Body Switchers from Outer Space Read Online Free PDF Page B

could possibly be in the other dishes?
    I didn’t want to find out!
    There it was! My front porch. And the shaggy lawn, which I was supposed to mow tomorrow morning. It had never looked so good.
    It was great to hear the TV blaring through the living room window screens.
    I charged up the front porch stairs two at a time. I didn’t trip over the top step the way I always do. I rang the doorbell.
    My bratty little sister, Pepper, answered the door. “Can I help you?” she asked through the screen door.
    â€œLet me talk to Chad.”
    â€œSorry. You have the wrong house,” Pepper said. Her sneer softened as she gazed at me. She started flipping her eyelashes. It made me nervous.
    That’s when I remembered. I realized just in time that I wasn’t me, I was still Chad-One. Or looked like him, anyway.
    â€œNo, I mean, let me talk to Will.”
    â€œYou don’t want to talk to Will. Will’s a big dummy. I can beat him at Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy every time.”
    This was a big fat lie, and I was about to tell her so, but then I remembered I wasn’t exactly me.
    â€œI don’t want to play games with him,” I said, irritated. “I just want to talk to him.”
    She looked at me for a minute, then said, “How much do you want to talk to him?”
    â€œHuh?”
    She was sharpening up into the Pepper I knew and suffered from. “Like, how much would you pay me to go get him?”
    â€œPay you?” I repeated.
    â€œIs there an echo around here?” she asked, cupping her ear with her hand. “You got fifty cents?”
    I reached into my pockets. I had no idea if Chad had fifty cents. There was something in the rightfront pocket that felt interesting, but it didn’t feel like money. Then I came to my senses. “Forget it!” I shouted. I pressed the doorbell again, hoping to get Chad’s attention.
    He wandered down the stairs.
    â€œHi, Chad,” he said. He stepped out onto the porch.
    â€œHey, tell Pepper I’m Will,” I told him.
    For a second he looked furious. It was almost scary. I didn’t know my face could look that mean and cold.
    Of course. I had promised not to tell anyone about the switch.
    Then his face went back to normal. “Sure,” he said. “Pepper, this is Will.”
    â€œDon’t be an idiot, Will,” Pepper said to Chad. “Oh. Sorry. You can’t help it.” She smirked.
    â€œShe’s too smart for us, Chad.” Chad shrugged.
    â€œYou are soooo dumb!” Pepper said.
    She stuck out her tongue at both of us, then stomped into the house, slamming the screen door behind her.
    â€œWhat do you want?” Chad asked me. That mean look came over his face again.
    â€œWe have to switch back now,” I told him.
    He glared at me. His jaw got really tense.
    â€œNo way!” Chad exclaimed. “We have a deal!”

8

    â€œI can’t stay at your house!” I cried. “Your family is weird!”
    â€œI never said my family was normal,” Chad answered. “And a deal is a deal.”
    If Chad wouldn’t cut short the switch, at least he could explain a few things. Maybe then I’d have a shot at getting through the weekend.
    â€œHow come there’s another Chad?”
    Chad grinned. But it was the nastiest-looking smile I had ever seen! He never looked that way at school. “He’s my brother,” Chad said. “I know he’s a pain, but Pepper is no picnic, either.”
    â€œWhat’s with that weird second floor? Do you sleep in that closet?”
    â€œIt’s a New-Age kind of thing,” Chad explained. “My dad invented it. You’ll see. It’ll make you feel great!”
    â€œBut—”
    Chad cut me off. “Just watch what the other Chad does,” he instructed. “Copy him. Everything will be fine.”
    For a second he almost convinced me. But then I remembered dinner.