Truth or Dare . .

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  ‘You Can’t Come in Here!’ Excerpt

  About P.J. Night

  PROLOGUE

  Up and down the aisles she wandered, and though so much was familiar, there were small and unexpected differences: The lights seemed brighter, the colors looked bolder, even the sounds were louder. She smiled a little, to think how fascinated she was by a grocery store. How many times had she been in one before and hardly noticed a thing about it? Felt bored, even?

  Now that seemed like a long time ago.

  And here she was, drinking it all in, appreciating it, even appreciating the people around her, who weren’t paying her any attention as they hurried past one another, obviously preoccupied.

  Then she saw them, two girls around her age, one tall with long, straight chestnut hair; the other a little shorter, her blond hair pulled back from her face. She watched how they giggled together, how the taller one leaned down to whisper something, a secret that they shared, their heads nearly touching. She wished she knew what they were talking about. It wasn’t hard to tell that they were best friends; and a pang of longing made her want to look away. But she didn’t. Instead she stared harder.

  Did they have any idea how lucky they were?

  CHAPTER 1

  Abby Miller stared at the contents of the grocery cart. “Okay, we’ve got soda, we’ve got veggies and dip, we’ve got popcorn,” she said. “Do we need anything else?”

  “What about chips?” Leah Rosen, Abby’s best friend, asked.

  Abby nodded. “You go get some chips and I’ll find something good for breakfast.”

  Leah disappeared around the corner, leaving the cart behind for Abby. Abby wandered through the store to the frozen food section and stood in front of the breakfast case, weighing the waffle options: plain or buttermilk or blueberry or apple cinnamon or—

  Suddenly Abby had the creepiest feeling that she was being watched. In the chrome edges of the case, she thought she saw something move.

  But when she glanced behind her, no one was there.

  She was the only person in the frozen food aisle.

  Abby turned back to the freezer case and opened the glass door. She was reaching for a box of buttermilk waffles when—

  “BOO!”

  Abby shrieked as she felt a swift tug on her hair. She spun around to see Leah grinning at her.

  “Gotcha!” Leah exclaimed. “Wow, I really spooked you, huh? You have goose bumps!”

  “Yeah, from the freezer.” Abby laughed, gesturing to the frosty air pouring out of the open case.

  “Sure, Ab. Whatever you say,” Leah replied, her eyes twinkling. “Check out what I got!”

  Abby wrinkled her nose. “Barbecue chips? You know I don’t like barbecue!”

  “More for me,” Leah said with a grin. “Don’t worry, you’re covered.” She tossed a bag of tortilla chips into the cart and placed a jar of salsa next to it.

  Abby added two boxes of frozen waffles. “We’ll order the pizzas after everybody else gets to my house, so I think that’s about everything we need.”

  Leah frowned. “You’re forgetting one essential—dessert!”

  “What’s wrong with me?” Abby said, laughing. “What should we get? Cookies?”

  “Brownies?” suggested Leah. The girls exchanged a glance.

  “Both!” they said at the same time.

  “Come on, desserts are in the next aisle,” Leah said as she pushed the cart around the corner. Suddenly she backed up—right into Abby!

  “Leah! What are you—,” Abby began.

  But Leah frantically waved her hands at her friend and whispered, “Shh! Shh!”

  “What? What is it?” Abby asked as she followed Leah to the opposite end of the aisle.

  Leah leaned close to Abby’s ear and whispered, “Max! Max Menendez! He’s right over there getting candy! Do I look okay?”

  Abby reached out and smoothed out the bumps in her friend’s blond ponytail. It was no secret that Leah had a major crush on Max. Every time she was around him, she got so nervous that she could barely speak. “You look great,” Abby assured Leah. “Want to go say hi?”

  “Are you crazy?” Leah gasped as she tried to get a glimpse of her reflection in the freezer case’s shiny silver handle.

  “Come on!” Abby urged her friend as she gave Leah a little push. “This is a perfect opportunity to talk to him! I’ll come with you.”

  But Leah shook her head. “I’ll probably say something stupid,” she replied. “Let’s just wait here until he leaves.”

  “Come on, Leah!” Abby whispered. “How will you two ever go out if you won’t talk to him? And this’ll be a great story to tell Chloe and Nora at the party tonight.”

  “Party? What party?” a voice asked.

  Leah and Abby spun around.

  It was Max!

  He smiled at the girls. “You’re having a party and you didn’t invite me?”

  Abby looked at Leah, thinking it would be the perfect time for her friend to say something to Max. But Leah just stood there—as frozen as the peas across the aisle. Her eyes were so wide that she even looked a little scared.

  “Um . . . of course we didn’t invite you,” Abby said, grinning playfully as she tried to save the situation. “It’s a sleepover party. No boys allowed.”

  “Well, fine,” Max said, pretending to be hurt. “I’m busy, anyway.”

  “Oh yeah?” asked Abby. “Doing what?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Max said with a laugh. “Nah, I’m just messing with you guys. I’m going to a movie with Jake and Toby. I thought I’d snag some candy before the show.”

  “That’s cool,” Abby said as her eyes lit up. She didn’t notice the way Leah began to watch her. “What are you guys gonna see?”

  “Don’t know yet,” Max replied. He laughed. “I mean, obviously some snacks were the priority, you know?”

  “Well, have fun,” Abby said. “We’ve gotta go. See you later, Max.”

  “See you guys,” Max said. “Hey, Leah—heads up!”

  Leah jumped as Max tossed a candy bar to her. “I got too much,” he said with a smile. “You want one?”

  “Uh, yeah, sure,” Leah stammered. “Th-thanks, Max.”

  Max flashed another grin at the girls as he sauntered down the aisle. As soon as he was gone, Leah grabbed Abby’s arm. “Wow! He gave me a candy bar!”

  Abby smiled at Leah’s excitement. “Kind of,” she pointed out. “You still have to pay for it.”

  But Leah was too distracted to pay attention to Abby. “Max is so cute!” she gushed. “I wish I didn’t get so tongue-tied around him.”

  “Just relax,” Abby said to her friend. “He’s only a boy.”

  “Only a boy!” exclaimed Leah. “How are you not as in love with him as I am?”

  Abby thought for a moment about Max’s spiky black hair and his big smile. He was definitely a hottie—but there was a guy at school who Abby thought was even hotter. “Yeah, he’s pretty awesome,” she said carefully.

  But Leah gave Abby a piercing look. “You think there’s somebody cuter than Max?” she asked. “Who?”

  Abby pressed her lips together and shook her head. Her crush was top secret—and she wanted to keep it that way.

  “Oh, come on, Abby,” Leah begged. “I told you a million
years ago that I liked Max. You owe me!”

  Abby laughed. “I’m not telling. It’s not my fault you can’t keep your own secrets.”

  “I’ll figure out who it is,” Leah said. “It’s not Toby, is it?”

  “Not even close,” Abby replied. “Now would you please stop? I’m not telling!”

  Leah clapped her hands. “I know! I know! It’s Jake, isn’t it?”

  Abby’s mouth dropped open. “No! Why would you even think that?”

  “Jake?” squealed Leah. “Seriously? You like Jake?”

  “No way,” Abby said firmly. “Please, can you drop it? I mean it, Leah.”

  Leah sighed. “Fine, be that way. But I will find out for sure who you like.”

  Abby was silent as she pushed the cart toward the produce aisle to get some strawberries for breakfast. She knew that when Leah was determined to find something out, there was no stopping her.

  And Abby also knew that even though Leah was her very best friend, she couldn’t keep a secret. Leah might be shy around boys, but she wasn’t shy when it came to gossip. Abby knew she meant well, but telling Leah something in confidence was as good as posting it online.

  Before long, the whole world would know it too.

  After Abby and Leah finished buying everything they needed for the sleepover, Abby’s mom drove them to Abby’s house. They had just started unloading the groceries when there was a loud knock at the door. Chester, the Millers’ oatmeal-colored cocker spaniel, jumped up and ran toward the door, yipping in excitement.

  “Woo-hoo!” Abby exclaimed as she hurried out of the kitchen. She flung open the front door to find her friend Nora Lewis waiting there, holding a purple duffel bag, a pink sleeping bag, and a stack of DVDs.

  “Am I too early?” Nora asked as she walked inside. “My brother had to drop me off before he went to work.”

  “No, you’re fine,” said Abby. “Leah and I were just getting some snacks ready.”

  “Hey, Nora,” Leah said, pouring the tortilla chips into a bowl. “Which movies did you bring?”

  Nora’s brown eyes lit up. “I raided my brother’s DVD stash!” she said excitedly as she spread three DVD cases across the counter. “What do you think?”

  Abby grabbed one of the cases and read the title. “Attack of the Bee People?” she asked.

  “Oh, it’s sooo funny,” Nora said. “It’s this movie from forever ago, and it was supposed to be really scary, but the special effects are horrible! It’s hilarious!”

  “What’s this one?” asked Leah curiously. “A Love Beyond? Seriously?”

  Nora sighed. “Very romantic. This guy dies, but he never stops loving this girl, even though she tries to go on with her life. My brother would kill me if it got out that he owned this.”

  Abby picked up the last DVD case, which had a black cover with a pair of spooky green eyes on it. “The Hole,” she said as she read the title aloud. “This one looks scary.”

  “It is,” Nora said, nodding. “It’s about a cursed grave that can never be closed, and whenever anybody visits the person who was buried there, they get sucked into it too.”

  “Cool!” Leah exclaimed. “I love scary movies! Let’s save that one for right before we go to sleep.”

  Abby shook her head as she dropped the DVD back on the counter. “No way,” she said firmly. “If we watch that one last, I’ll be way too scared to sleep.”

  Leah laughed. “Exactly! Then we’ll stay up all night for sure!”

  There was another knock at the door.

  “Got it,” Abby said as she darted into the hallway. When she opened the front door, she found her friend Chloe Chang waiting on the front porch. Chester barked in greeting.

  “Hi, Abby!” said Chloe as she stepped inside. “Hi, Chester.”

  “I’m so glad you’re here!” Abby exclaimed. “Leah and Nora are in the kitchen.”

  “Excellent,” Chloe said as she gave Chester a pat on the head and followed Abby into the house. “I’ve been looking forward to this sleepover all day!”

  “Hey!” Leah said as she waved to Chloe. “Abby, did you unpack the cookies and brownies? I can’t find them.”

  Abby shook her head. “Maybe we left a bag in the car,” she replied. “I’ll go check.” She grabbed her mom’s car keys and hurried outside.

  Abby’s brown hair fluttered in the cool, damp breeze; in the distance, dark clouds threatened to bring a rainstorm before morning. She unlocked the car and found one last grocery bag that had fallen under the backseat.

  Then Abby felt it again: that spooky sense that someone was watching her, just as she’d felt in the grocery store.

  In the silence, she heard a crackling sound, like the crunch of fallen leaves. Almost like footsteps.

  But that’s not possible, she thought. Abby’s house was located at the end of a suburban street, next to a woodland nature preserve where people were forbidden to trespass. In all the years she’d lived there, Abby had never seen anyone in the woods.

  She’d never stepped foot in them either, not with all the large NO TRESPASSING signs, bright orange warnings that were impossible to miss.

  But as she stood in the driveway, Abby couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was standing just beyond the trees, watching her.

  Then she heard another sound coming from the woods. This one was familiar, but she couldn’t place it. It was sort of like the rusty squeak of an old swing set on a stormy day, when the wind pushes the swings like invisible hands.

  But there weren’t any swing sets here.

  Abby took a deep breath and spun around. “Hello?” she called loudly. “Who’s there?”

  The noise suddenly stopped. The silence was overwhelming.

  Someone heard me, she thought.

  “Hello?” she called again. A few moments passed. As she glanced at the nature preserve, Abby started to feel silly. Are you some kind of baby? she scolded herself. Why are you getting all freaked out for absolutely no reason?

  Suddenly a creature burst out of the trees. The black blur took to the sky, cawing noisily, beating its wings with tremendous power as it flew away from the forest as fast as it could.

  A crow, Abby thought with relief; she almost laughed out loud. It was just a crow. She grabbed the grocery bag and slammed the car door shut. She turned toward the house. She was eager to get inside and forget about the fear that had spread through her whole body as she stood, all alone, by the car.

  The first thing Abby saw when she opened her door was Chester standing by the front window, growling quietly. She wanted to believe he was growling at the squirrels in the yard, but she couldn’t help but think that the same thing that had spooked her had also spooked her dog. No matter how hard she tried, Abby couldn’t stop thinking about the strange squeaking sound coming from somewhere in the woods, just beyond the trees.

  And she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone—or something—had been watching her.

  CHAPTER 2

  The kitchen was bright and cheery when Abby returned with the missing grocery bag. She grinned at her friends as she joined them at the table, where they’d already started digging into the snacks. Abby had decided not to tell anybody about what had happened out by the car. But she kept glancing out the window at the woods.

  “How many pizzas should I get?” Leah called as she held the cell phone up to her ear. “Two? Three? The phone is ringing and—Hello? I’d like to place an order for delivery.”

  “Two pizzas,” Abby said. “One plain and one pepperoni?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Chloe said as Nora nodded.

  “Hey, check this out,” Chloe continued as she dug around in her backpack. “Guess what I brought?”

  “Your teddy bear?” teased Abby.

  “Ha, ha,” Chloe said sarcastically. “A makeover kit! It has every color lipstick you can imagine and a hundred shades of eye shadow.”

  Nora smiled. “Score!”

  “Okay, the pizzas will be here in thir
ty minutes or less,” Leah said as she ended her call. “What should we do until then?”

  “Let’s go down to the basement,” Abby suggested. “We can move the furniture and set up the sleeping bags and stuff, and by the time we’re done the pizzas should be here.”

  She grabbed the DVDs off the counter and followed her friends down the stairs. The awesome sleepover she’d been planning all week was about to begin.

  And Abby couldn’t wait!

  After they were completely stuffed with pizza, the girls returned to the basement. It was one of Abby’s favorite rooms in the house. It was set into a gentle hillside so that only part of it was underground; the other half of the basement had large windows that opened onto the backyard and the nature preserve on the side of the house. There was an overstuffed L-shaped couch covered with lots of squishy throw pillows. It was the favorite spot of her mom’s black cat, Eddie, who spent most of his time in the basement avoiding Chester. Across from the couch, a large flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall. The rest of the walls were covered in cool vintage movie posters that Abby’s parents had collected over the years. When all the colorful sleeping bags were spread out on the floor and the side table was covered with platters of yummy snacks, the basement turned into the perfect place for a sleepover party.

  “Makeover time!” Chloe announced as she placed a pink case on the table in the middle of the room. The other girls crowded around as Chloe flipped open the lid to reveal three levels of trays, each one cluttered with a rainbow of cosmetics. The bottom of the case had a large drawer jammed with dozens of hair accessories.

  “Is that blue mascara?” Leah asked, grabbing a tube. “I have to try that.”

  “Anyone want to give me a manicure?” asked Chloe. “My nails are a mess.”

  “Sure,” Nora replied as she reached for a nail file. “What color do you want?”

  Chloe frowned. “Purple?” she asked as she considered her choices. “Or pink? Or maybe silver?”

  “Nora, can I do your hair?” Abby asked. “It’s so gorgeous.”

  Nora shrugged. “Sure. But good luck. These curls do their own thing.”

  Leah stared into the mirror. “What do you guys think? Too much?”