Curiosity Killed the Cat Read Online Free PDF

known to chase the girls during recess, trying to kiss whichever ones he could outrun. When he’d come after her, Hannah had been so afraid she had panicked and accidentally punched him in the stomach. Even though they’d been seven at the time, Parker had never forgotten. Hannah wasn’t sure if it was because Parker had been impressed or annoyed by Hannah, but he always went out of his way tomake wisecracks at her expense. By now, she was pretty used to it.
    “Thank you for those colorful anecdotes, gentlemen,” Mr. Bonaventure said crisply. “And the correct word is
because
, Parker.”
    Thankfully, the bell rang to end class. As Hannah headed for the door, Parker and his friends jostled past her, knocking one of her books out of her arms.
    A second later, Ryan Walsh was standing in front of Hannah, holding out her book.
    “Looks like you dropped this,” he said, brushing his floppy dark brown hair out of his equally dark brown eyes. “And for the record, I think it’s cool that you live near the cemetery. I live pretty close to it, too.”
    “Um, thanks,” Hannah said softly, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Or was it something else? She couldn’t help but notice how cute Ryan was.
    “See ya,” Ryan said as he walked out the door.
    Hannah practically floated out of the classroom. For some reason, despite every thing that had happened that morning, she suddenly felt lighter and happier.
    That is, until Madison stepped in front of her. She grabbed Hannah’s arm and pulled her into the girls’ bathroom.
    “Look, let’s get a few things straight.” Madison crossed her arms angrily and glared at Hannah. “I don’t appreciate you drawing attention to the fact that
I
live near the cemetery.”
    “O-kay,” Hannah replied slowly. “But I didn’t —”
    “Save it.” Madison cut her off. “You were the one who mentioned Sleepy Hollow. And then that Parker kid points out that
I
live near the cemetery! That place is super-creepy, and my friends are weirded out enough when they come over. It’s not exactly cool to live next to a bunch of dead people.”
    “Parker wasn’t talking about you, he was talking about me,” Hannah tried to explain. She couldn’t figure out why Madison was getting so upset. Probably no one in class even remembered what Parker had said.
    “But you live with me now!” Madison practically shouted. “And I have a reputation to maintain. So keep a low profile. Got it?”
    And with that, she whipped around and stormed out, her blond ponytail swinging angrily behind her.

Chapter Six
    After the bathroom encounter, Hannah tried to steer clear of Madison as much as possible. It wasn’t particularly hard, since Madison didn’t seem eager to be in the same room with Hannah either. Madison did conveniently keep forgetting to unlock Hannah’s door to the bathroom, which meant Hannah was constantly going downstairs to use the one in the front hallway, rather than risk a confrontation with her stepsister.
    On Tuesday, Hannah’s dad picked her up after school and drove her around her old neighborhood so she could hang up “Lost Cat” signs on telephone poles. Hannah spent the rest of the night sitting near the phone, hoping it would ring with news aboutIcky. By the next afternoon, though, there still hadn’t been a single call.
    Hannah tried to concentrate on her biology homework. As she began labeling the parts of an animal cell, the chat window popped up on her computer screen.
    “Mom!” Hannah cried. It had barely been three days since her mother had left, but Hannah suddenly realized how much she missed her.
    Litprof43: Hi, Hannah! Sorry I haven’t called.
    guitargirl: that’s ok. how’s chicago?
    Litprof43: Not too bad. I start teaching tomorrow. How’s school?
    guitargirl: fine. icky’s still missing, tho. dad and I put up some flyers yesterday but haven’t heard anything.
    Litprof43: Good idea! I checked in with the Hendersons and they said they’re keeping an