Chapter 1: Zombie Dust
Jake and Miley saved the world from the apocalypse a week ago and they are still in eighth grade.
"Ready to go to class?" Jake asked Miley as they get their science textbooks out of the locker they now share. They had a few minutes to get to class before they're late. Miley closed the locker.
"Yeah," she replied, and they walked to Ms. Smith's classroom.
When they got there, most of the class was already seated. Miley took a seat at a desk and Jake sat at the desk behind her. A few students got in after them.
"Good morning class," Ms. Smith said with her usual unenthusiastic voice when the late bell rang.
"Good morning," some reply in monotone. Everyone was already in class and seat. They knew better not to be late for her class.
Ms. Smith looks like a skeleton wrapped with a thin layer of skin. Her skin was very pale with no tan. Her hair was pale blonde and short; just barely above her shoulders. Her eyes were like ice.
"You have 2 minutes to do the bell work," she said and went to her desk.
There was a question on the board. Every day, there is a different one. We write the answer on a sheet of lined paper. On Friday, Ms. Smith collects the paper for a grade. Most didn't care about it.
"You wanna hang out after school?" Jake whispers.
"Sure," Miley replies.
"Mr. Ryan, would you mind giving us the answer to today's bell work?" Ms. Smith asked, more like ordered, as she approached the front of the room.
"Uhh…" Jake said, not knowing the answer.
Opps, they forgot to do the bell work. Ms. Smith was nothing like one of their other teachers, Mr. Corelli. She didn't treat Jake a god, like most everyone. Actually, she seemed to despise him. Ms. Smith opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when someone came into the class. The women looked around 22. She had Sea View's visitor sticker on her shirt, and a Malibu University ID on a lanyard around her neck, with a piece of paper in her hand. Ms. Smith walked over to her. The woman handed the paper to Ms. Smith. She read the paper and smiled.
"Class, this is our new student teacher, Ms. Johnson."
"Hello," Ms. Johnson said joyfully.
A few "hi" and "hellos" were heard from the class.
"She will be joining us for the reminder of the year so she could earn her teacher degree," continued Ms. Smith. "She will quite often be instructing the class." Many of us were glad to hear that. Ms. Smith's lessons seemed dried out and just plain boring.
After class was lunchtime. Miley and Jake met up with Lilly and Oliver after they both bought their lunches.
"Hey guys," Miley and Jake greeted Lilly and Oliver when they got to their usual table.
"Hi," Lilly and Oliver reply.
"So, how's that skeleton teacher of yours?" Lilly asks. She had heard plenty of Ms. Smith from Miley and Jake.
"Haha, very funny Lilly, just be glad that you don't have her," Miley said. It was true, Lilly and Oliver didn't have Ms. Smith as a science teacher, they had someone else.
"Oh, trust me, I am," Lilly said.
In the afternoon, Miley had some extra credit to turn in to Ms. Smith because her grade was slipping. That's probably the only good thing about her class, if you have a bad grade, you can ask for extra credit.
"Do we have to go to her classroom?" Jake complained.
"Yes! I need to turn in this extra credit so I keep doing my Han-," 'I almost said Hannah concerts! I hope Jake doesn't catch on…' thought Miley.
"Keep doing your…?" Jake asked.
"Oh, just what I usually do, ya know? Just being able to hang out," Miley quickly covered up. Jake looked confused for a second, but just shrugged it off as they reached the class.
"I'll be right back," says Miley, and she walked into the classroom to see Ms. Smith sitting at her desk.
"Hi Ms. Smith," Miley said, putting on a fake smile. " I have some extra credit for you." She opened her bag and pulled out some papers, then handed them to Ms. Smith.
"Thank you Miley," Ms. Smith said over politely.
"You're welcome Ms. Smith," Miley said with the same amount of over politeness. Why am I saying you're welcome for turning in extra credit?! Then she quickly left the room.
"Hey Miley," Jake said once Miley got out of the room. "You have something on your shoes…" Miley looked down and saw some weird dusty stuff on her shoe.
"Aww, man!" she whined. "I love these shoes!"
"Wait a second," Jake said, bending down to her shoes. He wiped his finger on one of Miley's shoes. He stood back up and showed Miley his finger, which was now covered in green dust. "I've seen this stuff before, we use it on Zombie High for the zombies. This stuff is very realistic though…"
"…Like if it really was from a Zombie?" Miley asked.
"Yeah… where do you think it was?"
"Well I was standing next to Ms. Smith's desk…"
"I think it's time to start another mission," Jake said with a grin.