Monsters on the March
Page 12
“Awwww,” sounded a chorus of onlookers all around Charles. The students and teachers had crept up quietly to watch the action.
“Oh, Charles! I knew it!” said Zogette, swooning with emotion.
“Very well,” said King Zog. “Now give her a kiss. A big one.”
Filled with jubilation and confidence, Charles closed his eyes, loosened his tie, and moved in for the big kiss. Everyone’s mouths hung open with the thrill and tension of the moment. But right before Charles’s lips could meet Zogette’s…she abruptly pulled away.
Charles opened his eyes in confusion. Zogette’s joyous expression had changed to a look of puzzlement and uncertainty.
“Uh-oh,” she said. “Aaaawkward.”
“What’s wrong?” Charles asked.
“Listen,” Zogette said. “You’re a really great guy. I’ve had a really good time with you. But, um…this just isn’t working out.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Look, this relationship is over. But you’re super nice, and I hope we can still be friends. I’m going to go back with my dad now and marry Captain Pigbeard. Deep down I guess I still have feelings for him. Send me an email sometime and let me know how you’re doing, okay?”
Charles just stood there in shock as Zogette turned around and walked back toward her father.
Dr. Dragonbreath, Charles’s favorite teacher, walked up behind Charles and patted him on the back.
“Funny thing about monsters,” said Dr. Dragonbreath. “They only want what they can’t have.”
“So, as soon as I actually liked her, she lost interest in me?”
“Welcome to life, kid.”
“Ugh,” Petunia piped in. “I can’t believe she’s going to marry that monster-pirate after all this.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t count on it,” said Dr. Dragonbreath. “Now that she wants to be with him, he won’t want to be with her anymore. The most successful monster marriages are the ones where neither of the two monsters wants to be together at all.”
Of course, as soon as Zogette went willingly back to her father, her father suddenly had an urge to be rid of her as well.
“Hey!” said King Zog. “Are you sure you don’t want to keep Zogette here at Scary School? The castle was so nice and quiet without her there.”
“Oh hush, Father!” Princess Zogette huffed, bopping him on his toad head. “Take me back to the ship. If Pigbeard won’t have me, I’m moving back in with you.”
“Ohhhhhh…,” King Zog grumbled. “What was I thinking?”
23
A Happy Holiday
Since the historic Friday the Thirteenth Battle had ended by late morning, the students had the rest of the day to party before going on holiday break.
During the holiday party, Charles Nukid gave Penny Possum a candy cane. He was very happy to see that Penny had brought one for him too. The exchange reminded them of how they first became friends.
Knowing that they could face down ten thousand monsters and come out victorious gave the students of Scary School an amazing feeling of pride. They had proven that if you put enough effort into it, you can do absolutely anything.
Principal Headcrusher stole away from the party and collapsed in her office chair. She breathed a deep sigh of relief, her eyes welling up with tears, realizing that her school had survived its greatest threat to date. One of her tears landed on an envelope that she hadn’t noticed was there.
It was postmarked from the Arctic Circle. She opened the envelope with her teeth and read the letter.
Dear Principal Headcrusher,
If any of your students have survived the monster attack, we would like to cordially invite them to be a part of our study abroad program and attend school at your alma mater, Scream Academy, which is still widely considered the scariest school in the world. We assume your answer is a resounding YES and we will be sending a representative to Scary School after winter break to judge which students are worthy of the program.
Best of luck surviving the monster attack.
Sincerely,
Rolf Meltington the Abominable Snowman
Principal
Scream Academy, aka the Aaaaaa!cademy
Principal Headcrusher plopped her head into her enormous hands. She would have to do her best to make this winter break her dream vacation, for once school resumed, it looked to be the beginning of a brand-new nightmare.
On Christmas Eve, Charles Nukid’s phone rang. He answered it, but heard nothing on the other end. He knew exactly who it was.
After several moments of silence, Charles replied:
“Happy holidays to you too, Penny.”
Final Note from Derek the Ghost
Congratulations!
Looks like you’ve survived the first part of the new school year.
I had high hopes for you, and you didn’t let me down.
As a reward, I have a very special surprise for you. I was floating around the empty halls of Scary School over winter break and took a quick glance inside Locker 39—the Locker of Infinite Oblivion. Inside it, I saw that Steven Kingsley had hidden his new story, called “The Rainbow and the Kittens.” Don’t let the title fool you. I hear it’s even sillier than it sounds.
If you want to read it, go to ScarySchool.com and look for Locker 39. If you click on it, you’ll get to open the locker and read the story before anyone else!
Plus, if you look around carefully, you’ll be able to find some of the other books I’ve written that you can only get on the website.
See you there!
Derek the Ghost
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About the Author
DEREK THE GHOST is an eleven-year-old ghost who haunts the classrooms and hallways of Scary School writing down all the spine-tingling, often hilarious things that go on there. Despite his ghostly state, Derek still enjoys reading comic books and hopes to one day become a master ninja. If that doesn’t work out, he will continue to share the fun of this very special, very secret school, so all kids can experience the scariest school on Earth.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
Other Books by Derek the Ghost
SCARY SCHOOL
Credits
Cover art © 2012 by Scott M. Fischer
Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons
Copyright
SCARY SCHOOL#2: MONSTERS ON THE MARCH. Text copyright © 2012 by Derek Taylor Kent. Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Scott M. Fischer. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
* * *
Library of Congress catalog card number: 2011933212
ISBN 978-0-06-196095-6 (trade bdg.)—ISBN 978-0-06-196096-3
(lib. bdg.)
* * *
EPub Edition © MAY 2012 ISBN: 978-0-06-211447-1
12 13 14 15 16 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
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