My Best Friend Is Invisible (4 page)

“I’ll prove it to you,” I told her. “Watch.”

I gazed around my room, trying to figure out where he was. “Brent—pick up
one of Roxanne’s books from the floor,” I said. “Show her you’re here.”

I lowered my gaze to the floor. Wait till she sees this! I thought. She’ll
totally freak!

I kept my eyes glued to the pile. Waiting for one of them to float up.

Nothing happened.

“PLEASE, Brent,” I begged.

I grabbed a pencil from my desk. I held it out. “Take this pencil from me.
Make it float across the room!”

Nothing.

Roxanne rolled her eyes. “Please! I don’t have time for these stupid jokes,
Sammy. Besides, it’s not funny.”

“Brent? Hey—Brent?”

It was no use. Brent was not going to cooperate.

I dropped into my desk chair and threw my hands up into the air. “Thanks,
Brent. Thanks a lot.”

“Ready for math?” Roxanne asked.

“No. I’m not ready,” I snapped.

“You don’t have to yell,” she said. “Actually—I came over for another
reason.” She slid off the bed and started collecting her math books from the
floor.

“I came over to see if we’re going to the haunted house Saturday night or
not.”

“We don’t have to go to the haunted house,” I cried. “We can do our report
right here. Right in my room. We can do our report on Brent. Brent—The
Invisible Kid!”

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Roxanne started to lift her big pile of books from the
floor. “The Invisible Kid. Right.”

My shoulders sagged.

“Listen, Sammy. We have to start our project. It’s going to be the best
report in the whole class. No—it will be the best report anyone ever did in
the history of the whole school.”

“Can’t we talk about this tomorrow, Roxanne? I’m really not in the mood right
now.”

I was tired—and hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything since lunchtime. And I
wanted to try to talk to Brent again.

“No! We cannot talk about this tomorrow!” I could see that Roxanne was
beginning to lose her patience. “We have to start planning now. I want to go to
Hedge House Saturday night.”

“What’s Hedge House?” I asked.

Roxanne sighed loudly. “Hedge House is
the
haunted house. The one near
the college. That’s what it’s called. I’ve been reading all about it.”

Roxanne shuffled through her pile of books. “Here it is! Here’s the book
about Hedge House. Do you want to hear some of it?”

Do I have a choice? I asked myself. I leaned back in my chair and tried to
pay attention.

Roxanne stood in the middle of the room and began to read.

“There have been many stories about the horrors of Hedge House,” she started.
“But the true horror began when the Stilson family moved into town. They moved
into Hedge House. No one had lived there in years—because everyone knew the house was haunted.

“Tall, dark hedges grew around the house, enclosing it, sealing it off from
curious eyes.

“Every year, the hedges grew taller and darker, until they turned the color
of night and shaded the highest windows.

“The local people knew why the hedges grew that way. ‘It’s the will of the
ghost’, they’d say. ‘To keep the house chilly and dark—as cold and icy as the
spirit itself.’

“Everyone knew that—everyone but the Stilson family.

“From the day the Stilsons moved in, the Hedge House ghost visited
ten-year-old Jeffrey Stilson’s bedroom. The ghost visited every night.

“‘Jef-frey,’
the ghost moaned.
‘Jef-frey—I’ve been waiting for
you.’

“Each night, Jeffrey woke up shaking, frightened. He stared hard into the
darkness of his room, searching for the man behind the voice. But no one was
ever there.

“He told his parents about the nightly visits. Told them again and again.

“But they didn’t believe him.

“‘Jef-frey, I’ve been waiting for you,’
the ghost’s voice returned one very
chilly evening.
‘I need you.’

“‘What do you want?’ Jeffrey cried out. ‘Tell me what you want—’

“At the sound of Jeffrey’s voice, the ghost appeared.

“It was the ghost of a young man. From a time long ago. Jeffrey could tell,
from the clothes it wore—short, baggy black pants that ended below the knees.
Black socks pulled up high to meet the pants cuffs. And black boots with shiny
silver buckles.

“Jeffrey stared at the ghost.

“He stared in horror at its black shirt. At the right sleeve that hung
loosely at the ghost’s side. The sleeve with no arm inside.

“‘Come with me, Jeffrey,’
the ghost moaned.
‘Come with me—to
learn the secret of this awful house.’”

Roxanne closed the book and placed it down on the bed.

“What’s the secret?” I demanded. “What’s the secret of Hedge House?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t gotten to that part yet,” Roxanne said. “But I can
tell you this. I know some people who’ve been inside Hedge House. And they say
all kinds of spooky things happen there.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Well, they say the doors open and close all by themselves,” she replied.

I gasped—as the door behind Roxanne opened and closed by itself.

“That’s right, Sammy,” Roxanne said. “It
does
make you lose your breath when you think about it.”

The door opened and closed again.

Very funny, Brent! I thought.

“And they say the books float right off the bookshelves,” Roxanne continued.

Brent began juggling three of my schoolbooks behind Roxanne’s back. Round and
round they went, with the middle one always popping up—right over Roxanne’s
head!

I couldn’t help myself. I started to laugh.

“What’s so funny, Sammy?” Roxanne frowned at me.

I raised my hand to point behind her. But the books floated back to the
shelf.

I sighed. “Nothing.”

“Good. Because this is
not
funny. I’m very serious about this report.
I want it to be the best. And I want you to take great video shots to prove the
ghost of Hedge House really exists!”

My video camera floated up from the floor, aimed itself at Roxanne’s back—and I burst out laughing again.

“SAMMY!” Roxanne jumped up angrily. “Quit it!” she shouted. “I’m going to
strangle you if you don’t stop laughing! This report means a lot to me. It’s not
just the grade. If I really do find the ghost, it’s going to make me famous!”

“Huh?” I stared at her.

Roxanne took a deep breath. Then she continued. “They say the ghost really hates light. They say if a light shines on
him, he explodes into a rage—and destroys anything that is in his path.”

I heard a soft squeak.

I glanced around the room—and saw the light-bulb in the ceiling fixture
turning. Turning all by itself.

Brent is standing on my dresser, I realized. He’s unscrewing the lightbulb!

“Roxanne, quick!” I shouted. “Look up at the ceiling! See that? Now do you
believe me!”

“Do you see it, Roxanne?” I jumped up from my chair—really excited. Now
Roxanne would
have
to believe me!

I pointed to the lightbulb as it slowly turned in the socket—by itself!

“See!” I shouted. “Now you believe me—right? It’s the invisible kid!”

I spun around. I couldn’t wait to see the amazed look on her face!

Roxanne wasn’t amazed.

In fact, I couldn’t even see her face.

She was kneeling down, head bent, gathering her books up from the floor.

I glanced back up at the ceiling. The lightbulb wasn’t turning anymore.

“Roxanne! Why didn’t you look?” I cried. “You missed it! You should have
looked when I told you to!”

“I should have picked a different partner,” Roxanne groaned. “I’m tired of your dumb jokes, Sammy!”

I collapsed back into my desk chair.

Roxanne balanced the stack of books in her arms and headed for the door. “Oh,
I get it!” She whirled around to face me. “Now I understand what you’re doing.”

“Huh?”

“If you don’t want to come with me to the haunted house—just say so!”
Roxanne said. “You don’t have to make up these stupid stories.”

Roxanne was angry.

I usually enjoy making Roxanne angry. But not this time.

“An idiot,” she mumbled under her breath. “You must think I’m a total idiot.
I’m leaving now, Sammy. I’m leaving you—
and
your invisible friend!”

Then she stormed out of my room.

“Are you still here, Brent?” I asked, searching around.

No answer.

I jumped up from my chair.

“I know you’re here, Brent. Why did you do that to me?” I clenched my fists
into two tight balls. “Why didn’t you show Roxanne that you were here?” I cried
angrily.

Silence.

“Okay. Okay. I’m sorry I yelled. I didn’t really mean to yell at you, Brent. I just wanted Roxanne to believe me.”

I sat back down in my chair.

I took a deep breath.

“Did you hear me, Brent? I said I was sorry.”

No answer.

“Please answer me,” I pleaded. “I want to talk to you. I want to find out
more about you!”

The room remained silent.

Brent was gone.

For good?

Did Brent really leave?

Did he leave because I yelled at him? I wondered.

Would he come back?

I was still asking myself these questions on the way to school the next
morning.

An invisible kid.

An invisible kid was in my room yesterday.

Whoa!

This was hard to believe.

I wanted to tell Mom and Dad about Brent last night. But I wasn’t allowed out
of my room. Even after I had cleaned it up.

That was Simon’s fault. He told them I made him fall. So Mom and Dad ordered
me to stay in my room all night—and think about how lucky I was to have a
younger brother.

That took about a second.

The rest of the night I thought about Brent.

What did he really want? I wondered, as the school bus rumbled toward school. He says he wants a friend. But should I
believe him?

I mean—a kid shows up in your room. An
invisible
kid. That’s pretty
weird right there. And then he says he
just
wants to be your friend.

Suddenly, I had a bad feeling about him.

He wants something from me. I just know it. I’ve read tons of books about
ghosts… monsters… you name it.

And I can tell you this. They
always
want something. Your body. Your
brain. Your blood. Something.

My body. That’s it.

That has to be it.

Brent is a ghost who wants to fool me into being his friend—so he can take
over my body!

The thought made me shudder.

Last night, I’d been too shocked—too amazed—to be frightened of him. But
now, I had time to think. And I was really getting scared.

Why did he come to our house? To my room?

Maybe I can make a deal with him, I thought.
Leave me alone—and
I’ll give you my brother!

I knew Brent wouldn’t go for that one—but it made me smile.

I didn’t smile for long, though.

I walked into school and stopped inside the doorway. I saw Claire, a girl
from my class, standing by the water fountain.

“Sure. I’ll go with you after school,” I heard her say. “Don’t worry—I’ll
be there.”

My mouth dropped open.

Claire was talking—to
no one.

I walked slowly to my locker.

A boy I knew from art class struggled with his lock. “Why can’t I get this
thing open?” he complained. “It never got stuck before.”

He turned to his left and said, “Okay—you do it.”

And there was no kid standing next to him.

He was also talking to someone invisible!

I stared down the long hall.

It was filled with kids. Kids talking. Kids talking to invisible kids!

The school is filled with them!
I realized to my horror.

The school is filled with invisible people!

“Sammy!”

I turned to see who called my name—praying I
could
see who it was.

I sighed with relief.

It was Roxanne.

“Roxanne! You’re not going to believe—” I started. Then I stopped.

Roxanne was grinning.

She walked up to me and laughed right in my face.

All the other kids in the hall began to laugh too.

“You—you
told
everyone?” I sputtered. “You told everyone about the
invisible kid in my room?”

Roxanne tried to speak, but she couldn’t. She was doubled over, laughing
really hard now. She nodded yes.

“How could you do this to me?” I screeched.

“Calm down.” Roxanne patted me on the shoulder. “It was just a joke. You have
to admit we all did a good job of keeping a straight face.”

“Ha ha,” I said weakly. I didn’t think it was the least bit funny.
I’m
going to get Roxanne for this,
I promised myself.
I don’t know how—but I will.

I headed into my classroom with my head down and took my seat quickly.

The other kids piled into the room. Some of them were still laughing. When
they saw me, they pretended to talk to invisible people again.

My face turned red.

“Everyone is so chatty this morning!” Ms. Starkling noted. “Time to settle
down. Please take out your homework.”

“Oh, no,” I groaned.

I didn’t do my homework last night. I’d forgotten all about it.

I glanced around the room.

I was the only one without the assignment.

“Please pass your homework to the front of the room,” Ms. Starkling said.

Claire sat in front of me. She waited for me to pass my homework to her
before she passed hers up.

I tapped her on the shoulder. “I don’t have it,” I whispered.

“Uh-oh,” she said. “Did the invisible boy eat it?” Everyone around me
giggled.