Beware! Read online

  I wake up screaming.

  I was Jenny’s science project partner. Something bad was bound to happen. That night, I dreamed about it.

  My 3rd (and probably not my last) Pinski Nightmare

  Jenny ruins our science project.

  She pops a huge balloon.

  A hundred toads fall out on my head.

  Raining toads = being stomped and slimed!

  I wake up screaming!

  My 3rd Pinski Nightmare: Part 2

  Jenny dips our project report in purple paint.

  She tells Mr. Monroe I did it.

  A lightning bolt shoots from his finger.

  A purple F blazes on my forehead.

  I wake up shouting, “No!”

  Jenny Pinski nightmares = 7th grade nervous breakdown!

  * * *

  I was totally freaked out when Jenny came to my house the next day after school. She didn’t knock. She banged on the door. Then she barged in when I opened it.

  “This better not take too long,” Jenny said. “I want to get home.”

  Five seconds was too long for me!

  “It won’t,” I said. “We just have to pick a project.”

  “What do you want?” Jenny asked. She flopped on the sofa.

  “I want to get an A,” I said honestly.

  “I don’t want to be BORED,” Jenny said. “Got any ideas?”

  I had a few ideas, but I didn’t know if Jenny would think they were boring. “We could test batteries to see which brand lasts the longest,” I suggested.

  “Why bother?” Jenny asked.

  “Because batteries go bad at the worst times,” I explained nervously. “Like, you know, when the power goes out and you need a flashlight to use the bathroom.”

  Jenny stared at me.

  “And changing flashlight batteries in the dark is hard,” I said.

  “BORING,” Jenny said. She folded her arms. “What else?”

  I blurted out the words before I could stop myself. “Well, another idea I had was testing laundry detergents,” I said.

  Jenny frowned. That was a bad sign.

  I rushed to explain. “My mom wants to know which brand really takes out grass stains,” I said. “My brother mows lawns, and he ruins all of his T-shirts. There’s no way to get the shirts clean.”

  “I don’t do laundry,” Jenny said. “I want to do our project on something EXCITING.”

  “We could build a contraption that takes fresh water out of salt water,” I said. “We can make it with stuff we find around the house. I saw an article about it in a magazine.”

  “What’s exciting about that?” Jenny asked. “Who on earth cares about making fresh water out of salt water?”

  I thought fast. “What if you’re stranded on a desert island?” I asked. “It would help. You can’t drink salt water, so unless you were able to make fresh water, you’d die!”

  “I’ll drink bottled water if I ever get stranded on a desert island,” Jenny said.

  “There isn’t any bottled water on a desert island,” I argued.

  “There isn’t any household stuff, either,” Jenny pointed out.

  That was true. I gave up. “Do you have a better idea?” I asked.

  Jenny’s eyes narrowed. She looked mad. “I might, you know,” she said.

  “I know,” I said quickly.

  Jenny thought for a minute. Then she looked at me.

  “Let’s make up a PLANET,” she suggested.

  That sounded kind of weird, but I nodded and said, “Okay.”

  Anything that would keep Jenny excited and not bored was okay with me.

  “We can make a model and dioramas to go with our report,” Jenny said. “We have to decide what kind of planet it is. Then we can make up plants and animals that might live on it. Mr. Monroe will love it. I just know it.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I said.

  “Glad you think so,” Jenny said. “Because that’s the project we’re doing.”

  After Jenny left I wondered: Did I really like Jenny’s idea? Or was I pretending so I wouldn’t get STOMPED?

  I couldn’t tell.

  CHAPTER 4

  TABLE FOR TWO

  Jenny and I sat together at lunch on Monday. We had to write a project summary.

  “Doing a report about doing a report is STUPID,” Jenny complained.

  “Mr. Monroe has to approve all the projects,” I said.

  Some past Pine Tree Middle School projects hadn’t worked out.

  Smart Kids Do Dumb Stuff

  Or

  How to Make a Good Science Project Go Bad

  Stink up the science lab

  Spray yucky stuff everywhere

  Set animals loose in the gym

  My brother, Jimmy, used his pet snake, Stanley, for his seventh grade project. One morning, Stanley was gone. Only his shed skin was left in the tank in the science lab.

  The janitor finally found the snake safe and sound in a huge box of pencils. But nobody used their lockers for a week!

  I didn’t tell Jenny about Stanley. I didn’t want to give her any ideas. She might want to create The Planet Project Creature that Stomped the Science Teacher.

  “Do you want to take notes?” I asked.

  “You do it,” Jenny said. “You can write the summary, too.”

  That was okay with me. I like to write, and I didn’t want to argue with Jenny. Besides, I still wanted an A.

  I turned to get my notebook. Becca and Monica walked by with their lunch trays.

  “Hi! Do you want to sit with us?” I asked. “We’ve got plenty of room.” No one else was sitting at our table.

  “Well, uh —” Monica looked at Becca. “We’ve got to talk about our project summary.”

  “That’s what we’re doing!” I exclaimed.

  “Tommy and Adam are waiting for us,” Becca said. “See you later!”

  I usually sit with my friends at our regular table. I didn’t like being left out. But Jenny and I had work to do.

  “I think this project will be fun,” I said. “It’ll be just like making up an alien planet for a movie.”

  “Exactly like that,” Jenny said. “I think Weird World should have silicon-based life forms.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Animals and plants that are made of rock and crystals,” Jenny explained. “We can write the summary like we’re EXPLORERS. We land in a rocket ship and take a tour!”

  I knew Mr. Monroe wouldn’t let us do that. He wanted real science. I had to squash Jenny’s idea without making her mad.

  “Simple is better,” I said. “Like your first idea. Instead of rockets, our project should be about the rock science of Weird World. Mr. Monroe will love that.”

 
Jenny frowned. “Does that mean we can’t have rock monsters?” she asked.

  “Probably not,” I said. I quickly added, “But we can have rock people and rock animals.”

  “And pet rocks!” Jenny said. She laughed.

  I had never heard Jenny laugh before. I was so surprised I gagged on my sandwich. When I stopped coughing, I said, “I like pet rocks.”

  “I didn’t think that up,” Jenny said. “I found it on the Internet. People used to have them. ”

  I blinked. “When did people have pet rocks?” I asked.

  “Back in the 1970s,” Jenny said. “A guy painted eyes on stones, put them in little boxes, and sold them as pets. He made lots of money. Then people figured out they could make their own pet rocks, I guess.”

  “We can too,” I said. “We can have a diorama with a rock family and a rock pet.”

  “That works,” Jenny said. She held up her hand for a high-five.

  When the bell rang, I had enough notes to write a good summary. It was due the next day.

  Jenny and I left the cafeteria together. Anna and Carly were standing in the doorway.

  “Come on, Sylvia!” Anna yelled. “We’ll be LATE!”

  “Just a sec!” Sylvia called back.

  Sylvia was the school slow-poke. She wasn’t lazy. She was just never in a hurry. She carefully took all the garbage off her tray and threw it away.

  “I’m not waiting for Sylvia,” Jenny said. She stomped toward the door. “Coming through!”

  Anna and Carly both stepped back so Jenny and I could walk out.

  One good thing about being with Jenny: When you were with her, everybody got out of your way in a hurry.

  Becca and Monica were talking to Tommy and Adam by the drinking fountain. We always walk to English together. I thought they were waiting for me. Suddenly, they turned away and HURRIED down the hall.

  Peter rushed past me. He always smiles and says, “Hi!” Not this time. He just kept going, even though I smiled at him.

  I wanted to think my friends just hadn’t seen me.

  But I knew they had.

  They had seen me with Jenny.

  CHAPTER 5

  AVOIDING JENNY

  I went to my locker after the last bell. Becca and Monica weren’t there yet. We usually met at my locker every day after school. They were never late.

  Soon, Adam walked up.

  “What’s going on, Claudia?” Adam asked.

  “I’m waiting for Becca and Monica,” I said “Have you seen them?”

  “Not since our last class,” Adam said.

  They were late, and I was worried.

  “I’ve got practice. Call me later,” Adam said suddenly. He turned and hurried away.

  Two seconds later, someone tapped my shoulder.

  I thought it was Becca or Monica. I looked back, saw Jenny, and GASPED.

  “What’s wrong?” Jenny asked.

  “Nothing!” I said. I shook my head. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to sneak up behind me. Not that you’re sneaky. You’re not. I was just surprised.” I talk too much when I’m nervous. “You can surprise me any time you want.”

  Jenny stared at me for a second. It seemed like an hour. My knees started shaking.

  “Here’s my phone number,” Jenny said. She handed me a folded paper. “Call me when the summary’s done. I want to know what it says.”

  I took the paper. “Can I call if I need HELP?” I asked nervously.

  “Yeah,” Jenny said. “Just don’t call during Zombie Zip Code. That’s my favorite show.”

  I waited while Jenny walked away. Then Larry Kyle rushed out of a classroom. He saw Jenny and flattened against the wall. He didn’t move until she was gone.

  I didn’t blame Larry for staying out of Jenny’s way. Jenny was the tallest girl in Pine Tree Middle School. She was taller than most of the boys. Larry was the shortest kid, and Jenny towered over him.

  Plus she’s the school bully. That’s why I got nervous when Jenny startled me.

  But that wasn’t fair. Jenny had been my project partner for a few days. She hadn’t done anything mean. She only wanted to give me her phone number so we could work on our project.

  I felt like a jerk.

  My friends were waiting for me outside. Becca waved and smiled when I walked out the door.

  “Over here, Claudia!” Monica called out.

  “Where were you?” I asked as we walked down the sidewalk. “I waited by my locker.”

  “I didn’t need to go to my locker today,” Becca said.

  “I didn’t either,” Monica added.

  Fact: Monica, Becca, and I meet at our lockers every day, even if we don’t have books to drop off.

  Claudia’s Lie Detector: Lie.

  Conclusion: Something was wrong.

  “We don’t have English homework,” I said. “Mrs. Sanchez didn’t give us a reading assignment. You could have put your English book in your locker.”

  Becca turned red.

  “I might read ahead,” Monica said.

  Fact: Monica reads horse books for fun, not textbook stories.

  Claudia’s Lie Detector: Could be true, but probably not.

  Conclusion: Monica didn’t want to explain why she and Becca waited outside.

  Monica didn’t have to explain. I knew why they snubbed me. It happened three times already.

  “Were you afraid I might be with Jenny?” I asked.

  Becca stared at her feet.

  “What do you mean?” Monica asked.

  “You didn’t sit with me at lunch,” I said. “And I was with Jenny. Then you ran ahead of us to fifth period.”

  Becca shrugged. She didn’t want to answer.

  Monica confessed in a gush of guilt. “Yes, we ran away,” she said. “It was a horrible thing to do, but I get all nervous when I’m around Jenny.”

  “I’ve been AFRAID of Jenny since kindergarten,” Becca said. “She almost stomped Ronnie Carver. She made him cry.”

  I remembered that too. “Ronnie deserved it,” I said.

  “I know,” Becca said. She sighed. “He called her Jenny the Giant a hundred times a day.”

  “She was a lot taller than everyone back then, too,” I said.

  “And she was a lot meaner than everyone else, too,” Becca added, nodding. “But it worked. Ronnie stopped calling Jenny names.”

  “He wasn’t very nice,” I said. “Nobody missed Ronnie when he moved away.”

  “I tried to be nice to Jenny once in second grade,” Monica said. “That was a mistake.”

  “What happened?” Becca asked.

  “Jenny couldn’t open her milk carton,” Monica explained. “She got really mad when I offered to help.”

  Becca’s eyes widened. “Did she stomp you?” she asked.

  Monica shook her head. “No, she said, ‘I’m not helpless!’ Then she squashed my chocolate ca
ke with her fist.”

  Becca winced.

  Monica shuddered. “I was sure she was going to punch me. That was the scariest thing that ever happened to me,” she said.

  “Scarier than the Halloween Haunted House at the Community Center when we were little?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Monica said. “Even when we were little, I knew that the Haunted House was fake. Jenny Pinski is real.”

  CHAPTER 6

  PEER PRESSURE

  That night, I called Jenny when I finished the project summary. I read the title first. “Is Rock Life Possible?”

  “Who cares?” Jenny exclaimed.

  “Huh?” I asked. “We care, don’t we? I mean, that’s why we’re doing this project, right?”

  “Yeah, but that title is so boring that nobody else will care,” Jenny said.

  She had a point. “Okay, you’re right. It’s boring. What should we do instead?” I asked.

  “We need something with PUNCH,” Jenny replied. “Something that will get people interested. Like this. Weird World: A Planet Where Rocks Rule.”

  “Perfect!” I told her. I crossed out my title and wrote down the new one.

  “Mr. Monroe better like it or I’ll be mad,” Jenny said.

  I was pretty sure Jenny wouldn’t mess with a teacher. But I wasn’t positive, and I didn’t want to ask. So I read the rest of my summary.