Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man by Wendelin Van Draanen Read Free Book Online Page A

fire to burn up a sweater! Besides, he’s probably already thrown it away!”
    Marissa says, “C’mon, Sammy. At least go back to the Bush House and
try
. It’s a five-hundred-dollar sweater! Where are we going to come up with five hundred dollars?”
    I thought about this and said, “Okay. I’ll go. Right after school,” and as we’re walking out to the patio I say to her, “You’re going to come with me, aren’t you?”
    Even when she’s walking, Marissa can kind of do the McKenze dance. And my asking about going to the Bush House was making her dance, all right. I look at her and say, “Forget it, Marissa. It’s all right. I’ll do it by myself.”
    She dances a little faster. “I’ll go. Really, I’ll go. It’s just that the place gives me the
creeps
.”
    I laugh and say, “After the day I’ve been having, the Bush House is going to seem friendly.”
    All of a sudden Marissa forgets about the sweater. “That’s right! What in the world is going
on?
” She looks at me like she’s afraid to tell me something. “It’s all anyone wants to talk about.”
    I see Dot waving her root beer at us from the patio, so I kind of steer Marissa toward her, and as we’re sitting down I whisper, “I think I’ve got it figured out.”
    Dot grabs my arm. “About Amber and Jared?”
    “Yeah, about Amber and Jared.” I lean in. “Who do you know that hates me so much she would call Jared Salcido and
pretend
to be me? And who do you know that would give her right earlobe to break the two of them up so that maybe
she
could go out with him?”
    Marissa looks at Dot and then back at me. “Heather?”
    I smile. “Exactly!”
    We’re all quiet a minute then Dot says, “She wouldn’t …”
    I laugh. “Oh yes she would!”
    Marissa whispers, “What are you going to do?”
    I unwrap my sandwich and take a nice big bite. And while I’m chewing, I’m smiling. Dot and Marissa grab me and say, “What? What are you thinking?”
    “I’m thinking that a good place to start would be to crash Heather’s little Halloween party tonight.”

SIX            
    Marissa practically chokes on her hamburger. She looks back and forth over her shoulders. “Crash her party! Are you
crazy?
She’ll throw you out the door in a hot second and spend the rest of the night laughing about you! That’s
all
you need.”
    I let her think I’ve lost my marbles for a second, then I lean forward and whisper, “I’m not planning to go as
me
. I could dress up as something I’d never be—like a ballerina or a bunny or something—and then go as, say, Dot’s cousin from out of town.”
    Of course, I don’t have a clue what kind of costume I should wear, or even how to get one—there are no tutus hanging in Grams’ closet, if you know what I mean. All I know is that it’s a great idea if I can only pull it off. So I’m sitting there, looking back and forth from Marissa to Dot, wracking my brains about what I can be, when all of a sudden Dot jumps off the bench and says, “I know! I know!”
    Marissa and I say, “What? What?” and pretty soon our noses are all about three inches apart and Dot’s whispering, “Last year for Halloween I went as a princess! My mom made me this terrific costume with layers and layers of skirts, and a lavender mask with sequins and stars andstuff all over it. You could put on some lipstick and earrings and curl your hair.… Heather would never recognize you!”
    Marissa and I look at each other and say, “Perfect!”
    The rest of the afternoon I didn’t listen much to my teachers or even care that people were still whispering about me. I just sat in class, looking forward, thinking about Heather’s party and what I should do once I got in the door.
    When school was finally over, Marissa and I headed home together—me walking and Marissa riding her bike as slow as she can. And to tell you the truth, I think Marissa forgot all about going over to the Bush House because when we get