Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? Read Online Free Page B

tunnel one night. It led to some kind of terrifying ghost world, all dark and cold and filled with lurking ghosts and spirits.
    Nicky and Tara forced me to go into the tunnel to find a box of Nicky's belongings. I still have nightmares about it. I was trapped in the tunnel, trapped in the ghost world. Nicky and Tara had to pull me out, pull me back to my room.
    The tunnel opening has been paneled up ever since. I never want to go back to that terrifying place again.
    “Please go away,” I whispered to the cat. “Please—stop crying. No one wants you here.”
    As I struggled to fall asleep, little did I know that I'd be pulling off that wall panel in just a few hours.

9
    T HE NEXT MORNING, D AD jumped up from the breakfast table as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. “Max, are you hiding a cat in your room?”
    “Huh?”
    That was my best reply for first thing in the morning.
    I saw Colin grinning at me over his bowl of shredded wheat. Mom leaned against the kitchen counter, a mug of coffee between her hands.
    “Your brother heard a cat in your room last night,” Dad said.
    Colin's grin grew wider. He loved getting me in trouble.
    “He's a dirty liar,” I said.
    Mom choked on her coffee. Dad hurried over to slap her on the back. Dad is a big, beefy guy, built like a buffalo. And Mom looks sort of like a frail little bird. So when Dad slaps Mom on the back, believe me, she stops choking right away. She never wants a second helpful slap.
    “Don't call your brother names,” Dad said.
    “Yeah. Don't call me names, you big piece of garbage,” Colin chimed in.
    Dad laughed at that. He thinks Colin is a riot.
    “Maxie, I know you want a pet,” Mom said, setting her mug on the counter. “But I'm terribly allergic to cats.”
    “Besides, you have Buster,” Dad said.
    “Buster?”
I cried. “Buster
hates
me! He thinks I'm one of his chew toys!”
    Buster is a big, furry wolfhound we got a few years ago. He stays mostly outside or in the garage. Whenever I come near him, he growls and sinks his teeth into my leg.
    Dad says he's just being friendly. He says I have to get over my fear of dogs.
    I'm not afraid of dogs. I'm afraid of being
eaten!
    Colin loaded his spoon with cereal and snapped it toward me. He got me right in the forehead with a big wet wad of shredded wheat.
    Dad laughed. To him, everything Colin does is golden.
    Mom shook her head at Colin. “Don't play with your food. And stop picking on Maxie.”
    “What about the cat in his room?” Colin insisted.
    “Give me a break. I don't have a cat,” I said through gritted teeth.
    And at that moment, a loud
meeeeow
floated into the kitchen from upstairs.
    Everyone froze.
    And listened.
    And heard another long cat cry, shrill and sad.
    It's a ghost cat, I thought. It
has
to be a ghost cat. So why can everyone hear it?
    This cat must
really
want to be heard!
    Colin jumped up from the table. “I
told
you! Did you hear it? We
all
heard it, right?”
    “Heard what?” I said. “I didn't hear anything.”
    But the three of them were already hurrying out of the kitchen. They went running up to my room, and I had no choice but to follow them.
    What should I do? I asked myself. How can I explain this?
    I decided to tell them the truth. Come clean and tell them the whole story. Then maybe they'd
finally
believe me about the ghosts in the house.
    When I reached my room, Colin was tossing things out of the closet again. Dad was down on the floor, searching under the bed. Mom stood with her arms crossed, listening for the cat.
    “Whoa. Stop!” I shouted. “I'll tell you the truth.”
    They turned to me. Mom raised her hands to her cheeks. “Oh no. Maxie, you really are hiding a cat in here?”
    “It's a ghost cat,” I said.
    Dad and Colin groaned. “Not another crazy ghost story,” Dad said. “I warned you, Max—”
    “Just listen to me!” I cried. “I can prove it to you.” My heart was thudding in my chest. Would I finally be able to make them