Peter Gets Grounded BIG TIME

One cloudy October, at school, Peter was in a jolly mood as Miss Lovely was getting married in three weeks' time and he had a box of chocolates in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other.

"I can't wait to see the look on Miss Lovely's face!" he said.

Little did he know that Horrid Henry had snuck in a few surprises.

In Henry's class, Miss Battle-Axe was at breaking point.

"SIT DOWN!!! SHUT UP!!! STOP THIS NONSENSE!!!" she screeched.

The whole class sat down, except for one ... Henry of course.

"HENRY!!! I WON'T SAY IT AGAIN!!! FLIPPING SIT DOWN!!!"

Henry did as he was told. Meanwhile, in Peter's class, Peter was giving the treats to Miss Lovely. She was extremely pleased.

"My, Peter, what a perfect little pupil you are!" she beamed. "Now, which chocolate shall I have?"

Miss Lovely opened the box, and out came a fake severed hand! It fell to the floor as everyone screamed, believing it was real. "WHAT ON EARTH????" gasped Miss Lovely.

"I-I-I've also bought s-s-some t-t-tulips, d-d-d-daffodils and d-d-daisies," stuttered Peter.

But this wasn't working. Miss Lovely was disgusted when she found that there were plant eating slugs feasting on the bouquet! Her face went scarlet with anger.

"PETER, HOW DARE YOU!!!" she bellowed. "THESE PRESENTS ARE HORRIBLE ... NO, WORSE THAN HORRIBLE!!! THEY'RE VILE!!! ABOMINABLE!!! PUTRID!!!"

"D-d-does that mean I can..." quivered Peter.

"NO!!!!" roared Miss Lovely. "YOU ARE SO SO SO EXPELLED!!! GO TO MISS ODDBOD'S OFFICE!!!" "B-b-but..." trembled Peter.

"NOW!!!" finished Miss Lovely.

Peter burst into tears and ran out of the classroom as Henry had heard the whole thing. Was it true? It most certainly was! Henry's special surprises had proved successful, and now that worm of a brother Peter was so dead meat! Henry knew what that meant, now that Plan A had worked.

"Please may I have some extra maths homework, Miss Battle-Axe?" asked Henry politely.

Miss Battle-Axe gasped. Henry had never in his life asked for extra homework. She began to feel woozy.

"Yes, you may..." she choked, and fell to the floor with a thud.

Plan B was under way; behave at school to gain your parents' respect.

After school, Henry was in a proud mood, as he was put into the Good as Gold book for the first time for doing his extra maths homework at lunchtime. Oh, how pleased would Mum and Dad be. But, at the moment, they weren't with Peter.

"PETER, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GOT EXPELLED!!!" shouted Dad. "HOW COULD YOU???"

"B-b-but I didn't...I never..." sobbed Peter.

"AND WE TRUSTED YOU ALL THIS TIME!!!" snarled Mum. "YOU HORRID BOY!!!"

"YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR TWO YEARS, YOUNG MAN!!!" spluttered Dad.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" howled Peter.

"Hello, my dear parents," sang Henry as he entered the kitchen. "Look!"

Henry showed his parents his excellent report. Their frowns turned upside down, for they had become quite delighted.

"My, Henry, you have been wonderful at school today!" smiled Mum.

"And it says you're in the Good as Gold book!" said Dad. "The first time ever! We're very proud of you! Can't say the same about Peter though!"

"And, as a treat, you can have all of his pocket money!" grinned Mum.

"But, MUM!!!" wailed Peter.

"GO TO YOUR ROOM!!!" growled the parents for a brief second. Peter ran upstairs, where he found out that his room was empty.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" he screamed.

"I'll deal with Peter, if you don't mind," said Henry, with a halo on his head to show his innocence.

Henry went upstairs to his snivelling brother.

"You did this," wept Peter. "You got me into trouble by putting your so-called surprises into Miss Lovely's presents!"

"Oh, did I now?" asked Henry. "As a matter of fact, this fake 'severed hand' is courtesy of the Halloween Fun Pack! And these plant eating slugs are busy carving faces on your prize pumpkins!"

Peter watched in horror as the slugs did their duties on his newly-grown beauties.

"NO!!!" he screamed louder than ever. "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Peter was so upset that snot began to run from his nose.

"Oh, I also forgot to mention," said Henry. "Mum and Dad have thrown away all of your stuff, such as Bunny, Roly Mo, and the rest of your disgusting soft toys!"

"OH, HENRY!!!" wailed Peter, whose face was turning into a wrinked prune. "I'M GOING TO TELL THEM THAT YOU'VE BEEN HORRID!!!"

"Fat chance," said Henry. "They won't believe you!"

Henry had hidden the slugs and fake severed hand inside his fort for tonight. Peter ran downstairs to tell Mum and Dad.

"H-H-H-Henry d-d-did it!" he snivelled. "Henry got me into TROUBLEEEE!!!"

"Henry was good at school today," snapped Dad. "He has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with this!"

"And for lying, you're grounded for another year!" snapped Mum.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screeched Peter, running back upstairs and curling into a ball and crying loudly.

"And, you know what today is, don't you?" asked Henry dastardly.

"Halloween," squeaked Peter.

"Correct!" laughed Henry. "And tonight's the night you have to give me all your sweets!"

"I-I-I don't eat s-s-sweets," replied Peter, with tears still in his eyes.

"Oh, no?" said Henry. "Well, explain THIS!!!"

Henry yanked open the cupboard, revealing a secret stash of sweets that Peter had snuck over the last week.

"Whose secret sweet stash is this?" asked Henry suspiciously.

Peter took about a minute to answer.

"I'm waiting," he said, looking at his watch.

"M-m-m-m-mine!!!" bawled Peter. "I admit it! I've b-b-been sneaking s-s-sweets behind M-M-Mum and Dad's b-b-backs!"

"What was that about sneaking sweets?!" exclaimed Dad.

"Peter..." growled Mum. "Was it you?"

"YES!!!!!" yelled Peter. "IT WAS ME!!! I SNUCK SWEETS AND STORED THEM IN THE CUPBOARD!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"PETERRRRRRRRRR!!!" roared Mum and Dad.

Peter was for it now. As punishment for his sweet-slipping antics, he was forced to sleep under the leak in his bare, empty room with nothing but a tattered old blanket. His loud, annoying wails kept everyone in the neighbourhood up all night.

"SHUT UP, PETER!!!" yelled Mum and Dad. "WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP!!!"

"Yeah!" cackled Henry. "Unless you want the Wicked Witch of the West to come and get you!"

Henry went out to trick or treat dressed as the Devil. He was allowed to do anything he wanted now that he was officially in the Good as Gold Book.

"Have fun, Henry!" yawned Dad.