Frankie Stein and the New Ghoul at School Read online

“Excellent,” Mr. Stein said. “Let’s head up to the kitchen and discuss it over a coffincino. Your mom is always telling me I should step out of the lab for a few minutes each day to get some fresh air. Sound good?”

  “Yes. And I agree with Mom. You spend so much time down here. I could help you redecorate the space a little bit—add a few personal touches, so it’s not so… ‘lab-ish’?”

  “What’s wrong with ‘lab-ish’?” Mr. Stein asked.

  Frankie took another look around. The space was filled with rusty machines and colorful beakers of liquid and creations that were half-assembled. In its own way, the lab was pretty creeperific. It was certainly decorated in a different style than Draculaura’s castle or Cleo de Nile’s elegant palace, but Frankie liked it and realized she felt comfortable here. Maybe lab chic was her thing?

  Back upstairs, Frankie got herself a snack and settled in at the table across from her dad. Frankie’s mom looked up from her book and smiled. “Good morning, sweetheart. Anything special planned for today?”

  Frankie briefly told her parents how she was hoping to be chosen as one of the Monster Exchange program buddies. “I would love to show one of the new ghouls around school!”

  “Well,” said her mom, “it sounds like a really nice way to help out. I’m glad you’re stepping up to be a part of it.”

  Frankie’s dad took a sip of his coffincino and coughed. “Hot! Ow, that’s hot! I really ought to build a coffincino machine that brews coffee at just the right temperature. It comes out of our machine too hot.” He ripped a scrap of paper off the bottom of Frankie’s mom’s newspaper and jotted a note to himself.

  “Perhaps,” Mrs. Stein suggested, giving him a sideways look, “if you just took a moment to sit and relax while your coffee cooled, you wouldn’t always burn yourself. You are allowed to slow down and relax every now and again.…”

  Mr. Stein grinned sheepishly. “I could do that too. But there’s just so much to do, and so little time!” He turned to Frankie. “You said you wanted to talk about something. Now, what’s on your mind?”

  “I have such a voltageous idea I can hardly stand it!” She pushed aside her plate and continued. “I’d like to work with you to build something of my very own in the lab!” The smile that crept onto her dad’s face made Frankie’s heart swell with happiness. “We were assigned a project over the scaremester break. It’s an independent study project of our choice—and I want to do something that will show the other students at Monster High who I am and what it’s like to be in my family. I think the best way to show everyone a little something about who we are would be to build something in the lab! With you, Dad! We get to present our project on Monday, the day we get back from break.”

  Frankie’s dad was nodding enthusiastically as he took in everything his daughter had said, but her mom looked less excited. Frankie’s mom spoke first. “This project is due on Monday? And we’re just hearing about it… now? That’s three days away!”

  Frankie shrugged. “Um, yes?”

  “Frankie, this is so last-minute!” her mother scolded. “You’re usually much better about staying on top of your homework.”

  “I know,” Frankie said with a sigh. “It took me a long time to come up with the perfect idea. But it can be done! Right, Dad?”

  Mr. Stein gulped down the last of his still-scalding coffincino. He cringed, his face turning bright red from the burning coffee. “So hot!” he cried, then leaped to his feet. “But a few coffee burns are certainly worth it, in the name of science and inventions. Of course this can be done, Frankie! No challenge is too great for a great inventor. But if we’re going to make something truly spooktacular, we need to get started right away.”

  “That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” Frankie cheered.

  Frankie’s mom couldn’t help but smile at her husband’s and daughter’s enthusiasm. “All right, it sounds like you two had better get to work!” she said. “But, Frankie, keep in mind that leaving things until the last minute is never a good idea. Please try harder to stay on top of your assignments and responsibilities in the future.…”

  Frankie met her mom’s eyes and nodded solemnly. “I promise, Mom.”

  “Okay, then get to work!” her mom replied, giving her a quick hug.

  Feeling so excited that her stitches could burst, Frankie made her way down to the lab after her father. “So, here’s what I was thinking,” she began. “What if I build myself a new pet? I feel so bad about leaving Watzit home alone while I’m at school all day, and it could be fun for us to create a new little critter for him to play with. What do you think?”

  “Hmmm,” Mr. Stein said. “A new pet, eh?”

  “Or we could try to make me a sister?” she said with a sly smile. “Or a brother. A little brother could be just as interesting as a sister.…”

  “Frankie,” Mr. Stein said in a warning tone. “You know that’s out of the question at the moment. My work to build you took years, and we only have three days, so we need to be reasonable—”

  Frankie nodded, giggling. “I know, I know. I just like to remind you, every now and again, that it would be nice to have a sister or brother sometime.”

  Mr. Stein shook his head. “Enough discussion of siblings for now. Don’t you think we already make a nice little family of three? You’re certainly more amazing than your mother and I ever could have hoped for.”

  Frankie laughed. “Just consider it—but for now, do you think we really could make another pet? Watzit would be so excited!” At her feet, Watzit sat and wagged his tail happily. “See? He loves the idea of me building him a new fiend!”

  “I suppose a new pet is a possibility,” Mr. Stein replied. “Have you drawn up any plans? Of course, that’s the first step to every great invention: a plan!”

  “As a matter of fact, I have,” Frankie said proudly. She had been watching her father’s work closely enough from afar that she already knew how important it was to plan before just jumping into things. She grabbed the designs she had sketched the night before and that morning and set them on the lab bench. “Ta-da!”

  Mr. Stein leaned in close. Frankie waited nervously for him to say something. Eventually, he murmured, “Ah yes… I see… I like what you’ve done here. Yes, yes, this is brilliant.”

  “Really?” Frankie squealed. She had drawn up designs for a tiny critter, just about the same size as Watzit. Her body would be stitched together using spare parts that were lying around the lab—there were plenty to choose from! Frankie had seen some creeperific plaid fabric in Clawdeen’s bedroom and hoped she might be able to persuade her friend to sew her new pet and Watzit matching sweaters. They would be so scary-cute! She was thrilled to hear that her dad was impressed.

  “Before we begin,” Mr. Stein said, bustling around the lab, “I need to go through some important rules for the lab. Safety is essential, of course—and I want you to feel totally comfortable while you’re working in here. When an inventor feels relaxed and confident in the lab, that’s when the best ideas emerge.”

  For the next hour, Mr. Stein walked Frankie all around the lab, showing her how everything worked. He introduced her to machines whose names she couldn’t pronounce, and let her touch substances that were so powerful that—if mixed incorrectly—could destroy Monster High.

  Frankie was overwhelmed by everything and quickly realized that what her father did for a living was way more complicated than she had realized. But as he spoke, she took careful notes and felt like she was really able to follow along. She was totally at home in the lab—just like her dad—and couldn’t wait to get started!

  She was so eager, in fact, that when her dad stepped around to the back of a machine to fix a loose wire and it took longer than a few moments, Frankie decided to start working on her project on her own. She grabbed the welder her dad had showed her how to use and fused two pieces of sheet metal together into something that would work perfectly as the back and shoulders of her new pet. Then she found four tubes that wou
ld work as legs and began sawing at them to make them equal lengths. She didn’t want any rough edges, so Frankie carefully buffed them all until they were smooth. She could feel the energy coursing through her body—the lab made her feel every bit as alive as a full electrical charge. No wonder her dad loved inventing so much!

  Mr. Stein stood proudly to the side and watched as his daughter rushed around the lab, pushing buttons and letting sparks fly. Her hair stood on end, and her skin glowed an even brighter green than usual. Though Frankie still had a lot to learn, her dad chose to stay out of her way so she could learn through trial and error. After all, he knew his greatest inventions had come after many false starts.

  Frankie flipped a switch on one of the machines and felt a jolt. Zap! She was blasted backward. She crashed into the lab table behind her, sending a beaker filled with lime-green goo spilling onto the table. The thick liquid oozed over the table’s black surface, leaving a bright green trail in its wake. Several drops of the goo splattered onto the floor, where they exploded with a pop!

  Now Mr. Stein jumped into action. He grabbed a cloth and tossed it onto the spill—but he wasn’t quite fast enough. Some of the green goo had oozed under a pile of spare parts that were waiting to be used for something later. Coated in the thick green liquid, the spare parts began to zap and fizz like fireworks. Frankie and her dad dived for cover under a lab bench.

  Frankie’s eyes were wide. She felt awful! This was her first time working in the lab, and she had scared up a disaster. “I’m so sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean for this to happen! I can’t believe I made such a big mistake.…”

  But to her relief, Mr. Stein laughed. “Frankie, this is all part of being an inventor—sometimes, things go according to plan; other times, they do not. It’s all part of the process!”

  Another pop rocked the room, and the buzzing sounds intensified. Mr. Stein shrugged his shoulders and said, “Luckily, this is all easily fixed. No worries, dear.” He patted Frankie on the cheek. “Your next task is to clean up and begin again. After all, nothing great was ever created without a few problems along the way.”

  I’m having the beast time working with my dad in the lab! We spent all afternoon yesterday working on the moving parts for my new pet. I decided to call this little critter Zappit… because it seems like every time I make a mistake, one of Dad’s machines zaps me! There’s been a lot of zapping going on!

  We only have today and tomorrow left to finish up, and then it will be time for my creeperific reveal. I’m so happy my ghoulfriends and I came up with this idea for my fall project. Of course, I had no idea just how hard it would be to bring a little creature to life. I’m amazed at everything my dad has been able to accomplish in his lab over the past few years. No wonder it seems like he’s always working—inventions take a monstrous amount of time!

  I’m building Zappit out of some mint-green spare parts I found around the lab that match my skin color perfectly. I’m combining them with a few parts Dad had left over from when he created Watzit. So Zappit’s coloring will be a voltageous combo of me and Watzit! And, of course, just like the two of us, she’ll have one blue eye and one green eye.

  This morning, when we tried to power up Zappit, she let out the most adorable little growl, and when she moved, it almost seemed as if she were dancing. Then she short-circuited, and I had to turn her off for further adjustments—but as Dad pointed out, these are all important hiccups that need to be overcome for a successful invention!

  Zappit still has a few glitches, but I think she should be done in time for me to take her into school on Monday for my presentation. My little creation and I are going to knock everyone dead during my presentation!

  Frankie

  Frankie and her dad had been working in the lab almost nonstop for over a day. Frankie hadn’t even stopped to sleep, but she did hook herself up for a full charge late in the night after they’d been working for many hours. By Saturday afternoon, Mrs. Stein forced Frankie to reemerge from the basement to have some lunch. Reluctantly, she climbed up the steps feeling both weary and excited.

  “Have you heard from Headmistress Bloodgood about the Monster Exchange buddy program yet?” her mom asked as Frankie sat down for lunch. As soon as she started digging in to the grilled cheese her mom had made for her, she realized just how hungry she was!

  “Not yet—but I haven’t even had time to check in with her,” Frankie admitted between bites. She’d been so wrapped up in her lab work that she had almost forgotten about her conversation with the headmistress. She scarfed down the rest of her sandwich, plus an apple and a chocolate chip cookie, then logged on to check her e-mail. Yes! There it was. “Mom, I’m in!” She scanned the e-mail, learning that she was to report to the headmistress’s office first thing Monday to meet her new buddy.

  Mrs. Stein hustled over and read the e-mail over Frankie’s shoulder. “Isi Dawndancer? What an interesting name.”

  Frankie buzzed with excitement. “She sounds voltageous!”

  Mrs. Stein laughed. “You don’t know anything about her.”

  “But if she wants to come to Monster High, she must be voltageous, right? I can’t wait to introduce her to everyone and show her around. Wouldn’t it be exciting if she were interested in joining the Fearleading squad? Of course, if she’s not a great dancer, it’s no big deal—I’ll teach her everything she needs to know. And she can sit with us at lunch, and maybe we can take her shopping this weekend for some spooktacular new clothes—”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Mrs. Stein warned. “You’re just like your dad, Frankie. You let your excitement about new things energize you so much you have a hard time winding down.” She smiled at her daughter. “I’m so happy you’ve volunteered to be a part of this, though. It’s great to see you fitting in so well at Monster High.”

  Frankie smiled back. She really was having a creeperific time at Monster High. She loved her classes, and she adored her ghoulfriends. Draculaura and Clawdeen had made her feel like part of the group from her very first day—freaky flaws and everything—and now she would have the opportunity to pay it forward. She was sure Isi Dawndancer would become one of her closest ghoulfriends too in no time.

  Watzit pawed at Frankie’s leg, and she bent down to give him a scratch. “Is it time to get back to the lab, little one?” she cooed. “I bet you’re ready for me to finish Zappit so you two can play, huh? Are you?” Of course, Watzit didn’t answer. But Frankie was pretty sure he was as excited about her invention as she was. Who didn’t love new fiends?

  She grabbed a second cookie off the counter and dashed out of the kitchen. “Heading back to the lab, Mom. See you for dinner. Maybe.”

  “Don’t drain your batteries too much,” her mom called after her. “You need to save some of your energy for school on Monday!”

  “I won’t,” Frankie hollered back. She raced down to the lab, ready to get back to work. When she got downstairs, she found her dad was busy working on one of his own projects on the far side of the lab. So Frankie picked up just where she’d left off with Zappit, and she and her dad worked side by side for the next few hours. Every so often, Mr. Stein would lean over and make a suggestion when it was clear Frankie was stuck. But for the most part, Frankie worked independently. She had gone from stranger to expert in the lab! She felt like she was made to do this sort of work, and in a way, she was!

  After she had been working for a while, Frankie set up a little bed for Watzit on the floor so he would feel like he was in on the action too. As she worked, Frankie snapped pictures of the progress she was making. She wanted to be able to show her classmates what it took to build her creation when she presented it to the class on Monday. No one would believe how much work it took to build a little critter!

  Frankie swelled with pride when—finally—hours after her family’s usual dinner time, she was able to announce, “It’s alive!” The little critter Frankie had created stretched, yawned, and released a small growl. Watzit ju
mped out of his bed and stared at the little beast, yapping madly as the new creature danced and wiggled around in circles atop the lab table. Frankie leaned down and whispered, “Shhhh, it’s okay, Watzit. This is your new friend! I think you two are going to be beast fiends forever, aren’t you? Aren’t you? I made her just for you!”

  Zappit growled at Watzit, then Watzit hid behind Frankie’s legs. Frankie laughed, picked up her new pet, and snuggled her close against her chest. Zappit squirmed, and Frankie let her down to shimmy across the tabletop again. Frankie couldn’t believe she had done it—her very first invention. It was alive!

  Mr. Stein clapped and congratulated her. “A job well done! You should be very proud. You’re a natural in the lab.”

  “Do you think so?” Frankie asked, but she knew the answer. She was a natural in the lab. She should have joined her father ages ago! She would have to thank her teachers for assigning the fall project—without it, she might never have realized what a great inventor she was! She couldn’t wait to figure out what she might create next. Suddenly, the exhaustion of the last few days caught up to her. Frankie yawned, then collapsed on one of the chairs nearby.

  “You’re fried,” her dad said.

  Frankie yawned again. “You’re right. I’m totally drained.” She began to clean up her mess, but her dad held out his hand to stop her.

  “I’ll clean up,” he said. “You should get some rest. Take tomorrow to relax, download your pictures, and put together your presentation for school on Monday.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” Frankie tucked a squirming Zappit under her arm and began to head toward her room with Watzit close at her heels.

  “Frankie,” her dad said, chasing after her. “Zappit needs to spend a few hours in the lab before you can play with her. She needs a full charge to work properly. Let her rest here overnight, and the two of you can get to know each other in the morning.”

  “Really?” Frankie sighed. “But I wanted to bring her into my room tonight so she and Watzit could play!”