Welcome back to R.L. Stein Story Club. I'm Ivy, the club leader, but you already know that if you've been paying attention.

We're going back into R. L. Stein's secret

vault, filled with stories collected over the years, and this is one of the strangers. Have you

ever had a jealous friend? I have. They can make life difficult with all their complaining and comparing.

Don't even get me started. But sometimes that jealous friend can be handy in ways you

wouldn't expect. Oh, I've already said too much. Let's get on with the show. It's the R. L. Stein

Story Club, and this is The Jealous Friend.

Hey there, I'm Luke Farrow.

This is a story that actually happened to me.

I'm not making it up.

There's another guy in this story, Sammy Dillon.

Sammy thinks he's my best friend.

Our parents know each other, so we're thrown together a lot.

Sure, we spend some time together, but that doesn't mean Sammy Dillon is my best friend.

It's hard to be best buds with someone who's as jealous as Sammy Dillon.

Like, I'll give you an example. On my birthday... You made it!

And what a party!

I never get that many gifts.

Yeah, I gotta admit it was pretty great.

I can't believe you got the new Playbox 7.

Those are almost impossible to find.

The most amazing game player ever. I'm totally jealous. Ah, but Sammy, you gave it to me.

...