Read Online You Can't Scare Me! by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

happily.
    â€œYou should hold on to his leash,” Courtney told her. “He was totally lost when I found him.” She handed Buttercup’s leash to Charlene.
    Charlene thanked her.
    â€œIsn’t this other dog a sweetheart?” Courtney cooed. She bent down and gave the huge black monster a nose kiss.
    That’s when I decided to give up.
    It was impossible, I saw. There was no way —
no way
— we would ever scare Courtney.
    It was time to admit defeat, I told myself.
    Little did I know just how scary things were soon going to get.

19
    Icy hands, cold as death, wrapped around my neck.
    I screamed.
    Charlene laughed. “Eddie, what’s your problem? A little tense?”
    â€œWhy are your hands so cold?” I demanded, rubbing my neck.
    She held up a can of Coke. “I just took this from the fridge.”
    Everyone laughed at me.
    The four of us were sitting in Charlene’s den a few days later, trying to decide what to try next. It was about eight-thirty on a Thursday night. We’d told our parents we were studying together for our math final.
    â€œI think we should just give up,” I said glumly. “We can’t scare Courtney. We just can’t.”
    â€œEddie’s right,” Hat agreed. He was sitting next to Molly on the brown leather couch. I was slouched in the big armchair across from them.Charlene had dropped down to the shaggy white carpet.
    â€œThere’s
got
to be a way,” Charlene insisted. “Courtney isn’t a robot, you know. She’s
got
to get scared sometimes!”
    â€œI’m not so sure,” I said, shaking my head.
    At that moment, Buttercup padded into the room, his tail wagging behind him. He made his way to Charlene and started licking her arm.
    â€œGet that traitor out of here!” I demanded sharply.
    Buttercup raised his head and gave me a long, wet stare with those sorrowful brown eyes of his.
    â€œYou heard me, Buttercup,” I said coldly. “You’re a traitor.”
    â€œHe’s just a dog,” Charlene said, defending him. She pulled the furry beast down beside her on the rug.
    â€œDogs sure seem to like Courtney,” Molly commented.
    â€œSnakes and tarantulas like her, too,” I added bitterly. “There’s nothing Courtney is scared of. Nothing.”
    Molly suddenly got this devilish expression on her face. “Want to see something
really
scary?” she asked. She reached over to the other side of the couch and pulled the baseball cap off Hat’s head.
    â€œYUCK!” the three of us all cried at once. “Scary!”
    Hat’s dark hair was plastered to his head. It looked like wood or something. He had a deep red mark across his forehead made by the rim of the cap.
    â€œHey!” Hat cried angrily. He grabbed the cap back and jammed it onto his head.
    â€œDon’t you ever wash your hair?” Charlene cried.
    â€œWhat for?” Hat replied. He got up and walked to the mirror so he could adjust the cap the way he liked it.
    We talked about scaring Courtney for a while longer. We were pretty depressed about the whole thing. We just couldn’t think of any good ideas.
    At a little after nine o’clock, my mom called and told me I had to come home. So I said good night to my friends and headed out the door.
    It had rained most of the day. Now the air was cool and wet. The front lawns shimmered wetly in the pale light from the street lamps.
    My house was four blocks away on the same street. I wished I had ridden my bike. I don’t really like walking alone this late at night. Some of the street lamps were out, and it was kind of creepy.
    Okay, okay. I admit it. I’m a lot easier to scare than Courtney.
    Cold hands on the back of my neck are enough to make me jump.
    Maybe that’s what we should try on Courtney,
I thought as I crossed the street and started down the next block.
Icy cold hands on the back of her neck …
    I