Don't Close Your Eyes! by R.L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page A

again. “Nicky? Tara? Are you here?” I asked.
    Silence. No sign of them.
    I leaned against the cool tile wall and tried to get myself together. My head weighed at least two tons. It took all my strength to keep my eyelids open.
    I decided I'd go downstairs to the gym. Maybe work out a little.
    I know. That wasn't like me at all. But I thought maybe exercise would help wake me up.
    Blinking, yawning, I staggered to the stairs. I reached for the metal rail on the side—and missed.
    I stumbled. And started to fall.
    “Nooooo!”
I let out a long howl as I tumbled all the way down the steep stairs, rolling over and over.

19
    “UNNNNNH”
    Was I hurt?
    No. I'd landed flat on my back on something soft.
    I heard someone groan. The sound seemed to come from
beneath
me.
    I tried to roll off. But my arms and legs wouldn't cooperate. It took three tries.
    I rolled away and pulled myself to my knees.
    “Traci!” I cried out. She lay flat on her stomach on the floor, her hair over her face.
    “Traci!”
    I'd landed on Traci Wayne.
    She raised her head and turned her face to me.
    And what was that chocolatey stuff all over her face?
    She sat up. The chocolate goop oozed down the front of her sweater, too. She shook her head, dazed. Chocolate dripped from her perfect blond hair.
    I saw the tray of chocolate pudding on thefloor next to her. She'd been carrying the pudding cups. And then I fell on her. And now there was pudding all over her.
    Did I want to die? Or disappear into the floor? Or both?
    Of course. Do you have any idea how totally embarrassing it is to have a huge crush on a girl— and then fall down the stairs on her when she's carrying chocolate pudding cups?
    Yikes.
    Traci slowly climbed to her feet. She tried wiping the pudding off her sweater with both hands. But of course, that only got pudding all over her hands, too.
    “Sorry about that,” I muttered.
    She frowned at me. “Max,” she said, “this didn't really happen—
did
it?”
    I swallowed. “I think it's real. I don't think we're dreaming.”
    She pulled a blob of pudding off her forehead. Then she said something totally shocking. “Max, do you promise not to fall on me if I come to your house tonight?”
    Traci? Come to my house?
    Of course, I realized what that meant. She wanted me to do her homework for her.
    “N-no problem,” I stammered.
    But of course, there
was
a problem. A big problem. I'd already been awake for forty-eight hours.
    How would I stay awake long enough to do Traci's homework?
    And here was an even bigger problem. I'd just remembered my tryout for the swim team. It was after school.
    How could I make the team if I was sound asleep in the water?

20
    AFTERMYLASTCLASS , I dragged myself to the school's new pool and changed into my swimsuit. It took me a long moment to realize I'd put it on backward. I could barely see straight.
    Coach Freeley greeted me at the edge of the pool. I nearly walked right into him!
    The coach is built like a tank. He's very short and very wide, with bulging muscles everywhere you can have muscles. He has a broad chest that stretches his T-shirts tight over his perfect abs. He's young, and the girls all think he's really hot because of his wavy black hair and white-toothed smile.
    He's a nice guy. He's always been nice to me. It was especially great of him to give me this special tryout.
    If only I wasn't asleep on my feet!
    “Take it easy at first, Max,” he said. “Do some laps. Any kind of stroke you want. Just to warm up.”
    “Okay,” I said. I hoped he didn't see my yawn.
    I tried to dive in, but I fell off the edge. I landed with a
splat
on the surface of the water.
    Brrr. They keep it pretty cold. Lucky for me. I thought it might wake me up.
    I started with a simple breaststroke. I swam smoothly and with a steady rhythm.
    I knew Coach Freeley was watching. I thought I was doing a good job, until—
clonnnk
— I bumped my head on the side of the pool.
    Shaking it off, I turned in the water