Temptation by R.L. Stine Page B

“I’m just going back to sleep, okay?”
    He had hung up before Matt could reply.
    Matt replaced the receiver, trying to imagine Todd makingout on the beach with a beautiful girl. Todd rarely had the nerve to ask any girl out. It had taken him months before he was comfortable enough to have a long conversation with April, Matt remembered, even though the three of them went everywhere together.
    Well, way to go, Todd! he thought. He wondered if this Jessica was as fabulous as Todd described. She must be awesome, he thought. Todd sounded like a total vegetable!
    Leaning against the counter, his hand still on the receiver, Matt wondered who he could call to go bodysurfing with him. April had already told him that she had to spend the day taking care of her sisters.
    Maybe Ben is around, he thought. He can’t be at the arcade this early in the morning.
    He looked up Ben’s number in the slim local phone directory and dialed. He let it ring eight times, then hung up, disappointed.
    â€œHey, Dad—” he called out to the deck. “Want to play some tennis?”
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    Todd and Jessica were already side by side in a booth at the Pizza Cove when Matt and April arrived a little after eight o’clock.
    â€œThey sure look cozy,” April whispered, waving to Todd across the crowded little restaurant as she squeezed past the line of kids waiting for tables. Jessica, she saw, had her arm around Todd’s neck in an affectionate hug.
    Todd blushed as April and Matt slid into the seat across from them. “Hey, guys.”
    â€œHi, I’m Jessica,” Jessica said, brushing her coppery mane of hair behind her slender, pale shoulders. She was wearing a green midriff top that revealed ivory skin above and below.
    April spotted a dark lipstick stain just beneath Todd’s ear. Jessica certainly seems to like Todd, she thought. She seems sort of sophisticated for him.
    She scolded herself for thinking that. I’m just jealous because she’s so great-looking, she thought.
    â€œI already ordered a pizza,” Todd said, grinning across the table at Matt.
    â€œAre you from Shadyside too?” Jessica asked.
    April and Matt answered yes at the same time.
    April found herself staring at Jessica’s fingernails, long and perfect and painted a dramatic dark purple to match her lipstick. Leaning close to Todd, Jessica absently ran her hand up and down his arm.
    Wow—is Todd enjoying this! April thought.
    They chatted about the beach, about the town, about their parents. April told about how Courtney buried Whitney up to her chin in the sand that afternoon, and then poured water on her head before April could stop her, and how both little girls became hysterical because April had so much trouble pulling Whitney out.
    As April talked, Jessica rubbed Todd’s arm and playfully sifted her fingers through his curly hair, smiling at him and leaning close.
    Matt and I were a little like that when we first started goingtogether, April thought. And then she found herself thinking that it wasn’t like that between them anymore.
    The pizza arrived, steamy hot on a round metal platter. April, Matt, and Todd hungrily pulled off slices and deposited them on their plates. “I had a big dinner,” Jessica explained, unable to hide her disdain as the platter was slid across the table to her. “I couldn’t eat a bite.”
    â€œJust one slice?” Todd urged.
    â€œNo. Really,” Jessica replied, looking a little ill. Just then her brown eyes opened wide. April realized she was staring at the front of the restaurant. She turned and followed Jessica’s gaze.
    Gabri, trying to maneuver his way through the crowd in the doorway, waved to April from the street entrance. “Hey—there’s Gabri!” she cried, motioning for him to join them. She turned to Matt. “He’s the boy I