by Jack Chabert
Jack Chabert
By Jack Chabert
Illustrated by Sam Ricks
1
2
Read all about
Eerie Elementary!
1: IT BEGINS ................................................1
2: MR. NEKOBI ...........................................................9
3: TICKTOCK, TICKTOCK ................................14
4: SOMETHING AWAKENS ................................18
5: THE SKELETON ................................................24
6: THE DANGER IS REAL ...................................28
7: BELIEVE ME! .......................................................34
8: INTO THE DARKNESS ...................................40
9: HERO? .....................................................................45
10: THE MACHINE ................................................49
11: SOMETHING BIG .............................................56
12: BEAST FROM BELOW ..................................58
13: WORM MOUTH ................................................67
14: EAT THIS! ...........................................................76
15: SAM GRAVES, HALL MONITOR ............86
table of Contents
To the greatest hall monitor in the history of
hall monitors, Matthew McArdle — JC
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of
this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or
stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any
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written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic
Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chabert, Jack, author.
The school is alive! / by Jack Chabert ; illustrated by Sam Ricks.
pages cm. — (Eerie Elementary ; 1)
Summary: Sam Graves discovers that his elementary school is alive and
plotting against the students, and, as hall monitor, it is his job to
protect them — but he will need some help from his friends.
ISBN 978-0-545-62392-6 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-545-62393-3 (hardcover) —
ISBN 978-0-545-62394-0 (ebook) 1. Elementary schools — Juvenile fiction.
2. Best friends—Juvenile fiction. 3. Horror tales. [1.
Schools — Fiction. 2. Best friends — Fiction. 3. Friendship — Fiction. 4.
Horror stories.] I. Ricks, Sam, illustrator. II. Title.
PZ7.C3313Sc 2014
813.6 — dc23
2013034498
e-ISBN 978-0-545-62394-0
Text copyright © 2014 by Max Brallier
Interior illustrations copyright © 2014 by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.
SCHOLASTIC, BRANCHES, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First Scholastic printing, July 2014
Book design by Will Denton
Edited by Katie Carella
1
This is HORRIBLE!" said Sam Graves.
He was holding up a shiny orange sash. "I can't
believe I have to wear this."
It was Monday morning, and Sam and his
best friends Antonio and Lucy were standing
in front of their lockers. They were waiting for
the bell to ring.
IT BEGINS . . .
1
2
"Wait, you're a hall monitor?!" Antonio said.
"I didn't even know Eerie Elementary had hall
monitors."
Sam kicked at the floor. "They do now. And
it stinks! The principal called my mom last night
and said I had been chosen. Ugh. It's going to
be terrible. I have to stand in the hallway and
yell 'Get to class!' and 'No skateboarding!'"
"Well, at least you get to wear that cool
orange sash," Lucy teased.
Sam stuck out his tongue.
RIIIIING!!
"Come on, that's the bell!" Antonio said.
Sam frowned. "You guys go ahead. I have to
make sure everyone has gone into class."
"We'll see you inside!" Lucy shouted.
Within moments, the hallway was totally
empty. Totally empty, except for Sam.
He began walking the halls. Sam looked
through the double doors to the outside. He
saw a classmate by the playground.
4
"Hey, Bryan!" Sam called out. "The bell
rang. You should . . . um . . . get to class!" Bryan
frowned at Sam. Then he ran past him into
the school.
See? Everyone hates the hall monitor, thought
Sam. He was about to close the door when a
cold breeze blew past. He saw that Bryan had
dropped his hat near the playground.
My teacher won't mind if I sneak outside for a
second, thought Sam.
The air outside was like ice. Orange and
red leaves whipped across the ground. Sam
shoved his hands into his pockets. He could
see his breath. It looked like little ghosts were
dancing through the air in front of him.
Sam looked up at the school building. He
thought it looked like an old castle made of
crumbling, red brick. The paint on the doors
and windows was chipped. Big, black crows sat
on the roof, watching Sam. The whole thing
gave him the willies.
7
Sam didn't want to be out there any longer
than he had to. He ran over to the playground.
He was near the swings
when something grabbed
his ankle.
Sam looked
down. His feet
were sinking into
the sand!
Now, of
course, feet do
sink into sand.
But not like
this! Something
was pulling him
under.
"HELP!" Sam shouted.
The sand was up above his sneakers. He
reached down to try to pull his feet free. The
sand was wet!
Quicksand?!
This was just like the quicksand from the
old Tarzan movies Sam's dad made him watch.
But Sam was pretty sure that quicksand was
found in jungles in the movies, not on real-
life playgrounds!
"Help! The playground is eating me!" Sam
shouted.
The sand was up to his knees now. Sam
fought and kicked. He watched as Bryan's hat
was swallowed up by the sand.
It was no use.
The cold, wet sand was up to his waist.
Sam squeezed his
eyes shut as he was
pulled down,
deeper and
deeper. . . .
9
Just as the quicksand was a
bout to swallow
Sam, a hand grabbed his wrist! His eyes shot
open. It was Mr. Nekobi, the old man who
took care of the school.
Mr. Nekobi tugged. Sam was yanked free.
Sam gasped for air. "The playground sand,"
Sam said. "It just tried to eat me!"
MR. NEKOBI
2
10
Mr. Nekobi slowly got to his feet. He was
out of breath, too. His face looked like a piece
of paper that someone had balled up and then
tried to flatten again. He stared at Sam. His eyes
were small and gray. A chill went up Sam's spine.
Mr. Nekobi growled, "You should be more
careful. Or you won't last long as hall monitor,
Sam Graves."
"Be careful of what? Be careful because
other parts of the school might try to eat me?!"
Sam said. Then he paused. "Wait — what does
my being the hall monitor have to do with
this? And why do you care if I stay on as hall
monitor or not?"
Mr. Nekobi began walking away. Over his
shoulder, he said, "Because I'm the one who
chose you."
"What does that mean?" Sam asked.
But Mr. Nekobi didn't answer. He simply
turned the corner, out of sight.
Sam shook his head, thinking, This has been
the weirdest day of my life! And it's only 8:30 in
the morning!
He needed to tell Lucy and Antonio about
the quicksand and about creepy Mr. Nekobi.
But first he had to ditch the orange sash. Sam
darted inside and flung open his locker.
Whoa!
He stumbled back and threw his hand over
his nose. His locker stunk!
13
The smell coming out of Sam's locker
reminded him of rotten chocolate milk or
something. "Yikes, what did I leave in here?"
he asked.
Sam shoved the sash inside his locker. Then
he knew what it smelled like: really bad breath.
Sam slammed his locker shut. He rushed
into Ms. Grinker's classroom. Ms. Grinker was
short and thin, with frizzy gray hair. She was
listing everyone's parts for Friday's class play
on the board.
Sam slid into his desk between Antonio and
Lucy. He whispered, "Guys, the freakiest thing
just happened. I got trapped in quicksand on
the playground!"
Lucy scrunched up her forehead. Antonio
scratched his chin. Then they both tried not
to laugh.
TIC
K
TOCK, TICKTOCK
3
"If it happened to you," Sam whispered,
"you wouldn't be laughing."
"Sam! Lucy! Antonio!" yelled Ms. Grinker.
All three kids faced front.
"Please pay attention," Ms. Grinker said. "I
am still giving out the parts for Peter Pan."
"I'm playing Peter Pan!" Antonio whispered
to Sam. He had a big smile on his face. He
always did. He was the happiest kid Sam knew.
"And I'm playing Wendy," Lucy whispered.
"Sam Graves, you'll be playing Noodler.
He is one of Captain Hook's friendly pirates,"
said Ms. Grinker. Sam nodded but all he could
think about was the man-eating playground.
16
As the day wound down, Sam stared out the
window. An old oak tree was blowing in the
breeze. It was moving strangely. Sam leaned
forward on his desk. The tree looked like a
giant oak hand, waving at Sam.
Sam shivered. Then he looked at the clock
across the room. How long until this day is over?
he thought.
17
Sam could hear the clock:
How can I hear the clock from all the way over
here? he wondered.
Then the sound of the clock changed. Sam
no longer heard ticktock, ticktock, ticktock. The
sound became Ba BUMP . . . Ba BUMP . . .
Sam was even more confused. That doesn't
sound like a normal clock. But I do know that
sound. . . .
It sounded like a beating heart!
18
Sam covered his ears. But he couldn't get
away from the sound of the clock. Not until —
RING!
The day was over. Sam followed the other
kids into the hall. He grabbed the hall monitor
sash from his stinky locker.
SOMETHING AWAKENS
4
19
"See you tomorrow,
Sam!" Lucy said. She and
Antonio threw their backpacks over their
shoulders and ran outside.
Sam sighed. He wanted to run home, too.
He wanted to plop down on the couch and
fall asleep. Then he wanted to wake up to learn
this whole day had been a terrible nightmare.
But instead he had to go on hall monitor duty.
Sam stood near the third-grade
lockers. The only thing keeping
Sam awake was the cool chill across
his neck. It felt like the school was
breathing on him. Sam saw that he
was beneath an air vent.
Brrrr!
There were no teachers around. So Sam
thought there'd be no harm in sitting down. He
slipped into a chair just outside the principal's
office. I'll only rest here for a minute . . . .
But soon Sam's eyelids felt heavy. They were
closing. Sam was falling asleep.
22
When Sam woke up, he was
beyond confused The halls were .
dark — nearly pitch-black.
What time is it? he wondered,
standing up.
Sam rubbed his eyes. He ran
to the end of the hall. He peered
through the big double doors. It
was black as midnight outside.
How long was I asleep? My
mom is going to freak out, thought
Sam. I have to get home now!
He yanked on the doors, but
they were locked.
"Hello?" Sam whispered. "Is
anyone here? I fell asleep and —"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Sam spun around. All of the
locker doors flung open, one
after the other, all the way down
the hall!
23
Sam jumped back.
His heart was pounding.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
All the locker doors
slammed shut again!
Sam was really hoping
this was just a nightmare!
He spun back around.
He tugged as hard as he
could on the doors.
But it was no use.
He was trapped.
Trapped inside
Eerie Elementary.
24
The double doors flew open, knocking Sam
to the floor. Then they slammed shut again.
He was still trapped inside the school. "Ouch!"
Sam yelled. Everyone knows you can't get hurt in
a dream, so this must be real!
He needed to escape! The school was
coming to life all around him!
THE SKELETON
5
25
Sam ran into his classroom. He
&nb
sp; threw his hands against the large
window. He was hoping to see
someone, anyone, who could
help him.
All he saw was the giant
oak tree blowing in
the wind.
But it wasn't windy. Sam saw other
trees and none of those trees were
blowing. And the leaves on the ground
weren't whooshing around at all. The
only thing moving was that tree!
Could the tree be alive? Sam thought.
SMASH!!
The glass window shattered. Sam
fell to the floor as one of the tree's long,
twisted branches came crashing through.
It wrapped around Sam's leg.
Sam began hitting the branch.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
Finally, the branch's grip loosened.
Sam was able to crawl away. Behind
him, he heard the branch scraping
across the floor like fingernails on a
chalkboard. The tree was reaching
for him, trying to pull him back.
He pushed his way through fallen desks. He
stumbled back into the hallway. Pieces of glass
crunched beneath his feet. Then —
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
All the locker doors were slamming open
and shut at once. All the classroom doors were
doing the same thing.
But worst of all was what Sam saw next: A
figure stood at the end of the hallway. It had a
body like a skeleton.
Lights flashed and doors clanged. But the
figure didn't move. It just stood there, perfectly
still, staring at Sam.
A
ll of the sudden, the figure started running
toward Sam. It was Mr. Nekobi!
"What's happening?!" Sam shouted.
"No time to explain! Get down!" Mr.
Nekobi yelled.
One of the hallway fire hoses had come
to life!
THE DANGER IS REAL