CHAPTER 29

Olivia

As the smartest student in Classroom 13, Olivia knew how to solve most problems.

Algebra? 2 + e + z = Too easy!

Geography? Olivia knew all the countries and their capitals.

Impossible spelling bee word? How about “succedaneum”? Olivia could spell s-u-c-c-e-d-a-n-e-u-m without breaking a s-w-e-a-t. Could she use “succedaneum” in a sentence? Yes! “When it comes to spelling, there is no succedaneum for Olivia.” (Succedaneum means “substitute.”)

But undoing a wicked candy curse on Halloween? Olivia hated to admit defeat, but for the first time in her life, she was stumped. No amount of studying, no amount of library books, no amount of online research could help her find the answer to undo the candy chaos of Classroom 13. But this? This was pure insanity—there was no logic here:

Chloe the Cowboy was chasing Benji the Werewolf, who was chasing Earl the Cat, who was chasing Zoey the Mouse. The animals were running everywhere, screaming like… well, animals.

Ghost Dev and Teo the Reaper teamed up to scare the pants off the Dread Pirate Captain Triple J. Both ghouls were sorry when they did, though, as his pirate’s booty was stinky enough to spook the dead.

The two-headed horse, Mya & Madison, was still horsing around with Isabella the Knight. The horse bucked and twirled, not wanting to be ridden. It trashed the desks and knocked over bookshelves. It finally threw Isabella off the saddle. This was not a stable friendship.

Little Linda Riding Hood was holding Little Baby Liam, but he wouldn’t stop crying. He needed a bottle and a burping and a nap and a pacifier. “WAAAAAAAH!!” he cried. (What a big baby.)

William the Viking needed to use the restroom (number two). When he went to the bathroom, he almost let out Fatima the Zombie. He freaked and slammed the door shut just in time. Luckily, he found a roll of toilet paper and was about to go behind Sophia the Tree. Olivia stopped him and said, “Absolutely not! This is a classroom, not a public toilet. And this TP is Jacob!”

Santiago the Vampire was still starving, when he saw a hot dog sitting all alone on a desk. He was about to eat it when Mason slapped him. “Don’t eat Hugo!” he shouted.

The prince and princess demanded front-row thrones to all this chaos. Since this was a classroom and not a castle, there were none available. Yuna the Mime silently guided them to sit on top of a Principal Pumpkin and a L.I.L.Y. Bot robot that no one had plugged in.

And then there was the giant slime of Ethan (with Ximena the Ninja still stuck inside) and the Wha-cha-ma-call-Emma (that we call THAT)… The three of them somehow managed to get all stuck together. The more they tried to get away, the more they bounced back and got more stuck. Everything they touched got stuck. Books, pencils, desks, backpacks… the whole thing was one giant BLOB. And it was growing by the minute. If Mason (the dumbest student in Classroom 13) and Olivia (the smartest) didn’t stop it… it would wreck the whole school!

“Mason, what do we do?!” Olivia shouted. “I can’t figure out a way to solve this problem!”

“That’s ’cuz you’re thinking too hard,” Mason said. “It’s simple, really. You’re the smartest girl in class, which makes you a know-it-all, and since you dressed up like yourself for Halloween, that means you’re dressed up like a know-it-all, which means if you eat the cursed candy, you’ll become your costume, and you’ll be a know-it-all for real, which means you’ll know everything, which means you’ll know how to fix this.”

“That… actually makes sense,” Olivia said. She grabbed a piece of cursed chocolate and ate it. A second later, she shouted, “Eureka! I am a know-it-all, and I know who did it! The culprit behind all this madness is the Classroom itself. Its feelings are hurt because it never gets to share in our adventures.”

“That’s true,” Classroom 13 whispered. “But do you know how to fix things?”

“I do,” Olivia said.

But then the giant blob ate her and Mason. And that was the end of Classroom 13 and all of its students.