Illustration by Adam McCauley
"Stephen" is the twenty-ninth chapter of Sideways Stories From Wayside School.
Summary[]
Stephen is the only one dressed up for the Halloween party, which does not happen on Halloween since it falls on a Sunday that year. The ghost of Mrs. Gorf also appears to take her revenge.
Characters[]
- Stephen
- Jason
- Jenny
- Mrs. Jewls
- Dana
- Eric Bacon (only referred to as "Fatso")
- Joy
- Mrs. Gorf
- Dameon
- Todd (mentioned)
- Louis (mentioned)
Plot[]
Stephen comes to school dressed as a goblin for Mrs. Jewls' Halloween party. But none of the other kids are wearing costumes because they think the party is another day. Stephen insists they're wrong. Mrs. Jewls hands out Halloween cookies to the class, but doesn't give one to Stephen because she's too busy laughing at his costume. Mrs. Jewls then starts a math lesson, but for some reason, she can't get the right answer to 2 + 2 - no matter what she does, she can't seem to write 4 on the board. Suddenly, her chalk turns into a live worm, which frightens her. She drops it and the lights go out while the blackboard lights up. A woman appears from the board and steps out into the classroom. It's the ghost of Mrs. Gorf, and she's come back from the dead to get her revenge on the class. The kids explain to Mrs. Jewls that Mrs. Gorf was their old teacher who turned everyone into apples and then got eaten by Louis. Mrs. Jewls orders Mrs. Gorf to leave, but Mrs. Gorf says that because it's Halloween and she's a ghost, she can go wherever she likes. Mrs. Jewls argues with Mrs. Gorf over what date Halloween might be that year, but Mrs. Gorf agrees with Stephen - Halloween is that very day. Stephen is thrilled to have confirmation, even from the ghost of Mrs. Gorf, so he leaps out of his seat and hugs Mrs. Gorf in gratitude. Mrs. Gorf disappears in shock and the lights go on again. Mrs. Jewls writes the correct answer to 2 + 2 on the blackboard, saying that when two plus two doesn't equal four, anything can happen. Stephen is hailed as a hero, but changes out of his costume anyway.
Memorable Quotes[]
- Mrs. Jewls: That's good. When two plus two doesn't equal four, anything can happen.
Notes & Trivia[]
- At one point in the chapter, "costumes" is misspelled as "customes".