My Best Friend Is Invisible by R. L. Stine

lines… for the school play.”
    “You’re in the school play?” she asked.
    “Uh… no. Not exactly,” I said. “I’m rehearsing… in case they ask me to
be in it.”
    “Sammy, if something is bothering you—you know you can always tell me about
it. Right?”
    “Right,” I said.
    Mom felt my forehead for the third time. She shook her head—again. She
started for the door—and stopped.
    “Your father and I have been working very hard. I know we haven’t been paying
much attention to you. But that’s going to change now. We’re going to be here
for you. In fact, we’re going to be watching you very closely.”
    Great.
    Mom and Dad were going to start studying me—like one of their science
projects.
    “It’s way too chilly in here, Sammy.” Mom walked over to my window and closed
it. Then she left the room.
    “Are you still here, Brent?” I snapped.
    “Yes.”
    “Why did you do that to me? Why wouldn’t you speak to my mother?” I demanded.
    “Sorry,” Brent said. “But I don’t want anyone else to know about me. I just
want to live with you and be your friend.”
    “Well, that’s not going to happen,” I replied sharply.
    I suddenly felt hopeful. Because Mom had just given me a great idea!
    Now I knew exactly what I had to do—to get rid of the invisible boy.

 
 
21
     
     
    I ran straight across the hall to the bathroom. I turned the hot-water faucet
in the shower up all the way.
    Yes! A few seconds later, the mirror started to cloud with steam. Then I
turned on the hot water in the sink—and in the bathtub too.
    Wow. Was it hot in here! Hotter than a tropical rain forest, I thought.
    Excellent!
    I wiped the sweat from my forehead and raced back into my room. I made sure
the window was closed tightly. Then I opened the valve on my radiator. I kept
turning it—until I heard the loud hiss of steam escape into my room.
    Perspiration dripped from my face as the moist, warm air from the bathroom
drifted into my room.
    “Sammy, what are you doing?” Brent wailed. “It’s too hot in here!”
    I laughed. “Sorry. But this is the way I like it!”
    I raced down the hall and opened the valve on Mom and Dad’s radiator, then Simon’s radiator too. I made sure all their
windows were shut tight.
    “Sammy, stop!” Brent begged. “It’s too hot! Too hot!”
    I sat in my bed—and waited.
    Beads of sweat formed on my upper lip. My T-shirt, drenched with sweat, clung
to me.
    Perfect!
    “I—I can’t take it anymore.” Brent’s voice started to grow faint. “I—I
can’t stay here. It’s… too… hot.”
    Over his low cries, I heard my window slide up.
    And I knew that my plan had worked. Brent was gone—for good.

 
 
22
     
     
    On Saturday night, Roxanne and I had planned to go to the movies to see School Spirit. But the plan had changed. Roxanne insisted that if I didn’t
go to Hedge House with her, she’d never speak to me again.
    I believed her.
    “Can you walk a little faster?” Roxanne asked. “It’s getting cold out here.”
    She was right. A heavy fog had settled in. And a strong wind began to blow.
    I shivered in the damp night air.
    We walked quickly, down block after block. “We’re almost there,” Roxanne said
as we neared the next corner. “Are you ready?”
    I shrugged. “Sure.”
    “Good.” Roxanne stopped. “We’re here.”
    Whoa! I peered up—at the highest, darkest hedges I had ever seen. A wall of
hedges so thick you couldn’t even see through it!
    “I—I’ve never seen hedges grow so high before,” I stammered.
    “‘It’s the will of the ghost. To keep the house chilly and dark—as cold
and icy as the spirit itself.’” Roxanne smiled. “I memorized that part from the
book I read to you.”
    “How do we get in?” I asked, searching for a way through the tall shrubs.
    “You’re lucky you have me for a partner,” Roxanne sighed. “You don’t
know anything.”
    We walked along the dark hedges until we came to a small