Lagoona Blue and the Big Sea Scarecation

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  I am totally stoked for SPRING BREAK! Only a day left of classes at Monster High, and then it’s a whole week of doing nothing except chilling out on the beach! Sand, sun, surf… what more could a ghoul ask for? This spring break is going to be monstrously creeperific. Kicking back with my mates Down Unda, playing screech volleyball, teaching Kelpie to surf, playing in the waves around the Great Scarrier Reef with the little bros… I am so excited!

  Of course I’ll miss all my ghouls at Monster High. It’s always hard to be away from them for more than a few days at a time. And a week without Gil does not flip my fins. But the ghouls and Gil are all doing their own thing this week too, so it’s all good! A week to chill out on the beach and kick back in the grotto with the fam while my ghouls and Gil are off having their own amazing scarecations with theirs? Sounds totally fintastic to me!

  Now to survive the last day of classes when the waves are already calling to me…

  Catch ya Down Unda!

  Later, mates,

  Lagoona

  Lagoona!” Gil Webber raised one arm and waved to his girlfriend, Lagoona Blue. “Wait up!”

  “What’s up, Gil?” Lagoona said, spinning around with a huge smile on her face. She slammed her locker closed and gave her boyfriend a quick hug. Lagoona loosened her hair and shook out the thick braid she’d put in after swim team practice that morning. Her wavy blond hair—sprinkled with faint blue highlights (a side effect of the chlorine in her hair)—curled around her shoulders. She batted her eyes at Gil and teased, “Do you miss me already? Spring break hasn’t even started yet, y’know.”

  “I know, I know,” Gil said, laughing as he and Lagoona made their way down the hall toward the Creepateria. The hall was filled with shouting and loud conversations, and some of the guys from the Casketball team were tossing a ball back and forth over everyone’s heads. There were only a few hours left of school before spring break started, and everyone at Monster High was restless. Vacation mode was already under way!

  Gil grinned at Lagoona and said, “I was just wondering something.…” He smiled sheepishly. “Are you sure you can’t persuade your parents to go somewhere for spring break? Specifically, the resort my family is going to…?” His smile widened. “The Blues would fit right in—the resort even has a saltwater pool. Our families could get to know one another better. Maybe if they spent some relaxing time together, our parents would come to understand one another a little more?”

  Lagoona laughed. “Don’t tempt me! Your resort sounds like a fintastic place to chill for the week, Gil. But you know my parents can’t do anything like that for spring break this year.” She shrugged. When you lived in the ocean, just hanging out at home was every bit as awesome as a vacation. “We’re hanging at home for the week. Don’t forget—I have a beach in my own backyard!” Lagoona nudged him. “Tempt me with your fancy resort all you want, but just know I’ll be chilling out, eating on the beach while you order your frosty drinks by the pool. You can think of me when you take your morning swim each day, okay?”

  “Of course I will,” Gil said sweetly. “It’s just that I’m going to miss you, Lagoona.”

  “I’ll miss you too,” Lagoona said. For a moment, Lagoona let herself imagine how much fun it would be to join Gil’s family on their resort vacation. Ah well, the poor bloke would have to do without her for the week. She knew they would both survive. Still, Lagoona wrapped her arm through Gil’s and looked up at him fondly, thinking of how much she would miss him while they were on break.

  “Aw, how totes adorable,” Draculaura crooned, poking her head between Gil’s and Lagoona’s. The sweet vampire fell into step beside Lagoona as they all walked into the Creepateria. The three of them joined some of their other friends at their usual table. As she pulled out her fruit salad, Draculaura tilted her head and said, “You two are so scary-cute together.”

  “Thanks, Draculaura,” Lagoona said. She beamed at her boyfriend. Draculaura was right. She and Gil really were a perfect match. If only they could get over the whole freshwater-saltwater issue, their relationship would be smooth sailing! But as it was, their relationship wasn’t always the easiest. Gil’s parents didn’t really approve of Lagoona or her family. But Gil and Lagoona were happy together, and Lagoona knew that was the most important thing. She dug into her bento box, which was filled with her favorite food—sushi—and between bites continued to chat with Draculaura. “Are you excited for spring break? Any big plans?”

  “Oh my ghoul, this week is going to be totes amazing,” Draculaura squeaked. She pushed her pink-streaked black hair away from her face and chatted on excitedly. “Father just told me this morning that we are going to be spending the week in Hauntlywood! Elissabat is starring in a new movie, and she invited me—me!—to be her special guest at the premiere!”

  Lagoona beamed at her ghoulfriend. Elissabat was one of the biggest boo-vie stars in Hauntlywood, and she also happened to be one of Draculaura’s oldest ghoulfriends. A Hauntlywood getaway would be the perfect trip for the sweet vampire. Draculaura loved any excuse to buy a scary-cute new outfit and get glammed up. “Wow, Draculaura, that’s going to be an amazing adventure for you!” Lagoona said.

  “I know!” Draculaura said, literally bouncing with excitement. “This weekend, I’m going shopping for dresses with Elissabat and her crew. They’re going to help me pick out something to wear to the premiere. Then it will be makeup, and parties, and getting our hair done.…” Lagoona smiled and nodded as Draculaura told everyone at the table all about her plans for the week. “Oh! And Clawd is coming along! Can you believe it? My sweetie gets to be my date at the premiere.”

  There were many places where a vampire and werewolf couple couldn’t be seen out in public together—Transylvania, for example—but Hauntlywood wasn’t one of them. The people in Hauntlywood were open-minded, just like the students and staff at Monster High. Headmistress Bloodgood and the rest of the Monster High faculty were willing to support any friendships and relationships, no matter what a monster’s scaritage was. And Lagoona absolutely loved that at Monster High, everybody’s uniqueness was celebrated!

  Draculaura, buzzing with excitement, jumped up from the lunch table and squealed. “There’s Clawd now. I just need to run over and let my sweetie know what time we’re leaving!”

  As Draculaura fluttered away to chat with her boyfriend, Lagoona turned to her friend Clawdeen Wolf—who also happened to be Clawd’s sister. “So Clawd’s hanging with Draculaura for spring break, yeah? What are your plans for the week, Clawdeen?”

  “My sisters and mom and I are visiting my cousins in the mountains,” she said. “It’s not Hauntlywood, but it should be pretty clawesome. They live on over a hundred acres of land with tons of space to run. We always have a killer time when we visit them. What about you, Lagoona?”

  “Oh, you know—chillin’ on the beach. We’re not going anywhere special. Just some hang time with the fam.” Lagoona shrugged.

  “Sounds thrilling,” Cleo de Nile said with a yawn. The Egyptian princess wasn’t really into kicking back on the beach—unless, of course, she had a waiter and a personal attendant who could help
keep her comfortable all day. “I, for one, am looking forward to some serious pampering at the spa. This spa—it’s in Boo York—is totally golden, but it’s absolutely impossible for most monsters to get into. Very exclusive.”

  Spas weren’t really Lagoona’s thing, but she knew that would be Cleo’s dream week. So she said, “Crikey, that sounds fancy. I bet you’ll have a fintastic time, Cleo.”

  By the end of lunch, the whole Creepateria was buzzing with discussions of family scarecations and spring break plans. Across the room, Lagoona could hear other groups of friends talking about taking sightseeing trips to Londoom, tours around her beloved Madread, and even more travel to family in far-off places. Some of the Monster Exchange students were talking about going home to visit their parents and siblings for the week. Lagoona could remember how much she had looked forward to her visit home during the Monster Exchange scaremester she had spent in Madread. As happy as they were at Monster High, Lagoona could only imagine how much Kjersti Trollsønn, Batsy Claro, and Isi Dawndancer must be looking forward to seeing their families.

  In class after lunch, Lagoona overheard Toralei telling her whole crew about the cruise she was going on. Toralei narrowed her eyes, glanced at Lagoona, and purred, “All I can say is, there better be plenty of purrfect places for a catnap on this floating hotel. Of course, I’m worried the stink of the ocean won’t really help a ghoul get her beauty rest.” Lagoona let Toralei’s dig on the ocean roll off her fins. Toralei could always find something to complain about. The feisty feline was more of a land ghoul, but still, Lagoona couldn’t believe she could find things to complain about when she was about to go on a cruise!

  As the afternoon wore on, Lagoona began to feel a little jealous of everyone’s trips to fun places. Until that morning, she had been seriously stoked about her own beach adventures during a week at home. But after hearing about everyone else’s plans, a week Down Unda didn’t sound quite as thrilling as it had before. It seemed everyone had somewhere fintastic to go, and home sounded… less special, somehow. The same old, same old. Even though Lagoona wasn’t usually the kind of ghoul who felt jealous, she couldn’t help being a little envious of everyone else’s fancy scarecations!

  The rest of the school day flew by in a rush of good-byes and friends’ promises to call over break. “I’ll bring you one of those fun little drink umbrellas from the resort,” Gil promised as he gave her one last hug. “And if you change your mind about joining my family at the resort, I’ll save you a seat by the pool!”

  Lagoona hugged him again and promised to call him every day. As she wished her ghoulfriends a great week off, Draculaura and Clawdeen both gave her apologetic smiles and told her they were sorry she couldn’t join them for their family scarecations. “I’m sure I could sneak you into my trunk,” Draculaura offered. “I’ll hide you under some of my skirts. My dad and Ramoanah would probably never even notice.… They only have eyes for each other!”

  Lagoona knew that Draculaura’s dad had recently gotten married, and she was glad to hear the newlyweds were happy. “That’s sweet of you, Draculaura,” she said with a laugh, and gave her a quick hug, then watched as each of her friends hustled away from the school’s big front gates—off to their exciting spring break adventures. As the last of her friends waved and headed away from Monster High, Lagoona sucked in a deep breath. The smell of Creepateria screechza mixed with an odor of damp stones and pine trees. Lagoona wrinkled her nose.

  In no time, she would be able to smell nothing but ocean water and salt air for a whole week. The humid seawater breezes relaxed and energized her. She could practically feel the cool waves bobbing her surfboard up and down. The sound of her sister’s and brothers’ voices always made her feel happy and loved.

  Pulling her hair into a loose ponytail, Lagoona vowed not to let a little bit of envy get in the way of her fun. “Forget Londoom and Hauntlywood. Spas, cruises, resorts, and Boo York are nothing compared to the beach,” Lagoona said to no one in particular, tossing her backpack over one shoulder. With a casual flip of her hair, she set off toward home. “Sun, sand, surf… here I come!”

  Ahhhhhhhhh…

  There is absolutely nothing better than the smell of fresh ocean air. As much as I love my ghoulfriends, Gil, my mates on swim team, and all the fintastic classes at Monster High, I always feel a little bit like a fish out of water when I’m so far from the beach day after day.

  I’m usually a pretty go-with-the-current kind of ghoul, and there’s not much that can get under my fins—but I’ll be honest about something: I was starting to feel a little bit envious listening to everyone talk about their BIG plans for spring break. I sort of felt like maybe I was the only one without a killer plan.

  But now that I can feel the ocean breeze on my neck, squish the sand between my toes, and smell the salty air, my mood is as creeperific as it usually is. I DO have a killer plan! This week at home is going to be totally fintastic. Last week when I talked to Kelpie about what she wanted to do while we’re both off school, she asked me to help her with her surfing! It’s times like this that being a big sister is so much fun. Kelpie told me she’s been trying so hard to get up on her board in the tiny waves close to shore. She’s managed to stand up for a few seconds at a time, and then she goes belly up on shore. She’s doing great at the baby waves, but the trouble is, Dad told me poor Kelpie gets nervous and freezes up like a fish stick when she gets out into the deep water.

  Kelpie would never admit this to Mom or Dad, but I know what’s bothering her—she’s worried about coming face-to-fins with the Kraken when she’s out in the deeper water alone. Most undersea kids are afraid of the Kraken, so Kelpie has nothing to be embarrassed about, but she still doesn’t want anyone to know. I totally get it. I have my own fears too. Facing your biggest fear can be even harder than standing up on a board for the first time. But just like surfing, once you’ve overcome it, you can’t believe there was a time when you were afraid at all. I know she’ll get over her fear eventually. And I can’t wait to help her get up in some of the monster rollers this week!

  Mom told me the triplets have been giggling nonstop about all the pranks they’re planning to play on me during spring break. Three little brothers with unlimited time on their fins = major mischief. Maybe if I keep them busy on the beach all day—building sand castles, playing screech volleyball, having barbecues—they’ll be so tired at night that they won’t have any energy left to torture me.

  Now, time to slip into my wardrobe for the week—floppies, baggies, and a tank—and hit the beach. The waves are calling!

  Later, mates,

  Lagoona

  Lagoona! Lagoona!” The minute Lagoona got home, three little boys attacked her. Dewey, Squirt, and Tadpole rushed at their sister and flung themselves into her arms. Dewey was soon hanging off her arm, Squirt was wrapped around one of her legs, and Tadpole had somehow managed to get onto her back.

  Tadpole clung to her shoulders and screamed, “Giddyup, sea horse, giddyup!”

  Lagoona laughed, swinging her brothers around and around her family’s small living room. The triplets screamed with glee, their little legs floating this way and that as Lagoona swam around in circles.

  “Goona!” cried Kelpie, swimming into the room. A minute later, Lagoona had yet another sibling attached to her body. Kelpie wrapped her big sister in a hug and looked up into her face. “When are you gonna take me surfing, Goona? When?”

  Lagoona shook her brothers off. They went scampering away like a pack of hermit crabs. Once her arms were free, she returned her sister’s hug. Then she grinned at all four of her little sibs. “G’day, kiddos. Who’s up for a trip to the beach?”

  The three little boys all raised their arms in the air and cheered. “I’m going to make the biggest sand castle you’ve ever seen!” Dewey yelled.

  “It’s low tide,” Tadpole told him. “It’s just gonna get washed away when the tide comes in, bro. Let’s look for critters in tide pools. Lagoona, you’ll pla
y too, right?”

  “Of course,” Lagoona said, ruffling Tadpole’s hair. “Give me a few minutes to say hello to everyone, and then I’ll take you over to the beach.”

  As her brothers rushed off to gather some toys for the beach, Lagoona collapsed on her family’s shell sofa. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the water coming through the open windows. The sounds and smells of the ocean washed over her, and she sat still for a moment, reveling in how truly creeperific it was to be home. Here Down Unda, chilling in the Great Scarrier Reef and on the beach with the sand between her toes, was the perfect place to spend her week off school. And the quality time she would have with her family was the icing on the creepcake!

  “What’s up, ghoul?” Lagoona’s dad, Wade Blue, flipped into the living room and held out his hand for a fist bump. Lagoona jumped up and gave her dad a big squeeze as Kelpie splashed away. Lagoona and her dad had always been close. Their shared love of catching waves had helped to bond them together when she was still just a tadpole. As Lagoona had gotten older, their bond had grown even stronger. The two of them loved fanging out, just being together. They would go for long swims and talk about life.

  “What’s up, Dad? You ready for a week of chilling out with me?” Lagoona asked. “I’m going to take the little dudes to the beach to check out the tide pools. I could probably use an assist, if you’re up for fanging out?”

  “Actually…” her dad said. “Your mother and I have something we need to discuss with you.” Lagoona pulled her eyebrows together. It wasn’t like her dad to sound so serious. He was usually pretty chill, so when she heard a cautious note in his voice, she couldn’t help but worry there was something wrong. “It’s about spring break.”

  “What’s up?” she asked, flopping back onto the sofa.

  Before he could say anything, Lagoona’s mother came into the room. She gave her daughter a welcome-home hug and kiss, then said, “We haven’t told your brothers and sister yet, but…”