The Second Horror Read Online Free PDF Page A

mistake.” He and Abbie exchanged amused glances.
    “We’d better get going,” Abbie said, starting out of the room. “It was nice to meet you.” Brandt and Abbie ran downstairs and outside the house, laughing all the way. “I really thought it was a man hanging in the window,” Abbie exclaimed. “Your parents must think I’m crazy! Or else very rude.” “I could’ve sworn it was my dad,” Brandt admitted. “I—I was so scared.” He smiled at her. He wondered if she liked him. Or did she just think he was weird? “Would you like to get together on Saturday afternoon?” he asked her. “Maybe we could study together or something.” “Yeah. Great,” Abbie replied, smiling back at him. “I’ll come over around two, okay?” “Okay!” Brandt glanced at his watch. “Oh, man. I’m off to a great start. Late for my first day of school!” He waved to her and hurried down Fear Street to catch the bus to Shadyside High.
    Brandt stood in line at the cafeteria, tray in hand. The odor of brussels sprouts floated out of the kitchen. The girl ahead of him in line wrinkled her nose and said sarcastically, “Smells great, huh? I’ll bet you never had food like this at your old school.” “At my old school we had steak every day,” Brandt joked. “We begged for salad and green beans and brussels sprouts. But they gave us French fries instead.” The girl smiled. She was tall and pretty, with straight black hair to her shoulders and dramatic blue eyes under heavy black eyebrows. She wore faded jeans, torn at both knees, and a cropped white sweater. “I heard there was a new kid,” she said, examining Brandt with her dramatic eyes. “You’re him, huh?” Brandt grinned. “Yeah. I’m all new. The new, improved me. I moved here on Saturday.” He introduced himself. “Welcome to Shadyside, Brandt,” the girl said. “I’m Jinny Thompson.” The line began to move, and Jinny added, “You’d better let me take you on a guided tour of the steam trays. I’d hate for you to get sick on your first day at school.” Brandt picked out a knife and a fork and set them on his tray. A girl with short auburn hair squeezed between him and Jinny. “Let me cut in, Jinny,” she insisted. “The line’s really long, and I’m starving. I had half a Snickers bar for breakfast. That’s all. Really.” The red-haired girl stood a couple of inches shorter than Jinny. She had a bulky black sweater pulled down almost to her knees over bright green leggings. She’s really cute too, Brandt thought. He reached behind him, pulled a tray from the stack, and handed it to Jinny’s friend. “Thanks.” She flashed him a toothy smile. “You must be the new kid.” “His name is Brandt Something-or-Other, and he’s very nice,” Jinny told her. “But I’m sure it will wear off after a while. It always does.” She grinned at Brandt to let him know she was teasing. “This is my friend Meg. Meg Morris.” “What’s up with the trays? Why are they always wet?” Meg demanded, staring in disgust at the plastic lunch tray. “Lunch hasn’t even started, and the trays are all wet. Why is that?”
    “It’s a special kind of plastic,” Brandt joked. “It stays wet no matter what you do to it.” Both girls laughed. Meg had a funny, high-pitched laugh that sounded more like whistling than laughing. The line began to move. Jinny opened a refrigerator case and took out a salad wrapped in cellophane. “Check out this lettuce,” she said, showing the salad to Brandt. “It must have turned brown, so they bleached it white.” “So why are you eating it?” he asked. “Wait till you see what the other choices are,” Meg said, rolling her eyes. Jinny and Meg told Brandt more than he wanted to know about the food in the cafeteria. He managed to get through the line with a ham and cheese sandwich and a carton of milk. He followed Meg and Jinny to a table in the back of the room. A tall, blond, athletic-looking boy ambled over,