11 A REAL TWIST

CHAPTER 11 A REAL TWIST All right, Rip, get it over with," Alexander said. "Throw something at me or call me names or whatever, so you can go home." "Sounds like fun," Rip said, "but that's not why I'm here. I actually came to tell you"— he slurped some punch "that I believe you. About the monsters." Alexander was speechless. "Did you hear me?" asked Rip. "So, wait," Alexander said. "Are you the one who wrote on my napkin yesterday?"

Rip looked confused. "Napkin? No. I thought you were nutso then. But as I was walking home from school, I passed by one of those balloon things. A big orange cactus. It gave me a funny look, so I started throwin' rocks at it. It caught one of my rocks and threw it back at me! Look!" Rip rolled up his sleeve. There was an ugly red scrape between some of his fake tattoos. "Whoa," said Alexander. "Yeah," said Rip. "And then the thing started chasing me! I ran home. I tried to tell my parents, but they didn't believe me. I still had your stupid invitation in my pocket, and I remembered what you'd said in class. So I came here."

Rip rolled his sleeve back down. "Your front yard is crawling with those things! I had to sneak around them." "Who can we tell about the balloon goons?" said Alexander. They looked at the two grown-ups at the party: Alexander's dad, who was fussing with the bouncy castle, and the nervous clown. "Let's try the clown," Alexander said. Alexander and Rip walked over to the clown.

The clown wore a fake bald cap and big, pointy shoes. A smile was painted on his face, but he didn't look happy. He was blowing up a balloon. "Excuse me," said Alexander. "Eep!" The clown released his balloon. He glanced at the woods, then back at the boys. "Pay attention!" he said. "I'm about to show you a very important balloon animal." "Um, okay.." said Alexander. The clown blew up a long, skinny balloon. "Now watch!" He held the balloon by one end and twisted the other end around. "Left, right, left. Down, around, pull!"

He gave the balloon one last tug. "Ta-daaa!" "What is it?" asked Alexander. "One big knot?" "No a mangled pretzel!" said Rip. The clown wiped his brow. "Just remember: left, right, left. Down, around—" "Hi, boys!" Alexander's dad jumped out from behind a shrub. "Eep!" the clown shrieked, dropping his balloon knot. The balloon popped and the clown shrieked again. Alexander's dad laughed. "This guy's a hoot!" "Yeah, he's crazy all right," said Alexander, peering into the woods.