Ivy’s mom had one of those long hoses on a wheel. It was attached to the side of Ivy’s house. The two girls carefully unwound it from the wheel.
Ivy went around and stood in front of Dino’s house. “Hey, you guys!” she called. “Bean’s about to be really bad!” Dino, the Sophies, and Liana looked up from their own badness. “You’d better come here and sit down,” Ivy said. “You’re going to want to see this one up close.”
The kids walked toward Ivy. “What’s she going to do?” asked Dino.
“I can’t even say it.” Ivy made her eyes big. “I’ve begged her not to do it, but she just can’t help herself,” she said, shaking her head. “You should sit down on the curb and watch.”
Dino and the girls exchanged glances. Then they slowly sat down on the curb in front of Dino’s house.
“Is she going to drive her dad’s car?” asked Liana.
“You have to wait and see,” said Ivy, smiling mysteriously.
“Aw, come on,” said Dino. “Is she going to blow something up?”
“Sort of,” said Ivy, smiling even more mysteriously. “You guys just close your eyes for a few minutes, and then you’ll see.”
“Why do we have to close our eyes?” Sophie W. asked.
“It’s like before the movie begins. It has to be dark for the surprise to work,” Ivy said.
They looked at Ivy suspiciously.
“Come on. Just for a few minutes,” said Ivy. “If Bean’s going to get in all this trouble, you can at least close your eyes. I’ll tell you when to open them.”
Dino looked at the girls and shrugged.
“Okay,” said Sophie S.
They closed their eyes. Ivy tiptoed away.
“They’ve got their eyes closed, but we’d better be quick,” Ivy said.
Running across lawns to keep their steps silent, Ivy and Bean carried the hose from Ivy’s driveway to Dino’s. Luckily, Dino’s faucet was in the same place as Ivy’s. They screwed the hose into it, and Bean ran tiptoe down the driveway toward the row of kids on the curb. Ivy stood at the faucet, waiting.
With the hose in her hand, Bean walked quietly toward the curb until she was standing right behind Dino. “Hey Dino!” she said softly, holding her hand over the end of the hose, “You can open your eyes now.”
Ivy twisted the faucet on.
Dino opened his eyes and turned around. And Bean blasted him right in the kisser. “AAAAAH!” he screeched, jumping up. “Not so boring now, is it?” laughed Bean. The hose waggled in her hand.
“Hey!” roared Liana. “Bean!” squawked Sophie W. and Sophie S.
Uh-oh. Bean hadn’t meant to get them wet.
“Your turn!” yelled Liana, yanking the slippery hose from Bean’s hand.
“Yeah!” screamed Sophie S.
“Get her!” hollered Dino.
Bean could hear Ivy yelling in the distance. “I beg you, Bean, stop spraying those poor, innocent children.”
“I’m not spraying them,” Bean hollered. “They’re spraying me!” She whirled around and tried to make a break for it, but before she had taken two steps, she slammed into a giant wall.
Oops. It wasn’t a wall.
It was Crummy Matt.
