Mean Ghouls (8 page)

Saturday morning, Megan woke up in the school library. She'd fallen asleep while searching the mystery section for a cool young detective who didn't need sidekicks. Certainly, in centuries' worth of literature, there must have been one who wasn't old and stale. At about five
A.M
., she fell asleep, curled up on her dorm-room pillow with stacks of novels surrounding her like low walls.

She yawned and stretched before sitting up. Blinking against the harsh fluorescent lights, Megan picked up her ZA notebook and reviewed everything that had happened the day before.

She was mad at Sam. She was suspicious of Happy. Mr. Jones wanted her to be a zombie forever, and Brett wanted to eat her brains.

“Another day at Zombie Academy,” Megan moaned as she gathered her things and headed to the bathroom to wash her face.

Looking in the mirror was horrifying. Her hair stood straight up as if she'd been electrocuted. No matter how Megan tried, she couldn't get it back down. Even tossing water on her head didn't work. Gravity was working against her, and Megan's auburn curls boinged right back up when they dried.

Her knees were stiff, but she could bend them now. Her sharp teeth were annoying. Then again, Megan could open tin cans if she needed to. And the gray stripe in her hair … well, it almost looked like she'd bleached her hair on purpose. Very classy.

Megan didn't need Nurse Karen. She knew what she needed to do, and it wasn't hanging loose or resting or calming down. Megan was focused. She was going to find out where the Bs stashed the cure so she could get home to Dana Point. And she knew exactly how to find it. With the skeleton key Zach gave her, she could search the Bs dorm room!

But she'd have to wait until later that afternoon. Saturday classes started with Zombie History.

Entering the classroom, Megan looked for a place to sit. Sam sat with Happy. The Bs, including Brett,
took up the back row. There was an empty desk on one side of the room, next to a girl with long red stringy hair named Reena. She didn't seem to have a nose, just a big boney hole where one used to be. That was the desk Megan chose.

As she sat down, Megan realized immediately why the seat was empty. For some people, the zombitus virus attacked their flesh and decayed their skin, which smelled pretty gross. Like the driver who brought Megan to school. And apparently poor, poor Reena. No one sat by her because she stank.

Since Megan had no other friends, she tried to ignore the stench and be friendly.

“Hi,” she said to Reena while glancing over her shoulder at the Bs.

“Uhhhh-uhhhh,” Reena groaned at Megan.

“You've got it bad, huh?” Megan said.

Reena nodded.

“I think I can help. I'm going to make sure you get some of the cure when I find it,” Megan told Reena.

Class began, but Megan couldn't concentrate. Twice she tried to see if she could hear what the Bs were whispering about and leaned back so far she nearly fell out of her chair.

The third time she heard them whispering, Megan actually did fall out of her chair. She hit the floor with an echoing
bang
.

Brett laughed. Brooke pointed. Brenda tapped her heel. And Betsy said something in Spanish that couldn't have been nice.

“Here, let me help you.” Sam came over and offered his hand to help Megan up.

But she couldn't look at him. “I can't be friends with thieves. Or people who don't believe in me. That's how friendship works.”

Sam just shook his head and walked away.

Science was equally lonely, and this time when one of the Bs ruined Megan's lab experiment, there was no one there to help her. Happy didn't offer. The gooey purple solution burned a nickel-size hole in the back of Megan's left hand. Dr. Verma put a green gel ointment on it and told her to keep her whole arm elevated for the next three hours.

With one hand raised in the air, Megan got called on repeatedly in home ec.

By the end of Saturday's classes, she was ready to stop worrying about schoolwork and start sleuthing.

Everyone at school was buzzing about the newest
movie showing in the theater. It was a prerelease for Halloween. Even critics hadn't seen it yet. But since Mr. Jones was an adviser to the director, the school got a first look. Showtime was at twelve thirty. Megan didn't want to see another horror movie. She'd seen enough with Zach.

While the Bs were at the film, Megan made her way to the dormitory wing so she could take a look around their room. She stared at the three stars with their names printed on them. The door seemed to twinkle at her.

Megan's heart raced. She'd never actually broken into anywhere before. Then again, she'd never had to. The mixture of guilt for invading the Bs' privacy and the thrill of the hunt for the missing cure made her edgy.

As she used the skeleton key to open the lock, her raging emotions caused a third tooth to sharpen into a spike. If her dentist saw her now, he'd put her in braces for sure. With rubber bands, a retainer, and headgear all at the same time.

The lock clicked and Megan silently thanked her brother for his gift. She opened the door just enough to slip inside.

Very carefully, Megan set her ZA notebook on the
floor by the door. She didn't want to forget anything she saw.

A calendar on the wall had next Sunday's date circled. Visitors' Day. And under that it said in bright red pen,
Destroy
.

“That's it!” Megan said a little too loudly. The Bs were going to destroy the cure on Visitors' Day.

Megan couldn't let that happen. She had to find the vials. Fast.

She opened Brenda's desk drawer and found three pictures tucked under a stack of yellow stationery. The first was a photo of Brenda in the blue prom dress she'd been wearing the first day Megan saw her. Only it wasn't ruined and the tire tracks that stained it were missing. It was actually very pretty. And so was Brenda. In another photo, Brenda sat behind the wheel of a jeep, driving over a stack of dresses. Why would she do that?

Hadn't Happy said that people did weird things when they found out they had zombitus? Megan imagined that Brenda always loved frilly dresses. Then when the disease kicked in, she went loopy, stole her mother's keys, and trashed all of her favorite clothes. Maybe she thought if she was going to become a zombie, she should look like one, too.

The third picture showed Brenda getting into the ZA limousine while her family stood by, waving. Brenda had three sisters. One was a baby.

Megan put the pictures back and took a look at Betsy's desk.

The drawer was empty. There wasn't even one speck of dust.

“Figures,” Megan muttered.

She was starting to feel like Goldilocks.
I guess it's down to Baby Bear's desk
, she thought.

Brooke's drawer was locked. The Bs must have stored the vials inside. Megan felt her newest zombie tooth sharpen as her heart raced. Her skeleton key fit perfectly in the lock.

Megan turned the key half a click to the left and the drawer popped open. Inside all she found was a copy of the English class essay on
Frankenstein
and a packet of crushed flowers. Megan smelled the flowers. Lavender and roses and orange blossom.

With a sharp exhale, Megan realized that she hadn't found the answer she wanted. She put the packet back in the drawer, closed it, and relocked it.

She looked under all three beds and in all three closets.

There was nothing out of place and nothing that looked like the glass vials she'd heard clink in Brooke's bag.
Maybe I was wrong about the Bs
, she thought grudgingly.

As Megan headed out the door, she bent down to grab her notebook off the floor, and that's when she saw it. There was a crate next to Brenda's desk. It had a lamp on top, and it looked like a regular nightstand. Except for the big padlock.

She tried to pick the lock with her skeleton key, when Megan heard the Bs' voices outside the window. The movie couldn't be over yet. What were they doing back so soon? There wasn't time to open the crate. She'd just have to take the whole thing and open it later.

Only it was way too heavy. She tried shoving it toward the hall door, but it wouldn't budge.
Uh! I'll just have to come back later.
She put the lamp back the way she'd found it.

Megan heard Brett's “uhhhh-uhhhh” groan getting closer. It sounded like the Bs were down the hall by the bathrooms. There was a mirror in the hallway.

“That movie was so lame,” said Brooke.

“No kidding,” Brenda agreed. “That's why we left.”

“Zombies may live in graves in the movies,” said Betsy, “but who'd actually sleep in the dirt? Eww.”

Megan had to get out of the room before they caught her. She tiptoed out the door and dashed to her own room next door. She spotted Brett standing by the bathroom door, looking bored while he waited for the Ghouls to finish fixing their lip gloss. Luckily, he was playing on his phone. Megan fumbled with her room key, and just as Brett raised his head toward her, the lock clicked and she slipped inside.

Breathing heavily, Megan leaned against the wall. She'd found the cure! The Bs really had stolen it. It felt good to be right. She'd have to write down what she'd learned so she'd remember to go unlock that crate later.

That's when she remembered something important. She'd brought her red Zombie Academy notebook into the Bs' dorm room.

And she'd left it there.

Megan had to get the notebook back. She had no choice. Inside those pages were her notes about the cure and her friends at home and every day she'd been at ZA. It would be embarrassing if that stuff was made public. And she knew the Bs would relish any opportunity to humiliate her. There was no way they'd keep that stuff to themselves. Especially when they discovered she'd been investigating them.

Pushing all her fears aside, Megan dashed back out into the hall.

But she was too late. Brooke was already standing in the doorway of her room holding it. “Whose is this?”

“It's mine.” Megan used her fastest soccer kick to
knock the book out of Brooke's hand. It fell back to the floor, where Betsy quickly scooped it up.

Imagining she was going after a ball, Megan stretched her leg forward the way she would for a penalty kick, and using the side of her foot, shoved the notebook hard. It slid under Brenda's bed.

Megan dove for it, but Brenda was closer. “What's your notebook doing in our room?”

“I —” Megan didn't have an excuse. If she accused the Bs right now, they might never let her go. She was in enemy territory. “I dropped it and accidentally kicked it under your door. I've been waiting for you guys to come back so I could get it. Can I have it now?”

“I don't think so,” Brenda said. “I'm going to read it.”

“Don't!” Megan protested as Brenda opened the notebook.

On the first page, Megan had written a paragraph about meeting Sam. To her horror, Brenda began to read it out loud.

“‘He's cute.'”
Brenda imitated Megan's voice.
“‘In a nerdy kind of way.'”
She giggled.

“Noooo!” Using every ounce of energy she had, Megan dove for the notebook again.

Brenda pulled it away at the last second, tossing the notebook across the room to Brooke. Megan was moving too fast to stop herself, and she crashed. Hard. Her head hit the side of Betsy's desk. Blood dripped down her cheek. “Head wounds don't heal,” Megan muttered as she closed her eyes against the pain. She needed a minute to get herself together.

“‘I invited Rachel to Visitors' Day,'”
Brooke read.

“I know Rachel,” Brett chimed in. “We do …” He was struggling to remember. “An after-school activity together.”

“‘I told Rachel to come to ZA early on Sunday,'”
Brook recited.

It's like my life is flashing before me
, Megan thought.
One page at a time.

“Hey, look, Brett!” Brooke said suddenly. “Megan glued your old online profile in here.”

Megan gasped as Brooke tore the page out of her notebook. “That's mine!” she pleaded. “Give it back.”

“Let me see.” Brett took the page from Brooke. “I have a sister. A dog.” He pinched his lips together. “Yep. That's true. But what's this other baloney-maloney? I act in the theater? My favorite color is brown? I don't remember that stuff.”

“And you love pepperoni pizza,” Megan added. “At least, you used to.”

Brett folded the profile page in half. “It all sounds familiar. But I'm not that guy anymore.” He waved the printed paper at Megan and then stuffed it in his pocket. “I'm a B.” Brett laughed. “A Zom-B!”

The other Bs laughed with him.

“I want my notebook,” Megan said.

“No,” said Brooke.

“No way,” said Betsy.

“It was in our room,” Brenda said. “Finders keepers.”

“Give her back the notebook.” Happy stood in the open doorway. The movie must have ended. “Now.”

“Or what?” Brooke said.

“Or I won't do your project,” Happy replied.

Megan looked at Happy, relieved to see her. “I thought …”

“I know what you thought. And if you think I'm so weak that these Ghouls can blackmail me, then you better rush down to the nurse and have your brain examined. I told you to do that, right?”

“Yeah. You did.”

“Well? Did you?”

“No,” Megan admitted.

“You should.” Happy then turned to Brooke. “The notebook. Now.” She held out one hand.

Roles had been reversed. The changes both Happy and Brooke had made when they came to Zombie Academy no longer applied. In this moment, Happy was the tough, popular girl she'd been in middle school in New York.

“If you want your Visitors' Day surprise” — Happy stared at Brooke — “you'll give her the notebook.” When no one moved, Happy said, “You need me. I
know
what you are up to.”

“How —?” Brooke really was scared of Happy. Her pale skin seemed more translucent than ever. “Who told you?”

“It all became clear once my parents informed me they were coming to the castle. I'm smarter than you think.” Happy squinted. “Now, are you going to give Megan back her notebook, or should I tell Mr. Franko that I quit? You know I'm only helping you because it got me out of PE. I hate shuffle ball. I can ask Mr. Jones for a different project….”

Glancing at her shoes, Brooke handed Megan the ZA notebook.

“We're done here.” Happy rotated and left the room. Without looking at the Bs or Brett, Megan
clutched her notebook to her chest and followed Happy into the hall.

“I don't understand,” Megan said. “After everything I said to you, you didn't have to help me.”

“I know.” Happy stared hard into Megan's eyes. “Do you still think I helped them steal the cure?”

The vials were in a crate in the room next door. The Bs had definitely taken them, but Megan wasn't sure who else was involved. Was Mr. Jones? Was Happy? Megan's hesitation was answer enough for Happy.

“That's what I thought.” she said. “Have a pleasant night in the library.”