Author's note:
Recently, I wrote a blog post about how similar Ghoul School was to a 1990s series called Gravedale High. If you haven't heard of the series, the basic premise is that there's this ghoul school in which the ghouls have to solve problems related to their lives that pop up. Honestly, this is what I feel like Ghoul School would be like if it were adapted into a TV series. That's why I wanted to write a full-fledged crossover between Ghoul School and Gravedale High.
I wanted to approach this chapter as if it were a standalone one-shot fanfic, even though it is packaged as a chapter of Fangs for the Memories. Thus, no original characters that I've created for this story will appear in this chapter.
I know Gravedale High was never a super popular series, as it only ran for a year and thirteen episodes before being cancelled, but hopefully even if you're not familiar with the series, this chapter is still enjoyable.
Thursday, April 25
My life has been pretty sheltered. Since I was five years old, I've been living here at Grimwood's Finishing School for Ghouls, only going home in the summers to stay with my father.
I can think of few true instances in my life in which I've faced true hardship in life. When I was 9, my friends and I were kidnapped by the homicidal Witch of the Web, Revolta, and would have been Revoltized if not for the bravery of my coaches. However, even this new experience of having human coaches did not last long, when they ran away and quit their jobs telling us to "meet them in St. Louis" (whatever that meant).
When I was 14, Miss Grimwood decided to expand the school to be able to handle more students. New teachers were hired, as were construction workers to expand the school to have more classrooms for all the new students. When the new students came, I was exposed to a variety of new perspectives. But even then, I've still been sheltered. I've lived at Grimwood's all my life, and have never been out in the real world, on my own.
Today, Miss Grimwood is going to take us to a College and Career Fair on Skull Island. Essentially, this will be my first step into adulthood. I am about to go into my senior year in August, and then by next May, it will all change. I'll be out on my own; Grimwood's won't be my home anymore; I may not even see my friends anymore.
My life will be turned upside down.
The purple-skinned vampiress closed the lid to her coffin and set her diary on her desk with a sigh. Despite the fact that Sybella was looking forward to the College and Career Fair, she couldn't help but feel this was the beginning of the end of an era.
Nonetheless, despite her uncertainty around if she was ready to leave Grimwood's, Sybella wanted to give the staff at her potential future college (whichever one that might be) a good impression of her. The vampiress decided to dress up in a black sequin dress in order to look professional and fancy.
Sybella knew she could stay up in her room all day, detailing all of her thoughts of uncertainty about moving on from Grimwood's to the next stage of her life. However, she also knew that Miss Grimwood wanted to leave promptly at 8:30am so they would make it to Skull Island for the fair by 9:00am. With this in mind, Sybella got herself moving and gathered her belongings before walking downstairs to the bus.
As Sybella was going to meet her fellow students at the bottom of the stairs, the vampiress ran into Grimwood's pet dragon, Matches.
"Hi Matches. How are you this morning?" the vampire asked.
Matches couldn't exactly respond to her in a verbal way, so he rubbed up against the vampiress's leg affectionately and made a happy noise.
"Aww. Thanks, Matches." Sybella smiled, as she made her way down the stairs to greet the others.
"Good morning, Sybella!" Tanis greeted.
"Ready for the fair today?" Winnie inquired.
"Yeah. I sure am! I can't wait to see what colleges are out there." Sybella lied. She was actually quite nervous about seeing all the different colleges out there, and didn't know how she'd be able to choose when all that was on her mind was the fact that she'd be leaving Grimwood's forever. However, she didn't say that because...well, you know, vulnerability is hard.
"What sections of the fair do you all plan to visit?" Elsa inquired. "I'm going to try to look in the college section for a good science school. Preferably one that offers a Ph.D. in science."
"Jeez Elsa, you're already thinking about a Ph.D.? You haven't even finished high school yet!" Phantasma pointed out.
"It's never too early to start thinking about your future, right?" Elsa defended herself.
Sybella wanted to protest that...even right now was too early to start thinking about her future for her mind, which preferred the comfort of being sheltered. Nonetheless, she chose not to.
"I'm going to visit just colleges in general." Tanis responded. "I'm thinking about majoring in history, though, so that might be a question I'll ask to pick a good college."
"Me too." Sybella agreed. She didn't really know what she wanted to major in yet. She was just fixated on the simple act of picking a college, and wasn't ready to get into the details of what she wanted to study.
"I'm thinking about visiting the career section." Winnie mentioned. "I think I want to take a gap year in between college and high school."
Sybella momentarily took comfort in Winnie's revelation. Maybe the vampire princess could choose to take a gap year as well to get herself together. No, wait. That was just fear talking. She wanted to go on straight to college.
"Really? You don't want to go to college?" Tanis asked.
"I do, but I want to get some work experience first. I want to go into teaching sports, but maybe it would be a good idea to actually have some practice coaching a team before I went on to the teaching aspect of my life plan." Winnie explained.
"I guess I'll visit the career section too." Phantasma added.
"You don't want to go to college either?" Sybella inquired. "I thought you did."
"Well, I did want to go to study music, but I was thinking, maybe it would just be better to get out there and start my music career right away. Perhaps I could release an album or something and see if it takes off." Phantasma said. "I just feel like I already know a lot about music, and studying it in college isn't going to help me much."
"That's perfectly fair." the headmistress of Grimwood's jumped in as she entered the room. "Girls, you should simply focus on exploring what you like. Even if you do go to college, picking a major doesn't mean that's all you will study for your four years there. You will have to take some electives, and through that, you may potentially find a minor area of study you would like to pursue. Anyways, are you girls ready to go?"
Winnie was the only one to verbally reply "yes" as the other girls simply nodded.
"Excellent! Let's get going then. It's a half an hour drive to Skull Island." Miss Grimwood informed. The five girls began piling in the minibus which the headmistress owned.
"Who's going to run the school while you're gone?" Tanis inquired.
Tanis was quite right. Now that Miss Grimwood had expanded the school, which was currently educating around 50 other students, it was much harder for her to just get up and leave with her five longest-enrolled students.
"Not to worry. Olly will run the school while I'm gone." Miss Grimwood assured, referring to Grimwood's octopus butler.
"What if a kid does something wrong?" Winnie questioned. "Olly can't speak English! How can he reprimand them?"
"I would imagine that would work in his favor. Olly can give a very icy stare, you know. That might scare the troublemaker more than if he actually said anything!" Miss Grimwood joked. "Besides, all the teachers will be here should a disciplinary problem arise. Now, let's get going so we are not tardy."
"Alright, we're going on a road trip!" Winnie exclaimed.
Sybella only wished she was that excited for today.
It had only been 25 minutes, but the trip felt like it was taking forever.
"Alright, girls, we shall arrive at Skull Island in five minutes!" Miss Grimwood alerted.
"Awesome! I can't wait to see the hotel!" Tanis exclaimed.
"I don't think there's a hotel on Skull Island." Winnie corrected. "I heard it's all pirate-themed because there's treasure on the island!"
"No, you're both wrong. There's an old prison on the island!" Phantasma asserted.
"I'm afraid all three of you are wrong." Miss Grimwood said. "You're thinking of the other three Skull Islands. This is the one where the Ghoul Board office is located."
"Ah, man." Winnie sighed.
"Hey, look guys! There's a cute griffin in that other car!" Tanis pointed to a car that was likely taking the same route as they were, which had a Frankenstein monster driving it. His pet griffin was in the back seat, flapping its wings playfully and looking like it wanted to get out the window.
"It's always a shame to see people mistreating their animals." Miss Grimwood sighed. "Everyone knows you're supposed to leave the windows open a crack for griffins when they're in the car. They like to sniff out the window and flap their wings in the wind."
The girls all looked up when they saw the big shape of a skull, and began driving over a bridge.
"This must be Skull Island!" Elsa exclaimed. None of the girls had ever been there before, despite going to school not that far away from it.
"Indeed it is." Miss Grimwood smiled. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Sybella replied in awe. The bridge entrance was shaped perfectly like a skull, and as they drove over the bridge, the ghouls could see the crystal-clear water below. Maybe today wasn't going to be such a bad day after all with how beautiful the scenery seemed to be on the island. It was almost like going on a tropical vacation!
Miss Grimwood was able to find a parking spot relatively quickly. In order to make sure the girls knew what to expect, she began giving them an overview of the fair's setup.
"According to this map, the college section is on the north end of the fair. The career section is on the south end of the fair." Miss Grimwood informed. "I'm happy to go to various booths with you girls, but I fully understand if you would like your independence. This is an exciting day for you, after all, as you may very well be introduced to the colleges and careers you will enroll in post-graduation."
"Is there any music section, Miss Grimwood?" Phantasma inquired.
"I believe there may be a recording company booth, however, I would recommend you also check out various college booths as well once you are done with that." Miss Grimwood suggested. "That's not to pressure you to go to college, but I simply want to make sure you are getting a sense of all your options before making an educated decision."
"Sounds good to me!" Phantasma replied. "Winnie, do you want to head over to the career end of the fair?"
"Sure!" Winnie responded. "We'll meet up with you girls later!"
Winnie and Phantasma excitedly ran off to check out the career booths. Sybella had no interest in visiting that side of the fair. She knew she wanted to go to college; the decision now was which college.
"Excellent, then I will head with you three over to the college section of the fair." Miss Grimwood decided.
Looking around, the fair looked like it was bustling with tons of monsters from various schools. There were at least 30 different booths representing various colleges, if not more.
"Ed's Learning Hole?" Elsa pointed to a sign listing the aforementioned school name. "What's that?"
"Well, the only way to find out is to go over and see." Sybella offered.
The werewolf at the booth was balding everywhere except for the very back of his head, and looked somewhat heavyset.
"Hi! We were looking at your school, and we were wondering if you could tell us more about it." Tanis inquired of the man, when the three of them and Miss Grimwood came up to the booth.
"Other colleges have you go to prestigious classrooms with uppity professors, orderin' you around all the time and actin' like they're better than you! You ever just feel like, I want to go and learn in a hole? Well, now you can! Ed's Learning Hole provides the highest quality education you can get learnin' in a literal hole in the ground. Instead of goin' to classes, ya go to our hole's one room, the library, and self-teach yourself. No jerkoff professors telling you what to do, just you learnin' what you want to learn!" the man said.
"How do you get graded then?" Tanis asked.
"That's the best part: you don't! You decide what you want to learn, and grade yourself! Everybody loves it!" the man exclaimed. "That's why our college's slogan is: it feels good in the hole!"
"That's a very suggestive slogan." Sybella raised a judgemental eyebrow.
Another vampire, who wore a fancy suit and looked a bit embarrassed with the balding werewolf's comment, replied: "We've sadly heard that complaint many times, so we tried to change it. Unfortunately, our provost Dr. Kinkfetish won't hear of it."
The suited vampire pointed towards a sleazy looking ghost in the corner having a giggle fit. He wore a fancy suit with a name tag reading "provost."
"Let's move on." Miss Grimwood whispered, as she slowly led the girls away from the strange giggling ghost. "Girls, I'm going to see if there's any refreshments around here as I'm quite thirsty. Feel free to move on without me though, and I'll catch up to you."
"Okay, Miss Grimwood." Sybella acknowledged.
"See you soon!" Tanis chirped.
"Ay yo, Leopold University? Seems like a cool place." Sybella overheard a vampire wearing a leather jacket and slicked-back hair say.
The vampiress quite frankly wasn't sure where to go next, so she decided to go up to the other vampire and ask about Leopold University.
"Hi. Did you say that Leopold University is a good place to go?" Sybella inquired. Quite frankly, she was desperate to find any good place after she had visited Ed's Learning Hole.
"Ayy, I don't know yet." the vampire replied. "We were just visitin' it now."
The vampire stepped to the side to reveal a whole group of other ghouls, including a Frankenstein's monster, a werewolf, a Medusa-type monster, a zombie, a mummy, a sea monster, an invisible man, and some sort of goblin.
"What school are you all from?" Tanis politely asked.
"We're from Gravedale High, dude." the sea monster said in a strong "California surfer dude" type accent.
"Oh cool. We're from Grimwood's Finishing School for Ghouls." Elsa informed. "I'm Elsa, by the way."
"I'm Tanis!"
"I'm Sybella." the vampiress replied.
"I'm Cleo." the other mummy introduced.
"Duzer." the Medusa monster said.
"Ay yo, the name's Vinnie Stoker." the greaser vampire added.
"I'm Frankentyke, man." the short Frankenstein's monster shared.
"Blanche." the sole zombie of the group spoke up.
"I'm Gill Waterman, dudes." the sea monster said his name.
"J.P. Ghastly the Third, at your service." the goblin, who seemed a bit uppity, bowed.
"Sid." a disembodied voice spoke. It seemed to be coming from the invisible man.
"And I'm Reggie Moonshroud." the werewolf howled.
"You're the only three here from your school?" Cleo asked.
"No. There's Winnie and Phantasma too, but they're off in the career section." Sybella corrected.
"That's where we should be too, man." Frankentyke whined to Gill. "Going to college is dweeb city."
"No way, little dude. I heard Surf U is here!" Gill explained. "I can't miss that."
"Surf's up, man! Cowabunga dudes!" a cool looking guy with a name tag reading "R. Belding" said.
"Alright, I'm there!" Gill hurried over to the Surf University booth.
"Ay, I'm with you, Frankentyke." Vinnie agreed. "Goin' to school when you don't have to? It just ain't cool."
"You two should really consider furthering your educational studies." Reggie, the nerdy looking werewolf with glasses, advised. "Don't you remember what Kahuna Bob taught us?"
"Yeah, man, he told us about him droppin' out of high school and what a mistake it was, and then he joined our class for a day, but he never showed up again!" Frankentyke said. Sybella quite frankly didn't care for his whiny voice. "What a dingus, man."
"Get a life, Reggie!" Duzer admonished. "What's wrong with getting a job and being done with school?"
Though Sybella didn't want to miss college herself, it was understandable that it wasn't for everyone. "I think Duzer's right. People should be able to choose whatever they want, and there's no shame in choosing to not go to college."
"Thanks, girl!" Duzer smiled. "What did you say your name was again?"
"Sybella." the vampiress reiterated.
"Is that with an 'i' or a 'y'?" Sid inquired.
"Y for sure. I hate when people misspell it with an 'i'." Sybella sneered.
"Hey look, there's MIT over there!" Elsa pointed. "Monster Institute of Technology and Science!"
"They are? Oh my goodness! I'm coming with you." Reggie rushed off with the female Frankenstein's monster to the MIT booth.
"Hi, I'm Bridgit." the vampire at the MIT booth could be overheard saying. "Are you ghouls interested in coming here?"
"Let's go check out Leopold University." Sybella suggested to the remaining ghouls, tuning out the other conversation that Reggie and Elsa were having at the MIT booth nearby.
"I think I'm going to check out that school over there, actually." Sid replied, pointing to a booth that read Howard University of Comedy.
"So you're interested in comedy, are ya? Nyuk nyuk nyuk." inquired a ghost wearing green goggles on his head.
"You want comedy, do ya?" another ghost in a yellow hat said, as he bonked the other ghost over the head with his fist.
"Ooohoohoohoohoohoo! That tickles!" the green goggled ghost giggled.
"I'm going to head over to the career section with Frankentyke." Blanche, a zombie with a Southern belle accent, informed the rest of the ghouls. "I'd like to start my own fashion line."
"Yeah man, let's get out of dweeb central here." Frankentyke mildly insulted.
"That just leaves Tanis, Duzer, Cleo, J.P. and...Vinnie, do you want to join us?" Sybella inquired, remembering his earlier comment about not wanting to go to college.
"I guess." Vinnie shrugged, as he began following the others over to the Leopold University booth.
"Welcome to the Leopold University booth." a mummy kindly replied. "My name is Dr. Glenn. What questions do you have about our university?"
"Ay, I guess I'm wondering what kind of activities do you have there? Like, what's cool?" Vinnie inquired.
"We have a variety of extracurricular activities, including intramural sports, over 50 clubs, and music lessons." Dr. Glenn replied.
"Ay yo, intramural sports sounds pretty cool." Vinnie nodded.
"What majors do you offer?" Cleo asked next.
"We offer a wide variety of majors. What are you all interested in?" Dr. Glenn shared.
"I'm interested in acting." Cleo said, looking to Sybella to respond next.
"I'm not completely sure yet." Sybella shrugged, her face turning a little red with embarrassment.
"That's quite alright." Dr. Glenn smiled. "We have many faculty advisors willing to help you figure out your interests. "And to answer the other question, we do indeed have a theatre major which will help your acting skills blossom."
"I love history." Tanis chirped.
"Excellent. Our history major is one of the most critically acclaimed in the state." Dr. Glenn answered.
"I loved writing our school newspaper." Duzer smiled. The three snakes on her head were also smiling, for some reason.
"We have a large Communication program, in which you can take classes like Media and Society and Media Writing to hone your journalism skills." Dr. Glenn informed.
"Yo, maybe that will teach you to stop writing fake news to shock people." Vinnie teased, to which Duzer started immediately blushing.
"I love checking stocks and learning about money!" J.P. rasped.
"Then you'll really like our Economics program, in which you can learn all about the way money functions in our society." Dr. Glenn suggested.
"This sounds like a great school!" Sybella smiled. "Thank you. I will absolutely look into this in the fall."
"Me too!" Tanis added.
"Us three!" Cleo and Duzer chimed in.
"With this school, my stocks will soar!" J.P. predicted.
"Ay yo, I guess this school ain't so bad after all." Vinnie said. "I just wish I knew what I wanted to do."
"As I mentioned, our advisors would be happy to help you with that if you decide to come here." Dr. Glenn offered.
"Thanks for all your advice, Dr. Glenn." Tanis smiled.
"Anytime. I hope you decide to come here, and please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions." Dr. Glenn said, handing each prospective student his business card and a campus brochure.
"That was pretty cool." Vinnie smiled, showing one of his fangs as he did so.
"Well, let's not stop now! There's tons of other college booths to visit!" Cleo pointed out.
Sybella had almost forgotten this, as she was so enamored with Leopold University that she almost felt like she didn't need to visit any other colleges. She knew she wanted to go there. Regardless, Cleo's idea was probably the smart one, so she chose to follow the mummy's lead.
As the ghouls were heading over to the next booth, they noticed Frankentyke talking to a Frankenstein's monster in a janitorial outfit.
"Young man, would you ever consider having a career in janitorial work?" the taller Frankenstein's monster replied.
"Uh, I guess, man." Frankentyke shrugged.
"Cool, because I sure don't want to do this anymore!" the janitor replied, as he handed the mop he was holding to Frankentyke and ran away.
"What the hell, man?" Frankentyke shouted.
"You're just in time, Frankentyke." J.P. informed the monster. "We're about to visit another booth, Moranis College."
"Welcome to Moranis College. I'm Dr. Rick." a wizard running the booth said. "How might I help you ghouls?"
"We're thinking of attending Moranis University." Duzer replied. "Can you give us the highlights of the place?"
"Absolutely. Moranis University is accredited for many of its programs, including Communication, English, Economics, Biology, Theatre, History, and Music." Dr. Rick shared. "Where are you coming from?"
"They're from Gravedale High, we're from Grimwood's." Sybella said.
"Wonderful! Our college is 10 minutes away from Grimwood's, so for those of you from there, it will be just like home!" Dr. Rick exclaimed.
Very tempting. Perhaps going to Moranis College would be a way for Sybella to stay in her comfort zone without having to venture too far out into the world before she was fully ready. She knew about the college from the various shenanigans the students attending there had pulled whilst walking past Grimwood's, but she had never considered going there until now.
"Thank you, Dr. Rick. Sounds like you have a wonderful college, and we'll definitely check into attending there." Sybella replied.
"No, thank you for visiting our booth! Be sure to tell all your friends!" Dr. Rick smiled.
"Seems like a pretty cool place, but I like the other place better. This brochure says it's by a lake and an arboretum, with acres and acres of woods!" Cleo pointed to the brochure Dr. Glenn had given them, which showed a map with a lake and woodland area.
"Ay yo, that's pretty cool!" Vinnie exclaimed.
It was indeed "pretty cool" as Vinnie said. That would require Sybella to make a decision: staying in a world of comfort, or opening herself up to a world of endless new possibilities.
The ghouls had visited several other college booths that morning, but all of them agreed that Leopold University was the best. All of them except Sybella, however, who was still on the fence between that one and Moranis College. In all honesty though, Leopold University seemed like the better option; it was just the fact that Moranis College would allow her to not have to move far, and also feel like she was still at Grimwood's.
"I think we've checked out the majority of the booths." Tanis said. "At least, all the ones I'm interested in."
"Yo, we missed that one!" Vinnie pointed over to a group of tough looking monsters on bikes.
"That's not a college! That's a motorcycle gang!" Duzer corrected.
"Ayy, it was worth a shot." the greaser vampire shrugged.
"I'm getting pretty hungry, man." Frankentyke alerted.
"Yeah, me too." Sybella agreed.
"We haven't seen our headmistress in a while though, so maybe we should look for her first to let her know what we're doing." Tanis pointed out.
At that moment, Elsa and Reggie walked over from booths they were looking at together.
"I haven't seen Mr. Schneider Sir in a while either." Reggie mentioned.
"Who's Mr. Schneiderser?" Elsa inquired.
"It's our teacher. And it's just Mr. Schnieder. Reggie likes to be formal." Duzer shrugged.
"There you kids are!" a nerdy looking human wearing glasses and a tweed jacket said. "I've been looking for you guys everywhere. Were you wandering the island or something?"
"We wouldn't do that without consulting with you first, Mr. Schneider Sir." Reggie promised.
"Well, you're welcome to after lunch if you like. I explored the place a bit this morning actually, and it's quite nice." Mr. Schneider suggested.
"Ay yo, that'd be cool." Vinnie nodded.
"Yeah, we can make an afternoon of it." Cleo added.
"I wouldn't mind checking out some of the sights myself." Sybella jumped in. "Maybe we should try to find Miss Grimwood and ask her if she would mind if we explored a little."
"That's a great idea!" Elsa said. "Look, there's Winnie and Phanty now."
"Hi guys!" Winnie greeted. "Who are your new friends?"
"This is Vinnie, Cleo, Duzer, Frankentyke, J.P. and Reggie." Sybella introduced, pointing at each ghoul as she said their name.
"I'm Winnie." Winnie introduced.
"And I'm Phantasma." Phanty greeted.
"Hey, don't forget about Sid!" Sid the invisible man said. "Geez, you'd think I was invisible around here or somethin'!"
"Oh, there you are, girls." Miss Grimwood said, as she encountered the group of ghouls. "I see you've made some new friends."
"Miss Grimwood, we were just wondering if we could explore the island a little after lunch." Tanis asked.
"Why of course, Tanis. Just be sure to be back by our bus by five o'clock sharp." Miss Grimwood said.
"There you dudes are!" Gill exclaimed, as he joined the group with Blanche. "Blanche and I were just looking for you!"
"We were just about to go explore the island, man." Frankentyke informed. "Wanna come with?"
"Do I?" Gill exclaimed.
"Of course. Maybe that will give me a chance to shop for some new clothes." Blanche smiled.
"It's settled then!" Sybella decided. "Let's go get some lunch and explore the island."
"I saw a Papa Igor's about a couple blocks away from here. I know that's one of your favorites." Mr. Schneider mentioned, talking to his students.
"That's one of our favorites too!" Winnie exclaimed.
"Really? We should go there!" Cleo recommended.
Sybella hadn't expected to come to this fair and find a new group of friends, but she felt like she had found them.
As the ghouls all walked together, Sybella and Tanis caught the others up on what happened at the various college booths this morning. Winnie was about to start telling everyone about the career side of the fair, but decided to wait to share her stories when the ghouls had arrived at Papa Igor's.
The Papa Igor's on Skull Island was a meager establishment, unlike the one that the Grimwood girls had by them. The one by Grimwood's Finishing School was beautifully furnished and very much looked like a sit down restaurant. However, this particular Papa Igor's looked like a greasy fast food restaurant at best. The floors didn't look particularly clean, and some of the tables were messy with the dirty dishes and litter that the previous patrons should have thrown away before leaving.
At the main counter was a teenage swamp monster, who didn't look particularly happy to be having to work there.
"What can I get for you guys?" the swamp monster asked.
"Are you all okay with cobweb and pepperoni pizza?" Sybella inquired of her new (and old) friends.
"Yeah, that's fine, man." Frankentyke affirmed.
"Ay yo, that sounds cool!" Vinnie said.
The rest of the group simply nodded or gave a simple 'yes.'
"Alright, two large cobweb and pepperoni pizzas, please." Sybella ordered.
"That'll be $19.90." the swamp monster clerk informed.
Sybella handed him $19, a Transylvanian half-dollar, one quarter, a dime, and a nickel.
"Okay, just sit tight, it'll be ready in a few minutes." the swamp monster said coolly.
"So, Winnie, how was the career side of the fair?" Tanis questioned.
"It was great! I met someone who coaches a local school team. I think his name was Cadaver?" Winnie inquired.
"Ay yo, that's our coach from Gravedale. Coach Cadaver!" Vinnie notified. "He said he was gonna be runnin' one of the booths here today."
"Oh, neat! But yeah, what he does seems really cool. I want to do that for a year or so before going on to college!" Winnie decided.
"I met a burgeoning musician too. She was so cool and said I should follow my dreams to write music. I think I'm going to do that instead of college." Phantasma shared.
"You know, you really should consider going to college. It's been statistically confirmed that individuals who go to college come out smarter, more mature, and get better jobs than people who don't continue their education." Reggie scolded.
"Oh, get a life, Reggie!" Duzer rolled her eyes. "Phantasma can do whatever she wants! It's her life, not yours."
"I agree, Reggie." Sybella stood up for her friend. "I think she'll be a great musician."
"Thanks, guys." Phanty beamed.
"Hey guys, the pizzas are ready!" Sid pointed out.
Sybella walked over to the counter to grab the pizzas. Opening the box, the pizzas appeared to be a bit greasy, but she supposed you got what you paid for. Once she retrieved the pizzas, the vampiress placed them over on the two cleanest tables. Everyone sat down and began to dig in.
"Hey dudes, this is great!" Gill slurped the pizza into his mouth with his reptilian tongue in a single gulp.
"Did you even taste it?" Elsa exclaimed in surprise.
"So, Winnie's taking a gap year to coach sports. I'm pursuing my music career." Phanty recapped. "Tanis, what are you thinking of doing?"
"I think I want to go to Leopold University to study history!" Tanis chirped. "How about you, Sybella? Did you make a decision yet?"
Sybella honestly hadn't thought any more about which college she would choose. She was still fixated on the idea of staying close to Grimwood's during her college experience, but at the same time, Leopold University seemed like a much better fit for her.
"Umm, no. I still haven't decided yet." Sybella finally answered.
"Well, I'm thinking about going to MIT to get my bachelor's degree, and eventually, my Ph.D. in Science." Elsa admitted.
"Ph.D.?!" Frankentyke exclaimed. "Isn't that thinking a little far ahead, man?"
"Not for me. It's my dream to get my Ph.D. and be a scientist!" Elsa responded with glee.
"If you care so much about what Elsa's doing, Frankentyke, what are you gonna do after high school?" Duzer inquired.
"I don't know, man! Any job I can get is fine by me." Frankentyke admitted. "What are you doin', man?"
"I'm going to study journalism at Leopold University!" Duzer revealed.
"And I'm going to study economics at Leopold too!" J.P. added.
"C'mon Frankentyke, you've gotta have some future aspirations." Cleo pushed.
"I guess buildin' stuff would be cool." Frankentyke shrugged.
"See, that's a start!" Cleo complimented. "I want to go into screenwriting, personally. Leopold University is perfect for me."
"I plan to go to MIT as well to study science." Reggie added.
"I'm going to Surf University, dudes!" Gill said. "That Belding guy seems super radical!"
"Those guys over at the Howard University of Comedy seem pretty cool." Sid brought up. "I'm going there to study comedy!"
"Vinnie, Blanche, you've been quiet." Cleo noticed. "Have you guys figured out what you want to do?"
"Ay yo, not really." Vinnie shrugged. "I guess Leopold University seems cool. Maybe one of those counselor guys could help me figure out what to do."
"I'd like to study fashion, but I didn't find anything great here at the fair. I think I'm going to apply to FIT to learn how to be a fashion designer." Blanche replied.
"Sounds like we all have a plan then!" Sybella smiled, a little on edge though. The fact that everyone had a plan, except maybe Frankentyke, made her feel like she was behind the rest of her peers and that she should know what she wanted to do. Alas, she did not at the moment.
"Speaking of plans, where do you guys wanna go next? I think it's safe to say we devoured those pizzas." Winnie laughed, looking at the empty boxes which had not a crumb left in it.
"How about we go shopping? There's a mall near here." Blanche said in an excited voice.
"We can do that, but I'm kinda tired. I didn't sleep well last night." Duzer admitted. "I could use some coffee."
"There's a coffee shop right next to Igor's." Elsa said. "I saw it on the way in here!"
"I could go for some coffee." Sybella shrugged.
"Why don't we go get some coffee, then head to the mall?" Winnie suggested.
"That's a great idea!" Blanche agreed. "Let's do it."
"Oh god, not shopping, man. That's dweeb city." Frankentyke whined. "Maybe the guys can go get some food or something while you ladies are shopping."
"Sounds good to me." Sid agreed.
"Ay yo, I might wanna shop for a new leather jacket though." Vinnie mentioned.
"Yeah dudes, I wouldn't mind looking at the swimsuits either." Gill brought up.
"Are we ready to get coffee then?" Phanty inquired, to which she was answered with a group of nodding heads.
The group headed out of Igor's, with Sybella leaving a Transylvanian dollar for a tip. The walk was short, as the coffee shop was quite literally next door. A sign saying "Dave's Coffee" loomed over the heads as the ghouls entered the coffee shop. They were greeted by a middle-aged werewolf with a name tag reading "Dan."
"What's up, my doobies?" Dan asked. "My name's Dan the werewolf and I'll be gettin' you that sweet, sweet wake-up juice today!"
The ghouls simply looked at the werewolf with a confused look.
"Isn't that what the kids today are sayin'?" Dan asked.
"No. I've never heard another kid say that, ever." Cleo rolled her eyes.
"Sorry guys. I try to keep this place a trendy teen hangout for the owner, Dave, but I don't have any kids of my own. I think I know how to communicate with kids pretty well though! So, you kids probably think you're pretty tough, huh?" Dan patronized.
"Uh...no, we just would like some coffee." Winnie looked confused.
"Oh, I get it. A lame adult like me is ruinin' your mojo! I speak teenager after all, so I got you." Dan awkwardly tried to relate with the kids. "So what can I get you cool ass mofos to drink today?"
Sybella just ignored Dan's strange attempt to act like a teenager and looked up at the menu to order. "I'd like a Transylvania Mocha, please."
"I'll take a Creepy Caramel Macchiato." Winnie followed.
"I'll take a Vampire Vanilla Latte." Phantasma ordered.
"Coffee overheats my bolts, so I'll just take a hot chocolate." Elsa explained.
"Nothing for me." Tanis said. "I don't drink coffee."
"Smart choice, Tanis. Coffee is a stimulant and in fact, technically a drug which has been legitimized by societal norms. I try to stay away from all drugs, personally, so I'll skip the coffee." Reggie rationalized.
"God Reggie, are you done with your little soliloquy yet?" Duzer complained. "Other people are trying to order."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to annoy." Reggie hung his head a little in embarrassment.
"I'll take an Iced Vampire Vanilla Latte." Duzer said.
"Yo, plain coffee with cream and sugar for me." Vinnie said.
"I'll have what he's having." J.P. picked out his drink.
"I'll take a double dark chocolate mocha with extra syrup and whipped cream." Sid said.
"Jeez, for an invisible man, you sure do eat a lot, man." Frankentyke teased. "I'll do whatever the strongest thing you have is."
"So, we've got a macho man here, do we?" Dan said as if he was in awe of Frankentyke's coolness. "How about a shot of espresso?"
"Only a shot?" Frankentyke whined. "I'll do a whole cup!"
"Woah dude! You're gonna be bouncin' off the walls!" Dan exclaimed.
"I'll just do a cup of water! Gotta keep hydrated you know." Gill pointed out.
"I'll have an Anguishing Americano." Blanche ordered.
"And I'll try the Transylvania Mocha too." Cleo said.
"Sweet, dudes! That'll be $54!" Dan said.
"Wow, that's pretty steep." Sybella mentioned. "Can everyone who ordered pitch in five dollars? Vinnie, you can give me $4 since yours was cheaper."
Everyone gave Sybella the money, and the vampiress handed it to Dan the werewolf.
"While you kids are waiting, you can play any one of our amazing games here! Teens always have a wild time with all the games we have here! Chinese Checkers, Old Maid, and my personal favorite, a rousing game of spin the top!" Dan said, as he spun a bland looking plastic top around on the counter. "Woah! You never know where this crazy thing is gonna go next!"
The ghouls all looked at Dan's boring games, looking very disinterested.
"Ay yo, you got change for a five?" Vinnie asked Dan.
"Hell yeah! Speaking of change, just so you know, I'm totally on the kids' side for making a change...in lowering the voting age! No one should be able to say you can't vote for Elmo, am I right?" Dan overzealously smiled.
The ghouls simply looked at Dan with a very confused look as he handed Vinnie a dollar, as clearly the werewolf's attempt to stay relevant with teens was failing miserably.
"Please god, make the awkwardness stop." Tanis whispered to Sybella.
"We'll be out of here as soon as he makes the coffee." Sybella whispered back, as not to make Dan feel bad. Clearly he was trying to be relevant and cool with the teenagers, but was about as far away from doing so as you could get.
"So, Frankentyke, Reggie, Sid and J.P. are splitting off from us. Where should we meet back up?" Tanis asked.
"Ay yo, how about we get some ice cream before we head back to the fair to meet our teachers?" Vinnie offered.
"That's a great idea!" Sybella smiled.
"Oh lord, I'm going to be so full after all this food. But sure." Duzer shrugged.
"Okay, it's settled then." Winnie replied after everyone had agreed. "Let's meet at the ice cream shop across the street at exactly 4 o'clock."
"Here's your coffee, guys!" Dan exclaimed, as he lined up everyone's coffee orders on the counter.
Each of the ghouls that ordered grabbed their drinks and headed out.
"Um, thanks Dan." Tanis said.
"Hey, you're welcome! Hope your day is really jacked-up, son!" Dan exclaimed.
"Let's get out of here." Duzer said, looking a little uncomfortable at Dan's complete inability to relate to teens in any way.
The ghouls walked out with their coffee, as two other vampiresses entered. Dan could be heard saying "Hey trendy teens, we've got coffee fo-shizzle! What can I get you to drink to-dizzle?"
The boys had gone their separate ways, for the most part, except Vinnie and Gill. Those two and all the girls made their way over to the mall.
"Hey, this mall has the same name as our mall!" Duzer noticed, pointing to the sign reading Midtown Mall.
"It's probably part of a chain." Elsa suggested.
"Let's check out the dresses first!" Duzer offered.
"That's a great idea!" Sybella said.
"Hey Sybella, I don't know if you're still thinking about this, but I think Leopold University would be a great fit for you." Tanis advised. "That's just my advice though."
"Thanks, Tanis." Sybella blushed a little. She wasn't really thinking about her future, because it felt far more enjoyable to just let loose and have a little fun with her new friends.
"What's keeping you from deciding, if you don't mind me asking?" Tanis asked.
Sybella kind of did mind her asking, but it was only because of her own insecurities that were keeping her from deciding. She really had no rational reason for not having made a preliminary decision about what college she wanted to attend, other than her fear was guiding her to not want to leave the amazing life that Grimwood's had brought her thus far.
She paused for a moment, not really sure how to respond to Tanis. Should she tell the truth, and say that she wasn't ready to leave Grimwood's? Or should she come up with a lie to make her seem more calm and collected, that wouldn't be hurtful to anyone unless they found out about it (which they wouldn't)? After what felt like a lot of thought, but was probably only a couple of seconds, she decided to share the real reason with Tanis.
"I...I don't think I'm ready to leave Grimwood's yet. I was thinking maybe staying closer to Grimwood's would be better because that would allow me to be close enough to talk to Miss Grimwood if I needed to. Plus, I'd be a half hour closer to my parents." Sybella admitted vulnerably.
"I can totally understand why you'd want to do that." Tanis said. "I thought of that too, but Leopold University is such a great opportunity that I think you need to have a good reason to pass it up, and I don't think that's a good reason."
Wow. Tanis was usually the one trapped in her comfort zone, so this was quite a change. She was surprised Tanis wasn't the one who wanted to stay closer to Grimwood's, but regardless, Sybella felt the way she felt and there wasn't anything she could really do to control that. At least, it didn't feel like there was.
"You're right. Maybe it would be better to go to Leopold University. That way, one of my friends will be going to college with me." Sybella reasoned.
"That's not a good reason either." Tanis coached. "You should pick the college that's going to help you personally grow, not just choose somewhere because your friend is going there."
This was certainly new. Sybella wasn't used to Tanis being so rational, instead of emotional and in her comfort zone about things.
"I want to be with my friends though." Sybella whined. She felt a bit sad and vulnerable.
"I don't mean to butt in." Cleo chimed in. "However, I have some advice, and I don't really have any clothes to shop for given all my clothes are bandages."
"Same." Tanis laughed.
"Sybella, sometimes life is hard and you have to step out of your comfort zone. There was this one time I liked a famous movie star, but I thought I was too ugly for anyone to like. So I had Duzer pretend to be me, because I was too afraid to meet him and have him laugh in my face." Cleo revealed.
"What was the point of having Duzer fill in for you, if you never got to meet the guy and know what he thought of you?" Sybella asked.
"Exactly. I was so worried about him not liking me that I threw away an opportunity to get to know his real feelings about me." Cleo explained. "I've regretted doing that ever since, because now I will never know if things would have gone differently had I just been myself. That's where my advice for you comes in. Don't just make decisions because you're afraid of what might happen if the worst case scenario occurs."
"What happened with the boy?" Sybella asked.
"Well, he spent most of his date night with Duzer, but the truth came out and he gave me a VHS player to record his TV episodes, probably out of feeling bad for me. It ended up being a romantic night...for about five minutes. I haven't seen him since, and there's no way to know if he would have wanted to be with me permanently now." Cleo shared her story.
"That's great advice, Cleo. So you're saying I should pick Leopold?" Sybella assumed.
"No. You should pick whatever you want. I'm just saying, don't make decisions based on fear, because they usually don't turn out how you hope, and make you miss out on wonderful opportunities you could have had. Do you want to go to Leopold University?" Cleo followed.
"I think Leopold would be the best choice for me. I was only choosing the other university because it was close to Grimwood's. I've heard the place is pretty wild, anyway." Sybella remembered all the wacky college students from Moranis College who had stumbled on to Grimwood's property over the years.
"Good! I think you have your decision right there." Cleo smiled.
Sybella felt a lot more confident about choosing Leopold now. However, she still wasn't ready to leave Grimwood's. Grimwood's Finishing School for Ghouls is where her life was, and the vampire princess didn't want to completely uproot it. One year left at Grimwood's wasn't enough.
The girls continued their fruitful day of shopping. Sybella had picked out a nice new purple sweater with pink bats printed all across the front of the wool. Duzer appeared to have gotten a few different dresses, while Blanche had a whole cart full of various pants, shirts, skirts and dresses.
"Find anything, Elsa?" Tanis inquired.
"No. Nothing here is really my style. I prefer simple." Elsa shrugged.
"Same here. I did find this nice tank top though!" Winnie showed the girls a red tank top that said "leader of the pack" on it.
"Does that mean we're all ready to go then?" Sybella inquired.
"Yeah! I got these cool new swim trunks!" Gill exclaimed, pointing to the blue swim shorts he was holding in his flippers.
"Ay yo, and I got a cool new jacket made of real Italian leather!" Vinnie showed off.
"I think I'm ready." Duzer said, as several others nodded in unison.
"Alright then, let's check out and meet the boys." Cleo instructed.
"Meet boys? Where?" Blanche exclaimed, to which the others laughed a bit.
"Leave it to Blanche to go scouting for boys during a shopping trip." Duzer chuckled.
Sybella was having such a good day with her new friends. She was so glad that some of them would be coming to college with her!
The girls, Vinnie and Gill made their way over to the ice cream shop, where the remaining boys were sitting there waiting. It appeared to the vampiress that they were waiting very impatiently.
"What took you girls so long, man?" Frankentyke snapped.
When Sybella said (or rather, thought) about her "new friends," Frankentyke was not one of them. He had kind of been a jerk most of the day and the vampire was not sad at all that the Frankenstein's monster would not be joining her at college.
"We agreed to meet back at the ice cream shop at 4 o'clock, right?" Duzer reminded.
"Yeah, man." Frankentype responded curtly.
"It's still a few minutes before 4! We're not late." Duzer growled.
"Whatever, man. You still took too long!" Frankentyke snapped.
"He's a little hyper from all that espresso." Sid laughed.
"No I'm not, man!" Frankentyke whined as he paced rapidly back and forth from the caffeine infusion.
"I can order for everyone." Tanis kindly offered. "What do you all want?"
"I'll take chocolate." Sybella said.
"Me too." Winnie replied.
"Me three!" Cleo ordered.
"Yo, me four." Vinnie added.
"And me five." Duzer laughed.
"Wait, I'll have chocolate too! Am I invisible to you guys or something?" Sid joked.
"I'll do vanilla." Tanis chimed in.
"Same here." Elsa duplicated.
"Vanilla for me as well." Reggie answered.
"Vanilla sounds lovely." Blanche informed.
"Vanilla is good, dudes!" Gill exclaimed.
"I'll do strawberry." J.P. changed it up.
"Me too." Phanty said.
"I guess I'll do strawberry too, man." Frankentyke responded.
Tanis quickly went up and ordered. A middle-aged female mummy took her order.
"3 strawberry, 5 vanilla and 6 chocolate cones, please." Tanis said.
"Alright, $28." the middle-aged mummy responded.
Everyone handed her two dollars, and Tanis handed the money to the other mummy.
"Thank you!" Tanis appreciated.
"That'll be right up." the other mummy informed.
"We better start heading back to the fair now." Duzer pointed to her watch.
"Yes, Mr. Schneider Sir will be waiting for us." Reggie added.
"As will Miss Grimwood." Elsa added.
Sybella couldn't believe the day was over already. She'd had such an amazing time with her new friends from Gravedale High that she wasn't ready for it to be all finished. She'd probably never see some of these people again. Moreover, it represented the fact that her time at Grimwood's would soon be over too. Before she could control her emotions, the vampiress began to burst into tears.
"What's wrong, Sybella?" Duzer gasped, as she grabbed her cone. Sybella tried to pick up her ice cream cone as well, but it fell on the ground because her eyes were too watery for her to see properly.
"Hey! Stop cryin' over spilled milk-based products!" a Frankenstein's monster working in the back of the store shouted at the vampiress.
"I...I don't want this day to be over. Actually, I don't want my time at Grimwood's to be over. Grimwood's is all I know! I've lived there since I was 5 and I'm not ready to move on. I'm happy where I am." Sybella got out between her tears.
"Oh, Sybella." Tanis comforted, as she gave the vampiress a hug.
"That's totally understandable." Duzer said. "It's hard to leave a place you love so much that you've built your life around. But sometimes, you have to try new things so you can create an even better life for yourself.
"Yeah, like I said earlier at the mall, how are you going to know if something's horrible if you've never even tried it? You might love it." Cleo added.
"You're right. It's just hard to leave. I don't even know how I'm going to be able to enjoy myself at Grimwood's anymore, knowing it's all just going to end soon." Sybella sighed.
"Ay yo, that's the worst way to have a good time. You can't ruin your last year of high school because you wish you could stay in high school. That doesn't even make any sense!" Vinnie gave a sentiment.
"Yeah." Sybella let out a chuckle through her tears. It did sound quite silly when she put it that way. "You're right. I just need to enjoy myself at Grimwood's during my last year. Somehow."
"Don't get us wrong, Sybella." Cleo cautioned. "We're not saying it's going to be easy. We're all going to be sad to be leaving high school."
"I won't, man!" Frankentyke complained.
"Well, most of us will be sad anyway." Cleo smirked. "But there's a difference between being a little sad about leaving a place you love, and letting it take over your life. If you waste your last year at Grimwood's moping around and wishing you didn't have to leave, how bad is it going to feel when you actually have to leave not having enjoyed any of your last days there? You've just got to try to stay in the moment, even if it isn't easy."
"Thank you." Sybella wiped away the tears decorating the edges of her eyes. "That actually helps a lot. I shouldn't worry about something I don't even know is worth worrying about. I guess...I just need to try to enjoy myself and try to whistle my fears away."
"Hey guys!" a man with black hair, in a full-body blue basketball uniform with the team name "Harlem Globetrotters" printed on it, greeted. "Did someone say whistle your fears away?"
Out of nowhere, one member of the team started whistling as five other team members started passing a basketball back and forth between each other.
"Ay yo, we ain't got enough room in this crossover for another crossover." Vinnie broke the fourth wall.
"Oh, sorry to bother you." the team member who originally spoke to them said, as the team picked up their basketball and walked away.
"I hope our advice helped, Sybella." Cleo asserted again after the distraction.
"Thank you, it really did." Sybella smiled. "I don't know if I can be perfect at not worrying though. My mind has a way of perseverating over unnecessary things. I'll never forget your advice though, and I'll always try my best to remember to stay in the moment, even if it gets hard."
"That's all you could ever ask of yourself." Cleo smiled back.
"Ay yo, we better start heading back!" Vinnie pointed at his watch. "It's nearly 4:30 and we've gotta be back to our teachers at 5!"
"Let's get going then!" Tanis chirped.
The ghouls made their way back to the fair, and had a blast talking and getting to know each other along the way. It was truly a day Sybella would never forget as long as she lived, even if she ended up in some nightmare college and wished she hadn't listened to the ghouls' advice about living in the moment, which she now knew obviously wasn't going to happen.
"Hey, kids!" Mr. Schneider greeted as his Gravedale High students came back and greeted him. "How was your afternoon?"
"Ay yo, it was pretty cool!" Vinnie nodded.
"It passed quite pleasantly." Reggie replied.
"Bye!" Elsa waved to the Gravedale students.
"It was so nice meeting you today!" Sybella smiled.
"I can't wait to see some of you again at Leopold U!" Tanis mentioned.
"Yeah, today was a blast!" Duzer reciprocated the positive sentiment.
"Great to meet you!" Cleo smiled.
The rest of the Gravedale students gave similar sentiments, just as Miss Grimwood came over to take the girls back home.
"Hello, girls. Did you have a fun day?" Miss Grimwood asked.
"Yeah! It was super fun!" Winnie exclaimed.
"And informative." Elsa added. "I definitely know what I want to do after high school now."
"Good." Miss Grimwood smiled. "I knew today would be helpful for you girls. I just didn't realize that you'd hit it off so well with those Gravedale High students!"
"Yeah, they were pretty cool people." Phanty answered.
"I don't think I'll ever forget this day as long as I live." Sybella smiled.
And that she wouldn't. Sybella would always remember the lesson that the Gravedale ghouls taught her: to live in the moment, and she would forever cherish it. The Gravedale High kids were pretty smart, and Sybella couldn't wait to hopefully run into some of them again when she ventured off from Grimwood's for the first time to attend Leopold University.
Author's note:
That does it for this special crossover chapter! I really hope that anyone who was a fan of the Gravedale High series enjoyed this, and also that those who had never watched Gravedale High still found this to be a fun chapter. This was one of my favorite chapters to write, just because I've never written any sort of crossover fanfic before this one and it was fun to try something a little different. As an added note, this marks the longest chapter of Fangs thus far (three words longer than chapter 22).
For those of you that are familiar with Gravedale High, hopefully you weren't disappointed with Frankentyke's portrayal. I tried to write all the characters just as they were in the original series, but in all honesty, I never liked Frankentyke and found him to be quite annoying, so hopefully that didn't come through in my writing haha.
There were numerous references as per usual in this chapter. For those that weren't familiar with Gravedale High, there are a few references to episodes of the series that were scattered throughout this chapter. These include the episodes in which Cleo dates a movie star (episode 3, "Cleo's Pen Pal") and Duzer runs the school newspaper (episode 6, "The Grave Intruder"). In addition to this, the name of the mall they go to, Midtown Mall, was the name of the mall in the fifth episode, "The Dress-Up Mess-Up." It was only shown for a brief second at the beginning of that episode though, so I imagine that reference was easy to miss even for those that had seen Gravedale High. The second episode, "Do the Rad Thing," was also briefly mentioned when talking about Kahuna Bob. In that particular episode, Gill decides to quit school to become a professional surfer. An actual professional surfer that Gill looks up to, Kahuna Bob, tells Gill what a bad idea it is to quit school, which he knows because he dropped out of high school and now lives in a crappy home despite his fame. In an attempt to get Gill to return to school, the episode ends with Kahuna Bob enrolling in Gravedale High in Mr. Schneider's class. Despite this, we never see or hear about Kahuna Bob again in the show. I always thought that was an incredibly lazy way to end an episode when they never intended to have any sort of continuity with that storyline, thus why I decided to reference it here. As Gravedale High fans know, the title of this chapter is reference to the show's theme song, which includes the lyric "we're dyin' to meet ya."
Also, the Harlem Globetrotters making a brief joke appearance references the fact that they seemingly have crossed over with every show in the universe lol. Okay, not every show, but like a ton of them. There was even a crossover film titled The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island, despite that the whole premise of that show is that the castaways on this particular island are stranded and can't get in contact with civilization. Despite this, the Globetrotters apparently still found a way to crossover with that show lol.
Besides those references, here are the other ones in this chapter. References to both Scooby-Doo media and various pop culture are included.
Reference time:
- The three different Skull Island attractions the girls mention at the beginning of this chapter (while on their way to the College and Career Fair) reflect the three times a Skull Island has been featured in a Scooby-Doo episode. Winnie mentioning there is pirate treasure on the island is a reference to "Go Away Ghost Ship" from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?. Tanis mentioning there is a hotel on Skull Island is a reference to "Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats" from The Scooby-Doo Show. Phantasma mentioning there is an old prison on the island is a reference to "The Creepy Case of Old Iron Face," also from The Scooby-Doo Show.
- Ed's Learning Hole is a Girl Meets World reference from the episode "Girl Meets Permanent Record," in which Cory jokingly mentions to his daughter Riley that the only college that will let her in is "Ed's Learning Hole" after she fails a Spanish quiz.
- Leopold University is a reference to Glenn Leopold, the writer that wrote both Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School and Gravedale High. That's right, this same writer wrote both Ghoul School and Gravedale High! I couldn't resist naming the university after him, given he's the one responsible for both of these franchises. In addition, the person at the university's booth being named Dr. Glenn is also a reference to him.
- Gill attending Surf University is a reference to a dream sequence from Saved by the Bell in the episode "Jessie's Song." In the dream, Jessie is worried about failing a Geometry class midterm and dreams that she is only admitted to Surf University. The person at Surf University's booth being named R. Belding is a reference to Richard Belding, the principal from Saved by the Bell, who was the dean of the school in Jessie's dream. As a side note, if you've ever heard of or seen possibly the most famous clip from Saved by the Bell, in which Jessie sings "I'm so excited!" because she's high on caffeine pills, that's from the episode being referenced here. Suppose it's kind of fitting given Reggie's comment about how caffeine is a drug haha.
- The ghosts at the Howard University of Comedy booth have been referenced in past chapters of this fanfic, and they are intended to be Freako and Shreako from the 1987 film Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, which came out a year before Ghoul School, and aired under the same Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 block as Ghoul School did. As mentioned in a previous chapter, the Howard University of Comedy name is a reference to several of the Three Stooges having the last name of Howard (which the Boo Brothers themselves were a reference to).
- The vampire at the MIT booth being named Bridgit is a reference to actress Bridgit Mendler. One of Bridgit's most famous roles was playing Justin's vampire girlfriend, Juliet Van Heusen in Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place (thus why she's a vampire in this chapter). Currently, Bridgit is taking a break from acting to pursue a Ph.D. in science at the real-life MIT. I've always thought that's so cool and it makes me look up to her as a person. How many Disney stars do you know that follow their dreams beyond acting, and go so far as to get not just college-educated, but a Ph.D. in a field that interests them but is not entirely related to their acting career? She's such a smart person and should be far more well-known than she is IMO.
- Moranis College is a reference to actor Rick Moranis, who voiced Mr. Schneider in Gravedale High. Dr. Rick is also a reference to the actor's first name.
- The pizza that the group buys costing $19.90 is a reference to the year Gravedale High came out, 1990.
- Lastly, while I do wish I came up with the phrase "What's up, my doobies?," I sadly did not, lol. The phrase came from a show I just watched around the time of writing this, called My Dead Ex. In the show, a cop uses the phrase "What's up, my doobies?" in an attempt to relate to Charley and Ben, the teenage main characters. As an aside, this show was amazing and so funny, and I highly recommend it. It's currently on Netflix at the time of writing this, but sadly the show was cancelled after only 8 episodes.
As always, favorites, follows and reviews are incredibly appreciated!