Monster High: Who's That Ghoulfriend? (Monster High: Ghoulfriends Forever) (7 page)

“Trolls, there’s no need to threaten the non-adult entities,” Miss Sue Nami called from the bleachers. “Not yet anyway.”

Following the pep rally, students and teachers leisurely mingled on the Casketball court. And though the problems facing Monster High and the town of Salem remained, there was no denying that the pep rally had lifted everyone’s spirits.

“Good news, ghouls! I got us an invite to Deuce’s house tomorrow after school,” Robecca declared happily as she ran across the Casketball court to Rochelle and Venus.

Thrilled by her accomplishment, Robecca flicked the switch on her jet-pack boots and performed a quick backflip. It was, like all of her aerial maneuvers, very impressive.

“Robecca! You’re amazing! Honestly, I’m so impressed that you even remembered to ask him,” Rochelle declared as she kissed the copper-plated ghoul on the cheek.

“But I didn’t. It wasn’t until he asked me over that I remembered the plan. You see, I’ve been so preoccupied thinking about my father that I haven’t even thought about the list.…”

“Then how did you get an invite?” Venus wondered aloud.

“Deuce asked me if I could come over and steam the snakes on his Mohawk,” Robecca explained.

“But why would he want you to do that?” Venus continued.

“Snake skin can get super dry and scaly,” Robecca explained.

“Ah, I understand now. He wants to give them a spa treatment,” Rochelle said while nodding her head. “Which is an activity better done in the privacy of one’s own home than at school.”

“Well, I guess that just leaves Cleo, Clawdeen, Ghoulia, and Draculaura,” Venus said as she looked over at a cluster of ghouls standing on the court. “Maybe we should try Frankie too.”

“But her parents weren’t on the list,” Robecca pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean they don’t know something about it,” countered Venus.

“Okay, why don’t Robecca and I handle Clawdeen, Frankie, Ghoulia, and Draculaura, and you take Cleo?” suggested Rochelle.

“No way!” Venus scoffed.

“That actually sounds like a pretty swell idea, seeing as you’re probably going to have to use your pollens of persuasion to get Cleo to invite us over,” Rochelle added.

“Fine,” Venus agreed, and then slowly made her way toward Cleo and Toralei.

Standing with their arms linked and their backs touching, the ghouls were clearly doing their best to avoid interacting with each other.

“Hey, Cleo,” Venus said trepidatiously as she approached the always stylish, gauze-clad ghoul.

“Hello,” Cleo drawled in her usual terse manner.

“I guess now you know what it’s like to be a Siamese twin,” Venus joked while nervously fiddling with her vines.

“More like a cry-amese twin, since being so close to a werecat makes me want to cry,” Cleo muttered under her breath. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I were allergic to her.”

“I’m beginning to think getting taken by the normies a better alternative to staying with a spoiled ghoul like you! Oh, and by spoiled, I mean rotten, foul, putrid—”

“Someone’s been studying her SAT vocabulary
words,” Venus interrupted Toralei in an effort to lighten the tone.

“What is it exactly that you’re doing here?” Cleo asked Venus.

“In the gym? There was a pep rally, remember?”

“I meant in front of me,” Cleo snapped.

“I wanted to ask if I could come over to your tomb tomorrow after school,” Venus uttered clumsily.

“You want to come to my tomb? I don’t think so.…”

“It’s just that you’re the most stylish ghoul on campus, perhaps even in the Boo World, and it would be such an honor to see your closet,” Venus carried on theatrically.

“Stylish? Compared to me she’s nothing more than a flea,” Toralei spouted off.

“Um, Toralei, this is a two-person conversation, so if you could quiet down I would really appreciate it,” Venus said before turning back to Cleo. “I could even help you with your garden, if you like. After all, mummies aren’t known for their green thumbs.”

“Green really suits me. But then again, all colors do,” Cleo responded confidently.

“So what do you say? Can I come by after school with Robecca and Rochelle?”

“Sorry, but my aunty Neferia is visiting from the Old World and she doesn’t hold plant monsters, steam creations, or gargoyles in high regard. She’s super strict about only socializing with scaraohs, vampires, and aristocratic ghosts,” Cleo explained before narrowing her eyes at Venus. “Plus, I suspect you have an ulterior motive.”

“An ulterior motive? Me? Never!” Venus fibbed unconvincingly.

“I think you want to come over so you can look for things to recycle,” Cleo said suspiciously.

“I wish someone would recycle this whole conversation,” Toralei interjected with a huff.

“Recycling is nothing to joke about. Unless, of course, you find destroying the planet funny,” Venus blustered, her face now visibly red.

“This weed is crazy obsessed with garbage,” Toralei remarked rudely.

“On that we can agree,” Cleo responded as Venus continued to smart over their callous attitude toward the environment.

“You think I’m crazy? You want to know what’s crazy? Tossing chemicals into the ocean! Stuffing trash into mountains! That’s crazy!” Venus roared
as a powerful rush of pollens pumped through her vines.

“ACHOO!” Venus sounded, releasing a pollen-filled sneeze.

However, just as the pollen made its way toward Cleo, Toralei tugged at her arm, inadvertently pulling her out of the line of fire. Small orange particles then splashed upon a blue-haired, floppy-bodied, button-eyed boy standing close by.

“Hoodude!” Venus screamed as the life-size voodoo doll experienced a light smattering of pollen.

“Yes, my wonderful Venus?” Hoodude responded adoringly.

“Oh no,” Venus groaned before releasing a long, labored sigh.

“What’s the matter, my most precious friend?”
Hoodude asked, placing his soft fabric-covered hand on Venus’s shoulder.

“I’m not your most precious friend. Remember Frankie Stein? You know the ghoul that you’re in love with? The one who created you?” Venus replied.

“The only ghoul I ever wish to lay my button eyes upon again is you, the wondrous Venus McFlytrap. The sole plant in the garden of my heart.” Hoodude waxed poetic.

“Eww, the doll likes the plant,” Toralei muttered meanly.

“Can it, cat lady,” Venus shot back aggressively as she looked over at Robecca and Rochelle successfully chatting away with Clawdeen, Frankie, Ghoulia, and Draculaura.

Venus sighed. The pollen approach was a bust.

Securing invitations to Clawdeen’s, Ghoulia’s, Frankie’s, and Draculaura’s houses proved surprisingly simple. Robecca and Rochelle merely told the ghouls that they wanted to see the inside of an average Salem home. With the supposed normie invasion looming on the horizon, Monster High’s students were more grateful than usual for their everyday lives. Specifically, for their bedrooms, uniquely decorated to reflect their taste; for the shops at the Maul; for the Die-ner; for the Coffin Bean; and most important, for the ability to move across borders without normie permission. And so when Robecca and Rochelle asked to
visit Draculaura’s, Ghoulia’s, Clawdeen’s, and Frankie’s homes, the ghouls happily acquiesced.

After securing invitations, Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus decided to try their luck in the attic again. For if by any chance Wydowna were out, they would be able to peruse the other papers and possibly garner additional information. And so after waiting for night to come and the bats to rumble, the trio threw back their covers, grabbed their robes, and tiptoed out of the Chamber of Gore and Lore.

“Personally, I have always held true that when engaging in secret missions one ought to wear appropriate clothing. And I hardly think pajamas and dressing gowns are appropriate. After all, running in a robe is no easy task,” Rochelle whispered as the trio started up the stairs to the attic.

“Until things go totally haywire, there will be absolutely no running in tonight’s mission,” Venus replied as her slippered feet continued up the stone steps.

“Ouch!” Robecca blurted out loudly.

“What is it?” Venus asked with concern.

“Chewy just bit my finger!” Robecca whined.

“This is exactly why I said we should leave the pets in our room. They are nothing but a distraction,” Rochelle declared firmly.

“How can you even say that? Haven’t you noticed how depressed they’ve been?” Robecca said while shaking her head dramatically.

“Roux is never depressed,” Rochelle quickly corrected her friend.

“Okay, fine, but Chewy and Penny have most definitely been depressed. So you can hardly blame me for thinking a little adventure might cheer them up.”

“Becs, is that really why you insisted on bringing them?” Venus asked skeptically.

“Well, I may have also thought that Chewy could distract Wydowna’s pet fly if need be,” Robecca explained quietly.

“Let’s just hope he doesn’t eat her. After all, Chewy does have a taste for flies… and jewelry and metal and paper.” Venus quieted down as they once again came upon the entryway to the attic adorned in elegantly woven webs.

“Someone needs to discreetly look inside and
see if Wydowna’s there,” Venus said, looking directly at Rochelle.

“
Boo-la-la! Pourquoi moi
? Why me?”

“You have sharp claws to cut through the webbing and you don’t steam when you get nervous,” Robecca explained.

“
Zut
!” Rochelle said as she began to carefully slice through the webs.

Rochelle then crawled through the sheaths, only to quickly retreat back into the stairwell seconds later.

“Wydowna and her fly friend are sleeping in the hammock, but…”

“But what?” Robecca pressed Rochelle eagerly.

“There was the most beautiful jacket I have ever seen just lying on the floor. She clearly does
not realize how
fangtastique
her creations are. The details—”

“Not to be a fashion-pessimista, but it’s after midnight, so what do you say we save the dramatic retelling of her clothes until tomorrow?” Venus said as she started back down the stairs with Chewy in hand.

A couple days later, Robecca, Rochelle, and Venus found themselves seated at the counter in the Stein family kitchen. The stainless-steel room was filled with an array of modern appliances, oddly colored vials, and a professional sewing machine.
Yet even with all these contraptions the kitchen somehow still managed to feel both warm and familial.