CHAPTER 22
The Grim Reaper
Everyone was freaking out. The class hamster ate Zoey! I mean, Earl was a cat, and she was a mouse—what was he supposed to do?
“Guys! Guys! Don’t worry. I can fix this,” Teo told the class. Of course, Teo wasn’t Teo today. Today he was wearing a black cloak and carrying a pole with a long curved blade at the end. (It’s called a scythe.) Teo was the grim reaper.
For Halloween, Teo wanted to be something creepy. His mom said no. But his dad said yes. That’s how he got his grim reaper costume. Of course, neither of them let him have any candy at the house. So when he got to school, he started chomping on the cursed candy. He ate more cursed candy than anyone else in Classroom 13. So not only did Teo become the grim reaper, he had his powers, too.
But Teo didn’t want people to… you know… croak. Especially not his classmates. So he used his powers for good. He would stop people from croaking.
Teo turned his scythe upside down. Using it like a golf club, he swatted Earl the Hamster Cat right on the butt—and POP!—a hairball flew right out of his mouth. Only it wasn’t a hairball; it was Zoey the Mouse.
But the mouse wasn’t moving.
“Is she…?” Santiago the Vampire asked. “And if she is, could I maybe have her for lunch?”
Everyone shouted, “NO!”
“What are we going to do?” Olivia asked.
“Just hold your horses,” Teo said.
Mya & Madison, the two-headed horse, whinnied and snorted. Teo apologized, “My bad! No offense.”
“Rahhhrrrrrrr-pllllbbrrrrrr,” the two-headed horse neighed. (That was horse-speak for “None taken.”)
Teo the Grim Reaper got down on his skeleton hands and blew gently on Zoey the Mouse. The mouse coughed once, then twice. She woke up. Then she ran up Olivia’s leg and into her hands, where it felt safe.
Everyone clapped. “Teo saved the day!”
“Well, not the whole day,” he said, “just a mouse. Now, let’s get back to partying!” The others cheered. Some screamed. Benji howled.
“Let’s carve this pumpkin!” Teo said, pointing at the pumpkin-formerly-known-as-the- principal.
“No!” Olivia shouted. “And no partying! We’re in the middle of a major crisis. But we could use your help.”
“No way, dude,” Teo said. “I’ve got better things to do!”
“Like what?” Olivia asked.
“Like this.” Teo pulled back his hood. Beneath was a skull—but not just any skull. It was the most terrifying skull you can imagine. (After all, he was the grim reaper.) When she saw his face, Little Linda Riding Hood fainted of fright.
“I always wanted a scary costume,” Teo said. “And now I have it. The scariest one of all… I’m just dying to show my big sister.… Get it? Dying. Ha!”