Who spoiled the surprise?

Fiona’s been planning her bestie’s surprise party for weeks, but Lucy finds out about it! Who let the secret slip?

Mom, what are those balloons doing out in plain sight?” Fiona whispered with concern. “Lucy is here visiting! She might see them and wonder what’s up!”

“Sorry, Fee,” Mrs. Poole whispered back. “Dad forgot what we told him this morning, and he picked the balloons up early. I’ll go hide them now.”

Fiona left the kitchen and headed back to the living room, where she’d left her best friend, Lucy. In two days, it would be Lucy’s 11th birthday, and Fiona had been planning a special surprise party for her for weeks — with help from her mom and Lucy’s mom, of course. In fact, just earlier that day, Fiona and her family had a special meeting in the living room to talk about the top-secret party plans. The surprise bash was tomorrow, just one day before Lucy’s actual birthday. Fiona planned it this way so Lucy wouldn’t expect a thing!

As Fiona walked back into the living room, she heard a squeaky voice cry out, “Knock, knock!”

“Crackers, shhh!” she called out to the parrot,

whose cage was sitting in the living room. “Lucy is here to chat with me — not you!” she laughed.

Fiona had volunteered to pet-sit the chatty bird for her cousin, Garret, who was on vacation with his family. Sometimes she forgot he was even there, but other times, the silly bird wouldn’t stop talking!

“I was trying to tell Crackers a knock-knock joke before, so that’s probably why he’s saying that,” explains Lucy. “I know Crackers repeats everything he hears — I think it’s hilarious!”

“You’re crazy!” Fiona giggled. “Hey, did I tell you what my brother did this morning? He snuck in really early and let Crackers loose in my room. When I woke up, he was flying around my head squawking!”

Seeing Fiona’s unhappy face, Lucy tried to hold in her laughter, but couldn’t. “You have to admit that’s funny,” she said. “You know he loves to prank you!”

“It’s true,” Justin called from upstairs. “I really do get a kick out of it,” he laughed.

“Stop eavesdropping!” Fiona yelled back. “I’m going to tell Mom.”

“Chill out, Fee!” her brother responded. “I was on my way to the bathroom when I heard my name.”

“Whatever,” Fiona grumbled. Turning back to her friend, she asked, “So, are you getting excited for your birthday, Lucy?”

“Oh yeah, the big 1-1,” Lucy smiled back. “I can’t wait to celebrate!” “How do you want to spend the day?” Fee asked. “By wearing my fancy new birthday dress and eating lots of ice cream, of course!” Lucy grinned back. “You know that!” Picking out new dresses with their moms and digging into ice cream sundaes was a birthday tradition for the duo. They’d gone shopping for Lucy’s special new dress last weekend, and Fiona felt bad that she couldn’t tell her best friend to wear it tomorrow. If she did though, Lucy would get suspicious and might find out about the surprise!

The buds spent the next few hours hanging out until Lucy’s mom came to pick her up.

“See you at mini golf tomorrow,” Lucy smiled.

Little does she know that’s just a cover story, Fiona thought to herself.

The next day, Fiona woke up feeling excited. She hung streamers, blew up balloons and helped her mom arrange the party food. Then, she anxiously waited for the door bell to ring. Soon, her classmates started showing up, and then one of them yelled that they saw Lucy getting out her car.

Fiona opened the door to greet Lucy — and gasped! “You’re wearing your new birthday dress!” she exclaimed. “Did you know about the surprise party I was planning?” “I’m sorry, Fiona,” Lucy said with a guilty look. “Who spoiled the surprise?” Fiona wondered, then she turned to her brother. “Was it you, Justin?”

Is Fiona right? Did Justin ruin the surprise? Try to solve the mystery before reading the answer below.