cast my spell last night. Sheesh.

  “Five minutes till the bus comes!” Mom called from her office.

  Henry slammed the door to his room. “Okay!” he called.

  Heidi heard him clump down the stairs and into the kitchen. He marched right past her and didn’t even say a word. It was as if she wasn’t there.

  Huh, Heidi thought. Then she grabbed a granola bar, picked up her backpack, and followed her brother out the door.

  The bus arrived on time, and Henry bounded up the steps. Heidi followed, and the doors folded shut on her. Shmoosh! Then they automatically reopened. Heidi blushed and checked to see if anyone was laughing at her. Nobody seemed to notice.

  She walked down the aisle and saw Bryce. But Bryce didn’t even look up. She was talking to a girl from the other class. Heidi sat down in a seat all by herself. Oh yay! I get to ride to school in peace today, she thought. No friends to smother me.

  As she looked out the window Heidi had a funny feeling. I wonder if I’m invisible.

  THE WHOLE THING

  Lucy breezed past Heidi on the way to class. Then Bruce ran by her too. Neither of them said hi.

  They’re probably still mad, Heidi thought. She turned to go to class and crashed smack into Melanie. Melanie flopped flat on her rear in the middle of the hallway. The kids in the hall all laughed. Melanie’s face turned red as she stood up and stormed off. She didn’t say one thing to Heidi—or even seem to notice that Heidi had accidentally knocked her down.

  Whoa, Heidi thought. I really AM invisible. There’s no way Melanie would pass up a chance to yell at me.

  As the bell rang, Heidi slipped into her classroom and sat down. She listened for her name during morning attendance, but Mrs. Welli skipped right over it.

  Oh brother, Heidi thought. This is going to be a LONG morning.

  “Okay, class, please pull out your historical heroes handout,” Mrs. Welli said. “Now, let’s see how well we know our heroes.” She opened her book. “What did Rosa Parks refuse to do on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama?”

  Heidi’s hand shot up, but Mrs. Welli called on Melanie.

  “Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person on the bus,” Melanie said.

  Mrs. Welli nodded. “And why was that a bold move?” she asked.

  Heidi raised her hand again, but Mrs. Welli called on Stanley.

  “Because African Americans had been forced to sit at the back of the bus,” he said.

  The teacher nodded and pointed to Eve Etsy.

  “Why did this make Rosa Parks a hero?” Mrs. Welli asked.

  “Because she helped end segre . . . segregation on, umm, public transportation,” said Eve.

  The answers made Mrs. Welli clap her hands in approval. “That’s right!”

  Then the class talked about Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Maya Angelou. Mrs. Welli didn’t call on Heidi once.

  At lunch, Heidi went straight to the playground and sat by herself. Soon the other kids began to come out. Melanie, Bryce, and Stanley ran to the swings. Heidi sipped her chocolate milk and watched.

  “Here I go!” Bryce shouted. Then she leaped off the swing and landed on her feet—just like Heidi had done the day before.

  Melanie and Stanley cheered for Bryce.

  “It’s the first time I’ve landed it!” Bryce said.

  Heidi stuck her empty chocolate milk carton
in her lunch box. Good for Bryce, she thought.

  Then Melanie and Stanley jumped from their swings.

  Heidi watched the three friends as they played together. I feel so ALONE, she thought. Now I wish I hadn’t cast that spell. She sank lower on the bench and didn’t even notice when Lucy and Bruce walked up. Her two friends sat down on the bench beside her.

  “Is there something the matter, Heidi?” Lucy asked.

  Heidi straightened up. “Wait, can you guys actually SEE me?”

  Bruce laughed out loud. “Of course we can see you, silly. You’re our best friend! Best friends always see each other.”

  Lucy scooted closer to Heidi. “We’re really sorry about yesterday. That was not a nice thing, to ask you to choose between friends.”

  Heidi sat up. “Can we just forget about the whole thing?”

  Bruce looked both ways. “Forget about what thing?”

  The girls both laughed.

  “The WHOLE thing!” said Heidi.

  And they did.

  F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

  The next morning Heidi counted four place mats and four napkins at the table.

  “Oh yay! Heidi cried. “I STILL EXIST!”

  Mom and Dad looked at each other.

  “Of course you exist,” Dad said. “We were never in doubt.”

  Henry bounced a Super Ball on the floor and caught it. “Well, I exist too!” he said.

  Heidi set the plates on the table. “That’s not what I heard. I heard little brothers are going extinct, like the dinosaurs.”

  Henry put up his arms like a T. rex and stomped toward Heidi. “Not this one!”

  Heidi hid behind a chair. Then she pounced on Henry when he got close. Everyone laughed.

  On the bus Heidi sat next to Bryce. “Hey, can I ask you something?” Heidi said.

  Bryce let her book bag slide to the floor before she said, “Of course.”

  Heidi looked into Bryce’s soft brown eyes. “I think you’re really nice,” she began, “so I just can’t understand why you weren’t very nice to Lucy and Bruce.”

  Bryce lowered her eyes for a moment. “Oh, I’m sorry, Heidi. It’s just so hard to come to a new school where everyone already has friends. I really wanted you to like me—that’s all.”

  Heidi smiled. “I definitely like you! I’m sure you’ll like Lucy and Bruce once you get to know them too.”

  Bryce smiled, but she didn’t say anything about Lucy and Bruce. Instead, Bryce told Heidi about how she had landed the trick on the swing.

  When they got to school, Heidi joined Lucy and Bruce on the playground. Bryce headed off with Melanie and Stanley. Heidi waved good-bye to Bryce.

  Lucy noticed. “Hey, it looks like Bryce is making more friends,” Lucy said.

  “She is,” Heidi said. “Oh, I talked to her about everything on the bus, and she feels bad about the way she acted.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear,” Lucy said.

  Bruce agreed. “Yeah, but you know what’s really been bugging me about Bryce?”

  The girls shook their heads.

  “Her name is only ONE letter off from MY name!” said Bruce. “Promise me you won’t ever call me Bryce by mistake!”

  Lucy and Heidi burst out laughing.

  “We promise,” said Heidi. “Let’s hope we don’t call Bryce BRUCE, either!”

  Then all three friends let out the biggest best friend laughter.

  And it felt so good.

  Check out the next book starring Heidi Heckelbeck

  HEIDI HECKELBECK AND THE SNOOPY SPY

  Heidi and Lucy floppity-flopped onto Heidi’s bed. The two best friends were playing a game of Would You? Could You?

  “Your turn!” Heidi said.

  Lucy propped herself up on one elbow. “Okay, I’ve got one,” she said. “Would you? Could you? Umm, eat a chocolate-covered BUG?”

  Heidi giggled and wrinkled her nose. “Maybe,” she said. “If the bug wasn’t too crunchy. It is chocolate, after all.”

  Lucy squeezed her eyes shut. “GROSS!” she cried.

  Both girls cracked up.

  “Okay, my turn,” Heidi said. “Would you? Could you? Dump a whole bottle of strawberry shampoo on Melanie Maplethorpe’s head?”

  Both girls squealed.

  “That’s funny,” Lucy said, catching her breath. “But a teeny bit mean.”

  Heidi shoved Lucy playfully. “It’s not MEAN, it’s CLEAN!” she said. “Get it? Shampoo?”

  The two girls started laughing again.

  “Okay, here’s a good one,” Lucy said. “Would you? Could you? Ask Stanley Stonewrecker to go to a movie?”

  Heidi’s cheeks turned red. Then she leaned in closer to Lucy.

  She whispered loudly, “Yes!”

  Lucy shrieked, and both girls collapsed in laughter again.

  “I knew it!” Lucy cried. “I knew it all the time!”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

  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.

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster New York

  HeidiHeckelbeckBooks.com

  Visit us at

  simonandschuster.com/kids

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Wanda-Coven

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Priscilla-Burris

  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

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Little Simon paperback edition January 2018

  Copyright © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Also available in a Little Simon hardcover edition.

  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. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Designed by Ciara Gay

  Jacket illustrations by Priscilla Burris

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Coven, Wanda, author.

  Title: Heidi Heckelbeck has a new best friend / by Wanda Coven ; illustrated by Priscilla Burris.

  Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2018. | Series: Heidi Heckelbeck ; 22 | Summary: “Heidi’s new neighbor wants to become Heidi’s best friend”— Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017016650 | ISBN 9781534411074 (paperback) | ISBN 9781534411081 (hc) | ISBN 9781534411098 (eBook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Best friends—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Witches—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic. | JUVENILE FICTION / Imagination & Play. | JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Boo
ks.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.C83393 Hdt 2018 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017016650