Frankie Stein and the New Ghoul at School

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  Usually, my life moves at the speed of lightning… I’m always so busy having new experiences and tons of voltageous fun with my ghoulfriends. But for the past week, all the students at Monster High have been on scaremester break, and I had no idea days could creep by so slowly. I miss my ghoulfriends, Fearleading practice, and everything about Monster High so much when I’m not there!

  Spending time at home with my parents over the break has been creeperific, of course. It’s great to spend some quality time together, getting recharged as a fam. But when school is in session, every day just buzzes with new adventure and freaky-fabulous fun. So even though I love hanging out with Mom and Dad and Watzit (my sweet little pet just loves that I’ve been home all week to cuddle with him!), I do get a little lonely here in this big house with just the four of us.

  I can’t wait to see my ghoulfriends again! We have so much to catch up on.

  Frankie

  Hey, Dad, I’m going to head over to Draculaura’s castle for a bit, okay?” Frankie Stein shouted down the stairs to her father’s lab. Because her dad was usually busy scaring up new inventions, she knew he might not hear her over the noise and clatter of the lab. So she stepped down a few stairs and called out, “Dad? I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Okay?”

  Mr. Stein peered around the corner and looked up the stairs at his daughter. He pushed his lab goggles onto his forehead and grinned. “It’s alive!”

  Frankie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Every morning, her dad greeted her the same way. Mr. Stein, a mad scientist and inventor, had created Frankie in his lab. Ever since the day Frankie was first jolted to life by electricity, her dad had made it clear he was amazed by his greatest creation, and he never tired of letting Frankie know how proud he was of her. “Good morning to you too, Dad. Yeah, I’m alive—just like yesterday and the day before that. Is it okay if I go fang out at Draculaura’s for a while? Clawdeen will also be there.”

  Mr. Stein nodded. He held a beaker full of bubbling green liquid in one hand, and there was a blob of something gooey glowing blue in the other. He held his hands up, squinting at his daughter in the bright light of the lab. “Well, look at that! This batch matches your eyes perfectly.”

  Frankie traipsed the rest of the way down the stairs for a closer look at the beakers in her dad’s hands. Whatever her father was holding did match her eyes perfectly. Frankie’s left eye was a brilliant shade of green, and her right eye was bright blue. She loved that her eyes were so unique. “Whatcha makin’?” she asked, curious. She pulled her black-and-white-striped hair back, careful to keep the long strands from the glowing blob of blue in her father’s gloved hand. She never knew what his potions and mixtures had the power to do, and her hair was looking scary-cute today—she didn’t want anything to mess that up!

  She leaned forward and sniffed—the green beaker smelled like bacon and roses. The blue blob in her dad’s hand smelled like dirt. Altogether, it was not a great combo, but Frankie was sure her dad must be creating something voltageous. What her dad did in his lab all day was something of a mystery. She rarely hung out down here while he was doing his thing because she was usually at school or busy with her ghoulfriends… but she was always curious to hear more about his inventions.

  “Just working on a little experiment,” Mr. Stein said, distracted. “A new, secret project.”

  “I hope if you’re making me a sister, this means she and I will have the same color eyes…?” Frankie mischievously poked at the beaker of green liquid. “Is that your secret project, Dad? A sister for me?” She grinned sweetly at her father. There had been a few weeks last scaremester when her dad was buried for hours on end in his lab. Curious about what he was working on, Frankie had asked her mom if perhaps her dad was hard at work on building a new sibling for her. Her mom had practically choked on her coffincino and sputtered, “Uh, no. I’m afraid not.”

  Now Mr. Stein shook his head and laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind if and when I work on something like a sister for you, sweetheart. But at the moment, a sibling is certainly not what I’m working on. Do you want to spend the day helping me out in the lab and I can show you around a little?” He wiggled his thick eyebrows and gently plopped the blue blob into a beaker. As if on cue, the blob wiggled and began to rise up in the tube. “We can have some fun.”

  Frankie was torn. She really did want to help her dad—spending the day in the lab with him sounded like a creeperific time, and Frankie loved new experiences. But she had been waiting to see her ghoulfriends for what felt like forever, and she knew her ghouls were as eager to see her as she was to see them. Frankie didn’t want to disappoint them.

  “Another day?” she asked.

  “You’re on.” Her dad nodded and turned away, already lost in his own world. He nearly tripped and fell as he walked away, as he was too busy muttering strange number patterns and words to himself to pay attention to his own two feet. Frankie watched as the blob of blue goo rose up out of the beaker in her father’s hand and landed on the floor with a plop! It glowed, pulsed, and then slithered away, Mr. Stein chasing after it.

  Frankie giggled. “Have some freaky fun with your creations in the lab today. I’ll be home in time for dinner! Maybe we can order a cheese screechza for dinner?”

  “Yes. Yes…!” Mr. Stein said distractedly, from deep in the lab.

  “Yay!” Frankie looked around the corner and smiled at him as he scooped up the blob.

  “Wait—what? Screechza?” he said, shaking his head to clear it.

  But Frankie was already gone. She waved, then ran back up the stairs and out the front door.

  Whenever I’m not at school, I crave the energy of Monster High—it makes me feel so alive, like right after I’ve had a full charge! That’s why I’m always asking Dad about a new sibling… because someday, I really do think it would be VOLTAGEOUS to have a full house.

  When Clawdeen talks about her school breaks, she growls about how her house feels jam-packed and filled with craziness because she has so many family members. Even though I know they make her crazy sometimes, I also know how much she loves having a full den. Someone is always up for watching a boo-vie or playing a game or going for a run or whatever. At our house, it’s just my dad’s lab full of freaky-fab projects, one adorable pet, and the three of us Steins.

  Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I had a pack too. I’ll have to ask Clawdeen if I can borrow a few of her sibs sometime to see what it would be like to be surrounded the way she usually is! I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a little break from all that action.

  Frankie

  When she got to Draculaura’s house a short while later, Frankie lifted the huge knocker on the castle’s front door and let it crash down with a resounding thud. A moment later, Draculaura flung the door open and exclaimed, “I thought you would never get here!” Frankie’s always-cheerful ghoulfriend gave her a hug. She broke into a huge smile, revealing two adorable vampire fangs, and her cheeks flushed a deeper pink color as she squeezed Frankie tight. “Come in, come in. I can’t wait to show you something. I bought you a little present on my trip this week, and I’m so excited
for you to see it!”

  Frankie smiled happily. Draculaura loved helping Frankie shop for clothes—and Frankie loved having her help. Frankie’s beast ghoulfriends, Draculaura and Clawdeen Wolf, had spooktacular style, and they were always happy to share their fashion wisdom with Frankie by helping her put together creepy-cool outfits. Frankie had no doubt that Draculaura’s present was a piece of clothing.

  Draculaura chatted excitedly about her latest trip as she led Frankie through the winding halls of the castle. Frankie was always amazed at the beauty of Draculaura’s home. When Draculaura and her father had left Transylvania many years earlier, Dracula had all the pieces of their castle shipped over to the Boo World and reassembled. Their castle looks just like the one they’d had in Transylvania, which Draculaura said helped to make the Boo World feel more like home when they had first arrived. Of course, now Draculaura loved the Boo World and was totally thrilled to be attending Monster High.

  Frankie followed her friend to her bedroom, which was decorated in wall-to-wall pink, Draculaura’s favorite color. Clawdeen was waiting for them there, sprawled out on Draculaura’s floor. The contents of Draculaura’s closet were thrown across every surface—it was clear that Clawdeen and Draculaura had been preparing outfits for the coming week of school while they waited for Frankie to arrive.

  “Check out the fierce skirt Draculaura got for you, Frankie!” Clawdeen exclaimed as she leaped nimbly up off Draculaura’s floor and rushed over to greet Frankie with a kiss on the cheek. The bold and beautiful werewolf held up a black-and-white-striped skirt with purple lace stitching. “This is going to look clawesome on you!”

  Draculaura bounced up and down in excitement. “Isn’t it fangtastic? Try it on, Frankie! It will look totes adorable with the shirt you’re wearing right now.”

  Frankie stepped into a corner to change. Meanwhile, Clawdeen pawed through Draculaura’s jewelry stash and found a few things she wanted to borrow for their first week back at school. “You have no idea how great it is to be with you ghouls again,” Clawdeen said, letting out a sigh that sounded more like a growl. “I am so ready for the scaremester break to be over.”

  “Same here,” Frankie said.

  “Did I miss anything fun while I was gone?” Draculaura asked.

  “Actually, I have news!” Clawdeen said excitedly. “Clawd met up with some of the other guys to play Casketball yesterday, and Deuce said that he heard from Cleo that there are a few new Monster Exchange students coming to Monster High after the break.”

  “New ghouls?” Frankie wondered.

  “I think so,” Clawdeen said. “Apparently Headmistress Bloodgood is looking for students who might be willing to show them around during their first week at Monster High. You know, Monster Exchange buddies.”

  Frankie felt a bolt of excitement rush through her body. “I would love to do something like that! I remember exactly what it was like to be the new ghoul at school, and it would be voltageous to make sure the new students feel welcome right away!” Frankie’s mind was going a mile a minute as she thought about how much she wanted to be a Monster Exchange buddy to one of the new ghouls. “It’s hard to start at a new school when you don’t know anyone! Where do I sign up?”

  “You’d be such a great Monster Exchange buddy,” Draculaura agreed. “You know better than anyone that a new student needs to feel welcome during their first week. You should definitely tell the headmistress you want to do it, Frankie.”

  Frankie’s entire body was buzzing with excitement. She tried to rein in her enthusiasm. Sometimes, when she got too excited about things, she would spark—and that had caused a few problems in the past. She tried taking a deep breath to calm herself down. “I’m going to drop by the headmistress’s office first thing tomorrow morning,” Frankie proclaimed happily. Then she stepped into her new skirt and pranced into the center of the room to model it for her ghoulfriends. “What do you think?”

  Draculaura cheered. “I knew it would look fangulous on you. Oh, I’m so glad I bought it. You have to wear it on the first day back after break, okay?”

  “That will be the perfect outfit to wear for your fall project presentation,” Clawdeen added. “Scary-cute, smart, and sophisticated!”

  When she heard the words fall project presentation, Frankie’s excitement fizzled. “Ugh. Our fall project…”

  “You did finish your project… right?” Clawdeen asked slowly.

  “Um,” Frankie mumbled. “I haven’t exactly started. I haven’t had my spark of inspiration yet, so I’m totally stuck!” Everyone at Monster High had been asked to do an independent study project over break. They were supposed to do a project and put together a presentation that would give their classmates a behind-the-scenes look at what kinds of things they liked to do in their time away from school.

  They had been given total freedom with the project. Monster High students were allowed to do an art project, write a story, complete a research project about a place they had visited, build or sew something… anything. The great thing about this project was that they were allowed to do anything that got their sparks flying.

  Clawdeen’s eyes widened. “We’re supposed to present our projects in class on Monday! I stitched up one of the pieces in the clothing line I’ve been designing, to show everyone my freaky fashion skills.”

  “That’s a great idea, Clawdeen,” Frankie said. Usually, Frankie was the kind of ghoul who finished her schoolwork right away—but with this fall project presentation, she was stuck. “I can’t come up with anything to do for the presentation.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Draculaura said, trying to be as encouraging as possible. “There are still four days left before school is back in session. You still have time to come up with something totes amazing for your project.”

  Frankie took another deep breath, her good mood crashing to the castle floor. She couldn’t believe there were only four days left to start and finish her fall scaremester project! What if she couldn’t come up with anything?

  When Frankie had first heard about the assignment, she decided that she wanted to do something that gave her classmates some insight into what made her special and different from every other monster. If there was one thing Frankie was sure of, it was that freaky flaws were meant to be celebrated. But what kind of project could she do that celebrated what made her special?

  Remembering how excited she had been about the project when they first heard about it, Frankie couldn’t believe she hadn’t come up with anything yet. Usually, school projects really sparked her excitement. She tried not to worry herself too much. Because Draculaura was right—she still had four days to develop something fearsome. As far as she was concerned, only one question needed to be answered.…

  Frankie grinned at her ghoulfriends. “So, do either of you have any idea what I should do for my project?”

  My ghoulfriends helped me come up with the most voltageous idea for my fall project! Since Dad is the greatest inventor of all time (I may be a little biased!), we realized he and I could work on building something together in his lab. What better way to share what makes me special with everyone at Monster High than to create something in the very lab where I was created?

  Dad invited me to join him in the lab yesterday, so I just know he’ll say yes. And the best part of this idea is, I can bring my creation to school for the presentation. An actual creation that I’ve built in the lab will be so creepy-cool to show everyone!

  The one problem I have is time. With only three days left until the end of the scaremester break, I have to get to work right away! I know it took years for Dad to bring me to life, so I hope it’s possible to build something cool in just a few days…!

  Maybe while I’m working on building my invention, Dad could get to work creating a new sibling for me.… It can’t hurt to keep asking, right?

  I would have gotten started on my project already, but I had something else I had to do this morning—something just as exciting! I went to see He
admistress Bloodgood to tell her I’d like to be one of the Monster Exchange program buddies. She said that she was really happy I was interested and that she would e-mail me this weekend to let me know if I’m in. Fingers crossed!

  Frankie

  As soon as Frankie returned home from her visit to the headmistress’s office the next morning, she hustled to her dad’s lab. Watzit trailed behind her, yapping at her legs, begging for a game of fetch. Frankie had a feeling her pet could sense that the scaremester break was almost over, and he was trying to spend as much time with her as possible. She loved having so much time to play with him and knew she would miss their special cuddle time when she was back at school all day the next week.

  “It’s alive!” Mr. Stein bellowed when he saw his daughter round the corner into his part of the lab. A portion of the laboratory had been carved out to use as Frankie’s bedroom when she was brought to life, and it was Frankie’s very favorite place to fang out—but the other side of the lab remained Mr. Stein’s lair.

  Frankie laughed. “Yes, Dad, I’m alive,” she agreed. “Just like yesterday and the day before and the day before that and…” She glanced around the lab, curious about which of the mysterious machines and tools they would be using to build her creation.

  “And how are you this morning, my greatest creation?” Frankie’s dad put down a beaker filled with yellow liquid and turned off a machine that was buzzing loudly nearby. Frankie loved that her dad was always willing to set everything else aside for a chat with her. She knew he was very busy with his work, but he always had time for her. And she felt a little jolt of happiness each and every time her dad referred to her as his greatest creation.

  “I’m sparktacular actually,” Frankie said, beaming. “If you have a couple of minutes, I need to talk to you about something important.”