Sunday

 

  Tomorrow morning, I get to go back to Scare School!

  It's funny. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was TERRIFIED to go to Scare School for the first time. But now I can't wait to hurry up and get back.

   

  As excited as I am to get back to Scare School, I WILL miss Dad once I'm there. We had an awesome weekend together.

   

  Tonight, for my last night home, Dad made me a special dinner. It was sort of like what he cooked a couple of weeks ago--a meal of all my favorite things. Pizza. Peppers. And Popsicles.

   

  But this time, Dad decided to COMBINE all three things. His idea, he said, was to make a "Super Letter-P Pizza." But then he got a little carried away and started adding a bunch more stuff that started with the letter p. Like pretzels. And pecans. And pears. And peas.

   

  It tasted... interesting. The peppers, pears, and peas were all delicious mixed with the cheese and tomato sauce. And the pretzels were actually pretty good too. But the pecans were a little weird. And the Popsicles? Those melted as soon as Dad stuck the pizza in the oven, obviously. Then the juice from the things gave the whole pie this bright pinkish tint.

  And then there was the problem of the sticks....

   

  Anyway, it's gotten late. And the sooner I go to bed, the sooner I'll wake up tomorrow and be able to get on my way back to Scare School.

  So, you know:

  GOOD NIGHT!

 

Monday

 

  My first day back at Scare School was... interesting. Just like Dad's Super Letter-P Pizza.

  I think I'll tell you about the GOOD stuff before I tell you about the NOT-SO-GOOD stuff. I'll start at the beginning....

  Dad and I got up bright and early and hit the road. Last time it'd taken us forty-five minutes to fly to Scare School. But I guess because I'd been so nervous about actually GETTING there, I'd gone pretty slow.

   LAST TIME

 

  This time, I led the way--and we shaved seven minutes off our flight!

   THIS TIME

 

  We zipped around the spooky forest outside the school, and just as we left the last of the trees behind, I spotted it.

   

  A big grin spread across my face. And then I really started flying.

   

  The school's big front door was wide open, and Headmaster Dave was there greeting everyone.

   

  I paused long enough to say hello, then raced inside. And right there, hanging out in the school's entryway, were all my friends and favorite teachers.

   

  There were some OTHER creatures there, too....

   

  But I just focused on my pals.

  I flew over to Itsy, and everything I'd been saving up to tell her all weekend came bursting out of me. And apparently SHE had been saving up a ton of stuff to tell me, too.

   

   

  Oh! One other cool thing that happened:

  Wes came over while Itsy and I were catching up. He had his whole family with him. One of his parents had their hand on Wes's back, almost like he'd needed a push to come over to me and Itsy.

  And Wes's older brother--he had a hand on Wes's shoulder. Just gently, though. Sort of like he was trying to remind his little brother that he was there.

  I noticed all this before I saw what Wes was holding.

   

  "Wes!" I said. "Are those your sketchbooks?"

  At first, Wes didn't answer. Then his brother gave his shoulder a little squeeze and he said,

   

  I grinned. Then I said,

   

   

  Wes's parents laughed. So did his brother. And it was a little hard to tell because of all the hair on his face, but I'm pretty sure that Wes was grinning, too.

  Two seconds later Headmaster Dave announced that it was time to say goodbye to our families and get our day started.

  Just before I headed over to Dad, I saw Wes's brother give him a high five and say, "See, bro? I knew you could do it."

  I found Dad on the other side of the entryway with Mimi's mom. And as excited as I was to be back at Scare School, it wasn't easy saying bye to him. I wouldn't see him again until NEXT Friday.

  That's ELEVEN whole days.

   

  Dad gave me a hug, then flew off--and that's when things started going downhill....

  Headmaster Dave said that he was glad to have us back, then told us that we'd be spending much of our second two-week session at Scare School working on a group project.

  I should say, I was actually happy to hear this part of things. Last session I'd had to pass my C.A.T., which stands for Creature Aptitude Test. Itsy had helped me prepare for the test--but I'd had to pass it all on my own. And it had been TOUGH.

  So a group project?

  That sounded GREAT.

  Don't they say two heads are better than one? And a group can have three or four heads.

  Or five!

  Speaking of heads, right after I started thinking all this, Headmaster Dave said,

   

  When I heard the word "pick," I thought Headmaster Dave meant that WE would be doing the picking. And I knew who I'd pick first. Itsy, of course. Followed by Mimi. And then Batslee and Wes.

  But then Captain Loosebeard cleared his throat. I turned to look at him and saw that he was holding a big bowl full of little slips of paper.

   

  Uh-oh.

  WE weren't going to be picking our groups--HE was.

  And I don't think I can stand to go through it all over again, so I'm just going to come right out and say it:

  First I got paired with Wes.

  Which was EXCELLENT.

   

  But the next two names that Captain Loosebeard pulled out of his bowl?

  They were VLAD and VICKY. In other words, the OPPOSITE of excellent.

   

  It's going to be a long eleven days....

   

 

---

Excerpted from Forest Frights by Jarrett Lerner
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.