Pumpkin Apocalypse

Chapter 1
It All Began with a Ham Sandwich

Adam stared at the doors to the cafeteria at Montross Middle School and took a deep breath.

It’s gonna be okay, he thought to himself as he exhaled.

Adam pushed down on the bar of the door and swung it open to reveal a crowd of kids busily eating lunch. Halloween decorations covered every surface of the room, and a giant cardboard pumpkin hung high from the ceiling in the center. His body froze as the pumpkin’s lifeless eyes locked onto his. Then the room started to close in around him, and Adam let out an awkward gasp of horror.

He took another deep breath, repeated, It’s gonna be okay, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed his outburst. Thankfully, no one had. No one at this school ever noticed him, which was just how he liked it.

Adam Gibbons had moved to Little Pine at the start of the school year. And after nearly two months, he had avoided being noticed by anyone. Not that he was invisible, or a ghost, or anything, he just didn’t see the point in making friends since he wasn’t planning on staying long. His mom and stepdad didn’t agree with his plan to leave, but Adam was chipping away at them. His goal had been to be long gone before Halloween, but that clearly hadn’t happened. Now he had to spend his least favorite holiday in the last place on Earth he wanted to be.

Turning his gaze from the giant pumpkin, Adam swallowed deeply and walked into the lunchroom. He had become skilled at creeping in, finding the quietest corner, and hiding behind a book as he ate his bagged lunch. Today, though, there were no quiet corners or empty tables. At every turn, different groups chattered over greasy pizza and overcooked burgers, talked about their Halloween plans, and took turns posing with all the decorations. He felt sweat bead on his upper lip. He wiped it off and turned to walk back toward the doors. However, the path had vanished, and in its place was a group of kids dancing around the giant pumpkin and chanting “GET PUMPED!”

Adam remained frozen. He was trapped in the center of an impromptu Halloween dance party with no way to escape. His worst nightmare had somehow come to life in the middle of the school cafeteria.

Suddenly one of the dancing kids turned to Adam. “What do you have in the bag?” she asked.

Adam’s heart started to race. Why was this person talking to him? “The what?” he slowly replied.

“The brown bag that you’re strangling,” she said, pointing to his hand.

He looked down and saw that he’d been squeezing the life out of his lunch. He opened the bag and pulled out a half-squished sandwich.

“Is that ham?” she asked.

Adam stared at the mess in his hand. “Yeah, I think so,” he almost whispered. “I guess that’s what my mom packed.”

“I see you’re looking for somewhere to sit,” the girl said. “Want to sit with me?”

He looked around at the dancing, chanting kids and realized he most certainly did want to sit with her.

She plopped down at a nearby table and pointed to the bench across from her. Adam pushed his way past a few kids who screamed “GET PUMPED!” directly into his ears as he tried to sit down.
But the girl held up her hand.

“Wait!” she said. “Only if you trade me that ham sandwich for this pizza here.”

Adam glanced down. All that he could see was a piece of crust with a tiny corner of cheese.

He looked from the raggedly bitten crust up to the girl’s ragged smile.

“Uh, sure,” he said.

“Awesome!” she said, snatching the ham sandwich from Adam as soon as his butt hit the bench. “I’m Molly, by the way. Molly Rose. You’re the new kid, right? What’s your name? Alan?”

“Adam,” said Adam as he poked at Molly’s crust, wondering if the glistening liquid he saw on the crust was oil or slobber.

Maybe I’ll just skip lunch, he thought.

“Got it . . . Adam!” Molly said, and she flung out her hand. Adam offered his, and she shook it hard.

Somehow, a ham sandwich had brought two very different people together. Still, Adam was hoping he could just shrink into the bench and be forgotten by Molly, to return to the magical land of the unnoticed. But, of course, she wanted to talk.

“Sooooo . . . ,” she started.

“What?” asked Adam.

“Tell me a little bit about yourshelf,” she said around his ham sandwich. Half of it was already in her mouth.

“I dunno . . . ,” he mumbled.

For the moment, Molly took that as the answer and kept chewing. Adam poked at his crust and wondered, since he wasn’t going to eat, if he should just escape from the lunchroom.

Molly shoved the rest of the sandwich in her mouth and chomped happily.

Adam looked around to see the impromptu dance party had died down. Kids were either returning to their seats or running to their lockers to get ready for next period. Molly was still the only person who had noticed him. Perhaps I should keep it that way, he thought. He got up to leave.

“Ahhhh,” she said. “Your mom makes great ham sandwiches.” She gave a chef’s kiss, grabbed a napkin, and wiped her mouth. “Well, like I said, Alan—”

“Adam,” Adam corrected. “But I should probably go.”

“—​I’m Molly,” she continued, ignoring him. “I’m in the seventh grade. You are, too, because I’ve noticed you in class. But not in seventh-grade math, so you must be a nerd. I am many things, but I’m not a nerd.”

“I didn’t say you were,” said Adam, sitting back down. “I mean, hey, I didn’t say I was.”

“But, admit it, you are,” she said.

Rather than admit it, Adam just said, “Well, I’m not an athlete.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m not, either,” said Molly. “And, I mean, I do okay with grades, but not, like, amazing, you know?”

“I m‑mean . . . I‑I . . . ,” Adam stuttered.

“How long have I lived in Little Pine, you ask? I’ve lived in Little Pine with my mom and sister forever. My sister’s name is Stella. That means ‘star’ in Italian . . .”

Adam just watched as Molly talked. She was in constant motion, and her hands never stopped moving. And for a moment, he even forgot about the pumpkin glaring down on them from the ceiling. He took a breath and relaxed. Molly just kept talking.

“. . . but, yeah, so, you like books?” she asked.

“Yeah, how did you know?” asked Adam, finally smiling.

“Well, you read them enough.” Molly giggled. “I didn’t think you hated them.”

Well, looks like somebody noticed me after all, thought Adam.

“Yes,” said Adam. “I like books.” He had a thought, and his eyebrows rose. “Why did you let me sit here?”

“I had a hunch about that ham sandwich,” she replied with a smile. “Also, big secret: I like books, too!”

They spoke about their favorite books—​Adam preferred nonfiction, while Molly was more of a graphic novels and horror fiction gal.

Just as Adam had gotten comfortable, Molly asked, “Do you like Halloween?”

Adam squirmed a bit. “Ah . . . no, not really,” he replied.

“Of course you do,” she said almost immediately, and Adam wasn’t sure if she’d even heard what he said. “I love Halloween,” Molly added. She stood up and raised her hands over her head. “And I LOVE PUMPKINS!”

Is this actually a nightmare? Adam wondered. Was he really at home in bed? Could he just wake up and all this would be over?

Before Adam could give it any more thought, a voice snarled from across the lunchroom. “Hey, Molly!”

The room went silent as Molly’s head twisted toward the source of the snarl. A tall boy with short-cropped red hair walked up and towered over them. “Did I hear you say you loved this guy?” The kid bellowed loud enough that everyone could hear him. “Is this your new boyfriend?”

“No, you idiot,” Molly snarled back. “I said I love pumpkins.”

“Oh, is that your name?” the kid said, smirking at Adam. “So, Pumpkin, do you love Molly?”

Adam went red in the face as he realized the whole lunchroom was looking at him.

“Molly has a boyfriend, Molly loves Pumpkin,” the boy chanted.

“Shut UP, Bruce!” Molly said as she stepped up to him, and for a second Adam thought she was going to take a swing. “I’m friends with the new guy. So WHAT?”

“Ooooooh, and you were talking about pumpkins?” asked Bruce. “Are you gonna ask him to go to Pumpkin Fest with you?”

Bruce turned to Adam. “Maybe you two will kiss behind Molly’s grandfather’s prize pumpkin, ooooooh!” he continued as he leaned forward, his face almost touching Adam’s. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you . . . Pumpkin?” Then, suddenly, the crowd behind Bruce separated as the school’s principal walked in.

“What’s going on here?” Principal Prouty asked.

A girl from the crowd stepped forward. “Bruce Fox is bothering the new kid.”

“Thank you, Stephanie,” the principal said as he gave Bruce a disapproving stare. “Is this true?” asked Principal Prouty. He looked to Molly and then Adam.

“Ummmmmm,” mumbled Molly. “I mean . . .” She stared at her shoes.

“Molly, do you have something to say?” asked Principal Prouty, leaning in. “I can’t hear you.”

When Molly didn’t respond, he said, “I’ll ask again. Is what Stephanie says true?” When Molly didn’t respond, he said, “I’ll ask again. Is what Stephanie says true?”

Bruce, happy that Molly wasn’t going to say anything, looked at Adam with a grin that said, You stay quiet, too!

Adam, who just wanted this situation to be over, blurted out, “YES!”

That was all Principal Prouty needed.

“Mr. Fox, this is your fifth violation this month,” roared Principal Prouty. “You know what that means.”

“Let me guess, no Friday Night Fright Night,” mumbled Bruce.

“That’s right,” Principal Prouty said, sticking his chest out. “Report to the secretary. NOW.”

“Whatever,” said Bruce as he turned to walk away. “I didn’t want to go, anyway.”

“And you two.” Principal Prouty turned to Adam and Molly. “I’ll see you both in my office.”

As he walked away, Bruce gave Adam a death stare while dragging his finger across his neck. Then he mouthed, I’m going to get you.