Lacy. “Come with me.”
51
Over at the pool, Olivia, Andrea, Emma, and
Mia were panicking. Boys and girls were arriving,
ready for the party to begin. But they couldn’t start
without the birthday girl!
“Guests are coming, people!” Andrea said
anxiously.
“Think,” Olivia said. “How do we get Stephanie
here without ruining the surprise?”
52
“We could tell her it’s
my
surprise birthday party,”
Emma suggested.
Mia shook her head. “She knows when all of our
birthdays are.”
“We need to do something cleverer,” Mia said.
“What if an animal needed rescuing?”
Andrea ran toward the pool. “We could say a
dolphin is drowning in the pool!”
“Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?” Mia
asked.
“Yes, but I’m starting to freak out!” Andrea cried.
“Me, too,” Emma agreed. “We don’t want the
party to be a total bust!”
“You mean, like, our friendship?”
The girls turned to see Stephanie standing by the
entrance. She looked angry. Lacy was behind her,
leading her horse.
“Stephanie!” they cried.
“Friends don’t lie to each other,” Stephanie shot
back. It felt good to get the words out. “And then
53
they don’t go off and dance and take secret pictures
together.”
“Stephanie, you misunderstood—” Olivia tried
to explain.
“Oh, really?” Stephanie asked. “Well, friends don’t
have swim parties at the pool without you, or . . .”
She pointed to all the beautiful decorations
around the pool. And as she did, her voice slowly
trailed off. There were balloons, and streamers . . .
and a big banner with her name on it.
“Huh?” she asked.
54
“Surprise!” her friends yelled. “Happy Birthday!”
They ran up to Stephanie and hugged her.
“Happy birthday . . . to me?” Stephanie asked.
She was stunned.
55
“Yes, you!” Andrea said.
“We’ve been planning the surprise all along,” Mia
explained.
Stephanie’s eyes grew wide. Everything was
starting to make sense. “So that’s what all the
sneaking around was about?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Andrea replied. “You seriously didn’t
“Of course not,” Stephanie answered. Then she
looked down. “Well, actually . . . yeah.”
“Please,” Mia said, waving her hand.
“We would never do that!” Emma promised.
Andrea opened her arms wide. “We just wanted
you to have the best birthday ever!”
Stephanie looked around. The pool was
beautiful. Great music filled the air, and all of her
classmates from school were there.
“Oh my gosh, it’s amazing!” she breathed. She
couldn’t believe it. Her friends weren’t trying to
ditch her after all. They were trying to surprise her!
56
She hugged them all again. “Thank you so, so
much! Just promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?” Olivia asked.
Stephanie grinned. “Don’t ever do it again!”
57
This is such an incredible birthday surprise!
Stephanie thought.
I didn’t lose my friends after all.
And now there’s this great party!
Stephanie was so relieved that she didn’t notice
Lacy inching away from the group.
Lacy had really been enjoying her afternoon with
Stephanie. For a moment, she thought that they
might even become friends. But now that Stephanie
had her real friends back, Lacy was sure she wouldn’t
want to hang out anymore. She decided it was best
for her to head home.
ter 8:
Cha
p
Best Friends
Forever
58
Stephanie was about to go off when she spotted
Lacy out of the corner of her eye. “Wait here one
moment,” Stephanie said to the girls. “I’ll be right
back.” She ran over to Lacy.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Oh, you know, plans,” Lacy lied. “Sorry. I told
you I couldn’t stay long.”
Stephanie smiled and held out her hand. “Look, I
know you’re totally busy, but can’t you stay anyway?
As a favor?”
Lacy hesitated. Then a smile crossed her face.
“Well, I guess so,” she said taking Stephanie’s hand.
59
“Come on, open your presents!” Olivia said
excitedly.
Stephanie sat down at the poolside tables where
all her birthday presents were stacked.
Emma handed her a purple frame with a photo
inside. It was the picture of the girls making silly
faces in the photo booth.
Stephanie laughed. “Great picture! I’ll put it in
Then Mia brought over the big white box with
the red bow Stephanie had seen them carrying the
other day. Stephanie lifted the lid and gasped. The
pieces for a beautiful rabbit house were tucked inside!
Emma grinned and held up one of the blocks.
“Let’s put it together!” she said.
The girls snapped all the pieces into place. The
purple roof had a Happy Birthday sticker on it,
and they added that next. Then they attached a pink
front gate. Emma handed Stephanie a bowl with
carrots in it.
60
“For Daisy,” she said.
“Aw, you guys thought of everything,” Stephanie
said happily.
“There’s more,” Olivia said with a grin. She and
Mia each placed a bunch of roses on both sides of
the roof.
“Daisy’s going to love it!” Stephanie exclaimed. “I
wish I could have brought her.”
Emma and Andrea winked at each other. The
surprises for Stephanie weren’t over yet!
Mia jumped up on top of a table, wearing the
black top hat.
61
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I can have your
attention,” she announced. Mia took off her hat and
held it out. “While this may look like an ordinary
hat, I promise you, it isn’t,” she said. She held the
hat in her left hand, and waved her right hand
dramatically.
“Abracadabra!” she cried.
Mia looked inside the hat . . . and frowned. She
turned it upside down, but nothing came out. She
tapped on the bottom of the hat, and still nothing.
Then Mia smiled. She was just acting! She
reached into the hat . . . and pulled out a fluffy white
rabbit!
62
“Daisy!” Stephanie cried happily.
The bunny jumped into Stephanie’s arms, and
Stephanie hugged her pet. “You guys, this party
couldn’t be any c
ooler!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, but it can!” Jacob called out. He ducked
behind the snack bar and put his hand on a light
switch.
“Three . . . two . . . one!”
He flipped the switch, and dozens of lights
63
flickered on all across the pool. Since the girls
couldn’t decide where to put them, Jacob had put
them everywhere! The pink, blue, and green lights
glowed softly against the night sky. The party guests
ooh
ed and
aah
ed.
“They’re beautiful!” Stephanie breathed.
Jacob walked up to Olivia.
“I like what you did,” Olivia said.
“Well, I
am
the Light Master,” Jacob joked, and
they both laughed.
“You guys are the best!” Stephanie told her friends.
Andrea pressed a button on the boom box. “It’s
time to get this party started!” she cried.
Everyone let out a cheer. The girls ran over to the
side of the pool, and Andrea grabbed Stephanie’s
hand. Then the five friends lined up. A pop song
pumped out of the boom box.
Stephanie realized that this was the dance she
had seen them practicing. She looked at Andrea and
smiled. She knew just what to do.
64
She joined the girls as they danced along to the
music.
Best friends forever,
forever and ever.
No matter what happens,
we stick together.
Me and my girls,
we’re best friends forever.
Stephanie looked at each of the girls. They
were
her
best friends forever—and she knew she would never
doubt them again.
Andrea, Olivia, Mia, and Emma are planning the perfect
birthday surprise for Stephanie: a party at the Heartlake
City Pool! It’s going to be an awesome afternoon of
swimming, dancing, and even a light show by Jacob.
But with all their whispering and secret plans, Stephanie
accidentally feels left out. Worse, Lacy convinces Stephanie
that the girls may be trying to
unfriend
her! Can Mia and
the others pull off the best birthday bash ever? Or will their
surprise party turn into a surprise disaster?
Build Your
LEGO®
Friends
Library!
Shh!
It’s a Secret!
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are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2014 The LEGO Group.
Produced by Scholastic Inc. under license from the LEGO Group.
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