My Hairiest Adventure (8 page)

I turned my hands over. Both palms were covered, too.

The guitar fell heavily to the floor as I jumped to my feet.

My arms began to itch.

With trembling hands, I tore at the cuffs. Pulled up the sleeves.

My arms were covered, too! The thick, bristly hair swept over both arms and
hands.

I stood there, swallowing hard, staring down at my hairy arms and hands. My
legs were trembling. I felt weak.

My mouth suddenly felt dry. My throat ached.

I tried to swallow.

Was the disgusting hair growing on my
tongue
?

Feeling a jolt of nausea, I lurched across the hall to the bathroom. Clicking
on the ceiling light, I leaned over the sink. I brought my face up close to the
mirror and stuck out my tongue.

No.

My tongue was okay.

But my face—my cheeks and chin—were covered with black hair.

It’s spreading so fast! I realized. The mirror reflected my horror.

It’s spreading so fast now—all over me.

What am I going to do?

Isn’t there
anything
I can do?

I got to school early on Monday morning and waited for Lily at her locker.

It had taken hours to shave off all the bristly clumps of hair. But I did it.

This morning I wore a sweater with extra-long sleeves, and I pulled a
baseball cap down low on my head in case the hair grew back during the day.

“Lily, where are you?” I murmured impatiently. I paced nervously back and
forth in front of the row of green lockers.

Lily and I have to face this problem together, I told myself. I remembered
the frightened expression on Lily’s face when I asked her if she had been
growing weird hair.

I
knew
the same thing was happening to Lily. I just knew it.

And I knew that Lily must be embarrassed like me, too embarrassed to admit
it, to talk about it.

But the two of us can figure out what to do, I decided.

If the two of us go to Dr. Murkin and tell him about the INSTA-TAN lotion and
the hair, he’ll
have
to believe us.

But where was Lily?

Kids jammed the hall, slamming lockers, laughing and talking. I glanced at my
watch. Only three minutes till the bell rang.

“How’s it going, Larry?” a voice called.

I turned and saw Howie Hurwin grinning at me. His sister, Marissa, stood
beside him. Her braid was caught in her backpack strap, and she was struggling
to free it.

“Hi, Howie,” I said, sighing. He was the
last
person I wanted to see
this morning!

“Ready for tomorrow?” he asked. Why did he have to grin like that when he
talked? That grin just made me want to punch him.

“Tomorrow?” I glanced down the crowded hall, searching for Lily.

Howie laughed. “Did you forget about the Battle of the Bands?”

“Ow!” Marissa cried. She finally managed to tug her braid free. “Is your band
still going to play?” she asked. “We heard about Manny leaving.”

“Yeah. We’ll be there,” I told her. “We sound pretty good.”

“We do, too!” Howie replied, grinning even wider. “We might be on TV. My uncle knows a woman who works on
Star
Search.
He thinks maybe he can get us on.”

“Great,” I replied, without any enthusiasm.

Where was Lily?

“If we get on that show, we’ll probably win,” Marissa added, still fiddling
with her long braid. “And then we’ll be famous.”

“They asked us to play at the next school dance,” Howie said. “They didn’t
ask
your
band, did they?”

“No,” I replied. “No one asked us.”

That made Howie’s grin practically burst off his face. “Too bad,” he said.

The bell rang. “I’ve got to go,” I said, hurrying toward Miss Shindling’s
room.

“See you at the contest tomorrow,” Marissa called.

“We’re going first,” Howie shouted. “I guess they’re saving the best for
first
!”

I heard the two of them laughing as I stepped into the classroom. I
made my way to my seat, searching for Lily. Had she slipped past me while I was
talking with Howie and Marissa?

No. No sign of her.

I sank into my seat, feeling worried and disappointed. Was Lily sick today? I
hoped not. She can’t get sick the day before the Battle of the Bands, I told
myself. She just can’t.

“Larry, would you hand out the tests?” Miss Shindling asked, dropping a heavy
stack of papers into my arms.

“Huh? Test?”

I had totally forgotten.

Lily didn’t come to school. I tried phoning her at lunchtime. The phone rang
and rang, but no one answered.

After school, I decided to go to Lily’s house to see what had happened to
her. But as I walked out of the school building, I remembered that my mom had
asked me to come straight home after school. She had some chores she wanted me
to help her with.

It was a clear, cold day. Puffy, white clouds floated high in the afternoon
sky. All the snow had finally melted, but the ground was still soft and wet.

I waited for several cars to pass. Then I crossed the street and headed for
home.

I had walked nearly a block when I realized I was being followed.

A dog brushed softly against my leg. Startled, I stopped and stared down at
it.

The dog had light brown fur, almost red, with a white patch at its throat. It
was a medium-sized dog, a little bigger than a cocker spaniel. It had long,
floppy brown ears and a long, furry tail that swept slowly back and forth as it gazed up at me.

“Who are you?” I asked it. “I’ve never seen
you
before.”

I glanced around, making sure there weren’t a dozen other dogs lurking in the
bushes, getting ready to chase after me.

Then I turned and started walking again.

The dog brushed my leg again and kept on going. As I walked, it stayed a few
yards ahead of me, glancing back to make sure I was following.

“Are you following
me
—or am I following
you
?” I called to it.

The dog’s tail gave a single wag in reply.

It followed me all the way home.

My mom was waiting for me in the driveway. She had a long green sweater
pulled down over her jeans. “Nice day,” she commented, glancing up at the sunny
sky.

“Hi, Mom,” I greeted her. “This dog followed me home.”

The dog sniffed at the low evergreen shrubs that lined the front walk.

“She’s kind of pretty,” Mom said. “What a nice color. Who does she belong
to?”

I shrugged. “Beats me. I’ve never seen her before.”

The dog came over and stared up at Mom.

“At least she’s friendly,” I said, setting my heavy backpack down on the
driveway. “Maybe we should keep her.”

“No way,” Mom replied sharply. “No dogs. Not with Jasper in the house.”

I bent down and petted the top of the dog’s head.

“She has a tag on her collar,” Mom said, pointing. “Check it out, Larry.
Maybe it says the owner’s name.”

The dog’s tail wagged furiously as I petted her head. “Good dog,” I said
softly.

“Come on, Larry. See what the tag says,” Mom insisted.

“Okay, okay.” I reached for the round, gold tag hanging down from the dog’s
collar. Then I dropped to my knees and lowered my face so that I could see it
clearly.

“Huh?”

I recognized it instantly.

It wasn’t a dog tag. It was Lily’s gold pirate coin.

I nearly fell over. I felt as if someone had kicked me in the stomach.

“M-mom!” I stammered. But my voice came out as a gasp.

“Larry—what are you doing?” Mom called. She had wandered to the side of the
driveway and was pulling up some dead weeds. “What does the tag say?”

“It—it isn’t a tag,” I finally managed to choke out.

She turned her head back to me. “Huh?”

“It isn’t a dog tag,” I repeated, still holding it between my fingers. “It’s
Lily’s gold pirate coin.”

Mom laughed. “Why would Lily give her coin to a dog? Didn’t her grandfather
give her that coin?”

“I—I don’t know why,” I stammered. “I don’t get it, Mom.”

The dog’s hot breath brushed over my hand. She pulled away from me, settled
back, and started scratching her long, floppy ear with her back paw.

“Are you sure it’s a gold coin, Larry?” Mom asked, crossing the drive,
standing right behind me.

I nodded and reached for the coin again. “Yeah. It’s Lily’s gold coin, Mom.”

“It must be some
other
gold coin,” Mom suggested. “I’m sure it isn’t
the same coin.”

Mom must be right, I decided.

I let go of the coin and raised my hand to pet the dog’s head.

But my hand stopped in midair when I saw the dog’s eyes.

She had one blue eye and one green eye.

“It’s Lily! It’s Lily!” I shrieked, jumping to my feet.

My shouts frightened the dog. She uttered a shrill
yip,
turned, and
bolted from the front yard.

“Lily—come back!” I called after her. “Come back! Lily!”

“Larry—wait!” Mom cried. “Please—!”

I didn’t hear the rest of what she said. Jumping over my backpack, I darted
toward the street. I hurtled across without slowing to look for cars—and kept
running toward Lily’s house.

It
is
Lily! I told myself. That dog has a green eye and a blue eye.
And it’s wearing Lily’s coin!

It
is
Lily! I
know
it!

I could hear my mom calling for me to come back. But I ignored her and kept
running.

Lily’s house was three blocks away. I ran at full speed the whole way. By the
time her house came into view, I was gasping for breath, and I had a sharp pain
in my side.

But I didn’t care.

I had to see Lily. I had to know for sure that the dog wasn’t Lily.

Such a crazy thought! As I crossed the street, I started to realize how crazy
it was.

Lily, a dog?

Larry, are you totally losing it? I asked myself. Mom must think I’m totally
wacko! I realized.

Lily, a dog?

I slowed down, rubbing the pain at my side, trying to massage it away.

I spotted Lily’s parents in the driveway. The trunk of their blue Chevy was
open. Mr. Vonn was lifting a suitcase into it.

“Hi!” I called breathlessly. “Hey—hi!”

“Hello, Larry,” Mrs. Vonn said as I stepped up to the car. I saw two other
suitcases and some smaller bags waiting to be loaded into the car.

“Going on a trip?” I asked, struggling to catch my breath. The pain in my
side kept throbbing, refusing to go away.

They didn’t answer. Mr. Vonn groaned as he hoisted a heavy suitcase into the
trunk.

“Where’s Lily?” I asked. I handed him one of the smaller bags. “She wasn’t in
school today.”

“We’re going away,” Mrs. Vonn said quietly from behind me.

“Well, where’s Lily?” I repeated. “Is she inside?”

Mr. Vonn frowned, but didn’t reply.

I turned to Lily’s mom. “Can I see her?” I asked impatiently. “Is Lily
inside?”

“You must have the wrong house,” she replied softly.

My mouth dropped open. “Wrong house? Mrs. Vonn—what do you mean?”

“There’s no one here named Lily,” she said.

For some reason, I burst out laughing.

Startled laughter. Frightened laughter.

Mrs. Vonn’s sad expression cut my laughter short—and sent a chill down my
back.

“Is Lily—?” I started to say.

Mrs. Vonn grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it. She lowered her face close to
mine. “Listen to what I’m telling you, Larry,” she said through gritted teeth.

“But—but—” I sputtered.

“There
is
no Lily,” she repeated, squeezing my shoulder hard. “Just
forget about her.” She had tears in her eyes.

Mr. Vonn slammed the car trunk. I jumped out of Mrs. Vonn’s grasp, my heart
pounding.

“You’d better go,” Mr. Vonn said firmly, coming over to join his wife.

I took a step back. My legs felt weak and shaky.

“But, Lily—” I started.

“You’d better go,” Mr. Vonn repeated.

At the side of the garage, I spotted the red-brown dog. She whimpered sadly,
her head hung low.

I whirled around and ran, as fast as I could.

Mom and Dad acted so strange at dinner. They refused to discuss Lily or the
dog or Lily’s parents.

Mom and Dad kept glancing at each other, giving each other meaningful looks
that I wasn’t supposed to see.

They think I’m crazy! I realized. That’s why they’re refusing to talk about
it. They think I’m losing my mind. They don’t want to say anything to me until
they decide how they’re going to handle me.

“I’m not crazy!” I shouted suddenly, dropping my fork and knife onto the
table. I hadn’t touched my spaghetti and meatballs.

How could I eat?

“I’m not crazy! I’m not making this up!”

“Can’t we talk about it another time?” Mom pleaded, glancing at Dad.

“Let’s just finish our dinner,” Dad added, keeping his eyes on his plate.

After dinner, I called Jared and Kristina over to give them the bad news. I
didn’t want them to think that I was crazy. So I simply told them that Lily had
gone away.

“But what about tomorrow?” Jared cried.

“Yeah. What about the Battle of the Bands?” Kristina demanded. “How could
Lily leave on the day before the contest?”

I shrugged. We were sitting in the living room. Kristina and I sat on
opposite ends of the couch. Jared was sprawled in the chair across from me.

Jasper brushed over my feet. I leaned down and lifted her into my lap. Her
yellow eyes stared up at me. Then she closed them and settled against me,
purring softly.

“Where did Lily go?” Kristina asked angrily, drumming her fingers on the
couch arm. “On vacation? Why didn’t she tell us she was going to miss the
contest?”