tower Finding a ghost and his laboratory in his own school's attic had been quite enough for one lifetime So Fred just smiled at Drake and said Nothing Just the ivy I think And Fred tried to believe it After all Luisa had a point about the ivy It was pretty cool Fred rested his head against the bus window and followed a single strand of ivy up the bricks It wasn't gorgeous but he did like how the twisted and tangled vines leaned in on each other Like they were working together to climb the wall Except one strand got higher than all the others Not the one he followed though That one got tangled and lost in a mess of green Dead leaves gathered in its vines as 5
though the ivy had reached out and grabbed them But another vine managed to sneak and creep ahead of the rest Its tip waved and bobbed in the wind as the top of the vine tried to grip the wall just below the window with the curtain Fred wondered why the ivy would want to be anywhere near that window or this school In Fred's mind there was nothing to love about this place Not just because of the towering piles of bricks or the wings that spread on either side of the building And not because of the teenagers who would be sure to point and giggle as they clapped while the baking teams weaved and ducked single file through the hallways 6
No the problem wasn't the place as much as the reason even though it meant doing one of Fred's favorite things for Fred's favorite holiday Fred loved to bake at home with his dad And Fred loved Halloween Who doesn't But the Annual Ook and Spook School Bake-Off was something else altogether For nearly forty years the local elementary schools sent teams of bakers to the high school's vast cafeteria kitchen There each team would concoct their ookiest spookiest recipe created by the students themselves All that was fine Great actually The horrible part was that Fred's 7
