Chapter 5
The next day, Mike woke up bright and early. It was the first day of school! As campus bells rang out the hour, the students scurried to their classes. Mike and Randy eagerly approached the School of Scaring, went up the steps, and entered a large round classroom.
Portraits of famous scare professors hung on the walls. In front of each one was a scream can on a pedestal. Mike and Randy took their seats. Much bigger monsters sat on either side of them. One of them looked down on Mike and said, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
“I’m so nervous,” Randy whispered to Mike.
“Relax, it’ll be fine,” Mike replied as their teacher, a thick-necked, no-nonsense monster, came into the room.
“Good morning, students,” he said gruffly. “Welcome to Scaring 101. My name is Professor Knight. Now, I’m sure all of you were the scariest monster in your town. Well, bad news, kids! You’re in my town now, and I do not scare easily.” He gazed around the room.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over the professor. The students gasped as he looked up to a window, where a large dark shape was perched. It flew down and landed with a whoosh. The class watched the monster, a tall dragon woman, flex her batlike wings and look over them with a stern frown. “Oh, Dean Hardscrabble,” Professor Knight said.
Mike was thrilled as he watched Dean Hardscrabble cross the room, her centipede-like legs tapping the floor. “She’s a legend,” he whispered to Randy. He motioned to a container on one of the pedestals. “She broke the all-time scare record with the scream in that very can.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Dean Hardscrabble said. “I just thought I’d drop by to see the ‘terrifying’ faces joining my program.”
“Well,” the professor replied, “I’m sure my students would love to hear a few words of inspiration.”
“Inspiration? Very well,” she said, turning to the class. “Scariness is the true measure of a monster. If you’re not scary, what kind of monster are you? It’s my job to make great students greater, not mediocre students less mediocre.”
Dean Hardscrabble gave a chilly smile. “That is why at the end of the semester, there will be a final exam. Fail that exam, and you are out of the Scaring Program.” A number of students shifted nervously. “I hope you are all properly inspired,” she concluded, spreading her wings and flying out through the top of the building.
Professor Knight stepped forward and quieted the murmuring class. “All right,” he said, returning to the lesson. “Who can tell me the principles of an effective roar?”
A green arm shot into the air. “Yes,” Professor Knight said.
Mike stood up. “There are actually five basic principles. Those include the roar’s resonance, the duration of the roar, and —”
A huge, genuine ROARRRRRR! suddenly filled the room.
Everyone in the class turned to see where it had come from. A swaggering, eight-foot monster with blue fur and a sleepy smile stumbled into the class ... late. “Whoops, sorry,” he said. “I heard someone say ‘roar,’ so I just kinda went for it.”
Professor Knight calmly raised an eyebrow. “Very impressive. Mr ...?”
“Sullivan. Jimmy Sullivan.”
The professor thought for a moment. “Hmm, Sullivan? Like Bill Sullivan?” he asked.
“Yeah, he’s my dad,” the new kid replied. “You can call me Sulley.”
“Hmm, I should have known you were a Sullivan. I expect big things from you,” the professor said, giving Sulley a nod.
“Well, you won’t be disappointed,” Sulley said confidently as he took his seat.
Mike stood up again. “I’m sorry, Professor Knight, should I keep going?”
Professor Knight smiled. “No, no,” he said. “Mr. Sullivan covered it.” Mike sat down, disappointed. He glanced back at Sulley, who wore a smug grin.
Sulley leaned over to the student next to him. “Hey, bub. Could I borrow a pencil? I forgot all my stuff.”
The student handed Sulley a pencil, which he promptly used to pick his teeth. “Yeah. There we go. That’ll get it,” Sulley said, dislodging a piece of something from his mouth.
Mike frowned. That Sullivan guy was so annoying!
第 5 章
第二天,麥克一大早就醒了。這可是開(kāi)學(xué)的第一天!校園里的鈴聲準(zhǔn)時(shí)響起,同學(xué)們都急急忙忙趕往教室。麥克和藍(lán)道迫不及待地來(lái)到驚嚇學(xué)院,上樓進(jìn)入一間圓形的大教室。
教室墻壁上掛著著名驚嚇教授的畫(huà)像。每幅畫(huà)像前都有一個(gè)底座,上面擺放著一只尖叫收集罐。麥克和藍(lán)道坐下來(lái),他們身旁的其他怪獸,體型都比他們要大得多。其中一只低頭看著麥克說(shuō)道:“你在和我開(kāi)玩笑吧?!”
“我好緊張啊。”藍(lán)道輕聲對(duì)麥克說(shuō)。
“別緊張,沒(méi)事的。”麥克正說(shuō)著,老師走了進(jìn)來(lái),他長(zhǎng)著粗粗的脖子,不茍言笑。
“同學(xué)們,早上好!”老師粗聲粗氣地向同學(xué)們打招呼道,“歡迎來(lái)到驚嚇入門(mén)課。我是奈特教授。相信大家都是當(dāng)?shù)刈顕樔说墓肢F,但孩子們,我要告訴你們一個(gè)壞消息:現(xiàn)在你們?cè)谖业牡乇P(pán),我可沒(méi)那么容易被嚇到。”說(shuō)著他環(huán)顧了一下整個(gè)教室。
突然,一道陰影落在教授身上。同學(xué)們順著教授的目光抬頭看去,倒吸一口氣,只見(jiàn)窗戶(hù)上停著一只巨大的黑色怪獸。它飛了下來(lái),“呼”的一聲落在地上。全班都注視著這只怪獸,那是一只高大的母龍怪。她把自己那蝙蝠似的翅膀收起來(lái),皺著眉頭嚴(yán)厲地掃視著大家。“噢,原來(lái)是郝刻薄院長(zhǎng)。”奈特教授說(shuō)。
看著郝院長(zhǎng)拖著她那蜈蚣般的腿走過(guò)教室,麥克簡(jiǎn)直激動(dòng)地渾身顫抖。“她是個(gè)傳奇人物,”麥克指著其中一個(gè)底座上的尖叫收集罐,輕聲對(duì)藍(lán)道說(shuō),“據(jù)說(shuō)她收集到的尖叫,打破了所有驚嚇記錄。”
“我無(wú)意打斷你們,”郝院長(zhǎng)說(shuō)道,“只是想順道來(lái)看看有哪些‘駭人’的新面孔加入了我們學(xué)院。”
“是啊,”奈特教授回應(yīng)道,“我想新生們一定想要聽(tīng)一聽(tīng)院長(zhǎng)的鼓勵(lì)。”
“鼓勵(lì)?非常好,”她轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身對(duì)著班級(jí)學(xué)生說(shuō)道,“嚇不嚇人是檢驗(yàn)我們怪獸的試金石。如果你不夠嚇人,那還算什么怪獸呢?我的職責(zé)就是讓優(yōu)秀的學(xué)生更優(yōu)秀,而不是幫助平庸的學(xué)生,使他們不至于更平庸。”
郝院長(zhǎng)冷冷一笑:“所以學(xué)期結(jié)束會(huì)有一個(gè)期末考試??荚嚥患案?,就會(huì)被驚嚇學(xué)院開(kāi)除。”聽(tīng)到這個(gè)消息,許多學(xué)生緊張地不知所措。“我希望大家都得到鼓勵(lì)了。”院長(zhǎng)說(shuō)完,張開(kāi)翅膀從樓頂飛了出去。
奈特教授走上講臺(tái),示意正在竊竊私語(yǔ)的同學(xué)們安靜,回到課程內(nèi)容上來(lái):“好了,誰(shuí)來(lái)告訴我有效的咆哮聲必須遵循哪幾條原則?”
一只綠色的手臂舉了起來(lái)。“請(qǐng)講。”奈特教授示意道。
麥克站起身:“有五條基本原則,包括咆哮的共振,咆哮的持續(xù)性,還有——”
突然,一聲巨大的咆哮響徹了教室。
所有人都轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭,尋找聲音的來(lái)源。只見(jiàn)一只八腳藍(lán)毛怪神氣活現(xiàn)、慢慢悠悠地走進(jìn)了教室,臉上還帶著一絲慵懶的笑容,他分明是遲到了。“哎呀,真不好意思,”他說(shuō),“我聽(tīng)到有人在說(shuō)‘咆哮’,就叫了一聲。”
奈特教授冷靜地挑了挑眉毛:“叫得很好,你是……?”
“蘇利文,吉米·蘇利文。”
教授想了想,問(wèn)道:“嗯,蘇利文?比爾·蘇利文的‘蘇利文’嗎?”
“沒(méi)錯(cuò),那是我爸,”新來(lái)的學(xué)生回答道,“您可以叫我毛怪。”
“嗯,我早該看出你是蘇利文家的。我很看好你哦。”教授一邊說(shuō)一邊朝毛怪點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。
“當(dāng)然,我不會(huì)讓您失望的。”毛怪自信地說(shuō)著,找了個(gè)位子坐下來(lái)。
麥克又一次站了起來(lái),“不好意思,奈特教授,我可以繼續(xù)說(shuō)了嗎?”
奈特教授微微一笑,“不用了,蘇利文先生已經(jīng)做了很好的示范。”麥克只好失望地坐下來(lái)。他回頭看了看毛怪,這家伙臉上滿(mǎn)是自以為是的笑容。
毛怪俯身對(duì)旁邊的同學(xué)說(shuō):“嘿,哥們兒,能借我支鉛筆嗎?我什么都沒(méi)帶。”
那位同學(xué)遞過(guò)一支鉛筆,卻馬上被毛怪拿來(lái)剔牙了。“很好,就是這樣。終于可以把它剔出來(lái)了。”毛怪說(shuō)著從嘴里剔出一片什么東西。
麥克皺了皺眉。這個(gè)叫蘇利文的家伙也太煩人了吧!