The Ghost and the McGee Twins

The Lucky Pennies

One Friday morning, I walked to school with Molly, Libby, Cleo, and Scratch. "I've been accused of optimistic overstatements before, but today is truly special because it's Friday!" Molly shouted, even though she does have optimistic overstatements. "It's F-R-I Day! It's the best day of the week! Except for every other day, Friday is the peak!" "I wish I could join your jubilation, Molly. But today is Friday the 13th." Libby sighed. "My usually bad luck will be extra terrible." "Join the club, Libby." I said. "Pfft, luck's not a real thing!" Molly scoffed. "And Friday the 13th is just hokey superstition." "Just like ghosts are hokey superstitions?" Cleo questioned. "Uh, sorry, Moll. Amber, Libby, and Cleo are right. Luck is very real." Scratch explained, just as two plastic bags hit me and Libby in the face with a gust of wind. "Case in point." "It has begun." Libby grunted. "Sure has." I agreed.

During passing time at school, I was grabbing my stuff for my next class. When I shut my locker, I pinched my finger. I walked away from my locker, only to slip on a puddle of water, stopping as I bumped into Libby at the vending machine. "Sorry about that, Libby." I apologized. "Are you okay?" "I've been better." Libby replied. "That makes two of us." I said. "Meanwhile, people with good luck are extra lucky!" Scratch explained to Molly, who put some change in the vending machine to get two bags of chips. "Whoa! Two bags of chips?" Molly questioned. "Lucky you." Libby groaned with frustration. "Yup." I nodded in agreement, just as Cleo joined us again. "Whoa, what happened?" She asked. "Feeling unlucky." I replied. "Scratch!" Molly gasped. "Can you use your ghosty powers to give Amber and Libby good luck?" "Please Scratch, please!" Libby begged. "To be free of bad luck, just for a day!" "I mean, I could theoretically transfer..." Scratch began. "Great, heard enough!" Molly interrupted. "Transfer my luck to Amber and Libby!" "Whoa! These are powerful magic forces, Moll. Your luck would only go to one person." Scratch explained. "You can't just expect me to..." "I'll give you these Fireblast Jalapeño Crunchies." Molly bribed him. "Done! No take backs!" Scratch shouted, going into Libby's purse and my backpack to grab a penny from each of us. "Now, some would consider a lucky penny cliche, but I like to think of it as tastefully classic. Now give me some room." "I can't wait for this to backfire on him." I chuckled. "Scratch, what if I transfer my luck for the day, too?" Cleo asked. "That way, both Amber and Libby can be lucky." "You would do that?" I wondered. "Of course!" Cleo replied. "You're my best friend." "Sure. You do you." Scratch replied, clearing his throat and doing vocal warm ups. "A ghostly ghoul gifted great guavas to a gander of ghastly geese. I hereby tip the scales of fortune..." "He's so dramatic when he curses." Libby whispers. "I know. Isn't it cute?" Molly replied. "He thinks it makes him look like an all powerful being." I joked as Cleo chuckled. "...and transfer the luck of Molly McGee and Cleo Snyder into these pennies!" Scratch continued. "Whoever has these pennies will have good luck today!" Molly payed Scratch with the two bags of chips as he threw me and Libby the pennies, which we both caught. "I actually caught it!" Libby gasped. "It didn't hit me in the face and I didn't accidentally swallow it! My luck's already turned around!" "Is this what being lucky is like?" I wondered. "Wow! These Fireblasted Jalepeño Crunchies really live up to their name." Scratch said, eating the chips. "Listen to that crunch. Ah. Whoa. Ooh, spicy on the back end." "Aw, what? Come on! There's gum on my shoe!" Molly complained as Scratch took a drink from the inside of the vending machine. "What's that smell?" I asked, smelling something rotten in the air. "I think that's Cleo's shoes." "Ew! Smells like Mr Bates brought the corgis to school again." Scratch commented. "Gross!" Cleo gagged.

The last few hours was definitely interesting. The next time I saw Molly, she had dozens of bee stings and was bruised from falling into a hole. Cleo wasn't doing much better. She had twisted her ankle, got hit in the head with a soccer ball, and accidentally touched the corgi's poop. I gotta admit, I felt really bad.

After school, we all decided to walk together. Libby was still enjoying her good luck. "This has been the best day of my life!" Libby exclaimed. "Thanks for donating your good luck, Molly." "Yeah, I'm happy for you, Libby." Molly sighed as her backpack came apart and a plastic bag blew in her face. "But now I understand why you and Amber hate Friday the 13th." "So can I." Cleo panted, catching up to us and covered in paint splatters. "Cleo? What happened?" I asked. "Oh, this? Just another one of Darryl's pranks for the art teacher." Cleo explained. "Except this time, I was the victim." "That little pest." I grunted. "I'm sorry to hear that." "Been a pretty good day for me, though." Scratch said as his ghostly stomach growled. "You know, I thought messing with luck was bound to spiral out of control and lead to universe-threatening peril, but nope. Everything is a fine. Rules. Who needs 'em?" Once Scratch let out a huge burp, I felt Molly and Cleo bump into me and Libby by accident, sending the lucky pennies flying over to Andrea, who was ordering from an ice cream truck. "No! My lucky penny!" Libby and I shouted. "Oh, our digital payment system just went down." The cashier said. "So, this one's on the house." "Free ice cream? Wow!" Andrea exclaimed. "Must be my lucky day!" The rest of us gasped. "Uh, this is bad." Scratch said. "You think?!" I snarled at him. "What? So, Andrea has the pennies, can't you just whip up two more?" Molly asked. "No, no, no, you don't get it, Moll." Scratch explained. "Andrea's already lucky. So? With the lucky pennies, her luck will hit critical mass and create a Luck Suck, a vortex that will suck in all luck until there's none left!" "Oh my gosh!" Andrea exclaimed to the cashier. "Thank you!" Not too far from the ice cream truck, we noticed Kat getting sprayed by a fire hydrant while she was scrolling through her phone. "It's already started." Scratch said.

Sure enough, more people in Brighton were getting unlucky by the minute. "This is exactly why I didn't want to mess with cosmic forces!" Scratch shouted. "And all for one bag of chips!" "It was two." Molly and I replied, still in shock from the chaos that followed us. "Oh, right. That's totally worth it." Scratch said, still eating his chips. "Only way to stop the burn is to keep eating! Ah. That's science." "So, we have to get those pennies back from Andrea or everyone in Brighton will lose their luck?" Cleo asked. "Yeah, basically." Scratch replied. "Well then, obviously we need to—" Libby began before getting a plastic bag to the face. "We need to—" A plastic bag hit both me and Libby that time. "Come on! I didn't even say anything!" I complained as Libby and I had hundreds of plastic bags fly into our faces. "You guys have enough problems right now." Molly said. "Scratch, Cleo and I will fix this." "But aren't we just as unlucky as they are right now?" Cleo asked, following Molly and Scratch to retrieve the pennies from Andrea.

I stayed behind with Libby, taking a stroll through the town. "I don't understand how they're going to get those pennies back." I said. "I mean, Davenport doesn't seem like the type of person to donate money to someone unless she gets the views." All of a sudden, the wind was blowing a little stronger, which meant the plastic bags were coming. "Oh, come on. Spare me just once!" Libby cried as we both got hit with the plastic bags. "Not the bags! Not the bags!" "Run!" I shouted.

While running from thousands more bags, we caught up with Molly, Scratch, and Cleo, who looked like they were in pain. "I hate Friday the 13th!" Libby shouted. "Libby, Amber, we might have a solution!" Cleo called out. "Andrea's being protected from being lucky, but maybe someone who's unlucky can get the pennies back." "Wait. You're saying we can fix this?" Libby asked as we approached them. "It makes sense." I said. "It's the only way." Scratch explains. "We have to harness the power of your bad luck for good." "Your bad, bad luck." Molly added. "If it's bad luck you need, then we're your women." I smiled. "Let's do—" Libby began as we got hit with plastic bags again. "Can I not have one second to feel heroic?!"

We followed Andrea to the Bargain Bag to get the pennies back. "You can do this guys." Cleo said. "Let's get our luck back!" Suddenly, the sliding doors closed to crush us, but we managed to get inside and approach Andrea. "Hi, uh, Andrea." Libby greeted. "So, uh, we're collecting change for, uh, a good cause." "What's the cause?" Andrea asked, catching a soda can before it could hit her. "Uh, children with..." I began. "...too many toys?" Why did I say that. Molly makes this sound so easy! "Ugh, I know the feeling." Andrea said. "Really?" Libby and I wondered. "Yeah, it's, like, where do you put them all? You only have so many guest rooms, right?" Andrea asked. "Anyway, I'm feeling extra generous today because more good things than usual keep happening to me. Sadly, I don't carry cash, I'm strictly digital. Oh, but hang on. I have these tiny brown quarters. Might be Canadian. Would you want that?" "Yes, thank you!" We replied as Andrea handed over the pennies, which we miraculously held onto. "Wait! There's been a serious math error. You're actually the 999th customer." The manager said, taking Andrea's prizes. "Give those back! You didn't earn these!" Andrea didn't seem too bothered.

Once we left the Bargain Bag, the wind was calmer and the plastic bags drifted to the ground. "It worked! The Luck Suck's gone!" Molly cheered. "Yahoo!" Scratch shouted, opening another bag of chips. "You saved the day, guys!" Cleo exclaimed. "Yeah, it was nice being lucky for a bit, but wow, is it high pressure." Libby said. "Besides, if I'm lucky enough to have friends like you, that's all the luck I need." "Aww!" Molly cooed. "Now, give me those pennies before you guys cause any more damage." Scratch explains as we put the pennies on the ground. "I hereby rebalance the scales of fortune..." "He really leans into his performance." Libby commented. "And no formal training." Molly added. "He just likes to show off." I said. "Gotcha." Cleo nodded. "And transfer the luck of these pennies back to Molly McGee and Cleo Snyder." "I'm sorry, Scratch." Molly apologized. "I shouldn't have pressured you into messing with luck." "Yeah, that's what I tried to tell you!" Scratch exclaimed. "But you had to resort to bribery, didn't you? You know I can't say jalapen-no to these delectable spice bombs! I'm starting to think you're a bad influence." "So, does that mean our luck's back to normal, or?" Libby asked as Scratch burned his mouth from the chips and a plastic bag flew in front of each of us. "Yes." Scratch replied. "Yes it is."