ONE
â Boom! Ba-boom! â
âWhat?â
âThatâs how it starts,â I said. âWith lightning flashing and thunder going Boom! Ba-boom! â
âOh. Okay. Go on.â
I was in my best friend Zeekâs room. He was holding his dadâs new video camera. I was telling him my idea for a movie. And, since it was Halloween, it was going to be a scary movie.
âItâs dark,â I said. âTwo kids run into an old house. Their names are Noodle Newton and Zeek Pilinsky.â
âThe stars!â Zeek smiled as he looked at me through the camera lens.
âSuddenly, a horrible noise echoes through the house. And Zeek says, âIâm afraaaid! â But Noodle stays cool. He says â¦â
âCUT! CUT! CUT!â Zeek said, putting down the camera. âThatâs not how it goes! I donât say, âIâ m afraaaid .ââ
âSorry,â I said. âI thought one of us should be scared ⦠you know ⦠a little ?â
âWell, it canât be me,â he said. âOr you, either. Weâre official Danger Guys. We love this stuff.â
Itâs true. We are Danger Guys, and we do love this stuff. Action movies, scary movies, adventure moviesâweâve seen them all. And weâve read every book, too.
âThink of something else, Noodle. Youâre always thinking up something or other.â
Yeah, Iâm the guy with the ideas. Thatâs why everybody calls me Noodle. And Zeekâs the sports whiz, the guy with the muscles.
Together, we are one incredible team.
âWell, okay,â I admitted. âHow aboutââ
âShhh!â Zeek put his finger up to his lips and pointed to his door. The knob turned slowly.
Suddenlyâ wham! The door swung open. I fell behind Zeekâs bed. Zeek backed into his desk, tripped, and nearly dropped the camera.
âGot you!â said a familiar voice.
âDad!â said Zeek. âYou scared us!â Then Zeek looked at me and smiled. âWell, not really.â
I poked up my head. âWeâre going to make a Halloween movie with your camera, Mr. P.â
âThatâs why Iâm here,â he said. âIf you plan to make a movie, thereâs only one place to learn.â
Then he held up a handful of tickets. There was a big golden âPâ on each one.
Zeek and I looked at each other. We started jumping up and down.
âParagon Movie Studio!â
Zeekâs dad smiled. âThatâs right. Weâve got tickets for a tour of the oldest studio in Hollywood. Want to eat first, orââ
Whoosh! We never even heard the rest.
A couple of hours later, Zeek and I, dressed in our Danger Guy jackets, backpacks, and sunglasses, were staring up at the golden letters on the Paragon Studio gate.
âZeek, look. Just like at the beginning of all those movies. The Paragon gate. Then it fades and the movie starts. Remember Storm of Terror ? That first scene?â
âYeah,â said Zeek in his deep movie voice. ââ It was a beautiful day. Then something went wrong. Terribly wrong! â I canât believe itâthey made that movie right here!â
âBoys, they made everything here,â said Zeekâs mom, gazing at Mr. P. âWhy, I remember Strangers in Love and Close Friends and all those other great films. Donât you, dear?â
Zeek and I looked at each other. âYeah, I guess they had to make those kinds of movies, too.â
âAnd,â said Zeekâs sister, Emily, âdonât forget Ali Baba .â Then she started to hum the love theme.
Two seconds later, a small bus drove up. We got on with a bunch of other kids and parents.
âOkay, Zeek,â I said. âStart rolling. We need some good background shots for our movie.â
âYeah. Too bad itâs such a nice day. Maybe we should make a love story.â
We looked at each