Ben rushed outside with the others to meet the humans.
The school bus from People Place was parked in front of the school.
"This is going to be so scary!" said a werewolf.
"I know!" said a fish monster. "I love being scared!"
Mr. Freaky was standing on the sidewalk near the school bus.
He turned around to warn the Monster Academy students again.
"Remember, monsters!" said the principal.
"I want you all to behave. No growling, fire breathing, or drooling!"
A zombie slowly reached up and wiped the drool from his mouth.
Ben hoped everyone would listen to Mr. Freaky for once, and the humans' visit would go smoothly.
He didn't want Mayor Hubbletree to be angry with monsters.
What if the mayor really did bulldoze Monster Academy?
Where would Ben go to school? He might never see Winnie again!
The door to the school bus opened, and Mayor Hubbletree stepped out.
Luckily the mayor appeared to be in a good mood.
"Good morning!" Mayor Hubbletree greeted the monsters.
"It's a beautiful day for a field trip."
He pumped Mr. Freaky's hand up and down.
"Don't you think so, Mr. Freaky?"
"Of course!" said Mr. Freaky. "Thanks for coming, Mayor Hubbletree.
We have a wonderful day planned—all kinds of fun and exciting events."
A thin woman holding a clipboard stepped off the bus.
"Excuse me," she murmured as she tried to slip by a large blob to greet Mr. Freaky.
Mayor Hubbletree introduced them.
"Mr. Freaky, this is Ms. Prim, the principal of People Place Middle School."
"Oh, hello!" said Mr. Freaky. He shook the woman's hand.
"I'm . . . um . . ." Ms. Prim cleared her throat.
"I'm very pleased to meet you."
A human boy peeked out the door of the bus next. He looked nervous too.
After a moment he stepped out, and then more students followed.
The students' eyes all went wide at the sight of the monsters.
Near Ben, a few monsters started whispering.
"People are so creepy," said a goblin.
"Yeah," agreed a purple monster. "They look so weird!"
For a few moments, nobody said anything.
Mayor Hubbletree looked at his watch. Mr. Freaky coughed nervously.
Then Jen called out, "Hi, Dave!"
Dave stepped out from the crowd of people and grinned. "Hi, Jen!"
All at once the Monster Academy cheerleaders began to cheer.
Welcome, welcome to our school! We know you'll find it really cool!
We hope before the day is done, You'll be friends with everyone!
Yay!
The cheerleaders shook their pom-poms.
Several of them formed a pyramid, while others did flips in the air.
The spectacle ended with an octopus monster doing an eight-armed split.
Everyone—monsters and humans—whistled and cheered. Mr. Freaky was beaming.
Mayor Hubbletree clapped him on the back.
"This is very impressive stuff, Freaky!"
Suddenly—zoom!
"Whoa!" Ben glanced eagerly toward the sky.
It was time for Winnie's performance in the flyover.
The broom flying squad shot through the air, dropping black and orange confetti.
They did a wide loop, and then swooped back down, zigzagging.
"Whoa!" cried the students, human and monster. "Awesome!"
The broom flyers were now weaving in and out of one another.
"How do they do that?" asked a human boy.
"They're going to crash!" cried a human girl.
But the flyers didn't crash.
Instead they sailed high above the school, flying up and down, faster and faster, doing loops and figure eights.
"These flyers are amazing, Freaky," said Mayor Hubbletree.
"Are you sure this is safe?" asked Ms. Prim.
"Oh yes," said the principal. "You can relax, Ms. Prim.
Monster Academy has the best broom-flying teacher around.
And the students in that squad are the best flyers at our school."
While the rest of the crowd cheered and clapped, Ben watched silently.
The flyers were amazing, but something was wrong.
Winnie wasn't with them.
"This doesn't make sense," thought Ben.
"Why isn't Winnie flying with the squad?"
"This is quite a welcome, Freaky!" Mayor Hubbletree declared.
Mr. Freaky flushed with delight.
"Thank you, Mayor. We wanted to make sure you humans felt at home."
The cheerleaders formed another pyramid.
An octopus monster leaped to the top of the pyramid and then held out her arms.
Poof! A large banner appeared in front of the octopus monster.
Light sparkled across the surface of the banner, and then letters began magically spelling out something.
"Oh yes, Freaky," Ben heard Mayor Hubbletree say.
"We certainly feel welcome at Monster Academy.
I have to admit, I was mistaken about monsters. I never should have—"
Suddenly a gasp rose from the students.
Written across the banner were the words: "We Eat People!"