Crabtree Monsters by Chris Wieland

Author:Chris Wieland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

PULLING A JANELLE

As I walked up the front stoop of Mrs. Torres’s house, I practiced what I’d say. Mrs. Torres and Oliver had seen enough of the real me. They weren’t going to buy that I was some innocent girl who just happened to be missing when Oliver came to pick her up. They’d know I’d planned something if I played it that way.

The trick would be to not overplay my story. And to not let it slip that I’d been at the bowling alley with Patrick. I took a breath as I reached the door. Show time.

I opened the door and stepped inside. “Hello?” I called out. “Anybody here?”

When nobody answered, I closed the door and called out, “I thought Oliver was picking me up. Sorry I missed you, Oliver. I waited. Was I in the wrong place?”

Nobody answered. I stepped into the house a bit further.

“Oliver? Mrs. Torres?”

I heard someone moving around upstairs. I started toward the staircase.

“Guys?”

Someone grabbed me from the side. I shrieked.

I looked to see who it was.

Alec.

I smacked him. “OW!” he yelled.

“Don’t sneak up on me, twerp,” I said.

“I was practicing my ninja moves,” he said. “I watched this video on YouTube. They say you can sneak up on anybody. I guess it actually works.”

“Where is everybody? How much trouble am I in?”

“You’re fine,” he said. “Oliver got called to some meeting at Mr. Bassett’s office, and Mrs. Torres is doing something. So Janelle walked me home. When you didn’t show, she said, ‘She knows the way.’”

“Glad she’s concerned about my safety,” I said.

“She’s upstairs,” he said. “Do you want to tell her you’re back?”

“In a minute,” I said.

“How’d it go with Patrick? Did you make a new friend?” he asked. “I’d love to see you hanging out with the cool kids here in Crabtree.”

“Barf,” I said, and I wasn’t just talking about the cheese fries. “We’ve got a new challenge. We have to go out tonight, but if Oliver and Mrs. Torres aren’t around, it might work out.”

I told him about the conversation with my new friend Patrick. He listened for a change. “So . . . you’re thinking that we follow Patrick’s dad tonight. Are you stealing another car?”

“No. Been there, done that. But we have to get past Janelle, and I’ve got no ideas.”

Alec, sadly, had plenty. “Maybe we could build a papier-mâché replica of you, me, and Tommy doing homework!”

I sighed. “Unlikely to pass.”

“Maybe Mrs. Torres has sleeping meds. Maybe we could slip three or four doses in whatever Janelle drinks.”

“That sucks, Alec! We put too much in her drink, and she’ll go to the hospital.”

“Maybe Tommy’ll have an idea.”

“An idea about what?” Tommy’s voice said. He came out into the hall from the living room. “I thought you guys were coming in here. Hey, Kat. How about that ninja move? He got you, huh?”

Hearing Tommy’s voice made me grit my teeth. My face felt hot. I could feel my chest tightening. I wanted to start hitting something hard, starting with Big Ego Tommy in his stupid smirking face.

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