“Good-bye!” called John and Greg and Kate and Sandy.
“Boy, thanks, Charlie. Thanks, Sam,” I said. “Not a single thing went wrong at the ice-cream parlor. So that’s the second good thing that’s happened today.”
We climbed into the car and drove home.
The Third Good Thing
Charlie pulled into our driveway. I jumped out of the car and ran inside. “Daddy! Elizabeth! Kristy!” I exclaimed. “Guess what!”
The rest of my family was watching TV in the den. But when they saw me, they turned off the television.
“What is it, sweetie?” asked Elizabeth.
“Everything went right! Charlie found a parking place in front of Sullivan’s. And they had chocolate sodas. I wanted a chocolate soda more than anything. Even more than a cherry Italian ice. And then Charlie’s friends came in, and one of them asked if I was Charlie’s girlfriend! Then he thought I was twenty-six!”
Elizabeth and Daddy laughed.
“That’s wonderful, honey,” said Daddy. “And now, guess what time it is.”
“Time to get ready for bed?” I asked.
“Exactly. Time for Andrew and David Michael, too.”
My brothers’ eyes met mine. We grinned at each other. “Let’s go!” I said.
We ran up the stairs. We have a bedtime secret. No one knows about it but us. It’s the special way we brush our teeth.
The three of us gathered in the bathroom. We loaded our brushes with toothpaste. Then we brushed and brushed and brushed until our mouths were just full of foam. I had to brush left-handed because of my cast.
When we could not keep the foam in our mouths any longer, I said, “Okay, one, two, three, spit,” only it sounded like, “Unh, two, fee, pit.”
We spat.
I had never seen so much toothpaste foam in the sink. Neither had David Michael nor Andrew.
“We did it!” I said. “We set another foam record.”
“I’ll say,” agreed David Michael.
“And I was brushing left-handed. So this is a very special record.”
“Very special,” echoed Andrew.
“Guess what. This is the third good thing that’s happened. I guess my bad day is really over.”
We left the bathroom. I was in a terrific mood. I felt so happy, that, after I put on my nightgown, I went downstairs and found Elizabeth. I had to ask her something.
“Elizabeth,” I said, “before I go to bed, may I do three things? They’re really important. And they won’t take a long time.”
“All right,” agreed Elizabeth.
I’m Sorry
My three important things were apologies. I needed to say “I’m sorry” to Andrew and to Hannie and to Kristy. I started with Andrew, since he had to go to bed soon.
“Andrew?” I said. I stood at the door to his room. He was sitting on the floor, looking at a picture book.
“Yeah?” said Andrew.
“Can I come in?”
Andrew nodded.
Then he and I sat on his bed. I drew in a deep breath. “Andrew,” I said, “I’m really really really sorry I called you an egghead and Mr. Baldy. That was not nice at all. But I was feeling rotten because of my bad day.”
“That’s okay,” said Andrew.
“You know what? Today Elizabeth read me a story. It was about a boy who has an awful day. It’s called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It’s David Michael’s book. Do you want me to read it to you? If I read it, you might understand how I felt. And why I yelled at you.”
“Okay,” said Andrew.
I borrowed the book from David Michael. Then I read it to my little brother. “You see?” I said. “The worse the day is, the crosser you feel.”
Andrew nodded. “I see…. Karen?”
“Yeah?”
“You can still have half my tattoos. And you can watch my new movies whenever you want.”
“Thanks, Andrew.”
I left Andrew’s room. It was time for my next apology. I went into the kitchen. I called up Hannie.
“Hi, Hannie,” I said. “It’s me, Karen.”
Hannie didn’t say anything.
“I know you’re mad,” I went on. “I’m sorry I called you a toad. But you know what? Today was my worst day ever. It was so bad, I set a bad-day record. Fourteen bad things happened.”
“Fourteen?” cried Hannie.
“Yup.” I listed them for her. Then I told her about the good things. Well, not about the foam record, since that is a secret. But I told her the other things.
“A big guy asked if you were Charlie’s girlfriend?” squeaked Hannie. “That is so, so cool.”
“I know,” I said. “Then he thought I was twenty-six!”
“Karen!” called Elizabeth. “Time for bed.”
“I have to go, Hannie,” I told her, “but I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? We can play dolls. And I won’t call you a toad.”
“Deal,” said Hannie, and we hung up.
Elizabeth was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. “Do you want Kristy to put you to bed?” she asked.
Kristy usually puts me to bed.
“Yes,” I answered. “I’ll say good-night to you and Daddy now.”
“Okay.” Elizabeth took my hand. We walked into the den.
I crawled into Daddy’s lap and kissed his nose. “Good-night,” I said.
“Good-night,” said Daddy.
Then I gave him a butterfly kiss with my eyelashes.
“Elizabeth?” I said as I got out of Daddy’s lap. “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.” Elizabeth sat down.
I put my hands around one of her ears and whispered, “Thank you.”
Elizabeth put her hands around one of my ears. “For what?” she whispered back.
I giggled. “For fixing Moosie and reading the story about Alexander to me.”
“You’re welcome,” Elizabeth replied.
Then we gave each other butterfly kisses and I went upstairs.
Good-Night, Karen Good-Night, Kristy
“Karen! Karen!” Kristy was calling me from upstairs.
“Coming!” I answered.
I ran up the stairs. Kristy had just put Andrew to bed. He goes to bed first since he’s the youngest. After I go to bed, it’s David Michael’s turn.
Kristy was waiting in my room. I climbed into bed and hugged Moosie.
“Well,” said Kristy, “what story shall we read? The Witch Next Door?”
The Witch Next Door is my all-time favorite story. I did want to hear it. But not right away. I had something to say. It was time for my third apology.
“Before we read a book, ” I told my big sister, “I have something to say to you.”
“You do? What?”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry about the checkers game. I wasn’t nice to you.”
“I was letting you win, though,” said Kristy, ” and that wasn’t nice of me, either.”
“But you were trying to be nice,” I pointed out. “I was just feeling too awful to notice. So I’m sorry.”
“In that case,” said Kristy, “I accept your apology. I promise I’ll never let you win again, though. The next time you win, it will be because you played a good game.”
“Maybe the next time I win will be on a good day!” I exclaimed. “If today was my worst day, then some time I will have a best day. That will probably be a checkers-winning day.”
“I hope so, ” said Kristy. “Now how about a story?”
“Okay, but you choose. Any book you want.” (I know Kristy gets tired of reading The Witch Next Door.)
“Really?” said Kristy. “How about if we begin a chapter book? I could start reading Charlotte’s Web to you. You would really like it.”
“Okay,” I agreed, “but do I have that book?”
“No, I do. I’ll go get it. I’ll be right back.”
While Kristy was in her room, I talked to Moosie. “You ’re going to hear a ne
w story,” I told him. “Try to listen quietly. No interrupting.”
Kristy came back with the book. “Did anything bad happen while I was gone?” she teased me.
“Oh, Kristy,” I said.
Kristy read the first chapter of Charlotte’s Web. Then she told me about the rest of the book. The story was going to be about a girl named Fern Arable, who lives on a farm, and her pet pig Wilbur and a clever spider named Charlotte A. Cavatica. Kristy was right. I would like the book.
When Kristy finished the first chapter, she closed Charlotte’s Web.
“Do you think pigs ever have bad days?” I asked her.
“Wilbur does. You’ll see”
“What about witches?” I asked. “Do you think they ever have bad days?”
“Oh, sure,” replied my sister. “They mix up their potions all wrong and their spells go ker-flooey and their broomsticks won’t fly.”
Kristy and I laughed.
Then I snuggled under the covers. Kristy kissed me good-night. Then she kissed Moosie. She turned on my nightlight. As she was leaving the room she said, “I’m sure tomorrow will be a good day.”
What a relief. I could not think of anything nicer.
“If that is true,” I explained to Kristy, “then that is the fourth good thing about my bad day.”
“Good-night, Karen.”
“Good-night, Kristy.”
About the Author
ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.
Copyright © 1989 by Ann M. Martin
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, BABY-SITTERS LITTLE SISTER, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First edition, 1989
e-ISBN 978-1-338-04446-1
Ann M. Martin, Karen's Worst Day
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