These Boots Are Made for Stalking Read Online Free Page A

hand from the candy corn bowl to wave. “What up.” He dropped his hand back in the bowl.
    Miles and Ace nodded.
    “And that’s Brianna and Liz,” Landon said, wrapping up introductions.
    The girls glanced up briefly, then returned to the movie, ignoring Massie completely. On the flat screen, Norman Bates looked
     ready to go on a killing spree. Massie could sympathize.
    “Hey.” Massie nodded at no one in particular. Her head was starting to throb from the overwhelming combination of cheap body
     spray and self-righteous ninth-grade beta.
    The rest of the trampires half-waved, bouncing awkwardly in their heels like they had to pee.
    “Trick-or-treaters,” Brianna muttered under her breath. “How cute. Candy’s by the door.”
    The boys glanced at Landon, Miles, Ace, and Scott, who were all in street clothes, and reddened. Derrington was staring at
     the cashmere throw on the couch like he’d trade his Xbox and his Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 game just to have something to
     cover his bare chest.
    “Remember when we used to go trick-or-treating?” Liz murmured, dragging the throw over the back of the couch and wrapping
     herself in it.
    “Not really,” Brianna shrugged. “It was kind of a long time ago.” She side-glanced at Massie. “Vampires. How original.”
    Massie’s stomach twisted into a giant Twizzler. Next to these girls, she looked paler than Kristen Stewart in January. Did
     Landon like girls who were super-tan? Was it too late to sneak a quick cheek-pinch?
    Massie swallowed her insecurities, leveling her gaze at Brianna’s carrot-colored face. “Are you dressed as a statue?”
    Brianna rolled her eyes. “No,” she said, a flicker of uncertainty passing over her face.
    “Then why are you so bronzed?” Massie fired back.
    Landon busted out laughing. Even Scott, Ace, and Miles cracked a smile.
    And Bean and Bark ran victory laps around Massie’s feet.
    The Pretty Committee, Layne, and Landon raised their palms for a round of high fives. Massie could feel a confidence comeback
     on the way. As she sashayed down the line, high-fiving her friends, she wondered whether she should slap Landon’s palm hard,
     like she meant it, or soft, in a more feminine—
    Suddenly, her left heel caught in a loop in the sisal carpet, and she dove forward, her hands clawing desperately at the vanilla-scented
     air. It was as if someone had TiVo’d her public humiliation, and was playing it back in excruciating slo-mo. She caught a
     glimpse of Dylan’s widened emerald eyes and glossy lips, which were parting in horror as the gap between Massie and the carpet
     narrowed.
    “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” Dylan’s voice sounded far away, like she was yelling underwater.
    Her stomach bottoming out, Massie threw her right leg forward to break her fall.
    A long, pained squeal rose up from the floor, and Massie looked down in time to see her heel piercing Bark Obama’s paw.
    “Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppp!”
    “Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmagaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawd,” Massie screamed.
    Kristen’s nails grip-dug into Massie’s arms, pulling her off the pug.
    “Bark!” Panic pulsed in Landon’s eyes as he swooped down to rescue his puppy.
    “Bark! I’m so sorry!” Massie shook free of Kristen’s grasp and dropped to her knees, reaching for Bark’s shaking paw.
    “No!” Landon pulled Bark away, shielding him from Massie like he was a precious designer tote and she was Winona Ryder on
     a shoplifting spree.
    Massie hurt-widened her amber eyes.
    “I mean… it’s fine,” Landon said quickly. “He’ll be fine. It was an accident.” But his eyes were stormy, like the Caribbean
     during hurricane season.
    Massie tried to meet his gaze, but he was too busy soothe-petting Bark to notice. Her heart, and her confidence, sank through
     the floor.
    A tiny smile twitched at the corners of Brianna’s mouth as she watched Landon tending to Bark. Shifting her