A Midsummer Night's Scream by R. L. Stine Page A

an intern,” he muttered. “I’ll stick with it if everyone else will.” Annalee squeezed his hand.
    Dad turned to Delia. “We have to replace Lana,” he said, rubbing his chin. “We decided we don’t have time to go out and find another well-known actress. So we thought of you, Delia. You’re beautiful and you’ve acted in other productions. And you’ve been in rehearsals, so you’re familiar with the part. Will you step into the starring role for us?”
    I don’t know about the others. But I just stared at Delia, who had her hands pressed to the sides of her face and looked totally shocked. And I thought: Don’t do it, Delia. Please don’t do it. Something terrible could happen. Please don’t be next.
    “Of course I’ll do it,” Delia said. “Thanks.”

 
    21
    PUCKERMAN REFLECTS
    THE NEXT DAY, DELIA HAD a craving for cupcakes, and when Delia has a craving, there’s no talking to her until she satisfies it. I mean, if you’ve ever seen a totally insane crazed person, you know what Delia can be like. Even about cupcakes.
    So I drove her to Crumbs on Little Santa Monica. She had a red velvet and I had a plain yellow with coconut icing. I don’t really understand the fuss about cupcakes. Why not go all the way and have a slice of cake?
    But Delia barely spoke as she washed down big hunks of the red velvet with a cappuccino (two sugars). Then she took her finger, picked up cupcake crumbs off the tabletop with it, and ate them, too.
    Finally, she smiled. “Claire, what about your Sweet Seventeen? Did your dad say it was still okay to have it at the studio?”
    I nodded. “Yeah. No problem. He said he wants to show the studio off. Show everyone having a good time there. You know. Make them forget about what happened to Lana.”
    Delia snickered. “It’ll be awesome. Did you catch the jealous look on Annalee’s face when you started talking about your party? She acted real gung-ho, but she was totally jealous.”
    I poked at the cupcake on my plate. “Where did she have her party last year? At that rave club on Sunset?”
    “Yeah. You missed it. You were away. Half the kids puked their guts out from some bad vodka drink her friend Angel sneaked in.”
    Delia picked up my cupcake off my plate and finished it. “Annalee said she wanted to hook up with sixteen guys for her Sweet Sixteen. But I don’t think she achieved it since the guys were all puking.”
    “Annalee likes to brag.”
    “Annalee is a slut.”
    “That’s harsh,” I laughed. “But true.”
    Delia had her eyes on the front counter. “Want to split another one? German chocolate cake?”
    “I don’t have your metabolism, Delia. I put on five pounds by being in the same zip code as a cupcake.”
    “I always get starving when I’m stressed,” she said.
    “You know me,” I said. “I’m a Häagen-Dazs freak when I’m nervous. I go right for the Caramel Cone or the Dulce de Leche.”
    “I can’t believe your dad wants me to star in the film,” Delia said, playing with a thick strand of her black hair. “I mean, what is he thinking? Sure, I’ve done modeling, but I’ve never had a speaking role—”
    “You’ll be awesome,” I said. “There aren’t many lines to learn. You just have to scream a lot and look fabulous.”
    She stared hard at me. I knew what she was thinking. Sometimes best friends can read each other’s thoughts. She was thinking about Lana. Thinking about the sword dropping so fast and that sick slicing sound as it cut off Lana’s hand.
    “The curse thing. It’s over,” I said. “The worst possible thing has already happened. So, no more bad things to come. You’ll see. It’ll be totally smooth from now on.”
    “Jeremy Dane wants to meet with me,” she said.
    I blinked. “Really?”
    “He says we should get to know each other before we start filming.”
    “That’s awesome. When?” I asked.
    She glanced at her watch. “Uh … now. I guess I’m late.”
    My mouth dropped open. “Jeremy