Say Cheese - and Die Screaming! (9 page)

Mom and Dad burst into the room, still in their bathrobes. Frightened
expressions on their faces. “Greg—what’s wrong?”

And then they both froze with bulging eyes and opened mouths.

Mom uttered a squeak of surprise. Dad goggled at me in shocked silence.

“You—you’re
you
again!” Mom stammered finally.

“You—you—you—” Dad struggled to say something, but he couldn’t. He
pointed a finger at me and stuttered.

And then they both rushed over and wrapped me in a tight hug.

“I
knew
it was something you ate,” Mom said happily. “Some kind of
food poisoning.”

“Just an allergic reaction,” Dad added, finally able to speak. “I knew you’d
be fine in a day or two.”

“We knew you’d be fine,” Mom declared.

“Yeah. Me, too,” I said.

What a lie!

“You were very good during all this trouble, Greg,” Mom said, wiping away a
tear from her eye with the back of her hand. “You had such a good attitude.”

“Yeah. Well… I always try to think positive,” I told her.

I gobbled down my breakfast and hurried next door to Shari’s house. As I ran
up to the back door, she stepped out, grinning, waving her arms in the air in
triumph.

“It worked! It worked, Greg!” she cried happily.

She came running toward me, her black hair flying behind her head, laughing
and cheering. Back to normal.

Back to normal!

Whooping and shouting, the two of us did a wild “Back to Normal” dance in her
backyard.

When we stopped to catch our breath, Shari turned to me. “We’d better hurry.
We’re going to be late for school. I can’t wait to show everyone that I’m me
again.”

“Me, too!” I cried. “But wait right here. I have to get something in my room.
I’ll be right back.”

I turned and started jogging quickly across the grass to my house.

“What are you getting?” Shari called, following me.

“The camera,” I shouted back.

She ran faster. Caught up with me. Grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to a
stop. “Greg—the camera? Why do you need the camera?”

I narrowed my eyes at her. My expression turned serious. I lowered my voice
to a whisper.

“For revenge,” I replied.

“Greg—don’t!” Shari pleaded.

I ignored her. I knew what I wanted to do. I knew what I
had
to do.

I ran into the house. Took the stairs two at a time up to my room. Pulled the
camera from its hiding place. And hurried back outside.

Shari was waiting for me on the sidewalk. “Greg—this is crazy,” she
insisted. “What are you going to do?”

I couldn’t stop an evil smile from spreading across my face. “I’m going to
take Mr. Saur’s picture,” I told her.

“NO!” she gasped. “Greg—you
can’t!”

“Watch me,” I replied, still grinning.

“But—but—but—” she sputtered.

I started walking toward school, taking long strides. I gripped the camera
tightly in both hands.

“Greg—something terrible will happen!” Shari protested.

“I know,” I said, unable to stop grinning. “Old Sourball deserves it.”

“But, Greg—” She tried to stop me. But I jogged faster, moving away from
her.

“He deserves it,” I repeated. “He refused to believe a true story. He called
me a liar in front of the whole class. And he gave me an
F.
An
F
for a really good report.”

“But, Greg—” Shari started.

I didn’t let her get a word in. I was too worked up. The closer we came to
school, the more excited I got about my revenge plan.

“He’s going to ruin my whole summer,” I continued. “And he’s wrong, wrong,
wrong! And then, when I got so huge, Sourball was really cruel. He made jokes
about me in front of everyone. He embarrassed me, Shari. He totally embarrassed
me.”

“Greg—”

“He wanted to hurt my feelings,” I declared. I could see our school through
the trees in the next block. “He wanted to embarrass me in front of the whole
class. He deserves what he’s going to get.”

“So what are you going to do?” she demanded breathlessly.

I stopped at the corner. “He dared me to prove that the camera is evil. So
I’m going to prove it—and get my revenge at the same time.”

* * *

I slipped into class just as the final bell rang. The other kids were already
in their seats, just getting quiet.

Mr. Saur had his back turned. He was writing something on the chalkboard.

I stepped up behind him. And waited for him to turn around.

My heart thudded in my chest. My hands were shaking so much, I could barely
hold the camera.

I took a deep breath and held it.

This was my big moment. My big chance.

“Mr. Saur—?” I called softly.

He spun around, as if I had shouted. “Greg!” he cried. “You’re looking very
slender.”

I ignored his words. I raised the camera to my eye.

Time for revenge, I thought.

“I brought the camera,” I told him. My voice came out high and shrill.
“Remember? The camera from my report? You asked me to prove that it’s evil. So
here goes!”

I centered his startled face in the viewfinder.

I raised my finger over the shutter button.

He grabbed the camera from my hands.

“Oh, yes! The evil camera!” he declared, staring down at it. “Don’t waste it
on me. Let’s take
everyone’s
picture!”

“No!” I cried.

He waved his hand. “Donny and Brian—move in closer.” Then he shoved me in front of him. “Get in the shot, Greg.”

“No!” I pleaded. “Mr. Saur—no!”

“Say cheese, everyone!”

The camera flashed.

The white square photo slid out.

Mr. Saur smiled at me. “I think I got everyone in class in the shot,” he
said. “
Now
what’s going to happen?”

I swallowed hard. “Uh… we’ll see,” I replied. “We’ll see.”

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