A Midsummer's Nightmare Read Free Page A

about.”
    “Ugh. You don’t have ants again, do you? I keep saying that you need to get a real exterminator in there instead of trying to do everything yourself.”
    “No, it’s not ants,” he said. “And I don’t think we’ll have to worry about those pests again because… well, I moved.”
    “Moved?” I repeated. “You mean, like, to a new house?”
    “That’s what I mean.”
    I stared at him, shocked. “But… you loved that condo. Why would you move? Did you want a place closer to the lake or something?”
    “No, it wasn’t about the beach.”
    “Then why give up the condo?” I asked. “If you’re not going closer to the lake, there’s no reason to live in Millerton.”
    “Well, I agree. But that’s just it. I’m not living in Millerton.”
    “What? Really? But you’ve always lived in Millerton. You grew up there—
I
grew up there. Why would you leave?”
    “You’ll see when we get to Hamilton. You’ll love it there, munchkin,” he assured me. “It’s a nice little neighborhood. Great surroundings. Wonderful people. You’ll love spending your summer there, I promise. It’s even better than Millerton.”
    Hamilton was a hellhole.
    I discovered this three and a half hours later, after listening to every song on my iPod multiple times. I’d spent the drive giving Dad the silent treatment, annoyed that he hadn’twarned me about this move. He’d always had a bad habit of springing things on me, like new girlfriends (those never lasted long enough to matter, though) or remodeling the condo. But never anything as drastic as moving to a new town.
    A new, crappy town.
    I was just thinking that I needed to get on iTunes to download some music when Dad’s SUV rumbled past the WELCOME TO HAMILTON! sign. As soon as I saw that exclamation mark, I knew I was doomed. It only got worse as we drove farther into town.
    Suburbs.
    One stoplight.
    A population of less than a thousand.
    And definitely,
definitely
no beach. In fact, Dad’s new house was on the opposite side of Channel 34’s viewing area, which put us more than a hundred miles from the lake.
    “Great,” I muttered, watching out the window as white picket fence after white picket fence zoomed past. “So much for spending the summer in a bikini.”
    “Hey, don’t get upset just yet, munchkin.” He reached over to pat me on the knee.
    Millerton had been twice the size of this place. It wasn’t really a city, but there was a mall, at least, and all the houses didn’t look exactly alike. There had been some diversity, some color. There were skate parks and weekend mini-golf places. And sometimes Dad took me to the go-kart track in the summer.
    Unless they were hidden in the middle of a cornfield that separated the tiny neighborhoods, I doubted Hamilton had any of those things.
    As we drove through the town, I spotted a library, a grocery store, a bank, and absolutely nothing fun to do.
    “I’m going to be so pale when I start college,” I whined.
    “You’ll still get a tan. We already have a pool.”
    “
We
?” I repeated. “Who’s
we
? You mean you and me?”
    “Actually…” Dad cleared his throat. “That’s the second part of the surprise.”
    “Second part?”
    We pulled into a driveway. The house we faced was pretty big, with a perfect, well-kept yard and neat little shutters on the windows. The part that caught my attention, though, was the woman standing on the front porch. She was tall, blond, and wearing super-high high heels.
    “Dad,” I said. “Who is that?”
    He cut the engine and pushed open his door. “Sylvia!” he called out in his deep, booming voice. “Honey, I’m home!”
    “
Honey
?” I frowned and climbed out of the SUV.
    The woman was already jogging down the sidewalk, which I had to admit was impressive in those heels. Instead of running toward my father, she steered in the other direction and landed right next to me, reaching out and wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug before I