by Tracey West
SCHOLASTIC INC.
Adapted by Tracey West
The Birthday
Surprise
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eISBN 978-0-545-76620-3
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First printing, January 2014
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Secret Surprises ................. 5
Chapter 2: A Misunderstanding . ......... 12
Chapter 3: Party Planning ..................... 18
Chapter 4: A Quick Getaway .................. 26
Chapter 5: Hurt Feelings ........................ 34
Chapter 6: Getting Ready ...................... 41
Chapter 7: The Big Reveal .................... 48
Chapter 8: Best Friends Forever .......... 57
Chapter 1:
Secret
Surprises
5
Briiiiiiing!
The final bell of the day rang in Heartlake High.
Classroom doors burst open and students rushed
out, excited that it was Friday.
Stephanie and her friends had just finished their
last-period history class. Andrea did a happy twirl in
the middle of the hallway.
“School’s out for the weekend, girlfriends. Yes!”
she cheered.
“Oh my gosh, I’m
so
happy it’s Friday,” Olivia
agreed.
6
Even though the girls shared classes together, the
weekend was when they really got to hang out and
have fun.
Andrea did another little twirl and held her arms
out wide. “No school. No rules. So cool!”
Her friends’ eyes suddenly got wide.
“Andrea . . . behind you,” Olivia whispered.
Andrea slowly turned. Their history teacher, Mr.
Arkin, was standing right there.
7
“Oh, hi, Mr. Arkin,” Andrea stammered. “I was
just saying . . . um . . . that I can’t wait for Monday’s
history test. In fact, I’m off to study right now!”
The teacher raised an eyebrow.
“Mm-hmm,”
he
said. Then he walked away, shaking his head.
Andrea sighed. “He’s going to call on me in class
on Monday. I just know it.”
“Oh, but Monday is still two days away,”
Stephanie said with a wave of her hand. “What
should we all do together this afternoon?” She
pointed to a nearby bulletin board with fliers
hanging on it. “In no particular order: puppy-sitting?
Art exhibit? Maybe a rock concert?”
Stephanie expected her friends to all be as excited
as she was. But to her surprise, the girls glanced at
one another nervously and shook their heads.
“Um, I can’t. I have karate class,” Emma said.
Stephanie’s face fell. “Oh, you do?”
Emma nodded. “Sorry, Steph. I really have to
practice. My side kick looks more like I stepped on
8
a banana peel.” She demonstrated by kicking her left
leg high in the air.
“Hi-ya!”
Emma cried. Then she lost her balance
and fell backward.
Her friends cringed.
“
Oof.
She does need practice.” Mia nodded.
“And maybe some light first aid,” Andrea teased.
Emma jumped up. “I’m okay! But I’ve got to go.”
“Me, too. I have horses to train,” Mia said quickly.
9
“And my voice teacher is waiting,” Andrea added.
Olivia shuff led her feet. “And, um . . . Aunt
Sophie needs help at the vet clinic. If only cages
would clean themselves.”
Stephanie was disappointed. All day long she had
been looking forward to hanging out with her friends.
But she didn’t want them to see that she was upset.
“Oh, no worries. I’m totally booked, too,”she
fibbed. “I don’t know
what
I was thinking with all
this fun stuff for us to do. I have to check on the
bunny I rescued.”
“Oh, okay, bye!” Andrea, Mia, Emma, and Olivia
quickly hurried away.
Stephanie watched them go. She couldn’t help
feeling a tiny bit hurt. She and her friends always
hung out on Friday afternoons. They hadn’t
mentioned any other plans before.
Stephanie shook her thoughts away.
I’m sure
we’ll have fun tomorrow,
she told herself.
After all,
tomorrow’s my birthday!
10
Outside, Mia, Olivia, Emma, and Andrea
breathed sighs of relief.
“I’m glad we were able to get away from
Stephanie,” Andrea said.
“Me, too,” agreed Mia.
The friends smiled at one another.
“Now we can plan her surprise birthday party!”
Emma exclaimed, her green eyes shining.
11
The four friends had been talking about
throwing Stephanie a big surprise birthday bash for
days. It wasn’t easy keeping their plans secret. But it
was the only way to surprise her.
Olivia motioned for the others to follow her.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go to the tree house. We
have a lot of work to do.”
They had so much to plan—and Stephanie’s
birthday was tomorrow!
12
Chapter 2:
A Misunderstanding
A short while later, Stephanie strolled through
downtown Heartlake City. Cradled in her arms was
the bunny she had rescued, named Daisy. The little
rabbit had fluffy white fur and a soft pink nose.
For Stephanie, it was bunny-love at first sight. Now
Daisy needed a nice, comfy rabbit house.
“I’m sure the Pet Parlor will have something
perfect,” Stephanie said. She pushed open the shop
door, and a tinkling chime sounded.
Colorful pet houses lined the walls. One house
had a cute pink roof. Another had pretty flowers.
13
“These ar
e definitely the right size for you,
Daisy,” Stephanie said. “But which one should we
get?”
She looked down at the little rabbit. Daisy
twitched her whiskers.
“I can’t decide, either.” Stephanie shrugged.
“They’re all nice. But none of them are perfect.”
Then, through the window, Stephanie saw a
karate studio across the street.
“Hey, that’s Emma’s karate class,” she realized.
“Emma knows everything about style, even pet-
house style. Let’s go see what she thinks.”
14
Inside the karate studio, students in white
uniforms practiced punches and kicks. Noah, a boy
who taught the class, instructed them how to do the
moves correctly.
“Hi-ya!”
he called as he kicked a big, leather
punching bag. He was so focused, he didn’t hear the
karate studio’s front door open.
“Hi, have you seen Emma?” Stephanie asked,
walking up behind him.
“Huh?” Noah asked, startled. He spun to look
at Stephanie and forgot to kick the punching bag. It
swung back and knocked him down!
“Oops.” Stephanie cringed.
15
Noah laughed and jumped back up.
“It’s all right,” he said, brushing himself off.
“And, no, I haven’t seen Emma. Her next class is on
Wednesday.”
“That’s weird.” Stephanie frowned. “Emma said
she had class today. That she needed to practice her
side kick.”
“Emma? Practice?” Noah asked, surprised. “She’s
the best student I have.”
“Oh, well. Thanks,” Stephanie said.
Her shoulders sagged as she left the karate studio.
16
She was starting to get a weird feeling. Emma
had definitely said she was going to karate practice,
but she wasn’t there. It wasn’t normal for her friends
to fib about what they were up to. Was something
going on?
Stephanie was still lost in thought when a girl
named Lacy came up to her on the sidewalk. Lacy
was a pretty classmate in their grade who wore fancy
clothes and lived in a big house with her family. But
she wasn’t exactly the friendliest person.
17
“Who’s taking karate?” Lacy asked, nodding at
the bunny. “You or her?”
Stephanie shook her head. “Neither of us.
Actually, I was looking for Emma. She said she’d be
here, but she isn’t.”
“Huh. And I thought that you two were friends,”
Lacy said.
“I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding,”
Stephanie replied.
“Of course,” Lacy said as she walked away. But
she didn’t sound convinced.
Stephanie sighed. She wasn’t sure if
she
believed
it herself. Why would Emma lie about karate class?
She had never lied to Stephanie before.
“Come on, Daisy,” Stephanie said. “Let’s go
home.”
Chapter 3:
Party Planning
18
A few blocks away, Olivia, Mia, Andrea, and
Emma were relaxing in Olivia’s tree house. The tree’s
big leaves shaded them from the warm afternoon
sun. A curious squirrel skittered along one of the
branches in search of nuts.
“Hmmm.”
Olivia cupped her chin in her hands.
“Where should we have Stephanie’s surprise birthday
party? It’s got to be someplace cool.”
The friends all thought hard.
“Cool . . . pool,” Emma said slowly. “Hey! What
about Heartlake City Pool?”
19
Olivia’s brown eyes lit up. “A pool party! That’s a
great idea!”
Andrea grinned. “I’m feeling that!”
Olivia started to tick off items on her fingers.
“Let’s see . . . We’ll need guests, a cake, presents,
decorations . . . Oh, man, we’ve got a lot to do!”
“Stephanie usually does all that stuff,” Emma
pointed out.
Her friends knew that she was right. Stephanie
was a natural leader. She loved to organize all their
plans.
“We can totally handle it,” Andrea said.
20
Then she noticed Mia out of the corner of her
eye. Mia was holding an old, black top hat and
staring at it intently.
“What are you doing?” Andrea asked.
Mia held up the hat. “Working on a magic trick
for the party,” she said. “And I’ve finally got it.”
“Show us,” Emma urged.
“Sure,” Mia said. “Watch as I pull a rabbit from
this ordinary black hat.”
She waved
her right arm
dramatically.
“Abracadabra!”
she cried. Then
she put her hand
into the hat . . .
and pulled out the
curious squirrel!
“Eeeeek!”
Mia shrieked. The other girls cried out,
too, as the squirrel darted away.
21
“Is that part of the trick?” Emma asked.
“Oh, I get it,” Olivia said. “It’s a
comedy
act!”
The girls giggled. Mia blushed, embarrassed.
“No, it’s not,” she said. “I guess I need more
practice.”
“You’ll get it, Mia,” Olivia assured her.
“Speaking of practice, let’s rehearse our dance,”
Andrea said. “It’s got to be perfect for the party.”
She climbed down the tree-house ladder and
landed on the grass. Her friends followed her.
Andrea had shown them the dance once, but they
were still learning it.
Emma, Olivia, and Mia lined up next to one
another. Andrea pressed a button on her boom box
and cranked up the volume.
“Five, six, seven, eight . . .” she counted. “Now,
left!”
Mia and Emma took a step to the left . . . and
Olivia took a step to the right.
“Your
other
left, Olivia!” Andrea called out.
22
Olivia took another step to the right . . . and
landed on Mia’s foot!
“Sorry,” she said. She closed her eyes, trying to
concentrate. “Left, left . . . right, right.”
Soon Olivia got into the groove with her friends.
“See?” she said, smiling. “This is why we have to
practice!”
They all laughed.
Little did they know, Stephanie was walking
down the road right past Olivia’s house. She really
missed being with her friends. It felt so strange to
not be together.
23
Suddenly, Stephanie heard music echoing from
the tree house. The pop-song lyrics
“Me and my girls,
we’re best friends forever!”
echoed down the block.
Stephanie walked closer and gasped. Andrea,
Emma, Olivia, and Mia were all together. They were
dancing and having fun—without her!
Stephanie ducked behind a bush. “Why am I not
a part of this?” she asked herself, annoyed. “They
must have texted me.”
She took out
her phone. “Yeah,
one text!” she said.
Then her smile
faded. “From Mom.
About chores.”
She peeked
up over the bush
again.
They’re dancing, and they didn’t invite me,
Stephanie thought.
Does this mean I’m not their
friend?
24
Part of her wanted to march right up to them and
ask what was going on. But the other part of her felt
a little afraid. What if they really
didn’t
want to be
her friends anymore? What if they had left her out
for a reason?
They must not have wanted me to be with them,
Stephanie thought sadly.
I should get out of here.
She hurried away.
The moment Stephanie was around the corner
and out of sight, a boy skateboarded down the road
toward Olivia’s house. He had wavy brown hair and
blue eyes. He skidded to a stop in front of the tree
house and hopped off his board.
“Looking good, girls,” he said, giving them a
thumbs-up.
“Thanks, Jacob.” Olivia waved, smiling.
“I got your text about Stephanie’s party,” Jacob
said. “What can I do?”
“Keep it a secret,” Emma replied.
“I mean besides that,” Jacob said, rolling his eyes.
25
“Can you be in charge of lights?” Andrea asked.
“They’re over there in that box.”
“I’m on it,” Jacob said. “I helped stage a concert
one time so I’m pretty good with lighting.”
“Awesome!” said Olivia. “Let’s get to work. We
still have a lot to do!”
26
ter 4:
Cha
p
A Quick
Getaway
The girls made a list of everything they needed
for the party. Olivia and Mia volunteered to pick out