18 The Wizard of Ooze by R.L. Stine

Author:R.L. Stine [Stine, R.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“Put on your shoes,” I said. “We’re going to the comic convention.”

His mouth dropped open. “Huh?”

“You said you wanted to go,” I told him. “Well, here’s your chance.”

Zeke grinned. “Cool!” He started for his room. Then he stopped. “But Mom said —”

“You can’t tell Mom,” I said. “It’s a secret. Can you keep a secret?”

He crossed his heart with two fingers. “I promise.” He ran up the stairs two at a time.

I knew he couldn’t be trusted. Zeke is a little snitch. But what choice did I have?

My mission was clear. I had to rush to the convention before it closed. Show the book to Sammy. See what he had to say. And get back home with Zeke before Mom and Dad returned.

Tense. Very tense. But it could be done.

I pulled on my jacket. I tucked the book under my arm. “Zeke?” I shouted up the stairs. “Where are you? What’s taking so long?”

“Can’t find one of my shoes,” he called.

I groaned. I should just leave him here, I thought.

But I couldn’t. Mom put me in charge. If I left him alone, Zeke would get in some kind of big trouble — just to make me look bad.

I ran up to his room. He was pounding his fist into his pillow. Pound pound pound. That’s what he always does when he can’t find something. He’s such a jerk.

I found the other sneaker under the bed in two seconds. Then I tossed him his jacket, got him downstairs, and pushed him out the front door.

It was a windy, cool evening. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still dark with clouds.

“Run,” I said. “We’re going to be too late.”

We ran to the bus stop on the next corner. No bus in sight. I began to pace back and forth with the book tucked under my arm.

Zeke leaned against an old tree and started to pick at the bark. He pulled off a big chunk and tossed it to the grass.

“Why are you doing that?” I asked.

He shrugged. “For fun?”

More time passed. Finally, I saw the bus turn a corner and head our way. A few seconds later, we climbed on and took seats near the back.

I stared out the dusty window, watching the sun dip low behind the clouds. We’re not going to make it, I thought. Unless the bus really rockets.

But the bus didn’t rocket. We kept stopping every few blocks to let people on. And then as we got close to downtown, there was some kind of accident up ahead.

I stared out at the flashing red lights. We didn’t move at all.

Zeke poked me hard with his elbow. “Let me hold the book.”

“Why?” I said.

“Because I want to,” he said. He poked me again. “Let me hold the book. Or I’ll tell Mom and Dad you took me to the convention.”

What a punk.

“Okay. Here.” I shoved the book onto his lap.

He didn’t open it or anything. Just held it.

The bus finally started to move again. We crawled past the flashing police lights.

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