Free Why I Quit Zombie School by R. L. Stine

in the Reviver Room.”
    The red light seeped out of the room and washed over me.
    Ernie opened the door wide. “The Reviver isn’t here,” he said. “But we don’t need him.”
    “The Reviver?” I asked. “Maybe we should wait for him to get back.”
    “He won’t be here till morning,” Ernie said. “This is an emergency. No worries. Go in.”
    He motioned me into the room. “Go ahead, Matt,” he said. “Take a seat in the Reviver Chair. It’s all hooked up. You’ll get a good blast.”
    “A blast?” I uttered. My voice cracked.
    “Take your hand and hold it onto the end of your arm,” Ernie instructed. “Then …”
    “Then?” I said. My voice cracked.
    “Then I’ll throw the switch,” Ernie said.

25
    I stepped into the red light. It was hot inside the little room. The electric equipment buzzed and crackled.
    I gripped the chair back with my one good hand.
“Owww.”
The metal felt hot.
    “Sit down,” Ernie ordered. “What are you waiting for?”
    Well … I’d just like to take a few more breaths before you FRY me to a crisp.
    I started to lower myself onto the hot metal chair. But I stood straight up when I heard voices.
    Through the open door, I saw two of Ernie’s friends come running up to him.
    “Hey — here he is!”
    “Ernie — what are you doing here?”
    “We’ve been looking all over for you. Come on, dude. Come back to the party.”
    “Hurry. The Stomp Contest is starting. We need you, dude.”
    Ernie tried to explain to them what was happening. But they didn’t give him a chance. They pulled him away, back toward the gym.
    I stood there holding my breath till I heard the gym doors close behind them. Then I ran out of the Reviver Room.
    I slammed the door behind me. I blinked in the bright light.
    I couldn’t help myself. I lost it. I did a happy dance. “I’m alive! I’m alive! ALIVE!”
    I stopped in middance. I suddenly realized the words I was shouting could get me killed.
    I glanced up and down the hall. No one there. I could hear the pounding drumbeats of the music in the gym.
    I realized my hand was still tucked into my shirtsleeve. I pushed it out and moved the fingers to get the blood flowing.
    Tomorrow, I’ll tell Ernie I threw the switch myself,
I decided.
I’ll tell him it worked perfectly, and my hand is back.
    I decided not to return to the party. I wanted to go up to my room and celebrate my good luck.
    The kids all thought I was undead now. I had passed the test. I could relax now. No more suspicious stares. No kids following me around, watching my every move.
    The rubber hand was a stroke of genius.
    “I’m a genius!” I told myself. “A genius!”
    “Hey — what are
you
so happy about?” a voice behind me boomed. I spun around. Angelo.
    How long has he been standing there?
    How much has he heard?

26
    I raised my right hand and wiggled the fingers. Then I pointed to the Reviver Room.
    “All fixed,” I said.
    Angelo grabbed my wrist and studied the hand. He turned it over and rubbed his fingers along the skin.
    “Wow. Perfect,” he said. “You’d never know it fell off.”
    I nodded. “Yeah. I got lucky,” I said.
    “Hey, your hand is warm,” he said. He eyed me suspiciously.
    “From the high voltage,” I said.
    He nodded. “You going back to the party?”
    “No,” I said. “All that electricity kind of wiped me out.”
    “Catch you at practice,” Angelo said. He waved good-bye and headed back to the gym.
    I couldn’t keep a grin from spreading over my face. “Matt, you’re definitely a genius!” I told myself.
    Guess how long I stayed a genius.
    The next morning, I woke up with another brilliant idea.
    Since the day I arrived at Romero, I noticed something strange and a little creepy about the kids. Most of the undead kids had a pale blue tint to their skin.
    I had proved to them at the dance that I was a zombie, too. But I still needed to do every thing I could to keep them from guessing the truth about me.
    That meant