Ben stared at Mog in disbelief. Mog wanted to sneak back into People Place?
"Let me finish," said Mog.
"I think we should sneak into People Place, go to Mayor Hubbletree's house, and apologize."
"What?" Ben's jaw dropped.
He had imagined telling Mr. Freaky what had happened.
But he'd never imagined speaking directly to the mayor!
"It's the right thing to do," Mog went on.
"I'll tell him the truth. And I'll explain that I tricked you."
Just then Winnie stepped out from the crowd, her eyes flashing with anger.
"I heard that, Mog! It's your fault Monster Academy is going to be destroyed!"
Mog gulped. "I—I didn't mean to—"
"We're through!" said Winnie.
"Even if the school was still having the dance, I wouldn't go with you.
Not if you were the last monster in Monsterville!"
She spun around and walked away.
Mog stared after her and sighed.
"We'd better do something fast," he murmured.
That evening Ben and Mog met by the fence between Monsterville and People Place.
Mog couldn't fly, so Ben waited while he climbed the fence.
Halfway over, Mog let out a yelp.
"Uh-oh," said Mog. "I'm stuck!"
"How are you stuck?" said Ben.
"My pants are caught on a nail," said Mog. "Hold on a second."
The monster tried to lift himself to free his pants, but he slipped.
Rip!
Ben tried not to laugh as Mog hung from the nail by his ripped pants.
"Ugh!" cried Mog. "This is—"
Rip! Mog's pants ripped some more, and then he fell to the ground.
"Ouch!"
"Are you okay?" asked Ben.
Mog rubbed his head. "Yeah, I'm okay."
He stood up, and his pants fell down. "Aw, man! My pants are ruined!"
"Never mind that now," said Ben. "Let's just get this over with."
Ben and Mog hurried toward the mayor's house.
Mog had to hold up his pants as he ran.
The sun was setting, and the streetlights were beginning to flicker on.
Soon Ben and Mog were standing in front of the mayor's house.
"What do we do now?" asked Ben.
"We go up to the door and knock," said Mog.
Ben gulped. "You first," he said.
They went to the door, and Mog knocked with one hand.
The other hand was still holding up his pants.
Ben's heart beat faster as he heard heavy footsteps getting closer.
The door finally opened, and Mayor Hubbletree was standing there.
"Monsters!" cried the mayor. "What are you doing here?"
"Hello, s-sir," Ben stammered. "We, uh—"
"Monsters?" cried a little boy's voice.
Ben gulped as the mayor's son ran to the doorway.
"Oh no!" thought Ben. "He'll see us and get scared all over again!"
It was too late.
The boy stood in the doorway and stared, wide-eyed, at Mog and Ben.
He looked like he was going to scream.
Mog held up his hands and said, "Don't be scared!"
Instantly his pants fell down.
"Ha-ha!" The boy laughed hysterically.
Mog's face turned red as he quickly pulled his pants back up.
"Sorry about that, I—"
"That's funny!" said the boy. "Ha-ha!"
Mayor Hubbletree had been frowning.
But as he watched his son laugh, his frown faded.
Soon he was smiling. Then he was laughing.
Ben looked from the boy to the mayor to Mog.
Despite being embarrassed, Mog grinned. "Ha-ha!"
Then Ben laughed too.
The next day at school, Ben heard lots of kids talking about him and Mog.
"I heard Mog and Ben went to Mayor Hubbletree's house last night," said a ghoul.
"Yeah," said a troll. "I heard Mog's pants fell down."
"It's a good thing they did," said a purple monster.
"The mayor's son thought it was funny.
The mayor isn't angry at monsters anymore."
A mummy nodded. "Yep. And now he's no longer planning on destroying Monster Academy."
Ben also overheard that Mayor Hubbletree wasn't just going to leave Monster Academy alone.
"I'd like to see monsters and people get along," the mayor had told Mr. Freaky.
"Maybe our students could take a field trip to Monster Academy."
"That would be wonderful," said Mr. Freaky.
"And I'm sure our monsters would love to see People Place."
Ben was floating along the school hallway as monsters gathered around to congratulate him.
"Way to go, Ben " shouted a ghoul.
"Thanks," said Ben. "It was really Mog's—"
Suddenly—crash! A broomstick smashed through a wall!
Mr. Freaky rushed into the hallway.
He moaned when he saw the broomstick in the wall.
"Who is doing this? It has to stop!"
Ben cringed. He knew now it wasn't Mog stealing the brooms.
So there was only one other suspect—Winnie.