BUGS

 

  Heidi and Lucy floppity-flopped onto Heidi’s bed. The two best friends were playing a game they invented called 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 gasped and 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!”

  Then something went BONK under Heidi’s bed. The girls stopped talking and stared at each other. Heidi put a finger to her lips. Then she hung her head over the side of the bed and pulled up the dust ruffle.

  “Henry!” she screamed.

   

  Henry wiggled out from under the bed. He had a huge smile on his face. He also had on a trench coat and a weird hat. Plus he was holding a magnifying glass in front of his eye.

   

  “Super spy strikes again!” Henry cheered.

  “Get him!” Heidi shouted.

  Henry scrambled to his feet and raced out of the room. The girls chased him all the way downstairs.

   

  “Mom!” Heidi yelled. “Henry was spying on us in my room!”

  Heidi’s mom, who had been napping on the couch, sat up and rubbed her eyes.

   

  Heidi tapped her foot. “Please do something now!” she begged. “That Mr. Snoopy Pants is driving us crazy!”

  Mom nodded sleepily. Then the girls scampered back upstairs, and Heidi slammed the door behind them.

   

  “We should make sure your room is not bugged,” Lucy said.

  Heidi was worried. “Wait, you mean my room has creepy, crawly bugs?”

   

  Lucy shook her head. “No, no, I meant a recording device,” she explained. “Your little brother may be listening in—even when he’s not actually in here.”

  Heidi looked around her room suspiciously. “You’re RIGHT!”

   

  The girls began to search. Heidi looked on her bookshelf. Then Lucy went to check under the bed. Just as Lucy started to lift up the dust ruffle, Heidi squealed from across the room. Her heart stopped for a second as she dove to block her friend.

   

  “Don’t look under there!” Heidi cried.

  “Why not?” asked Lucy.

   

  Now Heidi’s heart pounded as she tried to think of a reason to keep Lucy from looking under the bed . . . where her secret Book of Spells was hidden. “Because that’s where I . . . uh . . . hid your Christmas present!”

  Lucy sat on her heels. “You already got me a Christmas present?”

  “Yes!” Heidi nodded. “Yes, I did. It’s never too early to shop, that’s what I always say. So you can look anywhere else in my room except under there.”

   

  Lucy dropped the dust ruffle. “Okay, but now I’m curious.”

  “Good,” said Heidi. “Now let’s use that curiosity to search for snoopy devices!”

  The girls looked everywhere else, but they didn’t find a single bug.