Jeffrey waited all afternoon for Max to come back. He was dying to know what had happened at school. But three-thirty came and went, and still no Max. Pretty soon, Jeffrey began to wonder if something bad had happened. Maybe it was something Max didn’t want Jeffrey to know about.
But when Jeffrey went back to school the next day, he forgot all about Max. Because the minute he walked into the classroom, things started to happen.
“Hi, Santa!” said Kenny Thompsen.
“Who?” Jeffrey asked. He didn’t know what Kenny was talking about.
Then, as Jeffrey sat down at his desk, Ben called out, “Hey, Santa. How’s the big guy, Rudolph, doing?”
“What’s the joke?” Jeffrey asked Ben. But before Ben could answer, Ricky Reyes came by and slapped Jeffrey on the back. “Totally awesome Santa suit yesterday,” he said with a laugh.
Jeffrey smiled, but his mind was clicking in high gear. Someone had come to class yesterday wearing a Santa suit, and everyone thought it was him. But who was it? Maybe it was—Oh, brother! Of course! It had to be Max!
“It wasn’t me,” Jeffrey said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ben said. “That’s what you said yesterday, too. ‘I’m not Jeffrey,’ you said. ‘I’m really Santa.’ ”
“But it wasn’t me,” Jeffrey insisted.
“Arvin Pubbler thought it was you,” Melissa said.
Jeffrey looked over at pudgy and unpopular Arvin Pubbler.
Arvin gave Jeffrey a big wave. “Thanks, Santa. Thanks a lot,” he called from his desk in the corner.
“Thanks for what?” Jeffrey asked.
But Arvin couldn’t answer because just then Mrs. Merrin, their teacher, said, “Jeffrey, come with me.”
“Uh-oh,” Melissa whispered from the desk behind Jeffrey.
Jeffrey got up and slowly followed his teacher to the door.
“Nice to see you again,” Mrs. Merrin said. “Help me do an errand. I need to wheel the VCR and monitor down from the office. We’re going to see a movie later.”
When they were out in the hall and halfway to the office, Jeffrey said, “Mrs. Merrin, can we play a little game?”
“Another game, Jeffrey? Yesterday’s Santa Claus game was enough. But what did you have in mind?” His pretty teacher gave him a warm smile.
“Let’s pretend I don’t remember what happened yesterday. You tell me what I did,” Jeffrey said.
Mrs. Merrin stopped walking and leaned her back against the brightly painted hallway lockers. “Well, yesterday at about noon you walked into class dressed as Santa Claus. Red suit, pillow belly—the whole thing. You had so much cotton on your face, I could hardly recognize you.”
“How did you know it was me?” Jeffrey asked.
“Who else would be sitting at your desk?”
I’ll bet I can guess, Jeffrey thought to himself. “What else did I do?” he asked. “I honestly don’t remember.”
Mrs. Merrin’s eyes twinkled. “Well, you asked everyone in the class what they wanted for Christmas. You wrote it all down, but you didn’t ask me.”
Jeffrey was curious. “What do you want?”
“What I really want is a top-of-the-line mixer,” Mrs. Merrin answered. “It has a big bowl and all kinds of attachments.” She laughed and bit her lower lip at the same time. “And my husband doesn’t seem to be getting the hints I leave. Anyway, no more Santa Claus act, okay? Once is enough.”
Jeffrey wanted to say okay. But the truth was, it was out of his hands. Who knew what Max would do next? Max was out of control.
At lunch in the cafeteria, Jeffrey looked for Ben. He wanted the whole story of Max’s Santa stunt. Suddenly, he saw someone else. It was Arvin Pubbler. And he was carrying Jeffrey’s remote-control racing car!
“What are you doing with my car?” Jeffrey yelled. He tried to grab the car out of Arvin’s hands.
But Arvin held on tight. He looked at Melissa, who was sitting nearby. “Can you believe this guy? Pretending like he didn’t give me his car.”
“I didn’t give it to you,” Jeffrey said. “I had to earn the money for that car myself. Why would I give it away?”
“Because you were really Santa Claus yesterday,” Arvin said. “You asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said a remote-control racing car. So you just reached into your desk and gave me yours.” Arvin looked at Jeffrey’s car and smiled. “No one has ever done anything like that for me, ever. Especially you, Jeffrey. I’ll never forget it. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Yes you can,” Jeffrey grumbled, but he knew he couldn’t take back the car. Arvin looked too happy.
“Hey, cheer up, Jeffrey,” Melissa said. “You taught everyone a lesson about the Christmas spirit yesterday. And even though we can’t ever believe a word you say, because you make up so many stories, I want you to know you’re a wonderful human being.”
“Oh, go sit on your hairbrush, Melissa,” Jeffrey snapped. He stormed away angrily.
Jeffrey didn’t want to teach anyone a lesson about the Christmas spirit. But he did want to teach Max a lesson. Max—the ghost who thought it was a big laugh to give away his twenty-dollar remote-control racing car!
Max finally showed up on the way home from school. “Ho ho ho, Daddy-o,” Max said.
“Ha ha ha, you mean,” Jeffrey said angrily. “I guess you think you’re a real funny ghost.”
“Like, why are you so bent out of shape?” Max asked. “Too many pretzels at lunch today?”
“I’ll tell you why I’m mad,” Jeffrey said. “You lied to me. You said you were going to school yesterday. You didn’t say that you were going as Santa.”
“Like, I thought I’d give the class a thrill,” Max said with a smile.
“You gave them more than a thrill,” Jeffrey yelled. “You gave away my remote-control racing car!”
“So? That’s the Santa scene, dig? Someone asks for a toy and Santa comes through.”
“Santa doesn’t come through by giving away my stuff,” Jeffrey said. “I thought you were my friend.”
“No sweat,” Max said with a snap of his fingers. “Just ask Santa for another car.”
“Oh, sure,” Jeffrey said. “Maybe it’s that easy for Arvin Pubbler. But I had to earn the money for that car. Max, why don’t you just stop messing up my life, dig?”
“What I dig is that you are so square that your hat has corners,” Max said.
“Oh, why don’t you drop—”
Jeffrey stopped himself from saying the last angry word. But he knew by the look on Max’s face that it was too late. He had already hurt Max’s feelings.
“Drop dead? You don’t have to worry about that, Daddy-o,” Max said quietly. “I’m a ghost, remember? That’s already been taken care of.”
And then the ghost disappeared.
And this time Jeffrey knew he was gone for good.