“Nah. It just feels funny. But it makes me look so cool! Like a bad-guy pirate.”
Stink squeezed the toothpaste too fast and it got on his finger. Then he scratched his nose.
“You have green gunk on your nose,” said Webster. “And it’s snot snot!”
“Hey, now I know how I can prank Judy. For realsies. C’mon. Bring toothpaste.”
“But she said no more pranks. And you promised.”
“She said no more pranks tonight. But it’s one minute after midnight! So that was last night. Besides, I had my fingers crossed.”
Judy was dead to the world. Stink squirted toothpaste on the tips of her fingers. Then he blew on her face.
Judy reached up to scratch her nose. She scratched her forehead. In no time, she had ooey-gooey green toothpaste all over her face!
“Judy is going to think she got vampire-squid slimed!” said Stink, pleased with himself.
Finally, Stink and Webster crawled inside their sleeping bags. Even Stink was dog tired now. Dogfish tired.
Webster put his tooth in the blue-shark Tooth-Fairy pillow. He put the blue-shark Tooth-Fairy pillow under his regular pillow.
“Night, Sting,” he whispered.
But all the Sting had already gone out of Stink. He did not have to count sharks or pancakes or sheep. He was Z-for-Zonked-Out.
The next morning, Stink woke up to see sharks zooming around their tanks. He rolled over. “Webster? You awake?”
“Huh? Wha?” Webster felt for his glasses and put them on. “Oh, it’s you. I thought you were the Tooth Fairy.”
He reached under his pillow and pulled out his Tooth-Fairy pillow. He felt inside the shark’s mouth. “My tooth is still in here. And there’s no money!”
Webster showed Sophie. “Nada. Big fat zero.”
“Don’t worry,” said Sophie, who was already awake. “The Tooth Fairy just didn’t know you were on a sleepover at the aquarium.”
“Really?” said Webster.
“Trust me. I’m an expert when it comes to all things Toot Fairy.”
“Toot Fairy?” Webster cracked up.
“That’s what my little sister, Mimi, calls the Tooth Fairy.”
Just then, Judy sat up. Her hair was a bird’s-nest mess. Her face was a map of green polka dots.
“Measles! You have green measles!” Sophie cried. “On your face!”
Stink and Webster laughed their pajama pants off.
“What?” Judy asked. She touched her face. Not one, not two, but three green measles fell into her hand.
Judy jumped up and ran for the bathroom. “I’m going to get you for this, Stinker!”
Mom and Dad came over, sipping cups of steaming coffee. “How did everybody sleep?” Dad asked.
“I slept all night with the sharks and I wasn’t even scared,” said Stink.
“Good for you,” said Mom, rubbing her neck.
Dad rubbed his back. “It must be twenty-five years since I’ve been on a sleepover,” he said, wincing.
“And I bet you were never on a shark sleepover,” said Stink.
“It’s a first,” Dad agreed.
Judy came back dressed in clothes-not-pajamas, with her face newly washed and scrubbed. “I still feel toothpaste measles on my cheeks. I’m gonna get you, Stinkerbell. And, like a slippery silent shark, you’ll never see me coming.”
Judy bent down to put on her shoes. “Aagh!” she yelled, kicking one off and hopping on one foot. “You are toast, Stink Moody. Dead meat.”
“What did I do?” Stink asked.
“You put something pinchy in my shoe, didn’t you?” Judy peered inside her shoe. “Hey!” she said, then reached in and pulled out . . .
“Mr. Crab Cakes!” Sophie yelled. “You found my hermit crab!” Sophie scooped the crab up in her hand and hugged him to her. “I thought you were gone forever, Mr. Crab Cakes.” She kissed him on the shell.
“This wasn’t a prank? All this time, Mr. Crab Cakes was hiding in my shoe for real?” Judy asked.
“I so did not hermit-crab you. Shark’s honor!” said Stink.
“All’s well that ends well,” said Dad.
“Let’s eat some breakfast before we leave,” said Mom. “I hear they make a killer shark fruit salad.”
“And jellyfish muffins,” said Dad.
“Team Sharkfinder,” said Miss D. at breakfast, “what were your favorite things at the aquarium?”
“The bloodybelly comb jelly!” said Webster.
“I have three favorite things,” said Sophie of the Elves. “Goblin shark, fairy penguin, and Medusa jellyfish.”
“She likes all things fairies, elves, and goblins,” Webster explained.
“Megalodon shark fin,” said Stink.
“Miss D.,” said Sophie, “we never did guess your name. D is for Dogfish?”
“Nope.”
“D is for Doughnut?” asked Webster.
“Nope.”
“D is for Doorstop?” asked Stink.
Miss D. laughed. “I hope not.”
“We give up,” said Sophie.
“My real name is Danielle . . .”
“Danielle what?”
“Danielle Dangermaus.”
“Danger Mouse?” asked Sophie. “That’s like the coolest name ever!”
“Like the cartoon?” said Webster. “He’s that mouse with an eye patch who gets attacked by robots and washing machines and vampire ducks.”
“I knew it. You’re like a secret agent spy or something,” said Sophie.
“Can I make a comic book of you?” asked Stink. “You could be a superhero mouse that fights crime with a supersonic jellyfish sting.”
“I’d be honored,” said Miss D.
Mom and Dad came over to say good-bye to Miss D., too. “This was such a great experience for the kids,” said Mom. “Thanks so much.”
Dad smiled at Stink. “Much better than any old doorstop.”
“Or a cookbook,” said Mom, winking.
Dad shook Miss D.’s hand. “You just shook hands with Danger Mouse,” said Stink. “Secret agent super-spy.”
“Guys! Check it out!” Judy said, running over to them. “I got a fish-eye camera at the gift shop. It takes real pictures, but they come out looking like you’re in a goldfish bowl.”
“How’d you get the money?”
Judy ignored the question. “Don’t you want to see what you’d look like from inside a goldfish bowl?”
“Yeah!” said Stink. “Let’s wear our T-shirts and take pictures with Sharkzilla.”
They all gathered in front of the seven-foot shark fin. “Don’t forget me!” said Rotten Riley, jumping into the picture.
Judy pointed the camera at them. “Say Sharkzilla!”
“Sharkzilla!” they all said, smiling ear to ear.
“Hey, Stink,” said Riley. “Would you rather move in next door to Bloody Mary or live inside a giant clam?”
“Giant clam any day,” said Stink.
“Okay. Here’s one. Would you rather have a giant Pacific octopus for a pet or have a seven-foot dorsal fin from Sharkzilla planted in your front yard?”
“Sharkzilla fin,” said Stink. “No, wait. Giant octopus. No, wait. Sharkzilla.”
“Bye, everybody,” said Riley. “See you at school on Monday!” They all wiggled their fingers and slipped one another the vampire-squid handshake.
“Wait just a shark-fin minute!” said Stink. He waved his Stinger Finger in the air. “I got one. Would you rather ride on the back of a killer whale or go on a shark sleepover?”
“Shark sleepover!” everybody yelled.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2014 by Megan McDonald
Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Peter H. Reynolds
Interior illustrations created by Matt Smith
Stink®. Stink is a registered trademark of Candlewick Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition 2014
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013943081
ISBN 978-0-7636-6474-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7636-7033-7 (electronic)
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Stink and the Shark Sleepover Page 4