Love Stinks! (4 page)

“For who?” Suzanne and Becky asked together.

Jessica grinned. “I’m not telling.
I’m
going to be someone’s secret admirer.”

“That’s a good idea,” Mandy said. She took a piece of paper from the counter and began scribbling down
her
message. “I know just who to send one to.”

“I didn’t know you had a crush on anyone,” Suzanne told Mandy.

“Andrew
didn’t know it, either. But he will now,” Mandy laughed.

Suzanne, Becky, and Jessica all started to giggle.

But not Katie. “This is a bad idea,” she warned. “None of the boys will like getting candy at school.”

“You’re just saying that because you don’t have a crush on anyone,” Jessica told her.

“And no boy likes her, either,” Becky added.

“They do, too,” Katie said.

“Sure they do, Katie,” Suzanne assured her friend. “But the boys like you as a pal. Not like a
valentine
.”

Katie wanted to shout out that no one liked Suzanne like a valentine, either. Her secret admirer was a big fake! But Katie couldn’t do that. It would be too mean.

Instead, she turned and walked out of the store. “I’m going back to Louie’s for a veggie slice,” she told the other girls angrily.

As Katie stormed across the mall, she grew madder and madder. She was sick and tired of Valentine’s Day. It was nothing but trouble!

That was it! Katie wasn’t celebrating Valentine’s Day. She wasn’t going to eat any little candy hearts, wear red all day, or make any more cards! As far as Katie was concerned, there was no Valentine’s Day. She was calling the whole thing off!

“Hey there, Katie!” Louie exclaimed cheerfully as she walked into his restaurant. “Back again so soon? Cinnamon must be really hungry.”

Katie tried to smile. But it was hard. “This time I’m getting a slice of pizza for myself. My mother gave me five dollars to spend while I’m at the mall.” She sighed and plopped onto one of the stools at the counter.

“Bad day, huh?” Louie asked her.

“The worst,” Katie agreed. “I hate Valentine’s Day.”

Louie nodded and ran his finger over his thick, dark mustache. “Ah. So you have a love problem. Do you have a crush on someone?”

Katie made a face. “Louie! I’m only in fourth grade. I’m too young to be in love.”

“I agree,” Louie said.

“I wish somebody would tell that to Suzanne, Becky, Mandy, and Jessica though,” Katie sighed. “Love is all they talk about these days.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Katie nodded. “
Really
bad. Because of them, Jeremy won’t hang out with me. He doesn’t want to be near Becky. And some of the other boys are going to be really upset when they find out that they’re getting candy hearts at school!”

“They’re definitely not going to like that,” Louie agreed.

“You wouldn’t believe all the weird stuff Suzanne’s been doing just because it’s Valentine’s Day,” Katie continued.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Louie said. “I’ve seen Suzanne do some pretty odd things.”

“Not like this,” Katie assured him.

“Well, I know what will cheer you up,” Louie told her. “I’ll make you a super veggie special—with extra spinach.”

Katie looked around. The restaurant was empty. “You’re going to make a whole pie, just for me?” she asked him, surprised.

Louie nodded. “You’re my favorite customer. You deserve it. Besides, I just had a huge crowd of college boys in here. They ate all the ready-made pies I had. I’ve got to make a few new ones. You can help me. I’ll let you sprinkle on the cheese.”

Katie smiled. Louie always made her feel better.

“Wait here. I’ll go in the back and get some more mushrooms and veggies.”

“Okay,” Katie told him. She sat back in her seat and watched as Louie headed into the back room. She was glad to be alone for a minute. At least she wouldn’t have to hear anyone talking about Valentine’s Day.

Suddenly, Katie felt a light breeze blowing on the back of her neck. She pulled the collar of her jacket up. But that didn’t stop the breeze from blowing on her. In fact, it seemed to get stronger.

Whoosh! Within seconds, the breeze was no longer light and airy. It was more like a powerful burst of wind. A tornado-like wind ... that was only swirling around Katie.

Katie gulped. This wasn’t just any wind. This was the magic wind!

The whirling tornado grew stronger and stronger, blowing around Katie so powerfully that she had to hold her hands over her face to keep her hair from being blown into her eyes. She tensed up her body and tried to keep from being blown away.

And then it stopped. Just like that. The magic wind was gone. And so was Katie Carew.

Katie sat there for a minute, afraid to open her eyes. She sniffed at the air.
Mmm.
Something smelled good.

It wasn’t a tangy pizza smell, though. It was sweeter and richer ... like chocolate.

Slowly, Katie opened her eyes and looked around. She was surrounded by vats of warm melted chocolate, fresh strawberries, and boxes of candy. Katie was in the tiny kitchen in the back of Cinnamon’s Candy Shop.

Okay, so that explained
where
she was. But it didn’t explain
who
she was.

“Cinnamon,” Katie heard Suzanne’s voice coming from the front of the store.

“Cinnamon, where are you?” Suzanne called again. Her voice got louder as she came into the kitchen. “Oh, there you are.”

Katie looked around. Cinnamon wasn’t in the back room.

Or was she? As Katie looked down, she could see she was wearing Cinnamon’s cheery red-and-white checkered apron over a pair of cherry red pants. The green nail polish Katie had been wearing was gone. Instead, her fingernails were coated with traces of chocolate.

Katie had turned into Cinnamon!

“Are you okay?” Suzanne asked her.

Katie gulped. She was definitely
not
okay. She didn’t want to be Cinnamon. Not right now. Not when she was supposed to be making Valentine’s Day candies!

“Cinnamon?” Suzanne repeated.

“Yes?” Katie answered finally.

Suzanne handed Katie three sheets of paper and fifteen dollars. “Here are their order forms and the money from Jessica, Mandy, and Becky. We’re going to go now. My mom’s picking us up.”

Katie was surprised. “I thought you were going home with my ... I mean
Katie’s
mom,” she told Suzanne.
Whoops
.
That was close
.

“Her mom doesn’t leave work until seven o‘clock, and Becky, Jessica, and Mandy don’t have any money left to spend. If they can’t shop, we may as well leave,” Suzanne explained. “Besides, we’re going back to my house to talk about our crushes. Katie wouldn’t want to do that.”

That made Katie mad. Suzanne was her best friend. And she was leaving her out of everything!

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you’re going,” Katie said angrily.

“What?” Suzanne asked.

Oops. Katie gulped. The real Cinnamon never would have gotten mad at Suzanne. “I mean, as soon as you leave, I can make those hearts. I’ve got to hurry. The mail carrier will be here soon.”