Wednesday, April 15

Only one day until I turn 18!

I'm planning for a quiet night in. I've never been a huge fan of loud parties. Just a special night with my friends will be perfect.

Moreover, with the realization that I'll be 18 in no time, I also recognize that it's now less than a month away from graduation too.

Everything's just happening so fast, and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm excited to be graduating and moving on, but at the same time, the closer it gets to my graduation day, the more I feel like I'll really miss Grimwood's…

As usual, Sybella was the last one to the breakfast table. Even Miss Grimwood, who typically didn't join them for breakfast lately, was already sitting at the table.

"Good morning, Sybella! I have an exciting possibility to share with you." Miss Grimwood eagerly informed.

"Ooh, what is it?" the vampiress perked up. She wondered what it could be...something related to her birthday?

"Mario Malvolio is playing at the opera house tomorrow evening for a special hour-long show. I've won two free tickets, and I'd like to go with you to celebrate your birthday!" Miss Grimwood smiled. "How does that sound?"

While she recognized that Miss Grimwood was trying to be sweet, at the same time, the idea of spending her birthday listening to opera music, which she didn't even really like anyway, sounded like the most boring way to spend her special day ever. Regardless, it was only an hour, and maybe she could do something else afterwards with the rest of her friends.

"Okay, sounds good!" Sybella hesitantly replied.

"Excellent! I think it will be a fun night of culture and music for both of us." Miss Grimwood responded. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must return to my office for an appointment. It appears there's been someone from the college sneaking onto our school grounds at night, and I am talking with the dean about the matter."

Once Miss Grimwood was completely out of earshot, Phanty blurted "Wow, that sounds really boring. I'm surprised you agreed!"

"You're right, it does sound really boring." Sybella sighed. "But it seemed to mean a lot to Miss Grimwood, and I didn't want to disappoint her."

"It's your special day, though!" Winnie exclaimed.

"Yeah, you should do something that makes you happy. You don't need to do stuff just to make other people happy on a day that's supposed to be for you." Sidney advised.

This made Sybella regret agreeing to Miss Grimwood's opera outing. She should have just been honest, so maybe Miss Grimwood could have chosen someone else to go with her while Sybella actually did something that made her feel good on her birthday.

"Maybe I can find a way to get out of it somehow." Sybella pondered.

"Just tell Miss Grimwood the truth! I don't think she would mind." Tanis presumed.

Perhaps the headmistress wouldn't verbally say she minded, but she would be disappointed inside. This was going to be a challenging situation to get out of for the vampire, if she even could get out of it.

All of a sudden, Eric burst in the room, nearly out of breath.

"Alright...did I make it in time to stop Sybella from starting a fad diet?" Eric inexplicably replied.

"No. She's not dieting." Elsa corrected.

"Oh damn." Eric swore. "I thought this was the one where Sybella tried to go on a fad diet because she felt bad about her body. I guess this must be the one where she has to learn how to manage her money responsibly. Just remember, Sybella, only spend a little at a time, okay?"

"Okay." Sybella awkwardly agreed, as Eric jetted off. And speaking of jetting off, it was time to go to Debate class! As the ghouls packed up each of their belongings to head to class, Tanis spoke up.

"What was he talking about?" the mummy looked confused.

"With Eric, who knows." Sybella rolled her eyes.

Sybella arrived at Debate a few minutes before class started. The individual who typically sat on the left of the vampiress, Kathryn, had not yet arrived. However, given Sidney's tendency to eat breakfast with the five now that she was dating Winnie, the witch had already taken her seat on Sybella's right.

"So, you're really going to go to Miss Grimwood's opera event?" Sidney questioned.

"Yeah. Like I said at breakfast, I guess I don't have anything else going on that would give me an excuse to get out of it." Sybella shrugged.

"Not even the girls' night?" Sidney brought up.

"Huh? What girls' night?" Sybella challenged.

"The girls' night on the town that we're having tomorrow night to celebrate your birthday?" Sidney reminded, as if Sybella should have already known about this event.

"I didn't know about any girls' night." Sybella looked confused. "If I did, I would have told Miss Grimwood I couldn't come."

"Hmm...well you must have forgot then. Or at least, that's what you could tell Miss Grimwood." Sidney slyly suggested.

"What do you mean? What girls' night is happening tomorrow?" Sybella shook her head.

"Goofball, I'm trying to give you an excuse to get out of your commitment to Miss Grimwood. Just say that you had forgotten we had planned a girls' night for you, and that gets you out of it without hurting her feelings." Sidney trickily planned.

"Isn't she going to wonder why didn't you guys say anything then? You were there when she invited me." Sybella pointed out.

"Just say it was a surprise, then. We sprung it on you at the last minute. That's not a lie, right?" Sidney grinned.

"I guess not…" Sybella thought for a moment. It wasn't technically lying, but it still felt very sleazy to make up some random excuse at the last minute. The vampire princess was beating herself up for not just saying no right away. Before she could further process the scheme with Sidney, Mrs. Lange began the class.

"Hello, class. Today we're going to be doing something a little different. Instead of having you divide up into small groups, we are going to be debating as two big groups." Mrs. Lange introduced the day's assignment. "I am going to number you off as either one or two. Ones go on the left side of the room, and twos go on the right side of the room. The debate topic today is: are people naturally drawn toward goodness or evil? Group one will argue evil, and group two will make the argument for good. Please count yourselves off going in order of your seats."

"1." Kathryn, who had just arrived, started.

"2." Sybella said.

"1." Sidney commented.

"2." Winnie followed.

As the rest of the class began numbering themselves off, Sybella headed over to the other side of the room. She was quite glad she had been assigned "people are naturally good" because she had no idea how she would argue evil. She truly believed there was goodness in everyone, even if some people presented as bad. They just had to find the good in things, she thought.

Sybella was torn from her thought process by a loud crash on the floor. The crash was so jarring that the vampiress looked up, causing her to see that Eric had thrown a stapler on the ground so hard that it had shattered into several pieces.

"Why did you do that, Eric?" Mrs. Lange looked very unamused.

"Just part of my argument that people are naturally drawn to evil." Eric shrugged, as he threw all of the chalk from the chalkboard on the ground. "By the way, that was part of my argument too."

"If you're quite through, we'll start the debate." Mrs. Lange rolled her eyes. "Now, which side is brave enough to start us off?"

"We can." Winnie volunteered. Sybella wasn't really ready, but nonetheless, she supposed she could quickly think up a semi-intelligent argument. Looking around her, it appeared Tanis, Phantasma, Winnie, Isaiah, Jacob, Ali and Charlie were on her side.

"Excellent, Winnie." Mrs. Lange complimented. "I know I didn't give you time to prepare, so please just speak from the heart."

"I think people are naturally good, because God created us all in his image." Tanis argued. "God is good, so we are too."

"Alright, does anyone from the other side have a rebuttal against this?" Mrs. Lange directed.

"Shut up, I'm still whippin' stuff!" Eric said, as he threw the chalkboard eraser out the open window. "That also goes towards my main argument."

"Eric, arguing people are evil will require more than simply scattering all my belongings everywhere." Mrs. Lange scolded.

"It will? Well, then, you can shove it! I'm leaving! And if you report me to Miss Grimwood, I'll just say I'm doing a class project! I can't get in trouble! I've beat the system! Hahahaha!" Eric exclaimed, as he ran out the door.

Before Mrs. Lange had to bring the class back on track, Elsa stepped in for the other group.

"That's a good argument, Tanis, but how do you know that God exists?" Elsa challenged.

"He does!" Tanis argued back.

"Can you prove that, though?" Sidney questioned.

"Umm…no, I guess not." Tanis backtracked.

"I think the state of the world answers the question. There's poverty, war, and famine all around us, yet we don't do all that much about it. Doesn't that mean people are evil?" Alex brought up.

"Can we do anything about it, though?" Ali pointed out. "That's a very complex issue that we can't just snap our fingers and change in an instant."

"That's a good point, but we also can't be complacent in our own behavior." Tom debated. "Maybe one person can't do it all, but doesn't the responsibility fall on us all to make things right, and our failure to do that makes us evil?"

Sybella wasn't really sure if anyone on the other side actually believed what they were arguing for, but they were certainly doing a convincing job of making it seem like they agreed with every word of what they were saying.

"Wouldn't that be like saying that everyone is responsible for one person murdering some dude. How's poverty my issue? My family's in no danger of being in poverty, and I don't know of anyone else in poverty." Isaiah reasoned.

Oh no. There was a pretty big hole in Isaiah's logic there that would most definitely hurt their side.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't help someone in need though, just because you're well off." Melissa challenged.

"While I'm not sure I agree with Isaiah's point, there's a major hole in your argument. Who gets to measure how much help someone does or does not give? How much help do you need to give to be a 'good' person?" Phantasma responded.

"The reality is, it doesn't matter, though, because most people don't help at all." Kathryn somberly admitted.

"Does it matter though? Or matter it doesn't? I'd like to see your side answer that brain teaser!" Jacob laughed.

"Oh...I've got this one...is it C? If you don't know the answer to something, I heard you're always supposed to guess C." Tyler presumed.

"I think people are naturally good." Charlie returned to the subject. "Most people don't wake up in the morning and actively think about what bad things they can do to someone."

"Yeah, I agree! Anyone who thinks people are evil are evil themselves!" Joey argued, before turning around to face his group, all of their arms crossed. "Oh wait, that was the other group's argument."

"I'll argue for our group!" Jonathan said in a silly-heroic way. "People still do bad things though, even if they don't plan to. Like, maybe some guy makes you really mad because he took the last sandwich at the gas station, and you just want to punch his blonde-haired, green eyed face!"

"That sounds like a very specific situation." Mrs. Lange interjected.

"Uh…next person please!" Jonathan blushed.

"I think it's the intention that counts. Yes, people make mistakes, but most of the time they do it in good faith. Saying everyone is evil is a blanket statement that doesn't take into account that a lot of people have good intentions. Can you honestly argue that every single person in the world is regularly behaving in bad faith?" Sybella questioned.

The other side didn't answer for a moment, and simply sat there, probably pondering how they could respond to such a well-reasoned argument. Sybella hadn't thought her argument had been that good, but apparently it was, since it stumped the other group."

"Excellent argument, Sybella, and I'm going to stop the debate there." Mrs. Lange notified. "Sybella's group wins for their excellent argument!"

Sybella was happy that her argument had allowed their group to win...she only wished she believed it about herself. It felt evil to lie to Miss Grimwood like that, and then keep covering it up instead of just telling the truth. Why was saying "no" so hard?

"Lying!" Ms. Cohn exclaimed in her elderly voice.

Seriously, that's what they were talking about today? Sometimes it felt like the teachers practically catered to whatever was happening in her life, because the lesson of the day often seemed to overlap with something Sybella was going through, especially in this class.

"Is it deviant to lie? Or is it okay to do it, to protect yourself? I want to know what you all think." Ms. Cohn continued.

"I think you should avoid lying if you can." Kenzie answered. "Once you start lying, it becomes easier and easier to do it to get out of things you don't want to do. Too much lying just leads to a cycle of getting caught up in your own mistruths, and it can get tough to keep track of all your lies after a while."

Oh, how Sybella wished she had the moral code Kenzie had. She still felt really bad about lying to Miss Grimwood just so she didn't have to say no.

"I think lying is great!" Daniel exclaimed in a silly voice. "You can just make up whatever you want, and nobody will ever know! I lie all the time! I might have even just lied about my lying right now! How will you be able to tell? You can't! Everybody wins! Huzzah!"

"There needs to be a balance of how much you lie." Sarah reasoned. "You can't just lie all the time, because like Kenzie said, you'll forget all your lies after a while and slip up pretty quickly. At the same time, sometimes lying can really save your ass. Like if you want to get out of something, you can just tell a little white lie. No one gets hurt, and no one is the wiser."

Sybella realized that she probably wasn't going to get the magic answer from anyone else on how to apply this to her own life, so she just decided to speak up with her own opinion. It was admittedly against her own actions, but her opinion reflected how bad she felt about lying to someone she cared about so much.

"I don't think you should lie. It only causes hurt feelings and you rarely gain anything from it." Sybella blurted.

"I agree with that." a female mummy, who Sybella believed to be named Brynn said. "I've lied a few times, and when the people found out, they were really mad. It's not worth the trouble it causes."

Sybella saw Julia nod out of the corner of her eye, as did Johnny.

"Aren't you going to tell us the answer?" Ben asked Ms. Cohn after a long pause without any one talking.

"I am not!" Ms. Cohn declared. "I think you each need to figure out for yourselves if lying is deviant. Now, I'd like you all to open your textbooks to chapter 11 and read the section on lying. After you have done so, I would like you each to free-write a two page essay, which you will turn in to me, about if you think lying is a deviant behavior or not, and why you think this." Ms. Cohn instructed.

Oh great. No help from Ms. Cohn either. Sybella was running out of time to figure something out before tonight, when she would have to cancel on Miss Grimwood so she could find someone else to use her ticket.

Birthdays were supposed to be fun, not full of stressful decisions! Sighing, Sybella vowed to herself that she'd keep thinking about her plan of action and try to make a decision as she worked on the assignment for Ms. Cohn.

Sybella joined her Yearbook team a few minutes late today, as she was moving a bit slower due to being caught up in her head. When she came into the Yearbook room, the vampire observed that her three teammates appeared to be having some sort of pun-off.

"My allergies are bugging me so much!" Sam whined.

"Hey, don't be snotty about it!" Savana scolded. "Just a minute, I've got an eyelash in my eye."

"Well, you don't need to lash out at Sam just for that." Sami teased.

Sybella chuckled at the ridiculous puns. "Shouldn't we be working on the yearbook?"

"We are, kinda." Savana shrugged. "It's almost done, other than Sam choosing a couple of more pictures to put in there."

"Well, Sybella's right, we need to start helping her choose these pics, or I'm going to have some choice words for her." Sami smirked.

"Are you two done making puns?" Sam rolled her eyes.

"No." Sami said, taking a bite out of her sandwich for dinner. "I was born and bred to make puns. Get it? Because I'm eating bread?"

Miss Lillard interrupted the two silly spooks with a compliment. "I'm very proud of you girls. You've made quick work of this yearbook, and it's almost done three weeks early."

Sybella enjoyed the praise (and the bad puns), but she didn't feel like she deserved to be complimented. Nonetheless, she helped her teammates finish up the remaining few pages that needed pictures, and made a few puns of her own, which provided a temporary distraction from her guilt.

This was it: the moment of truth. She had to tell Miss Grimwood now, given it was nearly time for bed. Sybella headed over to the headmistress's office as nervous as ever, despite the fact that she obviously knew and trusted Miss Grimwood. If she were honest with herself, she was more worried about letting Miss Grimwood down than she was about the headmistress being angry at her.

Luckily for the vampiress, the headmistress was indeed in her office finishing up some last minute paperwork.

"Umm...hi Miss Grimwood." Sybella stuttered.

"Oh, hello there Sybella. I wasn't expecting you to pop in! How was Yearbook?" Miss Grimwood inquired.

"It was good." Sybella nervously answered. The small talk felt like it was just prolonging Sybella's anxiety. "Uh, so about that opera thing tomorrow."

"Yes, it will be quite a fun way to spend a birthday, won't it?" Miss Grimwood smiled.

That comment only made it more difficult to tell Miss Grimwood the truth, but nonetheless, Sybella tried to power through.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Um, so Sidney...like...planned a surprise night out for me tomorrow." Sybella started, making just enough of a pause to cause Miss Grimwood to think she might be done talking.

"Well, she clearly didn't do a good job if you already know about it!" Miss Grimwood lightheartedly chuckled.

"What I'm trying to say is...I don't think I'll be able to go to the opera thing now. I'm, um, really sorry." Sybella gulped.

"Oh...that's quite alright. It's a shame, I believe because we both would have enjoyed it, but it makes sense. I'll try to find someone else to go with, I suppose." Miss Grimwood pondered.

"Um, are you sure?" Sybella said, still feeling guilty.

"Yes, it's quite fine!" Miss Grimwood gave a half-smile. If the headmistress was upset with Sybella, she was hiding it quite well, but the vampiress did sense a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Sybella definitely felt weighed down by telling Miss Grimwood. She was relieved that Miss Grimwood hadn't acted overly disappointed, but nonetheless, the vampire princess still hadn't told the truth, which she was ashamed of. Maybe Miss Grimwood would be able to forgive her, but could she ever forgive herself?

Thursday, April 16

I'm 18.

I don't feel any different than I did when I was 17, but at the same time, my 18th birthday feels signifying of a big change. I'm officially an adult now. After this summer, I'll be moving out of my daddy's house and into Leopold University, which I got an acceptance letter from recently.

For now, I just want to bask in the moment and enjoy my special day!

"Happy birthday, Sybella!" Sybella could hear the familiar voice of Winnie shouting outside her closed bedroom door.

The vampiress hadn't gotten dressed yet, so she simply shouted "Thank you! I'll be out in a minute!" before opening her dresser drawers to choose her outfit for the day. She ended up choosing a white blouse with lace cuffs, as well as a pastel yellow skirt which felt perfect for spring.

"I can't believe my best friend is 18!" Tanis exclaimed.

"Why's that?" Sybella chuckled. "You're 18 too."

"18 is just such a big age! We're all adults now!" Tanis pointed out. Sybella was the last of the girls to turn 18, so the vampiress's birthday was essentially a marker of adulthood for all of them.

"Happy adulthood!" Sidney oddly greeted the vampiress when Tanis and Sybella arrived at breakfast.

"Thanks?" Sybella uncertainly chuckled.

"So, what would the birthday girl like for breakfast?" Winnie inquired.

"It's not like I have that much of a choice." Sybella laughed, picking up her normal bowl of cereal and biscuit.

"Oh, hello Sybella. I'm glad I caught you before you ate." Miss Grimwood said. "I made a special breakfast for you this morning: a pancake with blood syrup."

"Mmm, sounds fangtastic!" Sybella licked her lips in anticipation. "Thank you, Miss Grimwood. That was very generous of you."

"Hey! What about the rest of us?" Elsa playfully called the headmistress out.

"Ah, yes, I felt quite bad about that as well. It turns out we only had enough pancake batter for a single pancake." Miss Grimwood revealed. "I wanted to make a pancake for each of you, but it appears that in the future, if I want to do something special like this, I'll have to keep a better eye on the shopping list."

"Ah man, I guess it's just cereal again then." Phanty acted exasperated. All of the ghouls had gotten special breakfasts on their own 18th birthdays, so it wasn't like they were being completely excluded.

"So, about this night out…" Sidney began.

"Oh yes, Sybella has told me about that." Miss Grimwood acknowledged. "It's a shame that she won't be able to attend the opera tonight, but it's quite alright. It was quite kind of you girls to plan that for her."

"Thanks." Sidney took the responsibility, given she had actually been the sole planner, after all. "I was thinking we could go out to dinner."

"What a wonderful idea!" Miss Grimwood exclaimed. "There's a lovely place to eat around 10 minutes away from here called the Oakhaven Restaurant. They serve excellent food there!"

"Ooh, that sounds fun!" Tanis anticipated.

"Yeah, that sounds like a blast." Sybella smiled. Even if the night out idea was technically just concocted to get Sybella out of Miss Grimwood's opera invite, it was very sweet of her friends to get so detailed in planning out a fun way to spend her birthday.

Sybella headed into Coach Micucci's classroom, to which she received an unexpected birthday wish.

"Hey, Sybella! I hear it's your birthday today!" Coach Micucci greeted. "Happy birthday!"

"Fangs a lot." Sybella playfully bared her fangs. "What are we talking about today?"

"Well, we're talkin' about one of the toughest subjects we cover in this class." Coach Micucci revealed, before shifting his attention to the class. "Alright class, today we're coverin' the ding-a-ling. When a dude's weiner gets excited, it tells him by standing at attention, like a soldier ready for his command!"

Even after three and a half years of getting to know Coach Micucci, his blunt, insensitive explanation of that particular part of the male anatomy still made Sybella a bit sick to her stomach.

"Uh, coach?" a vampire student named Jordan inquired.

"Yeah?" Coach Micucci thankfully stopped his vulgar explanation.

"I just don't know how to keep 'em all straight." Jordan looked exasperated.

"Keep what all straight?" Coach Micucci snapped, clearly not understanding what Jordan was asking. Quite honestly, even Sybella didn't know what Jordan was inquiring.

"Well, if you get turned on, you've got the ding-a-ling, the weiner, the wood, the rod, the magic stick, the wankus, the private parts, and the penis. How do you keep 'em all straight? That's so many things to keep track of." Jordan questioned.

"They're all the same thing!" Coach Micucci facepalmed. "You should know this by now, you've already taken the class seven times!"

"Oh thank god! That makes things so much easier! Now I've finally got my hee-hee zone all figured out!" Jordan looked incredibly relieved.

"Now, I've got this here prop to demonstrate what I mean." Coach Micucci dug around in his bag.

Oh no. Not the jack-in-the-box again!

Unfortunately, Sybella's worst fears were confirmed. It was indeed the jack-in-the-box prop, which Sybella remembered the trauma of from when she was in the coach's class during her freshman year. The sleazy coach wound up the toy, narrating as he did so.

"Excitement building, excitement building, excitement building, and...BAM!" the coach crudely said as the jack-in-the-box came out directly facing the students.

Sybella didn't really know anything about that part of the male anatomy, so even though she felt bad for the students, there wasn't really all that much she could do to teach them. Hopefully there would be a few more chances to make a difference for the students before Sybella graduated.

Sybella was quite glad that she didn't have Yearbook to worry about today. While she liked Yearbook and her team quite a bit, it was nice to just be able to focus her full attention on her birthday celebration!

As the vampiress arrived at the front of the school, like all of them had promised, she saw a plethora of happy faces excited to go out on an adventure with her.

"All ready to go?" Sidney asked.

A chorus of "yeah's" and "yes's," or some variation of affirmative confirmation, broke out throughout the room signaling that everyone was ready to leave.

"I can't wait to see what yummy food they've got at the Oakhaven Restaurant!" Tanis smiled.

"Oh, we're not going to go there. It's Sybella's 18th birthday, not the party for your cousin turning 6. We've gotta go out and enjoy the nightlife! I was thinking maybe a bar and grill." Sidney suggested.

"That could be fun!" Winnie agreed.

"Yeah! Our first time going to a bar!" Phanty added.

"A bar?!" Tanis exclaimed. "How are we going to get home safely? We're driving Sybella's car there!"

"Who do you think is the designated driver?" Sidney joked. "I'm kidding. Relax, we're only going to have a drink or two. Not get smashed."

"Can we even drink? Aren't we too young?" Tanis innocently asked.

"Not in this state. The drinking age is 18 here! Ah, the good old state of -" Sidney's voice was muffled by the school bell going off, to the point where Sybella couldn't hear the name of their state. Of course, she knew what state she lived in, so she didn't need to ask Sidney to repeat it.

"I'm with Tanis, I'm not sure I like this idea. We should just go out to the Oakhaven Restaurant like Miss Grimwood suggested." Elsa replied in a cautionary voice.

Sybella wasn't really sure she liked the idea either. She wasn't into partying or drinking, and in fact, she'd never had a drop of alcohol in her life. She was pretty sure her other four friends hadn't either, excluding Sidney given Sybella had seen her drink at the party last spring.

"Don't be such a party crasher." Sidney peer-pressured. "It's going to be fine. Come on, let's go."

Sybella enjoyed Sidney's company quite a bit and considered her a good friend, but the one thing she hated about the witch was her tendency to try to pressure people to do things that they didn't want to do.

Reluctantly, the vampiress got in the driver's seat of her car with the other five ghouls, and drove off into the city.

Sybella was so nervous the whole time she was driving that she barely said a word. The other ghouls had talked quite a bit on the drive there, but Sybella stayed relatively muted. The vampiress found an empty spot to park, ironically near the Oakhaven Restaurant. The ghouls had decided to just walk around town until they found someplace to eat and get a drink.

"I wish we could have eaten there." Tanis whined as she walked past the Oakhaven Restaurant.

"I think you're going to love wherever we eat just as much." Sidney assured. She had a knack for comforting people while still pushing for what she wanted.

"Hey look, there's an ice cream shop!" Tanis pointed out. "Maybe we could check that place out."

Sidney looked up at the building Tanis was talking about, which had a sign reading "Fruitmeir's" affixed to the front of it.

"Nah. And ruin our appetite?" Phantasma dismissed.

"There's a great place!" Sidney pointed to a place named The Bloody Stake Bar and Grill. "Who's down for checking that out?"

"I am!" Winnie quickly jumped in.

"Me too!" Phanty agreed.

"I guess." Sybella shrugged. She wasn't really sure what to think of all her friends wanting to go to a bar. It certainly didn't feel like the way Sybella wanted to spend her 18th birthday.

Looking inside the bar and grill, the girls noticed an almost club-like scene, where people were dancing and doing silly things whilst drunk. There was also a "grill" like spot with a decent-sized group of tables where people could eat. Loud music could be heard booming from the place even before the girls had fully walked in.

"They're chanting in there!" Tanis shivered.

Sybella immediately heard the chanting as well, and agreed it was quite disturbing. Sidney seemed to have an explanation for everything though, so the vampiress was interested to see how she could possibly explain this.

"Oh, relax! That's just DJ Mustard." Sidney pointed to a single man, who was apparently responsible for all the chanting.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" the man chanted, pumping his fist in the air to no one in particular.

"Hey Dijon! How's it going?" Sidney inquired of the man, who she apparently knew.

"Pretty good, homie! I'm DJ'in dis place tonight!" DJ Mustard shared.

"Hey wait a minute, that's not DJ Mustard!" a confused man realized, pointing at a different man by a DJ station set up in the corner of the bar. The other man simply smirked and took out a bottle of mustard, spraying it all over the record causing it to malfunction.

"Hey, sorry, I gotta go. People have been tryna impersonate me all the time lately! This time, it's my no-good twin brother, T.J. Mustard! Remember though girl, if you ever need a dope rhythm or somethin', just call me up so you can get some mustard on that beat, ho!" DJ Mustard shared, as he headed over towards his brother, continuing to chant and pump his fist in the air. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"Thanks, DJ Mustard!" Sidney laughed. "What a guy."

"Who even was that?" Winnie asked.

"Oh, just a guy I know." Sidney shrugged. "Anyway, let's sit down. The sign says seat yourself."

"I'm not comfortable with this, Sidney." Tanis stuttered.

"Honestly, I'm not either. Do you want to go shopping or something, Tanis? Maybe we can get some Fruitmeir's to hold us over or something." Elsa inquired.

"Yeah! I just want to be anywhere but here." Tanis said. "Why is that guy breakdancing? This is a sad song!"

"That's the beauty of being at a club. What you do doesn't have to make sense, and everybody loves it!" Sidney shared, as the crowd cheered for another person doing an Irish jig for no particular reason. "Let's order."

"We'll meet you back here in an hour." Elsa suggested.

"Okay. Have fun!" Sidney waved. Sybella wished she would have gone with them, because quite frankly, she didn't want to be here either.

"What can I get for you?" the waitress, wearing a light blue uniform and khaki pants, asked.

"Let's see, I'll do the spaghetti and some water." Sybella ordered.

"I'll have the tuna melt and water." Phanty ordered.

"I'll have a hamburger and some sour lemonade." Winnie said.

"How would you like the burger done?" the waitress inquired.

"Raw, please." Winnie clarified, to the waitress's dismay.

"Well...if you say so. I've gotten some strange orders here, but that has to be among the strangest." the waitress shook her head.

"Hey waitress!" Sidney's DJ friend called from his DJ booth, which he had apparently reclaimed from his brother T.J. Mustard. "I'll have some mustard on that beef, ho!"

"Alright, Dijon." the waitress nodded.

"Ooh, I'll have some mustard on that beef too!" Sidney laughed, though Sybella quickly realized that it was her actual order. "And a beer."

"Can I see some ID?" the waitress looked suspicious.

"Yeah, here you go." Sidney handed her the ID.

"Let's see...Sidney Sidnington. Of course, that's a fake last name I just said, since there might be an identity thief around here and I don't want to be too vocal about your last name. But I saw your ID, and it checks out, so you can order a beer." the waitress long-windedly said.

"Anyone else want a beer?" Sidney inquired.

"No." Sybella firmly said, before feeling she was too harsh and needed to further explain herself. "Even though I'm an adult, I just don't want Miss Grimwood to see me buzzed when I come home."

"Oh, yeah, that's a great point." Winnie acknowledged. "Maybe we shouldn't drink. I don't want anything now."

"Ah c'mon, it'll be fine." Sidney pushed.

"I'll do one." Phantasma offered, showing her ID to the waitress.

"Let's see, Phantasma Spookington. That's also a fake last name, but your ID checks out. What kind of beer do you want?" the waitress asked.

"You know what, I don't even care. I just want a BEER." Sidney said, in a half-silly and half-edgy voice.

"Me too." Phanty giggled.

"Alright, you're the boss. Billy Bob's Boring Beer it is! 5% liquor, 95% water!" the waitress shrugged, as she headed off to the kitchen to inform the cook of the girls' orders.

"Sweet, there's a dance floor here?" Sidney exclaimed, pointing to a group of dancing people. "I don't think this night could get any more exciting!"

Sybella didn't think this night could get any more terrible. She didn't want to spend her 18th birthday at some dingey bar. She wanted to be spending it somewhere fun, even if it was at home, where she could be around loved ones and open her presents. How did she always find herself in these weird situations?

Was a decent birthday really too much to ask?

Sybella had finally finished a very unappetizing meal. The noodles felt soggy, and the sauce wasn't even a blood sauce, it was just tomatoes and meat. She supposed a human place wouldn't serve something with blood, but still, Sybella couldn't believe they'd use tomatoes! The tomato sauce was bland, and the meat was incredibly greasy. Phantasma was still taking the last few bites of her tuna melt, while Sidney and Winnie were out on the dance floor, grooving to some sleazy-sounding rap song.

Elsa and Tanis had just come into the bar again, one shopping bag in each of their hands, to meet up with the girls as they promised.

"Don't stop the party!" Sidney sang along with the song, as she danced her way back over to the other two girls with Winnie. Sidney was stumbling a bit, so clearly she was buzzed on the alcohol. "Woohoo! This is amazing!"

"Yeah, that was pretty fun." Winnie agreed.

"Isn't this just the best birthday EVER, Sybella?" Sidney inquired excitedly.

"Not really." Sybella mumbled.

"What? Like, seriously? You aren't having fun?" Sidney's tone softened.

"No. I'm sorry, but I'm tired of putting on a charade. I wanted to spend my birthday at some elegant place like the Oakhaven Restaurant, or even at the school just hanging out with you guys and opening presents. I didn't want to be stuck in some dingey bar watching you and Phanty drink alcohol." Sybella admitted.

"You should have said something then!" Sidney snapped.

"You were so pushy I couldn't!" Sybella growled back.

"You were a little pushy, Sidney." Winnie nervously critiqued her girlfriend. "But, Sidney does have a point. You didn't even try to say you didn't want to do this. Same with Miss Grimwood and the opera thing. It's okay to say no."

"You know, it did feel pretty good to say no. I just don't want to say no and disappoint anyone. I feel pretty horrible for letting Miss Grimwood down." Sybella sighed.

"It's sweet that you put everyone else first over yourself, but sometimes, you have to say no for your own mental sanity. It's your birthday, so you should have decided what we did to celebrate. If I would have known you were so opposed to this, I wouldn't have suggested it. I'm sorry if I pushed, but you can say no sometimes too." Sidney advised.

"Yeah, you can't sacrifice yourself just to make other people happy, or you'll never make yourself happy." Elsa added.

"You're right. It is okay to say no." Sybella realized. Sybella felt pretty silly now for thinking she was evil because of telling a small lie to Miss Grimwood.

"What would you prefer to do, then, if you don't want to do this?" Sidney asked.

"You know, I really enjoyed the slumber party we had earlier this year…" Sybella suggested.

The girls had gotten home safely. Luckily, Miss Grimwood didn't appear to be anywhere around, so she couldn't see Sidney or Phanty somewhat buzzed from the alcohol. It seemed like the buzz was starting to wear off anyway.

All the girls were now hanging out in Sybella's bedroom, dressed in their pajamas for the birthday slumber party.

"How did beer taste, Phanty?" Elsa inquired.

"Not good. But I think it might have been the brand. I don't think we got a high quality brand at that bar, given it was just a dollar." Phanty laughed.

"It hit the spot for me." Sidney giggled, but quickly stopped as soon as Miss Grimwood appeared in the door frame.

"How was the dinner, girls?" Miss Grimwood inquired.

"Oh, it was good." Winnie nervously said. "How was the opera event?

"Wonderful! I knew you'd love the Oakhaven Diner! The owner, Jack, is so nice. As for the opera event, it was quite enjoyable even if I did end up going by myself. They were free tickets, however, so I suppose there was no real waste by not using the other ticket." the headmistress smiled. "Anyway, I'll let you girls be and enjoy your slumber party."

"Are you going to bed soon, Miss G?" Elsa inquired.

"No. I'm afraid I'm going to stay up just a while longer. This is around the time of night when that scoundrel comes lurking around the school grounds, and I'd like to catch him if possible." Miss Grimwood informed.

Sybella was sort of relieved no one corrected Miss Grimwood about them going to the Oakhaven Diner. She hated lying to Miss Grimwood, but she thought it was better she didn't know.

"So, how was everyone's first time at a bar?" Tanis asked, once she was sure Miss Grimwood was out of earshot.

"I'm not doing that again for a while. It seemed sleazy to me." Sybella admitted.

"Yeah, I didn't love it either." Winnie agreed.

"I thought it was pretty cool!" Phanty provided a different opinion.

"You all already know how I felt." Sidney laughed. "I loved the shit out of that place!"

All of a sudden, a spooky looking figure popped up at the girls' window. Everyone gasped when they saw the man, who appeared to be holding some type of object in his hand. Sybella noticed the object he was holding had a very long handle, and a small hole at the end, presumably for something to come out. Was it a gun?

The creepy-looking shadow suddenly began to yell.

"What's up homies? I'm P.J. Mustard!" the man shouted, as he revealed the object he was holding was a squirt bottle of mustard, which he sprayed all over the girls' pajamas.

"Hey, that was really mean!" Tanis exclaimed, her pajamas soaked with the condiment.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Winnie snapped.

"Hey, just be thankful that none of you slept in your underwear, otherwise I would have had to get mustard on them briefs, yo!" P.J. exclaimed, as he hopped back outside the window.

"Who the hell was that?" Elsa said in shock.

"I assume that was the person Miss Grimwood was talking about." Sybella said, also very confused.

The girls changed back into the clothes they were wearing that day given the unfortunate pajama debacle, but still managed to have an enjoyable night, despite the odd occurrence and many of the ghouls' discomfort with being at a bar earlier in the night.

"So, Sybella, what would you say is the biggest difference you've noticed now that you're 18?" Tanis inquired.

Before Sybella could answer, Miss Grimwood came into the room to alert the girls of a new development.

"Girls, I'm happy to share that I've caught the scoundrel! He was in our courtyard, squirting mustard all over a group of crows and shouting 'mustard on that beak, yo.' I have phoned the Moranis College dean and they have sent someone over to pick him up and reprimand him. He shouldn't be bothering us anymore." Miss Grimwood said, sounding relieved.

"That's good to hear!" Tanis breathed a sigh of relief.

"I would say the biggest thing I learned is that it's okay to say no. Miss Grimwood, I have a confession to make." Sybella announced. "I didn't really want to go to that opera event, and Sidney planned the night out just so I could get out of it. I'm really sorry if I've hurt you. It just didn't sound like an interesting way to spend my birthday."

"It's quite alright, Sybella." Miss Grimwood affirmed. "I can completely understand if it doesn't interest you. I was only suggesting it for fun, and you can always tell me no without fear of disappointing me. Even if it did disappoint me, sometimes you have to put yourself first."

Sybella couldn't have agreed with the headmistress's sentiment any more. She always tried to put others' feelings before her own, but sometimes, it really was important to practice self-care and not protect others' feelings to the extent of harming her own. From now on, the vampiress was not going to worry so much about what others might think, and strike a healthy balance between pleasing others and caring for herself.

Author's note:

I can't believe this is the second-to-last chapter of Fangs for the Memories! This was a different and interesting one to write, so I hope you enjoyed it. Also, sorry if anyone was disappointed by that creepy scene with the guy sneaking in their window being just a joke lol.

We've got quite a decent sized reference time in this chapter, so let's get right into it!

- The opera singer Miss Grimwood was going to see, Mario Malvolio, is a reference to the character from "A Menace in Venice" from The Scooby-Doo Show who was said to be an heir to the infamous Doge Malvolio IV.

- The Oakhaven Restaurant is a reference to the name of the restaurant Shaggy and Scooby visited in Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost. Miss Grimwood mentioning the owner's name was Jack is also a reference to what the owner was named in that film.

- Fruitmeir's and the Bloody Stake were an ice cream shop and restaurant, respectively, that the gang frequented in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

- You might be saying, DJ Mustard is such a silly name to make up, WildwindVampire. I actually did not make that name up lol. DJ Mustard is the name of an actual DJ (his real name is Dijon MacFarlane) who is best known for producing songs with beats that have a person chanting in the background, hence why he did that here. His catchphrase is "mustard on that beat, ho," hence all the variations of that phrase throughout the chapter. There is no such person as T.J. Mustard, I just made that up to be silly. T.J. being a "no-good twin brother" was a reference to T.J. Buzby, the sheriff's brother from Scooby-Doo and the Boo Brothers, who impersonated the real sheriff. P.J. Mustard is not a reference to anything, it just added some extra silliness to an already silly celebrity cameo.

Favorite and follow if you want to, review if you want to...basically just do what you want to, but it will always be appreciated if you do end up doing any of those things haha.