Wanted Read Online Free PDF

gorilla, Marcus is a tall, thin African American dude with movie-star good looks (except for his ears, which are too big and flappy), a soft voice, and a high-pitched giggle that always makes me laugh.
    Devin, Brad, Marcus, and I hang out together all the time, I guess because we’re the only kids we know who don’t take things too seriously and who like to laugh all the time, even if we’re being total jerks.
    Mom went back to Dad and the Wii game in the living room. Marcus plopped down in the middle of the couch. “Why don’t you take off the costume?” I said.
    He grinned. “Because I’m totally naked in here.”
    â€œJoking?”
    He nodded. “Joking. You guys have your costumes for Polly’s party? You should go to my dad’s store. He has some awesome masks and costumes. Like this one.”
    My mouth dropped open. “Your dad opened a costume store?”
    Marcus nodded. “You know. One of those popup stores. Over on Second Street, by the market. Just till after Halloween.”
    â€œYour dad was always into that stuff, right?” Brad asked. He picked up the gorilla mask and rubbed his hand over the snout. “Ouch! It bit me!”
    â€œMy dad says there used to be a famous mask store here in Dayton called William’s Mask Emporium. Maybe the best mask store in the world. His dad used to take him there when he was little. And he’s loved masks ever since.”
    Marcus picked up some popcorn from the floor and tossed it into his mouth. “My dad studies old masks. You know. From primitive people way, way back and from Africa and the Far East and from China. He’s a mask freak. And now he’s, like, totally pumped, selling them in his shop.”
    I picked a ball of fur off the couch arm. “Hey, Marcus, you’re shedding.”
    â€œDoes your dad have anything really scary?” Brad asked. “I mean really scary? Something to shake up Polly’s party?”
    Marcus shook his head. “Do you believe it? Another boring Halloween party, singing party songs while Polly’s mother plays the accordion?”
    All three of us sighed.
    â€œI just got a great idea,” Marcus said. “You and Brad go into the party first, see. You ask Polly if she heard that a big, dangerous gorilla escaped from the zoo. Then I sneak in through an upstairs window, see. And I come charging down the stairs howling and swinging my arms —”
    â€œLame,” I interrupted.
    â€œAwesomely lame,” Brad agreed.
    â€œMy dad has these fake human arms and legs in his shop,” Marcus said. “Totally real looking. What if I come running down the stairs with a human arm between my teeth?”
    â€œEven lamer,” I said. “Kids will just laugh.”
    Brad tossed the gorilla head to Marcus. “Let’s keep thinking. There has to be a way to shake up the party.”
    We all agreed. There had to be a way.
    And guess what? As it turned out, the party was a lot scarier than any of us imagined.

On Halloween night, I went to Polly’s party as a vampire. I knew there would be a lot of other vampires, but I didn’t care.
    I painted my face white, put black circles around my eyes, smeared on black lipstick, and painted a trickle of bright red blood down one side of my mouth onto my chin. I wore a black long-sleeved top and a long, flowing black skirt of my mom’s.
    Polly’s house is two blocks from mine, so I walked. It was a cold October night. Clouds covered the moon. Trees whispered and shivered in a gusting wind that swirled my skirt around me as I made my way along the sidewalk.
    I saw groups of kids trick-or-treating. They were running excitedly up to houses, laughing and collecting candy and showing off their costumes. They were having fun.
    I sighed. I knew my night wouldn’t be as fun as theirs.
    Polly had two fat, glowing jack-o’-lanterns on her front stoop. One had a fiery yellow