Ghoulfriends Just Want to Have Fun Read online

  “Unfortunately, we can’t go inside until Rochelle’s friends Jinafire and Skelita arrive. You see, she promised to show them around on their first day,” Robecca explained as Penny and the saliva-spraying troll engaged in a staring contest, which the mechanical penguin quickly won.

  “Listen up, non-adult entities. Your information is wrong. Jinafire Long, the dragon from Fanghai, and Skelita Calaveras, the calaca from Hexico, arrived at the dormitory late last night, at which time I promptly assigned them to the Chamber of Hairy and Scary.”

  Upon hearing this news, Venus’s nose twitched as her pollens of persuasion rumbled just beneath the surface. Equally annoyed, Robecca released cotton ball–size puffs of steam from her ears. Having sensed her ghoulfriends’ extreme aggravation, Rochelle averted her eyes, desperate to avoid their accusatory glares.

  “Je ne comprends pas! We had a plan! I was supposed to show them around!” Rochelle declared as she nervously tapped her perfectly manicured claws against the wrought-iron gate.

  “Rochelle, I do hate to be a pest, but would you mind telling us exactly what they said to you?” Robecca asked as her steam sputtered to a stop.

  “When we said au revoir at the scareport in Scaris, they told me how happy they were to have someone who could show them the ropes at Monster High.”

  “And?” Venus interjected in a less-than-friendly tone.

  “And seeing as such an activity would logically be handled immediately upon arrival, we’ve been waiting patiently for them at the gate,” Rochelle explained in her typical even-keeled tone.

  “Rochelle, I do not wish to be rude. However…” started Robecca.

  “Robecca, I’ve got this. I have no problem being rude. Actually, in this instance, I might even enjoy it,” Venus said, turning toward Rochelle. “That was not, nor will it ever be, considered a plan. Jinafire and Skelita didn’t consider it a plan. Robecca and I wouldn’t have considered it a plan. And do you know why? Because it’s not a plan!” the green-skinned monster huffed as she stomped her boots in frustration.

  “Non-adult entities,” Miss Sue Nami growled at the ghouls, “in case you’ve forgotten or cannot read the sign posted to your left, loitering is strictly prohibited.”

  “This is exactly why I hired Miss Sue Nami. She is absolutely mad about rules!” Headmistress Bloodgood said as she motioned for the ghouls to follow her into the school.

  The sight of Monster High’s purple-checked floors and pink coffin-shaped lockers filled Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus with a warm and cozy feeling, one of returning home. Unlike their previous semester at Monster High, now everything was familiar, even the large sign warning that howling, molting fur, bolting limbs, or waking sleeping bats in the hallway was strictly forbidden.

  “It’s good to be back,” Venus said with a smile as she surveyed the corridor brimming with every type of monster imaginable.

  “Yes, now let’s just hope it stays that way,” Rochelle added as she picked up Roux, who was too small to navigate the dense crowd of creatures on her own.

  In a sea of monsters chattering and giggling, one flat, emotionless voice quickly garnered the trio’s attention. It was, of course, the perennially listless Mr. D’eath.

  “I don’t mind if you look away while speaking to me. My bony face has been known to incite depression in many a monster, myself included. Hence, the reason I gave all my mirrors to Cleo de Nile; unlike me, she actually takes great pride in looking at herself,” the dejected guidance counselor moaned to a young pumpkin head bobbing next to him in the hall.

  “Rochelle, are you still planning on resuming your makeover of Mr. D’eath?” Venus asked, all the while watching the dreary guidance counselor shuffle his brown shoes down the corridor.

  “Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that being unhappy is in Monsieur D’eath’s bones. And while helping someone become a better version of himself is a wonderful thing, attempting to change who he innately is, is not,” Rochelle expounded philosophically as she gently petted Roux’s head.

  “I think the fact that you even tried to help him says a lot about your character,” Venus responded kindly. “And don’t forget: Mr. D’eath got a pretty rocking suit out of the whole thing.”

  “C’est vrai, Frankie and Clawdeen did an absolutely fangtastique job on the suit,” Rochelle agreed.

  Venus nodded. “I only wish Mr. D’eath’s first time wearing it hadn’t been on a date with that dragon who messed with everyone’s minds.”

  “Venus, while I harbor many of the same suspicions you do about Madame Flapper, you must remember that we don’t have proof one way or another,” Rochelle reprimanded her friend lightly. “We’ll just have to wait and see….”

  “Wait and see?” Robecca repeated nervously. “That’s our plan?”

  Rochelle and Venus shrugged.

  “That’s our plan,” echoed Venus.

  as the trio walked down the main corridor, a whiff of high-grade oil passed beneath Robecca’s petite copper nose. Instantly she was reminded that her mechanical penguin was in need of a little wing maintenance.

  “Ghouls, I’m going to pop into Grind ’n’ Gears and get Penny a quick oil change,” Robecca called out as Rochelle and Venus forged ahead toward the dormitory.

  Monster High’s auto shop, known as Grind ’n’ Gears, was a stainless steel–lined room dedicated to servicing all things mechanical with hydraulic lifts, state-of-the-art oiling apparatuses, and more types of gear grease than salad dressings at a buffet. After bumping into multiple contraptions, knocking over a can of bolts, and screaming “Deary me!” at least three times, Robecca finally summoned a well-oiled mechanical creature with silver-plated limbs and grease-stained coveralls who emerged from the back room.

  “What can I do for you?” the piston-powered old man asked while using a nail as a toothpick.

  “Mr. Borg, my mechanical penguin Penny’s left wing is squeaking, and even though it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, I can tell it’s driving her absolutely batty. And as you know, batty is not a good thing for a bird.”

  “Call me Sid. Now take the pipsqueak to oiling station seven while I get my glasses,” he replied casually. “This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

  Robecca promptly deposited Penny at oiling station seven, patted her on the head, and began nosing around the auto shop. So many advancements had come to pass while she was disassembled, imbuing her with a great deal of curiosity about all things mechanical.

  While fiddling with a sleek metal contraption, Robecca suddenly paused, overwhelmed by a most familiar sensation. She was late. She was absolutely certain of it. Although she hadn’t a clue what for. All Robecca knew was that every inch of her copper-plated body was screaming, “You’re late!” And so she stormed out of Grind ’n’ Gears, having yet again forgotten about Penny.

  After successfully navigating the creature-filled corridors, Rochelle and Venus arrived at the creaky, pink spiral staircase that led to the dormitory. And while Rochelle appeared as lithe and slim as any other monster, there was no denying her heavy granite composition as she mounted the stairs.

  “Boo-la-la! I simply cannot believe this staircase has not been replaced. It must be in violation of at least twenty safety laws, not to mention the law of good taste,” Rochelle huffed to Venus, the iron hinges squealing beneath her feet.

  “Oh, come on, Rochelle, we both know what this is really about—the screaming sound the stairs make every time you step on them,” Venus said with a sly smile.

  “You have no idea how difficult it is to be crafted from stone; everything groans and moans beneath me. It’s hardly a confidence booster,” Rochelle said as she reached the top of the stairs. “Regardez! The curtain is even more spooktacular than last semester.”

  The webbed curtain that hung at the start of the dormitory hall was handcrafted by a group of quarter-size black spiders. And while the drape had always been quite impressive, it was now far more sumptuous and elaborate than ever
before.

  “It’s no wonder the curtain looks so incredible. There are twice as many spiders living in the hall as last semester,” Robecca explained as she bounded up the last of the stairs to rejoin her roomies.

  “What a relief! I’ve been concerned I might have let Chewy graze a little too heavily in the hall last semester, if you know what I mean,” Venus stated while playfully shaking her head at her pet plant.

  “Of course we know what you mean. You very clearly implied that Chewy ate a large portion of the spider population last semester,” Rochelle replied earnestly, much to Venus’s amusement.

  While making their way down the dormitory corridor, they came across many familiar faces, including Rose and Blanche Van Sangre—the gypsy vampire twins with an irksome predilection for sleeping in other people’s beds.

  “Look, Blanche, it’s zose ghouls, ze ones who can never tell us apart,” Rose said as she and her sister stopped to glare at Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus in the hall.

  “Vat are you, blind? My fangs are viter,” Rose declared harshly.

  “And my hair is shinier!” Blanche bellowed at an unusually loud decibel.

  “Wow, you ghouls are even more peculiar and antisocial than I remember,” Venus remarked before moving past the fair-skinned duo with Robecca and Rochelle in tow.

  “Get out of our way, we’re having a great day, what else can we say? But hip hip hooray!” Sam, Marvin, and James the pumpkin heads sang as they bobbed through the dormitory, pulling along their leashed pet bullfrogs.

  “Maybe pumpkin heads think they live in a musical? It would explain all the singing,” Robecca pondered aloud.

  “Nah, I think they just enjoy annoying everyone,” Venus responded as Rochelle clasped her hands together and hurried down the hall.

  “Boo-jour, Skelita! Jinafire!” Rochelle screamed joyfully, wrapping her arms around Monster High’s newest ghouls.

  Dressed in Day of the Dead garb, Skelita had her own style that was an interesting mix of goth and traditional Hexican. Her long black-and-orange hair perfectly complemented her colorful eye makeup and vibrant short skirt. Equally stylish was gold-skinned and long-tailed Jinafire, whose bright green-and-jet-black hair was adorned with an intricate flower headdress.

  “These are my friends Robecca and Venus. And these are my other friends Skelita and Jinafire,” Rochelle warmly introduced the two sets of ghouls to each other.

  “Hey! Welcome to Monster High,” Venus offered, before Robecca added, “You guys will absolutely love it here. It really is the cat’s pajamas—well, most of the time anyway….”

  “And just to be clear, cats do not actually wear pajamas here,” Rochelle explained earnestly to Skelita and Jinafire, who both smiled in response.

  “Hola, chicas. ¿Que tal?” Skelita greeted them.

  “Ni hao,” Jinafire said while bowing her head slightly. “I am very excited to be here. The other students seem very nice.”

  “Sí, sí! Three-Headed Freddie, Henry Hunchback, Hoodude Voodoo, the pumpkin heads, they’re all estupendos,” Skelita yammered enthusiastically.

  “Actually, I am a little concerned about Hoodude. He seems rather obsessed with a ghoul named Frankie Stein,” Jinafire confessed, before adding, “I do not believe it is jiankang, or as you say healthy, to love someone who does not love you back.”

  Everyone knew that the life-size voodoo doll with buttons for eyes, patchwork skin, and needles sticking out of his body couldn’t help but love Frankie; she was, after all, the one who had created him.

  “Unrequited love is a serious waste of time,” Venus agreed with Jinafire.

  “Ugh! Time! It really is such a dreadful word,” Robecca asserted as her eyes rapidly scanned the floor. “Frost my firebox! I can’t believe I’ve lost Penny already!”

  “You haven’t lost her,” a soft voice interjected. “You just forgot her at Grind ’n’ Gears.”

  Standing sheepishly behind Robecca with Penny in hand was the incredibly kind one-eyed boy known as Cy Clops.

  “Oh, thank you, Cy! As usual you’ve saved the day,” Robecca babbled merrily, throwing her warm copper arm around the boy’s shoulder before abruptly pulling away. “Wait, what were you doing at Grind ’n’ Gears? You’re not mechanical. Or at least you weren’t as of last semester. Oh dear, did something happen to you? Were you in an accident? How dreadful! Not that having a mechanical part is the end of the world—”

  “No, nothing happened to me. I went over to Grind ’n’ Gears to look for you,” Cy Clops interrupted quietly. “But I should go now.”

  And just like that, the boy ran off down the hall.

  “Mi abuela always says that the shy ones are the best,” Skelita stated playfully.

  As Robecca smiled coyly, the young Hexican ghoul nudged Jinafire and pointed at her watch.

  “I am very sorry, but Skelita and I must leave now. We have an appointment with Miss Sue Nami regarding our lockers, which I was very happy to see are pink,” Jinafire said, nodding her head politely. “Zàijiàn. Bye-bye.”

  “Adios,” Skelita added warmly.

  Within seconds of the new ghouls’ departure, a beautiful spectacle grabbed the attention of Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus. But then again, dressed in a purple pantsuit, sky-high heels, a pearl fanglace, and perfectly styled bloodred hair, Miss Flapper was rather hard to miss.

  “Hello, students. Or should I say dormies?” Miss Flapper hissed softly.

  “Pardonnez-moi, Madame Flapper. What was that you said?” Rochelle asked the delicate dragon.

  “After everything that happened last semester, I thought it wise to stay on campus. And as fate would have it, I’ve been given the room right next door to you ghouls!”

  the start-of-the-term assembly with Head-mistress Bloodgood, Miss Sue Nami, and the rest of the staff was both utterly normal and highly unusual at the same time. It was totally and almost boringly standard in the manner in which classes, social events, and such were addressed. However, it was nothing short of shocking and bizarre that at no time during the assembly did anyone mention the great whisper incident. It really was as if the entire episode had been expunged from Monster High’s history.

  Following Miss Sue Nami’s brusque dismissal at the end of the assembly, the main hall overflowed with ghouls and boys excitedly checking their iCoffins for their class schedules.

  “I’ve got to say, I commend Headmistress Bloodgood’s rejection of paper schedules. Why kill trees when you can just as easily send an e-mail?” Venus mused casually while looking at her bright pink iCoffin.

  “Yes, although I doubt Headmistress Bloodgood is doing it for environmental reasons. It seems far more likely she’s simply overwhelmed at the idea of keeping track of so many pieces of paper, especially in light of her Muddled-Mind Syndrome,” Rochelle posited.

  “iCoffins, please?” Robecca said as she grabbed the devices from her friends.

  “I still can’t believe that before you were dismantled you used a typewriter and a carrier bat for all your correspondence,” Venus said, shaking her head in disbelief.

  “Actually, Venus, bats have an ability known as echolocation that allows them to use sound waves to identify creatures’ and objects’ locations. This makes them especially gifted navigators,” Rochelle expounded as Venus raised her eyebrows.

  “Fine, but you’ve got to admit, lugging around a heavy typewriter sure does sound like a pain,” Venus continued as Robecca pulled up each of the ghouls’ schedules on the iCoffins.

  “Barking bunnies! We have the same schedule. Well, almost. I have Skultimate Roller Maze instead of Physical Deaducation.”

  “Great, Phys Dead with Coach Igor,” Venus said sarcastically before sighing.

  “It might be wise to invest in earplugs. Coach Igor is awfully fond of that whistle,” Rochelle cautioned as the first bell of the new semester rang, prompting more than a few of the ceiling bats to flap their wings in protest. With notoriously sensitive ears, the bats had never been too f
ond of the bells, especially after a long and quiet vacation.

  “Come on, ghoulfriends, we don’t want to be late for Catacombing: The Art of Digging and Discovery—and not just because tardiness is against school policy. It’s also regarded as highly impolite in the Gargoyle Code of Ethics,” Rochelle advised the others.

  “Is it just me or does Catacombing class sound a lot like playing in the sandbox in elementary school?” Venus joked as the trio started down the corridor.

  “It is most definitely just you,” Rochelle asserted. “As a matter of fact, there isn’t even any sand in the catacombs.”

  Located deep beneath the halls of Monster High was a vast collection of stone-lined tunnels known as the catacombs. The series of dimly lit passageways predated the current school structure, although no one could say by how much. All anyone knew for sure was that over the years monsters had taken to hiding relics and other emblems of their time down there. So far underground were the catacombs that an elevator had been installed for efficiency. And though the ornate gold box with carvings of medieval goblins looked as though it dated from the Paleozoic era, it was, in fact, a relatively new addition.

  The unusually spacious elevator easily accommodated the many monsters heading down for Catacombing class: Frankie, Hoodude, Draculaura, Cy, Skelita, Jinafire, Cleo, Toralei, and of course Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus.

  “It’s super voltage being back at school. I always miss everyone so much over vacation,” Frankie proclaimed happily to Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus on the ride down.

  “Yeah, but you’ve got to admit that after last semester we all needed a break,” Venus responded candidly.

  “What do you mean? Because of all the homework Dr. Clamdestine gave us? I guess his reading list was pretty extensive,” Frankie conceded.