دوستام منو هیولا صدا می زنند فصل 08

My Friends Call Me Monster - Chapter 8

I gasped and froze. I turned my head.

Daisy!

“S-sorry,” she whispered. “I started to trip.” Her hand slid from my shoulder.

My heart was still doing a four-minute mile!

On top of the egg, Mrs. Hardesty let out a soft murmur. Was she waking up?

Leaning on the banister, I flew down the stairs without looking back. I reached the hall, ran past Mrs. Hardesty’s bedroom, and kept going. I heard my two friends close behind me.

We stopped at the kitchen door and listened. No sounds from upstairs. Maybe Mrs. H was still sleeping.

We burst outside into the cool evening air. The sun was nearly down, just a red stripe behind the houses. The trees fluttered in gusts of wind.

We didn’t say a word. We ran through several backyards, then an empty lot.

I stopped running at the traffic light on the corner of my block. I pressed my hands against my knees, waiting to catch my breath.

DeWayne kept glancing behind him. The air was cold, but his face was drenched with sweat. “What should we do now?” he asked.

“We have to tell someone what we saw,” Daisy said. She gripped a streetlight. She looked pale in the white light. All of her freckles had disappeared.

“Who can we tell?” I asked, standing up. I felt a little dizzy. “And what could we say? That we saw Mrs. Hardesty hatching a giant egg?” “Think people would laugh at us?” DeWayne asked.

“Yeah. I think so,” I said.

“We should tell Mr. Wong,” Daisy said. “He’d listen to us.”

“He’d listen to us,” I said. “But he wouldn’t believe us. I’m not sure I believe it!” We stared at each other. A dark SUV rolled past with loud music blasting out the windows. Kids waved to us from the back. We didn’t wave back.

“Let’s go home and just think about this,” DeWayne said.

Daisy shuddered. “I won’t be able to think about anything else!” she said.

“Wait! I’ve got it!” DeWayne cried. He tapped his head. “The Great Brain strikes again!” I squinted at him. “What have you got?” I asked.

“I can explain it,” he said. “I can explain everything.”

“Spill,” Daisy said. She turned to me. “This should be good.”

“Mrs. Hardesty saw us,” DeWayne said. “She knew we were hiding behind the couch. So she climbed up on the egg and pretended to be hatching it just to freak us out.” I shook my head. “It was all a joke? Then explain this: Why does she have a giant egg in her attic? In case some kids sneak up there and hide behind her couch?” “And why did she fall asleep if she was goofing on us?” Daisy asked. “And why did she let us get away so easily?” DeWayne shrugged. “Do you think I know everything?”

My stomach growled. “Let’s go home,” I said. “We’re late for dinner. Let’s go home and think about this. Catch you later.” We headed off in different directions.

Mom greeted me at the kitchen door. “Michael, you’re so late,” she said. “Where were you?” “Uh … wrestling practice,” I said.

I got to school a little late the next morning. I dumped my jacket in my locker and looked for Daisy and DeWayne. No sign of them. I guessed they were already in class.

“Yo, Monster!” A guy from the wrestling team flashed me a thumbs-up.

I turned a corner — and bumped into Mr. Wong. He was in his usual pin-striped suit. But today he wore a bright red tie. Very bold.

“Michael, what’s up?” he asked, grinning at me. “How are things going?” Should I tell him?

“My friends and I saw something way weird, Mr. Wong. We saw Mrs. Hardesty climb up on a giant egg and try to hatch it.” No. No way. I couldn’t say it.

“Things are okay, I guess,” I said.

He was so short, he reached up to put a hand on my shoulder. “If you have any problems, you come to me,” he said. “And we’ll talk about it, okay? My door is always open.” I nodded. “Thanks,” I muttered. I didn’t know what else to say.

He hurried away. I stood there and watched him bounce down the hall.

Weird, I thought. Does he suspect that something is wrong with Mrs. Hardesty? Is that why he said that to me?

I started to walk into class. But Mrs. Hardesty stopped me at the door.

She led me back into the hall and closed the door behind us. Her tiny round eyes stared into mine.

“Is anything wrong?” I asked. I tried to keep my voice calm and normal.

She didn’t answer. Just kept staring at me.

I gazed right back at her. If she wanted a staring contest, I was up for it. I’ve never lost a staring contest in my life. I once stared so long and hard at DeWayne, he went cross-eyed!

“I found something in my house last night,” Mrs. H said finally.

She blinked. I won the contest.

“I found a black cat in my bedroom,” she said. Her teeth were clenched tight. Her cheeks turned red.

“Really?” I said. “Black cats are bad luck, aren’t they?”

Was she buying my innocent act?

“I stayed up all night, Michael,” she said. “All night, trying to rid my house of the bad luck.” I didn’t reply.

She brought her face close to mine, so close I could smell the coffee on her breath. “Did you have anything to do with that, Michael?” she asked. She said my name as if it was something disgusting.

I backed up against the tile wall. She kept her face right above mine.

“Michael? Tell me the truth. Did you have something to do with bringing that bad-luck cat into my house?” “No way,” I said. “Of course not.”

Her eyes — cold as ice — sent a chill rolling down my back.

She is dangerous, I decided.

Why was she standing so close? Why was she staring so hard?

Was she trying to read my mind?

I have to tell someone about her, I thought. I have to get proof so they will believe me.

I have to find out what she’s hatching in her attic.

I suddenly realized I had no choice. I had to sneak back up to that attic to see what came crawling out of that egg.