Halloween Party by R.L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page A

fast he could hear it. The vast room seemed to spin, then tilt. He grabbed a chair back to steady himself.
    It took a while for his head to clear. Sounds came back. He could hear individual voices.
    â€œOh, no, no!”
    â€œIs it real?”
    â€œWho is it?”
    â€œSomebody—call 911.”
    Tightly holding Niki’s hand, Terry began to move toward the body with the other guests. He could see now that it was someone dressed in a skeleton costume. But who?
    Everyone seemed reluctant to get any nearer. Finally Alex squatted down. He tentatively reached out totouch the body when suddenly the skeleton jumped up.
    â€œ Trick or treat! ” the skeleton yelled, and collapsed, laughing uncontrollably, back on the rug.
    It was Les Whittle.
    There were gasps of surprise.
    Then laughter, nervous at first, built until the room nearly shook from it.
    â€œOne for the wimp side!” shouted Ricky in triumph.
    â€œGreat trick, Les!” Terry clapped him on the shoulder.
    â€œIt was good,” agreed Trisha in a shaky voice, “but you had us all scared to death. Why didn’t you tell the rest of the team you were going to do it?”
    â€œBecause Justine and I didn’t cook it up till just this morning,” said Les, still laughing. He showed them all the knife. It was just a knife handle. The “blood” was the kind that comes in a tube. “I found these in a joke shop and thought it would be a shame to waste them,” he explained. “It was the easiest thing in the world.”
    â€œYeah, well, for your information none of us was scared at all,” said Murphy. “That’s just the sort of wimpy trick a wimp would pull.”
    Les wasn’t at all perturbed. “Sure, Murph. Tell us another one,” he said, chuckling. He put his hornrimmed glasses on over his skeleton mask. It made him appear incongruous, like a studious corpse. “I’ve been hiding in the kitchen for half an hour,” he said. “Where’s the food? I’m starved!”
    Most of the kids, exhausted by dancing and the scare, collapsed on the antique furniture, eating and talking.
    â€œWhat a dumb trick!” said David, his legs thrown over the arm of an antique rocking chair.
    â€œYou’re just jealous ’cause you didn’t think of it,” said Trisha.
    â€œWe’ve thought of better tricks,” David said. “Much better. You’ll see what I mean, unless you get some sense and go home now.”
    â€œNever!” said Ricky. “You jocks don’t have a chance!”
    â€œYou’re the ones who don’t have a chance,” said Alex. “But I gotta hand it to Les. He made a pretty good corpse.”
    Terry didn’t say anything. Niki was sitting, turned away from everyone, eating another plateful of food. He was glad she couldn’t hear the conversation, because it would probably just get her mad again.
    â€œSo what do you think, guys?” asked Alex jovially, sitting next to Terry and Niki on the arm of an antique wooden bench. “Think your team can go the distance?”
    â€œWe’ve got a better chance than your team,” muttered Terry. “We have some brains on our side.”
    Alex laughed. He wanted it to sound like a good-natured laugh, but Terry knew better.
    â€œGreat costume, Niki,” Alex said, admiring her appreciatively.
    â€œThanks,” Niki said. “I made it myself.”
    â€œYou always could do anything,” said Alex. “I remember that great dress you made for the freshman dance. You were the best-looking girl there.”
    â€œWell, thanks,” said Niki. Her eyes were sparkling, and Terry forced himself to take a slow, deep breath. He hated himself for feeling jealous, but he couldn’t help it.
    After all, Niki was sitting next to him , holding his hand, so why did he feel so jealous of Alex?
    Why did he want to punch him in the face?
    â€œSay,