AN: Special thanks to OmegaDelta for giving me the idea of Lincoln and Zanya communicating if they needed help. Hadn't really considered that before. Can't be on the computer though, since there is no wifi wifi at Grimwood's...yet.

Getting to know you

After giving their guest a hearty handshake, Lucy led the zombie girl inside the house, the eleven other speechless Louds stepping aside without a single word. The gothic eight year old turns to her family, her smile fading. "Guys….aren't you going to introduce yourselves?"

"Er….right." Rita said, snapping out of her stupor. "Sorry. I'm Rita Loud, and this is my husband, Lynn Sr…" The Loud Matriarch said, with Lynn Sr still effectively frozen.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr and Mrs Loud." Zanya said as she curtseyed to them. Seeing how friendly this girl was, Leni smiled as she got over her shock.

"Hi there! I'm Leni Loud." She said. Lana was the next to recover.

"You...are….so cool!" She exclaimed, startling Zanya. "Oh. Sorry. It's just I never got to a real zombie up close."

"Lana!" Rita scolded her with a frown. "That's not a nice thing to say…"

"How so?" Zanya asked with a tilted head.

"Calling you a zombie just because you happen to look so pale, and.." Rita started to say.

"But I am a zombie." The child replied. To prove her point, she took hold of her head and removed it from her neck. This made almost everyone in the room scream, with Lynn Sr fainting as well. The only ones who weren't frightened by this act were Lucy (who was unaffected altogether), Lana (who was so excited she looked ready to burst), Lisa (who was intrigued) and Lynn Jr, who only had one thing to say about that:

"Cool!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth!" Lana agreed. "I'm Lana, by the way."

"And I'm Lynn Jr. Nice ta meetcha." The sporty sister said, shaking Zanya's hand.

"Careful there, or I might lose a hand." The zombie gal said with a giggle, putting her head back on..

"Never have I ever imagined in all my existence…" Lisa muttered, moving closer to Zanya, trying to examine her. "A true, ambulatory, sentient, corpse…had I not seen it with my own eyes…"

"That's Lisa." Lynn explained, pointing at the science obsessed toddler. "Don't mind her. The world is all one big science experiment to her." Lisa simply huffed at her older sister before returning to her examination. Lily crawled her way over to the girl from Grimwood, looking up at her. The infant wasn't really sure what a zombie was, but as she looked into the big, precious eyes, she knew she wasn't a bad person. Lily smiled and held her arms up to her.

"Zaya!" She cooed, Zanya giggling and picking Lily up.

"Why, hello there, cutie. What's your name?"

"Her name is Lily." Leni explained, gently mussing up her little tuft of hair before taking the baby back into her arms. Seeing Lily warming up to Zanya was enough to convince Luna and Luan that she was alright.

"Hey. Sorry we were so rude before." Luna said apologetically, shaking Zanya's hand. "Luna's the name and Rock is my game."

"And I'm Luan. I hope you'll like being our 'ghost' of honor." She quipped, getting groans from most of her sisters, but getting giggles from the zombie gal and Lucy.

"Hello...I'm Lori…" The eldest Loud sister said warily.

"And this here is my twin, Lola." Lana said, when the pageant princess still wouldn't speak.

"Mother...father...can we talk a moment?" Lola asked quietly, leading her mother and dragging her unconscious father outside so they could talk in private. "Are you nuts!?" She whispered in outrage. "You're going to let that…thing stay here!? In this house!?"

"Lola...I know that she is rather unusual, but she seems like a very well behaved young lady." Rita responded, glancing inside to where her daughters were all chatting with their guest.

"Her manners aren't the problem. She is a ZOMBIE. A filthy, disgusting, dead body that can walk!"

"Lola!"

"What!? That's what she is!" Lola snapped. "Lana is cleaner than a zombie! And that's not to mention what zombies are supposed to eat! Brains!"

"Where in Earth did you learn that!?" Rita crossed her arms in front of her, leering down at her daughter. Lola froze a moment, thinking quickly of a lie.

"...Lincoln's video games?" She finally replied.

"What were you doing playing those games!?"

"I didn't! Lincoln played them in front of me!" Lola lied again, but at this point, her credibility was non-existent. And Rita's patience was getting there.

"Regardless, Lola...Zanya hasn't given you any reason to think so terribly about her. Zombie or no, she is our guest, and you will treat her with the respect she deserves."

"But she…"

"Hasn't done anything to warrant this behavior. Period." Her mother's tone suggested that this was final. Lola growled in frustration, turning her back to her, pouting at her defeat. "...Lola, look…if she does do something, which I doubt, then I will see what I can do about sending her home. But until then, she is our guest. Now, you are going to go back in there with us, and you are going to treat Zanya as nice as she treats you."

"Fine…" Lola groaned. Rita took the opportunity to revive her husband before they returned to the living room.

Back inside…

"...and it is somewhat handy to be able to do this." Zanya said, pulling off one of her arms so she could scratch her back.

"Nice." Lucy commented, smiling as she watched.

"But yeah, other than removable limbs and not being alive, I'm just like anyone else." She continued, reattaching her arm. "Well...except for one other thing." She amended, just as Rita, Lynn Sr and Lola stepped back inside. "I do have a big appetite…"

"An appetite for what…?" Lola asked suspiciously.

"Carrots." Zanya responded, pulling a bag of carrot sticks one of her bags.

"Carrots? That's…Not what I was expecting." Lynn Jr said, scratching the back of her head.

"Well, that's just one of my favorites. I also love pomegranates, peanut butter, chocolate, especially chocolate…"

"You're not alone there, sister." Luan said with a chuckle.

"...and cheese. I love cheese. All kinds of cheeses." Zanya licked her lips as she imagined a huge wedge of gouda.

"I think I'll make my special Lynnsagna tonight...just to stay on her good side." Lynn Sr whispered to Rita, who rolled her eyes at him.

"Just thinking about it makes me hungry...excuse me." She pulls out a handful of carrot sticks and just tears into them, sending bits of carrot all over the place. The Loud's just started in astonishment, or disgust in Lola's case, with Charles going around lapping up the scraps. "Mmmmmm. Oh. Sorry. When I get hungry, I'm kind of a messy eater."

"You and me, both." Lana commented.

"It's not good for me to get too hungry either. It hurts really bad…" Zanya explained, patting her stomach a bit. "Like...REALLY, really bad. So I always carry plenty of snacks with me." she opened up the bag where she had pulled her carrot sticks from, showing it was loaded with food: carrot and celery sticks, apple slices, pomegranate seeds, peanut butter cups, cheese sticks, cheese cubes, chocolate drops, and a few pb & j sandwiches.

"Nothing like being prepared, I suppose." Lisa said, cleaning off her glasses for a moment.

"Lucy, would you be so kind as to show Zanya where she'll be staying?" Rita asked the eight year old vampire enthusiast.

"Of course, Mom." Lucy replied, with Lynn helping their ghoul guest with her bags. "So, what do you think so far?"

"Your family seems nice." Zanya responded. "I kinda expected their initial reaction though."

"Well, to be fair, it's not everyday a zombie comes to stay." Lynn said, carrying her suitcases with ease.

"Yeah, I know. But besides that, I don't think Lola is too thrilled with me."

"Meh. She's a snob. Don't worry about her."

"Lynn's right. Though don't tell her so. Lola is...most unpleasant when angered." Lucy warned her as they led her to Lincoln's room "Apologies ahead of time, but Lincoln's room is a little small." She opened the door, giving Zanya a chance to look inside. Even with most of Lincoln's stuff out of the room, it was still a linen closet converted into a bedroom.

"This will work nicely." The zombie gal said with a smile, stepping inside with Lynn right behind. "Thank you, Lucy, Lynn."

"Anytime, Zan." Lynn said, giving her new friend another hearty handshake.

"You're quite welcome." Lucy replied. "If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask."

"Actually, there is one more thing you could do for me." The Grimwood girl said, a thoughtful look on her face. "Could you give me your brother's phone number?"

"Whoa, a little forward, aren't ya? Haven't even met him and you're already asking for his number?" The thirteen year old sports star joked, getting a laugh from Zanya.

"I just want his number handy in case I need a little help and can't ask any of you." She explained, once she stopped laughing.

"Yeah, I figured. Was just ribbing ya." She pulled out her phone and gave Zanya a chance to copy his number.

"Perfect. Thank you."

"No prob, Zan. Make yourself right at home." Lynn and Lucy bid their guest farewell for now and left her to get settled.

"Well, it was a bit of an awkward first impression, but overall, I think I'm going to like it here." She said to herself as she started to unpack. "I hope the kids at the school are as nice."

Back at Grimwood's, Lincoln had just finished unpacking his things. He had been given the room that once belonged to their old gym teacher, Shaggy Rogers. It was much more spacious than his room back in Royal Woods. So much so, he had no idea what to do with all the room. He had put away all his clothes, set his laptop on the bedside table, plugged his phone in to charge, and then decorated the room with a few of his Ace Savvy and Musclefish posters. It took the young man a little less than a half hour to get set up. "There we go. Save for some cobwebs and extra space, it's just like home." He said, talking to the audience. "And if the other girls are as nice as Sibella, Tanis and the others, I think I may like it here." As he was breaking the fourth wall, there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

"Hey there, Lincoln." Winnie said as she opened the door and entered. "Like what you did with the room."

"Thanks, Winnie. What's up?" He asked, smiling at the young werewolf.

"Sibella asked me to invite you to the common room, so you can introduce yourself to the other girls and we can learn more about one another." She replied.

"Sounds like a good idea. Lead the way." The excitable wolf girl smiled and rushed out of the room. Lincoln followed soon after, but the moment he stepped into the hall, he was shoved back into his room by a small, powerful hand.

"Out of my way, Earthling." Said a little, pink alien girl with a round head and eyes on stalks. She was wearing a blue and green space suit that wouldn't look out of place on the Jetsons, and a glass helmet over her head. She was no bigger than Lola or Lana.

"Hey!" Lincoln landed on his back on the floor, frowning at the door.

"You ok, Linc?" Winnie looked back into the room after she heard him hit the ground.

"Yeah….nothing seriously injured." He responded, his furry friend helping him up. "Who was that?"

"That was M-149. She arrived close to the end of last year from Mars." Winnie explained while Lincoln dusted himself off. "She thinks she's superior to everyone from this planet…"

"I see…" He sighed, thinking 'I guess it was too much to expect for everyone to be nice.' After glancing into the hall to make sure no one else would knock him down again, he started to follow Winnie through the halls. They had to pause once because they ran into Matches enroute and Lincoln wanted to give the cranky reptile a wide berth. Soon, they arrived in the Grimwood common room. The room was pretty large, with two old, rectangular tables set up in the center of the room, surrounded by six wooden chairs each. Large cushioned chairs were also artfully arranged throughout the room, most near the iron chandelier that lit the room. There were bookshelves all over the room, though only about three quarters of them had books. The rest had games for the students to play during free time. Sibella was seated in one of the comfy chairs, quietly reading. Elsa was engaged in a game of chess with a humanoid fish girl wearing a kelp and moss dress, with Phantasma spectating from overhead. Tanis was working on a puzzle by herself. A light pink dinosaur like girl in a dark pink bow and tutu was doing some painting in one corner of the room, while M-149 seemed to be keeping well away from the others as well. Lincoln quietly glances around the room when Sibella noticed him and Winnie.

"Ah. Lincoln. Fangs a lot for coming." She said, which got everyone's attention. Tanis smiled brightly, as did Phanty, while Elsa waved to him as soon as she spotted him. M-149 seemed to be pretending he wasn't there, polishing her little toy (or so he hoped) ray gun. The fish girl went pale at the sight of the human boy and promptly hid under the table. The large reptilian girl paused in the act of applying brush to canvas, looking at Lincoln curiously. "Ladies, allow me to introduce our guest from Royal Woods, Mr Lincoln Loud." She knew most of the students already met him, but for the sake of those who hadn't, there was no harm in introducing him again.

"..hello." He said quietly with a nervous wave. Despite knowing a couple of the girls already, seeing so many eyes on him made him somewhat anxious.

"You're a human…." The reptilian girl said, in a breathy kind of voice that didn't quite fit her. "All fleshy and pink...with no scales, claws or fangs…" she continued, moving from behind her easel to get a closer look at him.

"Er….yeah…" Lincoln replied awkwardly, a little uncomfortable how close she was getting and how she was poking at him and pulling at his shirt.

"Since you're so eager to get close to him, why don't you introduce yourself?" Phanty said with a giggle.

"Oh. Right. I'm Gosuki, daughter of Gojira."

"Gojira? As in...Godzilla!? The king of the Kaiju!?"

"That's my Daddy, alright." Gosuki said with a smile. "All my friends tend to call me Suki, though."

"Suki is a bit of an indecisive artist." Winnie explained as she sat down next to Sibella. "Every week, she tries a new form of art. This week is painting. Last week, writing music."

"Though she's pretty good at all of them. A real Jane of all arts." Tanis added.

"Awwww, guys. You'll make me blush." Suki said with a giggle.

"And the girl under the table is Gila." Else pointed at the table where she sat, where the fish girl sat shaking with fear. "Gila...it's ok. You can come out."

"N….no…" She responded, a bit of a gurgle to her voice. "I know what humans do to creatures like me...he'll throw me on hot coals and cook me for dinner."

"I wouldn't do that to you…" Lincoln said, a little hurt at the accusation.

"Are you saying you don't eat fish?" She inquired fearfully. He was quiet for a moment, since he couldn't in good conscience say he didn't. "That's what I thought…..I'm staying down here…" Tanis climbed out of her seat and crawled under the table with her aquatic friend.

"Gila, Lincoln wouldn't hurt any of us. He's a nice guy." The youngest of the girls said, patting Gila's webbed hand encouragingly. However, she remained firm in her convictions. She refused to move. Tanis sighed and crawled out, shrugging to her friends.

"I'm sure, in time, she will come around." Sibella said in a calm manner. She then turned to the Martian. "I believe it's your turn."

"I have nothing to say to the Earthling, Earth Vampire." M-149 replied flatly.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say she isn't fond of earthlings." Lincoln said, frowning at the little alien's rudeness.

"Fascinating statement of the obvious, earthling…."

"Her name is M-149, though we call her Milly." Sibella told Lincoln, her patience with the alien girl dwindling.

"Not that she responds to any name…" Winnie growled, her claws sinking into the arms of the chair.

"Is she like that to everyone?" Lincoln inquired.

"No. She treats Miss Grimwood with respect, of course." Elsa answered. "And she seems to get along alright with Tanis and Gila." Lincoln looks at Milly with a bit of a frown. He was kind of reminded of Lisa, only the alien before him was less verbose. He was thrown off his musings when Suki pulled on his turkey tail.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Gosuki! Be careful." Sibella suddenly scolded the young Kaiju to be, a slight frown on her face. "You're hurting him."

"Oh. Sorry. I guess your hair isn't as strong as Elsa's." Suki stepped back, holding her hands between him and her.

"It's ok...it didn't hurt that much." Lincoln said, rubbing his head a little.

"I suppose if Gila and Milly don't wish to talk, I guess we can tell you more about ourselves." Phantasma said, lowering herself into a chair where she sat cross legged. "I'm Phantasma, but you can call me Phanty if you like. I enjoy floating around, having fun, and playing the piano."

"You're a musician? My sister Luna is a musician too."

"Really? What a small world! Maybe we can play a duet together."

"I'm more into science myself." Elsa interjected. "After all, science was how my whole family was created. I specialize in all things electrical, with a bit of biology as well."

"You would probably get on well with my sister, Lisa. She loves science. She even has a PHD, and she's only four years old."

"Pfft. Your PHD's are the equivalent of passing preschool on Mars." M-149 bragged arrogantly. Lincoln chose to ignore her. Though the little alien wouldn't admit it, she did find it somewhat impressive someone as young as Lisa could achieve that.

"I'm more a girl of action myself." Winnie piped up, standing on her chair. "Volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, sports of any kind, or even just going for a run just for grins. If it gets my body moving and my blood pumping, then it's my idea of fun!" She howled loudly as she lept from her seat, flipped right over Lincoln's head, and landing in another chair right behind him.

"Let me guess. She reminds you of a sister too?" Phanty asked, detecting a pattern.

"Yeah. My sister Lynn is a sports star." Lincoln confirmed.

"How many sisters do you have, exactly?" Suki asked, scratching her scaly head.

"Ten sisters: five older and five younger."

"TEN!?" Else, Winnie, Tanis, Phantasma, Sibella and Suki all gasped in astonishment, even Gila joined in front under the table.

"Only ten? Try having over two hundred brothers and sisters…" Milly grumbled, trying not to be heard this time.

"Do I remind you of any of your sisters, Lincoln?" Tanis asked, smiling up at him.

"Heh. Actually, yeah. You're as kind as my older sister Leni, and as cute as my baby sister Lily." He said, gently rubbing Tanis' head, making the little mummy blush a bit.

"And as for me…" Sibella started. "I have a preference for more quiet hobbies. Reading, tailoring, bat watching, though I also enjoy practicing spellcraft as well."

"She's the oldest of all of us, so she's pretty much our leader too." Winnie explained.

"Just like Lori." Lincoln said with a smile. "I guess it's my turn. I enjoy reading comic books and playing video games. I don't really have a special talent, other than making plans, but I've picked up a few things from helping my sisters over the years." He said, the attention of almost every girl on him. "I've learned to play a couple different instruments from Luna, learned the art of clowning from Luan, some poetry knowledge from Lucy, and how to care for reptiles and amphibians from Lana, to name a few."

"So, you're the 'Mr Nice Guy' sort?" Sibella teased softly with a smirk, getting a little blush from Lincoln.

"Hehe. I guess I am." He said with a coy chuckle, which caused some of the girls to giggle a little. The rest of the evening was spent engaging in small talk, with Gila only participating if it weren't Lincoln speaking, and Milly staying out of it entirely. They talked about Lincoln's hometown, their school, and especially the Halloween Open House in a few months. "So, if I'm understanding it correctly, on Halloween, Miss Grimwood invites our parents to the school so she can meet them and they can meet the other teachers?"

"You almost got it." Suki said. "There are no other teachers. But everything else is right."

"All our Daddies come, we throw them a big party, and have so much fun!" Phanty chirped cheerfully. "Maybe we'll get to meet your dad!" Lincoln thought for a moment about the idea of his father coming to Grimwood's. The mental images of Lynn Sr screaming at the very sight of the old house, or fainting when he met the girls, made Lincoln suppress a chuckle.

"I don't know about Dad, but Mom might come." Lincoln said. "Maybe she'll bring a few of my sisters too, if Miss Grimwood is ok with it. I can imagine Lucy would love it here."

"That place...sounds…..amazing." Lucy said, nearly squealing with delight at the dinner table. Zanya had just finished describing the her school to the Loud Family, between bites of Lynnsanga. The zombie girl was ADORING the meal; the delicious sauce, the combination of warm, melted cheeses, the perfectly seasoned meat. She had said herself she would have come back to life just for a taste of the lasagna. The head of the Loud Family couldn't help but swell with pride at how their guest was loving his cooking.

"It is pretty cool." Zanya said, wiping the sauce from her lips with her napkin.

"Sounds kinda creepy to me." Lori commented, earning a disapproving look from her mother.

"I know! Isn't that great?" Lucy and Zanya both said together, before looking at one another for a second. Then the zombie girl started laughing and the goth girl started giggling. Lori hadn't really intended it to be a compliment, but she planned to roll with it if it meant avoiding trouble.

"Well, it does sound 'spook-tacular'." Luan jested, snickering and earning a laugh from their guest and her father.

"Good one, Luan." Lynn Sr said.

"Mom, do you think I can transfer to Miss Grimwood's?" Lucy asked, a pleading look in her eyes, although no one could see it.

"I...think it's only for monster girls, dear." Rita said, trying to dissuade her.

"Not if this exchange works out." Zanya stated, getting the attention of all twelve Louds. "Miss Grimwood started this program to see if allowing humans and boys into the school will work, as well as improving human/monster relations."

"That is quite a worthy goal, though I cannot say I am familiar with the current state of the relationship between humans and monster kind." Lisa said.

"In that case….we'll see, Lucy…" Rita gulped as she realized her one excuse had just been thrown out the window.

"You'll get a chance to see the school for yourself on Halloween." Zanya said. "Every Halloween, there's an open house. I'm sure Miss Grimwood will invite you two."

"H...Halloween…?" Lynn Sr stuttered in fear.

"Is something wrong?"

"Don't mind him. He's just not a fan of Halloween for...reasons." Rita explained, trying to calm her shaken hubby.

"Oh. I see. Sorry." Zanya said apologetically as she cleaned her plate.

"No! No, it's not your fault, Zanya." Lynn Sr hastily. "You had no way of knowing." She smiled lightly to him as she took her plate to the sink and was about it clean it and the dishes.

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear." Rita said, getting up from the table and walking over to the zombie girl.

"I insist, Mrs Loud. You're all allowing me to stay here and gave me such a wonderful meal. The least I can do is help clean up."

"That's very sweet of you, Zanya, but you are our guest. After coming all this way and unpacking, I imagine you're quite tired."

"Not really." Rita and Zanya just look at each other for a moment, frowning slightly until Mrs Loud had an idea.

"How about this, dear? Tonight, you rest, and starting tomorrow, you can help out with some of Lincoln's chores. How does that sound?" Zanya silently considered this compromise, then nodded with a smile.

"That sounds fair. Sure thing, Mrs Loud." The two shook hands on it.

"I'm glad we could find a compromise. Now run along and enjoy yourself tonight, Zanya." She nods and hurries off to her room to wait for the others to finish.

"I'm not touching any plate she touched ever again…" Lola muttered under her breath as she watched the zombie girl go upstairs. Zanya flopped down onto her bed and pulled out her phone. She wondered for a moment if Lincoln would have his phone on him. Well, one way to find out. She pressed the dial button on her contacts and waited. After about three rings, someone on the other end answered.

"Hello?" Lincoln asked.

"Hello. Is this Lincoln Loud?" Zanya asked.

"Speaking. Who is this?"

"Zanya. I'm the student from Grimwood's."

"Ah! Hey there. How are you holding up there?"

"Well enough. You're family is pretty nice, but wow, is it a big family…" the two of them share a soft laugh.

"Yeah. We get that a lot when people first meet us."

"I can imagine. I tend to freak people out when I first meet them. Kinda comes with the zombie territory, I suppose." She said, staring up at the ceiling with a small smile.

"You're a zombie? Cool."

"Hehe. Thanks. How do you like our school?"

"I admit, I was pretty scared at first, but after a while and getting to know some of the girls, I think it's a nice place."

"Awesome. By the way, do you mind if I ask you a little favor?"

"Not at all. What do you need?"

"You know a lot more about how human society works than I do, and more about your family. And odds are, I won't be able to always talk to your family…"

"I think I see where this is going. And I probably would need some help myself with certain aspects of Grimwood. We could easily help each other."

"Sounds good. Thanks a lot, Lincoln."

"No sweat, Zanya. Call me anytime class isn't in session if you need help, or even if you just want to talk."

"Right back at you." She responded, her smile growing. "I hope I didn't call too late. I know there's a bit of a time difference between here and there."

"Nah. I was just getting comfortable, reading some comics. But lights out should be coming soon. I better get ready for bed."

"I hear you, Lincoln. Talk to you later. Good night."

"Good night, Zanya. Have a good first day at Royal Woods."

"Thanks. Same to you at Grimwood's." Zanya and Lincoln both hung up their phones.

'He/She sounded cute.' They thought together as they looked at their phones with a smile.