School of Fear Read Online Free PDF Page A

was in poor
     taste. Lulu knew it would have taken something monumental to provoke such peculiar behavior, and she was determined to get
     to the bottom of it.
    Lulu ran to the end of hallway, lowered herself atop the immaculate cream-colored carpet, and waited. Her small head protruded
     from behind the wall, giving her a view of the formal living room. She heard the front door open swiftly, followed by the
     clacking of heels across the marble foyer. Lulu watched her parents whisper conspiratorially into each other’s ears as they
     pushed a pink envelope back and forth between them. Mrs. Punchalower, rife with frustration, finally took the envelope and
     slipped it under the tartan couch cushion.
    Moments later in the kitchen, Lulu spooned Raisin Bran into her mouth while watching her mother suspiciously. Lulu was certain
     that that pink letter had something to do with her. As Marvin followed her toward the bus stop, a nagging little voice dominated
     Lulu’s thoughts. Instead of standing beneath the simple yellow sign with a black stencil of a bus as usual, Lulu dragged Marvin
     behind a row of nearby garbage cans.
    “What are you doing?” Marvin complained as she pushed him to the ground.
    “You’re staying with me.”
    “No, I’m going to school. I have a math test.”
    “I know you; you’ll tell Dotty I’m skipping if I let you go.”
    Marvin had a knack for telling people what they weren’t supposed to know. If left alone on the bus he would positively tell
     Dotty, the bus driver, of Lulu’s truancy.
    “How long are we going to wait here?” Marvin whined.
    “Until Mother and Father leave. I’m sure they’re up to something.”
    “Who cares? We don’t even like them. Let’s go to school.”
    “Fine, but don’t blame me if they sell you to Grandma.”
    “Sell
me
?” Marvin responded with shock.
    “Grandma’s been eyeing you for a while. She misses having a kid in the house. Plus, she needs someone to massage the bunions
     on her feet.”
    “How come Grandma doesn’t want to buy you? You’re older.”
    “What can I tell you? I’m not that cute anymore.”
    “I knew this face was going to get me into trouble,” Marvin mumbled.
    After watching their parents’ cars pass, Lulu and Marvin crawled out from behind the trash cans and ran toward their house.
     Lulu fumbled with the keys, hoping that neither parent had forgotten anything. Finally, she opened the door and ran for the
     couch with Marvin close behind. Under the middle tartan cushion was the oblong pale pink envelope crafted out of expensive
     cardstock with formal gold printing on it.
    The Punchalowers were part of the country club set and often received fancy invitations, but never in a color as vulgar as
     pink. Moreover, they never had hidden any of the invitations in the past. Lulu noticed the return address was a post office
     box in Farmington, Massachusetts. She didn’t think her parents even knew anyone in Massachusetts, let alone someone with a
     post office box. Weren’t those reserved for contest entry forms and wacky wilderness people miles from civilization?
    Lulu slowly opened the envelope, pulling out an acceptance letter, brochure, and map. She wondered if her parents had finally
     decided to send her to boarding school as they often threatened. Her eyes narrowed and then bulged as she read the institution’s
     name: School of Fear. She was to report to the Farmington, Massachusetts, bus station at 9:00 AM on Monday, May twenty-fifth, to meet a delegate from School of Fear.
    With a hand over her twitching left eye, Lulu turned to Marvin. “I’m in big trouble; nothing good ever begins at a bus station.”

    School of Fear had come to Mrs. Punchalower’s attention through a renowned specialist, Dr. Guinness. The doctor was a formidable
     man in his late fifties who sympathized immensely with Lulu’s fears, but was unable to reason with her to enter his office
     on the fourth floor of an elevator-only