Boy Oh Boys! (Season 1)

Chapter 8-6

"The guy who saved me... was Pace???" Charlie's head was still spinning when she joined the others back in the common room. "It couldn't have been..." she eyed him suspiciously as he lay apathetically on the sofa.

"What?" he grumbled lowly, scaring Charlie to the other side of the kitchen table.

"Okay! Presents! Now!" Rib yelled, suddenly ripping open all of Charlie's beautifully-wrapped boxes before their decorations could be appreciated.

"Sweet!" he held up the fake hand Charlie had bought him. "Cool!" he beamed at his gifts from the twins. Apollo had gotten him a light that cast ghostly shapes across the ceiling and Demeter had given him a fog machine.

"Whoa!" Rib examined his present from Pace- a new hockey mask. "Thanks!" he exclaimed, pulling his new mask on.

"Thought you could use one for next season," Pace gave him almost a half-smile, and Charlie began to wonder yet again.

"Could it really have been him...? He is being kind of nice..." Charlie still could not believe it, but Max spoke up before she could speculate any further.

"Do not forget to open my gift!" grinned Max, pushing an enormous box towards Rib.

"WOW! What's in here, Max???" Rib feistily tore open the present. "NO WAY!" Rib looked like he had died and gone to Heaven. "A 'Shouts From The Woods' Poster! And- What's this??? NO WAY!!! 'SHOUTS FROM THE WOODS: THE GAME'???" Rib was so excited that he tried to kiss Max on the cheek, though was rather unsuccessful, considering the fact that he was still wearing his new hockey mask.

"Thanks everyone!" Rib grinned as Max sat down a humongous cake in the shape of a skull.

"Let us sing," said Max.

"And then eat!" said the twins.

"And then the party can really begin!" added Rib.

"I thought it already did," Charlie looked around in confusion.

"No, no, no!" Rib shook his head. "We still have 'Rib's Spooktacular Birthday Event'!"

"What's that?" Charlie wondered unsurely.

"We're going on a ghost hunt!" declared Rib proudly.

~~~

"So, where are we going?" Demeter asked when they had finished their cake.

"There's a perfect place nearby that I know is haunted!" explained Rib as he handed everyone a flashlight.

"Nearby?" repeated Max.

"Yeah, the only creepy place I know that's nearby is the Sparta Dorm," laughed Demeter.

"Don't be silly!" Rib shook his head. "Those guys are fools, not ghouls."

"So, then where are we going?" inquired Apollo.

"The spookiest place around," Rib made for the door. "We're going into the woods!"

Charlie gulped. The woods on Halloween at night was the last place she wanted to go.

~~~

"What are we supposed to be looking for?" Demeter shined his flashlight into the trees.

"Ghosts, duh!" said Rib, running into the woods and instantly disappearing in the darkness.

"Well, come on," Demeter shrugged, and he and Apollo stepped into the trees as well.

"Let us go," said Max, following right behind them.

Charlie paused, still completely freaked out. The woods looked as creepy as they did the night she had went to Astronomy Club with Demeter- only this time, she had to go inside.

"This is stupid," Pace scoffed behind her, making her jump. She had forgotten he was there.

"Yeah, maybe we should go back," she began, but to her surprise, Pace headed into the trees too. "Wait!" she cried, now dashing into the trees herself, too scared to be left by herself.

However, inside of the woods, Charlie found herself completely alone.

"Where did everyone go?" she looked around fearfully, but despite her flashlight, still spotted no one. "Great," she panicked, stepping deeper into the woods. "Max? Rib?" she whispered as she made her way through the trees, but there was no reply.

Nerves building, Charlie continued to search, squinting into the shadows for the shapes of her friends- but the only figures she could make out were not what she wanted to see.

Something flew overhead.

"Was that a bat?" Charlie suppressed a scream.

Something rustled by her feet.

"SNAKE!" Charlie gasped, but it was only a leaf.

"What's that?" Charlie thought for sure she saw a wolf with his ears perked looming up ahead, but when she shined her light on the shape, she realized it was only a tree stump with two mushrooms growing out of it.

"Whew," Charlie took a breath and turned through another group of trees, but this time, she was sure she saw the outline of a tombstone glinting in the moonlight. "Okay, now my eyes are really playing tricks on me. It's not what it seems. It's not haunted," Charlie tried to stay calm, but her fear was growing.

"Muahahaha!" Charlie heard an undeniable cackle in the distance.

"It's probably just Rib," she told herself. "There are no ghosts. There are no-"

Suddenly, Charlie felt a hand grasp her arm.

"GHOST!!!" Charlie shouted at the top of her lungs, but to her shock, the ghost talked back.

"Could you be any louder?" Pace was standing behind her, not a ghost.

"Sorry! I thought you were-" Charlie stuttered.

"Clearly this isn't the place for scared little girls," he said coldly. "Now go home."

"Wow," Charlie stepped back, offended. "Fine. And to think, for a minute I thought the kind prince who saved me at the party was you. Like you'd ever act like a prince. Or even dress up like one!" Charlie began to stomp away in a huff, but Pace's reply made her stop in her tracks.

"Well I can't help it that that's the only costume they had left," he said, spinning around and disappearing once again.

"Huh?" Charlie froze in disbelief. "Then... the prince was him???"