House of a Thousand Screams Read Free Page B

whole thing had been planned. Planned to make Freddy and me look bad.
    Mom picked up a couple of the books. “And another thing. Start with two or three objects apiece. Don’t just stand across from each other, chucking all the books in the shelves.” She held one up. “Look. The spine on this is ruined.” She glanced at Freddy.“I’m especially disappointed in you, Freddy. I thought you had more respect for books.”
    â€œSorry,” he said in a small voice.
    I could tell by the glare he gave me that he wanted to tell Mom the truth. But I just shook my head. What good would it do? It was our bad luck that it all happened just when the video got to the part about book juggling.
    Mom went to the door, then turned to face us. “You two clean this mess up and try— try —to see if you can make it to dinner without destroying any more property.”
    â€œGot it,” I answered, feeling glum.
    Mom left and we started cleaning up. After a few minutes Freddy said, “We should tell her.”
    â€œWhat’s the point? She won’t believe us,” I argued. “Especially after seeing that act on the tape.”
    â€œWell, then, we’ll find a way to make her believe us!” Freddy’s eyes were scared. “Some of these books are heavy. We could have really been hurt, Jill.”
    â€œBut we weren’t,” I pointed out. “We don’t know what happened, Freddy. Maybe the books just fell out of the shelves.”
    â€œYeah, right. Books don’t fall fifteen feet across a room, stupid.”
    I picked up another armload of books. “How do you know there’s not a natural cause? Maybe Shadyside is on some kind of what-do-you-call-it—fault line. Maybe it was an earthquake.”
    â€œAnd maybe it’s because we’re on Fear Street,” Freddy retorted.
    This was getting ridiculous. “Look, Freddy,” I said in my most reasonable voice. “You already expected something scary to happen. You said it yourself this morning. Remember?”
    He nodded reluctantly.
    â€œSee? That’s all it is,” I told him. “We’re both nervous and we’ve made this whole thing into too big a deal.”
    Freddy can be stubborn sometimes. “Maybe. But I still think we should tell,” he insisted.
    â€œCome on!” I shoved the last book back into place and faced him. “Can you just picture us telling Mom and Dad about how the books started dancing? Or how they flew off the shelves and tried to bean us? Think about it, Freddy. We’d either get grounded for lying or sent to the loony bin.”
    â€œOkay, okay!” Freddy scowled at me. “We won’t say anything. But you better be right about those natural causes, Jill.”
    â€œI am,” I assured him.
    He left the den and clattered up to his room. I stared at the bookshelves. I wished I felt as sure of myself as I had sounded. Maybe we did live on a fault line. Or maybe there was some other natural explanation I hadn’t thought of.
    Or maybe we were in big trouble.

5

    M y first day at Shadyside Middle School went like a dream. A bad dream. By lunch period I was ready to go home and stay there. Maybe forever.
    I stood at my locker, trying to ignore the stares and whispers of kids around me. I just knew they were talking about me. I’d heard them snickering in first period when I spoke. Everybody thought my Texas twang was funny. Now I was afraid to say anything.
    It wasn’t that I’d never been the new kid before. I had. But at least that had still been in Texas. At Shadyside I wasn’t just new. I was different. I talked different. My clothes were different.
    â€œHi,” a voice said behind me. I felt myself stiffen. Oh, no, here it comes, I thought. I grabbed my history book, closed my locker, and turned to face the music.
    â€œHi.” I spoke quietly, prepared for teasing.
    A blond girl stood