Read Online First Evil by R.L. Stine - Free Book Online Page A

creep!” Corky screamed. She grabbed Sean by the neck and pretended to choke him.
    He collapsed to his knees in a fit of giggles.
    â€œHow long have you been in the closet?” Bobbi demanded, joining Corky in holding him down on the floor.
    â€œIt wasn’t me. It was a ghost,” he said.
    Both girls began tickling him furiously.
    â€œOw! Ow! Ow!” he cried, squirming and laughing.
    All three of them were laughing hysterically now, wrestling on the floor.
    Digging her fingers into Sean’s bony ribs, Bobbi glanced up at the clock. “Oh.” She rolled away and stood up. “Come on, Corky. We’ve got to eat dinner and change. We’ll be late for the game.”
    Corky gave Sean one last hard tickle, then climbed to her feet.
    â€œShadyside’s going to lose,” Sean called after them, following them downstairs. “Shadyside stinks.”
    â™¦ ♦ ♦
    The excitement of the game, the cheers of the Shadyside fans who filled the stadium, the white lights cutting through the chill of the night, making the field brighter than daylight under the starless black sky, forced all thoughts of that afternoon from Bobbi’s mind.
    â€œTigers growl! Tigers roar!
    Do it again—more, more, MORE!”
    Across the field the Winstead High cheerleaders, in their blue and gold uniforms, were clapping and cheering, rousing the few hundred Winstead fans in the away team bleachers. Their cries barely carried over the cheers and shouts that roared down from the Shadyside supporters, and the loud blasts and drumrolls from the Shadyside marching band in their own bleachers near the end zone.
    â€œTigers roar! Tigers growl!
    We want a touchdown—now, now, NOW!”
    Her eyes darting back and forth from the game on the field to the crowd in the stadium, Bobbi led the girls through their cheers. They were onstage now, in full view of everyone. The bitterness and rivalries that had created so much ill feeling in practice were all forgotten.
    Bobbi was in charge, and no one questioned her commands. She called out the cheers and routines they were to perform as she carefully watched the action on the field.
    â€œGo team, go team, go-go-go-go-go GO!”
    The cheers thundered down from the stadium, punctuated by applause and excited shouts. Bobbi glanced quickly down the line of cheerleaders, catching a smile of encouragement from Corky at the far end.
    Before the game, Ronnie had complained that she wasn’t feeling well, that she thought she was coming down with the flu. But Bobbi saw that she was giving one hundred percent, cheering with her usual enthusiasm.
    At the far end of the players’ bench, Bobbi spotted Jennifer. She was in her wheelchair, a maroon blanket over her lap, waving her Shadyside pennant. Their eyes met. Jennifer, smiling happily, waved. Bobbi waved back.
    Whistles blew on the field. Bobbi heard laughterspread across the stadium bleachers. She turned to see the cause of the interruption. A white wirehaired terrier had run onto the field.
    Two Shadyside players were trying to chase it to the sidelines. But the dog, enjoying the attention, ran in wide circles, its stub of a tail wagging furiously.
    Finally one of the referees managed to pick the dog up. He jogged to the sidelines with it to a loud chorus of good-natured boos. Then whistles rang out for the game to resume.
    Bobbi stared over the heads of the players on the bench, watching Chip lead the offense out of the huddle. The first quarter had been pretty even. Both teams had been able to move the ball, although neither team had scored.
    Now, as the second quarter began, the Tigers were starting on the Winstead thirty-five-yard line. Good field position. The cheers grew louder. The noise level in the stadium rose as if someone had turned up the volume control.
    Watching Chip step behind the center, Bobbi wondered what he was thinking. Was he thinking about the Winstead linemen staring at him from