by Honest Lee
Teo the Grim Reaper got down on his skeleton hands and blew gently on Zoey the Mouse. The mouse coughed once, then twice. She woke up. Then she ran up Olivia’s leg and into her hands, where it felt safe.
Everyone clapped. “Teo saved the day!”
“Well, not the whole day,” he said, “just a mouse. Now, let’s get back to partying!” The others cheered. Some screamed. Benji howled.
“Let’s carve this pumpkin!” Teo said, pointing at the pumpkin-formerly-known-as-the- principal.
“No!” Olivia shouted. “And no partying! We’re in the middle of a major crisis. But we could use your help.”
“No way, dude,” Teo said. “I’ve got better things to do!”
“Like what?” Olivia asked.
“Like this.” Teo pulled back his hood. Beneath was a skull—but not just any skull. It was the most terrifying skull you can imagine. (After all, he was the grim reaper.) When she saw his face, Little Linda Riding Hood fainted of fright.
“I always wanted a scary costume,” Teo said. “And now I have it. The scariest one of all… I’m just dying to show my big sister.… Get it? Dying. Ha!”
CHAPTER 23
The Witch
Ava loved witches. So for Halloween, she dressed up as one. Then Classroom 13’s cursed candy turned her into a real witch—only not a very good one.
Upon realizing she was a witch, Ava screamed with glee. She pulled out her wand and said, “What should I do first?”
Preeya and Mark were arguing over who was more royal. “You’re both royal pains in the logs, so why don’t you turn into a couple of frogs!”
The wand zapped them. Only they didn’t turn into frogs. They turned into butterflies. The two fluttered around the room for a bit and then turned back into a prince and a princess—except with big colorful wings.
“Okay, well, I’ll try again,” Ava said. She looked around the room. Teo had always reminded her of her little brother, so she decided to cast a spell on him. “Teo the Reaper smells like feets, so let him transform into a bag of dog treats!”
Once again, the spell went wrong and instead turned Teo into a big ice cube. When he eventually melted, he was going to be mad. Ava was worried. “I should probably get out of here before the grim reaper gets me. At least I have a broom.”
But when Ava tried to fly, her broom acted like a wild bronco at a bull-riding competition. It bucked and it bucked until it threw her off. It would have been easier to ride a two-headed horse.
“Being a witch is hard!” Ava said.
It’s true. Being a witch is hard. Emma (who was an actual witch) could have told her that, but Emma wasn’t herself today. She was—well, we’ll get to her soon enough.…
You see, a person can’t just wake up one day and be a magic-using witch. They have to go to school to learn spells and charms and how to ride a broom. They have to take algebra and biology and practice, practice, practice. It takes years! Now that I think about it, a witch school is just like a real school. Only harder. Witches don’t even have weekends off.
But Ava wasn’t the type to give up. She was a hard worker, and she didn’t mind practicing, even if she got things wrong the first few times.
“Abracabadbra, Alec-Azam, and Fitchety-Switch! If I’m going to have magic, make me a powerful witch!”
The wand spell flew out, zipped around, and struck Ava. Suddenly she was powerful—and green?! “No, no, no!” she said, running to look at herself in the mirror. Her skin had turned green, her ears had become pointy, and her nose had grown long and covered in warts. “Aww, darn it. My life is a fart,” she said.
Her wand made her fart.
“Hey! That wasn’t even a spell!” she shouted. She broke her wand in half and vowed to never do magic again.
I guess someone should have warned her—be careful what you witch for.
CHAPTER 24
The Blob
Ethan caught Ximena!
Well, he didn’t catch her, so much as… well, swallow her. Usually, Ethan wouldn’t consume his classmates, but it seems to be going around today.
You see, Ethan was just catching up with the “slime” craze. You know—where kids make their own slime using glue and water and stuff from around home. Ethan was obsessed now. He was on the Internet every day looking for new ways to make “slime.” Well, for Halloween he made a special batch of see-through green slime—and covered himself in it.
But after downing a couple of cursed sugar straws, he turned into a big blob of slime. Unfortunately, slime can be pretty sticky. So when he moved around Classroom 13, everything stuck to him—
What’s that? Why are you interrupting the story? Oh. You want to know how to make slime yourself? Well, that’s easy. Here’s the recipe:
• Take two slices of bread.
• Spread peanut butter (crunchy or smooth) on one slice.
• Spread your favorite jelly or jam on the other slice.
• Put together. Eat and enjoy.
What’s that? Oh. You’re right. That’s not a recipe for slime. That’s how to make a wha-cha-ma-call-it… a tuna fish sandwich. No, wait. That’s not right. Um. What can I say? I’m not a very good cook. That’s why I’m a writer. Honestly.
Anyway, as I was saying…
Ethan—the big blob of slime—rolled around and stuck to everything. Which is how he found Ximena. Ninjas may be awesome warriors, but in a battle against sticky slime? Well, let’s just say, the score reads like this:
NINJA = 0
SLIME = 1
CHAPTER 25
The Zombie
“I want… to eat… your braaaaaaaains!” Fatima moaned.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t kidding. For Halloween this year, she decided to be a zombie. She’d wanted to scare all of her classmates. And she was doing just that.
A hot-cinnamon-flavored candy turned Fatima into a living not-so-living, breathing not-so-breathing ZOMBIE.
“Braaains…” Fatima groaned.
Everyone—no matter who they were—was terrified of zombies. And with good reasons. Zombies are terrifying. All the students (and animals) of Classroom 13 ran from Fatima.
Mason tried to run away, but he ran in one big circle. So he ended up running into Fatima. Quicker than she looked, the zombie grabbed Mason and started gnawing on his head.
Mason laughed. “That tickles!”
Fatima kept gnawing and sucking, but a second later she stopped. She moaned, “Nooooo braaains…”
“I coulda told you that,” Mason said.
Luckily, Cowboy Chloe and the Dread Pirate Triple J were brave. They grabbed the zombie, tossed her in the bathroom, and locked the door.
“Braaains…” Fatima cried from the other side of the wall.
She pounded on the door so hard her arms fell off. Don’t worry. It didn’t hurt. Zombies lose body parts all the time. If they walk too fast, they lose a foot. If they crawl through the mud, they lose a hand. I swear, they’d lose their heads if they weren’t attached—oh, wait, never mind, they do lose their heads. It’s kind of hilarious.
Luckily, Fatima still had her head on. Not that she was using it. After hours of bumping into the door, you would think she would’ve thought to jiggle the knob with her knee or her foot or her mouth. Or chew through the door. But zombies aren’t known for their big ideas.
The thoughts that go through their brains are mostly “Grrrrrr…” and “Hnnnn…” and “Braaains…” and “6 x 6 x 6 = 216.”
Aha! I was just testing you with that last one. Zombies don’t know math. At least I don’t think they do.
Poor Fatima. She fell to pieces over her costume. Get it? Fell to pieces?
CHAPTER 26
The Viking
The only reason William wanted to dress up as a Viking for Halloween was to wear a fake beard. He was too young to grow a real one, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He saw a beard in the Halloween store last year, in the wig section, and saved up every quarter and dime until he had enough mone
y to buy one.
He wore it around home, just for fun. The beard was majestic. When he put it on, he felt like a tough guy. He felt invincible. Unstoppable. Like the king of the world.
As Halloween approached, he decided to wear his beard to Classroom 13. But what were good costumes for people with beards? He looked online.
He could be Fidel Castro—but William didn’t want to be a revolutionary. He could be a garden gnome or a leprechaun—but they were too short. He could be Obi-Wan Kenobi—but he didn’t want to be a Jedi. He could be President Abe Lincoln—but he was too honest. He could be Santa Claus—but that was the wrong holiday.
Finally, he found the perfect getup. He would be a Viking.
When he walked into Classroom 13, he wanted to prove he was a fearless warrior—so he ate worms. Well, gummy worms. Well, actually, cursed gummy worms.
“Beard the Barbarian Viking is here! Fear and tremble!” he cried. “I’ve sailed the vast ocean to come and pillage and plunder and raid and rob ya blind!”
“Actually, ‘pillage’ and ‘plunder’ and ‘raid’ and ‘rob’ all mean the same thing,” Olivia noted. “Also, we’re kind of busy with a lot of other stuff, so we don’t have time to be scared of you. But perhaps you could review some vocabulary words while you wait?”
Olivia handed him a vocabulary book and went back to trying to figure out how to fix everything.
CHAPTER 27
The Wha-cha-ma-call-it?
What is Emma dressed as, you ask?
Honestly, I have no idea.
This whole cursed candy crisis would be over by now if Emma had come as herself for Halloween. If you know Emma, then you know she’s an actual witch in real life with real magical abilities. (But don’t tell anyone. It’s supposed to be a secret.) I suppose she could’ve wiggled her nose, or simply snapped her fingers, or made a smelly potion, or done something witchy to fix everything and turn everyone back to normal.
Instead she came dressed up as a… well, a… I don’t know how to describe it. She came as… THAT.
What’s THAT?
Well, let’s see if I can make sense of THAT.
Emma went into her attic and found all kinds of stuff. She wore a hockey jersey and a nurse’s hat. She found an eye patch and a clown wig. She found a tentacle for one arm, and a superhero glove over the other. She had a hairy Bigfoot leg and a chicken leg. Then she added roller skates and wings.
So what was she? I don’t know! She was… THAT!
THAT’s what happened when Emma couldn’t decide on just one costume for Halloween and came dressed as a hockey-playing, crime-fighting, roller-skating, high-flying, part-time nurse, part-time clown, Sasquatch-chicken-octopus.
THAT’s what THAT is.
Emma is either a Halloween costume crazy person—or a total genius. Unfortunately, after eating the cursed candy, she became a crazy person, or crazy thing, or let’s just call her THAT, and started trying to devour (that’s a fancy word for “eat”) her fellow classmates.
CHAPTER 28
Toilet Paper
“What should I be for Halloween?” Jacob asked himself that morning while he sat on the toilet. His parents had forgotten to buy him a costume, so he had to make his own. As he went to… you know… wipe, he got an idea.
He grabbed all the toilet paper from his bathroom and wrapped himself in it until he looked like an ancient Egyptian mummy.
When he got to school, Fatima said, “Rad outfit.”
Triple J said, “Dude, that’s awesome. Walk like an Egyptian!”
And Liam, always looking to make a joke, said, “Hey, Mummy, where’s Daddy?”
Jacob loved his costume. At least he did until he ate an evil lollipop. Instead of turning into a mummy, the cursed candy turned him into a roll of toilet paper.
Luckily, THAT—once known as Emma—had no interest in eating toilet paper.
CHAPTER 29
Olivia
As the smartest student in Classroom 13, Olivia knew how to solve most problems.
Algebra? 2 + e + z = Too easy!
Geography? Olivia knew all the countries and their capitals.
Impossible spelling bee word? How about “succedaneum”? Olivia could spell s-u-c-c-e-d-a-n-e-u-m without breaking a s-w-e-a-t. Could she use “succedaneum” in a sentence? Yes! “When it comes to spelling, there is no succedaneum for Olivia.” (Succedaneum means “substitute.”)
But undoing a wicked candy curse on Halloween? Olivia hated to admit defeat, but for the first time in her life, she was stumped. No amount of studying, no amount of library books, no amount of online research could help her find the answer to undo the candy chaos of Classroom 13. But this? This was pure insanity—there was no logic here:
Chloe the Cowboy was chasing Benji the Werewolf, who was chasing Earl the Cat, who was chasing Zoey the Mouse. The animals were running everywhere, screaming like… well, animals.
Ghost Dev and Teo the Reaper teamed up to scare the pants off the Dread Pirate Captain Triple J. Both ghouls were sorry when they did, though, as his pirate’s booty was stinky enough to spook the dead.
The two-headed horse, Mya & Madison, was still horsing around with Isabella the Knight. The horse bucked and twirled, not wanting to be ridden. It trashed the desks and knocked over bookshelves. It finally threw Isabella off the saddle. This was not a stable friendship.
Little Linda Riding Hood was holding Little Baby Liam, but he wouldn’t stop crying. He needed a bottle and a burping and a nap and a pacifier. “WAAAAAAAH!!” he cried. (What a big baby.)
William the Viking needed to use the restroom (number two). When he went to the bathroom, he almost let out Fatima the Zombie. He freaked and slammed the door shut just in time. Luckily, he found a roll of toilet paper and was about to go behind Sophia the Tree. Olivia stopped him and said, “Absolutely not! This is a classroom, not a public toilet. And this TP is Jacob!”
Santiago the Vampire was still starving, when he saw a hot dog sitting all alone on a desk. He was about to eat it when Mason slapped him. “Don’t eat Hugo!” he shouted.
The prince and princess demanded front-row thrones to all this chaos. Since this was a classroom and not a castle, there were none available. Yuna the Mime silently guided them to sit on top of a Principal Pumpkin and a L.I.L.Y. Bot robot that no one had plugged in.
And then there was the giant slime of Ethan (with Ximena the Ninja still stuck inside) and the Wha-cha-ma-call-Emma (that we call THAT)… The three of them somehow managed to get all stuck together. The more they tried to get away, the more they bounced back and got more stuck. Everything they touched got stuck. Books, pencils, desks, backpacks… the whole thing was one giant BLOB. And it was growing by the minute. If Mason (the dumbest student in Classroom 13) and Olivia (the smartest) didn’t stop it… it would wreck the whole school!
“Mason, what do we do?!” Olivia shouted. “I can’t figure out a way to solve this problem!”
“That’s ’cuz you’re thinking too hard,” Mason said. “It’s simple, really. You’re the smartest girl in class, which makes you a know-it-all, and since you dressed up like yourself for Halloween, that means you’re dressed up like a know-it-all, which means if you eat the cursed candy, you’ll become your costume, and you’ll be a know-it-all for real, which means you’ll know everything, which means you’ll know how to fix this.”
“That… actually makes sense,” Olivia said. She grabbed a piece of cursed chocolate and ate it. A second later, she shouted, “Eureka! I am a know-it-all, and I know who did it! The culprit behind all this madness is the Classroom itself. Its feelings are hurt because it never gets to share in our adventures.”
“That’s true,” Classroom 13 whispered. “But do you know how to fix things?”
“I do,” Olivia said.
But then the giant blob ate her and Mason. And that was the end of Classroom 13 and all of its students.
The End.
CHAPTER 30
Oh, Wait…
&nbs
p; …I forgot there’s always a 30th chapter. Plus, I kind of lied. I mean, what would Halloween be without one more trick? The blob didn’t eat Mason and Olivia. Not yet, anyway…
The BLOB kept growing and growing until its gooey green head touched the ceiling. It was huge, because anything it touched became part of it. It had swallowed everything and everyone in the 13th Classroom—except Mason and Olivia.
All the kids were inside the giant BLOB and were screaming for Mason and Olivia to do something.
“But what do we do?” Olivia shouted back. “I know the who, what, when, why, and where. But I still don’t know how to fix it.”
Mason said, “Geez. Maybe I’m not the dumb one. We hurt Classroom 13’s feelings. What do you do when you’ve hurt someone’s feelings?”
Olivia shrugged.
Mason shook his head and turned to the chalkboard of Classroom 13. He said, “I’m sorry.”
“You are?” the 13th Classroom asked. For the first time, all the students heard the Classroom.
“Of course,” Mason said. “Tell me, why’d you do all this?”
After a long pause, the 13th Classroom explained, “Because I’m jealous. I want to have fun, too.”
All the students (and Ms. Linda Riding Hood) gasped. Olivia couldn’t believe her ears. This… this didn’t make any sense! How could a… a… classroom have feelings?
“I’m tired of being left out,” the 13th Classroom continued. “Money, wishes, fame, superpowers. What classroom wouldn’t want to be part of all that? But every time, you forget about me. You never invite or include me. That’s why I wanted my revenge, so I cursed the candy. I wanted to punish all of you.”