Sam and the Floorboard Gang

            I laughed so hard, I couldn’t stop.  Bugboy started glowing and Evan looked down at his hands.

            “Holy cow!” he exclaimed.  “What’s happening to me?”

            “You shouldn’t mix your drinks, Evan!” Bugboy blurted out in-between laughs.

            Josh kept staring at Evan and finally asked, “What’s your mom going to say when she sees you?”

            “Oh, no!  I can’t go home like this.  She’ll kill me if she finds out.  Can you go back and cover for me, Josh, please?”  Evan was almost in tears.

            I’d never seen him this way, nervous and sorry for himself, but I kind of liked it.  “The new, green, improved, scared of his own skin, Evan!” I said, loudly.

            “What am I going to do, Sam?” Evan was looking at me now.

            I turned to Bugboy.  “How long will it last?” I asked him.

            “Oh, it could last a couple of days,” Bugboy answered.

            “A couple of days! I can’t stay here a couple days,” Evan screamed.  He turned around and started barfing.

            I looked at Bugboy and laughed even harder.

            Finally, after realizing that Evan couldn’t go home looking like that, I had to make a plan.

            Thank goodness it was still summer, so Josh could tell Evan’s mom that Evan would be camping out with him and me for a couple of days.  It really wasn’t a lie, because it would be like camping out, except they wouldn’t exactly know where. 

            It was a good plan and would get us the time Evan needed to turn back to his normal color again.

            Bugboy told Evan to go ahead and make a few more wishes and get some camping gear to set up for himself.  It was like Christmas for Evan, except he didn’t know that he couldn’t take any of it back home with him.

            Bugboy also offered to stay with Evan, mostly so he wouldn’t get into any more trouble, but also because Evan looked pretty scared about now!

            I told Josh to get ready to return home, but he kept staring at Evan.

            “I’ll tell your mom, Evan.  Don’t worry and I’ll be back tomorrow,” Josh stuttered, worried for Evan.

            “Let’s go, Josh,” I called him, as I walked away from Evan.

            “Thanks, Bugboy.  We’