Who Let the Ghosts Out? Read Online Free PDF

startled cry. “Awesome! You
do
see them? No lie?”
    “No lie,” he said. “And I see Peter Pan, too! And check it out—there's Bugs Bunny. Hi, Bugs! Where's Daffy?”
    “Ha, ha,” Tara said. “Colin is a joker, isn't he, Nicky? Remind me to laugh later.”
    “He's about as funny as being dead,” Nicky said.
    “Colin—did you hear that?” I asked. “Did you hear Nicky and Tara?”
    Colin squinted at me. “You're making up names for your invisible ghosts? Have you gone totally mental?”
    “Colin can't see us, but Max can,” Nicky said. “Weird.”
    “My arm!” Colin suddenly cried, jerking his arm back. “Help! The ghosts have control of my arm!” He punched me hard in the stomach.
    “Ohhh.” Pain shot through my body. Gasping for breath, I stumbled to the floor.
    Colin laughed. “I didn't do it! The ghosts made me do it!”
    Mom and Dad came rushing in. “What's going on? Colin—what are you doing in here?” Dad demanded.
    “Helping Max with his homework,” Colin said.
    Then Mom and Dad saw the yellow goo running down my hair—and broken eggshells and yolk splattered all over the rug. Mom raised her hands to the sides of her face. “Who made this horrible mess?”
    “I didn't do it!” I cried, my voice cracking. “My room is haunted. Two ghosts are here! Don't you see them? They're both by the door!” I pointed frantically.
    Mom and Dad turned to the door. Nicky and Tara stuck their tongues out at them. Mom and Dad turned back to me.
    “Maxie, you're too old to have invisible friends,” Mom said. “You've got to stop making up these ghost stories.”
    “You don't see them?”
    “He's gone totally wacko,” Colin said. “I tried to talk him out of this stupid ghost story, but he wouldn't listen.”
    Mom still had her hands pressed to her face. “Eggs all over the carpet. We have to clean this up. What's wrong with you, Max?”
    “He's definitely got too much time on his hands,” Dad said, shaking his head. “This is why he should be sent away to school. To make him forget these dopey ghost stories.”
    “Let's talk about that later,” Mom said.
    “But just look at him,” Dad said. He pointed at me—the Point of Death. He always points when he's really angry. “Invisible friends? Cracking an egg on his head? Is that healthy?”
    “Dad, I didn't—”
    “Give me a break.” He turned and stomped out of the room.
    “But my room is haunted!”
I screamed after him.
    Mom
tsk-tsk
ed. “Max, go get a bucket of soapy water and a sponge, and clean this mess up. Then get into the shower and wash the egg off your hair. And no more crazy talk about ghosts.” She followed Dad downstairs.
    Colin shook his head. “Can I give you some good advice?” he said.
    I took a step back. “Advice?”
    “Yeah. Here's some good advice.” He punched me really hard in the stomach again.
    “Owww!”
    I howled and bent over, grabbing my knees and waiting for the pain to fade.
    “The ghosts made me do that,” Colin said. He turned and strode away.
    As he reached the door, Tara stuck her foot out and tripped him.
    “Huh?” Colin stumbled and fell. He landed with an
oof
on his stomach. Slowly, he raised himself to his knees and shook a fist at me.
    “You're meat,” he said. “You're hamburger now.”
    He pulled himself up with the hall railing and disappeared to his room.
    Laughing, Nicky and Tara slapped each other a high five.
    “Hel-
lo
. Did you hear what he said?” I gasped. “I'm hamburger. Hamburger!” I rubbed my sore stomach.
    “How come you can see us, and the rest of your family can't?” Tara asked.
    I shrugged. “Just lucky, I guess.”
    “That's a cool-looking pendant around your neck. Where did you get it?” Tara asked.
    “My mom found it when we moved here,” I told her. I grabbed it and tucked it back under my T-shirt. “Mom said it would bring me luck.” I pulled a gob of egg from my hair. “But I don't think it's working yet.”
    “It looks sort of like a