Cleo De Nile and the Creeperific Mummy Makeover Page 3

You’ve been really quiet today, Cleo,” Draculaura said, nudging her ghoulfriend and captain during fearleading practice the next afternoon. The ghouls of the fearleading squad had stopped to take a water break and go over the steps one more time. Hard as she tried, Draculaura just couldn’t seem to get the end of the routine down. Cleo was hoping a short break might help her ghoulfriend refocus on the steps, and then they could finally nail the piece.

  “Have I?” Cleo said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She waved at Deuce, who was playing Casketball with some of his friends on the other side of the Monster High gym. With all the excitement over her mother’s arrival and preparations for her welcome-home ball, Cleo hadn’t gotten to speak to him all day. “I guess I’m just worried about perfecting our new dance. I’m also really wrapped up in my mother’s welcome-home ball. It’s going to be a huge event, and I want everything to go perfectly. I’m sure it will, but there are just so many details to figure out that I’m a little distracted.”

  “I’m totes excited about it!” Draculaura squealed. “When does your mother arrive? Are you nervous to see her after so much time has passed?”

  Cleo gave a dismissive wave. She hadn’t told any of her ghoulfriends yet that her mom had already arrived… because she hadn’t quite figured out how to tell them that all the memories of her mom had turned out to be very different from the woman who was now living in their house. She was hoping that after her mother had a day or two to settle in, she might start to resemble the mother Cleo had promised all her friends. “She actually arrived last night,” Cleo said, forcing a smile. “She’s… here!”

  “Is she everything you remembered and more?” Frankie asked eagerly, joining their conversation.

  “Did she bring a huge trunk full of glamorous clothes with her from Egypt?” Draculaura wondered. “I bet Clawdeen will be itching to get her paws on the latest Egyptian fashions!”

  “Mother actually hasn’t had time to unpack yet,” Cleo said quickly. After seeing her mom’s jeans the night before, and the casual (and very wrinkled) linen outfit she was wearing around the house after breakfast that morning, Cleo had a feeling her mom did not have a trunk full of glamorous clothes. She had a terrible feeling her mother had a trunk full of junk.

  But by responding to Draculaura’s question in the way she had, Cleo wasn’t lying to her friends, either—because she didn’t know for sure what kinds of clothes her mother had brought along with her. Her trunk was, in fact, still packed. And Cleo was sure that with time, her mother would adjust back to the de Nile way of life—all luxury and glamour and fashion. Maybe there were a few fashion gems hidden somewhere in her luggage. If not, Cleo would be more than happy to lend her mother a few pieces from her own wardrobe.

  Cleo was just as evasive in answering Frankie. “Oh, it’s been years since we last saw her, so of course she’s changed a bit.” Cleo didn’t add that by “changed a bit” she actually meant “changed completely.” “Most ghouls tend to change at least somewhat with time—I mean, can you imagine if we were still wearing last year’s fashions? It would be a monstrous tragedy.”

  “So where has she been all these years?” asked Draculaura. The little vampire began stretching, which reminded Cleo it was time for the squad to get back to practice. They needed to move things along so Cleo could get home and carry on with preparations for the ball. Cleo hoped that once the time came to tell her mother about the ball, Dedyet de Nile would remember how great her old life was. But before they could tell her about the ball, they had to make sure all the preparations were ready. There was still so much to do!

  While the ghouls on the squad lined up to take their new routine from the top, Cleo said proudly, “My mother has been on a very important archaeological dig! She risked her life to assist a team of researchers and archaeologists.”

  Frankie, Draculaura, and the other girls on the fearleading squad exchanged a surprised look.

  “Digging for treasure, relics, and important artifacts from Egyptian history is very glamorous,” Cleo added, a bit defensively. “She was assisting a team of scientists and learning about our Egyptian scaritage and the importance of history to our future.”

  “Was—was she actually…” Draculaura began timidly. “… doing the digging?”

  Cleo rolled her eyes. “Of course she was actually doing the digging.” Before anyone could press her for more details, Cleo started the music and counted off. “Now let’s get back to work.”

  As the ghouls ran through the routine again, Cleo tried to lose herself in the music. She wasn’t sure why she wasn’t telling her best ghoulfriends more about her mother. Cleo was actually very proud of who her mother had become… but there was still something so unfamiliar about her that she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with all the changes.

  In fact, all day she had been just the teensiest bit worried about the welcome-home ball. After seeing her mother prepare her own snack in the mansion’s kitchen and walk around in a pair of falling-apart slippers, Cleo wasn’t so sure the elaborate party they had been planning was even appropriate anymore. She worried that her mother might find all the extravagance over-the-top. And there was still the burning question of what she would actually wear to the ball.

  But by the time they reached the end of rehearsal, Cleo had managed to put her worries about the ball out of her mind. Because she had more immediate problems—specifically, Draculaura still couldn’t get the steps for their new routine down, no matter how many times they went over it.

  “I’m so sorry, Cleo,” Draculaura said with a sad, little shrug. “I don’t know why I’m having so much trouble with this new routine.”

  Cleo shook her head. “Stop apologizing,” she said, gently scolding her ghoulfriend. One of the things that irritated Cleo was hearing people apologize for things they had no need to apologize for. Draculaura was trying—so there was no reason she should be sorry for her efforts. It wasn’t her fault. It’s not as if she was being lazy or getting distracted. She was putting in her best effort, and still, the routine just wasn’t working. Clearly, something wasn’t clicking for Draculaura. “Why don’t I stay after practice with you, and we can go over the whole thing again? Maybe if we break it down and rehearse the routine piece by piece, it will stick.”

  “Really?” Draculaura asked hopefully as the rest of the squad filed out of the Monster High gym. “But you must have so many other things to do! Your mother just came home, so you must be eager to spend time with her. Don’t you remember how, when we went to my father’s wedding in Transylvania, all I wanted to do was spend time with him after being away from him for many months? And there are all the preparations for the ball you need to complete before this weekend.…” She trailed off, waiting for Cleo to take back her offer to stick around and help. “Don’t you have a coffin-load of homework?”

  But Cleo simply shrugged and said, “If you nail this routine, it’s a good thing for the whole fearleading squad. I’m your captain—and your ghoulfriend—so I’m going to help until you get it. Now let’s get to work and see if we can figure it out before they lock the school gates for the night.”

  “Thanks, Cleo,” Draculaura said, grinning. “I really appreciate it.”

  Cleo turned on the music and began to count off. “Don’t mention it,” she said, flashing a smile back at her ghoulfriend.

  While I was spending a little extra time helping Draculaura get our fearleading squad routine down, I had the most golden idea. Much like Draculaura and our new dance, Mother’s elegance and fashion sense obviously just need a little extra practice. With time—and help from an expert—I’m sure she can dig up her old self. My old mother is in there… she just needs to be uncovered. And since I have had years to perfect being a de Nile, who better to help her than ME?

  If anyone has mastered the art of being royal, it is I (okay, and maybe Nefera—but she’s so unpleasant about her status that she gives royalty a bad name!). Maybe I can help Mom remember what it is to be part of this family by
fixing her up so she can recall what it feels like to be glamorous and important.

  Perhaps part of the reason Mother is so… well… messy is that she has forgotten how to put herself back together. She’s had so many years living in that creepy, old tomb—in the dark! Oh my Ra!—that she hasn’t had to worry about makeup or fashion or skin care.

  Though I know the welcome-home ball will be totally fangtastic, I think there’s something even more important I can do for Mother to truly welcome her home and whisk her back to the life to which she was once accustomed: It’s time for a creeperific mom makeover!

  Cleo

  By the time Cleo left Monster High after an hour of extra practice with Draculaura, she was buzzing with excitement. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of giving her mother a makeover sooner! After all, Dedyet de Nile had practically been buried for years, so she probably desperately needed someone to advise her on how fashion and makeup and hairstyles had evolved while she’d been under wraps on her dig.

  Surely Cleo’s mother hadn’t made a conscious choice to wear the jeans and linen outfit and the awful hairstyle she had arrived in. She just didn’t know any better! Cleo couldn’t wait to restore her mother to her former luster—just like one of the antiques in the de Nile palace! If the two of them worked hard, her mom could be back to her old self before the welcome-home ball, and no one would ever have to see the less-than-glamorous relic Cleo’s mother had become during her time away.

  Cleo couldn’t wait to help fix all her mom’s problems!

  But as she rushed across the Monster High lawn to get home to her mother, Cleo spotted Clawdeen Wolf hustling out of one of the side doors of the school. Clawdeen looked monstrously stressed. “Clawdeen,” Cleo called out to her fashionable ghoulfriend. “I’ve been looking for you for days. You’ve missed lunch three times now, which means you’ve missed my absolutely golden news.”

  Clawdeen took a deep breath. “I’ve had a lot going on the last few days,” she said. “Family stuff.”

  “I have exciting family news too,” Cleo said, momentarily oblivious to Clawdeen’s stressed-out expression. “My mother has returned home after a very extended absence, and my family will be having a ball to welcome her home this weekend. You are, of course, invited.”

  “That’s clawesome, Cleo,” Clawdeen said a bit distractedly. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

  Cleo tilted her head to one side. Something was off about her ghoulfriend, but she wasn’t sure what. “Aren’t you going to ask me if you can design my dress for the event?”

  Clawdeen sighed. “Does that mean you want me to design your dress for the ball?”

  “I would be willing to give you the honor,” Cleo replied with a grin.

  “You know I’d love to—” Clawdeen began.

  “Then it’s settled,” Cleo broke in. “I’d like something gold, perhaps with some hints of green—”

  Clawdeen shook her head. “You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say that I’d love to help, but I’m totally swamped with a project for my sister right now. Clawdia has a big book-launch party she’s going to, and I promised I’d make her something creeperific to wear. I’ve been working on designing her dress for a week, but I just can’t find the right fabric in my supplies or at the fabric store. Between the dress problem and my soccer tournament last weekend and family visiting from out of town this week and a Clawculus exam tomorrow, I just don’t think I’ll have time to design something that will live up to your standards right now. I’m so sorry, Cleo, but I’m sure you can find something creeperific at Neiman Monstrous.”

  “You want me to buy a dress off the rack? Not going to happen,” Cleo said, shuddering. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Cleo said, “Can I see the design for Clawdia’s dress?”

  Clawdeen shifted her things in her arms and pulled out a sketchbook. She opened it to the back pages and showed Cleo the design-in-progress. “I was hoping to find a shimmery fabric, but the problem is, I need something that will also drape well. Clawdia looks great in navy, but I was also considering gold.” Clawdeen paused for a moment to grin at Cleo. “You can never go wrong with gold, right?”

  “Never,” Cleo agreed. She studied Clawdeen’s sketch for another moment, then said, “I think I might have something you could use! Why don’t you come over to my house and take a look in my closet? I have a dress I wore last year that might work perfectly for this. It’s totally last-season, so I’ll never wear it again. You’re welcome to repurpose the fabric for your design if it would work.”

  “I’ve looked everywhere, and I think the fabric I need doesn’t exist… but it’s worth a shot!” Clawdeen said.

  “You haven’t looked everywhere until you’ve looked in my closet,” Cleo replied, linking her arm through Clawdeen’s.

  When the two ghouls arrived at the de Nile palace, Cleo quickly led Clawdeen straight upstairs. They didn’t stop to ask the servants to prepare them a snack, instead rushing through the palace hallways and making their way directly to Cleo’s room.

  As Clawdeen pawed through Cleo’s closet full of old dresses, she said, “Is your mother home now? I’d love to meet her if she is. Maybe—if I can get Clawdia’s dress done in time—I could try to design something clawesome for both of you to wear to the event. I’d love to meet her and see what would best suit her.”

  “Oh,” Cleo said, biting her lip. “She’s, um… not home right now. She’s at the salon, getting a deep condition. See, she’s been on this archaeological dig, and the tomb air really dried out her hair.” The lie just slipped out. Of course Cleo was excited to introduce her mother to her Monster High ghoulfriends, but she really wanted to wait until she’d had a chance to make her over first. The big reveal would have so much more impact if she were restored to her former luster!

  Eager to change the subject, Cleo grabbed the dress she had been thinking of off the hanger. “Here it is,” she said to Clawdeen. “Don’t you think this material would be perfect for Clawdia’s dress?”

  Clawdeen rubbed the fabric between her thumb and forefinger. The soft, shimmery satin was exactly what she had been searching for. “Are you sure about this, Cleo? This dress is beautiful, and it would be ruined if I cut it up to make Clawdia’s dress!”

  Cleo waved her hand dismissively. “I’m absolutely positive. This dress is beautiful, but I just don’t see myself wearing it ever again. Putting the fabric to good use on one of your creeperific designs is much better than letting it get dusty inside my closet. If you can use the fabric, it’s yours.” As she led Clawdeen back to the front door of the palace, Cleo added, “And if you need a model to try it on for you before you send it to Clawdia, you know where to find me. I always like to be the first to wear new fashions, you know.”

  “Oh, I know,” Clawdeen said with a laugh. “Thanks again, Cleo.”

  Moments after she had closed the door behind her ghoulfriend, Cleo heard her mother’s voice from inside the study. “Is that you, Cleo, dear?”

  Cleo made her way to the study, where she found her mom hunched over a pile of old-looking books. Cleo’s mother looked up from the desk, her hair and glasses askew. “Hi, Mom,” Cleo said. “How was your day?”

  “Good, good. Your father has been helping me catalog some of our antiques,” her mother said. “We’ve been having so much fun digging through some of our oldest treasures. We have decided to send a few important pieces to a museum in Boo York—they’re extremely grateful for the loan.” Cleo’s mother pushed her glasses up, then tilted her head to the side. “Did I hear someone else’s voice in the entryway? That wasn’t one of your Monster High ghoulfriends, was it?”

  “Actually, it was,” Cleo said. “Clawdeen Wolf is a fashion designer. I’m helping her with a piece she’s making for her sister.”

  “Why didn’t you introduce me?” her mother asked. “I would love to meet some of your friends from school.”

  “About that,” Cleo said, feeling just the slightest bit nervous all of a s
udden. “I was thinking—don’t you want to look your best before you meet my ghoulfriends?”

  Her mother frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I just mean…” Cleo began, eager to see her mother’s reaction to the makeover idea. “Well, I’ve had an idea—what do you think about my giving you a makeover?”

  “A makeover?” Cleo’s mother repeated, frowning even more deeply.

  “Yes!” Cleo said, clapping her hands excitedly. “I’ll get an appointment at my favorite salon for you to get your hair done—highlights, lowlights, a fresh cut, the works. Then we can set up a meeting with my stylist to put your wardrobe back in order. And, of course, we should stop at the spa for skin treatments and mani-pedis. We can even invite Nefera, if you insist. Afterward, I’ll help you do your makeup, and we can get rid of some of your dusty, old dig wardrobe. Out with the old, in with the new!”

  Dedyet de Nile raked one unmanicured hand through her hair. “I see.”

  Cleo’s smile faded. “You see? See what?”

  “Are you embarrassed to introduce me to your ghoulfriends, Cleo?” her mother asked. “Is that what you’re saying?”

  “No!” Cleo insisted. “I just thought you might want to fix yourself up before you meet everyone. You never get a second chance for a first impression. And if your first impression here in the Boo World is… well, this…” She gestured to her mother’s outfit and hair and makeup-free face.

  Cleo’s mother nodded seriously. “It’s not the impression I ought to be making. Is that what you think?”

  “Exactly,” Cleo said, relieved that her mother agreed. “But we’ll get you fixed up in no time. I can’t wait to help unwrap your true beauty!”

  “So… you would be happy to help me change who I’ve become?” Cleo’s mom asked.

  “Of course! We’ll restore you back to your most beautiful self in no time.”

  Cleo’s mother looked at her daughter for a long moment. When she finally spoke again, her voice was soft but firm. “I’m sorry you feel this way, Cleo. But I’m happy with who I am.”