Wanted Read Online Free Page B

old-man mask. It took a while to tug the rubber mask off his face. He started to laugh, too. He flashed me a thumbs-up.
    It didn’t take Mitch long to figure out what was up. I told you he’s real smart.
    â€œYou two planned this whole thing, right?”
    I nodded. “Brad sneaked and hid in the closet while you were having your milk and cookies.”
    â€œDid I scare you?” Brad asked Mitch, grinning.
    Mitch leaped to his feet. With an angry roar, he flung himself at me and started pounding me with both fists.
    â€œYou jerk! You jerk!”
    â€œOkay, okay,” I said, squirming away, trying to protect myself. “Stop. It was a joke, okay?”
    â€œA stupid joke,” Mitch said, breathing hard. “A stupid joke from a stupid girl.”
    â€œI guess he liked it,” Brad said.
    Brad has a dry sense of humor. He loves to play jokes like this on people. And he never feels bad if he scares them.
    Actually, I’ve never seen Brad feel bad. He’s always mellow. Like he’s just floating on air. Know what I mean?
    Brad has a lot of friends. Parents like him, too. I guess it’s because he’s just the happiest, easiest kid to know.
    â€œYou’re not funny. You’re stupid!” Mitch cried. “I hate your stories. They’re too dumb. Like you.”
    I clamped my hands on his shoulders and pushed him away so he couldn’t punch me anymore.
    â€œSorry,” I said. “I just wanted to get you ready for Halloween. It was a joke, Mitch.”
    â€œ You’re a joke!” he screamed. “You’re a stupid joke!”
    â€œTell you what — tomorrow night I’ll tell you a funny story. Not a scary story. How does that sound?”
    â€œI don’t like funny stories,” he growled.
    I guessed he wanted to stay angry.
    So I said good night, and Brad followed me out of Mitch’s room and downstairs to the den. We passed Mom and Dad in the living room. They were hunched in front of the TV, playing a Wii tennis game, swinging their arms and diving for the invisible ball.
    My parents love video games.
    Weird, right?
    Brad dropped onto an edge of the couch and picked up the empty popcorn bowl. “You didn’t save me any?”
    â€œYou know Devin. He gobbled it all up. He spilled a lot on the floor. You can eat those.”
    â€œHey, thanks.”
    My phone dinged. I picked it up and glanced at the screen. A text message from Polly:
    WANT TO TALK ABOUT MY PARTY ?
    I turned the phone upside down on the coffee table. “What are we going to do about Polly’s party?” I asked Brad. “Should we go and just die of boredom?”
    He found some popcorn between the couch cushions and popped the kernels into his mouth. “We need to liven it up,” he said.
    â€œDuh. We need to do something crazy. Something random. You know. Maybe do something to scare everyone.”
    He grinned. “We’re good at that. Your brother will never speak to me again.”
    â€œForget him,” I said, thinking hard. “We need to do something really frightening at Polly’s party and make everyone scream.”
    We both thought in silence for a while. Brad kept turning the rubber old-man mask between his hands. Finally, he raised his head. His eyes flashed.
    â€œHey, I’ve got an idea. What about this …?”

Brad raised the ugly old-man mask. “What about this? Creepy, right?”
    â€œYeah,” I said. “Creepy enough to make Mitch scream.”
    â€œWell … what if we put on ugly masks like this one. Only we wear them backwards.” He pulled the mask over his head and spun it around so that the face part was on the back of his head. “Then we put our clothes on backwards and we walk backwards into Polly’s house and we —”
    â€œIs that the dumbest idea you ever had?” I said. “Let’s vote. I vote yes.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause if