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bag was rolled out on her floor, with a plastic bag of scares tucked underneath. A fake fuzzy mouse toslip under June’s pillow. A book of ghost stories. A tiny, handheld device that emitted bloodcurdling screams and vicious growls. It would have been perfect, Kelly thought. She didn’t want to wait until next week.
    That was when she had a brilliant idea.
    Kookykell2011: L ET’S HAVE A WEBCAM SLEEPOVER TONIGHT . A LL OF US .
    SpenceX77: W HAT’S THAT ?
    Kookykell2011: J UST LIKE A REAL ONE BUT VIRTUAL . W E ALL PUT ON OUR WEBCAMS SO WE CAN SEE EACH OTHER AND JUST HANG LIKE WE WOULD IF WE WERE TOGETHER . E XCEPT WITH THE COMPUTER . S PENCER CAN HANG TOO .
    SpenceX77: E XCELLENT ! N EVER BEEN TO A GIRLS’ SLEEPOVER .
    Kookykell2011: E IGHT O’CLOCK ! W EAR PJ’S !
    Paige4peace421: A WESOME !
    Juney206: C U THEN .
    Kookykell2011: B EFORE YOU GUYS GO , I HAVE TO WARN YOU ABOUT SOMETHING .
    Paige4peace421: W HAT ?
    Kookykell2011: I T’S SERIOUS .
    SpenceX77: S PIT IT OUT .
    Kookykell2011: G ET READY TO BE SCARED ! V ERY SCARED !

CHAPTER 3
    Kelly opened the front door that evening for Chrissie and immediately shivered at the drop in temperature. The air had plummeted to way below freezing, causing the snow of the past week to crust over into a shiny shell. Chrissie, pizza box in hand, slid a bit on the front walk. Her blond hair poked out of a knit cap, and a puffy navy parka swallowed up her thin body.
    Glancing out into the early evening darkness, Kelly still didn’t see her mother’s big storm approaching. Just the same heavy gray clouds, the Stones’ SUV pulling into their driveway across the street, and Mr. Golubic, wrapped in a thick wool coat, walking his black Labrador, weaving around the snowdrifts on the side of the road. The usual New England winter stuff.
    A little before eight, Kelly stood up from the over-stuffed family room sofa, where Ryan and Chrissie were watching reality-show reruns.
    â€œTime for the webcam sleepover?” Chrissie asked. She smiled knowingly.
    â€œPaige told you?” Paige and Chrissie had this weird relationship. Sometimes they were the best of friends, and sometimes Chrissie went into superior-older-sister mode, acting as if Paige were an alien life form best to be avoided. The hard thing, for an outsider like Kelly, was figuring out which dynamic was playing out when.
    â€œYeah. Sounds like fun.” Chrissie smiled, crinkling her blue eyes the same way Paige did.
    Kelly had to admit that Chrissie was probably the best choice if she was forced to have a babysitter, which obviously she was. A senior in high school, Chrissie starred in all the school plays but wasn’t a drama queen. She was actually pretty laid-back, and she seemed more into talking on her phone than the whole babysitter authority thing. She was fine with letting Ryan and Kelly do what they wanted, which worked for Kelly.
    Chrissie’s ringtone trilled an upbeat tune from a current Broadway musical. “Just come downstairs every oncein a while, so I know you’re still breathing,” Chrissie said before she walked away to answer her phone.
    Kelly closed her bedroom door and changed into striped flannel pajama pants and a long-sleeved sweatshirt with polka dots. She nudged Ezra off her desk chair. The ten-year-old black cat stared at her, then scampered along the windowsill to the top of her dresser. He was her dad’s cat. She wasn’t exactly sure what his problem was, but the cat refused to live on ground level. He’d climb to the highest point in any room so he could reign supreme, staring haughtily down at the humans below.
    Kelly pulled her hair into a ponytail, then switched on her webcam and logged into the conferencing site. Paige’s face peered out from the top box on Kelly’s screen. As perky as ever, she bounced up and down on her bed. Paige always bounced. On the bus. In the cafeteria. During class. Paige’s mom called it