Dance with Me

You can be a pirate, but first you’ll have to lose an eye and an arm!
Yarg!
Pete’s pulse picked up as he heard the words in his head.
“What was the song, Pete?”
He shook his head. “Just a stupid song about being a pirate.”
“What were the words 
exactly
?”
“Who cares what the words were?”
“I do. Please, Pete, it’s important.”
“
Fine.
Something about how if you want to be a pirate … you’ll have to
lose an eye and an arm. See? Stupid!”
Chuck licked his dry lips. Then he grabbed a pencil from Pete’s cluttered
desk and started writing.
“What are you doing?”
“Hold on a sec.”
After a minute, he shoved the notebook into Pete’s hands. Chuck had
written additional notes under the boxes:
FOXY THE PIRATE: Pirate song. Lose eye. Lose arm.
BIO CLASS: Nearly lost eye.
BUTCHER SHOP: Nearly lost arm.
CONSTUCTION SITE: Nearly lost arm.
LAKE: Nearly lost eye.
Pete shook his head in denial. “No,” he muttered as he started to shake.
“You’re wrong.”
“You can’t ignore the facts, Pete. Foxy wants you to become a pirate,
and the accidents are getting more dangerous.”

---

“No!” he yelled. “Foxy is a damn robot! He’s made of metal and gears.”
He ripped out the page of the notebook and started to shred it. “This is all
made up in your messed-up gamer brain. It’s fantasy! Not real!”
“Pete, stop!”
“Shut up! Just get out of my room!” He shoved his brother and threw his
notebook at him.
Chuck stumbled back in shock, his face turning red. “I’m trying to help
you!”
Pete jammed a finger in the air toward Chuck. “No, you’re trying to
scare me for the all times I’ve scared you! It’s always winning with you,
right? Well, this isn’t some game for you to win!”
“I know that. I’m not trying to win. I’m trying to figure this out!”
Mom appeared at the door. “Boys, what’s all the yelling? What’s going
on?”
“Tell Chuck the Chump to get out of my room!”
“Don’t call me that, Frankenstein Face!”
Pete’s face scrunched up. “Oh, you’ve been waiting to use that one,
haven’t you? You’re going to pay for that! Truce is officially over!”
“Fine by me! You can take your stupid truce and jam it up your nose!”
“Boys, calm down!” Mom yelled.
“I said, GET OUT OF MY ROOM!”
“I AM!” Chuck scooped up his notebook and ran out.
Pete turned his back to his mom. After a moment, with an exaggerated
sigh, she closed the door.
Pete was so freaking angry, he started to cry.
Pete tossed and turned in bed, since his mind was wide awake. His pajamas
felt too warm, his blankets too heavy. His bedroom was dark except for the
moonlight that filtered through the curtain on his window. As he stared at
the curtain, he thought he saw something dark flash behind the fabric.
Pete got to his feet and walked to the window, pushing the curtain aside.
The front yard was quiet. A car was parked at the curb. A row of trees lined
the street. Nothing out of the ordinary. He rolled his shoulders to release his
tension, then went back to bed. He hit his pillow a couple of times to get
comfortable. Then he stared at the ceiling and stared some more.

---

No use, he still couldn’t fall asleep.
A moment passed as he found his eyes lured back to the window.
Don’t get up
. 
Don’t look.
But he couldn’t help himself—something felt strange. He was alone in
his room, but he felt like he was being watched. Which was completely
stupid. Sighing, he stood and walked back to the window, again pushing the
curtain aside. He was about to step away when he caught a movement
behind the trees. Was someone there?
Pete’s pulse raced.
He rubbed his eyes, blinked, and searched for more movement—but
nothing was there. His mind was messing with him. He was freaking
paranoid! He took a breath and released it. It was probably just the wind
blowing the branches. He scrubbed his hands down his face and lay back
down in bed. The wind howled, and somehow that calmed him a little.
Then the backyard gate creaked.
The gate must have come unlatched in the wind … right? Just to be
certain, Pete listened carefully. An owl hooted. A door creaked. A second
later, he jerked upright, his heart pounding. Was that creaking inside the
house? He crept to his bedroom door, and slowly opened it. He searched the
empty hallway. No one was lurking around.
He was starting to really freak himself out. Mom and Chuck were asleep.
No one else was in the house.