48 - Attack of the Jack-O'-Lanterns by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead)

 
 
1
     
     
    “Where are you going, Elf?” Dad called from the den.
    “Don’t call me Elf!” I shouted back. “My name is Drew.”
    Dad thinks it’s real cute to call me Elf, but I hate it. He calls me Elf
because I’m tiny for a twelve-year-old. And I have short, straight black hair
and sort of a pointy chin and a pointy little nose.
    If you looked like an elf, would you want people calling you Elf?
    Of course not.
    One day my best friend, Walker Parkes, heard my dad call me Elf. So Walker
tried it. “What’s up, Elf?” Walker said.
    I stomped on Walker’s foot as hard as I could, and he never called me that
again.
    “Where are you going, Drew ?” Dad called from the den.
    “Out,” I told him, and slammed the front door behind me. I like to keep my parents guessing. I try never to give them a
straight answer.
    You might say I’m as mischievous as an elf. But if you said it, I’d stomp on your foot, too!
    I’m tough. Ask anyone. They’ll tell you that Drew Brockman is tough. When
you’re the shrimpiest girl in your class, you’ve got to be tough.
    Actually, I wasn’t going anywhere. I was waiting for my friends to come to my
house. I walked down to the street to watch for them.
    I took a deep breath. The people in the corner house had a fire going in
their fireplace. The white smoke floated out from their chimney. It smelled so
sweet and piney.
    I love autumn. It means Halloween is on the way.
    Halloween is my favorite holiday. I guess I like it so much because it gives
me a chance to look like someone else. Or something else.
    It’s the one night of the year that I don’t have to look like pointy-chinned
me.
    But I have a problem with Halloween. Two kids in my class are the problem.
Tabitha Weiss and Lee Winston.
    For the past two years, Tabby and Lee have totally ruined Halloween
for Walker and me.
    I’m so angry about it. Walker is angry, too. Our favorite holiday ruined because of two stuck-up kids who think they can do whatever they want.
    Grrrrrrrr.
    Just thinking about it makes me want to punch someone!
    My other friends, Shane and Shana Martin, are upset about it, too. Shane and
Shana are brother and sister, twins my age. They live in the house next door,
and we hang out a lot.
    Shane and Shana don’t look like anyone else I know. They both have very round
faces with curly ringlets of blond hair. They have red cheeks and cheery smiles,
and they’re both short and kind of chunky.
    My dad says they’re roly-poly. Dad always thinks of something icky to say
about everyone!
    Anyway, the twins are as angry as Walker and me about Tabby and Lee. And this Halloween, we’re going to do something about it.
    Only we don’t know what we’re going to do.
    That’s why they’re coming over to my house to discuss it.
    How did the Tabby and Lee problem start? Well, I have to go back two years to
explain it to you.
    I remember it so clearly.
    Walker and I were ten. We were just hanging out in front of my house. Walker
had his bike on its side and was doing something to the spokes on one wheel.
    It was a beautiful autumn day. Down the block, someone was burning a big pile
of leaves. It’s against the law here in Riverdale. My dad always threatens to call the police
when someone burns leaves. But I love the smell.
    Walker was fiddling with his bike, and I was watching him. I forget what we
were talking about. I glanced up—and there stood Tabby and Lee.
    Tabby looked as perfect as always. “Little Miss Perfect.” That’s what Dad
calls her—and for once, he’s right.
    The wind was blowing pretty hard. But her long, straight blond hair stayed in
place. It didn’t fly out all over her head like mine did.
    Tabby has perfect creamy-white skin and perfect green eyes that sparkle a
lot. She’s very pretty, and she knows it.
    Sometimes it takes all my strength not to shake both hands in her hair and
mess it all up!
    Lee is tall and good-looking, with dark brown eyes and a great, warm