The Slime That Would Not Die by Laura Dower Page B

“We have to fight.”
    The Ninja stood her ground. She assumed her karate positions in the dark. I could barely see her—or the slime. And then a bolt of lightning cracked and lit up the area where we stood.
    â€œAaaah!” we all screamed at the same time. Slimo was right here! We could really see it now, illuminated by the sudden flash of light.
    Stella tried to intimidate the slime, but she had no power. An arm of slime extended as far as the eye could see.
    â€œLook!” Damon said. “On the ground!”
    I nearly keeled over when I saw what was there.
    On the pavement between us and the limousine were two words, spelled out in slime:
    STAY AWAY.

CHAPTER 12
    DO NOT TOUCH... OR ELSE
    I spent the entire week thinking about the Bs—even more than usual, that is!
    At school on Friday, I was tempted to rush right over to Lindsey, Stella, or Damon. But I didn’t. We ignored one another and stuck to old friends. I think the idea of saving the world from Slimo had scared us all into silence.
    At lunch, Garth kept bugging me about some dumb video game he wanted to play, but I wanted to talk about other stuff: Leery the director and Poe the crow, and of course, those slimy slime messages.
    But I didn’t say boo. We were the Monster Squad. It was all about big secrets now.
    I tried to imagine what a Monster Squad uniform might look like. Puffy silver astronaut sleeves? Laser guns on holsters? Big fat goggles with triple-strength X-ray vision? Would Leery’s special assignment be cool—or just terrifying?
    After school, in the parking lot, I saw Stella sitting alone on a large rock. No big surprise there. I decided to break the silence.
    â€œHey,” I said, walking toward her. “What’s up?”
    â€œYou mean what’s down , don’t you?” Stella said. As she looked up, her long black hair fell right into her face. “Damon was right. We’re doomed.”
    â€œNo we’re not,” I said. “Quit being so negative.”
    â€œEvery moment we hang out here, Slimo gets stronger,” she said.
    â€œI wish I knew what to do,” I said. “I feel like he was just trying to scare us . . . or send us a warning ... but why? What did it mean?”
    Out of nowhere, Damon popped up. Today he was posse-free, but he kept checking behind him like he was being followed.
    â€œYo,” Damon said. He squeezed in between Stella and me. “Hey.”
    â€œWhat’s the matter with you?” I asked. “You look like a—”
    â€œShhhhh,” Damon said.
    I pointed to his T-shirt. “Did you wear that on purpose?”
    Damon glanced down. His shirt read STAY! AWAY!, just like Slimo’s message from the day before.
    â€œI’m keeping an eye out for Slimo,” Damon said.
    â€œHey, you guys!” Lindsey called out. Her friends were nowhere to be seen. As she ran over to us, her camera flopped back and forth on her chest. “Did I miss anything?” She held up her camera. “Say slime!” she said.
    â€œFunny, Lindsey,” Stella said. “Is this really time for a photo op?”
    â€œWhy not? I think we should keep a record of things,” Lindsey said, still snapping away. “If we’re going to get Slimo or any of Leery’s other B-Monsters, we need to get organized.”
    No one budged.
    â€œAre we really going to do this?” I asked.
    â€œDo what?” Damon asked back.
    Lindsey gave him a knuckle-noogie. “Be the Monster Squad, dumbo!” she said.
    Damon looked like he might knuckle-noogie her right back.
    I stepped in.
    â€œIf we’re going to do this,” I said, “we need to do it right. We can’t fight.”
    Stella grunted. “Fat chance. The fights are the best part.”
    I glared at her. “The Monster Squad is serious stuff. Stop goofing around.”
    â€œOkay,” Stella said. “Then let’s do it. Seriously . If we watch