Read Online Body Switchers from Outer Space by R.L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

idea. I started pulling things out. The merister. The lifter. The boxes of pinter and skwoos Chad-Two had given me.
    A light went on in my brain. An idea! Earth food had nearly killed me. Maybe alien food would make Chad sick!
    Skwoos wouldn’t work. They were big and still alive, and Chad would know not to swallow one. But the pinter . . . Chad-Two had said it was powdered.
    I tapped the brown box up to full-size.
    Pepper gasped as it grew in my hands.
    The box was filled with multicolored powder that looked like ground-up butterfly wings.
    â€œIf I put a pinch of this in some lemonade and Chad drinks it, I bet it’ll make him sick,” I told Pepper. “Then maybe I can get him on a bike and wheel him back to his house.”
    â€œWill it kill him?” she asked, peering out the window. Chad was throwing the Frisbee up and catching it as it came down.
    â€œI hope not!” I told her. I didn’t want to kill Chad. I didn’t want to kill my own body. I didn’t want to kill anybody! But I had to try something!
    I put a pinch of pinter in the bottom of a glass and poured lemonade over it. I stirred it really well.
    I handed Pepper the glass. “Please help me, Pep. Please!”
    She stared at me for a long minute.
    â€œThis is for real, isn’t it?” she asked.
    â€œYeah. It’s for real,” I told her.
    She bit her lip, then went outside, carrying the glass of lemonade.
    I hid in the kitchen and watched her walk out and give the glass to Chad. He grabbed the lemonade and drank it all.
    Pepper smiled at him.
    He told her to go long. He waved the Frisbee at her.
    Pepper stared at him, then ran across the yard. He threw the Frisbee in a perfect arc.
    A beautiful pass.
    Chad was fine. The pinter didn’t affect him.
    My plan wasn’t going to work! I was doomed!

16

    T hey went back to playing Frisbee.
    I went back to thinking that my life was over.
    I stood staring out the kitchen window more miserable than I’ve ever been. I’d never get my body back now!
    My days on Earth were over.
    Pepper tossed the Frisbee and Chad jumped up and caught it in the air—but he tripped when he landed. He fell to the grass.
    That wasn’t like Chad. Even in my body.
    I clutched the sink below the window. I held my breath.
    â€œI don’t feel so good,” Chad said as he pushedhimself up. He pressed the backs of his hands to his cheeks. His face was red.
    Could it be? Yes! Chad was getting sick. My plan was working. I still had a chance!
    â€œCome on, Will. I’ll get you inside and call a doctor,” Pepper said. She pulled his arm around her shoulders and led him toward the driveway where our bikes were.
    I slammed out of the kitchen door and stood in front of them.
    Chad was wiping sweat off his forehead, but he looked up and saw me. “You! Oh, no. What have you done?”
    â€œCome on, it’s just a pinch of pinter!”
    â€œPinter? You want to kill me?”
    â€œNo! I want my body back! Now get on this bike!”
    Chad groaned and held his stomach. He collapsed on the cement. His face was red and he was sweating.
    â€œHe’s dying!” Pepper yelled. “Do something!”
    I felt in my pockets and found the lifter.
    I headed for Chad, when a shadow fell across the driveway.
    I glanced toward the street.
    Chad-Two stood there.
    And he didn’t look happy.

17

    â€œW hat are you doing?” Chad-Two demanded.
    â€œWho is this?” Pepper screeched. “How many of you space guys are there? What do you want?”
    Chad opened his eyes, groaned, and slumped again.
    â€œWhat’s the matter with you, Chad-One?” Chad-Two yelled at me. “You’ve been acting so weird, I planted a tracer on you! What are you doing with these slimy humans? How could you tell them about us?”
    â€œI’m not Chad-One,” I confessed. Shink or no shink, I had to tell him. “He’s Chad-One. He