Why I Quit Zombie School by R. L. Stine Page A

with it. So I tucked it into my jeans pocket and headed to the gym for my first party at Romero.
    I don’t know what I expected. Maybe black crepe streamers on the ceiling. Black candles. Gravestones for decoration. Music by the Grateful Dead.
    I pushed open the gym doors and gazed inside. It looked like a normal party.
    Red balloons bobbed overhead. Kids hung out around a long food table against one wall. Some kids sat in the bleachers, talking and laughing.
    A few girls danced together to loud music in the center of the floor. Some boys leaned against the wall, watching them.
    I strode quickly across the floor — then stopped. I remembered what Franny had said.
Not too fast.
    I took a few lurching steps. I pretended to stumble. Then I staggered toward the food table.
    I could see kids in the bleachers watching me. I hoped my zombie walk looked real to them.
    Slow, Matt. Keep it slow.
    I waved to Marcia, Franny’s roommate. She stared back at me. I don’t think she liked me. Maybe she suspected I didn’t belong in this school.
    I wondered if she suspected Franny, too.
    I spotted Angelo and Mikey and some of the other soccer players at the food table. They held big hunks of red meat in their hands. They were stuffing their faces, gobbling and swallowing so loudly, I could hear them above the pounding music.
    I lurched toward them, remembering to stagger and stumble. I was halfway across the gym floor when Mikey suddenly erupted.
    A hoarse honking sound burst from his throat like a blast from a tuba. His eyes went wide. He grabbed his throat with both hands.
    Mikey staggered crazily over the floor, making frightening honking, bleating sounds. It took me a few seconds to realize he was choking on a big hunk of raw meat.
    Angelo stepped up behind Mikey and pounded him hard on the back.
    Mikey made a sickening ULLLLLP sound.
    Angelo pounded his back again. A few kids gasped as Mikey’s big pink tongue came flying out.
    The tongue sailed several feet. Then it hit the gym floor and bounced once or twice.
    I gaped at it in horror. My stomach tightened into a knot.
    The tongue was
moving
!
    It wiggled on the hardwood floor.
    No one screamed. No one made a sound.
    Mikey stopped choking. He bent down andpicked up his tongue in one hand. Then he hurried out of the gym, carrying it carefully in front of him.
    I made my way to Angelo. “Mikey’s tongue —” I choked out. I couldn’t keep the alarm from my voice.
    Angelo waved his hand. “He’ll be okay,” he said. “He does that all the time.”
    My stomach was doing flip-flops. I kept picturing the tongue wiggling all by itself on the gym floor. But I tried to act normal.
    Angelo offered me a huge chunk of red meat. “Snack?” he asked.
    It smelled rotten. I forced myself not to make a disgusted face or back away.
    “No, thanks,” I said. “I had that for dinner.”
    He blinked at me. “You coming to practice Monday?”
    I nodded. “For sure.”
    Angelo grinned and pumped his fist in the air. “The Vultures are going to
kill
this year!” he cried. “Kill, kill, KILL!”
    “Yeah. Kill,” I repeated.
    The music changed. Some kids shouted: “Time for the Stomp! Everyone! Do the Stomp!”
    I watched in surprise as everyone formed a line across the gym floor. The music pounded, and everyone started a weird, stomping dance.
    Two girls I didn’t know pulled me into the line. They stomped their feet, then shuffled to oneside. Then they stomped some more and slid the other way.
    Everyone in the gym seemed to know this dance. Everyone but
me
.
    I struggled to catch on quickly.
    Stomp stomp stompstompstomp slide.
    Stomp stomp stompstompstomp slide.
    “Ohhh,” I cried out as I fell into the girl next to me. We both nearly hit the floor.
    Another girl pulled me back up. I tried again. Everyone was doing it. Everyone was dancing and stomping and having a great time.
    Stomp stomp stompstompstomp slide.
    “Owww.”
I slid onto my own shoe and tripped. I hit the floor.