Invasion of the Boy Snatchers by Lisi Harrison Page A

to keep herself from crying. At least her room would be tidy again. And that was positive, right?
    Claire was rolling up the sleeping bags, sniffling, probably thinking about the same thing. But Massie had no comforting words. If she had, she would have used them on herself.
    “Where’s my hair crimper?” Massie checked the night table, looked between her sheets, felt under her bed, and lifted up her pillows. It was gone.
    “I dunno,” Claire mumbled from behind the stack of pillows she was holding in her arms.
    Inez tapped lightly on the door and then let herself in. She was carrying a wicker laundry basket filled with fresh linens. Like a robot programmed for efficiency, Inez dropped the basket on the floor and walked straight over to Massie’s bed. She tore the sheets off, rolled them into a tight ball, and stuffed them in the basket. In a matter of minutes the bed was dressed in a brand-new set of white sheets and pillowcases.
    “I like my purple sheets. What are you doing?”
    Inez bent down and lifted up the tiny puppy. She dropped her in the laundry basket and tucked Bean’s bed under her free arm.
    “I have to get rid of all things that are covered in dog,” Inez announced.
    “What?
Why?
” Massie screeched. She could hear Bean whimpering inside the basket.
    “Mrs. Block said so.” Inez swiftly made her way to the door. “To fight the allergies.”
    “Nooooo!” Massie shouted. “She can’t do that!”
    Bean started barking.
    “You think I like it?” Inez scowled. “Mrs. Block says now the puppy dog sleeps with me!” She slammed the door shut behind her.
    Massie turned and looked at Claire’s puffy face. “How could you just stand there and let that happen? Why didn’t you tell them that it was just a cold?”
    Claire scratched a welt that had formed on the side of her neck. “Because it’s not. But give me a chance to fix—”
    “How can you fix this? They took my dog away!” Massie felt dizzy and leaned against the side of her desk. “How would you like it if someone came into your house and just took Todd away?”
    “You can’t compare your dog to my brother.” Claire was rolling the bottle of blue nail polish between her palms.
    “I just did!” Massie shouted.
    Right on cue, Todd started blasting his tuba,
off key!
    Massie pounded on the wall. “I wish someone
would
take him! Then you could have his room and I could get Bean back.”
    His tuba suddenly got louder, as if he had moved closer to the wall on purpose.
    “Your family is destroying my life!”
    Claire’s blue eyes seemed to harden and turn a shade darker. She was obviously offended, but Massie was too upset about Bean to apologize.
    “I’m destroying
your
life?” Claire’s body shook with anger, which must have loosened the tears behind her eyes and sent them spilling down her cheeks. “How can you say—?” She was rolling the nail polish bottle faster now, and the top accidentally came off in her hands. Metallic blue splattered across the burnt-orange pajamas Massie had lent her.
    Claire looked up at Massie, her eyes wide and her mouth open, like someone had jumped out from behind the bed and soaked her with a water balloon
    “How can I say that? How can I say that?” Massie asked. “You ruin everything of mine!” She marched into her bathroom and slammed the door shut. Before she burst out crying, Massie turned on the two swan-shaped faucets over her sink, then blasted the water in the shower. No one was allowed to hear her cry except Bean. And
she
was gone.
    After ten minutes of sobbing, Massie’s anger had subsided and a weak, feverish feeling had taken its place. She was ready to negotiate with Claire. Perhaps they could come to some sort of Bean compromise. Maybe Claire could sleep under a mosquito net or wear a surgeon’s mask? And she could always get another pair of burnt-orange pajamas, right? Massie shut off the water and turned the shiny silver handle on her bathroom door. She stepped into