Love Stinks! Read Online Free PDF Page A

coming after all. Maybe Katie had gotten something wrong on the address labels. Or maybe the school didn’t let kids get mail during the school day, or ...
    No such luck!
    As soon as the fourth grade entered the lunchroom, Mrs. Davidson, the school secretary, walked in. She was carrying three big boxes.
    “I have special packages,” she announced. “Will Jeremy Fox, Andrew Epstein, and Kevin Camilleri come get their mail?”
    Katie gulped. This was the moment Katie had been dreading.
    Jeremy was the first boy to open his box. “Oh, no, it’s a heart,” he groaned.
    Becky ran over to him. “It says just how I feel.”
    “Ooooh,” the boys teased.
    Jeremy read the message on the candy.

    “Huh?” Jeremy asked.
    “She thinks she can crush you,” Kadeem laughed. “That’s just wrong, dude.”
    Katie looked over at Jeremy. He looked furious!
    Becky looked down at the heart. “That’s not the message I wrote,” she insisted. She sounded like she was going to cry.
    Andrew was the next to open his box. “Who is this from?” he asked.
    “Mandy,” Suzanne and Jessica shouted out.
    Mandy blushed. Andrew blushed harder as he opened the box.

    “Love your what?” Andrew asked her.
    Mandy looked at the heart curiously. “That’s not right. Cinnamon was supposed to write ‘Won’t You Be Mine?’ ”
    “Well, I won‘t,” Andrew told her.
    Now it was Kevin’s turn.
    “Oh, look, it’s another lover boy!” George squealed, making his voice go up really high.
    “Ooh, Kev’s got a girlfriend,” Manny added.
    “Why me?” Kevin moaned. As he opened his box, Kevin looked like he was going to be sick. But when he read the heart, a smile returned to his face.
    “I don’t have a secret admirer after all,” he said as he held up the candy heart. “This isn’t for me!”

    Kevin turned proudly to the guys. “See, it’s for some people named Val and Tim.”
    “It’s not supposed to say that!” Jessica announced suddenly. “It was supposed to say ‘Love, Your Secret Valentine’!”
    Oops! Now everyone knew Jessica was Kevin’s secret admirer.
    “Jessica and Kevin sitting in a tree,” George began to sing. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
    That made Kevin plenty mad. “Stop it, George. Or I’ll tell everyone you still sleep with a teddy bear.”
    That sure made Kadeem laugh. “A teddy bear! What a baby!” he exclaimed.
    Now George was mad. “You swore you’d never tell,” he shouted at Kevin.
    “ I’ll tell you something. I’m never going back to that candy store!” Becky announced.
    “Me, neither,” Mandy agreed.
    “I’ll never forgive Cinnamon for this,” Jessica added.
    Katie frowned. This was so not good .

Chapter 11
    After school, Katie went to the mall with her mother. Mrs. Carew had to stop by the Book Nook to wait for an order of books that was due to arrive.
    As they passed by Cinnamon’s Candy Shop, Katie got very sad. Usually, the store would be filled with kids buying penny candy. But today there were only adults in there—buying last-minute gifts, Katie guessed.
    “Katie!” Cinnamon came running out of the store as Katie and her mom walked by.
    “Oh, hi,” Katie said quietly.
    “Weren’t you going to visit me today?” asked Cinnamon.
    Katie had been too ashamed of what she had done to visit Cinnamon. “Well, I, uh ...” she began.
    “You know, it’s the strangest thing,” Cinnamon told Katie and her mother. “None of the fourth-graders have come to the store today. Usually they’re here by now.”
    “That is strange,” Mrs. Carew agreed. “Your store has become quite a hangout.”
    “I know. But today, they all just walked by. Some of the girls even looked angry with me.”
    Now Katie felt really bad. “You don’t think you’ll go out of business, do you?” she asked nervously.
    Cinnamon smiled kindly. “No, sweetie. I actually make most of my money from adults who buy chocolate gift boxes. I just like having the kids around. That’s why I opened a candy