Scare School by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online Page B

this?” I muttered.
    I tugged the paper off the case. And stared at the red letters, scrawled in paint: READ MY LETTER:
    WHO WILL DROP FIRST?
    “Oh, wow.” A voice behind me made me spin around.
    I found Teri standing there, reading the note over my shoulder. “Sam—be careful,” she said softly.
    I let the note fall to the floor. “I’m not afraid of stupid notes that don’t even make any sense!” I cried angrily.
    I grabbed the sax case and pulled it open. Then I lifted out the two sections of the horn.
    I started to slide them together. Then stopped.
    Wait. Something felt funny. Something was wrong.
    I tried to set the sax sections back in the case. But my hands wouldn’t let go.
    My fingers were wrapped tightly around them. I tried to raise my fingers. To uncurl them.
    But they were stuck tightly to the saxophone pieces.
    “Hey!” I cried.
    I shook my hands hard. But they wouldn’t come unstuck.
    My heart pounding, I stared at the two sax sections. Someone had poured a thick layer of glue over them.
    No matter how I moved, I couldn’t pull my hands away.
    “Mr. Kelly? I need help here!” I shouted. Myvoice came out high and shrill.
    Several kids turned to stare at me.
    Mr. Kelly had been talking to the snare drummers. He turned, saw me down on the floor beside my sax case, and hurried over.
    “Sam, what’s the problem?”
    I raised my hands with the horn sections attached. “I’m stuck,” I said. “My hands are glued to the sax.”
    Mr. Kelly’s mouth dropped open in shock. He bent down beside me. He gave one of the sax parts a gentle tug.
    “See?” I said. “I’m totally stuck.”
    He stared at my hands. “Let’s see what we can do,” he muttered.
    He grabbed the fingers on my left hand and tried to pry them up.
    No. They wouldn’t budge.
    He grabbed the sax section and pulled with all his strength.
    I heard a ripping sound—and felt a wave of pain sweep down my arm.
    “OW! NO—STOP!” I screamed. “MY SKIN! MY SKIN IS TEARING OFF!”

16
    Mr. Kelly phoned my parents. He said they would meet me at the emergency room.
    He helped me to my feet, then guided me to his car in the teacher parking lot. Kids stared at me as I made my way through the hall.
    Some kids thought it was a joke. But they stopped laughing when they saw the pain on my face. I heard some kids murmuring about the imp.
    Mr. Kelly held open the door to his gray Camry. I lowered myself into the seat and rested the sax parts in my lap.
    “The doctors will know how to unstick them,” he said. He was trying to sound cheerful. But I could tell by his voice that he was really worried.
    As we pulled into the hospital parking lot, Mr. Kelly turned to me. He stared down at the sax pieces, then raised his eyes to me.
    “Don’t tell your parents about the imp,” he said softly.
    My mouth felt dry as dust. I swallowed. “Excuse me?”
    “If he finds out about it, it will only make things worse,” Mr. Kelly said.
    I groaned and tried to raise my hands. “How could things be any worse?” I asked.
    “If the secret gets out, the imp will go berserk,” Mr. Kelly said. “He will hurt people. He really will. He will go after everyone in the school.”
    I saw my parents crossing the parking lot. Dad held Mom’s arm. They looked really worried.
    “There they are,” I told Mr. Kelly. I pointed.
    He grabbed my sleeve. “Don’t tell, Sam,” he repeated. “I’m warning you.”
    We caught up to my parents at the front desk. They turned and stared in shock at the pieces of the saxophone stuck to my hands.
    Before I could open my mouth, Mr. Kelly spoke up. “Someone at school played a cruel trick,” he told them. “The principal is looking into it.”
     
    Dr. Gubbin didn’t know what to do. He was a young man with a short black ponytail hanging fromthe back of his green surgical cap.
    He had me perched in front of him on a metal exam table. He kept rubbing the front of his green gown with both hands, studying my hands.