Who Let the Ghosts Out? by R.L. Stine

Colin down the hall. I ran out to watch. Colin made the stairs, turned, and saw the bear lurching after him.
    “Mom! Help me!”
    He started down the stairs. Lost his balance and tumbled all the way down. At the bottom, hejumped to his feet and kept running, screaming the whole way.
    I heard the back door slam. “He's gone,” Tara said. “Did you see the look on his face?”
    Nicky came loping back. “I kinda get the idea your brother is afraid of bears,” he said.
    Laughing together, we returned to my room. The bear costume draped itself over the chair again, and Nicky slid out.
    Nicky and Tara are really cool, I thought. I could never get Colin like that on my own.
    The phone rang, and I picked it up.
    “Hi, Max? This is Traci.”
    Traci Wayne calling
me
? Was I dreaming?
    “Unngh unnngh,” I said. I was in total shock.
    “Max, I know I said I'd help you with your magic act. But is there any way I can get out of it?”
    “Unnngh. Get out of it? Why?” I choked.
    “I really don't want to stand that close to you. You're dangerous.”
    I took a deep breath. Think fast, Max. What can you say to win her over?
    “Traci, you won't have to be close to me. I swear.”
    She groaned. “Okay. What do I have to do?”
    “You just have to stand on the trapdoor on the stage. When I raise a curtain in front of you, the trapdoor will go down and you'll disappear. That's all.”
    “That's all? You promise? And you won't fall on me or drop food on me or embarrass me in front of the whole school?”
    “Traci, it'll be a piece of cake. Really. It'll be fun. The trick is totally simple. It'll only take a minute or two. Nothing will go wrong. I promise.”
    Boy, was I wrong!

22
    H ALLOWEEN NIGHT . C AN YOU imagine how stressed out I was?
    I mean, what if I totally messed up?
    What if Joey flew away before I could slide him down my jacket sleeve? What if I dropped the eggs I was juggling and looked like a total klutz in front of two hundred kids? What if the Disappearing Girl trick didn't work, proving to Traci that I am a jerk for life?
    Halloween night, and my parents ungrounded me. Mrs. Wright was onstage in the auditorium. All the kids in school were there in their costumes—all except Aaron. He was grounded for Halloween—because he electrified his sister's fairy costume as a surprise and gave her second-degree burns.
    It took Mrs. Wright a long time to get the kids quiet. She waved her hands above her head and kept shouting into the microphone. Finally, everyone calmed down.
    “We have a special surprise,” Mrs. Wright said.The loudspeakers squealed. She backed away from the mike. “Give it up for some Halloween magic from the Great Max!”
    My big moment. I took a deep breath and pushed my cart of tricks onto the stage. Some kids clapped, some booed and hissed—just to be funny.
    Someone heaved a rubber bat toward the stage. It hit a kid in the front row in the back of the head. He picked it up and heaved it onto the auditorium balcony. That got a really big cheer.
    I signaled the guy in the audio booth, and my music started up. It was a hip-hop beat with lots of scratching. A good rhythm for juggling.
    “Here's how I'd like to start out my egg-citing egg-stravaganza!” I shouted. I picked up four hard-boiled eggs from the tabletop, stepped to the edge of the stage, waited for the beat, and started juggling.
    The audience grew quiet as I did my two-inthe-air-at-all-times move. But then a boy in the back row shouted, “Max—did you lay those eggs?”
    Kids burst out laughing, and I lost my rhythm. Two eggs landed at my feet with a loud
craaaack.
One egg bounced off my knee and into the front row. I held on to the other egg.
    Kids were booing and laughing.
    Easy, Max, I told myself. Remember the number one magician's rule: Don't panic.
    “I meant to do that!” I shouted. “And now, formy best juggling trick …” I began tossing the egg from hand to hand. “One-egg juggling!”
    Some kids thought that was