Sam Wu is Not Afraid of Zombies. Katie Tsang

       Ralph Philip Zinkerman the Third.

      Ralph was the reason I had to prove I was brave in the first place. He was the one who started calling me Scaredy Cat Sam when the incident that will never be spoken of again¹ happened at the Space Museum.

      But then after the incident, Ralph and I had to work together to face the dark, and Ralph even became a part of my very own SPACE BLASTERS crew². But that didn’t make us best buddies or anything like that. It’s a little confusing when your nemesis suddenly becomes part of your team. Or when they suddenly need your help with something. But as Captain Jane from SPACE BLASTERS always says, you never know who might turn out to be an ally in a time of need.

      I think that is also what my dad means when he says it’s important to ‘be the bigger person’. He doesn’t actually mean be BIGGER, which is what I thought when he first told me that.

      So when Ralph and his twin sister Regina (who is about a million times nicer than him) asked me and my best friends Zoe and Bernard to help them, I knew I had no choice.

      I had to do what Captain Jane and Spaceman Jack (and my dad) would want me to do.

      It was finally time to face . . .

       THE ZOMBIE WEREWOLF!

       CHAPTER 2

       CONFESSIONS IN THE CRAFT CORNER

      It all started when I noticed that Ralph and Regina kept falling asleep in class.

      Ralph might be my nemesis, but I didn’t want Regina to get in trouble, so I threw a balled-up piece of paper at her head to wake her up. It just bounced off her, and she kept sleeping.

      “Regina!” I whispered as loud as I dared. Nothing. Ralph drooled a little bit next to her.

      “Regina!” I tried again. No response.

      When our teacher Ms Winkleworth turned back to the board, I threw an eraser at Regina.

      Unfortunately, I don’t have great aim. The eraser hit Ralph instead.

      “Ow!” he said, jolting awake and rubbing the back of his head. Regina must have heard him, because she woke up too, blinking sleepily. Ralph looked around and saw me staring straight at him. Then he threw the eraser back, way harder than I had.

      “Ow!” I said, as the eraser hit me in the nose.

      “What is going on?” said Ms Winkleworth, who had turned around just in time to see the eraser bounce off my nose. “Ralph, are you throwing things?”

      “Sam Wu threw his eraser at me first!” said Ralph.

      Sam, is that true?” said Ms Winkleworth.

      I wanted to explain that it was because Ralph and Regina had been sleeping and I was trying to help, but I didn’t want to be a tattler (even though Ralph had just told on me). So I tried to be the bigger person and just shrugged. “It was an accident,” I said. “It just . . . flew out of my hands. Like magic.”

      “Maybe it was a ghost!” said Bernard, who always has my back. He is one of my best friends and is the smartest person I know. He’s basically a walking dictionary.

      “Exactly,” I said, giving Ms Winkleworth my most serious face.

      Ms Winkleworth sighed. “Sam, erasers don’t just fly out of people’s hands,” she said. Then she went and wrote both of our names on the board and circled them. “You two will both have to stay inside today at break and help tidy the craft corner.”

      “That’s not fair,” Ralph whined. “Sam Wu started it.”

      “Well, next time you should both think twice about throwing erasers in class,” said Ms Winkleworth.

      And that was how I found myself in the craft corner with my nemesis, Ralph Zinkerman the Third.

      “You should do the tidying,” he said when Ms Winkleworth was at her desk going through some papers. “This is your fault!”

      “I was trying to help you!” I spluttered. “Well, I was trying to help Regina, but you were asleep too! I could have told on you, you know.

      But I didn’t.” I held my head a little higher when I said this.

      Ralph said.

      “I do NOT drool,” Ralph said with a snort. He is the master of snorts.

      “You did,” I said. Then I frowned. “Why are you both so tired?”

      Ralph sighed and sat down. “None of your business,” he said as he held back a yawn. “And I’m not tired.”

      “I’m just trying to help,” I said.

      “Why?” said Ralph suspiciously.

      I had to think about that one. It was true, Ralph was my nemesis. He always made fun of me in front of everyone and he called me names like Scaredy Cat Sam and Sam Wu-ser (which he thinks is funny because he makes my last name sound like loser).

      But even if Ralph wasn’t always my friend, Regina was. And I had a feeling that whatever was bothering Ralph would be bothering her too. Plus, I’d learned from SPACE BLASTERS that sometimes being a good Captain is checking in on all of your crew, even the ones you don’t like as much.

      “Because we’re in the same crew,” I said.

      Ralph snorted (like I said, he is the master of snorts) and rolled his eyes. “That was one camping trip in the woods,” he said. “And don’t think it means we’re best friends or anything now. Because we’re not.”

      “Suit yourself,” I said, and turned to organize some paint brushes. I tried to whistle too, to show how much I wasn’t bothered, but I don’t know how to whistle, so instead I kind of just blew air out of my mouth and hooted a bit.

      “Why are you making train noises?” Ralph said. “You are so weird.”

      “I’m just whistling,” I said. “Minding my own business.”

      Ralph scowled. “Fine! I’ll tell you. Regina will probably tell you anyway. She’s convinced that you and your friends are the only ones who can help us. I don’t know why.”

      “Really?” I said, standing up a little straighter. It was nice to feel appreciated.

      Ralph paused and then looked around to make sure nobody could hear him. “Do you remember what