Sherman is so spoiled and rich that he threw away his allowance because some of the hundred-dollar bills were wrinkled!

He and his goody-goody friends at Nyce House are always trying to get Bernie Bridges and his Rotten House buddies into trouble.

Well Bernie's in big trouble now. Bernie has a dog in his room, Sherman knows it—and there are no pets allowed at Rotten School!

Bernie has to find a way to hide Gassy, his dog. But the dog stinks. Hey, why do you think they call him Gassy?

Do I Look Tense?

I'm Bernie Bridges, and I usually walk around with a dazzling smile. Ask anyone. When I smile, it's sunshine. Sunshine! Not to mention my adorable dimples.

But today I wasn't smiling. Today my handsome forehead was wrinkled from heavy thoughts. Behind my glasses, my big brown eyes darted from side to side.

Tense? Was I tense?

Does a lizard change its spots?

Dude, I was tense. I had a problem.

A problem that could get me into major trouble. A problem that could get me booted out of school.

You probably don't have this kind of problem. Because you go home every day.

But I live at the Rotten School. It's a boarding school. That means I don't go home. I live here in a dorm with a bunch of other guys.

Actually, we live in an old house called Rotten House. A whole bunch of fourth and fifth graders live here, and we love it.

My friends and I claimed the third floor, because it's good for dropping things out the window on people.

Mrs. Heinie says it's against school rules to drop things on people. She knows all the rules. She's always sniffing around, snooping on us, telling us the rules we are breaking.

But that's her job. She is our dorm mother. She is in charge of all us guys who live in Rotten House, and she is our fourth-grade core teacher.

Mrs. Heinie has her own apartment in the attic. We think she has spy cameras up there. Because she always knows when we're dropping things out the window on people.

Mrs. Heinie is very nearsighted. Her glasses are as thick as ice cubes.

But she still knows everything!

That's why I'm afraid she's going to discover my secret. And then I'm DOOMED.

How did I get in this mess?

Well...that's a whole other chapter.

R.L. Stine graduated from Rotten School at the top of his class. He had a solid D+ average. His favorite classes at school were Scratching Body Parts and Making Armpit Noises. In sixth grade, R.L. won the school Athletic Award for his performance in the Wedgie Championships. After graduation, R.L. became well known for writing scary book series such as The Nightmare Room, Fear Street, Goosebumps, and Mostly Ghostly, and a short story collection called Beware! Today, R.L. lives in a cage in New York City, where he is busy writing stories about his school days. Says he: "I wish everyone could be a Rotten Student!"