My Best Friend Is Invisible by R. L. Stine Page B

open.”
    “Your mom must have opened it,” she said. “What’s the big deal, anyway? It’s
just the window.”
    “It’s no big deal,” I said. “But my mom didn’t open it. Neither did Dad or
Simon. We were all downstairs.”
    I shook my head. “I know I closed it. Brutus was the only one up here—and he didn’t open it.”
    I peered under the bed. There was Brutus—snuggled against my sneakers.
Shaking.
    “Come on, Brutus. Come out,” I urged softly. “Don’t be afraid. I know she’s
scary—but it’s only Roxanne.”
    “Very funny, Sammy.” Roxanne rolled her eyes. “I’ll tell you what’s scary.
Your brother is scary.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “I passed him on the way up here. Do you know what he was doing?” she asked.
    “No,” I said.
    “He was lying on the living room floor. On a huge piece of cardboard. Tracing
himself,” Roxanne replied.
    I shrugged. “He must be working on his science project. He’s studying
himself.”
    “Your brother is definitely scary,” she said. “I’ll tell you something else
that’s scary—the way you ran today. That was very, very scary. I didn’t think anyone could run that slow!”
    Roxanne beat me in the track race at school today. And she wasn’t going to
let me forget it.
    “You won because of only ONE reason,” I told her.
    “And what was that ONE reason?” she mimicked me.
    I slid halfway under the bed and dragged Brutus out. Stalling for time.
Stalling so I could come up with a good reason.
    “You won because—I let you!” I said finally.
    “Yeah, right, Sammy.” Roxanne folded her arms across her chest.
    “I did. I let you,” I insisted.
    Roxanne’s cheeks turned red. I could see she was getting really steamed.
    Making Roxanne angry is fun.
    “I let you win—because I wanted to help build up your confidence for the
school Olympics,” I said.
    Whoa! That made Roxanne even angrier. Roxanne doesn’t like help from anyone.
And she likes to think she’s the best at everything.
    Our school is going to compete against other schools in a mini-Olympics next
week. Roxanne and I are both on the Olympic team. We were both on the team last
year too. Roxanne ran every single day to make sure she was the best.
    But last year, we lost.
    I guess it was my fault. A camera flashed in my face. I tripped—and fell.
    “You lost fair and square today, Sammy—and you know it,” Roxanne snapped.
“And you’d better not trip next week. And make us lose the Olympics again.”
    “Last year wasn’t my fault!” I cried. But Roxanne interrupted me.
    “Hey—what’s wrong with Brutus?” she asked, peering over my shoulder.
    I turned around and saw Brutus sitting in the corner—curled up in a tight
ball.
    “I don’t know. He’s acting kind of strange today,” I said.
    “I know,” she agreed. “He didn’t even try to scratch me yet. He’s been
acting— nice .”
    Brutus stood. He glanced at the window—and arched his back.
    Then he turned completely around and sat down, facing the wall.
    Weird.
    “So? What are we going to do for our term project?” Roxanne asked, plopping
down on my bed.
    Our term project for our English class was due next month. Ms. Starkling, our
teacher, wanted us to work in pairs. She said working in pairs would help us
learn about teamwork and cooperation.
    “I have a really great idea,” I said. “How about a report on plants? You know—how much water they need. Stuff like that.”
    “That’s a really great idea,” Roxanne replied. “If you’re in kindergarten.”
    “Okay. Okay. Let me think.” I stood up and paced the room. “Got it! How about
the life cycle of a moth? We could catch some—and see how long they take to
die!”
    Roxanne stared at me. She nodded her head thoughtfully. “I think… that’s
really stupid,” she said.
    So much for teamwork and cooperation.
    “Fine.” I folded my arms in front of me. “Why don’t you try to come up
with an idea?”
    “I