Once again, and as always, a special thank you to Darweiner7 and milkyfrankie, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well... :)
"So…", had said Cleo as she had kneeled in front of her sister. "What is this big news of yours?" Nefera had smiled at her and Deuce. "I got a job. A job in Monster High.", she'd replied, quite fast. "I'll be the Fearleaders' trainer."
And Cleo just couldn't believe it. She didn't know if she liked the idea or not, Monster High was hers, she felt a little uncomfortable at the thought of her sister working there, but on the other hand, she would be able to keep an eye on her, and who knew, she might learn the identity of Nefera's new boyfriend, finally.
To be quite honest, Deuce didn't believe her, he expected her to be joking, he was still wary when he drove both sisters to Monster High, and it wasn't until he caught sight of Nefera training the girls that he understood that it wasn't a joke. He sat in the bleachers, glaring at the boys that were lurking at his sister-in-law.
When Jake got in the stadium after he'd put on his Casketball outfit, he noticed that none of the other players were ready, all of them were looking at the Fearleaders practicing, he noticed that some were drooling, other were laughing with their friends although their eyes were still locked on the group of girls.
Jackson chuckled and joined his best friend on the bleachers, he barely sat that he noticed a girl he'd seemingly never seen before. It was a blonde with short ponytails, she was talking to the girls, doing some gestures with her hands. The "public" couldn't see her face, and they didn't care since her yoga pants were showing off the girl's ass in a pretty way, as Jake thought.
"New girl?", he smiled as he asked Deuce, who, for once didn't seem to enjoy the show. "It's Cleo's sis. She's training the girls, now."
Deuce saw his friend lose his smile. "You've got to be kidding me.", he said, which had Deuce frowning, but Jackson's eyes were trying to catch the face of the newbie. He did when she turned around so she could put the music and it was like his heart broke again.
He hadn't seen her in four months and he hadn't imagined her looking so frail. Her features looked sharper and she was thinner than when she was his. He understood better what the girls meant when they said she looked weak but scarier. He still thought that she was deadly beautiful, but he wouldn't want her as his enemy.
His sight blurred as he heard boys whistling his ex-girlfriend when she bent to grab the radio post. "You're killing it, Nef!", yelled Deuce, next to him. And he saw her smiling softly while she looked for her sister's boyfriend, except that she saw Jake first and lost her smile too.
They were staring at each other and for a second she forgot about the people around them, she forgot that she was working, she forgot that people were looking at her, all she was seeing was his face, that seemed as discomposed as hers was. Within two heartbeats she awoke and realized what was happening before she boldly pushed the play button, knowing-well what would happen if she did so.
When Holt had replaced Jake, the princess had felt a weight leaving her chest. The boy soon understood what had happened and called his friends so they would start playing Casketball. Not without giving his girl a wink before turning his back to her, letting the training begin for real.
Nefera had explained to the girls that they were all going to dance in front of her so she could see each of the girls' level, she asked them to prepare choreography for next Friday. Of course, she hoped that the Stein girl would fail the test so that she would be able to fire that bitch from her team, but that also meant auditioning new girls, which implied that she could be confronted with her former friends, that wasn't as exciting.
She was lost in her thoughts, she had let the girls rest for a short break during their training, and she had stopped listening to their jibberish until Jake's name popped in their conversation.
"So Frank' how was summertime with Jake? I've heard that he left his girlfriend for you.", said the wolf one before she heard her own sister pursuing "If he only ever had one.".
The princess was waiting for the ragdoll to answer, she should feel glad, knowing that said-girlfriend was listening. "Oh, well, good. But, he has been different than the boy I knew."
Nefera heard the fourth girl, the vampire one, laugh.
"Of course he is, you're not his friend anymore, you're his girlfriend." The princess felt nauseous as she heard that. "Hmm, I'm not that sure…", Cleo said. "Deuce told me that after the hypothetical sucker, Jake had shagged several girls. Poor little boy also tried drugs to forget his ex.", she mocked.
Nefera froze. That explained a lot about Holt's behavior during the summer, he had acted like a freaking addict, and she had simply thought that he was anxious about something. Holt. She turned around and stared at the boys that were training for Casketball next to them. She could never thank him for being there for her.
She loved his laugh, so different from his alter-ego's, she loved his kisses, though they were rare since they were going slowly into their relationship, given that she was still healing from her past one. She loved him like crazy, like hell, she needed him in her life, and she was thankful for him. She did not realize that she was smiling while she watched him, and did not realize either that Deuce had seen her.
Jackson came back to consciousness in his bed a few hours later. The last thing he could remember was Nefera's face when she had put some music on. She hated him and he didn't know why. She had cheated and broken up with him, yet she apparently was sad all summer and still looked like she wanted him dead.
He tried to connect the dots but he soon realized that it didn't serve, he couldn't understand. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his bedroom's door open and saw Frankie entering.
What the fuck is she doing here?
She didn't seem happy at all, Jake immediately understood that she was here to cause a scene. And she did so, arms crossed on her chest, brows frowned, she looked at him in a curious way, as if she was waiting for him to answer a question that she hadn't asked yet. He heard her flick her tongue when he raised a brow.
"Can you explain why is your ex my new fearleader coach?", she said as she flipped her two-tone hair back.
He sighed and stood before he stretched, the only sound in the bedroom was his cracking bones. Jackson realized he was wearing nothing more than his underwear so he took a few steps to reach his pants, in which he found his cigarettes and lighter. Frankie let out a sigh of annoyment. Her friends were right, she thought, he was better as a friend than a boyfriend.
"Did you heard me?", asked Frankie as she saw him lit a cigarette. "I don't have a fucking idea.", he growled back.
Her eyes went wide. "You bloody liar.", she spat as she got closer to him and pushed him backward. "She got in so she could get you back, didn't she?" Frankie was now screaming and her eyes were filled with tears.
Jake didn't react at her attack and took another puff. "I haven't talked to her since we broke up why would I know about her plans on being… your coach?" He said as he was staring in the void. Why would she work at his high school?
He heard her sniffing and he noticed she was crying. "I'm done with this shit, Jake. I'm exhausted of- of all your shit actually. I didn't sign up for the whole melancholic-drug addict thing, I wanted you, you, the scientist, the sarcastic young boy who loves to skate.", she cried as she sniffed again. "I don't know what this… Nefera did to you but she broke you, she wrecked you."
He looked at her, slightly touched. Indeed, Frankie had to get through the worst of him. "I just want you back, the real you. And if he can't reciprocate my love then I'll just make sure I'll be a better friend than I was then." She kept sobbing and he knew deep down that he shouldn't let her cry nor be a reason for her tears.
Jake crushed his cigarette and took her face between his hands. Wiping away her tears and leaving bad mascara traces on her cheeks he bent over and kissed her.
Frankie enjoyed this, he rarely did kiss her first. Or kiss her at all, sometimes he wouldn't even move his lips. She felt him sit her on his desk, she felt his hands on her, she felt his mouth on hers, she felt his smile against hers, and for the first time in a long time, it seemed that he was the same as the one she had fallen in love with.
So, even though I've thought of it, I didn't write a whole explicit scene of Jackson and Frankie, because I don't really like them together (you could tell). But as I am inspiring from both Monster High books and animated series I had to include a 'romance' between the two of them, and I needed Frankie to fall out of love with Jackson for the next parts of the story.
Darweiner7 wrote a review saying that Jackson was becoming more like Holt, and I guess that it's kinda true but I just wanted Jackson to go really down, just like Nefera, because of their breakup. The important thing is that Holt needed to understand that by hurting Jackson, his "brother" (I love how Jackson refers to Holt as his brother in the books), he's also hurting himself.
Anyway, the next chapter will be a bit short, one of the shortest I wrote but it will be really important since it's just before the big secret reveal.
Thanks for reading!
