Buffy Vine’s favourite thing in the world was scaring people. She liked nothing better than giving her friends a really good fright! She loved popping out of cupboards with a monster mask over her face and making her mum jump. It made her giggle to creep up on her little brother when he was watching television and shout, “BOO!” But most of all she loved scaring her best friends, Tina and Lucy.
The day Aunt Sarah announced she was going to get married, Buffy gave Tina and Lucy a really scary fright. She’d been to the joke shop at the weekend and bought two wicked things – a big black spider and a red plastic eyeball! On Monday morning Buffy put them into her school bag … she had plans for both of them.
At playtime Buffy hid in the girls’ toilets and waited for her class to run out into the playground. When everything was quiet she crept out of her hiding place and sneaked into the cloakroom, where all the packed lunch boxes were stacked up on a table. She easily found her friends’ lunch boxes; Tina’s had stars all over it and Lucy’s had dinosaurs. Checking that nobody was watching, Buffy opened Tina’s box and slipped the black spider in between Tina’s ham sandwiches. Giggling to herself, she unscrewed Lucy’s flask and dropped the red eyeball into her apple juice – then quickly screwed the lid back on.
When lunchtime came Buffy made sure she was sitting directly opposite Tina and Lucy when they opened their lunch boxes.
“What have you got in your sandwiches today?” she asked Tina.
“I’ve got ham salad,” Tina started to say, but she never got to the end of the sentence. Her eyes grew wide in horror as she stared down at the huge black spider sitting on her sandwiches. “AHHHH!” she screamed, and throwing the box on to the floor, she ran out of the dining room.
“Hey, what’s spooked Tina?” said Lucy, as she poured out her apple juice.
As Lucy tipped the flask, Buffy covered her mouth with a hand to stop herself from bursting out laughing. Suddenly, the big red eyeball plopped into Lucy’s glass!
“Ahhhhh!” Lucy screamed, as she dropped her flask and apple juice spilt all over the floor.
“Please stop screaming in the dining room,” called the dinner lady crossly.
Tina and Lucy were
Buffy was still smiling to herself when she got home that afternoon. She was thinking what fun it would be to buy the plastic rattlesnake she’d seen in the joke shop. Suddenly, she realised they had a visitor. Her favourite aunt, Sarah, Mum’s youngest sister, was sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea with Mrs Vine.
“Hi, Buffy!” said Aunt Sarah. “You seem miles away.”
“I am,” Buffy admitted. “I was wondering if I should buy the plastic rattlesnake I saw in the joke shop at the weekend.”
“You and your tricks,” chuckled Aunt Sarah. “I hope you won’t be bringing anything scary along to my wedding.”
“WEDDING!” cried Buffy. “Are you getting married?”
“Yes, we thought it was about time.”
“That’s brilliant!” said Buffy.
“I’m glad you approve,” joked Aunt Sarah. “Because Tony and I would like you to be our bridesmaid.”
Buffy clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, I’d LOVE to be your bridesmaid!”
“Tony’s nieces, the twins, Molly and Polly, will be our little bridesmaids, but you’ll be the big one – so you have to be sensible,” Sarah added firmly. “I don’t want any plastic rattlesnakes left in the aisle or black beetles dropped down anybody’s dress on my wedding day. Understand?”
Buffy grinned. “I’ll try not to be your SCARY bridesmaid!”
When Buffy told Tina and Lucy she was going to be a bridesmaid they thought she was teasing them. “Oh, very funny!” they cried. “Is this another of your silly tricks?”
“No, I’m
“I wouldn’t want you to be my bridesmaid,” Tina blurted out. “You’d dress up as a vampire and spoil the wedding.”
“Or you’d pour fake blood all down the bride’s dress and make her faint with fright,” added Lucy.
Buffy pulled her scariest face and walked off. All this talk about wedding dresses suddenly made her feel quite nervous. She’d never asked Aunt Sarah what they’d be wearing. Buffy
Buffy was relieved when she got home as Mum told her that Aunt Sarah was taking the bridesmaids shopping that weekend.
“Good,” said Buffy. “I want something bold and striking.”
“I think the twins will want something cute,” Mum warned.
“We’ll see about that!” said Buffy in her scariest voice.
The moment Buffy saw the twins her heart sank. They were six, they were cute and they were sweet –
“It’s beautiful!” she cried, as she twirled around and smiled with pleasure.
Aunt Sarah bought the dresses, then took her bridesmaids to the cafe in the department store. While Sarah was at the counter, the twins teased Buffy about her dress.
“You’ll look like a witch,” giggled Polly.
“Or a wizard in a bad temper,” chuckled Molly.
“You don’t look pretty like US,” added Polly.
“Pink’s nicer than blue,” said Molly.
Buffy frowned and sat back in her chair with her hands in her coat pocket.
“We’re not scared of your scary face!” laughed the twins.
Suddenly, Buffy felt something round and smooth in her pocket. It was the plastic eyeball! The perfect trick to shut up the chattering twins.
Pretending to pick up a napkin, Buffy dropped the eyeball in the middle of the table. A few minutes later Aunt Sarah set down a tray full of drinks and muffins.
“Orange for you girls and tea for me,” she said, as she handed out the bottles and straws. “Please will you pass me the sugar, Polly?”
Polly reached over for the sugar bowl and saw the red eyeball rolling around next to it.
“AHHHHH!” she shrieked at the top of her voice.
Aunt Sarah jumped, and spilt her tea all over the clean tablecloth. As she mopped it up with a napkin, Buffy quickly grabbed the eyeball and slipped it back into her pocket.
“What is it, Polly?” said Aunt Sarah. “What’s the matter?”
“There’s an eye … eye … eyeball on the table,” she stuttered.
They all stared at the table. It was covered in tea but there was no sign of an eyeball.
“There really
Buffy couldn’t resist buying the plastic rattlesnake from the joke shop. She took it home and tried it out on her mum, who groaned when she saw it coiled up in the bread bin.
“Buffy!” Mum cried. “Take that thing out of my kitchen and never let me see it again.”
Buffy took “Freddie”, the nickname she’d given to the rattlesnake, upstairs to her bedroom. Freddie was SO realistic that even she got a shock when she woke up the following morning and found him lying at the foot of the bed.
“Ahh!” she squeaked, then laughed at herself. Freddie was going to be a really scary snake.
With Freddie in her rucksack, Buffy walked to school deep in thought. Where would be the best place to scare her friends with the plastic rattlesnake? Her class teacher came up with the answer when she asked Tina and Lucy if they’d mind tidying up the paint cupboard during morning playtime. When Buffy heard her friends say they’d do the job she knew
“Do you want to help us?” Lucy asked, when she saw Buffy hanging around at the back of the classroom when everybody else had gone out to play.
“Er, no,” said Buffy and quickly hurried out.
A minute later Buffy came creeping back in and hid behind a desk, just as Lucy reached into the back of the cupboard. Buffy held her breath … what would Lucy do when she saw Freddie? A second later she found out when Lucy let out a scream that made Buffy’s ears ring!
“AHHH!!” shrieked Lucy. “Look!” she cried, as she pointed into the cupboard.
Tina peered in and let out a scream that shook the rafters!
“Whatever is the matter with you two girls?” snapped the teacher as she came running into the classroom.
“There’s a s-s-snake in the paint cupboard!” squeaked Tina.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” said the teacher, as she poked her head into the cupboard. “There’s nothing in here.” But the teacher soon stepped back in horror as she saw the snake.
Buffy covered her mouth and rocked with laughter. Freddie was
Buffy wasn’t looking forward to going into town to choose the bridesmaids’ head dresses. She knew she would disagree with the twins. They’d probably want pink and she certainly wouldn’t want anything as girly as that.
“Maybe I’ll take Freddie with me,” Buffy thought. “He might come in handy.”
With the plastic snake in her rucksack, she met Aunt Sarah and the twins in the bridal shop.