R. L. Stine_Mostly Ghostly 07 (6 page)

“Don't be nervous, Max,” Tara said. “Nicky and I are going to help you.”

“Huh? Help me?” I gasped.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. “You're next, kid,” the man in black said. He gave me a little shove toward the stage.

N
ICKY AND
T
ARA MOVED
forward with me.

Ballantine was talking to the people around him. He was sipping coffee from a large white mug. He glanced at me, and his expression got even sadder.

“Piece of cake,” Tara said. “Tap knuckles, Max, and let's show off a little!”

“I don't want to tap knuckles,” I said.

Ballantine set down his coffee mug and stared at me. “You want to tap knuckles?”

“N-no,” I said. “Just thinking out loud.”

“Stop shaking like that, Max,” Tara said. “Nicky and I are right here with you.”

“Please! Go away!” I shouted.

Ballantine laughed. “Is this a comedy act?”

“No,” I said. I raised the deck of cards.

Ballantine squinted at me from under his glittery turban. “What is your name, kid?”

Nicky whispered, “Tell him you're Max-o the Magnificent.”

“I'm
not
Max-o the Magnificent!” I cried.

I heard people snicker.

“That's who you're
not?”
Ballantine asked. “You're confusing me. Who are you? And what planet do you come from?”

That got a big laugh from everyone in the room.

“Tell him you want to mystify his mind,” Tara whispered.

“Please
go away!” I begged Nicky and Tara.

Ballantine laughed. “This is a new approach,” he told Mr. and Mrs. Hocus.

“The kid is kinda funny,” Mr. Hocus said.

“Do you do any tricks, or do you just stand there and act weird?” Ballantine asked.

“I'm going to do some card tricks that I invented,” I said.

“Card tricks are too dull,” Nicky said.

“Yeah,” Tara agreed. “Let's show him something more exciting.”

“Please—let me do my card tricks,” I begged.

Ballantine shrugged. “I'm not stopping you, kid.”

“Let's do the Floating Wallet trick,” Nicky said. “That's more fun.”

I felt him pull my wallet from my jeans pocket. I made a grab for it. But Nicky raised it high over my head.

Ballantine and the others gasped.

They couldn't see Nicky. They just saw the wallet floating over my head.

I grabbed for it again. Nicky tossed it high to Tara.

Some people started to applaud. Ballantine actually opened his eyes all the way.

The wallet flew high over my head.

“I guess prices are going
up!”
I announced.

That got a big laugh.

Finally, I grabbed the wallet away from Nicky. I struggled to shove it back into my jeans pocket. “Let me do my card tricks,” I said.

But Tara pulled the deck of cards from my hand and started tossing cards across the room to Nicky. He caught them and tossed them back to her.

I heard gasps around the room.

I ran frantically back and forth, trying to catch the cards. Nicky and Tara were ruining my act. Ruining my one chance with Ballantine.

The cards scattered across the floor. Ballan-tine's jaw dropped. He looked even more confused.

“Let's give him something to stare at,” Tara said.

She and Nicky grabbed me by the armpits— and lifted me.

“Let me go!” I screamed.

They lifted me higher. I was floating nearly a foot off the floor.

Ballantine jumped to his feet. Everyone was chattering and gasping. “What do you call this trick?” Ballantine asked.

Nicky and Tara started to run. I looked as if I was flying across the room.

“Too … heavy …,” I heard Nicky groan.

“I'm losing him,” Tara grunted. “Can't … hold … on.”

“Nooo!” I let out a cry as they dropped me.

I fell hard on my face. Pain shot down my body.

I don't know how long I sprawled there, facedown, waiting for the pain to fade. When I stood up, I felt warm liquid oozing over my lips, down my chin.

A nosebleed. I had a fierce nosebleed.

My cards were scattered everywhere. The room had grown totally silent.

With a loud groan, I pulled myself to my feet. I didn't dare look at Ballantine.

My act was ruined.

I'd practiced for weeks. I knew my card tricks were good.

But it was all ruined—thanks to the two ghosts.

I'd never been so embarrassed in all my life. I
had made a total fool of myself—in front of one of my heroes.

With a sigh, holding one hand over my bleeding nose, I slumped toward the door.

“Come on,” I muttered to Nicky and Tara. “Let's get out of here.”

“W
AIT!
C
OME BACK!
”
A
voice boomed.

I turned to see Ballantine waving to me.

Was I seeing things? Did he actually have a smile on his face?

“Wonderful,” he said. “What's your name?”

“Max Doyle,” I said. Mrs. Hocus handed me a wad of Kleenex. I pressed it against my bleeding nose.

“That's a very funny act you do,” Ballantine said. He pulled off his turban and scratched his thick, curly white hair. “I know magicians don't tell their secrets. But you will have to come back, Max, and tell me how you do that floating trick.”

“C-come back?” I stammered.

He nodded. “Yes. Come back next Saturday. You have passed the audition. You will go on to the next round.”

He turned to Mr. Hocus. “Write down his name. Max Doyle. I definitely want to see him next week.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Is that blood real? Or is it trick blood?” Ballantine asked.

“Uh … trick blood,” I said. “All part of the act.”

Back in my room, I sprawled on my back on the bed. I stared up at the ceiling, taking deep breaths. Thinking hard about Ballantine and everything that had happened at the magic store.

When Nicky and Tara appeared at the side of the bed, I wasn't happy to see them.

“I need time to think,” I said. “I need peace and quiet. Can you take a hint?”

“No, we can't,” Tara said, sitting down next to me. She gave me several soft face slaps. “Snap out of it, Maxie.”

“Why won't you leave me alone?” I begged.

“Because we haven't heard you say thank you yet,” Nicky replied, dropping down beside his sister.

“Thank you?” I cried, sitting up. “Thank you for
what?”

“For making your act so good, Ballantine wants you to come back,” Tara said.

“You're joking, right?” I said. “You didn't make my act good. You made my act a
disaster!
And—and—”

My nose started to bleed again. I grabbed a wad of tissues and pressed them against my face.

“We help each other,” Tara insisted. “Admit it, Max. Nicky and I helped you. And next Saturday … you'll help us.”

“Huh?” I jumped out of bed. “You mean switch brains with a monkey? You're crazy! You—”

The front doorbell rang. I was the only one home. “Go away,” I told Nicky and Tara. “Maybe I do owe you thanks for what happened in the magic store. But
no way
will I switch brains with that chimp. Do you hear me? No way!”

“Is that a
maybe?”
Tara asked.

She and Nicky vanished. The doorbell chimed again. I ran downstairs and pulled open the front door.

“Traci!” I gasped.

There stood Traci Wayne in all her golden beauty. Traci Wayne, the coolest, prettiest, most awesome girl at Jefferson Elementary. Traci Wayne—standing on my front stoop!

What did I do to deserve such amazing luck?

Yes, I admit I have a crush on Traci. I mean, I think it may be true love. Whenever I see her, my toes curl up, so it takes me hours to pull my shoes off.

My face turns bright red. I start breathing through my mouth, making
hee-haw
sounds. And I get all tongue-tied and say everything backward.

Is that true love? Or is it some kind of weird disease?

I stared at Traci. Her blond hair ruffled behind her in the wind. Her olive-colored eyes locked on mine.

“Goodbye,” I said. “I mean, hello. Hee-haw. Hee-haw.”

“Hi, Max,” she said. She glanced around. “Can I come inside? I don't want my friends to see me at your house. That would be so uncool.”

“Hee-haw. I understand,” I said. I moved away so she could step inside.

She hurried in and shut the door behind her.

She was wearing a pale blue sweater and jeans. I glanced down and saw that my nose had dripped a couple of red spots onto her white tennis sneakers.

She looked down too. “Oh, what's that on my new shoes?” she asked.

“Hee-haw. It's blood,” I said.

“Ew. Blood?”

I tried to sound in control. I punched my fist in the air. “A bloody nose,” I said. “I got into a fight.”

Traci squinted at me. “You? Brainimon? In a fight?”

“Ha, ha,” I said. “I don't want to brag. But you should have seen the
other
guy!”

She sneered at me. “What
really
happened? You fell on your face?”

“Kind of,” I said.

She glanced at the front window. “No one can see me in here, right?”

“Right,” I said. “What's down, Traci? I mean, what's
up?”

“Listen, Max. My icky cousin Stella is having a drippy, boring party. Her friends are all nerds and geeks. But my mom is making me go.”

I suddenly started panting like an overheated dog. “Yeah?”

“I need to bring someone with me,” Traci said. “But I don't want to invite any of my cool friends. Cuz they'd hate it. They'd hate it cuz it's going to be the
worst
, most geeky, most yuck-all party in history.”

“Cool,” I said. “I mean, hee-haw.”

“I can't think of anyone else in school uncool enough to go to this party,” Traci said. “Except for you, Max. So how about it?”

With a loud sigh, I fell back against the wall. Dazed. Totally dazed.

The invitation of a
lifetime!

Traci Wayne was actually inviting me to a party!

“Sweet!” I said. “I mean, awesome!”

“We'll go in separate cars,” Traci said. “I don't want my friends to know I went to a party with you.”

“That's cool,” I said. “I mean, okay.”

“Okay. See you Saturday,” Traci said. She glanced around tensely. “Can I go out the back door? I don't want anyone to see that I was here.”

“No problem,” I said. “Hee-haw. See you Saturday.”

I watched her run out the back door. She took off across the backyard running full speed and didn't look back.

My luck is definitely changing! I told myself.

Ballantine the Nearly Amazing invited me back to perform for a second week. And Traci Wayne invited me to a party.

Was this the luckiest day of my life?

Or was it the
last
happy Saturday I would ever have?

T
HE WEEK DRAGGED BY
.
I felt like I was moving in slow motion.

Nicky and Tara kept begging me to go with them to Dr. Smollet's lab Saturday morning. But I tried to shove that thought out of my mind.

All I could think about was performing magic tricks for Ballantine and going to Traci's cousin's party.