Horrible Harry and the Triple Revenge (3 page)

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Authors: Suzy Kline

BOOK: Horrible Harry and the Triple Revenge
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Sidney was anxiously waiting by the door in his bright red pajamas with white snowmen. They were one size too big.
“Where's Harry?” Sid asked.
“Grandma Spooger always brings him to school on Wednesdays,” I said. “That's when he has breakfast with his grandpa at Shady Glen.”
Sid looked worried. “Do you think Harry's going to show up in his underwear?”
Ida shook her head. “I hope not. Cross your fingers that he doesn't.”
Everyone crossed their fingers.
Except for Song Lee. She was reading a book called
A Single Shard
at her desk. She was wearing a pale blue nightgown with black-and-white pandas on it.
The rest of us waited at the door.
Finally, Harry strolled in.
Pajama Day
Harry was wearing underwear, all right.
Long johns!
Plain-white one-hundred-percent-cotton long johns!
I let out a big sigh of relief.
So did Mary and Ida.
Harry's teeth were as white as his winter underwear. “Okay, Sid. Start leaping like a praying mantis.”
Sidney slapped the wall. “You tricked me!”
“So what were you expecting me to wear, Sid? Pull-up diapers?” Harry joked.
Sidney reluctantly got up on his tiptoes and pulled his hands close to his chest. When he wiggled his fingers, some of us giggled. He leaped very quickly over to his desk, holding his head up high like a praying mantis.
Ida and Mary giggled.
Sidney only got out of his seat four times that day.
Once to go to the bathroom.
Once to line up for lunch.
Once for dismissal.
And once to go to the refreshment table for hot cocoa and cookies. ZuZu's mom was handing out the treats. She noticed Sidney's funny steps. “Are you pretending to be an animal?” Mrs. Hadad asked.
Sidney half-smiled. “Actually, I'm pretending to be an insect,” he mumbled.
ZuZu's mother looked at the teacher.
“I think Sidney has a good case of cabin fever,” Miss Mackle chuckled. “That's why the school has Spirit Week in the middle of winter.”
Mrs. Hadad smiled. “Well, Sidney, since you are an insect, you will like these Lebanese cookies. They have honey in them.”
Sidney dropped a handful of marshmallows in his cocoa. “I will, thank you,” he replied. Then he carefully leaped back to his desk.
Harry leaned back in his chair and flashed his white teeth.
His second revenge was done!
Now, I wondered, how far would Harry go for the third one?
The Third Revenge!
The next morning, when we lined up to go into the school, Harry announced his news.
“Guess what? I'm going to be nine on February sixth! Grandma is giving me a birthday party.”
“No kidding?” I said. “That's so cool. What are you going to do?”
“It's a surprise,” Harry said. “Grandma is taking us all to a special place in her Goog Mobile.”
“
Goog Mobile
?” Mary and Ida shouted.
“It's a van named after his cat, The Goog,” I explained.
“What's it look like?” Mary asked.
“Does it have whiskers?” Ida added.
“When you ride in it, you'll see,” Harry replied.
“It's awesome!” I said. “I've seen it before in Harry's garage.”
ZuZu and Dexter joined our conversation. Sidney looked on a few steps away.
“I've got the invitations with me today,” Harry said in a low voice. He patted his back pocket. It was bulging. “I'm passing them out now before school. Read them after school, and don't talk about them. You know Miss Mackle says no handing out party invitations
in the classroom. It's rude. This is yours, Doug.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I like the cow sticker on the front.” Then I put it in my pocket.
“Moo,” Harry replied with a grin.
“This is yours, Song Lee,” Harry said.
She tucked the invitation inside her flowered purse. Song Lee never talked about going to a party in front of other
people who weren't going. She wouldn't want someone to feel bad about not being invited.
Mary and Ida waited for their invitations. They smiled when Harry handed them each one.
“I can't wait to go to Harry's party,” Mary said. “I know it will be different! Look! Even the envelope is different. It has a silly cow sticker!”
“Moo!” Ida giggled. “I love cows!”
Sidney stepped forward with his hand out.
Harry reached behind him. “This is yours, ZuZu. And yours, Dexter.”
When the bell rang, we started to walk into the building. Sidney lagged behind with Harry and me. “You didn't give me mine.”
“No, I didn't,” Harry said.
Sidney paused, then dropped his head.
“Now you know how it feels to be crushed,” Harry said. “Like Song Lee's praying mantis.”
Sidney locked eyes with Harry. “I'm sorry I stepped on that oragummy bug!”
“You need to say that to someone else, Sid!” Harry snapped. “Not me!”
Sidney walked into the classroom with his shoulders humped over.
Harry's third revenge was the worst! Sidney didn't get an invitation to the party.
Later that morning, during writing, I noticed Sidney was folding some green construction paper.
Harry was drawing a picture of Apple Man to go with his story, “The Adventures of Apple Man.”
Song Lee was writing a poem.
I was writing about Pajama Day.
Suddenly Sidney walked over to Song Lee and handed her the crumpled-up green paper.
Harry and I looked up and listened to his conversation with Song Lee.
“This is for you,” Sidney said. “I never realized how hard it was to fold paper to make a praying mantis. I'm really sorry I stepped on your oragummy. It was a rotten thing to do.”

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