My Hairiest Adventure by R. L. Stine Page A

her eyes. One is blue and one is green. No
one can really believe she has two different colors—until they see them.
    I brushed most of the snow off the front of my coat and the knees of my
jeans. Lily handed me my guitar case. “Hope it’s waterproof,” she muttered.
    I raised my eyes to the street. The dogs were barking wildly again, chasing a
squirrel through several front yards.
    “I saw you from my window,” Lily said as we started toward her house. “Why do
they always chase after you?”
    I shrugged. “I was just asking myself the same question,” I told her. Our
boots made crunching noises in the snow. Lily led the way. I stepped in her
bootprints.
    We waited for a car to move past, its tires sliding on the slick road. Then
we crossed the street and made our way up her driveway.
    “How come you’re late?” Lily asked.
    “I had to help my dad shovel the drive,” I replied. Some snow had caught
inside my hood and was trickling down the back of my neck. I shivered. I
couldn’t wait to get inside the house.
    The others were all hanging out in Lily’s living room. I waved hi to Manny,
Jared, and Kristina. Manny was down on his knees, fiddling with his guitar amp.
It made a loud squeal, and everybody jumped.
    Manny is tall and skinny and kind of goofy-looking, with a crooked smile and
a mop of curly, black hair. Jared is twelve like the rest of us, but he looks
eight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without his black-and-silver Raiders cap
on. Kristina is a little chubby. She has curly, carrot-colored hair and wears
glasses with blue plastic frames.
    I tugged off my wet coat and hung it on a peg in the front entryway. The
house felt steamy and warm. I straightened my sweatshirt and joined the others.
    Manny glanced up from his amp and laughed. “Hey, look—Larry’s hair is
messed up. Somebody take a picture!”
    Everybody laughed.
    They’re always teasing me about my hair. Can I help it if I have really good
hair? It’s dark blond and wavy, and I wear it long.
    “Hairy Larry!” Lily declared.
    The other three laughed and then picked up the chant. “Hairy Larry! Hairy Larry! Hairy Larry!”
    I made an angry face and swept my hand back through my hair, pushing it off
my forehead. I could feel myself blushing.
    I really don’t like being teased. It always makes me angry, and I always
blush.
    I guess that’s why Lily and my other friends tease me so much. They tease me
about my hair, and about my big ears, and about anything else they can think of.
    And I always get angry. And I always blush. Which makes them tease me even
more.
    “Hairy Larry! Hairy Larry! Hairy Larry!”
    Great friends, huh?
    Well, actually, they are great friends. We have a lot of fun together.
The five of us have a band. This week, it’s called The Geeks. Last week, we
called ourselves The Spirit. We change the name a lot.
    Lily has a gold coin that she wears on a chain around her neck. Her
grandfather gave the coin to her. He told her it’s real pirate gold.
    So Lily wants to call our band Pirate Gold. But I don’t think that’s cool
enough. And Manny, Jared, and Kristina agree.
    At least our name—The Geeks—is a lot cooler than Howie and the Shouters.
That’s the band who’s challenging us in the big Battle of the Bands contest at
school.
    We still can’t believe that Howie Hurwin named the band after himself! He’s only the drummer. His stuck-up sister, Marissa,
is the singer. “Why didn’t you call it Marissa and the Shouters?” I asked him
one day after school.
    “Because Marissa doesn’t rhyme with anything,” he replied.
    “Huh? What does Howie rhyme with?” I asked him.
    “Zowie!” he said. Then he laughed and messed up my hair.
    What a creep.
    No one likes Howie or his sister. The Geeks can’t wait to blow the Shouters
off the stage.
    “If only one of us played bass,” Jared moaned as we tuned up.
    “Or saxophone or trumpet or something,” Kristina added, pulling out a