The Chocolate Meltdown Read Online Free Page A

glass, and held it up in front of B’s dad’s eyeball. When B’s dad blinked, the head of health straightened up. He lifted a section of his patient’s hair and frowned at his scalp. Then he poked his finger into B’s dad’s tummy.
    “Mayor Cumberland, what could it be?” B’s mom said. “You’re our health specialist. Surely you’ve come across such cases before?”
    Mayor Cumberland frowned and slipped his glasses back into his pocket. “Looks to me like his Vitamin R supply is dangerously deficient — a common side effect of eating too many sweets and chocolate.”
    “Vitamin R?” B repeated. “Never heard of that.”
    “Short for ‘Vitamin Rhyme,’ ” the mayor said. “Only thing for it, in cases like this, is to chew on pages of a rhyming dictionary. That will boost the R reserves. And stay away from the sweet stuff, of course.”
    B’s mom took a long look at Mayor Cumberland. “Did you just say
eat pages
?” She shook her head.“Well, you
are
the specialist. B, run to the bookshelf and bring back that old rhyming dictionary that we hardly ever use anymore.”
    B returned with the book and tore out a few sheets, which she handed to her father.
    The scowl on his face spoke volumes. “You want me to eat that?”
    “A glass of water will help,” Mayor Cumberland said. “Have a bite.”
    Looking like he’d rather be getting a cavity drilled without anesthesia, B’s dad took a tentative nibble from the dictionary pages.
    “More,” the mayor instructed. B’s dad took another bite.
    “Look!” B said. “The spots. They’re fading.”
    Her father took bigger bites, and one by one the purple warts receded and vanished.
    “See?” Mayor Cumberland said. “What did I tell you?”
    “I knew you could solve the mystery,” Dr. Jellicoe said, clapping the mayor on the back, which took the head of health by surprise.
    “Try a spell, Felix,” B’s mom said.
    B’s dad tried a rhyme:
    “This malady has made me droop.
    I’d love a bowl of chicken stroganoff.”
    He shook his head. “No good.”
    B could see the worry written all over his face. His tongue was stained black from the ink, and he looked miserable. B’s mom placed a comforting hand on his arm.
    B thought for a moment that Mayor Cumberland looked worried, too, but then Dr. Jellicoe stepped in. “Give it time; give it time,” Dr. Jellicoe said. “Get plenty of rest, and drown that cold with dictionary pages and fluids. You’ll get your magic back in no time.”
    “Are you sure?” B’s dad said, eyeing a page of rhyming “D” words with disgust.
    “As sure as Enchanted Chocolates makes scrumptious chocolates time after time!” Mayor Cumberland said with full confidence.
    B bit her lip. According to George, that wasn’t as sure as it once was, either.

Chapter 6
    The next morning, as B hurried from homeroom to art class, she pulled a shiny box out of her backpack to show the other kids before the teacher, Miss Willow, arrived. Her father had given her Fabulous Fruits to share with her friends. It was part of his strategy to spread the word about the new candy.
    “Chocolate, anyone?”
    In seconds she was mobbed. Everyone jostled for their chance to snag the candy of their choice — everyone, that is, except Jason Jameson, who stood at a distance, a frown plastered on his freckled face.
He wants one,
B thought,
but he’s too stuck-up to take anything I’m sharing.
    B’s good friend Trina walked in and dropped her plaid backpack on her seat. Her full name was Katrina Lang, an everyday sixth-grader who alsohappened to be “Kat,” the lead singer of the Black Cats, a superstar pop group at the top of the charts. When she first moved to B’s town she tried to keep that fact a secret, but it wasn’t long before B and George found out. Now everyone knew, and they’d mostly stopped spazzing out about it. Her real secret, which no other kids but B and George knew, was that Trina was also a witch.
    “Whatcha got, B?”