Really?Electronic book published by ipicturebooks.com24 W. 25th St. New York, NY 10011 www.ipicturebooks.comAll rights reserved. Copyright 1999 by The Millbrook Press, Inc.Real Kids Readers and the Real Kids Readers logo are trademarks of The Millbrook Press, Inc.No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For Zoe, Theo, and Phoebe_L. P.For Richard and Andrel, with appreciation_D. H.e-ISBN 1-58824-489-X Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataPapademetriou, Lisa.Really? / by Lisa Papademetriou ; photographs by Dorothy Handelman.p. cm._ (Real kids readers. Level 3)Summary: A young girl is not certain how much of what her new friend says is true and how much is made up_until she spends the night at her house.ISBN 0-7613-2072-5 (lib. bdg.). _ ISBN 0-7613-2097-0 (pbk.)1. Friendship _ Fiction. 2. Imagination _ Fiction. 3. Sleepovers _ Fiction. I. Handelman, Dorothy, ill. II. Title. III. Series. PZ7.P1954Re 1999 E_dc21Special thanks to Garnet Hill, Franconia, NH, for providing Ferns pajamas and bedding and to Lands End, Dodgeville, WI, for providing Sams sleep-over bedding.Really?By Lisa PapademetriouPhotographs by Dorothy HandelmanMy name is Samantha Field. Everyone calls me Sam. I have a new friend. Her name is Fern Pratt, and she just moved here from California. Fern and I have lots of fun at recess, pretending different things.One time we were pilots, and our plane was about to crash. Another time we were pirates fighting over treasure.“Prepare to walk the plank!” I said.“Wait!” Fern said. “Ill show you where I hid the treasure.” She drew me a map that looked very real. But I never found any treasure.5Fern likes to draw. Here are two pictures she made. One shows her family. The other shows her old house. That one surprised me. Ferns old house looks an awful lot like the castle at Disneyland.67Fern loves to pretend. Sometimes its hard to know if she is telling the truth. Once she told me she had a pet deer that lived in the woods behind her house. Another time she said she had a pet snake named Henry that lived in her house.8“Really?” I said. “A snake is a pretty weird pet!”“Not this one,” she said. “Why dont you come for a sleepover on Saturday? Then you can see for yourself.”“Okay,” I said. “Sounds like fun.”9Saturday afternoon I got ready for the sleepover. I was looking forward to meeting Ferns family. From her drawing, they seemed so cool_except maybe Forest.I packed my regular stuff. Then I packed a pair of my dads ski gloves, in case Fern asked me to hold Henry.11When I got to Ferns house, I knocked on the door. A man opened it. “You must be Sam,” he said. “Im Al Pratt, Ferns dad. Come on in.”Mr. Pratt didnt have an accent. And when I thought about it, “Al Pratt” didnt sound like an Italian name. Did that mean Fern only pretended he was from Italy?“Thanks for having me over,” I said.“Our pleasure,” said Mr. Pratt. “Fern told us all about you. Its an honor to meet such a famous athlete!”12“Famous athlete?” I thought. Was Mr. Pratt talking about the winning goal I scored in soccer? Or had Fern made up a story about me?I was just about to ask when Fern came running into the front hall.“Hi, Sam!” she said. “Come up to my room!” She grabbed my sleeping bag and pillow, and we went upstairs.1415Fern threw open the door to her room. We dropped my stuff on the floor. Then I looked around. There was a small cage by the bed. I peeked inside.“Thats Henrys cage,” said Fern.“ Its empty,” I said. “Where is he?”“Nobody knows,” Fern said. “He escaped!”“Really?” I asked.“Really,” Fern said. “Why? Dont you believe me?”“Uh_sure,” I said. But I had my doubts. The cage was empty. Was that because Henry was only a pretend snake?17We played in Ferns room till her dad called us for dinner. Her mom and little brother were already at the table. Fern introduced me to them.18“Im very glad to meet you,” Forest said politely. “Would you like some ice water?”“Thanks,” I said. Forest seemed nice_ not a pain at all. I began to wonder if Fern had told the truth about anything.Just then, Mr. Pratt came in from the kitchen. He was holding two pizzas.“Mmm. Smells good!” I said.Mrs. Pratt nodded. “Alberto makes the best pizza_just like his mamas.”“My mother is Italian and my father is American,” Mr. Pratt explained. “We lived in Italy till I was ten. Then we moved to California. The pizza is Mamas special recipe.”2021So Ferns dad really was from Italy, and he really did make pizza! I took a slice. Then I unrolled my napkin.Something black fell onto my pizza.“A spider!” I screeched.The spider didnt move. It was a fake!Ferns brother laughed, and I knew who the joker was.“Forest, thats not funny,” Mrs. Pratt said sternly.“Its okay,” I said. “Usually