Addison Addley and the Trick of the Eye Read Free Page B

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    â€œI don’t blame them for staring,” Tiffany said loudly to Trent. “If I lived in a house like that, I wouldn’t be able to believe my own eyes either. What a dump!”
    â€œGet lost, Tiffany,” I said. “My house is better than yours, and you know it.”
    â€œBetter in what way?” she asked. “Better because there’s more room for the rats to run around in your backyard?”
    â€œAt least I have a backyard,” I answered. “Yours is the size of a stamp. Which is about the size of your brain, so at least you match.”
    The Lamp snarled. “Yeah, well I’m glad I don’t live on this creepy street. Becky’s house has been broken into twice already.”
    So it was Becky’s house. Both times. I guess they hadn’t got what they wanted the first time. Poor Becky. She was so shy already. Now she was probably afraid of her own shadow. Becky is smart. She doesn’t talk a lot about herself though. She doesn’t need to. She’s nice. Do you ever notice how nice people don’t talk a lot about themselves? I talk a lot about myself, but usually it’s just to Sam. I don’t know if that makes me nice or not. There’s no question when it comes to Tiffany though. She’s definitely not.
    It bugged me that The Lamp always seemed to know things before I did. Then again, her mother knew every bit of gossip in town, mostly because she started every rumor in town too.
    â€œIt wasn’t really her house,” Tiffany continued. “The first time it was her shed. Stuff had been moved around like somebody was looking for something. The next time, someone messed with the lock on the garage. They didn’t get inside though. Becky’s mother found a note near the trash can by the garage that said eight cents .”
    The garage. I’d never liked that creepy garage of Becky’s. It was full of junk her family got at yard sales. Once I walked by when it was just getting dark and I thought I saw a moose hanging upside down in the garage. Turns out it was just an overstuffed chair with four pointed legs that had fallen sideways on the twisted wire frame of a lampshade. It must have been a Tiffany lampshade because it was really big. Those wires looked just like antlers, at least the antlers I’ve seen on cartoons. I’ve never seen a real moose. I’d probably have to go to the zoo. Do they have moose at zoos?
    Tiffany flipped her hair away from her face. I guess it was so we could see her rolling her eyes better. “Some people just don’t have any common sense,” she sneered. “Becky’s family should have locked their shed. At least they locked their garage. I guess they’ve learned their lesson.”
    It was too bad Tiffany hadn’t learned to put a lock on her mouth.
    Trent spoke up. “ Eight cents . It was probably just some little kid counting up his pennies to buy a pack of gum. You guys get scared over nothing.”
    I wondered if I could pay Tiffany and Trent eight cents to get lost. I doubted it. They probably couldn’t count that high.
    â€œWell, my street beats your street by a mile,” I said. Sam nodded. Tiffany lived in a new house a few streets over, not far from the school. Every house on her street looked exactly the same, like a row of Monopoly houses all lined up neatly on one side of the board. The streets were all named after trees. Tiffany lived on Willow Street. Her hair looked like a bunch of willow branches after a tornado.
    â€œDon’t listen to them,” Trent said to Tiffany. “They’re just worried about the game next week.”
    Our team was playing the Whinycats on Saturday. Trent was the pitcher. Why he would think we’d be nervous was a mystery to me. We would beat them hands down. We always did. The Whinycats had only won two games in the last two years. I guess Trent thought he was going to be the new hero and