You Can't Scare Me! Read Online Free PDF Page B

heart had leaped up into my neck.
    I fumbled frantically with everything I could grab hold of. But I couldn’t find anything that would open the door.
    â€œI give up. We — we’re locked in, Hat,” I stammered.
    â€œI don’t believe it,” he muttered.
    The container started to slip out of my hand. I grabbed it with both hands — and made a startling discovery.
    The lid had come off.
    â€œOh, no,” I murmured.
    â€œWhat now?” Hat demanded.
    Taking a deep breath, I shook the container.
    It was empty. No tarantula.
    I tried to tell Hat that the tarantula had escaped, but my voice caught in my throat. I let out a choking sound.
    And then I felt a prickling on my leg just above my sock.
    And then another prickling, like a pinprick, a little higher up.
    â€œHat — the tarantula —” I managed to croak. “It — it’s crawling up my leg.”

11
    The pinpricks moved a little higher up my leg.
    I could feel the tarantula’s warm, hairy body rub against my skin.
    â€œIt — it’s going to b-bite me,” I stuttered. “I
know
it is.”
    â€œDon’t move,” Hat advised, sounding even more frightened than me. “Just don’t move.”
    The creature’s legs dug into my skin, like sharp needles.
    â€œI — I have to get
out
of here!” I screamed. Without thinking about it, I lowered my shoulder and heaved all my weight against the cabinet door.
    With a loud
pop,
it swung open.
    A startled cry escaped my lips as I tumbled out. I landed hard on my side, and the empty plastic container rolled across the room.
    Breathing hard, I scrambled to my feet and began furiously kicking and shaking my leg.
    The tarantula dropped to the floor and immediately began scrabbling across the linoleum. “Catch it! Catch it!” I shrieked.
    Hat dove out of the cabinet and lurched after the tarantula.
    I grabbed the container and hurried over to him. Hat lifted the tarantula high in the air. Its hairy legs kicked and squirmed, but Hat didn’t let go.
    He plopped the ugly thing into the container. “Put the lid on tight this time,” he warned.
    â€œDon’t worry,” I moaned. My hands were shaking. But I clamped the lid on tightly, then checked and rechecked it three times.
    A short while later, Hat and I were heading downstairs to deposit the tarantula in my locker for safekeeping. I could still feel the itchy pinpricks on my leg, even though I knew the tarantula hadn’t bitten me.
    â€œWow. That was scary!” Hat declared. “That was really scary.”
    â€œIt just means that the rest of the plan will go perfectly,” I assured him.
    A little before nine the next morning, Hat and I were hiding again. This time we were hiding on the narrow balcony that overlooks the gym.
    While everyone else in our class changed into their gym shorts and sweats and stuff, Hat and I sneaked out of the boys’ locker room. Hat hid thetarantula container under his sweatshirt, and we hurried up to the balcony.
    The four of us had been calling each other for most of the night, getting the plan straight. It was a very simple plan, actually.
    All Molly and Charlene had to do was get Courtney to stand under the balcony. Then Hat would drop the tarantula into her hair, and we’d all watch her scream and cry and carry on, and make a total fool of herself.
    Simple.
    â€œWhat if Courtney doesn’t get upset?” Molly had asked me on the phone. “What if she just plucks it out of her hair and calmly asks if anyone has lost a tarantula?”
    â€œThat’s impossible,” I had replied. “Courtney is calm — but she isn’t
that
calm! She’s
got
to scream and go wild with a tarantula in her hair. If she doesn’t, she’s not human. She’s a statue or something.”
    â€œReady, Hat?” I asked, peering over the side of the balcony.
    He nodded solemnly, his eyes on the