Don't Scream! by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page A

Eli’s.
    â€œJack, you’re sure in a hurry this morning,” Mom said, watching me gulp down my Wheaties.
    â€œYeah. Kinda,” I replied. I wiped milk off my chin with one hand. Then I strapped on my backpack, grabbed the cell phone, and ran out the front door.
    It was a warm morning. The sun was just rising over the trees. On the front lawn, two robins were having a noisy tug-of-war over a worm.
    I waited at the curb for the school bus to arrive. I was one of the first kids to be picked up every morning. Luckily, Mick and Darryl always got a ride to school with Mick’s dad. They were only on the bus in the afternoon.
    I held the phone tightly and stared down at it. “Emmy, are you there?” I asked in a whisper.
    No answer.
    I tried texting Eli. I told him we needed to talk. Emergency.
    But he didn’t text me back.
    The yellow school bus came rattling around the corner. I climbed on and said “good morning” to Charlene.
    She grunted back at me. She didn’t like to talk in the morning. Her eyes were hidden behind dark glasses. She had a tall cardboard cup of coffee balancing on the dashboard.
    I took a seat in the back row. I studied the phone. “Emmy?”
    Silence.
    I knew she was still inside the phone. No way she would just vanish. Was she asleep? Computers went to sleep. Did that mean she could sleep, too?
    It was too weird to think about.
    I tried texting Eli again. But, no reply.
    At school, I found him at his locker. I ran up to him breathlessly. “Why didn’t you answer my texts?” I demanded.
    He tossed a book onto his locker floor. “What texts? I didn’t get any texts,” he said. “Do you think that phone really works?”
    â€œI don’t know.” I shook the phone. “It’s getting weirder and weirder,” I said.
    The bell rang. Right above our heads. I nearly dropped the phone.
    Eli slammed the locker door shut. “We’re going to be late.”
    â€œI don’t care,” I said. “I’ve got a real problem here. The girl in the phone. She says she’s not a real girl. She says she’s some kind of digital accident.”
    Eli’s eyebrows rose up nearly to his hair. “Interesting,” he said. He started toward Miss Rush’s classroom.
    I pulled him back. “Interesting?” I cried. “Is that all you can say?
Interesting?
”
    â€œLet’s talk about it at lunch,” he said. He pointed.
    Miss Rush stood at the classroom door with her arms crossed in front of her. She was tapping one brown shoe on the floor. She didn’t like it when kids wandered in late.
    â€œOkay. Lunch,” I said. “But this is too weird, Eli. I’m never getting rid of this girl. I know it.”
    The phone buzzed in my hand. What did that mean? I shoved it into my jeans pocket.
    Miss Rush smiled at us as we walked into the room. “What were you two boys talking about?” she asked.
    â€œScience,” I said.
    A few minutes later, Miss Rush was going over our Science work sheets with us. I struggled to concentrate. I leaned over my desk and ran over my answers with a yellow highlighter.
    We were only on the second question whenEmmy’s voice floated up from the phone in my pocket.
    â€œJack, I’m getting a signal.”
    â€œSHHHH,” I whispered. “People can hear you.”
    â€œThat’s not important,” she replied, but she lowered her voice. “I’m getting a signal. From the computer lab. I think someone like me is in there.”
    â€œSHHHHH. Please —” I begged. I tried to bury the phone deeper in my jeans pocket.
    A few kids turned around to look at me. Miss Rush raised her head from the Science work sheet on her desk.
    â€œDidn’t you hear me last night?” Emmy demanded. “Don’t you remember that I need your help? Don’t you remember that you are going to do everything I ask you to