59 - The Haunted School Read Online Free

since I didn’t really know anyone else yet, I sort of was left out of all
the fun.
    I tapped my hand to the music and pretended I was having a good time. But
actually, I felt kind of awkward and lonely. And I secretly wished that Mr.
Devine would come back so that things could return to normal.
    I stared out the window for a while. It was a cloudy autumn day. Very windy.
The swirling wind gusts sent red and yellow leaves sailing and twisting over the
playground.
    I stared at them for a while. Then I turned back into the room, and my eyes
landed on Thalia in the front row.
    She wasn’t paying any attention to all the dancing and joking and wild
laughter. She had her little mirror raised to her face and was slicking a layer
of lipstick onto her lips.
    I waved and tried to get her attention. I wanted to know if she and I were
going to work on decorations after school in the gym.
    I tried calling to her. But she couldn’t hear me over all the noise. She
stared into her little mirror and didn’t turn around.
    I started to stand up and walk over to her—when I saw Greta lean over
Thalia’s desk and grab the lipstick tube from her hand. Greta laughed and said something to Thalia. She held the lipstick tube out of Thalia’s reach.
    Thalia let out an angry scream. She swiped at the lipstick. But she wasn’t
fast enough to grab it back.
    Greta’s gray eyes glinted with excitement. She laughed and heaved it to a guy
across the room.
    “Give that back!” Thalia shrieked.
    She leaped to her feet. Her eyes were wild, and her face was pale.
    “Give that back! Give it! Give it!”
    With a furious growl, Thalia dove across the row of desks and tried to tackle
the boy.
    Laughing, he dodged away from her and tossed the tube back to Greta.
    The metal tube hit a desk and bounced onto the floor.
    Thalia hurtled herself to the floor, grabbing at it wildly with both hands.
    I was halfway to the front of the room. As she and Greta wrestled on the
floor for the lipstick, I gaped at Thalia in shock.
    What is the big deal? I wondered. Why is she so desperate to get that tube
back? It’s only lipstick, after all.
    Other kids were watching the struggle. I saw the girls at the back of the
room laughing at Thalia. They were the ones who had teased her about wearing
makeup.
    Some kids cheered as Greta came up with the lipstick. She raised it in her
big fist.
    Thalia screamed and grabbed at it.
    And then Greta raised the lipstick tube higher toward Thalia’s face.
    And drew a red smiley face on Thalia’s forehead.
    Thalia had tears in her eyes now. I saw that she was totally losing it.
    I didn’t really understand why she was so insane about it. But I
decided I had to do something.
    Hero time for Tommy Frazer.
    “Hey—give that back to her!” I boomed.
    I took a deep breath and stepped forward to teach Greta a lesson.

 
 
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    Greta was holding the lipstick tube high over her head, pushing Thalia away
with her other hand.
    “Give it back to her!” I insisted, trying to sound tough. “It isn’t funny,
Greta. Give Thalia the lipstick.”
    I jumped up—and grabbed the hand with the lipstick in it.
    I heard some kids cheering and clapping. I didn’t know which of us they were
cheering.
    Using both hands, I started to pry the tube from Greta’s big hand.
    And that’s when Mr. Devine returned to the room.
    “What’s going on?” he demanded.
    I turned to see him glaring at me through his round, black-frame eyeglasses.
    I lowered my hands from Greta’s fist. The lipstick tube dropped to the floor.
It rolled under Thalia’s desk.
    With a tiny cry, she dove for it.
    “What’s happening in here?” Mr. Devine moved quickly to the front of the
room.
    “Tommy, why are you up here?” the teacher demanded. Behind his thick glasses,
his eyes looked as big as tennis balls! “Why did you leave your seat?”
    “I was just… uh… getting something,” I choked out.
    “He was helping me,” Thalia chimed in. I gazed