"You know, Ed, as much as I admire your artistic capabilities, I think maybe we can do without all the statuary," I say pointing at the front lawn.

"Easy fix," Ed replies, making a show of rolling up his sleeves. Ed and Al spread out across the lawn and quickly deconstruct the statues. Within minutes, the lawn was as good as new.

Our plan was to grab lunch and then head over to the mall to shop for clothes and school supplies. Amazingly, we actually managed to get to Nasty Burger without incident.

'Maybe Box Ghost will remain captured this time.'

The gang and I were settled into a booth with our food (and that junk Sam claims is edible). Sam and I are telling Al our favorite Box Ghost stories. Al's laughing so hard that I was afraid his milk shake would come squirting out his nose. On the opposite side of the table, Tucker is introducing Ed to the wonders of the internet via his new smart phone. (1)

"Hey Fen-turd!" calls Dash. He launches a football at the back of my head. Without thinking, I duck and now the football is heading straight for Ed.

"Ed! Duck!" shouts Sam.

Ed doesn't even look up. He reaches up and snags the ball out of the air and sends it hurtling back at Dash with twice the force. The ball strikes Dash right between his shoulder blades, causing the jock to stumble into a group of girls.

"Dude that was awesome!" shouts Tucker.

A red-faced Dash marches over to our booth.

'Oh crud, he's going to blame it on me.'

I can hear Dash cracking his knuckles. "Just what do you think you're doing Fen-turd?"

Before I could formulate a reply, Ed stands up. "I threw the ball. I'd be more than happy to discuss it with you outside."

"Brother," Al warns.

"Relax Al. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to take care of this looser."

Apparently, Dash had been paying attention to this morning's 'training' session. "Hey man. No harm done." Dash takes a few slow steps back and then turns and runs out of Nasty Burger.

Everyone close enough to hear the exchange starts laughing the moment the door slams shut behind Dash.

Tucker wipes a few tears from the corners of his eyes. "Dude, I've been waiting for someone to do that to Dash for a long time."

Ed surveys the crowd. "I don't think that you were the only one. Who was that idiot?"

"Dash Baxter, school bully," I explain.

XxxLine BreakxxX

We spent a few hours in the mall hunting for clothes. While Ed could fit into my old clothes, they were 'well loved'. My constant ghost fights had left them pretty ragged. I also preferred to wear T-shirts and Ed refuses to wear short sleeves.

The hardest part proved to be finding gym shoes for Ed. It took the better part of 20 minutes to convince Ed that he needed the shoes. There was no way Coach Tetslaff is going to allow Ed to wear his boots in the gym. In the end, we had to buy two pairs to fit his mismatched feet.

We were heading to Target to pick up the remaining school supplies, when the people ahead of us started screaming. Soon there was a steady stream running back the way we came.

Ed, Al, and I pass our shopping bags to Sam and Tuck and charge to the front of the pack.

Strangely, my first thought is, 'Oh, there's where Box Ghost went.' Of course, that thought is quickly replaced by, 'Shit, not Freakshow again!'

Standing near the entrance to Target is Freakshow, Lydia, Box Ghost, and a new ghost that I've never seen before.

Beside me, Ed starts cursing. "Envy."

XxxLine BreakxxX

I know, Tucker is famous for his PDA. But seriously, what self-respecting teenager carries one anymore? It's all about smart phones now. Tucker's a techno geek and I would expect him to have the best gadgets.