A/N: So starting now, except for the few that are out of place, most of the chapters from now on are going to be part of what I call The Next Gen arc. The main cast is still going to be here, but the only difference is, from now on, there will also be quite a number of chapters that mainly focus on the kids. I'll actually be putting a new list soon on my LiveJournal of detailed bios for each of the kids, so be on the lookout!
Date: August 14, 2033
Setting: Monster High Grimnasium, 7:24 pm
Event: The new school year is approaching, and that means big changes for both of Salem's communities with an official human-cryptid school integration underway.
To Turn Over a New Leaf
"Greetings, everyone. I hope you're all having a lovely Saturday night."
The familiar sound of Headmistress Bloodgood's voice talking into the microphone, Frankie observed, had obviously not lost its power nor authority; immediately, as if on instinct, all chatter died down, everyone turning their attention to the principal monster, putting their phones away and awaiting for her next sentence, as if everyone here were still teenagers in school.
"First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out tonight," Bloodgood continued, "I know that you'd probably all rather be spending your Saturday night relaxing with your families, but this is a matter of great importance, and I appreciate that you took the time to become aware of it."
A nervous tickled settled in Frankie's chest. She slightly leaned forward in her seat, already both eager and dreadful of what exact 'matter' the headless principal was referring to. She felt Jackson grab her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze, and she gave him a grateful smile.
"I know you all are asking among yourselves what exactly I am referring to," the Headmistress explained, "Normally, in any other case, this would probably be something you'd be made aware of by an e-mail being sent out or a letter, but I feel that it is only telling it to you in person that we can actually tackle any concerns you may have about it."
"Ten bucks says she's retiring," she heard Clawd whisper.
Draculaura whispered back, "Naw, that can't be. I feel like she'd be way more emotional about it. I bet it's an award ceremony."
"For what?" Frankie asked, "There hasn't exactly been anything super special going on within these last few months. Besides, wouldn't we have already heard about it in the news beforehand?"
"Maybe they wanted it to be a surprise?" Jackson responded.
"That would kinda be embarrassing, wouldn't it?" Robecca asked, "I mean, none of us are exactly dressed to impress at the moment."
"I think someone died," Howleen said, "And they don't know how to tell everyone about it, so they want to let us down gently before the media vultures get word of it."
Frankie tried not to grin when she saw Howleen's eyes slide to the back of Spectra's head at that statement.
"Uuuugggghhh?" Ghoulia suggested.
"Eeeeeeeh," Slow Moe groaned in agreement.
"That can't be," Lagoona countered, "If it was someone that important, word would already be out way before long."
"All you talk too much," Abbey stated, "Hush mouths and listen to Headmistress, and then you will know what fuss is about."
Bloodgood looked out onto the crowd, her blue eyes steadily studying each and every face of the attendees present. So many she recognized, while some were new, and some she thought she saw in the news or on television once.
"I can currently see as I look out among the crowd, most of you were all former students of mine, attending our infamous Monster High at one point or another in your younger unlives," she pointed out, "All of you are here because you are parents, which means either now or some point in the future, your children will also be attending Monster High
"So as you all should already know, Monster High has always strived for the important virtues of equality, solidarity, and harmony amongst the monster community. What started out originally as a mere safe haven for monsters in the dark times to live and gain basic education as grown into a clawsome symbol of coming together and celebrating our differences, whilst also fighting against injustice and striving for the better treatment of our people."
She gestured with her hands, "We have also demonstrated the ability to unite with one another, even after centuries of conflict among our own monster species. In the 2012-2013 school year, we integrated with the vampire academy of Belfry Prep and the werewolf school of Crescent Moon High; before, we had numerous administrators telling us it was impossible due to the centuries of bad blood between these two species, but despite the odds, and those who sought to keep the bloodshed going, we did it, as the graduating class of that year would tell you."
Bloodgood took a deep breath, sensing how some were starting to grow impatient with her rambling.
She looked out into the audience again.
"I tell you this, because I know some of you may have major concerns, and even objections, to what I'm about to tell you," she continued, "But I say this, because I want you to keep in mind that the fight for equality when it comes to monsters has never been easy. Even to this day, we are still dealing with those who want to seek to keep us second class citizens, both from non-monsters and those within our own communities, and those who seek to keep the conflict going. But through it all, Monster High is just one example that no matter what, we will always prevail. We have, we are, and we will for as long as monsters roam the Earth."
She closed her eyes for a second, bracing herself for the possible chorus of anger she was about to receive.
"Which is why," she explained, "As the state government has finally declared with the passage of the 2030 Gleissen-Howards bill, that starting with this school year, the Monster schools of Scarion County will be officially integrated with the human students of the New Salem School district."
She finished, and folded her hands on the podium.
A large wave of gasps echoed throughout the audience; she could tell by their wide eyes that this was probably the last thing were expecting.
The ghouls looked at one another, shock registering in each of their features.
"They're going to mixing the schools…with the normies?" Draculaura paraphrased, looking like she couldn't quite get the thought through her head.
"You mean, we're going to actually have to deal with them even more?!" Cleo exclaimed, horror on her face. Frankie gave her a look, her and Clawdeen both shaking their heads when their eyes met. Even after all these years, Cleo could still be such a diva.
Before she could give her own opinion, however, Frankie was suddenly caught off guard at the sudden booming of angry shouts and protests from various other monsters in the audience. Some were cupping their hands and shouting angry swears, while others simply booed and gave a thumbs down. Many were standing up to give their two cents.
Bloodgood raised her hands, trying to ease the tension in the room.
"I know many of you are concerned with how this whole thing may go down," she said, "And your concerns are not without cause. I completely understand that even with all the progress in the last several years, there is still much hostility that has gone down between us and the normie population, and that for some of you, this hostility may at one point or another even reached personal levels.
"But if we are to ever successfully co-exist with normies, we need to start removing the barriers that are factors in helping this inequality persist in the first place. By letting ourselves remain segregated from the human population, we are only further giving into the narrative that normies have a 'right' to not want to exist with us."
"What if we don't want to co-exist with the normies?!" Some manster yelled from the back.
"Yeah, why should we give a shit about how the hell they feel? What about us?!" a goblin woman questioned.
A skunk ape shot out of his seat, his fists clenched tight as his waist. He pointed accusingly at Bloodgood and shouted, "Two years ago, my wife had to leave our home in Roarida in the middle of the night without any planning because normies started cutting down the trees in the swamp we lived and when they found our house, they came in a giant mob with torches and tried to burn us alive! How do I know they won't pull that same stunt with my kids?!"
"I used to live next door to a normie," a peryton explained, "Only a couple of weeks after we moved in, our house started getting vandalized and we got death threat after death threat in the mail; my husband and I ended up pulling our daughter out of school because they almost hit her with their car when she was walking to her bus stop!"
There were shouts of agreement and disgust from the audience, and the noise escalated as more started speaking up about their personal encounters with normie violence. Chairs were shoved back as more guests started getting up out of the seats, making harsh shrieks as the legs scraped across the floor. Frankie winced at the harsh sounds, anxiety started to creep up in her bolts as she started to feel surrounded as those sitting around her also got up.
She saw Nightmare stand up on her hind legs, balancing for a few seconds, before the horse slammed both her front hooves onto the stage floor; she stomped them harshly on the wooden ground, making giant claps echo throughout the building. Instantly, the chorus of shouts died. Everyone knew from experience that when it was the Headmistress's turn to talk, you let her talk.
Bloodgood sighed. She knew this was going to happen, having had written and rewritten her speech at least a dozen times to be able to word it just right.
"I know you all have many fears over what could go wrong when the school year begins," she finally said after a moment's silence, "I will not pretend like I know how everything will turn out when that day comes, nor will I say that this is going to be smooth sailing. It will be tough; there will be tension from both sides, and there will be many problems and questions to work through."
She took a deep breath, "But the road to equality has never been an easy one. Which is why it's important that we let our children know we are in this together with them. With this integration, both humans and monsters will have an up close and personal chance to truly know one another. And it is only by knowing that we have any idea of where to go from there."
No one said anything. Frankie smiled as she looked proudly upon her former principal- even after all these years, Bloodgood's stance was still as confident and assured as ever.
That's when she knew, without a doubt, that this monstergration would work.
Bloodgood would make it work, one way or another.
"I think it's for the better," Frankie said later that night.
After the kids had been put to bed and her and Jackson got ready to turn in themselves, he had asked her what her opinion on the situation had been, noticing she had been unusually quiet throughout the whole ordeal.
"So you're not worried about backlash? From either side?" Jackson asked as he turned to look at her from his side of the bed.
Frankie pondered his question for a moment, folding her hands together.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit worried," she admitted, "But Bloodgood has always been one to go for what she thinks it's right. I mean, when has she ever had poor judgment on anything when it came to advancing monster society?"
"Well, I mean, she did think Van Hellscream was cool at one point," Jackson pointed out.
Frankie cringed slightly, wrinkling her nose at the mention of the late monster hunter (she still hadn't gotten over her fears of scargoyles because of him!).
"Well…yeah, that's true…b-but we all thought he was a good guy!" she tried to counter, "I mean, if he was promoted to the head of monster-human relations, it would take a mind reader to figure out he had second means!"
She sat back, "And, even with all of that, Bloodgood has been wanting something like this since even we were in school. We've been wanting something like this. And with all the advancements we've faced over the last few years, why not? What's the point in all of it if we still let fear hold us back?"
Jackson didn't say anything for several seconds, though he nodded his head slowly as he pondered her words. Frankie smiled softly at him.
"Besides," she pointed out as she snuggled up to him, "Haven't you always told me it would nice to hang with people 'more like you' once in a while?"
Jackson chuckled as he slid a hand over her waist, pulling her close, "You got me there."
She wrapped her arms around him, planting a light kiss on his collarbone. "You'll see. It'll all be okay."
They lay there in the dark, not saying a word, taking in the comfort of each other's warm embrace and the soft sound of rain outdoors.
After a few minutes, Frankie finally spoke up in the dark.
"And you know," she said, "If things do get out of hand, we can always recall to them with the story of how they almost gave you and Holt the Scarie Phantoinette treatment."
That earned her a laugh from Jackson, "Oh, we're gonna go the blackmail route for Plan B?"
"Maybe," she replied in an overly innocent tone.
"Oh, baby, I love it when you're bad."
A/N: Just want to end this chapter by deeply apologizing for the sudden hiatus I suddenly went on these last few months. I don't mean to go more than a few weeks without updating, but long story short, school became much more stressful last quarter, and both that and the overall lack of free time wore me down both in terms of ideas and motivation. But I'm now off for summer break, and besides work, I'm back. So expect new updates with this and Strings (the latter of which I'm hoping to finish this summer, actually).