Two Sizes Too Big by Kathryn Hoehn (books to read for teens .TXT) 📕

five-year-olds in front of her.
“Well, talk to us!” Allyson said, looking at her with big blue eyes as she tossed the rainbow wig off, revealing her long blonde hair.
“Yes! We will listen to you!” Kendall sat down on the floor, smoothing out her ballerina skirt. Allyson walked slowly out of the room, being careful not to trip in her clown shoes.
“Okay… You see, my feet grew a lot and I had to buy new shoes. And I am afraid that the new boy at school won’t think I'm cool because of how big my feet are. So I need to think of a way to figure out how to hide my feet so he won’t realize how huge they are,” Karen inhaled deeply after explaining her dilemma in one breath.
“Fourth grade is a tough year,” Kendall said seriously, as if she had experienced it already.
“Yeah, it is,” Allyson agreed. “If it’s any help at all, Karen, my clown shoes might fit your big fat feet!”
Karen smiled feebly, trying to ignore the fact that a five-year-old had just insulted her. “Thanks for the offer, Allyson, but I guess my own shoes might work out okay.”
“Well, if your feet grow again, you can always call me and ask to borrow these shoes. They’re red. It’s this season’s color and they go with everything!” Allyson stood up and then waddled back into Kendall’s room.
“Karen, your feet don’t look that big to me. They really don’t.” Kendall smiled sweetly at her big sister.
“Thanks, Kendall. You look pretty in your ballerina dress,” Karen said. She stood up and then shuffled back into her room, leaving her little sister in the hallway.
Once in her bedroom, Karen laid down on her bed. She lay on her back and stuck her legs in the air so her feet were above her. I can hardly see past my feet they’re so big,

she thought. Then, all of a sudden, her feet started to grow! They doubled in size in less than ten seconds, and they were still growing!
“AAAAAAHH!! Mom! Help me! My feet won’t stop growing! Becca, Diana, Kendall! Come help me, quick!”
Karen’s mom appeared in the doorway. “What’s wrong, Karen?”
Karen’s feet were still growing. They were bigger than her bed now! Her mom screamed and dove out of the way as Karen’s feet rushed past her, growing out the door.
Karen heard her sisters scream and she looked out the window by her bed. She could see her family outside now, all pointing in terror at the house. From her view at the window, Karen saw her feet appear outside! Her feet had grown so big that they had gone out her room, through the hall, down the stairs, and out the front door! And they were still growing!
Something was touching her ankles- Karen looked towards her bedroom door and saw Charlie carefully crawling over her gigantic feet.
“Gosh, Karen. Your feet are huge. I don’t think I’ll ever be your friend. You’re just not cool enough. Bye, Karen. Please don’t talk to me when you see me at school…”
Karen jerked awake, nearly falling off her bed. “Oh my gosh! That was such an awful dream!” she exclaimed, flying off the bed and grabbing at her feet. “I knew my feet were huge... Charlie won’t want to be my friend when he sees me at school!”

Chapter 3

“Hey, Karen, wait up!” Karen turned around at the sound of Dorothy’s voice.
“Hi, Dorothy. Hi, Matt,” Karen said to her two friends as they caught up with her.
“Let’s walk to class together,” Dorothy said. “Hey, cool shoes, Karen!” My brother Gary’s girlfriend has a pair just like them, only hers are blue. And I think I saw them on one of the girls in the sixth grade, I think her name is Addy, but hers are yellow. I love yours though!” Dorothy smiled widely at Karen.
“Thank you, Dorothy,” Karen sighed. “Hey, can I ask you guys something?” Matt and Dorothy nodded. “Do my feet look bigger to you?”
Matt knelt on the ground and examined her feet, tapping her shoe with his finger and measuring with his hands. Dorothy squinted at the shoes from where she stood, and then slowly circled Karen, staring at her feet the whole time. Matt stood up.
“No,” he stated.
“What do you think, Dorothy?” Karen asked.
“I think that your feet are a lot bigger than mine. Shoot! I really wanted to borrow your new shoes!” Dorothy stamped her foot angrily.
Riiiiiing!

The school bell went off, causing all three to jump in surprise. “Come on- let’s race to class! Ready, set, go!” Matt said, and he and Dorothy took off running towards the classroom, but Karen walked slowly and cautiously behind them. She didn’t want to risk tripping over her feet, especially if Charlie happened to be around.
I wonder if Matt honestly didn’t notice how big my feet are. Maybe since Charlie is a boy too, he won’t notice that my feet are huge now. Or maybe Matt was just being polite, and he actually did see how much my feet have grown. I bet Charlie will notice, too…

Karen turned the corner into the classroom and walked to her desk. Charlie came up to her.
“Hi, Karen, how was your weekend?”
“Hi, Charlie. My weekend was fine. I, um, went shopping with my mother on Saturday.”
“What did you buy?” Charlie asked. He sat on Karen’s desk while she unpacked her backpack.
“Nothing much. Some pants, some shirts, and a new pair of shoes. My mom said I grew a lot, and my pants and shirts didn’t fit as well anymore. She said I was getting taller,” Karen said, slipping her jacket off and stuffing it into her backpack.
“It sounds like you had a pretty nice weekend! Are those your new shoes?” Charlie asked, pointing at Karen’s pink tennis shoes.
“Um… yes,” Karen said. She looked worriedly at Charlie’s expression. She expected him to look disgusted, as if he couldn’t imagine being friends with someone who had feet like a duck. But he just smiled at her.
“Those are really cool! I didn’t do very much this weekend, but my aunt sent me a t-shirt from Pennsylvania. I decided not to wear it until I actually get to go there, though,” Charlie said.
“Alright everyone, let’s start the morning with some reading. Take out your books!” Mr. Dollaghan said as he sat down at his teacher’s desk.
Charlie smiled at Karen again, and then moved over to his desk to read. Karen took out her book and opened it up, but didn’t focus on the words. He had to have noticed my feet! There’s no way he couldn’t have… My feet are just so big! I need a way to make them look smaller… I need to think…

Chapter 4

Later at recess, Karen grabbed Dorothy’s arm and led her into the bathroom.
“Okay, Dorothy, don’t think I’m weird for doing this, but give me your shoes,” Karen said as she began to untie her shoelaces.
“What do you need my shoes for?” Dorothy asked.
“You know how Charlie wears the coolest clothes, and all of his friends have really nice clothes, too? Well, my feet have grown a lot, and I think that he noticed how big they are. The only way I can be his friend is if I look normal, and since your feet are a lot smaller than mine, I thought we could trade shoes for a while. That way, Charlie won’t notice that my feet are gigantic, and he’ll want to be friends with me!” Karen thrust her shoes at Dorothy, who took them reluctantly.
“Karen, do you honestly think that’s the truth? That Charlie only cares about people who have great clothes?” Dorothy asked, raising her eyebrows at Karen skeptically.
“Yes,” Karen said simply.
Dorothy sighed, then knelt down to untie her shoes. She looked up at Karen. “The only reason I’m doing this is because you’re my best friend, and I’m dying to try on those cute tennis shoes, even if they are going to be too big on me.” Dorothy smiled and handed Karen her own shoes.
Five minutes later, the girls were walking back out onto the playground. Dorothy was walking very slowly as her tiny feet kept slipping out of Karen’s shoes. Karen was also walking slowly, trying to prevent her feet from getting blisters from the too-small shoes. She winced in pain as her toes were pinched together.
And then she saw Charlie. He was standing by the swings with Matt.
“There’s Charlie!” Karen exclaimed to Dorothy. “Come on, let’s go talk to him!”
The girls worked their way slowly across the playground. Karen smiled at Charlie as they neared him.
“Hi, Karen; hey, Dorothy,” Charlie said cheerfully.
“Hi, Charlie!” Karen said with a big grin.
“Hey, Charlie,” Dorothy responded as she bent over to pick out the pebbles that had spilled into Karen’s shoes.
Karen hobbled over to the swings and sat down. She crossed and uncrossed her legs a few times, trying to draw Charlie’s attention to her feet. Charlie just continued talking to Matt, so Karen desperately started pumping her legs, getting the swing to move. When her feet flew by Charlie’s shoulder, he finally turned to face her.
“Hey, watch it,