by P. J. Night
Emmy was still stammering. “Plenty of grown-ups have long hair,” she pointed out.
Lizzy frowned. “Oh, never mind,” she said. “You’re hopeless.”
“I’m sorry,” Emmy said, making sure her voice didn’t crack. She was on the verge of tears. Things had been going so much better in the last few minutes, and now Lizzy was disappointed. She was giving up on Emmy.
“Whatever,” Lizzy said like she really didn’t care. “I was just trying to help you. Forget it. Let’s just go watch TV again.”
Emmy’s heart sank deeper into her stomach. Her mind raced. Was there some way to salvage this sleepover? Yes, there was.
“How about if you just trim it?” Emmy asked. “I don’t mind having it cut a little bit. It might be . . . cool,” she added.
Lizzy smiled. “Excellent,” she said. “It will be cool. I promise. First let me wash it in the sink, like at a real hair salon.”
They went into the bathroom, where Lizzy gently sudsed up Emmy’s hair and carefully rinsed it. Then she even added conditioner. Emmy loved the feeling of Lizzy’s hands massaging her scalp. Lizzy was right. It was just like being at the salon. All the while, Lizzy was humming happily. It was just like old times. She helped Emmy stand up, wrapped one towel around her head and one around her shoulders, and led her back into her bedroom, where she combed out her hair and turned Emmy away from the mirror. Emmy felt like she was at a fancy spa.
“Here, sit on this towel,” Lizzy said, “so we don’t get hair all over the floor.” Emmy moved onto the towel.
Just as Lizzy started cutting, her cell phone rang. She put down the scissors and grabbed the phone.
“Hey, Cadence!” she said happily. “What’s up? No, I’m not doing anything.”
Yes you are, Emmy thought sadly.
But Lizzy continued the conversation for a few more minutes before hanging up. Then she continued cutting. Emmy was faced away from the mirror, but it felt to her like Lizzy was cutting off quite a lot.
“I think you’re cutting too much,” she said to Lizzy. “Let me just see in the mirror.”
Lizzy put the scissors down and put her hands on her hips. “Do you trust me or not?” she said.
“I trust you,” Emmy lied.
Lizzy continued snipping away, stopping twice to check text messages, which she smiled at but did not say anything about.
More snipping. A lot more snipping, actually.
“Okay, you can look now,” Lizzy said proudly. And for the next few moments, everything went in slow motion for Emmy.
She turned around and looked at her reflection. At first she wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating, but then she snapped back to reality. And what she saw in the mirror made her scream.
A lifelong night owl, P. J. Night often works furiously into the wee hours of the morning, writing down spooky tales and dreaming up new stories of the supernatural and otherworldly. Although P. J.’s whereabouts are unknown at this time, we suspect the author lives in a drafty, old mansion where the floorboards creak when no one is there and the flickering candlelight creates shadows that creep along the walls. We truly wish we could tell you more, but we’ve been sworn to keep P. J.’s identity a secret . . . and it’s a secret we will take to our graves!
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2012 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Text by Sarah Albee
Designed by Nicholas Sciacca
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
YOU’RE INVITED TO A CREEPOVER is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
ISBN 978-1-4424-5287-9
ISBN 978-1-4424-5288-6 (eBook)
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2012934010
