4. Spooky Scrubbing

SPOOKY SCRUBBING 4 School was over— and the messy job of scraping gum had begun. Ms. Grinker was at her desk grading papers. She looked up every few moments, keeping an eye on the three students. Sam was on his back, staring up at a desk. Dozens of hard, dried bubble gum blobs dotted the desk's bottom. "Gross," he muttered.

Antonio and Lucy were underneath desks, too. "Who chewed all this gum?!" Antonio whispered. "Not me," Lucy replied. They each used a wooden ruler to chip away at the bright neon-colored gum. Flaky bits of dried gum sprinkled down onto their faces.

Ms. Grinker stood. "I am heading to the teachers' lounge. When I return, every desk had better be gum-free!" Ms. Grinker shut the door. Instantly, Sam's gut felt tight. It was the same feeling he'd had earlier... CLATTER! CLATTER! CLATTER! "Sam! Your desk!" Lucy said. The desk above Sam was shaking. The metal feet rattled. It was practically jumping! And then—

CLANK! ZOOM! The desk leapt into the air! Sam rolled out of the way just before— SLAM! The desk crashed to the floor. Lucy and Antonio scrambled out from beneath their desks. "Stay calm!" Antonio said. "Easy for you to say," Sam replied. "It was MY desk that did a backflip!" "Wait... what's that?" asked Lucy.

The friends inched toward the overturned desk. A purple blob of gum was bubbling on the bottom of the desk. It seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. Then WHOOSH! A lump of wet gum whipped past Sam's face! He whirled around. Chunks of gum were flying across the room! It was like invisible hands were throwing them!

Hundreds of globs of gum started joining together! A massive, monstrous ball of gum was forming. SCHMACK! POP! SPLAT! "What's happening?!" Lucy asked. "Whatever it is, I don't want to be here for it!" Antonio said.