Read The Dead Boyfriend Online

Authors: R. L. Stine

The Dead Boyfriend (21 page)

I reached out both hands and Mom handed me the book. “You should be proud of me,” I said. “Look how creative I am. I do my schoolwork. I have a B-plus average. And I've written almost an entire novel.”

I shook my head, frowning at them. “Instead of sitting there with those disapproving expressions on your faces, you should be telling me what a cool thing I've done.”

I turned and started from the den. But Dad called me back. “You're right. You're totally right,” he said. “We
are
proud of you, Cathy-Ann. We just didn't understand.…” He shook his head. “You took us by surprise. You completely fooled us. The writing is so good, we believed it all.”

“Your dad is right,” Mom said. She pointed to the book in my hands. “You know what? It really is a good story. Maybe you should try to get it published.

 

ONE YEAR LATER

 

46.

Cathy-Ann straightened her skirt over her tights, then swept back her hair with both hands. She shielded her eyes from the bright afternoon sunlight and peered across the parking lot to the bookstore.

“Look, dear, there's already a line,” her mother said. “Isn't it exciting? They're waiting for
you
.”

Exciting isn't the word,
Cathy-Ann thought, feeling her heart begin to flutter in her chest.
It's unreal!

Her dad took her arm and she walked between her parents toward the bookstore. She counted at least twenty people lined up outside the entrance. Most of them were high school girls. She recognized a few from Shadyside High. But she saw a sprinkling of adults there, too.

She stopped in front of the big window at the side of the entrance and peered through the sun glare at the poster—her photo, smiling and holding the book. Below it, the words in bold type:
APPEARING TODAY. SIGNING AT 3:00
.

Dad pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos of the display. A few people in the line recognized her and called out to her.

The door opened. A pleasant-looking young woman in jeans and a red-and-white striped t-shirt stepped out to greet her. “Hi, Cathy-Ann. I'm Mandy Wade, the store manager. Welcome to Books & Things.”

“Thank you.” Cathy-Ann felt her throat tighten.
Was this really happening?

What a crazy year it had been. It had taken weeks to type up what she had written in the diary. Then she sent the manuscript to her cousin Barry in New York, whose girlfriend worked in publishing. What a shock when, two weeks later, Cathy-Ann received an offer for the book. It was going to be published!

Now here she was, about to do her very first book-signing at the only bookstore in Shadyside. The book had been out for only a week and had already received some good reviews.

Cathy-Ann had to laugh. Here was Mom beaming proudly as they walked through the bookstore. She had been so appalled and upset the first time she read the story. Now she kept a Pinterest page of photos and reviews and everything about the book.

“Sit behind the table here,” Mandy Wade said, pulling out the chair for Cathy-Ann. “I have a lot of different pens and markers. I didn't know which you prefer.”

“I don't really know, either,” Cathy-Ann replied, sitting down next to the tall stack of her books. This is my first signing.”

Mandy patted her hand. “The main thing is to relax and enjoy it. These people came all the way here to see you. So there's no reason to be nervous.” She turned to the front. “I'm going to let people in now. You have a great crowd for a first-time author.”

Cathy-Ann's dad was busy taking photos of her. Her mom stood at the side, arms crossed, a proud grin stuck on her face.

Cathy-Ann cleared her throat, opened the water bottle in front of her, and took a long sip. Then she picked up a pen and watched as people began to stream toward the table.

The first two in line were Rachel Martin and Amy O'Brien, two girls from her senior class at Shadyside High. They chatted about how exciting this was. “I've already read it,” Amy said as Cathy-Ann thanked her and signed their books.

A middle-aged woman set a book down in front of Cathy-Ann and opened it to the title page. “Could you sign this to my daughter Coral? She likes to write, too. Could you write something encouraging to her?”

Cathy-Ann signed the book to Coral. She didn't really know what to say, so she wrote: “Keep reading and keep writing!”

The next woman had bought three books she wanted signed. “No message. Just sign your name. They're going to be birthday gifts,” she said.

Cathy-Ann leaned over the books and signed them. “Are you working on another book?” the woman asked, gathering them up.

“Not yet,” Cathy-Ann said.

Next in line was a tall young man with wavy black hair and silvery sunglasses that caught the light from the ceiling. He set a book down in front of her. Then he slowly removed the sunglasses.

She stared into his strange gray-green eyes—and recognized him.

He shoved the book toward her. “Just sign it to The Dead Boyfriend,” he said.

“Blade? Blade?”

Cathy-Ann dropped her pen and started to scream.

 

Also by
R. L. Stine

SERIES

Goosebumps

Fear Street

Mostly Ghostly

The Nightmare Room

Rotten School

INDIVIDUAL TITLES

It's the First Day of School … Forever!

A Midsummer Night's Scream

Young Scrooge

Red Rain

Eye Candy

The Sitter

 

About the Author

R. L. STINE
is one of the bestselling children's authors in history. His Goosebumps and Fear Street series for young people have more than 400 million books in print and have been translated into thirty-five languages. Other popular children's book series include Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Rotten School.

R.L.'s anthology TV series,
R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour,
recently won an Emmy Award as Best Children's Show. His Goosebumps series is the basis for a feature film of the same name, starring Jack Black as R. L. Stine himself. Stine says that he is proud to have frightened several generations of young people, and he is delighted to be back on Fear Street to deliver even more scares.

R. L. Stine lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, an editor and publisher. You can sign up for email updates
here
.

    

 

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Contents

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Part One

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Part Two

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Part Three

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Part Four

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

One Year Later

Chapter 46

Also by R. L. Stine

About the Author

Copyright

 

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.

An imprint of St. Martin's Press.

THE DEAD BOYFRIEND.
Copyright © 2016 by Parachute Publishing, LCC. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.thomasdunnebooks.com

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by Danielle Christopher

Cover photographs: shadowy figure on street © Jill Hyland / Arcangel Images; woman © Stephan Carroll / Arcangel Images

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-1-250-05895-9 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-250-11199-9 (international, sold outside the U. S., subject to rights availability)

ISBN 978-1-250-09206-9 (e-book)

e-ISBN 9781250092069

Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at
[email protected]
.

First U.S. Edition: September 2016

First International Edition: September 2016

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