Claws! by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page A

to my feet.
    The laughter rang in my ears. But I didn’t care about that. I gazed all around, searching for the cat.
    Finally, Miss Harris gave the school signal for quiet—two fingers raised above her head. The room grew silent.
    Yeeeooow.
    I was still on my feet. My legs trembled. My heart was thudding in my chest.
    “Don’t you hear it?” I repeated, trying to keep my voice steady.
    “Hear what, Mickey?” Miss Harris asked. She came down the aisle till she stood right in front of me. “What do you hear? I’m listening. I don’t hear anything.”
    Yeeeooow.
    “There. It did it again. It’s—it’s a cat,” I stammered. “There’s a cat in here. But I can’t find it.”
    She narrowed her blue eyes at me. She frowned. “Is this a dare? Did Aaron dare you to do this?”
    Aaron shot both hands up in the air. “No way!” he screamed. “I didn’t do anything. He’s
crazy
!”
    “It’s not a dare,” I said. I raised my right hand. “I swear.”
    Miss Harris turned to face the class. “Does anyone else hear a cat? Is Mickey the only one who hears it?”
    A few kids laughed. No one raised a hand.
    “Amanda, please —” I called. She sits in the front row. I needed her help. “Amanda—do you hear it?”
    She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mickey. I don’t hear anything,” she said softly. “Maybe …” Her voice drifted off. She didn’t finish her sentence.
    “Everyone look under your seats,” Miss Harris said. “Look all around. Find the cat.”
    She turned back to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I hope someone finds a cat, Mickey,” she said. “I hope you didn’t interrupt the Civil War for a joke.”
    “Not a joke,” I muttered.
    Chairs scraped as kids looked under their seats. On the other side of the room, two boys cupped their hands around their mouths and meowed.
    “Last chance,” Miss Harris said. “Does anyone see a cat in here?”
    “Yes! I do!” Aaron cried. He pointed under Miss Harris’s desk. “I see it! There it is!”

21
    I gasped and tried to see where he was pointing.
    Miss Harris stared at Aaron. “You really see a cat?” she demanded.
    “No, actually, I don’t,” Aaron said. A grin spread over his round, freckled face. “Just messing with you!”
    The class erupted in a riot of laughter. Kids hee-hawed and bumped knuckles. A bunch of kids started meowing.
    Miss Harris trotted back to the front of the room. She raised her hand in the Quiet signal again. And a few seconds later, the noise stopped.
    I saw Amanda staring at me with an unhappy scowl on her face. She motioned with both hands for me to sit down. So I did.
    Aaron punched me on the shoulder. “Just funning with you,” he said. He giggled.
    I forced a smile. I didn’t want to fight with him. I didn’t want any more trouble of any kind.
    Miss Harris sat on the edge of her desk. She glanced up at the big wall clock behind her. “Almost lunchtime,” she said. She snapped her notebook shut. “I guess the Civil War will have to take a break till this afternoon. Thanks to Mickey’s invisible cat.”
    Kids stared at me. I lowered my gaze to the floor.
    They could stare and laugh all they wanted. Something very scary was going on here, and I was the only one who knew about it.
    Even Amanda thought I was going nuts. I had to talk to her. I had to tell her about the shadow on the wall last night. And what happened to my poor fish.
    The bell rang. I packed up my stuff and hurried to the lunchroom. Kids meowed at me all down the hall. I laughed and pretended it was all a big joke.
    I searched for Amanda in the crowded lunchroom. But she wasn’t there yet.
    The room smelled of hot dogs and beans. My stomach growled. I could have gone for two or three hot dogs. But Dad packs my lunch every morning. It’s always a ham sandwich or tuna salad, a box of juice, and an apple. I throw away all the apples.
    I sat down at a table in the corner at the back of the room. No one else around. I watched the door