#22
Stacey and the Haunted Masquerade
by Ann M. Martin

SMS hasn't had a Mischief Night Masquerade in twenty-eight years. Stacey can't wait to get involved.

When I arrived at school first thing that Wednesday morning, Todd Long met me near the side door. "You won't believe it," he said. "I don't believe it."

"What?" I asked. But Todd wouldn't answer. He just led me through the halls until we were near the cafeteria. The floor there was covered with tiny bits of red confetti. "So?" I asked Todd "Somebody made some weird mess here. Is this what you wanted to show me?"

Todd didn't answer. He just swung his gaze around at the walls, and I followed it. That's when it hit me. The posters! That wasn't confetti on the floor. It was Claudia's beautiful posters for the masquerade - all ripped into minuscule bits.

I put my hand over my mouth. I couldn't speak.

"I know," Todd said grimly. "They also tore up the one near the auditorium and the one by the main entrance."

"But - why?" I asked. "What a horrible thing to do!"

"That's not the worst of it," Todd said. "I want you to see something else." He led me through the halls again, this time toward the gym. I had no idea what he was going to show me, but I did know one thing: I probably didn't want to see it.

"Nice, huh?" Todd asked as we rounded the last corner.

I looked up at the poster we'd put there and drew in a sharp breath.

"At least they left one of them up," Todd said. He was trying to lighten up the situation, but it didn't work. What I was seeing sent chills down my spine, and no amount of joking was going to make those chills go away.

Spray-painted across the poster, in drippy, red, bloody-looking letters, was this message: WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW?

Todd was looking at me as if he expected me to say something, but I couldn't. I was too creeped out.

Stacey and the Haunted Masquerade
Published by Scholastic Inc. 1996
ISBN: 0590228668