The Haunted Mask Part 3

Chapter 2: Scares for School

Try to catch some Goosebumps references in this chapter

"Welcome to our school, Miss... Walton is it?"

"Yes, and thank you," Adi says as politely as she can, blowing a bubble.

"I just want to go through a few of the rules with you, you cannot ride your skateboard on school property during school hours, gum is not permitted in classrooms, there's a dress code in your agenda book, but fortunately you are fine in that regard, just make sure your skirts are not shorter than mid-thigh. We have zero tolerance policy on bullying..."

Adriana Walton leans back in her chair, listening to the usual dry lectures that come with attending a new school. This was not news to her, most schools she'd been to have the same policies as all the others, many of them destroying her favourite habits which included gum and skateboarding.

She was by far the best gum chewer that anyone could know. She didn't chew it obsessively like Violet Beauregard from the Roahl Dahl story, but she had some serious skills. She could spit her gum in the air and catch it in her mouth easily, she could blow a bubble within a bubble, she even knew how to use the carbonated gas from a pop bottle to inflate a wad of gum. She could get creative with it when she needed to.

Her skills could also not be matched on the skateboard. She'd been given her first board when she was about five and her brother actually taught her how, until he turned into the obnoxious jerk he was now. She practiced whenever she could, and it got to the point where she didn't need a helmet anymore, but her mother insisted on it. She could do kickflips, 360s, grinds on the rails, ollies, as well as freestyle tricks like Caspers and Gingersnaps. She should have figured that her skills could not be useful during school hours.

This was the sixth school that Adriana had been to in the last two years. Her dad was an army sergeant and was constantly being transferred to various bases. While Adi was proud of her dad for serving her country, she absolutely hated moving. She basically had to start all over again when it came to making new friends and starting a new curriculum. It was frustrating and stressful; her life was constantly unstable, and it sucked... a lot.

Despite how cool her façade was on the outside, Adi was deathly afraid of starting a new school. She could be shy, despite the confidence she might show to others and nervous about whether the kids would like her. She had a hard time making friends, especially when they had to move so much, she could never make lasting friendships. Her mother promised that this move would likely be longer than any of the previous ones, meaning she could make some great new friends.

When the principal is done talking he hands her an agenda book and her locker assignment. To show that she was obeying the rules, she spits her gum into a Kleenex and throws it in the trash before leaving. She walks through the front office and out into the now crowding hallways.

Kids of all ages were scrambling around, trying to find their lockers or hooks for the younger kids, many shouting and greeting their friends after a long weekend at home. Adi begins to feel nervous, her stomach develops butterflies as she tries to find her locker assignment. It was awkward to weave through the kids.

The hallway was also covered with orange and black decorations. Witches, ghosts, goblins, bats, spiders, mummies, and pumpkins are stuck to doors, hang from the ceiling, or are stuck on other kids' lockers. There are also posters advertising for students to wear their costumes on October 31st.

Adriana liked Halloween, it was fun to dress-up, but what fun was it when you had no friends to go trick or treating with, or have a party to go to, or teepeeing someone's house with toilet paper. She assumes that she'll probably end up at home, sneaking her favourite candies out of the bowl that was meant for the trick or treaters.

The skateboarding girl finally finds her locker. She shoves her board into the bottom and her backpack, grabbing the books she needs. She then looks for her room assignment, not knowing that some admirers were watching her.

"Dude, did you see the logo she has on the bottom of her board?" Chuck asks.

"The Grave Stein?" Steve whispers.

"Yeah, it's super rare. Apparently, those boards can only be bought in New York."

"Wicked awesome," Steve says.

Adi finds her classroom and goes to meet the teacher.

Mr. Black seems to be very nice, his thick glasses looking at the sheet of paper he had to sign.

"Welcome Miss Walton," he says. "Just let the class get settled, I'll give you a quick introduction and then we'll start with our lesson. You're in luck, we're just starting geometry, which is always interesting."

"Okay," Adi says. She stands in the corner by the door as many kids begin shuffling in.

Steve and Chuck are still out in hall whispering to each other.

"Would you guys stop staring at her?" Carly Beth says. "She's just the new girl, not the Statue of Liberty."

"But the can the Statue of Liberty do a double grind off of two rails and a full 360 in one go?" Chuck points out.

"I don't know, I guess she's never tried," Sabrina mutters sarcastically as she and Carly Beth walk into the room.

The new girl doesn't look particularly special, her long raven coloured hair is pulled back into a ponytail, she has gray eyes that look nervous rather than "cool." They assume she's probably scared about starting in a new school, which is understandable to anyone.

"All right everyone settle down please," Mr. Black calls to his students. Chuck and Steve both hurry to find their desks.

Chuck sits behind Carly Beth and Sabrina to the left of Steve. Steve wishes he was a little closer to Carly Beth, she was a pretty cool girl, even after he used to tease her for being so afraid, and he wished that he could trade places with Chuck. He found himself looking at her more and more, becoming distracted and even wanting her to like him more. He takes out his pencils and notebook, staring at the back of her hair, filled with pretty blonde locks.

Once the class has quieted down, Mr. Black clears his throat and Adi steps, forward, knowing the usual drill. At least this time, she doesn't have to introduce herself to everyone like she had before.

"Now before we begin our math lesson, I'd like to introduce you to our new student. Her name is Adriana Walton, she just moved here from Ohio."

He pauses, turning to her to give a greeting of some kind.

"Hi everyone, you can just call me Adi for short."

"Okay then, now I want you all to make her feel welcome. You can take a seat right in front of Carly Beth there," he says indicating her seat.

Adi sits down in her seat, trying to ignore all the eyes staring at her. She takes out her books and pencils and tries to pay attention to the lesson.

The problem is, she's already done geometry before and knows all the stuff she needs to. She begins to doodle in her notebook out of boredom and tries to think of a list of costumes to try on for Halloween. She wanted something interesting, maybe scary, to hide under her brother's bed and scare him with it. He used to do that to her all the time. Putting on a skeleton mask and hiding under the kitchen table as she came down for breakfast. He'd slip on a lizard mask and hide behind the shower curtain. She was getting sick and tired of it. Even though she'd grown to just ignore his pathetic pranks, she craved the chance to get even with him.

She writes a list out of fairly scary costumes.

Worm-eaten Zombie

Werecat

Goblin Queen

The Babadook

Mud Monster

Evil Gnome

Killer Sponge

A Blob that eats everything

Pumpkin-headed Alien

The list gets more ridiculous as she goes on, nothing that seems scary enough. Below the list, she writes something and underlines it.

BUY MASK