The Ghost and the McGee Twins

Not So Honest Abe

Molly was on the phone with the Brighton Zoo for about an hour while I was trying to come up with a Living History Day Project for school. "What do you mean I can't rent a gorilla?" Molly asked as Scratch came back from the Ghost World. "What kind of zoo are you? Hello? Hello?" "Hey, Scratch." I greeted. "Scratch, you're back!" Molly gasped, pulling Scratch into a hug. "I missed you! Let's never be apart for 137 minutes ever again!" "Very specific." I commented. "Everything doesn't have to end in a hug!" Scratch complains. "What's all this?" "Well, uh, this whole thing?" Molly chuckles. "It's for Living History Day at school." I explained. "Everyone has to bring the past to life by dressing up as a famous historical figure." "And it's fun, so, I've been helping all my classmates and my wonderful sister get costumes and props!" Molly added. "Kat needed a Joan of Arc suit of armor!" "Always on a crusade, that one, you know what I mean?" Scratch asked. "I made Sheela some radioactive uranium for Madam Curie!" Molly continued. "Glowing personality." Scratch commented. "Jeremy wanted a National Farm Workers sign for Cesar Chavez! And Amber wanted a flag poster for Betsy Ross!" "I didn't ask you to help. You just did it anyway." I corrected. "Yeah, I just wish I could get a gorilla for Libby." Molly sighed. "She can't be primatologist Dian Fossey without a gorilla." All of a sudden, Darryl walked into the living room, tripping on the carpet, starting to eat the snacks he spilled like a wild animal. "Darryl?" I asked. "Ape-mazing!" Molly gasped, texting Libby about her project. "Darryl, you're perfect." "If you went all out for those chumps in your class, I can't wait to see how overboard you've gone on your project!" Scratch exclaimed as Molly realized that she forgot about her own project. "I mean, I bet it's super annoying... little glitter and ribbons... all kinds of extra credit points... and blah blah blah." "Yeah, my project." Molly lied while Scratch was talking. "Oh, it is. So much glitter. So many ribbons. It's mostly ribbons." "You didn't start yet, did you?" I asked. "Well, I gotta get to sleep." Molly faked a yawn. "You know, since all my work's done. Excellently, I might add. Sure-fire A! Classic Molly. Goodnight!" I turned to Scratch after Molly went upstairs. "I'll meet you in our room." I said, going upstairs as Scratch floated up to our room.

Up in the attic, I met up with Molly and Scratch. Molly, of course was spiraling about her unfinished project. "Let me guess, you've done nothing?" Scratch asked. "I've done nothing!" Molly cried. "I tried to warn you, Moll." I recalled. "You shouldn't have procrastinated to help our class." "But you know what, it's not too late." Molly said. "My presentation's about Abraham Lincoln, the most popular President. There's gotta be lots and lots of info about him out there." "Looking forward to hearing more." I yawned. "I'm gonna hit the hay."

Molly spent 9 hours researching and losing sleep. I'm getting concerned. "There's too much info!" Molly panicked. "Molly, it is 4:15 in the morning." I complained with a yawn. "Get some sleep." "I can't sort through all of this by morning! I can't insult our best President by having the worst presentation! I'm letting Lincoln down!" Molly shouted. "Relax. I saw Lincoln yesterday and I promise you, he's not gonna care..." Scratch explained. "Scratch, don't give her any ideas!" I groaned. "I've been studying for nine hours, and you've known President Lincoln this whole time?!" Molly asked. "You have to ask him to help me!" "Isn't that considered cheating?" I wondered. "Ehh, you know, I don't know. Amber's right." Scratch replied. "I mean, Abe's a busy guy. Between, you know, emancipatin' this and proclamating that..." "Okay, guys, I get it." Molly rolled her eyes. "You don't actually know him, you don't have to lie to me." "Me? Lie?! How dare you! I'll have you know, Lincoln calls me, "Honest Scratch"!" Scratch shouted, blowing a raspberry at Molly. "I'm gonna bring back my good pal Linc-dawg Abe-alicious, the old Abe-meister, Lincolnty-split! That'll show you! Lie? Ha!" Scratch went back to the Ghost World to go find Lincoln. "I'm going back to bed." I yawned. "That goes for you, too, McGee."

The next morning, I woke up to see Molly asleep on the floor with a bunch of her books about Lincoln. "Hey, Moll! Wake up!" Scratch exclaimed. "A house divided against itself will not stand!" Molly gasped. Scratch comes back through his portal with a suspicious looking Lincoln ghost. I mean, I know ghosts look weird, but something was fishy about this one. "Boom! Abraham Lincoln!" Scratch announced. "See, I told you I knew him. Anyway, Abe's very busy, so he..." "No, no, no, no! Mr President, don't go!" Molly begged. "I'm your number one fan. And I really need your help with my project!" Scratch was signaling him to not say anything to Molly. "Well, I'd be a pretty terrible President to let down my number one fan." The Lincoln impersonator said, which I'm pretty sure was just Geoff. "So sure, I can tell you about Lincoln. Who is me." "Scratch, can I talk to you downstairs?" I asked. "What? No!" Scratch refused. Against his will, I grabbed Scratch by the nose and took him downstairs to talk. "Easy on the nose!" Scratch complained. "Why is Geoff here dressed like Abraham Lincoln?" I asked. "I don't know what you're talking about." Scratch lied. "You may have fooled Molly, but you can't fool Amber Savisa McGee." I explained. "Just gonna let you know that Molly's going to be heartbroken when she finds out that Geoff is helping her instead of Lincoln." I headed back to our room to get ready for school.

At school today, while getting stuff set up in the cafeteria, I made some final adjustments to my poster. All of a sudden, a girl about me and Molly's age came up to look at my poster. I haven't seen her around before. She had dark blonde hair, brown eyes, dark glasses, a light blue sweater, black leggings, and teal sneakers. "You're Amber McGee, right?" She asked. "You did a beautiful job on your poster." "Yeah, I'm surprised you got my name right." I chuckled. "Thanks. Sorry, people usually mix up me and my sister, Molly." "I'm sorry to hear that." She apologized. "I was intrigued by your project. It's so cool that Betsy Ross created the first American flag. I personally love sewing and crocheting. I even made my sweater." "You made that?!" I gasped. "It's amazing!" "Thanks. I'm Cleo. Cleo Snyder." She introduced herself. "Good luck with your presentation, Amber." Cleo. She seems like a nice girl.

After presenting my project to everyone, I looked next to me to see Molly about to present hers. I'm wondering what Geoff had told her about Lincoln. "I am Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America." Molly acted out. "You all know that I practiced law, but did you know that in my spare time, I also taught bears to polka?" "What?" Everyone wondered. "Then, I set out to sea to find my fortune as a pirate, and went by the name Calico Jack!" Molly exclaimed as I slapped myself in the face. "I warn you, Ms McGee, that those who make a mockery of history are doomed to repeat it next semester." Mrs Roop, our history teacher said. Molly was getting laughed at for Geoff's nonsense about Lincoln, so she ran into the bathroom in total embarrassment. I hesitated, but decided to follow her. "Molly? Molly, wait!" I called out, chasing after her.

In the bathroom, I found Molly crying on the floor. "Molly? Is everything okay?" I asked. "Not really." Molly sighed. "I took note of everything President Lincoln told me." Geoff came to join us, still disguised. "Well, to be honest, I don't remember Lincoln going anywhere near bears, let alone teaching them to polka." I chuckled. "I don't get it, Mr President. I'm telling them the truth, but they don't believe me." Molly said. "Molly! I am so sorry to say that this Lincoln is an imposter!" Scratch confessed, coming out of the sink to reveal Geoff to Molly. "Geoff? How dare you pretend to be Lincoln! Don't worry, Molly, I brought you something better." "The true President Lincoln at your service." Lincoln introduced himself. Molly and I were both shocked. "So, yeah, Scratch was lying to you since this morning." I revealed. "Okay, yes. I lied." Scratch admitted as Lincoln glared at him. "Wow, that truth stare really does it. Look, I just wanted you to think I'm important because you're really important to me." "So, you nearly ruined my grade because you care about me? And you just came to check on me, sis?" Molly asked, pulling Scratch and me into a hug. "That's the nicest thing you've ever done, guys! That is so sweet!" "And now she's crying." I said. "Alright, I'm not a tissue." Scratch complains, but returned Molly's hug. "You can always tell the greatness of a ghost by the lengths he will go for a friend." Lincoln said. "Now, what do you say we go fix your presentation?" "Show those weirdos that we go the extra mile, Moll." I encouraged her before she hugged me. "Thanks for looking out for me, sis." Molly smiled. "Yeah, I mean, someone has to." I explained.

Back in the cafeteria, everyone began laughing again when Molly had returned. "I'm glad you're entertained." Molly chuckled awkwardly. "Because I, Abe Lincoln, was well known for my wicked sense of humor and ability to tell a ripping yarn!" Mrs Roop looked down at her notes and nodded at Molly. "All jokes aside, I-I'd like to give my real presentation. Now, it's a little out of the ordinary, but I think it really brings history to life."

After Molly's performance, everyone cheered for her presentation. Mrs Roop was especially impressed, she even changed her grade from an F to an A.

While packing up our projects, Molly and I were approached by Scratch, Geoff, and Lincoln. "Thank you, Mr President." Molly thanked, hugging me and Scratch again. "And thank you, Amber and Scratch." "I hope you all learned a valuable lesson today." Lincoln said. "Right, let's never get into this situation again." Molly responded. "Yes, let's never do anything nice for anybody again." Scratch said at the same time. "Never trust Geoff with anything." I added. "Wait, what did you say, Scratch?" Molly asked. "Uh, same thing as you." Scratch lied. "Get lost, history nerds!" Miss Lightfoot shouted. "Time for the science fair!" "Science fair?" I wondered. "Oh, no! Oh..." Molly panicked. "Scratch, do you know Einstein?" "Yes! Because I have learned nothing!" Scratch lied again. Lincoln and I both slapped ourselves in disappointment.

Behold! A new character based on my IRL bestie! I also did a project like this back in 3rd or 4th grade, so it was fun to kinda revisit that. -Mal.