Black Lagoon Adventures #25: Friday the 13th from the Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures series) Read online

  th

  BY

  MIKE THALER •

  ILLUSTRATED BY

  JARED LEE

  25

  ®

  #25

  birthday. There’s only one problem—he didn’t

  www.scholastic.com/readinglevel

  ®

  FRIDAY THE 13

  TH

  BLACK LAGOON

  ®

  FRIDAY THE 13

  TH

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  Get more monster-sized laughs from

  The Black Lagoon®

  #1: The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon

  #2: The Talent Show from the Black Lagoon

  #3: The Class Election from the Black Lagoon

  #4: The Science Fair from the Black Lagoon

  #5: The Halloween Party from the Black Lagoon

  #6: The Field Day from the Black Lagoon

  #7: The School Carnival from the Black Lagoon

  #8: Valentine’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #9: The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon

  #10: The Little League Team from the Black Lagoon

  #11: The Snow Day from the Black Lagoon

  #12: April Fools’ Day from the Black Lagoon

  #13: Back-to-School Fright from the Black Lagoon

  #14: The New Year’s Eve Sleepover from the Black Lagoon

  #15: The Spring Dance from the Black Lagoon

  #16: The Thanksgiving Day from the Black Lagoon

  #17: The Summer Vacation from the Black Lagoon

  #18: The Author Visit from the Black Lagoon

  #19: St. Patrick’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #20: The School Play from the Black Lagoon

  #21: The 100th Day of School from the Black Lagoon

  #22: The Class Picture Day from the Black Lagoon

  #23: Earth Day from the Black Lagoon

  #24: The Summer Camp from the Black Lagoon

  by Mike Thaler

  Illustrated by Jared Lee

  SCHOLASTIC INC.

  ®

  FRIDAY THE 13

  TH

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  For Samantha,

  welcome to the world—M.T.

  To Dick and Elly Wilson—J.L.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright

  Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted,

  downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into

  any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

  whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without

  the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding

  permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department,

  557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-61845-8

  Text copyright © 2013 by Mike Thaler

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks

  of Scholastic Inc. BLACK LAGOON is a registered trademark of Mike Thaler and

  Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc. All rights reserved.

  First printing, September 2013

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Knock on Wood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

  Chapter 2: A Party Pooper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

  Chapter 3: Guess Who’s Coming? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

  Chapter 4: Party Arty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

  Chapter 5: Guest Guess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

  Chapter 6: The Apple Cart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

  Chapter 7:RSVP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

  Chapter 8: King for a Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

  Chapter 9: Great Idea! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

  Chapter 10: Born to be Great . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

  Chapter 11: Wait Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

  Chapter 12: Party Animal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

  Chapter 13: The Host with the Most . . . . . . . . . . . 52

  Chapter 14: My Lucky Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

  6

  CHAPTER 1

  KNOCK ON WOOD

  Let’s get one thing straight. I

  am not superstitious.

  Cross my heart. But I am

  cautious.

  I never walk under a ladder

  or step on a crack. And I always

  carry my lucky rabbit’s foot with

  me, even though it was not lucky

  for the rabbit.

  7

  If you are not superstitious,

  go ahead and finish reading my

  terrible tale. And good luck.

  8

  CHAPTER 2

  A PARTY POOPER

  I’m having a birthday next

  Friday. It happens every year.

  That’s good. But Mom’s giving

  me a birthday party. That’s bad.

  It could be horrible.

  9

  What if no one comes? Or,

  what if everyone comes and no

  one brings a present? Or, every-

  one comes and brings a present I

  don’t like.

  10

  Last year, everyone brought

  me gloves. I had sixteen pairs of

  gloves. I finally had to give them

  all away to the “Octopus Relief

  Fund.”

  Well, it’s a week away. I’m not

  going to worry about it.

  11

  12

  CHAPTER 3

  GUESS

  WHO’S COMING?

  Mom is going to send out

  invitations to all my friends. The

  cards in the store are all corny.

  One has clowns, one has balloons,

  and one has kittens in party hats.

  Forget it. I’ll make my own. I’ll

  draw a rainbow dinosaur blowing

  a horn. On the inside, I’ll write,

  “Come to my party and bring a

  good present.”

  Mom says that’s not polite.

  13

  “How about: Please come to my

  party and bring a good present?”

  I ask.

  She shakes her head.

  “Okay, then: There’s going to

  be a party. Oh, boy!” I say.

  Mom says that’s too eager.

  “Hey, if you’re not doing any-

  thing next Friday, come to my

  party?”

  Mom says that’s too cool.

  “What about: It’s finally here.

  You’ve waited a whole year for

  it—my birthday party!”

  Mom smiles. “That’s good.”

  14

  I print them out, address the

  envelopes, put in the cards, and

  seal them up. Mom gives me

  stamps and asks if I put the time

  and date on the invitation.

  Uh-oh. I can put that on the

/>   back of the envelope. September

  13th at 5:00 p.m.

  I take them down to the corner

  mailbox and drop them in.

  CHAPTER 4

  PARTY ARTY

  Now Mom says we have to get

  decorations. I think the house is

  fine already. It’s decorated. I’ve

  got a monster poster on the wall

  and my model airplane hanging

  from the ceiling.

  Mom drags me to the party

  store, anyway. Do you believe

  there’s a whole store with stuff

  just for parties? They’ve got

  hats, balloons, banners, confetti,

  streamers, posters ,signs, horns,

  and a thousand other useless

  use me once and throw me away

  things. Mom goes wild. She buys

  everything. Our house is going to

  look like Times Square on New

  Year’s Eve. At least there are no

  flowers, no kittens, and nothing

  pink.

  19

  Then she says we have to get

  party favors for each kid. We have

  to give them presents?!!! It’s my

  birthday. Now, if no one comes,

  I’ll really feel bad. I’ll have to wear

  all the party hats, and blow all the

  horns myself. Bummer. I’m glad

  this only happens once a year.

  CHAPTER 5

  GUEST GUESS

  On the school bus, I listen

  closely to hear if anyone got their

  invitations yet. No one says a

  word. I mailed them a day ago.

  What if they all got lost in the

  post office? I would have to play

  musical chairs by myself. At least

  I’d win.

  21

  Freddy says there’s a circus

  in town. A circus! I can’t compete

  with that! No way! I have an

  inflatable elephant, but they have

  a real one. I guess no one’s going

  to come. I wonder if there’s a

  market for never-used party hats?

  22

  I’ll give a little hint to my friends

  on the bus.

  “Hey, my birthday is coming

  up!” I shout.

  23

  Everyone just keeps on talking.

  “Soon it will be my birthday!”

  Everyone’s quiet.

  “I was born next Friday!” I yell.

  24

  Penny looks up.

  “Are you going to start

  wearing diapers?” She giggles.

  I shake my head.

  25

  “Oh, are you having a party?”

  asks Doris.

  “Sort of.”

  “Am I invited?” whines Doris.

  “Maybe.”

  “Who else is coming?” sighs

  Doris.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Is it a circus party?” asks Freddy.

  “No.”

  26

  “A movie party?” asks Eric.

  “No.”

  “An ice-skating party?” asks

  Doris.

  “No.”

  “A bowling party?” asks Derek.

  “No.”

  “Well, what kind of party is it?”

  asks Randy.

  27

  “A surprise party!” I answer.

  “How can it be a surprise if

  you already know about it?” asks

  Penny.

  “I’ll be surprised if anyone

  comes.”

  28

  CHAPTER 6

  THE APPLE CART

  I’m feeling pretty bad.

  Then Eric calls. “I got your

  card,” he says.

  “Good,” I say.

  “Your birthday is September

  13th?” he asks.

  “Every year,” I answer.

  29

  “Your party is on Friday,” he

  says, surprised.

  “Next Friday,” I answer.

  “I can’t come,” he says.

  “Why not?” I ask.

  “I can’t leave the house,” he

  says.

  “Are you grounded?”

  30

  “No,” he says.

  “Well, why can’t you come to

  my party?”

  “Your party is on Friday the

  13th!” he shouts.

  There’s a long silence.

  “Friday the 13th!!!” he shouts

  again, and starts humming

  spooky music, then hangs up.

  31

  CHAPTER 7

  RSVP

  “Mom, Eric’s not coming to my

  party.”

  “Why?” she asks.

  “Mom, this year my birthday

  falls on Friday the 13th.”

  “So?”

  33

  “Mom, Friday the 13th. Don’t

  you know that’s the unluckiest,

  scariest day of the year?!”

  “Oh, Hubie, that’s just a silly

  superstition, and besides, it’s too

  late to change it. We’ve already

  mailed out the invitations.”

  “Silly or not, my best friend is

  not coming, and I wonder who

  else won’t show up.”

  34

  CHAPTER 8

  KING FOR A DAY

  Mrs. Green heard that Friday

  is my birthday. I have to wear

  a silly crown all day long. How

  humiliating.

  36

  Mr. Bender will announce it

  over the loudspeaker. Everyone

  will know, but no one will come

  to my party. I wish I was never

  born.

  CHAPTER 9

  GREAT IDEA!

  After class, I tell Mrs. Green

  my problem.

  “That’s just a silly superstition,”

  she says.

  “Silly or not, everyone’s afraid

  to come to my party,” I say.

  “A lot of the things that

  people are afraid of are just in

  their heads.”

  38

  “Yeah, but it’s real to them.”

  “Hey, Hubie, why not have a

  ‘silly superstition’ birthday party?

  Everyone could come as their

  favorite lucky charm.”

  “Will you come?” I ask.

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the

  world,” says Mrs. Green.

  39

  CHAPTER 10

  BORN TO BE GREAT

  When I go to the library, Mrs.

  Beamster gives me a book called

  The Birthday Book. She says it’s

  for the birthday boy. It’s full of

  birthday stuff, like all the famous

  people born in September. There

  are lots of them.

  40

  There’s kings, queens, and

  even emperors. There’s generals

  and presidents. There’s sport

  stars and movie stars, but best of

  all, there’s a lot of great writers.

  41

  There’s H. A. Rey, H. G. Wells,

  T. S. Eliot, and Shel Silverstein.

  That’s great because I want to

  be a writer. Mrs. Beamster says

  I was born in a good month for

  writers.

  42

  But maybe I’ll have to add more

  initials to my name. I’ll change it

  to M. T. Hubie.

  43

  44

  CHAPTER 11

  WAIT WEIGHT

  I
t’s here . . . Friday the 13th.

  All the decorations are up, all the

  candles are on the cake, and my

  room is relatively clean, so I just

  sit down and wait.

  Maybe one of my presents will

  be a Ferrari. Maybe someone

  will bring me a new video game. I

  don’t want any clothes, especially

  not gloves.

  Well, it’s 4:56. T-minus four

  minutes. I hope someone comes.

  If I have to eat the whole cake by

  myself, I’ll get sick. Well, it’s five

  o’clock . . . zero hour . . . blast off!

  Now it’s 5:01.

  No one’s here. I’m a failure.

  Mr. Unpopular. No one loves me.

  No one even likes me. They’re all

  at the circus having fun. I don’t

  care. Let them eat popcorn!

  47

  CHAPTER 12

  PARTY ANIMAL

  There’s a knock at the door. I

  run to open it. It’s Freddy! He’s

  dressed like a giant rabbit’s foot.

  I knew the cake would get him.

  He comes in and hands me a big

  box. It’s light. I shake it. It rattles.

  It’s not a Ferrari.

  48

  Then the doorbell rings again.

  It’s Derek, Randy, Penny, Doris,

  and Eric.

  Derek is dressed up as a

  horseshoe, Randy has his pants

  on backwards, Penny is a lucky

  penny, Doris is a ladybug, and