CHAPTER 4

Big Mouth

Every day at lunch Chloe had been telling us about her big plans for the Halloween party. After all, bragging is what she does best!

“My mom and dad are spending a fortune to turn our house into a real haunted house! Well, they aren’t actually doing it. They hired these special party planners to set it all up. You are all going to love it. I just can’t wait until tomorrow night!” she said, squealing and clapping her hands.

She finally shut her mouth for a second only because she ran out of breath. I guess she never gets tired of listening to herself talk. As soon as she gulped some air, she was off and running again.

“I hope you all have your costumes ready. You’d better check them and make sure you put them on real tight because we’re going to scare the pants off you!” She started laughing hysterically. “Get it? Scare the pants off you? Get it?”

“Oh, we got it,” said Max. “It’s just only funny when I say it.”

“Well, nothing you say is going to spoil my party,” Chloe said, wagging her finger in Max’s face.

“Hey, get your finger out of my face before I bite it.”

Max wasn’t kidding. He’d already done that once to Chloe. She quickly pulled her finger back. She must have remembered how it felt.

“I can’t wait,” Jessie chimed in. “I love haunted houses. The scarier the better.”

“Good, because this one is going to be super scary,” Chloe said.

“Are you going to have dry ice at the party?” asked Robbie.

“Dry ice, ha, ha, ha. That’s a good one,” Max chuckled. “I thought you were supposed to be some kind of genius, Robbie. Everybody knows that ice isn’t dry. It’s wet!”

“For your information,” Robbie continued, “there is such a thing as dry ice. It’s actually what people use to make that sort of creepy fog you see in haunted houses.”

Max didn’t answer. “Good for you,” I whispered to Robbie. “That shut him up.”

“Is your haunted house going to be full of monsters?” Jessie asked excitedly. “And how about skeletons in coffins? I love when they pop out of their coffins when you’re not expecting it!”

Boy, I wish I could be as brave as Jessie. Nothing and no one seems to scare her. I don’t think she is afraid of anything. I wish I could be like that, but the more she talked about the haunted house, the sicker I felt. I wanted to cover my ears so I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but then everybody would know for sure that I was a fraidy-cat.

“Oh, there’s going to be all that stuff,” Chloe said. “Skeletons, vampires, mummies, zombies, and even some monsters that jump out at you in the dark or grab your ankles when you’re walking through.”

“Awesome,” Jessie said.

“Are you going to have any games?” I asked. I really needed to talk about something else besides monsters.

“Games? At a halloween party?” Max snickered. “Games are for babies.”

“Of course we’re going to have games,” Chloe said. “We’re going to bob for apples, and—”

“Oh, I love that game!” Max interrupted.

“I thought you just said that games are for babies,” Jessie mimicked.

“Well, I’m really good at that game,” Max continued, puffing out his chest. “I always get the most apples.”

“That’s because he has the biggest mouth,” I whispered to Robbie.

Max whipped his head around and grabbed my shirt. “What did you say, Shark Boy?”

“Uh, nothing,” I whispered, trying not to laugh in his face.

Max tightened his grip on my shirt. “I know you said something, and I want to know what!”

I gulped. Now I was in trouble. Me and my big fat mouth. “I uh, I uh …” I stammered.

“I’ll tell you what he said,” Jessie butted in. “He said you have a big mouth. A really big mouth. That’s why you always get the most apples. Now let go of Freddy’s shirt, you big, mean bully.”

Everyone started cracking up. Everyone except Max.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Phew! Saved by the bell. But before Max let go of my shirt, he whispered in my ear, “You’ll be sorry you said that. Just wait until tomorrow night, wimp.”

“You are all going to have so much fun at my party!” Chloe sang, as she went to line up.

“I can’t wait,” Jessie called after her.

“Yeah, I can’t wait,” I muttered to myself.