CHAPTER 2: FADING IN, PHAEDIN OUT

Kendal could not believe it. She had detention on her first day at Monster High. They were all late for Mr. Hack's science lesson, but only she was given detention.

"It's okay," Frankie had consoled her. "Mr. Hack always hacks the new ghoul," she gave Kendal a sympathetic smile.

Now, Kendal was sitting in the detention classroom, waiting for Mr. Rotter to come. Mr. Rotter was their Hiscary and Dead Languages teacher, and the phantom in-charge of detention/ she was the only student, or so she thought.

A sweet tang of orange flavoring wafted into Kendal's nostrils. "Hey, the new ghoul – Instinct!" A voice commented, shocking her.

She whipped her head towards her right, scanning the empty room. "Who's there?" she called out.

A boy dressed in blue from head to toe appeared in sight at the last table in the room. "InvisiBilly's there," he replied.

Kendal giggled. She was shocked b y an invisible guy! So much for being a ghost hunter. "Cool!" She exclaimed. "Isn't it awesome to be invisible? No one can see you when you don't want them to."

"Not exactly. Sometimes people don't take you seriously when they can't see you," InvisiBilly said.

"If I were invisible, I wouldn't be sent here!"

"You hate Monster High?"

"No, but I hate Mr. Hack." Kendal stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, me too."

"If you can be invisible…how did you end up here, in detention?"

"Hack knew it was me. I always take off his mask,"

"The mask comes off?!" Kendal laughed. "Clawdeen told me it stuck like glue!"

"Everyone believes Spectra, they're all too afraid to try."

Then, InvisiBilly started flickering on and off, appearing and disappearing.

"You're making me dizzy!" Kendal said, taking her eyes off his face.

"They don't call me Phaedin for nothing." InvisiBilly paused a long pause. "There are some things Spectra didn't blog about…like saying you're a ghost hunter." He said finally.

Kendal's heart lurched. How did he know?! Most importantly…how did he know that Spectra knows?! How did Spectra know?!

"She also knows you're a normie." InvisiBilly pressed.

Kendal froze. She had kept all that a secret, because she know how monsters treat normies. And she didn't want those things to happen to her. She only wanted to fit in. to be one of them. One of the monsters. So how in the whole wide world would an invisible boy and a ghost girl know all her secrets?!

Neither of them spoke after that because Mr. Rotter entered the classroom and the detention session began. InvisiBilly's words played over and over again in Kendal's head like a broken record. You're a normie. You're a normie. You're a normie.

No! who was this Spectra ghost?! How did she know so much?! Suddenly, a weird thought crept into her mind: Was InvisiBilly Spectra?

Kendal looked over at the blue-whitish skinned boy, who Mr. Rotter had ordered to show himself.

Nah! He couldn't be. But something about that boy transfixed her – his blue beanie matched with a darker blue sweater, or was it the fact that he looked closely human?

That night, Kendal went back to her dormitory she shared with Clawdeen.

"I don't know how you sat through that detention, ghoul," the werewolf said as she groomed Kendal's head fur with her secret formula. Kendal had tried prying it out from the wolf but her jaws were clamped shut tighter than an oyster's.

"It's just two hours!"

"Mmm-hmm. Two hours of staring at InvisiBilly. That is for sure,"

Kendal; remained speechless. She did not tell her roomie that he knew so much, because that would mean revealing who she really was. She wanted her new friends to judge her as who she was, as a monster, now that she was one.

"You gotta know, that boo's already taken. He and Scarah Screams are A THING,"

Kendal felt a tug in heart. but she did not know what that tug meant. "I was only staring at InvisiBilly because I was wondering if he is Spectra." She finally said out her doubts.

Clawdeen howled with laughter. It took her ten minutes to calm down. "You think InvisiBilly is Spectra?! That's just rabid, ghoul! They're friends, both from the school's Fearbook committee!"

Kendal's cheeks felt hot with embarrassment. If it weren't for all that fur, the red spots would be showing by now. "So Spectra's real?"

"Of course she is. I'm sure you two will meet soon,"

Kendal gulped. She didn't know if she wanted to meet that ghost. What would she say to somebody who knew too much?