Chapter Text
Wake up, sleepyhead.
"Wuh-huh? Oh, right. Hey Skullette, how was your night?"
It was a good night and a greater morning was to come for both Frankie and the Narrator, she was sure of it. The Glitterati started running around the lab and Watzit was stirred awake by their scattering, immediately rushing to Frankie and barking loudly. Ever the gracious owner, Frankie unstrapped herself from her charging station, got up, and immediately started petting and showing her pet all the love she could, and in turn, Watzit returned all the love with excitement, licking her face, barking excitedly, and just being a happy doggo. Good boy. "Yeah, he is," Frankie said, completely validating the Narrator's reports. What followed was a good five more minutes of Frankie wrangling all of her glittery rats, giving them some food, rubbing them on their little heads, and grabbing her five favorites, Gwen, Gaga, Green Day, Girlicious, and Ghostface Killah, and putting them on Watzit's back, to be carried by him, a responsibility the new big brother of a thousand rats accepted gratefully.
Both ghoul and pet ran up the stairs out of the basement lab and into the kitchen, where-
"Hey Skullette?"
Yeah, what's up?
"You said this is a story featuring me, right? What's it about?"
Right now, about getting you out the door as quickly as possible so you can get your butt to school.
"You're deflecting."
You don't even know what that means, you're sixteen days old. Happy birthday by the way.
"Thank you! But, since you won't tell me what the story's about and where it's heading, I guess I can only do one thing."
Elaborate.
"Make sure it's a good one of course! I just gotta find a way to become more popular at school. Maybe if I join some clubs..."
Oh noooo, Frankie. Don't do that. That will definitely result in-
"It's decided! Today, I'll try out for as many clubs as I can!"
With not even as much as a second thought of what her new disembodied friend had told her ever so dryly and sarcastically, Frankie rushed through eating breakfast, announced that she'd be leaving, to which her parents didn't respond because they were still sound asleep, and ran out the door with Watzit and her rat posse following her swiftly. Mortals truly are the most predictable creatures to ever grace a page.
Frankie felt alive as she ran down the streets, her now 16-day-old joints still as new as ever, and she wanted to enjoy every second of it. The wind blew in her hair, her heart pounded with excitement, oxygen filled her lungs - she could breathe for ghoul's sake, isn't that wonderful? - and it was wonderful, thrilling, it filled her with the love of life and she just could not get enough. She wanted more, more, more, she wanted greater experiences, bigger adventures, larger goals to chase, she was drunk on the feeling of being and it was suffocating to think that she wasn't just a short two weeks ago. She would not squander any opportunity, she wouldn't just succeed, she'd excel on all levels! She knew she could do so in her classes, that was a no-brainer, but right now, she was about 14 to 15 years of socializing behind with most of the students in Monster High. She was the new ghoul at school. Hehe, pun intended.
Regardless, as the gates of her new prestigious second home came into view, Frankie felt all the more confident that fortune was in her future. And as they had promised, her three new besties, Draculaura, Clawdeen, and Lagoona, were already there sitting on the stairs, tired out of their minds. So naturally, they were confused as to why Frankie was running towards them with crazy manic energy. Nevertheless, Draculaura still got up to give the young frankenmonster a big hug. "Hey ghoul, what's got you all up and awake?" she asked, to Frankie's excitement. "Drac, now that I'm at the ripe old age of 16 days old, I figured I should try to acquire some popularity. I mean, I'm this far behind everyone in terms of socializing and I want to get the most out of the next four years that I can so what better way to do that then become the most popular ghoul in school?" Frankie said. Her new friends looked at each other and exchanged glances Frankie couldn't decipher but regardless, Draculaura turned back to her and hesitated in how to deliver her message. "Uh, Frankie, I'm gonna keep it real, chasing popularity rarely goes well for people. I get that you're like high on life right now and big ambitions are great. Anything you want to do, we'll do it, I got the money and the time, but I think you should maybe... I dunno, tread carefully? You seem to be going a thousand miles an hour when you have hypothetical eternity to build up a great life for yourself," the vampire monologued. Frankie felt uneasy but... Understood her friends' concerns.
But Frankie was smart, she knew that, and she was sure that she'd be able to avoid whatever obstacles her friend was implying she'd face. Her magazines had said that joining a club or two would help so maybe she should stick to that idea? She thought it over as she sat down. Clawdeen put a hand on her shoulder. "Draculaura isn't saying that stuff to make you feel bad but she's lived a pretty long time. Hell, she used to be my babysitter. She's telling you this because she's had many, many friends before us and she's watched this happen a thousand times over. She's just looking out for you," she said and Lagoona nodded in agreement. "That's the thing about trying to fit in, mate. You'll put in all this work to get people to like you and then they'll abandon you when they realize you aren't who you say you are. It's cruel but it's life. You already got some friends, so slow your roll, newbie. We'll always be here to vibe with," she said, still lucid at the early hour. Frankie knew Lagoona spoke the truth and it would go against the young monster's better judgment to take her friend's advice for granted. Then again, she already did that to Skullette earlier but aside from that, Frankie was a smart girl.
Okay so maybe she'll try out the clubs but she knows what she's doing.
Right?
Chess club.
Frankie thought she was smart but maybe she had overestimated her intelligence. She thought that zombies were probably not the brightest souls based on her brief interaction with Slo-Mo but it seemed like the guy was actually pretty bright. In fact, all of them were! Apparently, if her biteology class was accurate, both zombies and vampires have on average much larger amygdalas, visual cortexes, and corpus callosums, as well as various other adaptations in their brains which essentially make them omni-savants with pattern recognition abilities and intelligence beyond most monster species and normies. It was fascinating, but it also made her realize trying to join a club full of them in a game all about patterns and strategy that she herself has never played before and doesn't know the rules of was a terrible idea.
Yeah, Frankie embarrassed herself expeditiously, much to the zombies'... Well, probably not chagrin because they don't really get mad all that much. They're rather hard to read, as far as Frankie was concerned. Though in all fairness, she couldn't really read people that well in general. Independent thereof, she decided to stop wasting their time and leave the room. This was going to be a long day.
Swimming team.
Frankie presumed she would be a great addition to the swimming team. Her and Lagoona were basically besties already, what with them getting high and stealing a bunch of lab animals together. It would give them an opportunity to spend some time together. She hadn't ever tried to swim but Frankie saw no reason why she couldn't. Or well, she didn't until she got into the water and realized something. Water and electricity did not mix and Frankie was quite electrifying. In fact, she was brought alive during one of the most intense thunderstorms in Bavaria's history directly using the power of the thunderstorm. Her spark could not be more conductive if she tried.
So long story short, the entire swimming team was belly up, smoking from the way they just got filetted as soon as Frankie jumped into the water. One of the members, a male freshwater monster, groaned loudly. "You okay, Gil?" Lagoona said from the side of the pool. Thank ghoul she wasn't in there yet. "Yeaaaaaah, just glad to be heeeeeeere..." Gil managed to say. "Sorry, Gil!" Frankie said, to which the manster tried to wave it off. Lagoona looked close to tears and looked right in the direction of her new stitched-up friend, who could only give her an apologetic smile while slowly backing out to the changing room. This was a terrible idea.
Community service.
Alright, what could possibly go wrong with this one? She just had to get people to put their signature on a piece of paper. What's so difficult about that? And to her own amazement, she was doing well, at least for now. There were so many sympathetic ghouls and mansters willing to help and engage with... Whatever it was she was collecting signatures for. Luckily for her, no one was asking her any questions so she would probably be fine. "What did you say these were for again, new ghoul?" an all-too-familiar-and-annoying voice asked, belonging to who else but the royal diva herself, Cleo De Nile. Frankie briefly felt her heart sink to the floor but decided to just move past it in hopes Cleo would forget. And so she asked to put a signature on her clipboard, something to which Cleo surprisingly obliged... Only to feel a sudden shock hit her as Frankie's apparent nervousness was palpable in the form of an electric charge.
As Cleo was trying to fix her now-frizzled-up hair and gave Frankie the angriest look of her short two week life, she could already actively feel her social status plummeting off a metaphorical cliff. She was beginning to see what her new ghoulfriends were warning her about earlier. Frankie's naivete was not working in her favor.
Cut to the bleachers where the ghouls had once again decided to go eat lunch and where Frankie was on the verge of crying in Draculaura's arms, though ironically, Frankie had no idea what sadness is even supposed to feel like. "And then I got really nervous and Cleo got a shock from it and now she hates me!" All the vampire could do was comfort her new friend, as expected as all this was to her and narrator alike. "Quit being a smartass, Skullette!" Sorry. Anyway, while Frankie was held in the vampire's arms, Clawdeen and Lagoona exchanged looks. They felt bad for the newbie, they really did, but neither could hardly pretend to not see it coming. Nevertheless, it left Clawdeen with a bad taste in her mouth to sit around and do nothing. Maybe it was because she had so many siblings at home she took care of growing up but her sisterly instincts reared their head for the young frankenmonster. She had to do or say something, anything, to make her feel better.
"You could join the fear squad," she blurted out, getting the other ghouls' attention. Immediately, Clawdeen felt her vampire friend's judgmental eyes on her and Lagoona was no more pleased about the offer either. "Yeah, don't do that, mate," Lagoona said, "I haven't been very long in New Salem but what I do know is that Monster High takes its sports very seriously and that includes fearleading. Sure, it'll be good for your popularity to even be a low-ranking member of a sports team but it'll also guarantee that anything embarrassing you do while out in the field or worse, if you get thrown off the team, will be in front of everyone to see." Draculaura continued on from what the water monster said: "And if you're trying to avoid Cleo and her bitchy energy, I'm pretty sure she's fearleading captain already. Which is weird 'cause it's literally the beginning of the school year? Were there try-outs during the vacation? Anyway, I'd just... Avoid that at all costs." Frankie rubbed her eyes and dried her tears. She really should listen to her friends... But she was a stubborn piece of shit.
"Hey!"
What? Just telling the truth. The narrator's personal feelings on the matter aside, Frankie, despite everything that had gone wrong up until now, was still new to everything and so I - I mean - the narrator could not blame her for her naivete. And neither could Frankie be blamed for her optimism, her self-confidence, her belief in the inherent goodness of every ghoul and manster, including this school's apparent queen bee... Or mummy. Queen mummy. Literally in a sense. Regardless, the young ghoul really wanted to make a big splash and maybe the fear squad was the way to make one. Surely, Cleo couldn't be as bad as she came across initially.
As try-outs were after classes were over, Frankie had already gone to pick her pets from the basement of the school (which was an intricate system of catacombs strangely enough) and Watzit barked happily as he ran circles around his owner. Meanwhile, the Glitterati jumped from Frankie's shoulders unto her head and down again to Watzit's back and all over her again and Frankie adored them. See, this is why one might consider her a crazy rat lady, folks.
"Am I really going to have to deal with you finding an excuse to roast me every five minutes?"
The answer to such a question would instantly be deemed as irrelevant though as soon as Frankie realized that one of her little buddies ran off from her. "Wait, what?" It was then that she locked her eyes upon a scurrying Gaga who managed to run off quite quickly from her. Immediately, she put gas on the peddle and started chasing the little glittery rodent with speed. With the concern of a mother chasing her dumb toddler who doesn't understand the concept of danger, Frankie chased her little furry child with Watzit right on her metaphorical tail and the rest of the rats on his back. Eventually, the chase led her right to where she needed to be anyway, the gymnasium, but ever the loving being, Frankie didn't even notice as she was still on the chase for her pet.
Nor did she notice the barbell in front of her as she tripped straight into a perfect split and oh ghoul, that shit hurt, people do that for fun? Back to chasing Gaga, Frankie quickly jumped over some type of gym apparatus she hadn't gotten the name of yet, only to barely miss her rat climbing up a rope. Naturally, Frankie continued her chase up the rope, truly an angel, and ended up swinging towards the troublesome critter from the rope right into one of those rings used for gymnastics. She then dropped herself onto a trampoline but still didn't quite manage to catch Gaga. She tried to grab the rat as it crawled up her leg but when she did it ended up slipping out of her hand, sending it flying up above her head. She reached for her multiple times, all the meanwhile jumping up into the air while somehow performing perfect mid-air splits, because apparently my new bestie is way better at this than anyone expected. Finally, she managed to grab her fuzzy baby, striking a pose as she landed, though obviously not on purpose.
"Exceptional," Frankie heard from in front of her. Quickly, insecure as she really had no business being, she hid her rat buddy behind her back as once again, she was stared down by Cleo. "Guess every broken clock gets it right at least twice a day. I'm impressed, miss..." Cleo said, fishing for a name. "Frankie Stein, although I didn't really do anything?" she stated in a confused state, to which Cleo of course scoffed, assuming the frankenmonster was just being humble. "Quit that humility and make people recognize your talent. And I best see you at lunch tomorrow. That's all, you may leave now, Stein," she stated, before turning back to the rest of the fearleaders. Frankie looked at Watzit and the Glitterati but they were just as stumped as she was. Oh well, guess things just fall in place.
She's really going to regret thinking that.
The next day, Clawdeen and Draculaura help Frankie fix-up her hair and her make-up before meeting with Cleo again. "I'm really happy for you, Frankie! Look at you, you've been here three days and you're already hitting it big," Draculaura said, to which Lagoona, who was slumping against a nearby wall, scoffed. "Have you lot already forgotten we warned her to not put herself in this vulnerable position?" the swim champion said, as she was drowning in worry for her new friend. "Well, we underestimated her. I mean, in all honesty, I was expecting this to fall through at the audition. Maybe we should stop smoking, it's making us paranoid," Clawdeen said as she messed with Frankie's black and white locks. "Bunch of drongos... I swear if Frankie gets hurt over this..." Lagoona muttered. But her words fell on deaf ears, only heard by the Narrator.
Frankie strud with confidence towards the creepateria, ready to impress the royal mummy who had recognized something in her. As she swung the doors open and walked to the table she saw Cleo at, Ghoulia by her side, she felt reassured, certain of this being just the beginning of a great prosperous life, certain to be full off exciting adventures and thrills, happiness, love, and all of the world's wonders! There was that high again, that rush of artificially synthesized dopamine and adrenaline that rushed through her veins like a psychoactive drug she was absolutely addicted to and couldn't get enough of. It was like the electricity coursing through her every vein had been increased tenfold and was providing a stronger charge to every fiber of her being, filling her with such energy and alertness as if she just took a stimulant, and oh, for narrator's sake, Frankie, this is really unhealthy-
"Ms. Stein. Please take a seat," Cleo said as the frankenmonster approached, the concern of her friend once again unheard. There was nothing that could be done for Frankie now when she inevitably gets off her high. And the low that followed would be absolutely devastating. "I have to say, Stein, you pulled off quite the performance. My praise doesn't come lightly, I can assure you. As a princess, I expect nothing less than perfection but you have a lot of raw, natural talent, plus it helps that your dad is scarily famous. I got a couple questions for you and if you answer correctly, I might just consider letting you on the squad," she said, staring intensely in Frankie's mismatched eyes as if trying to stare holes through them, all with a smile on her face. It was... Strange but not unpleasant? Confusing might perhaps be the best word.
"Flats or heels?"
"Both."
"Skinny or bootcut?"
"Jeggings."
"Satin with corduroy?"
"Ugh, never."
"Recent book?"
"I blog."
"Scrunchies?"
"Pfft, yeah right."
"Finish this thought. 'I can't leave home without...'"
"... Lipgloss."
"Favorite singer?"
"Justin Biter, of course! In fact, my dad practically resurrected his career."
"Justin rules!" Cleo exclaimed, with a sudden excitement uncharacteristic and unexpected from the queen bee of Monster High, prompting those around her to be a little shocked. Never one to allow herself to be embarrassed however, she recovered quickly and asked her final question. "Boyfriend?" And this is where disaster struck for Frankie. Everything else came down to what she had read in blogs and magazines, what she seemed to instinctively know, though she was unaware of how she knew these things, and just her natural personality. But a boyfriend? She can't even boast having lived for longer than a month. She barely knew what she found attractive, just that she could feel it, but even then, she hadn't interacted with teenagers her own age for the majority of her extremely short lifespan. She saw her first boy in person two days ago! Aside from that, she had like zero social skills. She was pretty confident her new friend group liked her because they all felt some weird sisterly instincts to "protect the youngling" since that's apparently a common thing among monsters. But if she tried to take that same attitude to just any random bloke, she was gonna get hurt. The only thing she could say with certainty about her dating preferences is that she has them and she's straight, and even that's something she's already beginning to doubt. But... She wanted to impress Cleo so badly, she wanted to show that she's not just some weirdo new ghoul, to earn this beautiful diva's approval.
Okay, maybe she really isn't straight. She owed Lagoona an apology.
Regardless, Frankie had to give an answer quick because the silence was beginning to get awkward. She giggled nervously and waved her hand as if it was obvious that she had one, even though she knew that to be a lie. "B-boyfriend? Pfft, of course," Frankie said, looking around the room for someone to claim to be her boyfriend. Surely, the chances she'll end up in trouble isn't that big, right? But there was no one in the room who Cleo would think is cool. She couldn't just point at anyone. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you see it, the voltageously cute guy that helped her up a while back walked in right as she was beginning to lose hope. All she had to do was claim him as her boyfriend and if she was lucky, maybe he'd play along. And if he didn't, she could play it off by saying he's lying or something like that but she needed to say something now so with nothing to lose, she waved at him like that was her man and claimed such.
Immediately, Frankie knew something was up when Ghoulia, who had been distracted this entire time by her game, let out a distressed moan. Frankie hadn't totally figured out Zombish yet but she could tell at least some of what they meant by listening to the tone of their voices. The next thing she noticed was Clawdeen and Draculaura, who had been listening in from across the creepateria, audibly gasping. Next thing Frankie knew, Cleo got up, exclaiming that the interview was over. Frankie was so confused, she had said everything right. Did Cleo hate this guy she had a crush on or something? "Hey Cleo, I see you met-'' Deuce began before Cleo immediately interrupted, erupting with uncontrolled anger. "Your new ghoulfriend!" ... New ghoulfriend?
Immediately, Frankie felt her stomach sink as Cleo pushed past her confused and distraught boyfriend. Frankie could've sworn that she heard the mummy, who had been nothing but stoic and demanding up until now, sniff as if she was about to cry. The guy in question - she never even got his name! - was tending to his snakes who physically drooped, one even trying to reach in the direction Cleo had run off to. It was at that moment that Frankie became acutely aware of the people staring at her judgmentally. She tried to choke out a word but found that her lips refused to move and her throat refused to let words escape her. She wobbled on her platform heels and felt the static electricity build up but in a decidedly terrible way, nothing like the high she was on just a little while ago. In fact, she felt her entire mood and confidence drop to levels below zero, making way for a deep, existential darkness she didn't even realize existed. It was like what she felt after failing at properly joining any club yesterday but she was mildly upset about that. This was so much worse.
She couldn't take it anymore. Frankie ran off in a rush, she didn't care where she ended up. After several minutes of fleeing with her eyes closed, bumping into quite a few people on the way, she found herself at the pool again. Immediately, all of those volatile emotions that she hadn't properly manifested yet came bursting out like a tidal wave and tears flowed freely from her eyes. Frankie could hardly breathe, any attempt to choke out a word completely pointless as she sobbed uncontrollably into her hands. Her muscles contracted and relaxed arhythmically with no fixed pattern between each. Was this what intense sadness felt like? Frankie really didn't like it. She felt so disappointed in herself, so powerless, and the despair was indescribable.
"Figured this would happen," Frankie heard Lagoona say from behind her, realizing that her new bestie had been in the water just a minute ago. "Lagoona, what is this? I'm in great distress!" the frankenmonster finally managed to say, to which Lagoona had... Little reaction. It was weirdly uncharacteristic of her. "That's called sadness, mate. Can't say I'm surprised you're feeling it, but does anyone listen to Lagoona? Noooooo, she's just some Aussie ghoul we invited to Monster High who spends all day swimming and smoking weed, surely she can't have a good point every once in a while," the water monster vented, already heading for the changing room. "Unfortunately, part of life is sweeping up your own mess so I can't help you with the whole 'Cleo hates you' thing. Good luck, newbie;" she said as she walked away from Frankie, leaving her to wallow.
Finally, Frankie managed to somewhat dry her tears and steady her breathing but still, the feeling of despair, of guilt, it just... Wouldn't leave. Like a dark, rainy cloud hanging over her head, it was ever remaining. She just broke up a happy couple because she wanted to impress one of them. There were red flags and warning signs at every turn that anybody with an ounce of common sense would've picked up on. Even being told directly to her face that she was walking into a metaphorical mine field didn't dim the flame of her brazen overconfidence and self-assuredness that now only made way for a feeling of inadequacy and anxiety. That high of life really was like a drug, because the following low was just not worth it... Frankie, I know you don't mean it like that but that's a very distressing thought. I'm not really allowed to intervene here because this is an important moment for you but please tell me you'll be fine.
...
But once again, the Narrator's voice faded into the back, like she was just a figment of Frankie's imagination. Thank authors, she walked off, away from the pool, into the direction of the catacombs. She needed to hug her pet right now.
"Am I a good person, mom?" Frankie asked, her head laid out in her mother's lap as Viveka gently stroked her hair, the tv playing in the background. The sudden question surprised and distressed the new mother. "Of course you are, sweetheart. Why do you ask?" Frankie scrunched up ever so uncomfortably, her heterochromatic eyes turned away from the face of her creator. "Mom, I did something really bad because I wanted to impress this really pretty ghoul and now, her and her boyfriend broke up because of me, and I just feel so... so..." she trailed off, only for her mother to know exactly what she wanted to say. "Guilty?" Instantly, Frankie shot up and gave her mom a big hug, to which Viveka awed and embraced her daughter with so much strength, one might fear squeezing all the air out of the youngling. Frankie felt heard, understood, and little by little, that feeling of loving life was returning to her. Her mom was a literal angel. "I get it. When your father made me, we were both young and dumb. He hadn't really thought of the consequences of creating someone to be his bride, so when I did actually fall for him, he felt guilty because he thought he had given me no choice. Meanwhile, I was desperate, deeply desperate, to prove that I was worthy of being his bride. The amount of trouble we caused just trying to prove to each other that we were made for each other was... It was a lot, let's keep it at that. We gave Headmistress Bloodgood a headache on the weekly. Just wait till you meet her," the older frankenmonster reminisced, letting her mini-me's eyes sparkle at the thought of being like her. It made Viveka hope, unreasonable as she personally found the idea, that maybe her daughter could follow in her footsteps.
"But, you know what, Frankie? In the end, it was okay if we stumbled and made mistakes because we always made up for them and learned from them. Such is life. The guilt, the pain, the regret... They're part of its beauty. And you'll see that soon too," Viveka said, her smile shining as bright as the sun. "Okay, you're right. I just gotta clean up my mess," Frankie declared, prompting a bout of motherly pride in the older Mrs. Stein. "That's my ghoul... So what was this about a pretty ghoul? I mean, first you bring up a cute guy, now a pretty ghoul?" Viveka teased, to which Frankie could only embarrassingly beg for a change of topic.
"I'm not embarrassed, Skullette!"
Glad to see we're speaking again.
"Hey Cleo! Wait up!"
The mummy princess turned around but quickly tried to get away from the object of her hatred. "Get out of my sight, Stein! Haven't you done enough?" But ever insistent, Frankie gave chase. "Listen, me and Deuce had nothing going on, I just wanted to impress you, got nervous and said he was my boyfriend. I promise you, I've never had a boyfriend," she said, hoping that perhaps, just maybe, Cleo would be reasonable and at least go ask Deuce. Instead, Cleo stopped suddenly and turned a full 180 degrees, staring right in Frankie's direction. "What the fuck is your problem? You electrocute me, I'm lenient enough to give you a second chance and compliment your talent, then you put me through an emotional rollercoaster! Were you born fucking yesterday?!" Frankie stumbled, biting her lip and looking away. This was incredibly embarrassing. "Well, two weeks ago. My parents made me in a lab and stuff..." she said, putting her hands behind her back and playing with the pleats of her skirt. Frankie felt that uncomfortable burst of electric charge going through her again and she felt compelled to mess with something, anything, just to keep her hands busy. She wanted to play with the bolts in her neck but her dad told her that wasn't a very good idea.
Finally, Cleo broke the silence, making note of the way in which Frankie was uncomfortably fiddling with her pleats as if in deep distress. "You should buy a rubix cube," she said, to Frankie's confusion. "My little sister, Pharrah, just kind of solves rubix cubes when she gets all stimmy. Gives her hands something to do," Cleo continues. As the implications of realizing such similarities with her little sister started to sink in, annoyed as Cleo was, she couldn't help but soften up, just a little. "Uuuuuugh, fucking fine! What big gesture do you have planned to make it up to me?" Frankie blinked. "How did you know-" she began, before Cleo interrupted her. "You people get predictable after a while, now just show me what you have planned."
Frankie gave her a big smirk.
"WOOOOOOOOO! I love you, Justin Biter!"
Who would've known that when you're on your deathbed and a big, stitched-together, gentle giant with a lab tells you he'll revive you that he'd expect a favor back? And who would've known that said gentle giant's teenage daughter would cash that favor in by having him do a private concert in the gym of her school? Well, certainly not this narrator, that's for sure. "You should have a bit more confidence in me if I'm the protagonist, Skullette," Frankie said, fully filling the narrator with the fear of her new bestie becoming filled with main character syndrome. Anyway, as Justin tore up the stage, a sentence this narrator never thought she'd say about a Justin Bieber parody, ghouls and mansters rejoiced... The mansters mostly because it was a blatant excuse to dance with the ghouls. Frankie could see Cleo's approving smile from across the room as she danced with Deuce, who was definitely her boyfriend again. Frankie so was on the fearleading team again... Although she'd probably be on probation.
Also dancing the afternoon away was a certain fishy gal from down under who was currently dancing with the boy Frankie had shocked two days back. What was his name again? Gil? Something like that. And based on her friend's big blush, she was quite grateful for the opportunity to dance with him. As they twirled around, Lagoona giggled and was having the time of her life. Finally, she quickly excused herself so she could go talk to Frankie. "Well, seems like you fixed your mess, newbie," she began, with a warm smile on her face, "Hope I wasn't too harsh on you earlier. It's just... I told Clawdeen and Drac that the whole 'being a fearleader' thing was a bad idea and I was concerned for you. I'm not trying to be a buzzkill and rain on your parade but seriously, if you are still going to be a fearleader, just be careful, because I promise you, that embarrassment you felt yesterday? Yeah, that's all forgotten but it won't be the last time, especially if you go through with this. But if anything like that ever happens again, I promise I'll be here for you." Frankie gave her a big smile and an even bigger hug. "You're a good friend, Lagoona," she said, making the sea monster's heart feel full. It's like having one of her little sisters here with her. Man, lot of ghouls with little sisters here. "I know, right?" Frankie responded to the narrator, leaving Lagoona once again confused.
Then, she just laughed. "I ought to stop questioning who you're talking to. Oh, and one more thing," Lagoona said, pointing in the direction of a rather human-looking woman, "the headmistress told me earlier that when I was done dancing with Gil, I should go tell you that she wishes to speak with you." Frankie chortled at that. "After you were done dancing with Gil?" Lagoona's cheeks once again became red like tomatoes. "She's really nice, okay, now go talk to her," she said, walking away to go dance with the fish boy some more. Frankie chortled some more as she laughed her way to the headmistress, who opened the gym door as she approached, as if to take her somewhere else where others wouldn't overhear. Deciding to take the hint and follow directions for once, Frankie follows her outside, with the headmistress closing the door behind them as they walked through the halls.
As they did, the frankenmonster took a good long look at the older woman. Despite being old enough to earn that title, she still looked pretty young to be a headmistress. She was well-dressed and irradiated positive energy. Frankie didn't know why but she felt like she could trust this woman. "You know, Ms. Stein, I had no doubt in my mind about the scientific skill of any member of your family but Viktor and Viveka have outdone themselves. It's like having Viveka here all over again... I miss her naivete," the headmistress finally spoke up. Her voice was so warm, calming, and Frankie could get lost in it for hours. "Thank you, headmistress," she said. "Please dear, call me Nora," the older woman responded, "but only in private. Do call me Headmistress Bloodgood in front of the other students. Got to keep up the illusion of stoicism for the other first and second years, you know?" Briefly, she laughed, giving Frankie a playful wink. Eventually, they made it to her office, closing the door behind them. Frankie quickly took a seat and nervously folded her arms over each other, fiddling with the threads in her arms.
Bloodgood took her seat. "I apologize for not being able to greet you earlier. I like knowing all of my students personally and I have a very good memory, but even I have my limits on how many people I can meet in a short amount of time. Has everything here been to your liking, Frankie?" she asked, her voice dripping with such genuine concern even Frankie could easily hear it. She simply nodded in response, allowing Bloodgood's face to flood with, again, genuine joy. This woman loved her job. "Amazing to hear, I try to make my school as inviting as possible. Don't be afraid to tell me if you have any suggestions or criticisms." Frankie simply nodded. "Alright, I'll get straight to it then. I'm an old woman and I'm so very tired of seeing all this conflict in our communities, you understand me?" Bloodgood said, sounding exasperated. "But Ms. Nora, you look so young," Frankie told her and Bloodgood smiled at the compliment. What the frankenmonster was not prepared for was the headmistress taking her head off her shoulders and putting it right in front of her, the rest of her body leaning back into her chair with her fingers intertwined. 'Headless headmistress' makes more sense now. "I look young enough to be your sister, but I'm wise enough to be your grandma. Headless horse riders like myself are practically immortal. And trust me, I've lived some time," she stated, her face no older than thirty but worn with the struggle of lifetimes.
"So, as I said, with my old age, I'd like to see some semblance of peace among our little monster society. And you, my little spark, are the key." Frankie was confused, turning her head skywards as if trying to see if the narrator was somehow involved. It seemed like Bloodgood was seeing the same thing in Frankie that she had. Of course Frankie had been joking around earlier about being the protagonist - man, this is beginning to get meta - but she wasn't actually all that confident in how true that statement was. She didn't feel special, didn't think she was special. So why did everyone insist on making her feel like it? "You're young. As in born two weeks ago. Your parents haven't had you long enough for you to have developed biases. Not that I think Victor and Viveka would've taught you anything they shouldn't have, I'm very confident in their lack of ignorance. But you know, people pick things up from your environment and you're still a blank slate," Bloodgood told her. "Biases? What do you mean? I've never seen a more diverse environment in my life," Frankie responded, but Bloodgood felt it incumbent upon herself to set the record straight. "Sure, but that's just Monster High. A lot of monster species still live in conflict with each other. Vampires against werewolves, freshwater monsters and saltwater monsters, and the list goes on. And yes, I know what you're thinking. 'But Clawdeen and Draculaura are besties, Lagoona and Gil were dancing earlier, weren't they?' That's this community and this school, it's not a universal thing," she said as she reattached her head. "Monsters are certainly less prone to acts of extreme violence but as long as we stand divided, we're vulnerable to malicious humans. If we stand united, we can defend ourselves from the malicious humans and actually get a chance for cooperation with the reasonable ones."
Frankie leaned back, bringing her pointer finger and thumb up to her chin in contemplation. "So there's some problems in our community and you think that I can help you solve them because I'm... Naive?" Bloodgood nodded no. "No, no, my spark, what you have is a fresh perspective, unmarred with the history everyone else is plagued with. And yet, you're just as, if not more intelligent, as any other ghoul or manster I could ask. I'm certain of it. You see, my spark, big changes are coming at Monster High later on in the year and if everything goes to plan, the ripples throughout the Monster Society will be great... And I think you're just the ghoul I need to make sure everything goes smoothly. You up for the task?" the headmistress asked, leaving Frankie contemplating, if only briefly, for her heart was too big for her body and she knew there was no way she could say no to Ms. Nora.
"What would you have me do?"