Secret Admirer by R.L. Stine, Sammy Yuen Jr. Read Free Book Online Page B

wrapping.
    Recognized the sun. The sun. The sun—again.
    And found the note, scrawled on the inside of the wrapper. The rain-smeared note in heavy black letters. Not too smeared to read:
    Selena—
    This is you!
    This is you—unless you leave the play.
    I made a mistake yesterday. I crushed the wrong girl.
    But I’ll get it right.
    If I can’t be with you, no one else can, either.
    Don’t be a rat, Selena. Because …
    The rest of the words were washed out by the rain.
    Selena stared at the note, trying to steady her hand. She read it again. Again.
    In the beginning, the notes had seemed part of a joke. But no longer.
This has gone too far,
Selena thought numbly.
    The Sun really wanted to hurt her. Whoever he was, he had made a mistake when he injured Alison instead of Selena.
    There was no doubt about what the next part of the note meant. It was a clear threat. If Selena didn’t quit the play, he’d kill her.
    She’d be a dead rat.
    Was he outside now?
she wondered. Had he waited around to see her take in the package?
    She hadn’t heard a car drive up. But then how could she hear anything over the pounding of the rain?
    Walking around the decayed rat, she peered out through the open door. The rain poured down, sheetafter sheet. She saw only the rain, the darkness beyond it, broken by the bright flicker of jagged lightning.
    Selena slammed the door and locked it.
    A cold shudder ran down her body. She had to throw away the rat. She had to mop the floor. She had to rid the house of that sickening odor.
    And then what?
she wondered.
    And then what do I do?
    Back up in her room, she tried to concentrate on the script. But the picture of the headless, decayed rat lingered in her mind. Refused to fade away.
    I’ll call Katy,
she decided.
I’ll call Katy and tell her what happened. She always makes me feel better
.
    Katy picked up the phone on the third ring. “Selena? What’s wrong? You sound terrible!”
    â€˜Oh, Katy, I can’t believe it!” Selena cried. She poured out the story of everything that had happened that evening. When she finished, Katy remained silent for a moment. Then she let out a long sigh.
    â€œI said all along that someone crazy was after you,” she scolded Selena. “But I’ll do everything I can to help you find out who it is. We know it’s someone in drama, right? So we’ll keep an eye on everyone working on the play.”
    â€œThanks,” Selena breathed. “But he knows where I live. He knows—”
    â€œSelena, do you think maybe you
should
quit?” Katy asked softly. She sounded very frightened. “If this nut is serious about his threat …”
    â€œQuit the play?” Selena gasped. “I can’t!”
    â€œYou don’t have to give up acting forever,” Katy suggested. “Just the spring play.”
    â€œBut this play is the most important one! It’s my only chance for a scholarship to Northwestern.”
    â€œWell, you
have
to tell Mr. Riordan what’s going on,” Katy insisted. “It’s too serious not to tell him.”
    â€œWhat if he calls off the play?”
    â€œYour life is more important than the play,” Katy told her sharply.
    â€œYou’re right.” Selena sighed. “I’ll tell him.”
    â€œGood. Don’t forget. Tell him first thing tomorrow.” She paused. “Are you okay? Want me to come over?”
    â€œThanks, but I’m okay,” Selena replied. “I feel better just talking to you.”
    Katy sighed. “Well, the more you can keep your mind off this creep, the better. Which reminds me—have you thought about which videos we’re renting for our sleepover on Friday?”
    â€œOh, wow, Katy! I totally forgot we were doing that. I just made a date for Friday.”
    For a moment Katy didn’t speak. “Couldn’t you change it?” she asked.
    â€œI don’t