R.L. Stine - Revenge R Us

Wade Brill. I wrote my name with one finger in the steam on my bathroom mirror. Then I wiped it away with a bath towel. The room was still steamy and hot from my shower. I gazed at myself in the mirror. I started to brush my short brownish-blond hair.

Then I carefully tucked my bangs back with a barrette. I guess I'll wear my new white sundress to Erin's birthday party, I decided. And the white sandals. Erin's party was supposed to be a backyard barbecue. But behind me, I could hear the rain pounding against my bedroom window. I don't care, I decided.

The white sundress is my coolest outfit. I'll just pretend it's sunny and hot out. I hurried into my room to get dressed. I didn't want to be late for the party. Rain drummed against the window, nearly drowning out the voices on the TV on my dresser. I grabbed the sundress and pulled it off the hanger.

The movie on TV caught my attention: Revenge of the Worm People. I'd already seen it. It was real dumb about these worms who grow very tall and attack a fishing village because they don't want to be used as bait. But I'lll watch anything with the word revenge in the title. I think about revenge a lot. You would too if you had my brother.

Micah Brill. That's his name. Micah, spelled C-R-E-E-P. Micah is seventeen, five years older than me. He's tall and wavy-haired, and good-looking, and you'd think he'd pick on someone his own size. But he's been torturing me since the day I was bom.

He doesn't just tease me. He tricks me. He treats me as a slave. He embarrasses me in front of my friends. Last week, a bunch of my friends were over. We were watching a video.

Revenge of the Shadow Creatures. I told you. I'll watch anything with revenge in the title! My friend Cari Jeffers was over. And my friend Julie Wilson and her brother Steve. I admit it. I have a crush on Steve.

He's an eighth grader, and he's really cool. So I was trying to be cool too. But of course Micah ruined everything. He came prancing into the Hving room during the best part of the movie. "Yo, rugrats! How do you like my new hat?" Ready for a laugh? Micah was wearing my underwear on his head. An old pair of pink underpants that Aunt Claire gave me.

With Monday printed across the bottom. My friends laughed. I could feel my face growing hot. I knew I was blushing beet-red. Micah danced around the room, shaking the underwear in everyone's faces, enjoying himself. Ha ha. "Let's check!" Micah cried. "Let's check!" Micah cried.

He pounced on me and tried to pull my shorts down. "Get off me, you freak!" I shouted. I butted his stomach as hard as I could with my head. That slowed him down a little. He tore the underwear off and tossed it to Steve. YAAAHH! How's that for a Kodak Moment? A boy I like sitting there with my underpants in his hands! He's always going through my dresser drawers.

Always snooping around in my room. And I know why. He's searching for my diary. But he can't find it. I have a secret hiding place for it. I won't. I won't.

Micah is always borrowing my stuff without telling me. Once, he took two of my favorite CDs and gave them to a friend of his! He does everything he can to make my life miserable. He knows I'm not as good a student as he is. He knows I have to study really hard. So what does he do? Every time I have to study for a test, he cranks up his stereo as loud as it will go. Sometimes I just want to scream.

Don't get me started about Micah. I can go on and on Once Mom told Micah he couldn't go out Saturday night until he cleaned his room. He's seventeen, and he just tosses his stuff on the floor like a two-year-old. "Wade, do me a big favor," he whispered. "If you clean my room, I'll pay you twenty-five dollars." Well, I could really use twenty-five dollars. Who couldn't? So I cleaned his disgusting room and it wasn't easy, believe me.

It was like cleaning a swamp. I even found a dead mouse under the bed, all decayed and yucky. It took me all day. Mom inspected his room, patted Micah on the back, and told him he did a great job. After she went downstairs, I demanded my money. "Pay up, Micah.

Twenty-five big ones." He stared at me as if I was crazy. "Twenty-five dollars?" he cried. "Where would I get twenty-five dollars?" And he ran out to meet his friends. Could I complain to my parents? No way. They think he's perfect. He gets straight As.

He's captain of the varsity soccer team. And he'll probably get a full scholarship to college. Big deal, right? That doesn't mean he's humanl Sometimes I try to complain about him. When Mom got home from the supermarket the other day, I greeted her at the door. "Mom Micah went through my dresser again. "Your brother is so funny!" She pushed past me to the kitchen to put away the groceries. "But, Mom " I protested. "He only teases you because he likes you," Mom called back to me. Yeah. For sure. For sure.

I'll really buy that one. My brother is a total, super-sized pain. That's why I watch revenge movies. But I didn't have time to watch TV. I had to get ready for Erin's party. As I sat on the edge of my bed and started to pull on my white sandals, I had no idea that I was minutes away from the worst day of my life.

And maybe the best...

"But why can't you drive me to the party?" I was following Mom from the bedroom to the bathroom to the bedroom again while she finished dressing. She and Dad had a hospital banquet to go to. My dad is a doctor. "We're not driving," Mom replied. "Dr.

Tolbert is picking us up." "Micah has the car," Dad chimed in. He was struggling with his tie. "I told you, he'll drive you to your party." "But Micah is still at the gym!" I protested. "He was supposed to be back here half an hour ago!" "He won't forget you," Dad said. I rolled my eyes. This week. This week.

Mom snapped a bracelet over her wrist and checked herself in the mirror. Then she gave me a quick kiss. "Enjoy Erin's party. What a shame it's pouring." I heard Dr. Tolbert honk his horn. I stared out the window as my parents drove away in the rain.

Where is Micah? I wondered angrily. Where is he? I checked myself in the mirror for the hundredth time. Then I started to pace back and forth. As I paced, I watched the numbers click by on my digital clock radio. 6:20 ... 6:22 ... 6:22 ...

I was fuming! Erin's party had already started. That stupid Micah! He's probably still at the gym, I figured. Playing basketball with his buddies, and he forgot all about me. Or he remembered, and he doesn't care. I'm going to miss the party. I'm going to miss the whole thing.

I'm going to explode. I'm so angry, I'm going to explode! "YAAAAIIIII!" I let out a shrill scream. I had to do something. Then I grabbed the phone and called my friend Carl. He lives on the next block. He could pick me up.

His mother answered. "Oh, I'm sorry, Wade. I dropped Carl off at Erin's house at least half an hour ago." Of course. Carl was already at the party. He didn't have to depend on Micah. Micah, spelled J-E-R-K.

Can I walk to Erin's house? I asked myself. I stared out at the pounding rain. No. Too far. The gym was closer. Only four blocks away.

I'll walk to the gym and get Micah, I decided. I glanced down at my white sandals. A little rain won't hurt them, I thought. I'm not going far. I grabbed an umbrella and stepped out into the rain. "Ohhh." I uttered a low moan as cold water splashed over my feet, I'd stepped into a deep puddle. "Ohhh." I uttered a low moan as cold water splashed over my feet, I'd stepped into a deep puddle.