by Abby Klein
As we walked, we were getting closer and closer to the masks. My palms were starting to sweat. Those masks were so freaky, staring down at us with their evil eyes. My heart started beating faster. What was I going to do? I know. I would just not look at them. I’d keep my eyes on the kids trying on costumes. Pretend to be interested in that….
“Freddy, look,” Suzie said, interrupting my thoughts. “How about that one?” She was, of course, pointing to one of the scary masks on the wall.
I just kept walking.
“Freddy, did you hear me?” she said, tapping me on the shoulder. “I said to look at that one that looks like a werewolf. I think you should be that for Halloween.”
There was no avoiding it. I had to look at it, or she would never stop calling me a fraidy-cat. I lifted my eyes slowly, took a quick peek, and then quickly turned away. “Nah, I don’t like that one.”
“You didn’t even look at it,” Suzie protested.
“Yes I did!”
“No you didn’t.”
“All right. Enough, you two,” my mom said. “Suzie, you need to let Freddy choose the costume he wants, and you choose the costume you want.”
“Well, if the fraidy-cat can’t even look at a mask without getting freaked out, I don’t know how he’s going to go to a haunted Halloween party.”
“I am not a fraidy-cat!” I yelled at Suzie.
“Freddy, we are in a store,” my mom said, putting her finger to her lips. “Please keep your voice down.”
“Tell her to stop calling me a fraidy-cat. I am not a fraidy-cat.”
“I know you’re not a fraidy-cat, sweetheart. Don’t let her get to you. You know your sister says things like that just to bother you.”
Just then, we rounded the corner to the girl’s section. Suzie ran to find her costume, and I finally started to breathe a little easier. At least I didn’t have to look at those scary masks anymore. Maybe Suzie was right. Maybe I really was a fraidy-cat. I mean, I was actually afraid of masks. Masks! Just looking at those horrible things made my stomach do flips.
“I got the last one! I got the last Bride of Frankenstein costume,” Suzie called as she came running over to us. “I’m so excited. It is the coolest costume.”
“Great,” said my mom. “OK, Freddy, now it’s your turn to look.”
“Uh, that’s OK, Mom,” I said. “I think I’ll just be a shark again this year.”
“Fraidy-cat,” Suzie whispered in my ear as she ran off to pay for her costume.
CHAPTER 4
Big Mouth
Every day at lunch Chloe had been telling us about her big plans for the Halloween party. After all, bragging is what she does best!
“My mom and dad are spending a fortune to turn our house into a real haunted house! Well, they aren’t actually doing it. They hired these special party planners to set it all up. You are all going to love it. I just can’t wait until tomorrow night!” she said, squealing and clapping her hands.
She finally shut her mouth for a second only because she ran out of breath. I guess she never gets tired of listening to herself talk. As soon as she gulped some air, she was off and running again.
“I hope you all have your costumes ready. You’d better check them and make sure you put them on real tight because we’re going to scare the pants off you!” She started laughing hysterically. “Get it? Scare the pants off you? Get it?”
“Oh, we got it,” said Max. “It’s just only funny when I say it.”
“Well, nothing you say is going to spoil my party,” Chloe said, wagging her finger in Max’s face.
“Hey, get your finger out of my face before I bite it.”
Max wasn’t kidding. He’d already done that once to Chloe. She quickly pulled her finger back. She must have remembered how it felt.
“I can’t wait,” Jessie chimed in. “I love haunted houses. The scarier the better.”
“Good, because this one is going to be super scary,” Chloe said.
“Are you going to have dry ice at the party?” asked Robbie.
“Dry ice, ha, ha, ha. That’s a good one,” Max chuckled. “I thought you were supposed to be some kind of genius, Robbie. Everybody knows that ice isn’t dry. It’s wet!”
“For your information,” Robbie continued, “there is such a thing as dry ice. It’s actually what people use to make that sort of creepy fog you see in haunted houses.”
Max didn’t answer. “Good for you,” I whispered to Robbie. “That shut him up.”
“Is your haunted house going to be full of monsters?” Jessie asked excitedly. “And how about skeletons in coffins? I love when they pop out of their coffins when you’re not expecting it!”
Boy, I wish I could be as brave as Jessie. Nothing and no one seems to scare her. I don’t think she is afraid of anything. I wish I could be like that, but the more she talked about the haunted house, the sicker I felt. I wanted to cover my ears so I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but then everybody would know for sure that I was a fraidy-cat.
“Oh, there’s going to be all that stuff,” Chloe said. “Skeletons, vampires, mummies, zombies, and even some monsters that jump out at you in the dark or grab your ankles when you’re walking through.”
“Awesome,” Jessie said.
“Are you going to have any games?” I asked. I really needed to talk about something else besides monsters.
“Games? At a halloween party?” Max snickered. “Games are for babies.”
“Of course we’re going to have games,” Chloe said. “We’re going to bob for apples, and—”
“Oh, I love that game!” Max interrupted.
“I thought you just said that games are for babies,” Jessie mimicked.
“Well, I’m really good at that game,” Max continued, puffing out his chest. “I always get the most apples.”
“That’s because he has the biggest mouth,” I whispered to Robbie.
Max whipped his head around and grabbed my shirt. “What did you say, Shark Boy?”
“Uh, nothing,” I whispered, trying not to laugh in his face.
Max tightened his grip on my shirt. “I know you said something, and I want to know what!”
I gulped. Now I was in trouble. Me and my big fat mouth. “I uh, I uh …” I stammered.
“I’ll tell you what he said,” Jessie butted in. “He said you have a big mouth. A really big mouth. That’s why you always get the most apples. Now let go of Freddy’s shirt, you big, mean bully.”
Everyone started cracking up. Everyone except Max.
Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Phew! Saved by the bell. But before Max let go of my shirt, he whispered in my ear, “You’ll be sorry you said that. Just wait until tomorrow night, wimp.”
“You are all going to have so much fun at my party!” Chloe sang, as she went to line up.
“I can’t wait,” Jessie called after her.
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” I muttered to myself.
CHAPTER 5
Getting Ready
“Freddy, time to come downstairs and get into your costume,” my mom called. “You don’t want to be late for the party!”
Being late wasn’t such a bad idea. Maybe I’d miss the haunted house part and arrive just in time for the games.
“Remember, we promised Robbie’s mom that we’d pick him up, so you need to get a move on! Let’s go!”
So much for arriving late. I couldn’t make Robbie miss half the party just because I was a fraidy-cat.
But there was no way I was going without my lucky shark’s tooth. It always made me feel better when I rubbed it. I had to have it if I was going to make it through that haunted house tonight. My mom was just going to have to wait a few minutes. I had been turning my room upside down searching for it for the last twenty minutes. I sat down on my bed and hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Think, think, think.” No luck. No good ideas were coming to me. Maybe Suzie knew where it was.
; “Suzie!” I called. “Suzie … Suzie …”
She stuck her head out of the bathroom — that’s where she spent most of her time. “What do you want, Stinkyhead? It’d better be something really important. I’m trying to get ready for Amy’s party.”
I ran over to the bathroom. “Have you seen my lucky shark’s tooth?”
“No, and I don’t have time to help you look for it.” She started to close the bathroom door, but I stuck my foot in before she got it closed all the way.
“Move your foot, you big pain. I told you I don’t have time to help you right now. Just leave me alone!”
“But I have to have it for the party tonight, and I can’t find it. I really need your help.” She was pushing on the door, and it was almost closed. I had to think fast. “If you help me, I’ll give you first pick of my Halloween candy. You can take any three pieces you want.” After we went trick-or-treating, Suzie and I always dumped out all our candy and spent about an hour trading for our favorites.
“Make it five pieces, and we have a deal,” Suzie said.
“Five pieces? That’s not fair.”
“Take it or leave it.” Suzie stuck her pinkie out for a pinkie swear. That’s how we sealed all our deals.
“Fine, pinkie swear,” I said as we locked our pinkies together.
“Now,” said Suzie, “what pair of pants did you wear yesterday?”
“Um, my jeans. Why?”
“Because I bet the tooth is in those pants.”
Why didn’t I think of that? I had searched all over my room, but I hadn’t thought to look in my pants from yesterday. “I think those pants are in the dirty clothes hamper. Let me in, so I can check.”
Suzie opened the bathroom door. I ran over to the hamper and started throwing dirty clothes behind me as I looked for my jeans.
“Hey, watch it!” Suzie yelled. I turned and saw that a pair of my underwear had gotten caught in her Bride of Frankenstein wig, which stood about a foot high off her head.
“Sorry!” I said, trying not to laugh. But it looked hilarious.
“It’s not funny,” Suzie whined. “I spent a lot of time getting this wig on, and now you’re messing it up.” She gently pulled the underwear off her head.
“Here they are!” I yelled. I had found my jeans. I stuck my hand in one pocket. Not there. My heart sank. I checked the other pocket. Then I felt it. Hard and smooth and sharp. “I got it! Thanks, Suzie,” I yelled as I started running downstairs. “You’re the best sister in the whole world!”
When I got downstairs, Mom was waiting for me. She was holding the hammerhead costume she had made. It looked really cool.
“This is awesome, Mom,” I said. “Just wait till the other kids see this!”
“I’m glad you like it. I’ve worked hard on it all week. I think my favorite part is the headpiece. It doesn’t cover your face. You just pull it on your head like a hood, and the hammer-looking part sticks off to the sides. Here. Try it all on.”
First I pulled on the shark suit that covered my whole body. It was one piece and had a big fin sticking out the back. Then I put on the hammerhead hood. I ran to look in the bathroom mirror. “Cool,” I whispered to myself. “Just wait till Max sees this. He won’t think it’s so lame.” Oh no! Max. How could I have forgotten? What was it he said yesterday? “Wait until tomorrow.” I was doomed. If I actually survived the haunted house, I still had to face Max. I had already been punched by Max once in my life. I really wasn’t looking forward to going through that again.
“Freddy, honey, where did you go?” My mom’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “We have to leave right now. The party starts in ten minutes. Robbie’s mom just called. She’s wondering where we are.”
I took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. “You are not a fraidy-cat,” I whispered to my reflection. “You are a big, tough shark.”
If only I really believed that!
CHAPTER 6
Enter If You Dare!
As the car stopped in front of Chloe’s house, my stomach did a few flips. The party planners she had been talking about every day at lunch sure did a great job. It looked as if we had just pulled up to Dracula’s castle.
“This is so cool!” Robbie said as he jumped out of the car and raced toward the door.
“Freddy, honey, don’t you want to go with Robbie?” my mom asked.
“Uh, yeah, Mom. I’m just fixing my costume,” I lied. Actually, I was stalling for time. I really didn’t want to go anywhere near that haunted house. Just looking at it gave me the creeps.
“Don’t worry. Your costume looks great. Have a good time. I’ll be back to pick you up at eight o’clock.”
I guess I couldn’t put it off any longer. I opened the car door and carefully got out, making sure I didn’t bump my hammerhead on the roof of the car. “Bye, Mom.” I slammed the door and started to walk slowly up to the house. “It’s all fake. It’s only people in costumes,” I whispered to myself. Just then something grabbed me from behind, and I jumped about three feet in the air.
I turned around and saw Jessie smiling at me. “Sorry, Freddy. I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought we could go in together.”
Walking through with Jessie actually sounded like a great idea since she wasn’t afraid of anything.
“I love your costume, Freddy.”
“I love your costume, too. You really look like Dracula.” Jessie’s face was painted white, and she was wearing bloody fangs. Her silky cape was black on one side and red on the other, and she had a little fake bat sewn onto her shoulder.
“Thanks. My abuela, you know, my grandma, made it for me. She makes my costumes every year, and she always does a great job.”
“My mom makes mine, too.”
“Well, let’s go,” she said, grabbing my hand. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be super cool.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled. “Super cool.” With my free hand, I rubbed my lucky shark’s tooth in my pocket really hard as Jessie practically flew up the front steps, dragging me with her.
When we got to the front door, everyone was already there.
“What took you guys so long?” Chloe whined. “We’ve been waiting.”
“Well, we’re here now,” said Jessie. “Let’s get going!”
A Frankenstein monster appeared in the doorway and said, “Welcome to Dracula’s castle. Enter if you dare.”
Oh, why did they have to say stuff like that? It gave me the creeps. But there was no turning back now. I didn’t want Jessie to think I was a fraidy-cat. I had no choice. I had to go. I squeezed Jessie’s hand tight. The door opened with a CREEEEAAAAAK, and we all followed Frankenstein inside.
That dry-ice fog that Robbie had talked about was swirling around our feet, and spooky music was playing. Next, Dracula appeared and said, “Welcome to my castle. Follow me. I will be your tour guide through this house of horrors.” My heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to come out of my chest. “You can do this. You can do this,” I whispered to myself.
Dracula led us into a room where there were skeletons dancing and ghosts floating above our heads.
“OOOOOOOOOOO,” Max howled. I was scared enough. I really didn’t need his special sound effects.
As we entered the next room, Chloe let out a scream: “AAAAHHHH!”
“What are you screaming about, you little baby?” Max snarled.
“Something … just … grabbed … my … leg,” Chloe stammered.
“I wish something would grab my leg,” Max said. “That would be awesome.”
I really didn’t want anything grabbing me. If I screamed like Chloe, then Max would think I was such a fraidy-cat.
This next room was full of zombies and coffins. Some of the coffins were closed, and some were open. Every once in a while, one of the closed coffins would pop open when you least expected it, and some horrible creature would pop out and make a terrible screeching sound. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Every time one of those things yell
ed, my whole body shook.
Then Dracula took us into a room where we had to stick our hands in jars and touch worms and brains and eyeballs. I know the stuff was fake, but it sure felt real. I thought I was going to puke.
“EEEEWWW! EEEWWW! EEEWWW! This is so slimy and gross,” said Chloe, shaking her fingers in the air. “I don’t want to touch it anymore. I think I’m going to be sick,” she said, covering her mouth with her hand. “I don’t want to throw up all over my pretty pink princess dress.”
“If you’re going to barf, don’t do it on me,” Max snickered. “Why don’t you just leave, and go back to your little tea party?”
“This is my party, Max Sellars. You can’t tell me what to do!” Chloe huffed.
“Now we are entering the final room,” Dracula said. “It is my favorite. I want you to meet some of my friends.”
“Final room? Did he say final room?” I asked Robbie.
“Yeah, isn’t that a bummer?” Robbie said. “I could stay in here all night.”
“Me, too,” Jessie agreed.
“Not me,” I thought. “The sooner we’re out of here the better.” I was so proud of myself that I had almost made it through without screaming. Now Max couldn’t call me a fraidy-cat.
As we entered the final room, something flew right past my head. “What was that?” I whispered to Jessie.
“I don’t know,” she whispered back.
I ducked, just as another one flew by.
“Don’t look now,” she said, “but I think one just landed on your shoulder.”
I started jumping around like crazy. “Get it off! Get it off!” I yelled.
“What are you screaming about, wimp?” Max laughed. “It’s just some stupid, fake, rubber bat,” he said, lifting it off my shoulder. “You are such a fraidy-cat!”
So much for making it through the night without screaming.