Sunny jumped behind the chair, poking her head over the top of it to watch me.
“Why did you do it this time?” I yelled. “What dumb science experiment was I a part of? Some weird sleep thing? Or a brain experiment? Or some experiment to do with seeing in the dark? What was it, Sunny? What?”
She blinked at me over the chair. “There was no experiment.”
“Oh right,” I said. “So you did all this for what? Just for fun?” I yelled.
Sunny stood up. She looked out the window, thinking for a minute. And then she turned to me with a look of surprise on her face. “Yes, Masha. That is why I did it. That is exactly why I did it.”
“What?” I said.
Sunny came out from behind the chair. “I didn’t know why I was doing it. The whole night I’ve been wondering why. At first, I just wanted you guys to be scared so you wouldn’t care if I stayed up with you a little more. But then I kept doing it. And I couldn’t figure out why. You already were letting me stay up. And also, I was getting pretty tired. But I kept doing it and doing it. And I kept asking myself why I was. But I didn’t know. And now I know. You figured it out, Masha. I did it because it was fun. And I liked it. I liked having fun.”
I sighed and fell back onto the couch.
Sunny ran to me and jumped onto my lap and hugged me tight. “Thanks, Masha. Thanks for letting me have fun with you.”
How did she do it? How did she wreck my entire world and then make it completely impossible for me to kill her?
“I wish I had friends like you do,” she said into my neck.
I closed my eyes and thought about Junchao and Alice. Then I kissed the top of Sunny’s little head . . . I wished she did too.
“You’re my friend,” I whispered.
“Really,” she said, yawning into my chin.
“Really,” I said.
CLOMP. CLOMP. CLOMP.
I pulled the couch blanket over us and waited for the ghostly howl to come, which I now knew must be a recording and would happen in another minute or two. But I never heard it . . . because I was asleep.
Acknowledgments
As always, thank you to Kerry Sparks and Caroline Abbey for starting it all. Thank you also to Brett Wright and everyone at Bloomsbury USA Children’s for taking on Sunny Sweet. And finally, thank you to my sisters for all the torture (and the love) . . . Without you, there could be no Sunny.
Also by Jennifer Ann Mann
Sunny Sweet Is So Not Sorry
Sunny Sweet Is So Dead Meat
Sunny Sweet Can So Get Lost
Copyright © 2015 by Jennifer Ann Mann
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
First published in the United States of America in October 2015 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
E-book edition published in October 2015
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 1385 Broadway, New York, New York 10018
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Mann, Jennifer Ann, author.
Sunny Sweet is so not scary / by Jennifer Ann Mann.
pages cm
Summary: Masha, Junchao, and Alice are having a slumber party—with scary movies and popcorn—but when the lights go out and they start to hear noises they become convinced that a ghost is in the house, and Masha’s brilliant little sister, Sunny, decides that they should collect actual data on the spirit world and become ghost hunters.
ISBN 978-1-61963-507-4 (hardcover) • ISBN 978-1-61963-508-1 (e-book)
[1. Sisters—Juvenile fiction. 2. Best friends—Juvenile fiction. 3. Sleepovers—Juvenile fiction. 4. Ghost stories. [1. Sisters—Fiction. 2. Genius—Fiction. 3. Best friends—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Sleepovers—Fiction. 6. Ghosts—Fiction.] I. Title. PZ7.M31433St 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014043363
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