Monster High

by Perdita Finn

  Draculaura sighed with relief. Gob pounded on his desk. He wanted to eat everything.

  “Can anyone tell me why?” Dracula asked the class.

  Draculaura raised her hand. “Perhaps because they’re vegetarians like me,” she suggested.

  “That’s one guess,” answered Dracula. “Anyone else?”

  Moanica’s hand was raised. “I have a question.”

  “Yes?” answered Dracula.

  “Why do we care?” She smiled. The Zomboyz laughed mindlessly.

  Even worse, some of the other Monster High students chuckled and smiled. This upset Draculaura. She stood up at her desk. “We might want to live among humans someday! It’s important that we understand them!”

  “Humans?” sneered Moanica. “Why don’t we just eliminate them? It’s a whole lot easier than groveling at their feet to make peace, don’t you think?”

  The class roared with laughter.

  “Easier? Perhaps. But the easy way isn’t always the best way. Or the right way.” said Dracula.

  The bell rang.

  As Moanica sauntered out of the room, ghouls and guys clustered close to her.

  “I hope my dad’s right,” worried Draculaura. “Because this election is not going to be easy.”

  Chapter 14

  Zombie vs. Vampire

  Gob scuttled toward the vending machine. But someone had covered it with chains and padlocks. There was no way for him to sneak more snacks. He shook the vending machine in frustration.

  Someone was standing right behind him. Someone was whispering in his ear. “Who cares about consequences? It’s better to take what you want than ask permission. The humans have all the snacks you could ever desire.” Moanica was luring Gob out the front door of Monster High.

  “Right down the road,” she told him as she pushed him down the front steps. She laughed to herself. This was going to be fun.

  Later in the day, Draculaura stood on those same steps, getting ready for a debate with Moanica. She approached the podium. She looked out at a sea of faces.

  Her father introduced the candidates. “First up, running for copresidents, the incredible founders of Monster High. Please give a warm welcome to Draculaura and Frankie Stein!”

  The students stomped and clapped, roared and cheered. The Zomboyz booed. Clawdeen turned around and bared her teeth, growling.

  Draculaura tapped the mic. She cleared her throat. “My fellow monsters. It seems like just yesterday that this building was just an old abandoned house, one that my dad and I worked hard to make a home. But it wasn’t until we created Monster High that I truly felt at home.”

  Frankie leaned close to the mic. “And now we want to bring that feeling to the entire world. If elected, we promise to bring monsters and humans closer together.”

  “With outreach programs and field trips and seminars and sports and all kinds of fun-ness that we can share!” added Draculaura. “You see, whether you’re a Normie or a monster…”

  “A creepy crawlie or a beastie…” Frankie smiled.

  “A vote for Frankie and Drac is a vote for kindness…”

  “And understanding!” Frankie finished for her.

  “A vote for Frankie and Drac is a vote for monsters and Normies getting along together!” Draculaura was inspiring. Monsters in the crowd were nodding their heads in agreement.

  “So if you’ve ever felt a little bit wacky…”

  In the audience, Bonesy looked up.

  “Or a little bit strange…”

  Woolee nodded her tusks.

  “Monster High is here for you!” exclaimed Frankie. “A place where what makes you weird is what makes you unique!”

  Moanica stood up. “Impossible!”

  Draculaura defended herself. “Not impossible. Just challenging.”

  There was polite applause from the students.

  Dracula took the mic. “Our next candidate Moanica D’Kay…”

  But before he could say anything else, Moanica had leaped onstage and grabbed the microphone out of his hands.

  “Needs no introduction,” she announced to the crowd. “I’m not gonna try to tell you some mumbo-jumbo dream about living side by side with humans. Let’s get real. These ghouls claim it’s all about coming out of hiding in the dark. If I’m elected, I’ll make sure we never have to hide from the humans because they’ll be hiding from us! Vote for Moanica. Vote for monster pride!”

  “What’s so great about a world where everyone is afraid of us?” wondered Draculaura out loud.

  Moanica shook her head. “You just don’t get it. You’ve never been out in the real world like I have. You’re too busy loving the Normies from the safety of your room.”

  Moanica hopped off the stage, still holding the microphone. “You think Normies are your friend?”

  She was standing in front of Woolee.

  “When was the last time you left Monster High?” asked Moanica.

  Woolee wouldn’t meet her eyes.

  “Don’t have an answer do you?” said Moanica.

  “Cheap shot!” shouted Frankie. “She doesn’t talk!”

  “She doesn’t have to,” Moanica shot back. “None of you have left Monster Hill. Face it. You’re all still in hiding. The only difference is now you’re hiding together.”

  The Zomboyz began chuckling together, as if on cue.

  Dracula was about to step in, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gob disappearing with the entire vending machine on his back. He ran after him.

  Moanica was still talking into the microphone. “Humans don’t wanna live peacefully with us. So you can believe me, or you can believe a Normie lover. Have you seen her bedroom?” She pointed at Draculaura. “It’s practically a shrine to that Normie pop star Tash. But something tells me that Drac’s precious Tash doesn’t share the love for us monsters.”

  “You don’t even know her!” Draculaura was so upset.

  “And you do?” countered Moanica. “You think that Normie’s your friend? Prove it.”

  Draculaura’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

  “Get Tash to come to our dance,” dared Moanica. “Prove that she won’t take one look at your monster face and scream.”

  Draculaura surveyed the audience. More than a few students were now standing by the Zomboyz, wearing Moanica pins. Her followers were growing.

  Moanica was facing down Draculaura. “Just one appearance, and I’ll take myself out of the race.”

  Cleo was shaking her head. No. No. No. But Draculaura wasn’t looking at her.

  “Fine!” agreed Draculaura.

  Chapter 15

  Freak-Out

  A tour bus rumbled down a deserted country road. Tash’s face was emblazoned on the side of the bus.

  Just after the bus had passed, Lagoona emerged from behind a boulder. She took off on a skateboard. She caught up to the back of the bus, grabbed hold of the fender, and hung on. She peered through the back window.

  Tash was sitting alone. She was checking her phone.

  Lagoona pulled out a coffin-shaped walkie-talkie. “The eagle is in the nest,” she reported. “I repeat. The eagle is in the nest. Over.” She put the walkie-talkie back in her pocket and got ready for the game plan. “Now it’s time for Operation: Bus Sabotage!” she whispered to herself.

  Clawdeen transformed into a werewolf. She jumped into the middle of the road just ahead of the bus. She snarled. The bus screeched to a stop. It swerved. Frankie snuck over to the hood. Sparks blazed from the engine. The engine died. The tour bus door opened, and the driver and Tash’s manager got out.

  “Did you see that?” exclaimed the driver. “Something was on the road.”

  The manager was throwing up his hands. “The bus is busted? Do not tell me that bus is busted. We got a gig here, people!”

  On the other side of the bus, Lagoona was hoisting Draculaura up to the window. “Quick,” Cleo urged.

  The manager was complaining. “Time is money—let’s g
o. Let’s go! What? What? Am I the only one being honest here?”

  Draculaura looked through the bus window. Tash was still looking at her phone. Draculaura tapped on the window. Tash looked around. “What was that?”

  “Um…it’s a fan!” whispered Draculaura. “Your biggest actually.”

  At first, Tash didn’t seem to see anyone, and then her eyes spotted Draculaura. She smiled. “You want an autograph?”

  Draculaura couldn’t believe it. “You would do that?”

  “Of course.” Tash smiled sweetly. She opened the window and stuck her head out. “Anything for my biggest—”

  She stopped in midsentence. Draculaura’s vampire fangs were glimmering in the moonlight.

  Tash gasped. “Fangs? You are a…You’ve got to get out of here.” Tash looked up and then back at Draculaura. She wasn’t scared. In fact, she seemed almost apologetic.

  “But, but—” Draculaura hadn’t asked her about the dance.

  “Go, I said!” ordered Tash. “Just go!”

  “Please…” begged Draculaura.

  “Go.” Tash started to scream. She screamed at the top of her lungs. She kept on screaming.

  Drac retreated.

  Tash’s manager came running back on to the bus. “Tash, what is going on?”

  The ghouls scrambled away from the bus as fast as they could.

  Except for Draculaura. She turned into a bat and perched on the top of the bus. She felt betrayed. Her idol was terrified of her. Maybe Moanica was right.

  Chapter 16

  Snack Attack

  Moanica was entertaining the Zomboyz in the student lounge with jokes and gossip. “And then the humans ran away screaming,” she said. “It was so funny.”

  The Zomboyz laughed. Because they had to. They were her minions.

  The doors to the lounge swung open. Draculaura and the ghouls were back. Had they been successful? There was a hushed silence in the room.

  “Well?” asked Moanica. “How’d it go? We’re all dyyyyying to hear.”

  Draculaura was pale. She could hardly speak. “I…She…Tash,” she stuttered.

  Moanica pretended to understand what she was saying. “She’s here?” she asked with fake surprise. “I can’t wait to meet her. Tash! Big fan! Hello? Tash?”

  Draculaura was defeated. She couldn’t look at anyone.

  Moanica mocked her. “Your precious Normie took one look at you and went running for the hills. Guess I won’t be dropping out of the race after all.”

  Moanica clapped her hands, getting everyone’s attention. “You hear that everyone? The election is back on!”

  Draculaura ran out of the lounge toward her room. Moanica is a horrible, no good, very bad, awful monster, she thought. She threw herself into her coffin. The only problem was that Moanica was right. She had scared Tash. Maybe monsters and humans weren’t meant to live together. Maybe we are all just too different.

  The ghouls followed Draculaura out of the lounge, but Rayth stopped Clawdeen. She spun around as he grabbed her arm.

  “What is it, Rayth?” she asked. “Now’s not the best time.”

  Rayth seemed nervous. “Oh, I, um, was just wondering if you’d be at the Monster High ball.”

  “You really think the dance is gonna happen once Moanica’s in charge?” Clawdeen couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “Guess I should cancel the chocolate goblin fountain.” Cleo was so disappointed.

  “She hasn’t won yet,” said Rayth.

  It was true. All that night, the Monster High students hit the ballot box. The results wouldn’t be known until the next day.

  Still, Draculaura was pretty sure that she knew what was going to happen. The ghouls tried to cheer her up, but it was no use.

  “There’s still a chance,” said Clawdeen halfheartedly.

  “Right,” agreed Lagoona. “You never know.”

  Venus burst into Draculaura’s room. “Ghouls, you’ve got to see this,” she exclaimed.

  They hurried to the lounge, where all the students were hovering around a giant TV screen. Dracula looked troubled. The monsters were watching a Normie news show.

  Someone had vandalized a convenience store. All the cookies and snacks had been stolen. Slime covered the empty shelves. “Some disturbing news has hit our quiet village,” announced a reporter. “Police have released this rather unusual sketch of the suspect.”

  On the screen flashed a roughed-out sketch of someone who looked almost exactly like Gob. If Gob were a human being.

  “There seems to be an abundance of goo at the scene,” the reporter continued. “Uh, if you have any information regarding the suspect, please contact the police.”

  Dracula turned off the television.

  Moanica cackled. “Ha! Ha! Good job, Gob! Now that’s what I call monster pride!”

  “I knew opening this school was a bad idea,” Dracula fretted. “Now we’re in danger.”

  “What are you saying?” asked Cleo.

  “As soon as they follow the trail, they’ll end up here and expose us all. Monster High is done for.”

  Clawdeen couldn’t believe it. “But this is my home. Our home! Together.”

  “I’m sorry, ghouls.” Draculaura was close to tears. “This school was probably all just a stupid dream.”

  Gob, lurking in the back of the room, looked upset too. What had he done? Oh no. Oh no.

  Chapter 17

  The Results Are In!

  Clawdeen flung open the curtains in Draculaura’s room. Light poured in. All the ghouls jumped on to her coffin trying to wake her up.

  “Draculaura!” shouted Clawdeen.

  Draculaura shielded her eyes from the sunlight. “What are you doing?” she asked groggily. “What time is it?”

  “Time to wake up,” announced Cleo.

  Even when Draculaura was dressed and ready, she still didn’t understand why her friends had woken her up so early.

  “Because, ghoul, a president’s got work to do,” explained Clawdeen.

  Draculaura yawned. “Class doesn’t start for another…President?”

  “Well, copresident technically.” Frankie grinned.

  The student lounge was packed with staff and students. The room was decorated with pink and black and electric-blue balloons, Draculaura and Frankie’s favorite colors. As the ghouls walked into the room, the crowd began to clap and cheer.

  “But I don’t get it,” said Draculaura. “I thought the whole school voted for Moanica.”

  Cleo shook her head, laughing. “The students believe in your dream.”

  Moanica was scowling. The Zomboyz were imitating her. One angry Zomboy punched his fist into his palm.

  Moanica wasn’t going to just accept defeat. “Dreamers, all of them,” she hissed to the Zomboyz. “It’s time to wake them up.” She snapped her fingers. The Zomboyz grunted and followed her right away, except for one who slugged down a last sip of coffee. Zombies love coffee!

  Dracula made his way through the still-cheering crowd to his daughter. “Congratulations, Madame President!” He gave Draculaura a big hug. He turned to Frankie. “And Madame Copresident.”

  “I guess we better enjoy it while it lasts,” sighed Draculaura. “Once the village police department finds out who robbed the convenience store, we’re gonna have to say bye-bye to Monster High.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that,” said Frankie confidently. “I think somebody has something to confess.”

  An embarrassed Gob shuffled over to Frankie and Draculaura.

  “Gob returned everything he stole last night,” Frankie explained.

  Someone switched on the television, and it was true. All the snacks had been returned. Of course, everything was covered in a sticky green goo. But still.

  “Breaking news,” announced a reporter. “It appears that everything previously stolen in last night’s robbery has been returned mostly unharmed.”

  Draculaura was relieved. “You returned everything?” sh
e asked Gob. “I could hug you, except I’m wearing my favorite dress.”

  “We may be monsters,” said Dracula sternly, “but we’re still civilized. And Gob is still in trouble.”

  Gob looked down at this feet, ashamed. He reached into his tummy and pulled out a slimy apple. He handed it to Dracula.

  To his credit, Dracula accepted the gift. He even took a bite of it. He smiled. Not bad!

  Cleo stepped in. “We could have Gob work catering for the dance…as a punishment.”

  Gob seemed to love that idea! He nodded enthusiastically.

  Draculaura’s face lit up. She’d just realized something. “The school dance is back on. Yes! Nothing can stop us now.”

  Rayth smiled at Clawdeen. He’d had faith the dance would happen.

  What he didn’t know was that Moanica had led her Zomboyz to the outskirts of the village where they were waiting. They stepped into the road. Tash’s tour bus screeched to a halt. Moanica stepped forward. “Who wants to go to a party?” she announced with an evil laugh.

  Chapter 18

  Attack of the Living Dead

  There was only one thing better than a monster ball—getting ready for the monster ball. The ghouls were prepping in Draculaura’s room. Clawdeen brought in a clothing rack filled with funky creepy-chic dresses. Draculaura had decorated with pink and black. Frankie had brought pink and black snacks.

  “Hey, ghouls!” exclaimed Clawdeen. “Get ready to dance the fright away.” She switched on some music and invited her friends to start trying on outfits.

  But they really needed her fashion sense. Oh, did they ever!

  She gave Frankie a different pair of boots, helped Cleo with her jewelry, and suggested a new hairstyle to Draculaura.