8 Feel Like a Heel

Feel Like a Heel

Stink felt lousy. Worse than a NOT-one-hundred- legged centipede. He dragged himself home from school, down the street, up the sidewalk, and in the front door. Dad was home early. "How was Pajama Day?" he asked Stink. "Terrible," said Stink. "I had one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, just-like-that- kids'-book yuck days." "What's wrong?" asked Mom, coming into the room.

"Stink hit his friend Webster today!" said Judy. "At the library assembly. It was all over school. He got in way-big trouble and the teacher took him out and yelled at him up and down and the whole school saw and—"

"That's enough, Judy," said Dad. "It wasn't my fault," said Stink. "It was my pajamas' fault!" Stink told Mom and Dad what happened. "I'm going to write a letter to the pajama people and tell them their pajamas got me in big trouble and made me lose my best friend," said Stink. "No more letters!" said Judy. "No more letters," said Mom. "Well, maybe one more," said Dad. "How about a letter of apology to your friend Webster?" Stink went upstairs. He hid the troublemaker PJs in the way-back of his bottom dresser drawer, where the pinchy underwear, socks with holes, and the too-baby I TRUCKS pajamas from last year were. Then Stink worked on the letter as if it was homework.

Stink searched around his desk for an envelope. He would put the letter on Webster's desk tomorrow. Hello! What was this? Under a pile of jawbreakers, Stink found an envelope. Not an empty envelope. A messy-handwriting envelope addressed to Stink Moody. As in him! All of a sudden Stink remembered getting the messy-writing letter. But he'd been too busy counting his jawbreakers to even open it! He ripped it open now. YOU ARE INVITED said the card. It was spelled out in balloons held by gorillas. The card was from Webster. It was for his birthday party.

And his birthday party was Saturday. LAST Saturday. Stink had missed Webster's birthday! Now he knew why Webster was such a grump. Stink felt like a heel. No, he felt like 177 pairs of heels. Worse than a broken-legged centipede. Stink felt like a stinkbug. He had to think of some way to make it up to Webster. They just had to be friends again. Had to! Stink thought and thought. He petted Mouse. He petted Toady. He scratched his head a lot. Scratching your head was supposed to help you think, right? All it did was make him look like he had fleas. At last, Stink got an idea. He went downstairs to get Dad in on his idea. Then he finished the