Duncan—Dunc—Culpepper sat in the back of the school library across from his best friend for life, Amos Binder. Dunc was working on a social studies report. Amos was trying to find a comfortable position on the library’s hard wooden chair while reading a comic book he had hidden inside an upside-down encyclopedia.
The bell rang.
Amos nearly tipped his chair over scrambling to stand up. “Come on, Dunc. That was the sound of freedom. It’s Friday. We’re outta here.”
“Hold on. I’m almost finished.”
Amos picked up one of Dunc’s researchbooks,
Dracula of the Night
by Bertram Watson. “You’re doing your report on Dracula?”
Dunc shrugged. “Mrs. Burnbottom said we could do it on anything that had to do with Halloween or its customs. Dracula’s kind of interesting. In fact, his whole family has a fascinating history.”
“Right. A history of borrowing other people’s blood.” Amos opened the book and read a couple of lines: “ ‘The vampire feasts on any warm-blooded creature he is able to snare. Then he returns to the safety of his coffin before the light of day can catch him unaware.’ ”
“It’s only a myth.” Dunc took the book and slid it into his backpack. “What are you doing your report on?”
“Candy.”
Dunc raised one eyebrow.
Amos shrugged. “She said
anything
that had to do with Halloween, didn’t she?”
Dunc tried not to smile. “That’s what she said. And speaking of candy, we need a better plan for trick-or-treating this time than we had
last
year.”
“I don’t want to talk about last year.”
“I understand. If I had talked my best friend into something impossible like covering the whole town in one night, I wouldn’t want to talk about it either.”
Amos headed for the door.
Dunc followed him down the library steps. “And if I had been responsible for that same best friend being chased all over town and nearly getting swallowed by a huge man-eating wolf, I’d probably just want to forget all about it.”
Amos unlocked his bike.
“And if I, personally, had been bitten by that wolf and had run around acting like a werepuppy in front of the whole world, I’d
really
try and put it out of my mind forever.”
Dunc watched Amos roll his bike out of the rack and head down the street. “By the way, did you hear what James Morton told Justin Smeltzer about Melissa Hansen?”
It worked. It always worked. Amos turned around, pedaled back to Dunc, and stopped. “What about Melissa?”
Melissa Hansen was the only girl in the world as far as Amos was concerned. He was her devoted love slave—or at least hewanted to be. His knees turned to jelly and a large knot caught in his throat every time he saw her. Once, when he thought she was actually going to sit by him in the cafeteria, he got so excited he threw up on her shoes.
Dunc shifted his backpack to one shoulder. “It’s only hearsay. You probably don’t want to know about it.”
“Are you going to tell me, or do I stuff that backpack up your nose?”
“It’s nothing really. James just heard that Melissa is throwing a big costume party on Halloween, and she’s inviting practically the whole school.”
Amos sat back on his bike. “That explains why she called last night, to personally invite me to her party.”
“Are you telling me that Melissa Hansen called you?”
Amos nodded. “I’m pretty sure it was her. Her ring is sort of in a class by itself. It has that distinctive pulse to it.”
Dunc sighed. Amos had convinced himself that one day Melissa would realize that he was the only man for her and call him. To be on the safe side, Amos tried to answer every ringing phone he could get his hands on.
Amos went on, “I’m not positive it was her because I never quite made it to the phone. My sister Amy has this boyfriend named Clyde or Clod or something. He’s a wrestler.”
“I don’t get it. What does Amy’s boyfriend have to do with Melissa Hansen calling your house?”
“We
The bell rang.
Amos nearly tipped his chair over scrambling to stand up. “Come on, Dunc. That was the sound of freedom. It’s Friday. We’re outta here.”
“Hold on. I’m almost finished.”
Amos picked up one of Dunc’s researchbooks,
Dracula of the Night
by Bertram Watson. “You’re doing your report on Dracula?”
Dunc shrugged. “Mrs. Burnbottom said we could do it on anything that had to do with Halloween or its customs. Dracula’s kind of interesting. In fact, his whole family has a fascinating history.”
“Right. A history of borrowing other people’s blood.” Amos opened the book and read a couple of lines: “ ‘The vampire feasts on any warm-blooded creature he is able to snare. Then he returns to the safety of his coffin before the light of day can catch him unaware.’ ”
“It’s only a myth.” Dunc took the book and slid it into his backpack. “What are you doing your report on?”
“Candy.”
Dunc raised one eyebrow.
Amos shrugged. “She said
anything
that had to do with Halloween, didn’t she?”
Dunc tried not to smile. “That’s what she said. And speaking of candy, we need a better plan for trick-or-treating this time than we had
last
year.”
“I don’t want to talk about last year.”
“I understand. If I had talked my best friend into something impossible like covering the whole town in one night, I wouldn’t want to talk about it either.”
Amos headed for the door.
Dunc followed him down the library steps. “And if I had been responsible for that same best friend being chased all over town and nearly getting swallowed by a huge man-eating wolf, I’d probably just want to forget all about it.”
Amos unlocked his bike.
“And if I, personally, had been bitten by that wolf and had run around acting like a werepuppy in front of the whole world, I’d
really
try and put it out of my mind forever.”
Dunc watched Amos roll his bike out of the rack and head down the street. “By the way, did you hear what James Morton told Justin Smeltzer about Melissa Hansen?”
It worked. It always worked. Amos turned around, pedaled back to Dunc, and stopped. “What about Melissa?”
Melissa Hansen was the only girl in the world as far as Amos was concerned. He was her devoted love slave—or at least hewanted to be. His knees turned to jelly and a large knot caught in his throat every time he saw her. Once, when he thought she was actually going to sit by him in the cafeteria, he got so excited he threw up on her shoes.
Dunc shifted his backpack to one shoulder. “It’s only hearsay. You probably don’t want to know about it.”
“Are you going to tell me, or do I stuff that backpack up your nose?”
“It’s nothing really. James just heard that Melissa is throwing a big costume party on Halloween, and she’s inviting practically the whole school.”
Amos sat back on his bike. “That explains why she called last night, to personally invite me to her party.”
“Are you telling me that Melissa Hansen called you?”
Amos nodded. “I’m pretty sure it was her. Her ring is sort of in a class by itself. It has that distinctive pulse to it.”
Dunc sighed. Amos had convinced himself that one day Melissa would realize that he was the only man for her and call him. To be on the safe side, Amos tried to answer every ringing phone he could get his hands on.
Amos went on, “I’m not positive it was her because I never quite made it to the phone. My sister Amy has this boyfriend named Clyde or Clod or something. He’s a wrestler.”
“I don’t get it. What does Amy’s boyfriend have to do with Melissa Hansen calling your house?”
“We
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