Terry was about to ask Ricky more when Mr. Rothrock came in, ready to talk about genetics, and for the next forty minutes Terry forgot all about the party. But after school, walking outside to meet Niki, he passed a crowd gathered on the front steps. Lisa Blume was talking to a small crowd of students. Niki caught up with him on the sidewalk and took his elbow.
“Hi, Terry,” she said. “How was your day?”
“Weird,” said Terry honestly. “How about you?”
“Pretty weird too. I feel like a celebrity because of the invitation to the party.”
“Which way do you want to walk home?” Terry asked.
“I guess by the— Wait a minute,” said Niki. “Lisa’s reading off a list.” She squinted to where Lisa was speaking. Maybe to make up for her deafness, Niki’s eyesight was great, and she could read lips across a room. “She’s figured out everyone who’s invited to the party,” Niki said. “It’s nine people . . . . ”
“Only nine?” said Terry.
“That’s what she says. There’s you and me, Trisha, Ricky Schorr, Murphy Carter, Angela Martiner, Les Whittle, David Sommers, and—and Alex Beale.”
“Alex? Oh, wonderful,” Terry muttered sarcastically. For years he and Alex had been best friends. They had grown up together, played tennis together, even gone out with girls together—until last year when Niki had stopped going with Alex and started dating Terry. Alex had never gotten over his feelings for Niki—and sometimes Terry wondered if Niki was over her feelings for Alex.
“This whole list is bizarro,” Niki was saying. “None of us hang out together, except maybe Murphy and David.” David, like Murphy, was on the football team and also played basketball. Angela was a slim, pretty redhead with a fast reputation, and Les was a science whiz who kept to himself. Terry couldn’t think why any of them had been invited.
But if Alex Beale was on the list, he was suddenly glad that he was too.
“Oh, look,” said Niki. “Here comes Justine. Maybe she’ll explain the list.”
Justine came walking briskly out the front door of the school. As she did, the crowd moved closer to her. Reluctantly Terry followed Niki up on the steps.
“Where have you been all day?” someone asked Justine.
“I had a doctor’s appointment in Waynesbridge,” said Justine. “I just got back for last period.”
“Come on,” said Lisa. “Explain your guest list.”
“What’s to explain?” said Justine sweetly. “I’m just having a party.”
“I’ve got it!” said Murphy Carter. “If you look at the list, everyone invited is either a jock or a wimp, or someone’s girlfriend. Is that it, Justine?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said with a shrug. “I just invited some people I want to get to know better.” She was wearing a body-hugging white wool dress, and with her frosty blond hair and green eyes she looked more like a model than ever.
“I like Murphy’s idea,” said David. “The wimps and the jocks.”
“So what do you think, wimp?” asked Murphy, spotting Terry. “You got the guts to go to the party—and stay all night?”
“I hope you’ll all come to the party,” said Justine. She turned her dazzling smile on Murphy. “Can I count on you, Murphy?” she said.
“Uh—sure,” he said, suddenly looking goofy.
“You can count on me too,” said David.
“I’m glad,” said Justine. “Now, both of you have to promise that you’ll dance with me. I have a really rad sound system, and I bought a lot of excellent dance CDs.”
Justine was laying it on pretty thick, and Terry could see that Murphy and David were buying it.
“Hey, I’d like to dance with you,” said Bobby McCorey, who had appeared from somewhere with his buddy, Marty Danforth. Bobby was on the varsity football team, but he had a bad temper and most of the other guys didn’t hang out with him. He and Marty were the biggest bullies in the school.
“Well, I’d like to dance with you too, Bobby,” said Justine, her voice suddenly sarcastic. “Why don’t you come to my aerobics class?”
The other kids laughed, and Bobby glared at them before turning back to Justine. “Why don’t I come to your party instead?” he said. “You probably just forgot to send me an invitation, right?”
“No,” said Justine, smiling again. “I didn’t forget.”
“Well, you’d better change your mind,” said Bobby with a scowl. “Me and Marty don’t like to be left out of things.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” said Justine. “But this is a small party, and you guys just aren’t on the list.”
“We’ll see about that!” said Bobby menacingly. “Come on, Marty,” he added. “Let’s leave these dorks and go have some fun.” He and Marty stalked away, then jumped on their motorcycles and roared off. Terry had a feeling they weren’t giving up, but Justine didn’t seem at all concerned.
“Hey, Justine—what about dates?” Murphy asked. “I can bring my girlfriend, can’t I?”
“It’s not a party for dates,” said Justine. “It’s not that kind of party at all.”
“But Monica and I have been going together for two years,” said Murphy.
“Then I’m sure she won’t mind giving you a little space for just one night,” said Justine.
Terry and Niki were turning to leave when the front door to the school swung open with a bang. Alex Beale came swaggering down the steps, his huge, muscular frame seeming to take up all the space a foot around him. Terry had to admit that Alex was good-looking, with his short blond hair, his confident smile, his laughing, dark eyes. As soon as he got close to Justine, he winked.
“Got your invitation,” he said.
“Good,” said Justine. “I hope I can count on you.”
“Oh, you can count on me,” said Alex. “One, two, three, four, five . . . ”
What comes after five, Alex? Terry thought. The sight of Alex always made Terry feel uneasy and sarcastic these days.
“I knew I could count on you, Alex,” Justine said, smiling again. She turned and gave a little wave to the kids who were still there. “See the rest of you later,” she said, and strolled out to the parking lot.
Terry took Niki’s hand and tugged gently. But before they could get down the steps, Murphy Carter’s voice cut through the noise. “Hey, Terry,” he said. “Wimp. Where you going so fast?”
“We’re going home,” said Terry. “What do you think?”
“Right,” said Murphy. “But you never answered my question.” Quickly he explained to Alex about the invitations going either to wimps or jocks. “So I asked Terry if he thought he could go the distance and stay all night.”
“Good question,” said Alex, laughing. “Can you?”
“Oh, wow. A haunted house,” said Terry. “I’m shaking in my shoes.”
Alex used his best Count Dracula voice to say: “Even if it’s on Fear Street?”
“It’s just another street, as far as I’m concerned,” said Murphy. “All that garbage about evil things happening there is just superstition.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” said Alex thoughtfully.
“Now who’s the wimp?” cracked Murphy, slightly confused. “Hey, Alex, whose side are you on?”
“Give me a break, Murphy,” Alex said, rolling his dark eyes. “Halloween on Fear Street? I’m ready.” He turned back to Terry, an odd smirk on his handsome face. “What about it, Terry? Think you and the wimps’ll be able to stay all night in a haunted house?”
“I’ve got no problem with it,” said Terry. “But are you sure your mommy will let you stay out after dark?”
Alex ignored Terry’s shot and called to Ricky Schorr, who was headed to the parking lot, carrying the paper bag with his dead biology project. “Hey, Schorr!” he shouted. “How about you? You going to join Terry’s team and show up at the party?”
“Sure I’ll show up,” said Ricky. “And I’m not a wimp.”
r /> Alex, David, and Murphy laughed. “I love it!” said Murphy. “He’s not a wimp!”
“He doesn’t have the guts to be a wimp!” cried David.
The three of them started laughing all over again, slapping one another high-fives.
“So who else is on your ‘team,’ Terry?” asked Alex. “Les Whittle, maybe—and Trisha? Think they’ll have the guts to go?”
“Ask them yourself,” said Terry. He took a deep breath.
Niki gave him a worried look, then turned to the jocks. “Come on, guys,” she said. “This isn’t a contest—it’s a party. Why can’t we all just—”
“Sorry, Niki,” said Murphy. “Maybe it started out as a party, but it’s a contest now. Us against them. The jocks—against the wimps.”
Terry stood there a moment, exasperated. Alex was always trying to show him up. Why couldn’t he just accept that Niki was his girlfriend now?
“Find someone else to play your games,” he said finally. “Come on, Niki.”
“In other words,” said Alex, “you’re too chicken to go. In that case, Niki, maybe you’d better join our team. Sounds like Terry’s not sure he can protect you.”
“I can take care of Niki—obviously better than you!” Terry shouted, losing his temper and immediately feeling embarrassed about it.
“Will you both stop acting like children!” Niki shouted. “I can take care of myself! And for your information I’m not on any so-called team! That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard!”
“Oh, yeah?” said Alex, looking stung. “Maybe you ought to think twice about that.” He took a step forward, his face suddenly dark with anger.
“Take it easy, Alex,” Terry said. “Nobody meant anything. It’s just a party, all right?”
“It’s more than that now,” muttered Alex. “And you know it.” He turned and walked quickly to the parking lot.
The crowd of kids began to break up. “Yo—Captain Wimp,” Ricky cheerfully called from across the parking lot. “We’re going to cream those guys, huh, dude?”
“They don’t have a chance,” Terry called back, suddenly into the competition without realizing it. “We’ll show them who the real wimps are. And it’s not us.”
He started to reach for Niki’s hand, but stopped in surprise. She was standing still and staring up at him, her face full of misery. “Hey, Funny Face,” he said. “What’s the matter?”
“This stupid contest,” she said, frowning. “Why’d you let those guys push you into it?”
“Nobody pushed me into anything,” said Terry. “Besides, it’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a goof.”
“To you, maybe,” Niki said. “But not to Alex. Didn’t you see his face? He’s serious about this! Deadly serious.”
chapter
3
Terry’s parents readily agreed to let him go to the all-night party, but only because Justine’s uncle was going to chaperon. Niki’s parents were harder to persuade, but when Niki showed them the costume she’d spent hours making, they finally gave in.
Meanwhile, Terry, Ricky, Les, and Trish—the “wimp” team—were thinking up tricks to play on the jocks. Terry only joined in halfheartedly, knowing that the real competition was between Alex and him.
Niki absolutely refused to have anything to do with any competition or pranks. But she was really looking forward to the party.
Meanwhile, every day at school was like April Fool’s Day. At first it was just harmless fun.
One morning the jocks “dissed” Ricky Schorr with a huge plastic snake that jumped out of his locker.
Then Les got even by sneaking into the locker room and filling Alex’s and Murphy’s basketball shoes with shaving cream.
The day after that, Trisha received a phone call from someone who told her she had won a thousand pounds of dead fish in a wimp contest.
But then the pranks turned ugly. Two days before Halloween Terry opened his locker and reached for his tennis racket without looking.
“Ohhh.”
Something in there brushed against his hand.
It felt clammy and cold. Like dead flesh.
Terry dropped the racket in disgust.
He took a step back, then forced himself to look down at the racket.
Hanging from the strings, a plucked chicken head was staring up at him through sightless eyes.
“Oh, gross.”
He picked up the racket and unwrapped the note taped around the handle: “Here’s a start on your costume, wimp. You’ll see worse—unless you chicken out and forget the party.”
“Very mature, Alex,” Terry said to the empty hall.
He shrugged, then threw the chicken head and note into the nearest trash can. How could he and Alex have become such enemies? he wondered. He could remember the years growing up, when Alex’s family had lived just down the street.
They had been such good friends then. Inseparable, almost.
Now they couldn’t be together for five minutes without getting into some dumb competition.
It was dumb, so dumb.
But even though he knew it was dumb, Terry still didn’t want to lose to Alex. Not now. Not ever.
On Thursday before the party Terry was hurrying to the school library to do some work on his biology project during study period. He’d chosen seed germination for his project because it seemed really interesting. It was really interesting, but it was also a lot more complicated than he had ever imagined.
He had tried to germinate some seeds and preserve them in different stages of growth, but nothing would sprout. He was going to have to draw illustrations instead.
He rounded the corner just before the library and stopped dead. At the end of the hall was a small group of kids, including Murphy, David, Alex—and Niki. Niki was wearing a bright red sweater and a plaid skirt, and looked so pretty all he wanted to do was go up and hug her. But she was smiling and talking with Alex.
Alex spotted Terry first. He didn’t say anything. He just stared at Terry as if he were a bug or some other low form of life. And then he deliberately refocused on Niki. He bent forward and said something to her, very close to her face. Niki shook her head quickly, looking annoyed, and the jocks laughed and swaggered off. Terry forced himself to act as if he hadn’t noticed anything. “Hi, Funny Face,” he said.
“Hi, Terry,” said Niki. She smiled, but it wasn’t her full smile. She seemed worried, as if something was on her mind.
“What was that all about?” he said casually.
“What was what all about?”
“With Murphy and Alex. What were you talking about?”
For a moment Niki didn’t answer, then she gave Terry the Look, the look that meant he was on dangerous ground. “Why shouldn’t I talk to them?” she asked, sounding defensive.
“Well, it’s just that—that they’re on the other team,” said Terry. Then, trying to make a joke out of it, he added, “After all, this is war!”
But Niki didn’t take it as a joke. “For your information,” she said, “it’s no such thing. And I’m not on either team. Or had you forgotten?”
“I remembered, but—well, you’re going to the party with me, so . . . ”
“I’ll go to the party with you,” Niki said. “But I’ll talk to anyone I want.”
Terry knew she was right. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to come on so heavy. It’s just that you look sort of worried.”
“As a matter of fact, I am worried,” said Niki. “This whole party is beginning to seem weirder and weirder.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, this dumb contest. Justine is really into it too. And I still can’t figure out the guest list. This group just doesn’t belong together.”
“I know,” said Terry. “But so what?”
“And why did she say no one could bring dates?” Niki went on.
“That’s not a problem for us,” said Terry. “Are you saying you don’t want to go?”
“No,” s
aid Niki. “But, Terry, be careful. This morning Angela told me the jocks are cooking up some tricks for the party that could be really dangerous.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I was asking Alex about.”
“What did he say?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. He just said I should join his team,” Niki replied, even more upset now. “He said it might not be safe for me to go with the wimps!”
Terry took a deep breath and held it. “What did you tell him?” he asked for a moment. He hated himself for asking, but he had to know.
“Oh, I said he was right and I’d decided to go with the jocks—what do you think?”
The sarcasm in her voice was as heavy as cement, and Terry felt terrible. “Niki, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“What good does it do to be sorry?” she said. “I can’t believe the way you and Alex are acting. You’re both taking this whole thing so seriously! Why can’t you lighten up and just see it as a party?”
“Hey, it’s not me who’s taking it too seriously,” Terry said. “Alex is the one who’s playing tricks. He’s the one who’s threatening you, trying to cause trouble between us—”
“Will you listen to yourself?” said Niki, her dark eyes suddenly flashing in anger. “Why don’t you just admit that you’re as jealous of Alex as he is of you! That’s what’s really behind this stupid competition!”
She turned angrily and walked down the hall.
Terry thought of going after her, but stopped himself. It wouldn’t do any good. When Niki got that mad, it always took her a while to cool off.
Terry had the library all to himself during study period, but he might as well have been in the middle of a crowded train station for all the work he got done on his project. He stared at photographs of seeds, but all he could see was the face of Alex Beale.
Whatever Alex was up to, he thought, he wasn’t going to get away with it. And Terry refused to be scared off by talk of “dangerous” tricks. After all, it was just a Halloween party. He expected a few scares on Halloween—trick or treat, and all that.