“Good luck,” Clawdeen called after her, a mischievous smile playing at her lips.
“Say hi for us!” Frankie giggled, waving.
Draculaura waved back. Inside, her dad greeted her at the bottom of the stone steps. They linked arms, and he led her to the cavernous dungeons, where Ramoanah’s parents and family were already gathered. The damp stone walls glowed with pink lights, making the space seem almost cheerful. Draculaura had to admit that everything in the castle was very glamorous and beautiful—it felt like the kind of place where she would like to have her wedding some day.
But unlike today’s wedding, her wedding—to Clawd, of course!—would be filled with all kinds of people from many different parts of her life and many different backgrounds.
“How are you today, dear?” Dracula asked as they walked together through the tunnels under the castle. This was the last time she and her dad would be together as a family of two—after this, there would be three of them.
“I’m happy for you, Dad,” Draculaura answered honestly, giving him a hug. Though she wasn’t happy about starting off on such a rotten note for her life with Ramoanah, she knew that this day wasn’t about her. Her dad was happy, and so she could find a way to survive—for him.
“Draculaura.” Ramoanah stepped forward when she and her father reached the dungeons. Draculaura couldn’t believe how fangulous Ramoanah looked in her sleek black wedding gown with soft pink lace trim and an elaborate, swirling pink train. She might not be very nice, but she certainly was stunningly gore-geous. Ramoanah lifted one arm and gave Draculaura an awkward half hug. It was the warmest greeting she’d given her all weekend. “Thank you for being an important part of our day.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it,” Draculaura said, hugging her back. She wasn’t sure how important she had been. She’d done nothing more than show up and bring in a bunch of Boo World friends, which had apparently not gone over very well. But at least Ramoanah was finally trying to be nice. “You look beautiful, Ramoanah,” Draculaura said honestly.
Ramoanah accepted the compliment with a small smile. “I believe Alexander has already told you that he would rather not be a part of the wedding today?”
“He did,” Draculaura said, her stomach tight. “I’m sorry I messed things up for everyone.”
Ramoanah considered her for a long moment. “You need not apologize. In fact, it is I who should apologize. I’m sorry our relationship has gotten off to a difficult start.”
“Really?!” Draculaura exclaimed. “That means so much to me, you have no idea!”
“I hope you don’t think that I’ve been trying to be unwelcoming,” Ramoanah said, taking her arm. “I believe your father has already explained that my family is very different from yours.”
Draculaura nodded. “I guess I’m a little different from most vampires you know, huh?”
“Yes, you certainly are,” Ramoanah said. “I tried to prepare my family for what was to come, but I’m not quite sure they realized just how different you are from the usual ghouls we spend time with. I will admit that even I was not entirely prepared to meet you. As you know, your dad”—Ramoanah glanced at Dracula—“forgot to tell me you are a vegetarian! I was horrified when I realized we had not provided the right kind of food for you at our welcome gala. If I had realized, I would have made certain we had something special prepared for you. I was so uncomfortable about that oversight!”
“I thought you were mad at me for not eating your fancy dinner that night!” Draculaura said. “I was so worried I was being rude.”
“I certainly was not mad,” Ramoanah replied. “Embarrassed, yes. Did you enjoy the special treats I had delivered for you and your friends yesterday afternoon?”
“You sent us all that delicious food?” Draculaura asked. “We were wondering who had sent that for us! It was perfect!”
“I hope that helped to make up for the welcome gala and for the breakfast we couldn’t invite you to be a part of. I had words with the hotel after the welcome gala, asking them to expand their dining menu for our less-than-traditional guests.” Ramoanah leaned in close and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Please know that I am working on my family too—hopefully, in time, our families will find a way to understand and respect one another.”
“I hope so too.”
“Now, as for Alexander and his rude choice to exclude himself from the wedding…” Ramoanah smiled widely as her voice trailed off. She was looking at someone over Draculaura’s shoulder. “I’ve found you an alternate date. I hope you will find him suitable?”
Draculaura turned—and came face-to-face with Clawd! “Clawd,” she screamed, rushing into her boyfriend’s arms. “What are you doing here?”
“Ramoanah invited me,” Clawd said, bending down so Draculaura could scratch his ears. “She booked me a first-class ticket on the train to Transylvania, and here I am!”
“After the food disaster at the welcome gala, I wanted to find some way to make it up to you. Though my mother does not approve of my decision, I decided that inviting Clawd to join us for the wedding would be the best way to show you that I support your lifestyle in the Boo World.” Ramoanah nodded at Clawd, then said to Draculaura, “You live a very different life than I’m used to, but I want you to know that I am ready to be a part of it. I’m proud of the work your dad does. When I agreed to marry him, I knew it would mean a big change. I hope you can show me how to embrace change, Draculaura—after seeing you make the most of our waltz at the gala, I realized you are obviously very good at making the most of new situations!”
Draculaura cuddled against Clawd and brushed a tear from her eye. “I would love to help you. I think you’re going to love the Boo World when you see how much fun we have!” Her head was swimming as she tried to take all of it in. Then a thought popped into her head. “So, where did you go with my ghoulfriends yesterday?”
“Ah, yes,” Ramoanah said, smiling. “I wanted to make sure the wedding reception would be inclusive of all the guests—not just vampires—but I needed some help with that, and I thought your friends would be the best ones to go to for advice. I hope you will love all the things we came up with to make this a wedding celebration that everyone can enjoy!”
“I can’t wait,” Draculaura said happily. “If my friends were involved, I bet it’s going to be fangtastic!” She stepped out of Clawd’s arms long enough to wrap one arm around her dad and another around her new stepmomster. “But first, who’s ready to say ‘I do’?!”
That was the most amazing wedding ever! Everything was so beautiful—Ramoanah’s dress, the beautiful black roses, fireflies and pink silk everywhere, my sweetie in a tux!!! And the food—oh my ghoul, the food. Yesterday, I guess my ghoulfriends gave Ramoanah a ton of suggestions for delicious bites she could serve to non-vampires, and she ordered everything! We ate like queens in the castle—macagroany and cheese bites, boo-cumber salad, chocolate-and-strawberry fon-boo, a sculpture of the Transylvanian mountains made out of FRUIT. It was amazing.
One of the best parts of the whole wedding was the music! My super brilliant ghoulfriends suggested that Ramoanah let some of Elissabat’s Hauntlywood people plan the wedding sound track. Instead of boring old waltzes all night—the usual vampire wedding tradition—they totally mixed things up. Even Ramoanah joined us on the dance floor with Elissabat when the theme song from the new Vampire Majesty boo-vie played. And Frankie went electric when my cousin Dragos invited her to dance!
(Even though snobby Alexander refused to come out and dance with everyone, I could totes tell he wanted to. Maybe someday he’ll come around. Then he’ll realize how much he’s missing out on in the Boo World!)
This has been a wedding weekend I won’t forget! But I guess I’d better go pull Cleo away from the Hauntlywood cameras. We’ve got to get on the next train back to Monster High. It’s been fun visiting Transylvania, but I think I’ve spent enough time with traditional vampires this weekend to last another unlifetime. Well, at lea
st until we have to have the holidays with Ramoanah’s family…that should be, um, interesting?
Here’s what I’ve discovered this weekend: Maybe Ramoanah isn’t exactly warm and fuzzy (like my Clawd!), but I think she and I are going to get along just fine once we get to know each other better. It’s definitely going to be fangulous having a stepmomster around—maybe she and I can finally persuade Dad to get a pink sofa?!
A ghoul can dream, right?
Smooches,
Draculaura
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Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Mattel, Inc. All rights reserved. MONSTER HIGH and associated trademarks are owned by and used under license from Mattel, Inc.
Cover art by Yulia Rumyantseva
Cover design by Véronique Lefèvre Sweet
In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
First ebook edition: August 2015
ISBN 978-0-316-30085-8
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Monster High Diaries: Draculaura and the New Stepmomster Page 6
