The New Girl

by R. L. Stine

  “Guy? What guy?”

  “He was weird-looking. I couldn’t see too well in the dark. He had watery eyes and sort of a puffy face. And he had a shiny earring in one ear.”

  “An earring?”

  Cory’s heart dropped to his knees.

  “Brad!” he cried.

  “Brad? Who’s Brad? You know him?”

  “He’s Anna’s brother,” Cory said. “He’s very wild.”

  “But—he tried to kill me!” Lisa cried, starting to realize just what a close call she’d had. “Why would Anna’s brother try to kill me?”

  “I just thought of something,” Cory said, jumping to his feet. “Did the door open after you fell down the stairs?”

  “What do you mean?” Lisa seemed confused.

  “Did the outside door open? Did the guy with the earring run out?”

  “No. I—I don’t think so. No. I’m sure. The door never opened.”

  “Well, they keep all the other doors locked at night,” Cory said excitedly. “Only the door near the gym is open for the dance. That means—”

  “The person who pushed me is still in the building?”

  “That’s right. Let’s take a little look around.” He lifted her up off the step. “Can you walk?”

  She put her foot down on the floor and tested it. “Yes. It’s a little better.”

  He helped her up the stairs. “We’ll search the long corridor first. Then we’ll double back and search the shorter one.” He was whispering now.

  She leaned lightly against him, staying close as they walked. Their shoes clicked against the hard floor, the only sound in the long, dark corridor. “This is silly,” she whispered.

  “Maybe. Maybe not,” Cory whispered back, his eyes straight ahead of him. “Shhhh.” He stopped and held her back. He’d heard a noise in the language lab.

  Was someone hiding in there?

  They crept up to the glass-paneled door, which was pulled open about a third of the way, and listened. They heard it again. A shuffling sound, like the footsteps of someone scampering to a new hiding place.

  They stood listening at the door for a few seconds. “Someone’s in there,” Cory whispered. “I think we’re about to find the guy who pushed you.”

  He pulled the door open the rest of the way. The two of them stepped quickly into the large room. Lisa felt along the wall until she found the light switch, and turned on the lights.

  “Who’s in here?” Cory called.

  The sound again.

  They followed it across the room. One of the windows had been left open a few inches. The sound they’d been hearing was the venetian blind blowing in the wind.

  “Good work, Sherlock,” Lisa cracked, shaking her head. “You’ve caught the venetian blind in the act!”

  Cory didn’t laugh. “Come on. Let’s keep searching,” he said, turning off the lights. “If Brad is still in the building, I want to find him.”

  They turned the corner near Mr. Cardoza’s classroom and walked on silently, Lisa leaning a little harder on Cory as her ankle began to swell and grow more painful. The hall grew darker as they walked away from the light.

  Scratchy sounds. They both gasped. Something scampered in front of them, ducking into one of the classrooms. “What was that?” Lisa asked.

  “Stop pulling on my sweater so hard. You’re taking all the wool off,” Cory complained.

  “But what was that?” Lisa whispered loudly, gripping his arm even tighter.

  “A four-legged creature,” he said. “Probably a rat.”

  “Oh,” she said. “Think there are more of them?”

  “Probably.”

  They walked to the end of the corridor, sticking close together, then headed back, opening doors and peering into the dark, silent rooms. Nothing seemed the same. In the dark the familiar classrooms looked so much larger. They became mysterious caverns filled with creaking sounds and shifting shadows.

  “Cory, I think you’d better take me home,” Lisa whispered, sounding very discouraged. “Look at my ankle. It’s about the size of a cantaloupe. I don’t think I can walk much farther.”

  “Sure you don’t want to dance some more?” It was Cory’s feeble idea of a joke. They both knew it was feeble, but they laughed anyway.

  But the laughter was cut short when they heard a voice coming from Mr. Burnette’s biology classroom.

  A young man’s voice.

  Very quiet. But definitely a young man’s voice.

  Lisa leaned against the cool tile wall for support. They crept silently to the doorway, which was open just a crack.

  Another sound. A cough.

  Someone was hiding in there.

  “Brad?” Lisa whispered, putting her mouth right up to Cory’s ear.

  “We’ll soon see,” Cory whispered back, his heart pounding.

  He pulled open the door and stepped inside.

  He flicked on the light.

  A girl screamed.

  She was sitting on a boy’s lap. Her lipstick was smeared across her chin.

  Cory recognized the boy—Gary Harwood, a senior, a guy from the wrestling team.

  “Hey, Brooks—what do you think you’re doing?” Gary barked, squinting at the sudden light.

  “Give us a break,” the girl said, frowning, her arm still around Gary’s massive shoulder. “Can’t we have some privacy?”

  “Yeah. Get lost,” Gary said menacingly.

  “Sorry,” Cory managed to say. He carefully turned off the lights and backed out of the room.

  Lisa was already in the hall, leaning against the wall, laughing and shaking her head. Cory reached out and pulled her hair. “Not funny,” he insisted.

  She pulled him across the hall into the small music room. She was laughing so hard, tears rolled down her cheeks.

  “Don’t get hysterical on me,” he said, forcing a straight face

  “But it is hysterical,” she said, wiping her cheeks with her open hands. “A guy from the wrestling team. That’s who you pick on? He’ll murder you! He cracks walnuts against his neck!” She started laughing all over again.

  “It’s not funny,” Cory insisted. “Come on. We’ve got to keep searching. If the guy who pushed you is still—”

  He stopped in mid-sentence. Someone had stepped into the shadows of the doorway. First Cory saw the sleeve of the black fur parka as the dark figure grabbed the doorknob. Then he saw the hood pulled up to shield the man’s face.

  Lisa grabbed Cory’s arm. “That—that’s him,” she whispered.

  The hood slid back as the man entered the room.

  It was Brad.

  CHAPTER 19

  Brad stepped back into darkness. But they had already seen his face.

  Surprisingly, he looked more frightened than they did.

  He started toward them, pulling the parka hood back up over his head as if he could hide inside it. Cory and Lisa stepped back toward the tall windows. Lisa backed into a music stand, sending it toppling to the floor. The loud crash made them both cry out, startled.

  Brad stopped halfway into the room.

  His eyes were darting from side to side. He seemed unable to decide what to do next. He muttered something under his breath. Cory could hear only the last word: “Mistake.”

  Brad said it again. Again Cory could hear only “mistake.”

  Was Brad threatening them? Was he warning them not to come after him? They couldn’t tell. They couldn’t hear him.

  Brad stood staring at them, his tiny black eyes wide in panic. Inside the parka his forehead was covered with large beads of perspiration. His face was bright red.

  Suddenly he turned and, without saying another word, fled from the room. Cory pulled away from Lisa’s frightened grip and ran after him.

  But Brad slammed the door hard before Cory could get there. And then Cory and Lisa heard a loud bang.

  “Hey!” Lisa yelled.

  Cory tried the knob. He tried it again. Again. He tried pulling. Then pushing. H
e turned to her, looking very worried. “It won’t turn. He must have shoved something against the door.”

  “Are you sure? Maybe you’re pushing when you should be pulling.”

  “You want to try it?” Cory snapped.

  She slumped down on a folding chair and gently rubbed her ankle. “No. Guess I’ll take your word for it. Was that Anna’s brother?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are we gonna call the police when we get out of here? If we get out of here,” she added, just to show that she could still be her usual sarcastic self.

  “I don’t know,” Cory said, trying the door again without success. “I—I think I’d like to talk to Anna first. She might be in danger. If we send the police after Brad, there’s no telling what he might do to Anna.”

  “Let’s just get out of here,” Lisa said wearily.

  “How are we—oh, I know. Call Harwood. He and that girl are probably still making out across the hall, right?”

  Cory shrugged. He put his face against the door and yelled, “Hey—Harwood—let us out of here! Harwood!”

  No response.

  He tried again, louder. Still no reply.

  “Oh, how stupid!” Lisa said. “Stop yelling. No one can hear. This is the music room. Everything is soundproof.”

  Cory stood staring at the doorknob for a few seconds. Then he turned, ran to the window, and pulled up the metal blinds. The room looked down on the student parking lot. It was a clear night. The rows of cars reflected the bright parking lot pole lights.

  “Hey—look!” Cory yelled.

  Brad was running to a small car on the edge of the lot. Cory watched him climb into the car and speed away, his tires squealing on the asphalt.

  “Come on—let’s get out of here,” Cory said. He unlocked one of the windows and pulled it all the way open.

  “But we’re two stories up,” Lisa protested.

  Cory stuck his head out the window and leaned way out. A few seconds later he pulled it back in. “No problem,” he said, grinning. “I’m a gymnast, remember?”

  “Uh-oh. I don’t like that smile on your face. Are you going into your Tarzan act now?”

  “Yeah,” he said, scratching himself and nodding his head like Tarzan’s chimp.

  “Well, I don’t exactly feel like Jane,” Lisa said, wincing in pain as she tried to put weight on her ankle.

  “No problem. I’ll come back for you,” Cory said.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “There’s a three-inch ledge that runs under the windows. I’m going to walk the ledge to that sycamore tree, then climb onto that extending branch, then slide down the trunk.”

  “Maybe we should just stay here until they open school Monday morning,” Lisa said.

  “Thanks for the encouragement,” Cory said, looking down at the narrow granite ledge.

  “We could sit back, relax, and watch my ankle swell,” Lisa suggested, hobbling over to the window, taking Cory’s hand and pulling him back from the window.

  “No problem,” Cory told her, pulling away. He lifted a leg over the window and started to ease himself out onto the ledge. “Really. No problem. I could do this blindfolded.”

  Lisa moved away from the window, plopped down into a chair, and put her ankle up on the attached desk. She couldn’t bear to watch.

  Cory had both feet on the ledge now. He was still holding on to the bottom of the window frame. He looked to his left. He had to move only ten feet or so and then he would be at the tree.

  He carefully turned around so that he was facing the window. He took a sideways step. “Hey! It’s slippery!”

  “Oh, great!” Lisa called, rubbing her sore ankle. “Get back in here!”

  “No. I’m outta here,” he said, but he didn’t sound quite as confident as he had a few seconds before.

  He had to let go of the window frame to take a second step. That meant he was now pressing against solid brick.

  Moving slowly, carefully, his palms pressed against the brick wall, he took another sideways step. Then another.

  To his dismay the ledge suddenly narrowed. He had to stand on tiptoe to stay on it. But standing on tiptoe made it harder to balance.

  He realized he’d been holding his breath the whole time. He exhaled and took a deep breath. He turned his head and looked back over his shoulder at the tree.

  The tree seemed farther away than it had from inside the building. And as he edged closer, he realized that the branch he planned to climb on to wasn’t as close to the ledge as it had originally appeared. In fact, it was at least four feet away, maybe farther.

  He was just realizing that he’d never be able to reach the tree branch when his right foot slid off the slippery ledge and he started to fall.

  CHAPTER 20

  Using his gymnastics reflexes, Cory reached up as he started to drop and grabbed the ledge as he would a parallel bar.

  He missed.

  His hands slid off the wet stone ledge and he continued to drop, his body sliding straight down against the brick wall.

  “Hey!” His feet hit a ledge on the first floor, and instinctively he dived forward, falling through an open window. He landed hard on his hands and knees on a wood floor.

  It took him what seemed forever to catch his breath. Then he slowly got up on his knees and looked around the dark room. He recognized it immediately. He had fallen into the woodshop. “I’ll have to thank whoever left that window open,” he said aloud.

  He stood up and stretched, and tested his body. He seemed okay except that he still had the feeling he was falling. Remembering Lisa, he hurried out of the shop and into the hallway. He could hear the drum rhythms from the music in the gym echoing down the tiled corridor. He turned and took the steps two at a time, and ran to the music room. He saw the hall monitor’s desk had been jammed against the door. It was heavy, but he shoved it aside and opened the door to the music room. “That was quick,” Lisa said. She was still slumping in the chair with her ankle up on the desk.

  “I took a shortcut,” he said.

  A half hour later they were sitting on the low couch in her living room. Lisa propped her swollen ankle up on the coffee table and settled back comfortably against the cushions.

  “Some adventure,” Cory said dejectedly. He was thinking about Brad. And Anna. Poor Anna.

  “Some first date,” she said, staring straight ahead at her ankle. “I’m really sorry. I—”

  “No. I’m sorry,” he said.

  She leaned forward suddenly and started to kiss him, a soft, tentative kiss.

  The phone beside the couch rang. They both jumped back.

  She picked it up quickly, pushing her hair away from her face with her free hand. “Hello?”

  She heard breathing at the other end.

  “Hello? Hello?”

  “Who is it?” Cory asked her.

  She shrugged. “Hello?”

  More breathing. Harsh, rhythmic breathing. Meant to sound threatening.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” Lisa cried.

  The phone went dead.

  Lisa tossed down the receiver. Her hands were shaking, but she looked more angry than frightened. “This has got to stop!” she cried.

  Cory moved across the couch, intending to comfort her. But she pulled away from him. “We’ve got to call the police,” Lisa said.

  “I know. I know,” Cory agreed. “Just let me talk to Anna first. I’ll go see her first thing in the morning.”

  “But Brad will be there, won’t he?”

  “I don’t care. I’m not afraid of Brad. I’ll get to Anna. And I’ll make Anna tell me what’s going on. And I’ll tell Anna that we have no choice. We have to report Brad to the police.”

  “Ouch!” She dropped back down to the couch and started rubbing her ankle. “Hey, some date. I really know how to show a guy a good time, don’t I?”

  “At least it wasn’t boring!” he said, forcing a laugh. He got up and started for the door. “Sure you’l
l be okay?”

  “Yeah. Sure. Call me right after you talk to her tomorrow, you hear?”

  “Right. Don’t worry.”

  “Good luck tomorrow.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll need it.”

  CHAPTER 21

  He turned the car onto Fear Street, cruised the long block, and this time pulled right up the gravel drive to the Corwin house. He had never seen the house in daylight. It looked even shabbier with a bright sun beaming down on its faded shingles and falling gutters.

  His parents had wondered where he was going so early on a Sunday morning. He had told them he had a special gymnastics team workout. He didn’t like lying to them, especially when it was such a feeble lie. But he couldn’t very well tell them he was driving to Fear Street to find out why a girl’s brother was terrorizing him and Lisa and had tried to kill Lisa.

  He didn’t really know what he’d do if Brad answered the door. He’d been up most of the night thinking about it but hadn’t been able to come up with a plan. All night he had tried to sort out his feelings about Anna. He felt angry at himself for becoming involved with her and her brother. Yet he also felt sorry for her. And he was frightened for her. And… and… he was still terribly attracted to her, to her old-fashioned prettiness, to her teasing sexiness, to her… everything.

  All these weeks he had spent thinking of nothing but Anna. And still, to this very moment, she was a complete mystery to him.

  Well, no more.

  He was about to unravel the mystery. All of the mysteries. He wasn’t going to leave until his every question was answered.

  He knocked loudly on the door.

  No response. He waited awhile.

  Ignoring the pounding in his chest and the impulse to run as far from this house as he could, he raised his fist and pounded again.

  Silence.

  He knocked again, harder. Then again.

  He waited. There wasn’t a sound inside the house, no sign that anyone was there.

  More angry than disappointed, Cory turned and started back to the car.

  “Morning.”