The House Next Door Read Online Free PDF

floor.
    Amanda nodded, willing herself to believe her younger sister. Because after everything that she just heard about the house, there was one thing that she couldn’t stop thinking about. Could it have been the same little girl from the pictures who opened the shutters tonight?

CHAPTER 4
    â€œListen up!” Carrie shouted over the music about a few hours later. “It’s New Year’s Eve and less than two hours till midnight. I think everyone knows what that means!”
    Amanda’s eyes lit up. She knew exactly what that meant, and she couldn’t wait. Amanda had never been kissed. Even though the New Year’s kisses at their previous parties were just on the cheek, the boys had always just ignored her. She had been thinking about this night for months now, and she was determined that this was her year to be kissed at midnight!
    At this point, everyone was hot from dancing inside, and they had grabbed their jackets and wandered out to the porch to cool off. The sky was filled with cloudsblocking out the stars, but the tea lights twinkled in the dark night. Everyone milled around in small groups. Alyssa had brought some of the snacks outside, and the table overflowed with cupcakes, brownies, and the Petersons’ famous snack mix. She had even set up a mix-it-yourself fruit juice and soda bar—complete with mini scoops of ice cream and tiny umbrellas. A few of Anne’s friends sat in the large wooden Adirondack chairs, sipping punch out of plastic champagne flutes and whispering to one another. Every so often they would point to the huddle of guys and giggle.
    Fifth graders, Amanda thought and smiled.
    Amanda searched through the crowd until she found Paul. The new kid, Steve, was cute, but she’d had a crush on Paul for forever. He had always treated her like a younger sister, but Amanda wasn’t a little kid anymore.
    â€œWe should start thinking about who we’d like to kiss when the clock strikes twelve!” Carrie finished her announcement.
    At the mention of being kissed, the fifth-grade girls squealed with delight. Anne’s best friend, Jenna Lee, covered her eyes as her cheeks burned bright red. Carrie clapped excitedly while the boys let out groans in shockand horror. Daniel Garrity plunged an imaginary dagger into his heart and then dropped to the floor. And Matt Weber pretended to puke uncontrollably.
    â€œYou’re all so immature!” Carrie chided.
    The more the girls tried to hold it together, the harder it was not to crack. When Steve started blowing kisses and batting his eyelashes at a squirrel that ran across the yard, everyone finally broke into a fit of hysterical giggles.
    While everyone was distracted, Amanda grabbed a box of sparklers from the table and pulled out two of them. She touched the end of one to a nearby candle’s flame, and it burst into a shower of sparks. It lit up her face and cast a pretty glow around her. She walked over to Paul and held the unlit sparkler out to him.
    But Paul’s attention was far away. He was staring across the yard and out into the darkness. Amanda could tell that he didn’t even know that she was standing next to him.
    Suddenly, Paul pointed toward the old neighboring house. Amanda followed his gaze. The house was barely visible. A thick blanket of clouds hid the moon. She simply saw a dark silhouette against the backdropof the night. She glanced back at Paul and watched his expression.
    Paul was sort of smiling, deep in thought, but then all of a sudden he frowned.
    â€œWhat?” Amanda asked.
    â€œDid you see that?” Paul whispered. “A light flickered in the top window.”
    Amanda turned toward the house, but it all looked dark.
    â€œI don’t see anything,” she replied.
    Paul didn’t seem to be paying attention. He was still looking into the night, distracted. “Someone is inside that house,” he said.
    Again, Amanda looked across the field. The old