Sleepover Stakeout (9780545443111) (9 page)

I
gasped and pushed the night-vision goggles up on my forehead. TDB was here.

Or at least two members. I recognized them as Slade's older brothers and knew them only from their height difference.

How sweet that they'd eventually come back for their brother. But in the meantime, he'd hurt his ankle and been scared nearly to death all alone out there in the dark woods.

I knelt down beside Slade and pulled his arm around my shoulder. I must have looked like the Queen of All Dorks with the night-vision goggles on top of my head, but I didn't care. All I cared about was getting out of there.

“Let's go,” I said. “I'm going to try to pull you up.”

Slade was twice my size, but between his one good leg and all the strength I could muster, I got him to his feet.

“What do we have here?” one of the brothers snarled. They shined their flashlights in our faces.

I tried to look confident, but inside I was trembling all over. I could barely breathe. I remembered the last time Slade needed to get out of a bad situation with his brothers. He'd insulted me to divert their attention. Would he sacrifice me again now?

“Leave us alone, jerks,” Slade said.

“Oh, look who came to Slade's rescue,” the taller brother said mockingly. “The Nerdosaurus from the mall.”

“Don't call her that!” Slade snapped.

“Ooohhh … is she your girlfriend now?” the shorter one teased.

Slade slipped his arm from around my shoulder and leaned his weight against a tree. “No,” he snapped, glaring at the guys. “But she had the guts to come out here in the woods in the dark when she heard my voice asking for help on the walkie-talkie. So that makes her better than you guys.”

I felt something like a flush of pride come over me.

They moved in closer, and one punched Slade in the shoulder. “Come on, wimp. You know it's all part of the test.”

“The torture, you mean,” I said.

They ignored me. “Come on, Slade. You can laugh with us when your pal Hunter is out here doing the same thing in a couple weeks.”

Slade's face twisted in anger and pain. “It's one thing to pull pranks or play scary games together. It's another thing completely to abandon someone when they're hurt. My ankle's busted.” He pointed down at his foot. “The society ends now. You're done.”

They moved in closer. The taller one said, “There's two of us here. And one and a half of you.”

Half?! I'm only a half?
My blood was boiling.

The boy growled, “So we say
you're
done.”

And now my blood turned to ice. What were they going to do? I stepped backward until I hit a tree.

And then a voice rang out in the darkness. “Learn to count, losers!”

Darcy stepped forward, flashlight held high. “One!”

Maya's small voice said, “Two.”

Fiona yelled, “Three!”

Then from behind them came Zane and Hunter.

Zane said, “And we're four and five. So now
you're
outnumbered.”

“Oh, h-hey, Hunter,” the short brother stammered. “You're invited to join TDB, too. You don't want to be on the side of those geeks. Come join us.”

“Slade is my best friend,” Hunter said furiously. “And you left him here, hurt.”

“But we came back for him,” the tall one said. “It was all in fun. Come on. All the cool older boys are in TDB. You have to join or you'll have no friends.”

“That's not true,” I said. I pushed myself off the tree and stood beside Darcy, Fiona, and Maya. I'd never been so happy to see them. “Look at us. We're not all in the same group. We couldn't be more different. But we're all friends. And no one forced us to scare or hurt each other to join our little gang.”

“Yeah!” Fiona yelled, clapping my shoulder.

“She's right,” Slade said. “Hunter'll always have my back. I don't need TDB.”

The tall brother snarled, “Fine. Don't join. Be a loser.” He slapped the shorter brother's chest. “We're out of here.”

“Good luck with your secret society after we tell Principal Plati about it Monday,” Zane said.

They stopped mid-stride. “You can't do that,” the tall one said, his eyes widening. “He'll tell all the parents and teachers! The Danville Boys will be broken up! It's tradition. It's been passed down from grade to grade for years.”

Zane glanced at Darcy and me, unsure.

Darcy whispered, “We
could
tell on them and have TDB broken up.
Or
we could force them to change and get something out of it.”

“Like what?” Zane said.

Darcy shrugged and looked at Fiona, Maya, and me for ideas. Suddenly, my mind whirred with a wonderful thought.

I cocked my head. “Then how about a deal?”

“What kind of deal?” the tall one asked with suspicion in his voice.

“We won't tell on TDB in exchange for two things. One — no more hazing. If you invite someone to join the society, you can still make them do scavenger hunts and stuff like that, but never make them feel like they're in danger.”

He groaned. “Fine. And?”

I smiled. “And tomorrow you're all going to come prepared to work.”

“What kind of work?” the short one asked.

“You know that old lady you torture by knocking on her door? We're going to fix up her house.”

 

Slade's
brothers left in a huff, but we were all agreed on the plan for tomorrow. Of course, they left Slade behind, so Zane and Hunter were helping him hobble home.

Darcy, Fiona, Maya, and I walked slowly through the yard, back toward Maya's house. It was getting late, but we were all abuzz from the night's crazy events.

“I can't believe TDB was a secret society!” Darcy exclaimed. Her eyes glowed with the thrill of it all. “And
we
saved Slade Durkin. I never thought that would happen.”

“And Hunter sided with us!” I shook my head in disbelief.

“And
you
figured it out, Norah,” Fiona said, giving me a high five.

I didn't want to take all the credit. I'd pieced things together in the end, but there had been a lot of teamwork along the way. Plus, it had all started with one person. I smiled warmly in Maya's direction and said, “None of this would have happened if Maya hadn't been so caring and worried. She came to us with this case when other people might have ignored the sounds.”

Maya blushed. “But it was Darcy's idea to charge into the woods and save you.”

“That was so awesome!” I said, elbowing Darcy playfully. “How did you know I needed help?” I asked.

Darcy answered, “Fiona, Maya, and I had finished searching all our areas, and you still hadn't come back from the woods. Then Zane and Hunter came outside. They'd been watching together from Hunter's window. They saw you go in the woods from one direction, and then Hunter saw that bouncing light again coming from another direction. They knew someone else was out there — with a flashlight.”

“And you guys all banded together to come and find me? So brave!” I pulled the girls together into a giant group hug.

Darcy grinned. “I have to admit, the way we came out from behind the trees counting like that, we totally rocked.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Totally. I have
awesome
friends.”

We returned to the living room and finally started to settle down. We crawled over to our sleeping bags and slipped inside. As I lay down, the night replayed in my mind: the voices, the goggles, Slade, his brothers … I suddenly felt wiped out. I could hear Fiona's and Maya's steady breathing so I knew they had instantly fallen asleep. But Darcy was still awake.

She reached her hand out of the sleeping bag and aimed her fist at me. “To another solved case!” she whispered.

Smiling, I reached my hand out and bumped her fist. Then I rolled over, feeling warm and proud. But before sleep overtook me, an idea popped into my head.

“Hey, Darcy,” I mumbled tiredly, “maybe we could do a sleepover at my house next weekend?”

“Yeah!” Darcy said, sounding happier than I'd heard her in a while.

I closed my eyes and started planning the night. “Fiona could bring her makeup again. And Maya could bring the recipe for those smoothies her mom makes. I was even thinking we could ask Maya to join Partners in Crime. She'd love that.”

No sound came from Darcy's sleeping bag.

“Darcy? What do you think?”

There was only silence. She must've fallen asleep.

I fluffed my pillow a bit and got comfortable. Sleep was a good idea. We had a big day of work tomorrow.

On
Sunday, we all descended on Mrs. Wolfson's house. Some of us, out of the goodness of our hearts. The Danville Boys, because they were forced to.

Hunter mowed her weedy lawn. Fiona planted flowers. Zane, Slade, and The Danville Boys got busy scraping the old paint off the porch. They'd all actually shown up, proving that there was hope for everyone. I didn't know for sure how many were in the secret society, but half a dozen came to work, and that was good enough for me.

But Darcy hadn't answered her phone when I called her. She had been the first one up and gone from the sleepover that morning. I left two messages for her, but she still wasn't here.

I carried a can of white paint up the porch steps. It was much heavier than it looked, but I tried not to struggle too much and seem like a total wimp. I put it down next to Zane. “Here's the fresh paint for when you're done scraping,” I said. The Danville Boys had even footed the bill for whatever supplies we couldn't scrounge from our garages.

“Thanks,” Zane said, smiling. “This was a really nice idea, Norah.”

I waved my hand like it was nothing. But on the inside I was jumping up and down.
I impressed Zane!

But then he frowned for a moment. “Hey, you haven't seen my wallet anywhere, have you? It's black and has a Velcro opening.”

I shook my head. “No. Did you lose it today?”

“That's the thing. I must have dropped it somewhere, but I don't remember when I last had it.”

Huh. In that case, he might have lost it days ago. “Sorry, Zane. If I find it I'll let you know.”

He shrugged. “It's okay. I only had two dollars in there. But it also had my school ID, and now I'll have to get a new one.”

Mrs. Wolfson came out with a tray of brownies and yet another pitcher of lemonade. She'd been serving us goodies all morning. She was so happy to see her old house getting spruced up.

“Brownies!” the guys yelled in unison as they barreled up the stairs. That was something they could all agree on — whether they were in a secret society or not.

I went around back to where Maya was pulling weeds from a planting bed.

“How are things with Anya?” I asked her.

She straightened and used her forearm to wipe sweat off her forehead. “The usual. But it's nice to know that she wasn't evil enough to try to purposefully scare me.” She smiled bashfully. “And it's nice to know I have real friends now.”

I put my hand on her arm. “You do.”

I looked around at the pile of weeds she'd pulled. This section would be ready for Fiona to plant flowers into next. “You're doing great here,” I said.

Maya smiled. “It feels good to do something nice for Mrs. Wolfson.”

“Yeah, it does,” I agreed. Especially knowing that, for years, she was ignored and whispered about by kids in the neighborhood. Now she could have a fresh start. Everyone kept telling me how nice I was for organizing this whole thing, but to be honest, it made me just as happy as it made Mrs. Wolfson.

“I'd like to do something nice for you, too,” Maya said.

Well, that was unexpected. “Okay …”

Maya took a quick look around to make sure no one was coming near us. Then, in a low voice, she said, “I want to tell you Zane's secret.”

I had to force myself to swallow. “You shouldn't,” I said. “If he wants it kept a secret —”

She waved me toward her and I took a step closer. She whispered, “It's about you, so I think you have a right to know.”

Zane's secret is about me? What the —?
My heart started pounding like crazy.

Maya's eyes glimmered with delight as she said, “He likes you.”

“What?” I squeaked. My lungs seized. I had to remind myself to breathe.

“He
likes
you likes you. He talks about you all the time. But he doesn't really know what to do about it. I told him he should just tell you and that you'll probably like him back, but he's too nervous.”

So
that
was what Zane and Maya had been talking about in the hall that day. Me! I felt numb all over. I thought I was going into shock. Wonderful, Best Day Ever shock.

Maya added, “Promise me you'll never let him know I told you.”

I brought my finger to my chest and crossed my heart.

Mainly because I couldn't speak.

 

Zane
liked me. What I was going to do with that information, I had no idea. I couldn't act like I knew. Maya had made me promise. But I had to do
something
about it. Zane was right there, in front of Mrs. Wolfson's house, and all I wanted to do was run over and give him a hug, but I was too nervous.

At least I could share the news with my best friend.

I took off from the house, telling everyone that I needed to get another gardening tool, and rode my bike to Darcy's, pedaling harder than I ever had in my life. She'd been teasing me about Zane for so long. It would be great to share this moment together. Even though she'd been moody lately. This crazy news would be just what we needed.

I practically skipped up to her front door and knocked three times. I had to hold in a fit of excited giggles. Finally, the door opened.

Darcy scowled when she saw it was me. “What?”

Not the response I'd been hoping for, but I took a deep breath. I wouldn't let her bad mood ruin this moment for me. I'd put
her
in a good mood instead!

“Can you keep a secret?” I wiggled my fingers excitedly.

Darcy crossed her arms and waited, tapping her foot.

“Maya told me that Zane likes me! Likes me, likes me!” The words burst out of me. It felt so good to say them out loud.

“Wonderful,” Darcy snarled. “So now you can go off and be boyfriend-girlfriend with him and ignore me even more.”

I froze. My mouth hung open.

Darcy went to close the door and I put my hand up to stop it. “What are you talking about?” I demanded.

She threw her hands up in the air. “You have no time for me anymore. We
used
to be best friends.”

I stood stunned for a moment. “We
are
best friends. You'll always be my best friend. What's wrong with you?”

“What's wrong with
you
?” she snapped back. “We used to spend every afternoon together. Now you're bringing all these new people into our group.”

I didn't understand what was going on. Why was she so mad? I swallowed a giant lump in my throat. “But you like Fiona. We
both
agreed to bring her into our group.”

“That was before her opinion became more important than mine.”

“What do you mean?” I sputtered. I told myself not to cry.

Darcy's eyes flashed. “You didn't believe me when I said your glasses looked cool, but you believed her. And you went house to house with her, investigating, rather than wait one day for me to do it with you. It's like you're forgetting about me.”

“It's … it's … not like that,” I stammered.

“And you even started dressing like her and
lying
to me to spend time with her.” Darcy's voice shook with anger.

I staggered back a step. “What?”

Darcy pointed at me. “I saw you. Wednesday when you said you were too busy to watch
Crime Scene: New York
with me, Fiona went into your house with you and was there forever.”

Oh no.
I'd only meant for Fiona to stay a few minutes. I hadn't planned on her staying for Family Movie Night. I'd hurt Darcy's feelings without even realizing it. No wonder she'd seemed different the last few days.

“Wait,” I said. “I can explain.”

“With more lies?” She rolled her eyes. “I don't think so.”

My throat tightened. “We can fix this,” I said. “We just need to talk it —”

Darcy interrupted, “Last night when you asked me to sleep over at your house next weekend, I thought, ‘Great! I'm finally going to have my best friend all to myself again. Even if just for one night.' But then you started rattling off all the things Fiona and Maya could bring. And then I found out you'd already decided to have Maya join Partners in Crime!”

It all sounded so terrible the way Darcy was saying it, but I truly never meant to hurt her. If I'd known she wanted some time with just us, I would have totally done it. But she never told me! I opened my mouth to explain, but she snapped, “So go have fun with all your new friends and your new boyfriend.”

I felt sick. She wasn't even letting me talk. How was I supposed to tell my side of the story? I lashed out, “Well, maybe I don't appreciate that you always assume the worst in people. Including me.”

Red colored her cheeks and she raised her voice. “I'm sick of how nice you always have to be to everyone.”

“And I'm sick of how moody you are!” I snapped back.

Darcy tilted her chin up. “Then maybe we shouldn't be best friends anymore.”

No!

That wasn't what I wanted. Not at all. But I was so angry at the way she was acting. Before I could stop the words from escaping, I said, “Maybe not.”

Darcy set her jaw and took a step back from me. “Fine, then. We're over.”

I felt a squeezing in my chest. Actual physical pain. Darcy slammed the door, but I still heard her last words from the other side.

“And so is Partners in Crime.”

 

I
spent the next few hours crying in bed. Hubble jumped on the blanket and curled up beside me. He always seemed to know when I was sad. But even petting him and looking into his cute little dog face wasn't making this better.

Darcy and I had been friends forever, so of course we'd had arguments before. But this one felt different. And that scared me.

It had always been just Darcy and me since fourth grade. That never bothered me, but I'd enjoyed making new friends like Fiona and Maya. I never realized that I'd made Darcy feel like I was leaving her behind. And, just like our case with Abigail and Trey, this could've all been avoided if Darcy had been honest about her feelings. She should've told me sooner.

The truth was that, while I liked Fiona and Maya, neither of them compared to Darcy. She knew me in a way only my family did. No one could ever take her place.

But I might have ruined everything.

How could I fix the mess we were in? This was a mystery I hoped I could solve. And soon.