Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.
Chapter 17,
Heath was walking out of Home Ick, when he bumped into Deuce.
"Hey-Hey, dude. Where have you been hiding?" Deuce asked and Heath simply shrugged.
"I haven't really been hiding, Deuce. I've been going to my classes and whatnot. The only thing I've changed was that I have been walking a new way to class." Heath said nonchalantly and Deuce nodded.
"Still having trouble with ghouls running around?" Deuce asked and Heath nodded.
"I've been laying low. I might be in great shape, but I didn't want to take the chance." Heath explained and Deuce nodded.
"I get that, dude." Deuce said.
"But hey, you and Clawd went shopping yesterday, how did you guys make out?" Heath asked as they entered the cafeteria. Immediately Heath looked at the crowd of people, looking for his tiger lily.
"I bought Cleo this rad necklace I heard her talking about. Clawd bought this black jacket with some pink... uh, ribbon, or accent, or highlighter, I don't know. But it looks pretty cool and I think our girls will be happy." Deuce said as they got in line.
"Did you keep the receipts?" Heath asked and Deuce nodded.
"It's in the bag, with the gift, ok." Deuce said and Heath smiled.
"Just double checking, Deuce." Heath said as they started gathering up their food.
"So I know yesterday you were a little touchy. Clawd said you didn't go to the mall with us because you had to help Toralei." Deuce said.
"Are you gonna go off on Toralei being a 'bad kitty'?" Heath asked and Deuce shook his head.
"Dude, you should know me better then that. Have you forgotten who my mom was?" Deuce asked and Heath stared at him.
"Well, she's Medusa, but why bring her up?" Heath asked and Deuce sighed.
"A long time ago, my mother was human; very beautiful. Then there was an incident and Aphrodite turned my mother and her sisters into the famous gorgons that you all think of when you hear the word 'medusa'. Now some say that Aphrodite was jealous of mom's beauty, and that's why she cursed her. Others say that mom had many love affairs in Aphrodite's temple, possibly including Poseidon or even Zeus, depending on who you ask." Deuce said.
"So which one is the truth?" Heath asked and Deuce shrugged.
"Mom says Aphrodite was jealous, aunt Sthenno says mom lured Poseidon to Aphrodite's temple. But neither of them are telling the truth." Deuce said and Heath paused.
"Then what really happened?" Heath asked and Deuce but his lip and stared down at his tray.
"Aunt Euryale decided to tell me the truth when a I told her Cleo had a sister. You see there was this man... a very famous man, named Perseus who came to their village. Sthenno is the oldest and her name means 'forceful' because their parents wanted her to be strong enough to defend the land. Euryale's name means 'far-roaming', so she could travel great distances and anticipate upcoming events. Mom's name, 'Medusa', actually means 'to protect' 'to rule over'... 'guardian'... someone to stand by her family and protect them at all costs." Deuce paused to take a deep breath.
"Sthenno's made weapons with the blacksmith, Euryale gathered crops with the farmers, and... mother cared for the little children as their parents were away. Aunt Euryale says they were happy." Deuce said softly.
"Before Perseus came the village?" Heath asked and Deuce nodded.
"All three of them fell in love with Perseus. And in this love, they grew angry and hostile towards each other. They prayed to Aphrodite to make their sisters ugly, so that Perseus would love them and only them. Eventually Perseus whisked away my mother and married her in the middle of the night while my aunts were sleeping." Deuce said. He pulled out his wallet and paid for his lunch. Heath did the same.
"So why would Aphrodite change them all? Was she jealous of them because she wanted Perseus for herself?" Heath asked and Deuce shook his head.
"Dude, then it gets nitty gritty. Aunt Euryale said that, when they woke up and saw mom missing, they were angry because they knew what she did. But then they grew sad and started crying. Months later a traveling salesmen comes to town, dragging my pregnant mother in chains." Deuce said this softly.
"Chains?" Heath asked and Deuce turned his head away.
"She married Perseus and then he turned around and sold her to Poseidon, who sold her to the salesman when he was done with her. My aunts rushed home and gathered every cent they had and bought my mother back. Reunited, once again, they all swore to never let a man break them apart. And that's when Aphrodite finally answered their prayers and turned them all into gorgons. Not as a punishment, but as a reminder to each of them to never let hate overcome their love for each other. Aphrodite even gave them the gift of turning people into stone, in order to stop dudes like Perseus from destroying families." Deuce said and Heath whistled.
"Dang... um, does that mean your dad is Perseus or maybe Poseidon?" Heath asked and Deuce shrugged.
"Honestly, dude, I don't know. I might be a quarter lightning god, or half water god. But I don't care. Both of those jerks used my mother and they are considered heroes, and the rest of the world see my mother as some ugly villain." Deuce said and Heath looked down at his tray.
"I'm sorry about that." Heath said.
"Heath, listen; to me, my mom and my aunts are the strongest, wisest, and most beautiful monsters I've ever known. Heh, don't tell Cleo cause she'll get jealous. But the rest of the world see them as cruel... evil... bad." Deuce said and Heath rose an eyebrow at that last word.
"My point is that I like to think guys and ghouls are more complex then simple 'good' and 'bad'. Everyone makes mistakes or act in jealousy or even revenge. So I'm not gonna tell you that Toralei is a 'bad kitty', or anything like that. If you wanna become better friends with Toralei, then I say 'go for it'. I'm with you all the way." Deuce said and Heath blinked.
"Really? But Clawd and Cleo don't seem to like Toralei at all." Heath said and Deuce shrugged.
"I'm sure Clawd is just being protective of you, because you are his friend and he would hate to see you get hurt. As for Cleo... I'll try to talk to her, but maybe try to give her time. I'm almost surprised that you care so much about her opinion; should I be jealous?" Deuce teased.
"No. I was just thinking that Clawd is your best bro, and Cleo is your girlfriend. But they don't like Toralei, but you're willing to give her a chance." Heath simplified and Deuce shrugged.
"Like I said, I think creatures are more complex then 'good' or 'bad'. Hey, maybe you should ask Toralei over to our table for lunch, today." Deuce suggested, gesturing to the right. Heath turned his head and saw sweet Toralei sitting at her lunch table. Once again, she was sitting alone, reading her little book and eating her lunch with a fork.
For a brief moment, he wondered why she was sitting alone again. Then Heath remembered that Christine said something about Meowlody and Purrsephone getting in a fight with Toralei saying she always felt like an outcast. Too good for the trouble makers and makes too much trouble for the good kids.
"Actually, Deuce... I think it would be better if I sat with her today." Heath said and Deuce patted Heath's shoulder.
"Well said, dude. I'll text you." Deuce said walking away from the flame head. Heath took a breath to settle his nerves and he walked over to the werecat.
"Hello Heath." Toralei said without looking up.
"Man, how do you do that?" Heath asked and Toralei smirked.
"I keep telling you, you smell like ash and cheap cologne. I always know when you're near." Toralei said and Heath chuckled.
"Can I eat lunch with you?" Heath asked and Toralei paused and looked up at him.
"You mean that?" Toralei asked and Heath nodded.
"Well, that might be a really good book and the smell of me might make you loose your appetite, but... can I eat lunch with you?" Heath asked, starting to feel a little self-conscious.
"Um, sure." Toralei said, putting down her book as Heath sat down.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Heath asked and Toralei hummed as she thought.
"What's your favorite food?" Toralei asked and Heath took a bite of his burger and thought about it.
"Ghost chilis, definitely." Heath said and Toralei tried not to laugh.
"Oh, really?" Toralei said and Heath nodded.
"Yep, they are like candy to me." Heath said and Toralei swallowed a chuckled and nodded.
"How long have you been into ghost peppers?" Toralei asked.
"Oh, forever. I am a fire element after all, I can handle the heat." Heath said and Toralei bit her lip.
"Do you have any idea how many Scoville Heat Units a ghost pepper has?" Toralei asked and Heath hesitated.
"Um, no..." He said softly.
"About a million on average." Toralei said.
"Yeah, so? I told you I can handle the heat." Heath commented.
"Ok, do you know that a regular jalapeño can only get as hot as 5,000 heat units?" Toralei asked and Heath rose an eyebrow at her.
"Alright." Heath said and Toralei nodded.
"Well, did you forget about the normie Halloween party we went to?" Toralei asked and Heath's eyes widened as he remembered.
"Oh, please don't say it." Heath begged.
"And you flames out because the jalapeño anchors were too spicy for you." Toralei half-squeaked out before giggling like a mad-cat. Heath groaned and slumped his head in defeat.
"I asked you not to say anything." Heath wined over-dramatically, and then they both laugheh together.
Now it is pretty standard that most laughter in a crowd gets muddled and lost around the dozens of voices conversing along. However, there was one person who heard the sounds of their joy, and grew angry/
"What in the world is Heath doing with that traitor?" Cleo asked her friends.
"Your bandages are too tight, Cleo. Toralei may not be my favorite person in the world, but I wouldn't call her a traitor." Lagoona said and Cleo looked insulted.
"How could you say that after she embarrassed you in front of the whole school. Or did you forget the time when she exposed your stage fight and you went belly up?" Cleo said and Lagoona narrowed her eyes at Cleo.
"Yeah, I froze up like a fish stick, and I became the most famous monster meme. But she did defend me in front of everyone in my home town. That experience also helped me to get over my fear of Kala, and we became best pals again. I got to spend some time with my family, who I never get to see anymore. And I like to think everyone who came got a little stronger and we got closer together." Lagoona said and Cleo rolled her eyes.
"Oh, stop making excuses for her, Lagoona." Cleo said and Clawdeen shrugged.
"Lagoona may be right about some things, but I don't know if I would necessarily trust the cat. Do you think we should be worried about Heath?" Clawdeen asked and Jinafire glanced at Heath.
"Heath is old enough to make his own decisions, and who he spends his time with. Mistake or not, if Heath decides to be Toralei's friend, it is his decision to make." Jinafire said and Draculaura hesitated.
"I don't know. Toralei keeps throwing meat in my face, causing me to get sick and faint. And she does it for no reason what so ever. Who knows what she will do to Heath." Draculaura said and Frankie walked over with her food and sat down with her friends.
"Hey guys. What are you all talking about?" Frankie asked in her usual perky tone.
"We we're trying to figure out if we should trust Toralei or not." Clawdeen said and Cleo crossed her arms over her chest.
"Actually we were talking about Heath sitting with Toralei." Cleo said and Draculaura blinked.
"You know, it is a little odd that they're sitting together. I can't remember a time they had a real conversation before." Draculaura commented and Frankie nodded.
"I guess that's true. I don't remember them talking in Paris or at the Great Scarrier Reef." Frankie said.
"And they certainly didn't talk when we went to retaliate on the normie high school." Cleo said and Frankie shrugged.
"Well, they're talking now, and I don't think that's so bad." Frankie said. Lagoona couldn't help but smile at her friend and roll her eyes.
"Oh, crikey, Frankie. It's easy for you to think the world of Toralei. You're so nice, she's probably never done anything rotten to you." Lagoona said with a chuckle in her voice, and everyone giggled.
"Hey wait, is Toralei wearing Heath's jacket? Why is she wearing that?" Clawdeen said and Lagoona blinked.
"Blimey. I don't think Gil's even let me wear his jacket like that. Are they dating?" Lagoona said and Frankie shook her head.
"Noooo, they aren't dating. He gave the jacket to her last night because she was cold. She tried to give it back to him this morning, but he said she cold wear it today." Frankie explained.
"Yesterday? Why were they together yesterday?" Cleo asked and Frankie shrugged.
"She asked Heath to come over to her house; I guess her parents needed help to cook food. They hung out afterwards and that's when he offered Toralei his jacket." Frankie said and Jinafire blinked.
"Odd. If she needed help to produce a constant heat temperature, she could have come to me. Why didn't she?" Jinafire said and Frankie shrugged.
"I don't know. If you want, I could ask her after school." Frankie said and Cleo froze.
"You're hanging out with Toralei, Frankie?" Cleo asked and Frankie nodded.
"Me, Heath, Toralei, and Toralei's best friend. We're gonna go go the mall and hang out, probably get something to eat or whatever." Frankie said.
"Best friend? Does she not have two best friends?" Jinafire asked.
"She should. Meowlody and Purrsephone." Draculaura said and Clawdeen scoffed.
"Two more bad kitties." Clawdeen said and Frankie took a calming breath.
"Actually she said her best friend doesn't go to Monster High. But she's excited to meet Heath and I later." Frankie said. Cleo didn't like the idea of Frankie being nice to Toralei. However she DID enjoy the notion that she could use Frankie to spy on Toralei. That sneaky kitty must be up to something if she's walking around with the human matchstick.
"That sounds wonderful Frankie." Cleo said as happily as she could bear.
"I hope you take lots of pictures and text me all the deets." Cleo said and Frankie smiled at her.
"Oh sure. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any clawsome sales." Frankie said with a giggle and Cleo smiled back.
And though this subject was dropped, Clawdeen took a subtle, suspicious glance at Cleo. Sure, she didn't know what Cleo was up to, but she recognized that mischievous look and that utterly fake tone. Perhaps it would be good to keep an eye on Cleo. Just to make sure she doesn't do anything to embarrass herself, or Deuce, or Frankie, or Heath... or Toralei.