Sleepover Stakeout (9780545443111) Read Online Free PDF Page A

braver. “We won’t have to get that close,” I explained to Maya. “At this time of night, people watch TV with the lights off.” I pointed at the TV in front of us as an example. “All we have to do is look for the glow.”
    We slipped our shoes on and headed outside. The crisp night air was chilly against my cheeks, and I was really glad I’d worn a sweatshirt. We walked down the sidewalk and stopped in front of Maya’s neighbor. All the lights in the house were off. “Looks like it’s all dark in this one,” I whispered.
    â€œThey might have a TV room in the back, though,” Darcy pointed out. “We should circle the house.”
    Maya and I murmured in agreement. We tried to walk stealthily along the side of the house, but dead leaves and twigs kept crackling under our shoes. The moon was only a sliver of light in the black sky. Goose bumps rose up on my arms, but not from the cold.
    I suddenly had the feeling we were being watched.
    My eyes roamed all around … left, right. I was casting a nervous glance over my shoulder when I slammed into something.
    â€œOuch!”
    Whoops. I’d walked right into Darcy. “Sorry,” I whispered. It would’ve been helpful if we’d thought to bring a flashlight. Darcy was dressed so dark, and with her black hair, I could barely see her.
    She stepped behind and nudged me forward. “You lead the way, blondie.”
    Great. My hair was being used as a torch. And now we’d reached the back of the house, which edged the woods. And I had to go first. I squinted over at Maya’s house, mentally calculating how long it would take to run to the door if something happened.
    â€œKeep going,” Darcy whispered from behind me. Maya hadn’t made a sound.
    I turned the corner into the neighbor’s backyard. They only had a small patch of grass before the border of the woods. I shivered involuntarily. Woods at night creeped me out.
    â€œNothing,” Maya said in her small voice. “All dark.”
    I tore my eyes from the spooky trees and looked at the reason we were standing there to begin with: the neighbor’s house. It was all dark from the back, too. No TV light.
    Something crunched underneath my shoe. I reached down and picked up a small white piece of paper. It was hard to see with only the light of the moon, but it looked like a drawing of some kind. I stuffed it in my pocket to check it out later.
    â€œOkay,” Darcy said, glancing from me to Maya. “One down. We should check the neighbor on the other side of Maya’s house and then maybe two or three houses across the street.”
    My mouth fell open. We had to do this several more times?! I didn’t think my heart could take it.
    But before I could protest, a noise silenced us. A cracking twig. Like the sounds we’d made walking back here.
    â€œWhat was that?” I asked in a tone that was hushed but also clearly terrified.
    Darcy’s eyes went wide, and Darcy didn’t scare easy. She said, “A person stalking us, a big animal, aliens come to abduct us …”
    Her imagination was really limitless. Maya let out a little squeak of terror.
    I spun around, trying to see anything at all. “Where did the noise come from?”
    â€œI … I couldn’t tell,” Darcy said. “Maybe the woods. Maybe between the houses.”
    Maya hugged herself. “We should go back inside.”
    Another crack.
    I whipped around and narrowed my eyes at the woods. I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.
    Another crack.
    â€œIt’s not in the woods,” Darcy said. “It’s behind us. Between the houses.”
    How were we supposed to get back to Maya’s if someone was blocking our way? I reached out and grabbed Darcy’s arm. Somehow I felt safer knowing she was right next to me. “What should we do?” I whispered.
    The whites of Darcy’s eyes