Megan Stine_Jeffery & the Third-Grade Ghost 01 (6 page)

Max smiled. “Sure it is. You just aren’t hip to all the surprises I’ve got planned.” He disappeared when Kenny walked into the room.

“Hi, Jeffrey,” Kenny said. “What’d you get Melissa?”

“Batter’s helmet with a built-in L.E.D. scoreboard,”
Jeffrey said. “What about you?”

“Two books by Robert Louis Stevenson,” Kenny said.

“But, Kenny,
you’re
the one who loves to read. Not Melissa,” Jeffrey said.

“Yeah. Lucky for me, Melissa’s great about lending her books,” Kenny said. “Let’s go.”

They walked next door to Melissa’s house. Melissa had her hair braided and tied with bright satin ribbons for the party. She greeted everyone at the door and told them to go into the backyard.

Outside, music was blaring. The boys were eating all the snacks and the girls were dancing. Everyone was having a great time.

But Jeffrey just couldn’t relax and enjoy it. He was too busy looking for the uninvited guest—or rather, the uninvited ghost!

“Hey, Kenny,” Melissa said. “Becky Singer is looking for you.”

“Why?” Kenny asked. Kenny seemed to be the only person in the world who didn’t get it that Becky Singer liked him.

“Maybe she wants to borrow a book,” Jeffrey teased. He went over to the snack table where Benjamin Hyde was trying one of everything.

“You know what I don’t like about parties, Jeffrey?”
Ben said. “They make too much garbage.”

“Ben, you’re getting nuts about garbage,” Jeffrey said.

“Look at this,” Ben said. “Paper plates and paper napkins. Soda cans. Plastic spoons. Paper hats. And after the party, someone’s going to have to make it all disappear!”

Speaking of disappearing, Jeffrey wondered where Max was. He had threatened to show up at the party, but so far he was a no-show. Of course, Max could be there and still be a no-show, Jeffrey realized.

Suddenly, there were two screams at the table with the punch bowl. Mandy Lutrell and her twin sister Mindy were standing there with identical purple stains on their identical pink dresses. “There are holes in the bottoms of the paper cups!” Mandy yelled.

“Fruit punch dripped all over our dresses,” Mindy said.

Melissa came rushing over. “I’m really sorry, you guys. Come on in the house and we’ll wash it.”

“Hey, Melissa, there are holes in
all
of these cups,” Kenny said.

“Oh, no.” Ben moaned. “They’ll all have to be thrown out.”

A little spilled fruit punch wasn’t the worst tragedy
in the world. But everyone knew how much Mindy and Mandy Lutrell cared about looking nice. So everyone was very sympathetic—except for Gary.

“Crybabies,” Gary said, laughing.

Melissa had had enough. “Gary, get out of here,” she said. “Mom told you to stay away from my party.”

“Oh, go get your girlfriends a bib,” Gary said, turning his back on Melissa and walking into the house. But a few minutes later he was back outside, stuffing potato chips into his mouth.

“Hey! Let’s hit the piñata!” Jeffrey said. He was trying to get everyone’s attention back on the party.

Kenny went first. He put on the blindfold and swung at the piñata. But it didn’t break. Then it was Ben’s turn.

Ben swung and hit the piñata straight-on. Suddenly, water sprayed out all over the place, soaking Kenny and Ben. Gary laughed so hard he had to hold his stomach.

“Someone filled the piñata with water balloons,” Kenny said, looking very wet.

Melissa’s party was falling apart.

Just then, the music that was blaring out of the speakers changed. Instead of Melissa’s Michael Jackson and U-2 records, it was 1950s rock ‘n’ roll.

Melissa rushed over to her brother. “I hate you and I’ll never forgive you,” she said. Gary just laughed.

Jeffrey didn’t think it was possible, but he actually felt sorry for Gary. Melissa was blaming him, and Jeffrey knew the trouble wasn’t Gary’s fault. The 1950s music said it all. It was Max. It had to be Max. Max, who
used
to be Jeffrey’s friend.

Jeffrey wanted to strangle Max, but he’d have to find him first.

“Listen, everybody,” Melissa announced from the back steps. “Let’s just go downstairs for cake and ice cream. And I’ll open my presents.”

Everyone except Jeffrey walked into the house. He stayed behind and called out, “Max, wherever you are, you’re in deep trouble.”

Max appeared, drinking a soda. He looked so real that it was hard for Jeffrey to believe no one else could see him.

“Soda in cans—what a groove,” Max said. “Next thing, we may even put a man on the moon.”

“How about a ghost on the moon?” Jeffrey said angrily.

But before Jeffrey could say anything else, he heard Melissa shout from inside the house.

“Oh, no!” she cried.

Jeffrey went running to see what Max had done now.

“The cake! All my presents! They’re gone!” Melissa shouted. “I knew he’d do it! I knew Gary would ruin my party!”

Jeffrey pushed his way into the room. The long Ping-Pong table, which had been covered with birthday presents and cake, was clean and empty. Everything, including the decorations, was gone.

Melissa looked at Gary, who stood off in the corner with a smile. Then she looked at Jeffrey.

“I thought you said you could handle him!” she yelled as she ran out of the room in tears.

How could Max do it? Jeffrey wondered. How could he take Melissa’s cake and presents away? This was going too far—even for a ghost!

None of Melissa’s friends knew what to say. They had never seen Melissa cry before. A minute later, they heard her slam her door at the top of the stairs. The echo seemed to make the whole house shake.

Finally, Becky Singer, Melissa’s best friend, said, “I’m going to go tell Melissa’s mom.”

“Maybe her parents will put Gary up for adoption,” Ben said.

Everyone thought Gary had stolen the presents and the cake. Jeffrey felt worse than ever, knowing it was really his friend Max.

Finally, Melissa’s mother called down the stairs. She asked everyone to go wait in the backyard for a while.

But as Jeffrey started to go outside, he felt
someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned around. No one was there. No one he could see.

“Okay, I know you’re here, Max,” Jeffrey said. “Where are you?”

“Hey, Daddy-o,” Max said as he materialized. Max was sitting on the Ping-Pong table wearing one of the birthday-party hats. “Listen …”

But Jeffrey wanted to do the talking, not the listening.

“Where are Melissa’s presents?” he asked.

“Search me, Daddy-o.”

“Come on, Max. How could you do this?”

“Like, I was just trying to be the life of this party,” Max said.

“Funny thing for a ghost to say,” Jeffrey said.

“Hey, I used to go to every birthday party in my school. And, like, I was so much fun to be with, sometimes cats I didn’t even know at other schools invited me to their parties. I was the king!” Max said. He looked away from Jeffrey sadly. “I don’t make the scene at parties anymore. I haven’t even blown out a birthday candle of my own in thirty years.”

“I’m sorry about that, Max. I really am,” Jeffrey said. “But you shouldn’t have taken Melissa’s presents.”

“I’m hip. That’s why I didn’t do the deed,” Max said.

“What? You mean you didn’t take them?” Jeffrey asked.

“No, Daddy-o. It’s not cool to make girls cry—at least not when it’s their party. But I know who did it.”

“Let me guess. Does his name begin with a G and end with slimeball?” Jeffrey said, thinking immediately of Melissa’s brother, Gary.

“That’s the cat. Grade-A, one-hundred-percent fink,” Max said. “And I could dig spoiling his afternoon.”

Jeffrey started lacing his sneakers tighter. He always did that when he was getting an idea. “Hey, would you really like to help me?” Jeffrey asked. “I’ve got to get Melissa’s presents back.”

“The most, Daddy-o.”

Jeffrey assumed that meant yes. “Okay, Max, you can. Come on. I’ve got a great idea,” he said, hurrying upstairs.

Jeffrey found Gary watching TV in the living room. He snapped off the TV to get Gary’s attention. But then he started to think for a minute—did he really want to go through with his plan? Gary was two years older than he was. And Gary was big for his age. And pounding Melissa’s friends was Gary’s
second-most favorite thing to do. (Pounding Melissa was the first.)

Gary glared at Jeffrey. “What is it, turkey?”

“Gary, I’ve got to show you something,” Jeffrey said. “You’re not going to believe it.”

Gary looked at Jeffrey as though he didn’t believe it already. “What?” he said.

“It’s in the laundry room,” Jeffrey said. “Come on.”

The three of them crowded into the small laundry room. There wasn’t much room next to the washer and dryer and ironing board.

“Well?” Gary asked after he closed the door behind him.

Jeffrey took a deep breath and asked, “What did you do with Melissa’s presents?”

Gary gave Jeffrey a shove and went for the door. But it wouldn’t open.

“Hey, the door’s locked,” Gary said.

Jeffrey almost said, “I know—Max locked it.” But he didn’t. “I know. I locked it,” Jeffrey said.

“Huh?” Gary asked. Which was his way of asking a question.

“Yes, I locked it—with my mind,” Jeffrey said. “Have I ever told you about my mental powers?”

“What mental powers?” Gary scoffed. “I’d need a magnifying glass to see your brain.”

“Gary, for your own good, don’t force me to use my mental powers on you,” Jeffrey said. “I can hurt you without lifting a finger.”

“Just looking at you hurts, slimeball.”

“Gary, if you don’t tell me where Melissa’s presents are right now, I’m going to
think
about hurting you.”

Gary laughed.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Jeffrey asked.

“No way,” Gary said.

Jeffrey closed his eyes. In a faraway voice he said, “I’m thinking about stomping on your right foot.” Then he winked at Max, who was standing right next to Gary—although Gary couldn’t see him.

Max got the signal loud and clear. And with a big grin on his face, he jumped on Gary’s right foot.

“Yeeeow!” Gary yelled. His eyes went wide with surprise. “How did you do that?”

“With my mind,” Jeffrey said. “Now, I’ll give you one more chance. Where are Melissa’s presents?”

“If you’re such a brain, why don’t you read
my
mind!” Gary snapped.

Jeffrey closed his eyes again. “Okay. You asked for it. I’m thinking about making you sit down, Gary,” he said.

Max wasn’t sure what Jeffrey had in mind. So
he just jumped on both of Gary’s feet at the same time and pushed hard against Gary’s chest. Gary sat down real fast.

“Okay, okay!” Gary cried. “The stupid presents are in the basement. I hid them in an old trunk.” He looked at Jeffrey suspiciously. “How did you do that?”

“I have friends in places where you don’t even know there are places,” Jeffrey said, winking at Max.

“Huh?” Gary asked.

It didn’t take very long for the party to get rolling again after that. With Jeffrey’s help, the presents were found and the cake was discovered. And Melissa was perfectly happy again.

“Make a wish and blow out the candles,” Mrs. McKane said. She lit the candles on Melissa’s cake.

It was a tough choice for Melissa and the candles were burning quickly. Should she wish to be the first girl on a major league baseball team? Should she wish that she would always have friends like Becky, Jeffrey, Ben, and Kenny? Or should she just wish her brother would fall into a hole somewhere?

Friends it was! She took a deep breath and started blowing the candles out one by one. One—two—three—four … Suddenly, Melissa could tell she was going to run out of air before all the candles were out. And then she wouldn’t get her wish.

Everyone was cheering her on. But only Jeffrey saw what happened next. A transparent boy in a 1950s plaid shirt leaned in close to Melissa’s face. And then Max blew, giving the candles a blast that almost sent them flying off the cake.

“Hey, can you dig that?” Max said, looking at Jeffrey. “Still the king after all these years.”

Later that night, just before Jeffrey’s bedtime, Jeffrey and Max were talking. Jeffrey was lying on his bed and Max was leaning back in Jeffrey’s desk chair.

“Thanks for helping me out today, and Melissa, too,” Jeffrey said. “The party would have been a disaster without you.”

They were both chewing bubble gum from the party bag Jeffrey had brought home.

“Like, your friends are my friends,” Max said.

“Then why can’t they see you?” Jeffrey said.

“I’m working on that, Daddy-o. I’m working on that,” Max said. “Well, toss you now and catch you later.”

Jeffrey knew that meant Max was getting ready to leave.

“Where are you going?” Jeffrey asked.

Max stuck his bubble gum on Jeffrey’s desk. “Save it for me,” he said. “I’ll be back.”

“Why don’t you ever answer my questions?”