There's Something Out There Read Free Page A

games with his friends. It was totally unfair, but at this point, Jenna was used to it.
    Besides, it wasn’t like she had some burning desire to play Alien Robot Kung Fu Attackers with Jason and the guys. Jenna imagined it had to be even worse for Sarah, who would obviously
love
to get her nails painted and hang out with the older girls at the sleepover.
    But if Maggie didn’t want Sarah around, Jenna wasn’t going to argue with her about it. That wouldn’t stop Jenna from giving Sarah some marshmallows from her hot chocolate, though. She could do that much, at least.
    In the kitchen, Maggie got out a large glass pitcher and filled it with milk. Then she started heating it in the microwave while she searched for the hot chocolate mix in the pantry. “Got it!” she finally announced. “Jenna? Can you get the whipped cream out of the fridge?”
    â€œSure thing,” Jenna replied.
    Sarah perched on one of the tall stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen. “I want marshmallows andwhipped cream on my hot chocolate!” she announced.
    â€œWell, you’re not getting them,” Maggie said as the microwave beeped. She pulled the pitcher of hot milk out and poured some into a mug. “I believe Mom said that some ‘warm milk’—
not
hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows—would help you get back to sleep.”
    As Brittany started to giggle, a look of outrage crossed Sarah’s face.
    â€œOh, who cares, Maggie?” Jenna asked quickly as she dumped a spoonful of chocolate powder into Sarah’s mug. Then she leaned over and whispered into Maggie’s ear, “Don’t give her a reason to make a scene and get your mom all mad at us.” Maggie just nodded, but Jenna could tell that she saw her point.
    The rest of the girls loaded up their hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream, just as Mr. and Mrs. Marcuzzi walked back in the front door.
    â€œI swear, if they don’t fix their fence soon—” Mr. Marcuzzi was saying.
    â€œWell, it was the right thing to do, bringing Rocko back,” interrupted Mrs. Marcuzzi. “It’s not safe for a dog to wander around in the middle of the night like that. What if he got hit by a car?”
    â€œMaybe they could fix their fence already,” Mr. Marcuzzi said, walking into the kitchen with Mrs. Marcuzzi. Jenna tried not to smile at the mud that was splattered all over his clothes. “Then Rocko wouldn’t get out at all.”
    â€œHey, Dad,” Maggie called out. “You want some hot chocolate?”
    â€œUh, no thanks, kiddo,” Mr. Marcuzzi replied. “Shouldn’t you girls be getting back to bed?”
    â€œYeah, we will,” Maggie replied. “We just wanted to make sure you got Rocko home and everything.”
    â€œAnd didn’t get caught by the Marked Monster!” cracked Brittany.
    â€œThe Marked Monster?” asked Sarah, perking up. “What’s that?”
    â€œIt’s
nothing
,” Mrs. Marcuzzi, giving the older girls a look that told them to keep quiet. “Sarah. Back to bed. Now.”
    â€œBut I—”
    â€œNow.”
    Still grumbling, Sarah slid off the stool and trudged back to her room. When Mrs. Marcuzzi’s voice sounded like that,
nobody
argued with her.
    â€œThe rest of you, try to keep it down, okay?” Mrs. Marcuzzi asked with a smile. “You don’t have to goto sleep, but you can’t keep everyone else up.”
    â€œYes, Mrs. Marcuzzi,” Maggie’s friends replied in unison.
    â€œLet’s go up to my room,” Maggie said. “We can finish our hot chocolate there.” The other girls followed Maggie up the stairs and through the hall to her bedroom.
    â€œSo what do you want to do now?” Laurel asked. “More scary stories?”
    â€œNo, I’m sick of scary stories,” Brittany said. “How about