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Chapter 19
The ROR house was packed with monsters. They all turned when the Oozmas walked in. “Uh, hello,” Squishy said nervously.
The crowd stared at them blankly. Then recognition swept through the group, and the party monsters hooted and shouted happily.
“Oozma Kappa!”
“These guys are crazy!”
“What you did today was insane!”
Mike looked at his team and smiled. “Oozma Kappa,” he said, “tonight, we party like Scarers!” Art quickly burst onto the dance floor, twisting and gyrating wildly.
Don also strutted his stuff, and Squishy started dancing with the PNKs, who seemed to really enjoy his company. “I’ve never stayed up this late in my life!” he told the girls.
Then Squishy spotted Sulley standing off to the side by himself and decided to lasso him onto the dance floor. Reluctantly, Sulley gave in and was pulled into the crowd. Soon, he was doing some monster moves of his own.
While the team danced, Mike wandered out into the hallway. Along the walls were portraits of past Scare Games winners. And there, set on a pedestal, was the Scare Games trophy, which the RORs had won last year. Looking at the golden trophy, Mike could see his own reflection. It made him look exactly as he felt: big and impressive. I can win, he thought.
Meanwhile, at the party, Johnny noticed the Oozmas on the dance floor. He whistled and called out to the crowd, “Hey, quiet! QUIET! On behalf of the RORs, we’d like to congratulate all the teams that have made it this far! Let’s hear it for the PNKs! Looking good, ladies!”
The girls took a little bow, and the crowd cheered. “HSS!” Johnny continued. “Very creepy!” After more cheering, he turned back to the crowd. “And finally, the surprise team of the scare games, OOZMA KAPPA! Come on over, guys.”
The crowd parted and a spotlight hit the Oozmas. “Let’s hear it for Oozma Kappa!” Johnny cried.
The Oozmas smiled. But suddenly, without warning, gallons of paint were tossed into their midst, splattering the entire group.
The crowd was confused, but Johnny started laughing. Then a machine shot glitter confetti at the Oozmas and a ROR tossed a bucket of flowers. “The most adorable monsters on campus!” Johnny howled. Then he shouted, “Release the stuffed animals!”
Another ROR brother yanked on a rope that was connected to a net. A huge pile of cute little stuffed animals dropped on top of the Oozmas. A camera clicked and caught the Oozmas’ glittery, horrified expressions.
The next day, the humiliating photo was on the front page of the school newspaper. Mike was doing his best to keep his team’s morale high, but it wasn’t easy. “Don’t worry. Nobody reads the school newspaper,” Mike said as they walked to class.
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure they read the quad,” Art replied. Mike looked up and saw the entire quad plastered with the same embarrassing photo. Students were looking at the photos and laughing. And just when it felt like it couldn’t get worse, Mike and the Oozmas saw a monster flying through the air — pulling a banner with the words “Cutie Kappa” on it.
Up ahead, Johnny and the RORs were busy selling T-shirts and mugs featuring the Oozma photo. Mike was furious. “Hey, what are you doing?” he demanded.
“Raising a little money for charity,” Johnny replied with a laugh.
“I want you to stop making us look like fools,” Mike said angrily.
Johnny held up a copy of the Campus Roar and pointed at the Oozmas’ ridiculous picture. “You’re making yourselves look like fools,” he said. “Let’s be honest, guys. You’re never gonna be real Scarers, because real Scarers look like us.”
Then Johnny flipped the newspaper over and pointed to a Monsters, Inc., ad in the classifieds. “But hey, if you really want to work at a scare floor, they’re always hiring in the mail room.” Johnny and the crowd laughed.
Sulley couldn’t take any more. Fuming, he turned and walked away. The Oozmas, sad and dejected, were close behind. “Hey, hold up!” Mike called after them. “Don’t listen to him! We just need to keep trying —”
Sulley turned and faced Mike. “No, you need to stop trying! We’re just embarrassing ourselves. You can train monsters like this all you want, but you can’t change who they are.”
As the Oozmas watched Sulley leave, Don turned to Mike. “We appreciate everything you’ve done, but he’s right. No matter how much we train, we’ll never look like them.” He sighed. “We’re built for other things.”
The Oozmas left, following Sulley back to their house. Their heads were all hanging low when Mike got an idea. “Guys!” he said, a new light in his eyes. “I’ve been doing this all wrong. We’re going on a little field trip!”