Ghouls Gone Wild (2 page)

I'm the only one who can see and hear them. Lucky me, right?

At first, I was scared. I mean, who wants ghosts popping in and out of your room? But then I started to feel sorry for them.

Nicky was a nice kid, but very sad. He didn't know how he and his sister had died. He didn't know how they became ghosts.

Tara was cute but a little bossy, a little spoiled. But she was sad too. She missed her mom and dad. She
hated
being a ghost.

Soon we became friends.

We made a deal. I'd help Nicky and Tara find their parents. And they would help me become a
cooler guy. They promised to help me show my dad that I'm not a worthless wimp.

Good deal, right?

Well, I
did
help them find their parents. It wasn't easy. We had to fight an evil ghost named Phears, who was out to capture Nicky and Tara.

We managed to destroy Phears and find Mr. and Mrs. Roland. But guess what? Nicky and Tara are still living with me. Their parents are ghosts too. They went off to find a way to bring the family back to life.

We don't know when they will return. It might be months. It might be years.

So you see, I've kept my side of the bargain. I've helped them a lot.

But every time they try to help me, something goes wrong. And I end up looking like a total jerk.

But please—not today. Not
today!

I stared at them. They both are tall and thin. Nicky's dark hair is short, and spiked up in front. Tara wore a floppy red hat, and dangling red plastic earrings to match.

“What are you doing here?” I asked again. “I begged you to stay away today.”

Of course, I was the only one in the whole natatorium who could see or hear them.

Nicky slapped me on the back. “We came to help you out,” he said.

“Don't be nervous, Max,” Tara said. “Just because the whole school is watching and thousands more people are staring at you on TV.”

“You're
making
me nervous!” I said.

Mayor Stank turned around. “Sorry, Max. Is there a problem?”

“Go ahead, Maxie,” Tara said. “Give him your speech.”

“Just shut up!” I told her.

Mayor Stank's mouth dropped open.
“What
did you say to me, young man?”

“Max, you're keeping the mayor waiting,” Nicky said. “Want
me
to give your speech?”

“Shut up,” I said. “I mean it.”

Mayor Stank's face turned bright red. “You're telling me to shut up?”

“I wasn't talking to you,” I said.

My voice went out over the loudspeaker. Everyone laughed and hooted. The laughter bounced off the tile walls.

I grabbed for the trophy. But Tara picked it up first.

The audience gasped. It looked as if the trophy was floating in midair.

“Um, my new magic trick!” I said into the microphone. “The Floating Trophy trick.”

“Calm down, Max,” Tara said. “Nicky and I are just trying to help you.”

“Max's hands are shaking,” Nicky said. “Tara,
you
give the mayor the trophy.”

“I'm warning you—
go away!”
I shouted.

“Go away? You're telling me to go away?” the mayor shouted angrily. “Young man, you are very
rude!”

“S-sorry,” I stammered.

I knew I couldn't explain. So I leaned into the microphone and tried to start my speech. “Mayor Stank, thank you for helping us all make a real
splash
…”

Tara held on to the big silver trophy. I made a grab for it. “Give it to me!”

“No, I want to give it to the mayor!”

I
told
you she was bossy.

She grabbed it back.

It must have looked pretty funny as Tara and I had a tug-of-war with the trophy. Wild hoots and laughter rang out all around.

Finally, I swung it away from her.

But the trophy flew out of my hands.

It made a deafening
clonk
as it smacked the mayor in the head.

He groaned and toppled backward. His arms sailed up in the air as he did a backward flop into the pool.
Smack!

What a splash!

“Oh noooo,” I groaned as Mayor Stank sank under the water.

He dropped all the way to the bottom. Then his bald head bobbed above the surface. He began kicking and slapping the water like a wild man.

“I can't swim!” he screamed. “Help me!
I can't swim!”

I
STARED
IN
HORROR
from the edge of the pool. Mayor Stank's head disappeared below the surface. A few seconds later, he bobbed back up, choking and sputtering.

“Help me! I can't swim!”

“Go save him, Max!” Tara gave me a hard shove.

“I—I don't know how to rescue anyone,” I stammered. “I was absent that day in lifesaving class.”

I saw several teachers leap into the water. Then a lot of splashing and shouting.

“Be a hero, Max,” Nicky said. “Go—quick!”

My heart pounding, I stared at the mayor. He was bouncing on the water like a crazed porpoise. He was kicking and slapping and sputtering. The teachers struggled to grab him.

He floated close to the side of the pool. His head went down again.

“Get him, Max!” Tara cried.

I bent over the side. Made a grab for his feet.

Missed.

I grabbed again. This time, I wrapped my hands around the legs of his suit pants.

“Got him!” I cried.

I pulled hard. Leaning back, I gave a hard tug—

—and pulled off the mayor's pants!

“Whoa!” I staggered back against the wall. I had the mayor's pants in my hands.

Finally, the teachers pulled the mayor out of the water. He stood on the side of the pool in his underwear, shivering and shaking the water from his body.

A teacher came running with some towels. Mayor Stank wrapped a towel around his hips to cover his bare legs. Then he used another towel to mop his bald head.

He squinted at me angrily. He glared at the pair of gray pants in my hands. He scowled and shook a fist at me.

Mrs. Wright hurried over. “Max, I—I'm speechless,” she said. “I am very, very angry. Can you explain what just happened here?”

I handed the soggy pants to her. “Would you believe it was an accident?” I said.

Mrs. Wright squeezed my shoulder. “See me in my office after school,” she said through
gritted teeth. “Don't plan on going anywhere, Max. You and I are going to have a long, long talk.”

Tara appeared at my side. “Want Nicky and me to come with you?” she asked.

I
DIDN'
T
GET
HOME
till almost dinnertime. Mrs. Wright and I had a very long talk. Only, she did all the talking.

Nicky and Tara were waiting for me in my room when I got home. “Sorry, Max,” Tara said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Guess that didn't go very well.”

“I really wanted to hear your speech,” Nicky said.

“What a shame the mayor ruined everything,” Tara added.

I let out a scream. “The
mayor
ruined everything?” I screamed again. “You got that wrong.
You two
ruined everything!”

I'd never felt so angry in my life.

Tara shrank back against the window. “We were only trying to help,” she said. “Why didn't you let me give him the trophy? I told you I really wanted to.”

“You can't do everything you want!” I
shouted. “You ruined
everything.
You're ruining my whole
life!”

Her mouth dropped open. “You're hurting my feelings, Max.”

“We were only trying to help,” Nicky said. “Remember? We promised to help each other?”

I tossed my backpack at him. It went right through him and bounced off the wall.

“Don't be angry,” Tara said.

“Angry?” I cried. “Angry? I’
m furious!”

“Max, think how dull your life would be without us,” Nicky said.

“I
like
dull!” I screamed. “After living with you, I want a dull life.
Years
and
years
of dull! I hope
nothing
interesting ever happens to me again! I want you to go away. Go
away!”

Tara gasped. Nicky backed against the wall. They both vanished.

My brother, Colin, peered into my room. “What are you doing, Fat Face? Why are you screaming like a baby? Need your bottle?”

“These are screaming exercises,” I said. “It's a new workout. To build my lung power.”

Colin stepped into my room. I saw that he was wearing boxing gloves. “You can help me with
my
new workout,” he said. He raised his gloves. “Come on, punk. Let's box.”

I backed away. “No. No thanks,” I said. “Sounds like a lot of fun. But no thanks.”

Colin danced closer. He waved the gloves in my face. “Help me with my boxing workout.”

“But… I don't have any gloves!” I said.

“You don't need any,” Colin replied. “You're the punching bag.”

Powpow powpow pow powpow pow.

C
OLIN WAS HAVING
an outstanding workout. Who says I'm not a good athlete? I make a
great
punching bag.

Finally, after about ten thousand punches, Mom shouted for us to come downstairs to dinner.

“Thanks for the workout,” Colin said.

I was holding my stomach, in too much pain to answer. I stumbled down to the kitchen.

Unless we have company, we eat dinner at the kitchen table with the TV on. Dad likes to watch the Channel 600 news because they show all the car accidents in town.

Dad loves to watch car accidents. Maybe it's because he's a big Mack truck of a guy who can mow anyone down. My dad is huge and red-faced, with a shiny head that's almost totally bald except for a strip of short bristly hair that curves around from ear to ear. He has a bright red and blue tattoo of a fire-breathing dragon on one bicep.

My mom and dad look really funny when they
stand together. He's so big and wide, and she's tiny and short and skitters around like a little bird.

“Steak. My fave,” I said. I leaned over my plate and took a deep sniff. “Mmmmm.”

“A special dinner tonight, Max,” Mom said. “Since you had a special day. And your dad has a special announcement to make. How did it go at school this morning? Did the mayor like your speech?”

“Uh…yeah,” I muttered.

“Wow. That car totally blew up!” Dad said. He already had steak sauce all over his cheeks and chin. “Did you see that head-on crash? Whoa, boy! Show that one again!”

He always talks to the TV while we eat.

“Maxie, would you like mashed potatoes?” Mom asked.

“Maxie likes soft food,” Colin said. “Because he's a baby.”

“Colin, don't call your brother names on his special day,” Mom scolded.

“I wasn't,” Colin said.

Dad gulped down a huge chunk of steak. Still swallowing, he pointed to me with his fork. “Max, you were there when it happened. I heard some jerky kid at your school knocked the mayor into the new swimming pool.”

Gulp.

I decided to play innocent. “Really?” I said.

“And then the kid de-pantsed the mayor! Hee-hee-hee. He pulled Stank's pants off in front of everyone!” Dad started laughing and choking at the same time. Mom had to walk over and slap him on the back.

“Isn't that a riot?” Dad pounded the table with one hand. “Can you believe a stupid kid did that to the mayor?”

“I…can't believe it,” I mumbled. I hid my face behind my pile of potatoes.

“Hey, check it out!” Colin cried. He pointed to the TV. “It's on the news. The thing at your school. Watch!”

I couldn't breathe. My heart sank to my knees. I wanted to dive headfirst into the mashed potatoes and not come out.

All four of us watched me on TV as I swung the trophy, clonked Mayor Stank in the head, and sent him flying into the pool. And then, a few seconds later, there I was, leaning over the edge of the pool, yanking off the big man's trousers.

Must See TV.

It took a while. But Mom finally recognized me. She pressed her hands to her face. “Oh no. Oh no. It was
you
, Max.”

“You stupid klutz!” Colin cried. He tossed a dinner roll across the table. It bounced off my forehead. “Max, now the
whole city
knows what a total jerk you are! How could you do it?”

“I had help,” I muttered.

Dad turned away from the TV. He wiped the steak sauce from his face with his T-shirt sleeve. He was staring hard at me the whole time.

“You're a disgrace, Max,” he said. “It's a good thing we're moving away.”

My heart skipped a beat. I let out a loud, startled gasp. “Huh? Moving?”

Dad nodded. “Yeah. That's my special announcement. I got a job in Dallas. We're selling this house and moving to Texas.”

M
OM SMILED AT
C
OLIN
and me. “That's why we're having this lovely steak dinner. To celebrate the good news.”

Good
news?

Was
it good news?

Leave my friends? My school?

Start over again in a whole new place?

That's not good news. That's
bad
news.

But whoa. Wait. Hold on a minute.

No more ghosts! I could get away from those ghosts. Have a normal life.

Goodbye, Nicky and Tara. Goodbye, pests! I'm off to Texas and leaving you behind.

No way
could they ruin my life in Texas!

Colin turned to Dad. Another car crash came on the TV news. Colin had to shake Dad by the shoulders to get his attention. “You know I've got to work out, Dad. Keep my body fit. Will there be room in the new house for my own gym?”

Dad nodded. “Yeah. Plenty of room. Wow.
That guy got rear-ended by three SUVs. His car looks like an accordion!”

Colin grinned at me. “My own gym. Max, I won't have to use you as a punching bag anymore.” His grin grew wider. “Well…only sometimes.”

I wasn't thinking about Colin's gym. I was thinking about my new life. A life without ghosts. A life where I wouldn't be embarrassed in front of the whole town!

The car accident report was over. Dad turned to me. “Texas will make a man out of you, Max,” he said. “You'll learn to ride horses.”