CHAPTER 15

The Werewolf

Olivia and Mason didn’t know what to do as their classmates continued to turn into their costumes. “What can be causing this?” Olivia asked.

Mason shrugged. “Witches?”

“Hey, don’t look at me!” said Ava (who was dressed up as a witch).

“Spelling tests?” Mason asked.

Olivia rolled her eyes. “How does that make any sense?”

“Well, witches use spells, and spelling tests use spelling, so I figured…”

Olivia shook her head. “You really aren’t the brightest kid, are you?”

Mason shook his head. “Nope. Very much the opposite.”

In the midst of their conversation, Olivia and Mason didn’t notice that another of their classmates was undergoing a tragic transformation. Benji was transforming from a boy dressed as a werewolf into an actual, real-life werewolf.

His clothes ripped and tore to make room for his new wolf muscles. Then he howled at the full moon outside (even though it was daytime). Then he stopped and scratched for fleas.

He sniffed the air. He was hungry. He needed to eat something someone.

He looked around the classroom. There was a pirate and a baby and a two-headed horse. But Benji wasn’t sure what werewolves ate. The pirate looked a little too salty, the baby smelled too stinky, and the horse looked a little too… well, weird. No, none of those would do.

That’s when Benji saw Little Linda Riding Hood. She looked delicious.

Benji crept over on his paws, closer and closer. Right as he was about to pounce, Riding Hood saw him. “Well, hello there. By any chance do you know the way to Grandmama’s house?”

“Who, me?” the werewolf asked. “Uh, yeah, sure. I think it’s, uh, well, if you take a right at the hamster cage, and a left at the water fountain, then another left at the chalkboard, and then another right at the pencil sharpener, you should be there.”

“Thanks!” Little Linda Riding Hood said. Then she skipped away.

Benji took a shortcut to the other side of Classroom 13 first. He needed to hurry and dress up as a grandmother so he could eat Riding Hood. Then he realized that didn’t make a lick of sense. There was no way someone would mistake a wolf for a person. Not unless they were blind.

By the time Little Linda Riding Hood got there, Benji didn’t even bother with dressing up like her grandmother. Instead, he grabbed her and growled, “My, my, my, Riding Hood. What big teeth I have!”

“Hey, that’s my line!” Little Linda Riding Hood said.

Then she started to run.

Benji the Werewolf chased her all around Classroom 13. Little Linda Riding Hood screamed, and Benji howled. Chloe the Cowboy would have helped, but she was trying to ride the two-headed horse. Mark and Preeya were still arguing over servants, and the Dread Pirate Triple J was hiding from Dev the Ghost. There was a lot going on.

Anyway… Benji pounced and tackled his teacher. He bit her leg and started chewing.

“Why are you doing this?!” she cried.

“Don’t you know? You’re wearing red. It drives animals crazy,” Benji explained.

“How have I never thought of that before?” Little Linda Riding Hood asked herself out loud. “It seems so obvious. A camouflage hood would have been a much smarter choice. Also, would you stop chewing on my leg? That hurts.”

The werewolf said, “No, I’m hungry.”

So Little Linda Riding Hood began screaming.

But what Benji forgot is that werewolves are very different from big bad wolves. When they bite someone, they pass on their werewolf abilities.

So a few minutes later, Little Linda Riding Hood began to change, too. She turned into a much bigger werewolf. Then she started chasing Benji around Classroom 13.

“I can’t wait to gobble you up and wolf you down!” the teacher said.

“Could we stop? I’m getting a stitch in my side!” Benji cried.

“No,” Little-Linda-Riding-Hood-turned-werewolf growled.

So they kept running in circles, just like dogs do.