“I figure nobody would want to buy a haunted house,” George told Julianna, Chris, and Alex as they sat on the steps outside the school at the end of the day. “So, we’re going to make your house haunted.”

Julianna gave him a funny look. “How?” she asked him. “It’s not like you can go to the store and buy a ghost.”

“We’re going to be the ghosts,” George explained.

“Oh, I get it,” Alex said. “We’re going to turn Julianna’s house into the kind of haunted house you see at a carnival.”

“Exactly,” George said. “Creepy noises, cobwebs, wind blowing even though the windows are closed . . .”

“We can use some of my remote-controlled toys,” Alex added. “I could rig it up so something scary runs across the floor. Like a rat.”

“And a black cat,” George suggested. “It’s bad luck if one of those crosses your path. No one will want to move into a house with bad luck.”

“I could make a spooky painting with glow-in-the-dark paint,” Chris added.

“Perfect,” George said. “And considering how much creepy stuff is already in Julianna’s house—”

“Hey!” Julianna interrupted.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” George explained. “The stuff in your house is creepy-cool. The stuff we do will be creepy-scary.”

“Scary enough to frighten away the people who want to buy my house?” Julianna asked.

“Yes,” George replied. “We’ll make sure of it.”

“Check it out!” George exclaimed as he walked into the classroom the next morning. “Skulls.” He picked up the small skeleton head that was sitting on his desk. It was a little bigger than his fist.

“They’re made of sugar,” Sage said as she examined the skull on her desk. “Sweet like you, Georgie.”

George rolled his eyes. He really wished she would stop calling him that.

“What’s this all about?” Mike asked, poking a skull.

“I have no idea,” Max said. “Let’s ask Louie.”

Louie stared at his two friends. “Skeleton heads. It’s about Halloween. Duh. I swear you two are just as empty-headed as these sugary skulls.”

George laughed. That was actually a pretty funny one, even if it came from Louie.

“I know what these are for,” Alex said. “We’re celebrating the Mexican Day of the Dead.”

“Very good, Alex,” Mrs. Kelly said as she walked into the classroom.

The kids all stared at their teacher. She was dressed in a witch’s hat and cape. In her hand she was carrying a broom.

“We’re also celebrating Walpurgis Night,” Mrs. Kelly explained. “Which is Witch Night in Germany. And Chinese Hungry Ghost Night. See how I placed those pieces of bread and a glass of water in front of a picture of some of my old relatives?”

The kids all stared at their teacher. George gulped. He wondered what was coming next. Usually when Mrs. Kelly started doing something this weird, it involved dancing. Mrs. Kelly loved to dance. George hated it.

“These are festive celebrations from around the world,” Mrs. Kelly explained. “Even though not every country celebrates on October thirty-first like we do, all the holidays are very similar.”

“So do we get to eat these candy skulls?” Max asked her.

“Well, you’re going to decorate them first,” Mrs. Kelly said. “I have icing and all sorts of candies you can use. I’ve laid everything out on the table in the back of the room.”

George turned around. Sure enough there were small plastic bowls of icing and bowls of jelly beans, candy mints, licorice strings, Red Hots, and lemon drops just waiting for them. It looked like a real life version of the Candy Land game. He couldn’t wait to dig his hands into all those sweets!

Mrs. Kelly held up a sugar skull she had already decorated. It was covered in candy and icing and looked delicious!

“Let’s get to it!” George exclaimed excitedly.

“We will,” Mrs. Kelly said. “But first, we’re going to play snap apple.”

“What’s that?” Sage asked.

“It’s a Halloween game from Ireland, the place where Halloween began,” Mrs. Kelly explained as she pulled a bag of apples out from under her desk. “These apples are all attached to strings. I’m going to hang the apples in the doorway. Each of you will get a chance to try to grab an apple in your mouth—without using your hands.”

“That’s kind of like bobbing for apples without water,” Louie said.

“Exactly,” Mrs. Kelly replied.

“At my party, we’re going to do it with water,” Louie said.

“I think you’ll like grabbing the apples in your mouth this way, Louie,” Mrs. Kelly assured him. “It’s fun!”

Louie didn’t look so sure.

At the moment, George wasn’t having too much fun, either. It was hard to have fun when you felt something bubbly bouncing in your belly.

Bing-bong. Ping-pong. The burp was back. And it was going wild trying to make its way out of George’s belly. Already the bubbles were itching his intestines and creeping up his colon.

Zing-zang! Cling-clang! The bubbles were moving fast. George had to stop them. He had to force that super burp back down before it exploded right out of him.

So George did the only thing he could think of. He leaped up out of his seat and started swirling around and around, trying to force those bubbles down to his feet the same way toilet water swirled down the drain when you flushed!

“George, what are you doing?” Mrs. Kelly asked. “Please sit down.”

George wanted to sit down. He really did. But he couldn’t. Because if he stopped swirling, the bubbles would move back up through his body and out of his mouth. And if that burp got loose, there was no telling what it might do!

Whirl. Swirl. Twirl. The bubbles started going down the drain!

“George Brown, sit down!” Mrs. Kelly shouted. “This is no time for crazy dancing.” The teacher stopped and shook her head. “I can’t believe I just said that,” she remarked.

But George kept spinning. The bubbles hit his hips. They threaded around his thighs. They knocked against his knees. Down, down, down they went. It was working! George twirled faster and faster and faster. Clank. Clunk. The bubbles kicked at his calves.

Spin. Spin. Spin. George twirled toward the back of the room. Past Julianna’s desk. Past Sage’s desk.

“Look at Georgie go!” Sage squealed.

Spin. Spin. Spin. He whirled through the reading corner.

Spin. Spin. Spin. He swirled over toward the bowls of icing and candy Mrs. Kelly had set up in the back of the room.

Spin. Spin . . . Pop! Suddenly, George felt something burst in the bottom of his belly. He’d done it! He’d squelched the belch!

Whoa . . .

But George couldn’t celebrate his victory. The room was still spinning, even though George wasn’t moving at all.

“I’m so dizzy,” George groaned.

The room kept spinning. George took a step. His body swayed back and forth.

Slam! George lost his balance, and fell face-first—right into a big bowl of gooey blue icing. Uh-oh.

“George!” Mrs. Kelly exclaimed.

George picked up his blue head, and looked at his teacher. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Georgie, you look like a sugar skull.” Sage giggled. “I could just eat you up.”

George rolled his eyes and groaned.

“We can’t eat any of the blue icing now,” Louie complained. “It’s got George germs in it.”

“It’s okay, Louie,” Mrs. Kelly assured him. “We have lots of other colors.” Then she gave George a stern look.

“Go wash your face. And then you can come back, and sit at your desk, and study this week’s spelling list.”

“But what about making a sugar skull?” George asked. “Don’t I get to . . .”

“I’m sorry, George,” Mrs. Kelly interrupted him. “After what just happened, I don’t think you deserve to be part of the sugar-skull fun. I know you’re excited about Halloween, but this was not the time or place to go crazy.”

George frowned. It wasn’t his fault. But he couldn’t tell his teacher that. He’d just have to suffer the consequences. Again.