Teacher Screecher (7 page)

Mr. Gore glared at Billy and stuffed the watch into his overalls.

“Good-bye, Mr. Gore!” said Miss Fitt brightly.

Old Gore shuffled out of the classroom, muttering very rude things about vampires.

Billy sat down next to Lee and Bella.

“Wow! What's happened to Miss Fitt?” he whispered.

“No idea,” shrugged Lee. “Pretty cool though, isn't it?”

“Mmm,” said Bella. “Let's see what she's like in math first.”

“Now then, class,” said Miss Fitt. “Today we shall start with … But what are you doing, my dears?”

“Getting out our math books, miss,” said several glum voices at once.

“Math?” said Miss Fitt. “Really?”

She checked the timetable.

“Good gracious!” she said. “Who on earth has been making you do so much math? Dear me. This will never do!”

Miss Fitt grabbed an eraser and rubbed out all her changes from the night before. Then she crossed out all the normal math lessons and wrote EXTRA BREAK instead.

“I find math so terribly dull,” said Miss Fitt. She took a brown paper bag out of her handbag. “Now, who would like some candy?”

At lunchtime, the first thing Lee, Bella, and Billy did was turn into bats and zoom up to the clock tower. They were relieved to find Boris safe and well.

“What happened last night?” said Lee. “Why didn't you follow us out of the attic?”

“Well,” began Boris. “Remember when Miss Fitt woke up and said ‘Vampires'?”

“Oh yeah,” said Lee. “That was really freaky.”

“I know!” said Boris. “I got such a fright, I whacked my head on one of the knobs on the Monster Megacharger. It was behind some wires, and I hadn't noticed it before. When I looked closer, I saw the knob was marked
Horrometer
.”

“Hey!” said Billy. “That's the special knob I was looking for!”

“The Horrometer had ten settings,” Boris went on. “From one, Sweet and Nice, to ten, Scary and Nasty. The knob was set to number ten, but I had just enough time to switch it to one before the lightning struck the conductor.”

“Fantastic!” said Lee. “So Miss Fitt got a super-duper double dose of NICENESS!”

“That's right,” said Billy. “Old Gore must have changed her setting.”

“Hang on,” wondered Lee. “That still doesn't explain why you didn't leave the attic when we did.”

“I got a bit tangled in the wires,” said Boris. “By the time I freed myself, old Gore was heading my way, so I hid behind the machine until he went to bed. Then I just flew back here.”

Just above their heads, the school clock struck one.

“One o'clock! Yikes, we'd better get back and eat lunch,” said Lee.

“Do you know what?” said Billy. “Miss Fitt gave us so much candy, I don't think I can manage my raw steak sandwich.”

“Oh, just give it to Big Herb,” laughed Bella.

“Bye, Boris,” called Lee as they fluttered out of the clock tower. “And thanks for saving us from two whole weeks of math!”

The End

Hungry for more?

Sink your teeth into the other
Vampire School adventures.

Vampire School

Stage Fright

St. Orlok's is ready for its big phantomime—
Snow Fright and the Seven Dwarfs
. The mummy, werewolf, zombie, and vampire parents are assembled. Bella is Snow Fright while Lee and Billy are two of the seven dwarfs—Gappy, Snappy, Flappy, Creepy, Chompy, Gnashful, and Shock. But after an exhausting lesson of swooping, swerving, and skulking, Bella isn't feeling very well. How will the show go on?

PREVIOUS BOOKS

Vampire School

Casketball Capers

Lee, Billy, and Bella are all on the St. Orlok's casketball team. (That's the vampire version of basketball, in case you've never played it.) They're all getting ready for a big game against the Chaney Street werewolves. But when the other team arrives, it seems that some of them aren't planning on playing a fair game. Lee needs to come up with a plan—fast! Will he manage to foil the cheaters before the final whistle?

PREVIOUS BOOKS

Vampire School

Ghoul Trip