Ghouls Gone Wild Read Online Free PDF

could change his face.
    I
had
to tell someone. I was really frightened.
    A bunch of fourth graders were having a soccer match on the field. Boys against girls. Not a very good game. A lot of laughing and bumping into each other and knocking each other down.
    I watched for a few moments, but of course I didn't see Aaron.
    Aaron would
never
play soccer. He never runs. He worries that if he ever ran really fast, his feet might leave the ground and he'd fly up to the sun.
    I told you Aaron is weird.
    When I turned back toward school, a kid I'd never seen before came hurrying up to me.
    “Are you Max?” he asked.
    I nodded. “Yeah.”
    He had straight blond hair that fell over a wide forehead, and shiny blue eyes. He had dimples in both cheeks when he smiled. He wore a navy blue sweatshirt over baggy khaki cargo pants, torn at one knee.
    He tugged back a strand of blond hair. “I'm the new kid in school,” he said. “Quentin Jones.” His eyes were so round and blue, they looked like they were made of glass.
    “How's it going?” I asked.
    He shrugged. “I don't like being the new kid.”
    That made me think about
me
moving to a new school. In a few months,
I'd
be the new kid.
    I looked over his shoulder, hoping to see Aaron. “What grade are you in?” I asked.
    “Sixth. Like you,” Quentin said.
    How did he know so much about me?
    “Cool,” I said.
    “I hear you're into magic,” Quentin said. “So am I.”
    “Who told you I'm into magic?” I asked.
    He brushed back his hair again. “Ms. McDonald,” he said. “She said I should talk to you because we both do magic tricks.”
    Wow. I couldn't believe another kid was into magic. Everyone else in school thought I was weird.
    Quentin reached into his pocket. “Pick a card,” he said. He held a deck of cards out to me.
    I picked one. The three of clubs.
    Quentin took the card and didn't look at it. He slid it back into the deck. Then he shuffled the deck three times.
    He handed the stack to me. “Go ahead, Max. Find your card.”
    I turned the deck face up and quickly sorted through the cards. “Hey, my card isn't in here,” I said.
    Quentin flashed me his dimpled smile. “I know,” he said.
    I searched through the deck again.
    “Check your pants pocket,” Quentin said, pointing.
    I reached into my pants pocket—and pulled out the three of clubs.
    “That's
outstanding!”
I told him. “How did you do that?”
    His smile grew wider. The clear blue eyes flashed. “You like that one?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “Could you teach it to me?”
    He nodded. “Maybe I could come over to your house sometime and we could teach each other some new tricks.”
    “Excellent!” I said. I stared at the three of clubs in my hand. “Yeah. We'll teach each other,” I said. “Excellent!”
    Quentin's eyes flashed again. “I have some tricks you won't believe,” he said.

14
    I BURST INTO THE KITCHEN after school. “Mom, can I invite a new friend over to practice magic tricks?”
    “Not today,” she said. “We have people coming over.”
    I sniffed the air. “Wow. What smells so awesome?”
    “I'm baking a pie,” Mom said, turning from the oven. “A lemon meringue pie.”
    “Mmmm. For dinner?” I said, tossing my backpack onto the kitchen counter. I checked through the pile of mail by the phone. My new
Fear Factor
Fan Club newsletter had arrived.
    “No, it's for the Marvins,” Mom said. She moved to the sink and started to wash out some pans. “Mrs. Flake is bringing them back to look at the house again. I thought I'd bake a little dessert.”
    “They're coming back?” I asked.
    “Yes. They'll be here any minute. So pick up that backpack. Take it upstairs. Make sure yourroom is clean, Max. I don't want any funny business this time.”
    “For sure,” I muttered.
    I dragged my backpack up the stairs to my room and tossed it into the closet. “Nicky? Tara? Are you up here?” I called.
    No answer.
    Where were they?
    It was silent upstairs. No music