Secret Admirer by R.L. Stine, Sammy Yuen Jr. Page B

started.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Selena assured her. “I can do it. It won’t kill me to do the play.”
    Selena gazed at the glowing numbers on her digital clock. It was 3:02 A.M. She stretched and yawned. Something had awakened her. A noise.
    She listened hard. Silence now.
    She turned over, but her eyes didn’t want to close.
    I’ll have a glass of ice water,
she decided. That always helped her relax. She tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen. She drank a few swallows of water from the bottle. She was about to replace it in the refrigerator when something caught her eye.
    Something white.
    In the crack underneath the kitchen door.
    A piece of paper.
    Another note!
    Don’t be ridiculous,
Selena scolded herself.
This can’t be from the stalker. Jake was the stalker, and he is dead
.
    A feeling of dread tightened Selena’s stomach as she bent down to retrieve the note.
    She raised it into the rectangle of light from the open refrigerator.
    Saw the printed letters. And the orange sun sticker at the bottom.
    And knew that the stalker was still alive.

23
 
    Dear Selena,
    Surprise!
    You thought you had it all figured out.
    But you were wrong. Dead wrong.
    Jake was wrong, too. That’s why he had to die.
    I’m still watching you. I’ll be in your audience at the dress rehearsal.
    Poor Juliet. She died such a horrible death.
    Poor Selena too.
    The Sun
    Selena turned the note over and over in her hands. She held her breath, waiting for her body to stop trembling.
    Then she shut the kitchen door, fastened the chain latch, locked the bolt, and gazed out into the yard.
    The trees of the Fear Street Woods cast long, slender shadows into her backyard. Was he out there?Was The Sun hiding in the woods somewhere? Watching her?
    She turned away from the window, feeling cold and numb.
    Jake was not The Sun.
    She thought back to the last conversation she’d had with him. It seemed like a hundred years ago.
    â€œMeet me at the auditorium,” he had told her. “I found out something about The Sun.”
    Whatever he found out had meant his death.
    The Sun had killed Jake.
    The Sun wasn’t joking. He really was a murderer.
    And now he was going to kill Selena.
    I won’t give in to him,
she vowed.
I’m going to finish this play for Jake. And I’ll find out who The Sun is. I’ll find out and see that he is caught
.
    The Sun had said he’d be watching the dress rehearsal. So Selena decided to watch for him. Maybe he would do something to give himself away.
    I should be scared,
Selena thought as she began to button the linen, high-necked blouse of her Juliet costume.
But I’m not. I’m too angry to be scared. The Sun is out there. And I’m going to figure out who he is
.
    â€œSelena?” a familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts.
    â€œOh, hi, Alison.”
    â€œHow’s it going?” Alison asked. “Need any help with your hair?” Alison wore the black coveralls of a stagehand, her neck brace covered with a dark scarf.
    â€œI’m almost ready,” Selena replied. “I just need a little more hair spray.”
    â€œBreak a leg,” Alison said softly. “I know how hard this rehearsal must be for you.”
    â€œThanks.” Selena smiled. “But the show must go on, right?”
    She finished her hair, then joined Mr. Riordan and some of the others in a corner of the backstage area.
    â€œWe have a good-size audience,” Mr. Riordan told them. “I invited some of the coaches, and most of the football team is here.”
    â€œYou’re kidding!” Katy laughed.
    â€œIt seemed like a good idea,” he replied. “A good way to fill the house in the afternoon.”
    Selena peeked through the curtain. Half of the seats were filled—the biggest audience they’d ever had for a dress rehearsal.
    How am I going to find The Sun?
she wondered, studying the faces.
    â€œBreak a leg,