Free Double Date by R.L. Stine

from way back there and—”
    She stopped suddenly, raising her eyes over hisshoulder. “Bobby—your car!;” she cried. “What happened to your tires?”
    Phony, phony, phony, Bobby thought.
    Does she really think I’m going to buy that wide-eyed innocence?
    â€œSomeone cut them,” he murmured, studying her with his eyes.
    â€œHuh?” Her mouth dropped open. “You mean—?”
    â€œSomeone cut them all up,” Bobby said unhappily. “Can I have a lift?”
    She nodded her head. “Sure, jump in.” She stared hard at his car, resting so low on its wheels. “What a lucky coincidence that I came by,” she said as he lowered himself into the passenger seat.
    â€œYeah. What a coincidence,” Bobby murmured bitterly and slammed the car door shut.
    After school on Monday, Bobby dropped his backpack into his locker, then started to the music room to rehearse with the band.
    Arnie had called him on Saturday with the news that he and Paul wanted to change the name of the group to Desperadoes. Bobby didn’t see any point in arguing.
    We’re going to look like total dorks in front of the entire school on Friday, he told himself. It doesn’t matter if we call ourselves Desperadoes or The Rolling Stones!
    On Sunday, he had spent a lot of time thinking about Melanie and the slashed tires. At first, he was convinced that she was responsible.
    She’s so jealous of the twins, he told himself. Shewants me back. The poor kid is so desperate, she’s out of her head.
    But after a lot of thought, Bobby decided he was wrong. Melanie and Arnie seemed pretty happy together. She didn’t want to go back to Bobby.
    Melanie, he knew, was a good friend of Bree’s and Samantha’s. And Melanie had certainly been angry that Bobby was secretly dating them both.
    But is Melanie upset enough about it to slash my tires? Bobby wondered. Does she really care that much?
    His answer was no. No way.
    Girls aren’t strong enough to cut tires that deeply, Bobby told himself. Girls don’t know how to handle knives. No way.
    It had to be someone else, Bobby decided. But who?
    He hadn’t a clue.
    Halfway to the music room, he stopped to kid around with some guys from the basketball team. Then he saw Bree across the hall. He waved to her, and she waved back.
    â€œWait up!” he called.
    She disappeared into the auditorium, probably hurrying to chorus practice.
    He turned the corner and nearly collided with Samantha. “Hey!” he called out. “How’s it going?”
    â€œI saw you chasing after Bree,” Samantha said, eyeing him coldly. “You’re not really falling for her, are you?”
    â€œHuh?” He scratched his head and flashed her his best innocent smile. “No way, Sam.”
    Her expression softened. She grabbed his arm. “Come with me. Hurry.”
    He pulled away. “I’m late for practice.”
    â€œIt’ll take only a minute,” she told him. She tugged on his hand. “Come on. I won’t bite.” A sly smile crossed her face. “Or maybe I will.”
    She pulled him up the stairs and down the nearly empty hall to the science lab in the back. The door was shut. She grabbed the knob and pushed it open.
    â€œYour science project?” Bobby asked. “Is that what you want to show me?”
    She nodded. They stepped into the large room. The lights were off.
    Bobby reached for the light switch, but she grabbed his hand. Then she pressed him against the wall and kissed him. A long, passionate kiss.
    When she finally pulled her face away, they were both breathless. “I like your project,” Bobby joked. “You get an A.”
    She giggled and squeezed his hand. Bobby could hear his two monkeys chattering excitedly. In the dim light that filtered in through the closed venetian blinds, he could see them leaping around in their cage at the back of the room.
    He