After a long ride back to town, Helen returned to her home. Not surprisingly, her mother wasn't home. "Okay, what to get for a monster party?"
Helen went to her room to find some decent party favors. She rummaged through her closet for anything fun.
"No...no...no..." Helen tossed junk after junk. "Hey! My old scarf!"
Helen pulled out a purple and black skull scarf. Her mother gave it to her for her birthday, it was the only cool gift she ever got from her.
Posing in front of a mirror, Helen was going to try on the scarf until she froze.
Helen stared at herself.
On her neck was a rash. Helen gently ran her fingertips over it, but there was no pain.
"Must be sunburn." Helen wrapped the scarf around her neck.
"Helen?"
Helen jumped when her door opened and her mother walked in.
"Mom!" Helen said. "Haven't you heard of knocking?!"
"I'm sorry, dear." Helen's mother looked concerned. "But where have you been?"
"Just out. Is that so wrong?"
She pointed at Helen. "Not monster hunting, are you?"
"No, Mom! I told you I'm done monster hunting!" Helen implied. "In fact, I was hanging out with some new friends."
Helga raised both eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah, they're really cool. In fact, they're having a party and I'm gonna help plan it."
Hearing this, Helga genuinely smiled.
"Well, I am speechless. I'm glad you're finally making some friends." She put her arms around Helen. "I'm happy for you, sweetie."
Helen was glad she made her mom proud. But she wasn't aware that her daughter was friends with real monsters.
"So, these monsters are going to throw a birthday party for you?" asked Helga.
Helen felt like a stray bullet shot her. "What...?"
"Sweetie! Your birthday is tomorrow! Don't tell me you forgot!"
Helen's eyes popped out. She forgot her birthday was coming up!
"Uh, yeah! That's it! My new friends are throwing a birthday party!" Helen lied. She grabbed her backpack. "I'm going back out, Mom."
"Where are you going?"
"To get some party stuff." Helen said. "It's gonna be epic!"
"Okay, just be careful, dear!" Helga said.
Helen waved goodbye and left the house.
Riding on her scooter, Helen was on her way to the party store. "Oh, man! I can't believe I forgot my own birthday! I want to tell the monsters, but what about the summer party?!"
Suddenly, Helen felt something move in her backpack. She pulled over on the side of the road. "What the?!"
Helen took out her backpack. When she opened it, she yelped when she saw a skull smiling at her.
"Bonesy?!" Helen almost screamed. "W-What are you doing in my backpack?!" She looked around to see if anyone was looking, then ran behind a nearby tree. She dumped her bag and Bonesy's bones spilled out.
Helen scooped up Bonesy's skull. "Dude! Did you sneak into my backpack so you could follow me to my neighborhood?!"
Bonesy nodded.
"Bonesy! You can't just sneak into my backpack! What if my mom saw you?! She'd have a heart attack!"
Now Bonesy felt bad. Helen could see it in his eye sockets.
"It's okay, little buddy." Helen stroked his skull.
"Hey, look! It's that weirdo, Helen!"
Helen turned around and saw a group of mean girls she knew from her high school.
"Check it out! Helen's talking to her boyfriend!" one of the girls jeered.
"Hey, Helen. Since you're talking to a skull for companionship, why don't you tell it the ugliest thing I've ever seen!"
The girls laughed. Bonesy wanted to jump out and scare the skin off those girls, but Helen quickly stuffed Bonesy's head and bones back in her bag and got on her scooter. She drove away as the cruel humans laughed.
Helen sighed as she headed to the forest. Bonesy poked his skull out and looked apologetic at Helen.
"It's okay, Bonesy." Helen said. "I'm used to being laughed at. I was never the coolest kid growing up."
It was true. Helen never really did fit in with the other kids. But she didn't mind, because she had already made the perfect friends.
Back at Monster High, the students were searching every nook and cranny for Bonesy.
"Where could he be?!" Frankie said, looking in the Mad Science lab.
"He couldn't have just disappeared!" Draculaura said.
"He's not in the pool!" said Lagoona.
"He's not in the music room!" Ari said, floating through the wall.
"He's not in the art room!" said Clawdeen.
"He's right here."
Everyone turned and saw Helen. She tipped her bag over and Bonesy's parts clacked on the floor.
"BONESY!" the ghouls and monsters exclaimed.
"Found this little stowaway in my backpack." Helen said.
Skelly ran over to his little brother and quickly assembled him. Once put together, the skeleton brothers shared a big hug.
"Thank ghoul Bonesy is okay!" Draculaura said, relieved. "But what was Bonesy doing in your bag, Helen?!"
"I guess he wanted to see my crib after I saw yours." Helen said. "Talk about crazy. First, visiting a monster school. Second, finding out my birthday is tomorrow. Third, finding a skeleton in my-"
"Whoa! Back up!" Clawdeen said. "Your birthday is tomorrow?!"
Helen nodded. "Yeah, I guess I was so busy with monster stuff, I forgot my own birthday!"
"Then let's have the party tomorrow then!" Draculaura said.
"What?!" Helen said. "But what about the summer party?!"
"So? We can still have a party, just one for you!" Draculaura insisted.
"Now that's a clawesome idea!" Clawdeen said.
"I've never celebrated a human birthday!" Frankie was sparking at the bolts. "This'll be epic!"
All the monsters cheered.
"But...but...you guys don't even know me!" Helen said.
Draculaura shook her head. "Helen, we won't take no for an answer! We're gonna throw you the best birthday party ever! We'll have it right here at Monster High!"
"I...don't know what to say." Helen never would have expected this.
These monsters, these unbelievably nice monsters, we're going to throw a birthday party just for her.
"Group hug!" Frankie said.
The ghouls embraced Helen in a great big hug.
Helen never felt so happy in all her life. In her mind, she had a feeling tomorrow was going to be the best birthday of her life.
