Read Online Switched by R.L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

muscles working. Then I made my way through the woods to the street.
    It was a hazy, hot morning. The air felt heavy and still. The morning dew stained my sneakers as I trudged through the grass and weeds.
    I kept away from the street, keeping low as I walked through front yards and alleys. A rolled-up morning newspaper in a driveway made me stop.
    I glanced up at the house. No one seemed to be stirring inside. I picked up the newspaper and began to unroll it.
    Would Lucy’s murders be on the front page?
    Would the story tell about how the police are on my trail?
    My eyes swept rapidly over the newspaper.
    No story. No story on the front page.
    I pulled the paper open. Two colorful ad sheets fell onto the driveway. I searched the next pages. And the next.
    Confused, I folded the paper up and set it back on the driveway. I glanced again at the house. No one watching from the windows.
    I hurried on, thinking hard.
    Why weren’t the three murders reported in the paper?
    Were the police keeping the story quiet until they had captured me?
    Was it possible that no one had discovered the Kramers’ bodies yet?
    That was possible, I realized. But the two policemen had seen Kent’s body. And they had seen me standing over Kent with the kitchen knife in my hand.
    So why wasn’t his murder reported in the paper?
    The police are keeping it quiet for a reason, I decided. They’re waiting till they capture me. Then they’ll release the whole story at once.
    The story seemed to make sense. As much sense as everything else that had happened to me since yesterday.
    I saw my parents’ car backing down the driveway as I turned the comer. I ducked behind the wide trunk of an old maple tree and watched them drive away.
    My dad wasn’t wearing his usual blue suit. He looked a mess. Mom looked worried. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t deal with this now.
    I had the strong urge to call to them, to go running after them. To cry: “It’s me, Mom and Dad! It’s really me! I know I don’t look like me. But it’s me!”
    I wanted to hug them and hold them both close. And tell them what had happened. Tell them the horrors I had seen. Tell them about the murders Lucy had committed in my body.
    But I knew they wouldn’t believe me.
    My parents are practical, common-sense-type people. They’re very smart, but they don’t have great imaginations.
    No way they’d believe I was their daughter Nicole.
    Seeing them drive away made me feel even more desperate and afraid. I sneaked into the house through the kitchen door. I was surprised they left it unlocked. Then I made my way upstairs.
    I took a long shower and shampooed my hair three times. I wanted to stay under the hot water forever, so warm and cleansing.
    I nearly burst into tears when I entered my room. It looked so pretty and neat. The bed was made. The clutter on my desk had been straightened.
    This is my home, I thought with a sob. This is where I belong.
    But will I ever be able to live in my own house again?
    I changed into a pair of faded denim jeans and awhite T-shirt. I brushed my hair—Lucy’s hair—back and fastened it in a ponytail.
    I spent a long time staring at Lucy’s face in my dressing table mirror.
    Why had I ever agreed to switch bodies with her? Was I that unhappy? That desperately unhappy?
    As I stared into the mirror, two other faces floated into my mind. Margie and Hannah.
    Margie and Hannah knew where Lucy had gone.
    They had to know. They were so eager to keep me from going after Lucy, so eager to keep me from finding her.
    Lucy must have told them everything.
    I stood up and stepped away the mirror.
    â€œI’ll go to school,” I said out loud. “I’ll find Margie or Hannah. I’ll make them tell.”
    I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. A little after eight. Homeroom starts at eight-twenty. Plenty of time to get to school and find one of them.
    I