CHAPTER 2

Who’s Afraid of Monsters?

I ran out my front door just as the bus pulled up. “Whew, that was lucky,” I thought.

I dragged myself up the steps of the bus, walked slowly up the aisle, and sat down next to my best friend, Robbie.

“Are you okay?” Robbie asked. “You look terrible.”

“Gee, thanks,” I said. “I’m fine. I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

“But I thought you said your mom wasn’t going to let you stay up to watch that shark program on TV.”

“She didn’t.”

“Then why are you so tired?”

“Monsters.”

“Monsters?” said Robbie.

“Yeah, monsters,” I said.

Just then Chloe turned around in her seat and said, “Would you two please stop talking about monsters? You’re scaring me.”

“You’re such a baby,” said Max, the biggest bully in the whole first grade. “Monsters are cool!”

“No, they are not!” said Chloe. “And besides, my nana told me there is no such thing as monsters.”

“My abuela, my grandma, told me the same thing,” said my friend Jessie.

“Well, guess what?” I said. “They are real, and one of them is living in my attic!”

“That’s a good one, Freddy,” said Robbie, laughing.

“I’m not kidding,” I said. “There really is a monster up in my attic.”

“No, there isn’t,” said Robbie.

“Yes, there is,” I said.

“What does he look like?” asked Max. “Does he have three eyes and horns on his head?”

“Stop it! Stop it right now!” Chloe said, covering her ears. “You are scaring me! I’m going to tell on you!”

“Have you ever seen him?” asked Jessie.

“No,” I said.

“Then how do you know he’s there?” asked Robbie.

“He makes all these weird noises,” I said.

“Cool!” said Max. “Like what?”

“Stop it! Stop it!” Chloe yelled again.

“Be quiet, you little princess,” said Max. “Why don’t you just go sit in another seat?”

“I think I will. Then I won’t have to be near you, Mr. Stinky Max Sellars,” Chloe said, and she stuck out her tongue at Max.

Max started laughing and pointing at Chloe. “You look like a frog!” he said. “Actually, a big, ugly, wet toad!”

“Wahhhhh!” Chloe wailed. She picked up her frilly pink princess backpack and moved to a seat near the front of the bus.

“Now that she’s gone,” said Max, “tell me what kind of noises it makes.”

“Well,” I said, “sometimes I hear this scratching sound, like this: SCRRRRAAATCH … SCRRRRAAATCH.”

“Then he must have claws. Really big claws.”

“Maybe,” I said.

“Yeah,” said Max, “and he’s scratching on the attic door because he wants to come out.”

I felt a shiver run down my back, but I didn’t want Max to think I was scared.

“Did you ever notice any scratch marks on your attic door?” asked Jessie.

“No,” I said. “But I think the monster just started living in my attic a few days ago.”

“What other kinds of noises do you hear?” asked Max.

“Kind of like a screaming, squeaking sound,” I said, “like this: EEEEEEEEEK … EEEEEEEEEEK.”

“You probably just have mice running around in the attic,” said Robbie. “They can scratch and squeak.”

“I think I know what a mouse sounds like,” I said. “I’m not dumb.”

“Do you hear any other noises?” asked Jessie.

“Sometimes I hear a weird thumping.”

“Wow! Really?” said Max. “He must be really huge. That thumping must be him walking around on his big feet.”

Now I was starting to get really scared.

“Did you go up to your attic to check it out?” asked Max.

“Uh … no,” I said.

“Why not?”

“Because … because … ummm … because.”

“Because I bet you’re too scared,” said Max. “That’s it. Baby Freddy is too scared.”

“I am not!” I lied.

“Oh, yes, you are!” said Max. “You are a little chicken.” Max started to flap his arms and make clucking sounds. “Cluck, cluck, cluck.”

“No, he’s not,” said Jessie. Jessie was the only one brave enough to stand up to Max.

“Then why can’t he tell us what the monster looks like?” said Max.

“Because Freddy just hasn’t had time to check it out yet. Right, Freddy?” asked Jessie.

“Yeah … right,” I said. I couldn’t tell Max that I hadn’t checked it out because I was too scared. He would call me a baby for the rest of my life!

“Well then, Freddy can check it out this weekend and tell us all about it next week,” said Max.

I gulped. “Yeah. Sure thing,” I said. Max would never know if I actually went up to the attic. I could just pretend that I did. I could just make up a story next week about what the monster looked like.

“And no pretending,” said Max. “I want to see a picture of this thing, so you’d better take your camera with you.”

Oh boy. Now I was really in trouble. There was no way I was ever going to stay in that attic long enough to take a picture of a monster. I would have to tell Max the truth, that I was just a big fraidy-cat. But before I could say anything, Jessie answered for me.

“No problem,” said Jessie. “If there is a monster in his attic, then Freddy will have that picture for you next week. Right, Freddy?”

I gulped again. “Yeah … right.”