Request #115

I have an odd situation here, because I thought I knew this one, but I recently bought a copy and reread it, and I was wrong.
This was a book that was read to us during library time in elementary school. That would indicate that it was published before 1989, but probably quite a lot earlier.
I’m pretty sure (but given the other mistake I made, I could be off on other things as well) it was from the broad genre of “story about a gifted young person, told from the POV of their more normal friend”. What I remember strongly is a scene where they go to a wholesaler, possibly a wholesale auction? I assume the gifted young person was looking to buy something for their exciting kids’ adventure story project. But the POV character learns what an aglet is, and noticing that her (or his) shoelaces are worn, tries to buy some. Only, being a normal sort of kid and thus not understanding how wholesalers work, ends up buying a whole barrel of them. (Or maybe that part is me confusing it with something else, and someone else buys the barrel of aglets, and just gives the POV character a handful?)

For years, I thought this was something that happened in Jean Merrill’s “The Toothpaste Millionaire”. That has a similar scene involving buying way more toothpaste tubes than intended, but nothing about aglets. I reckon this must’ve happened since I can’t imagine any other explanation for me knowing what an aglet is.

They end up dating and that’s how the book ends. If anyone knows, you’ll have my forever gratitude! Update from requestor: “I know that a character at the auction gives the girl a handful of bike chain links before she buys the toothpaste tubes, so maybe that’s being conflated with the aglet story?”