Your Worst Nightmare by P.J. Night Read Free Book Online Page A

her way through the crowd and walked over to a small opening in the cave wall just a few feet from Kristi. It was hardly more than a crevice.
    Mrs. Hallett’s eyes focused on Kristi. “Red Sweater, since you’re so interested in troglobites, would you like to go first?” she asked.
    â€œUm, sure, I guess,” Kristi replied as she glanced at Olivia.
    The two girls squeezed after Mrs. Hallett into the tiny rock chamber. It was so dark that Kristi couldn’t see anything, but she felt her legs brush against a metal chain near the edge.
    â€œThat’s far enough,” Mrs. Hallett said, somewhere in the darkness.
    Then she switched on an industrial flashlight and pointed it at a shallow pool near their feet.
    Kristi and Olivia leaned forward at the same time to take a closer look. It was just a fish swimming in tight circles around a too-small basin of water, but there was something so wrong about it—
    With skin stretched tight over the sockets where its eyes should have been—
    With translucent skin that seemed as fragile as a butterfly’s wing—
    And the narrow veins under the skin, where the pink blood streamed—
    The chunk of muscle in its chest, its very heart, twitching, thumping, pumping—
    The fish flinched as if the light pained it, and Kristi wasn’t sure but she thought—she thought —it tried to swim away from the bright beam. And yet there was nowhere for it to go.
    â€œOh, don’t hurt it!” Kristi cried out before she could stop herself.
    Mrs. Hallett gave her a look. “It’s just a fish,” she said as she switched off her flashlight.
    Kristi stumbled backward out of the narrow room, with Olivia right behind her.
    â€œThat was horrible,” Olivia said.
    â€œSeriously,” Kristi agreed, nodding vigorously. “Why is this stupid field trip not over yet? I can’t believe we were excited to come here. Now I can’t wait to leave.”
    The girls crossed to the other side of the massive chamber, where more thin metal chains served as guardrails. Looking over the side, Kristi realized that this side of the chamber was bordered by a steep precipice.
    â€œThat must be one of those big drops Mrs. Hallett told us about,” Olivia said. “I wish I had a rock orsomething. I would throw it down there to see if we could hear it fall.”
    â€œUgh, at this point I don’t even care how deep it is,” Kristi said as she wrapped her arms around herself.
    Olivia gave her a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it will be over soon,” she said. “Remember, Ms. Pierce said our buses will leave no later than two o’clock. That’s only a few hours from now.”
    â€œHey,” Bobby said as he and Tim joined them. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I’ll ever eat fish sticks again.”
    Kristi smiled weakly at him. She tried to ignore the gleeful shrieks of surprise that echoed across the cave from kids who were seeing the trapped troglobite for the first time. It was taking a while for the entire seventh-grade class to see the fish; though Ms. Pierce and Mr. Tanaka tried to keep everyone quiet, the kids started talking louder and louder. Some of the boys were even messing around.
    â€œHoooo! Look at me!” shouted Nick Vincenzo. “I’m falling to my doooooom !”
    Kristi spun around to see Nick standing right next to the thin metal chain that looped around the chasm.“Nick, don’t be stupid,” she said. “Get away from the edge.”
    Nick gave her a sly look. “Ooooh, I guess I’m stupid. I guess I should be so scared of this hundred-foot drop,” he said, mocking the worry in Kristi’s voice. Then he stepped over the guardrail and balanced on one foot.
    â€œHelp! Help!” Nick cried in a whiny, high-pitched voice as he wobbled back and forth.
    Everyone laughed, and Kristi knew that Nick