Frankie Stein was a bright, bubbly girl.
Even though she hasn't been at Monster High as long as most of the other students, her infectious joy and sugary personality basically made her a social support for everyone at the school.
When Frankie wasn't smiling, it seemed as if the days were a little darker.
So no one was sure of what to think when Frankie Stein walked into school the next day, hair covering her face as she kept her gaze down, her entire being radiating a grim aura as she arrived for another day at Monster High, something that she was usually excited for.
It also didn't escape anyone's attention that Manny Taur, the resident bully, was completely absent.
When her friends spoke with her at lunch, including the boyfriends, the truth of Manny Taur's home life would send a shockwave of horrified realization through the entire school.
"Okay, girl, spill." Clawdeen said, her brow furrowed in worry as she sat next to the cadaver that was her friend. "Ever since you went home with Manny last night, you've been down and out and Manny's nowhere to be seen."
"Seriously, Frankie, you're worrying all of us." Lagoona spoke up, looking at Frankie with a concerned gaze of her own that was matched by all of them, even Cleo looked more than worried for the usually bubbly girl.
Frankie's gaze carried across all of her friends present. Not only was Draculara, Clawdeen, Ghoulia, Cleo, and Lagoona present, but so was Clawd, Deuce, and Gill.
"Come on, Frankie…" Clawd spoke up, worried for the girl just as much as everyone else. "What happened?"
Frankie examined everyone their, their worry-filled gazes bearing into her, before she sighed.
"Manny's in the hospital." She finally revealed, surprising everyone.
"What?" Lagoona asked in surprise.
"Manny Taur?" Deuce couldn't help but ask in disbelief. "The biggest guy in Monster High?"
Cleo looked at Frankie in confusion. "What happened? Why is he in the hospital?"
Rather than immediately answer, Frankie turned to look at Deuce, Clawd, and Gill. "You three were on the sports team with him… did he ever talk much about his life at home?"
Everyone there was surprised by the question, and the three mansters looked at each other in confusion.
"Um… no…" Clawd said with a shake of his head. "Not really. It was usually about how we would crush the competition." He revaeled, resting his arms on the table as he leaned forward.
Gill glanced towards Frankie. "He'd talk about his sister every once in a while, but that was about it."
"As far as we know," Deuce piped up. "Manny never really talked about his home life."
Frankie let out a sigh, her breath shuddering as she hugged herself. "We lost track of time while working on Rotter's essay last night." Frankie began, keeping her eyes down. "At about 11:30, the door downstairs opened. Manny panicked and threw me in his closet."
"Panicked?" Draculara asked in concern. "Why would he panic? It was just his father, wasn't it?"
Frankie shook her head, breath hitching as she recalled the horrific events that she'd bore witness to in the Taur household. And the other's had the sinking feeling from just looking at Frankie that they wouldn't like where this was going.
"Manny's dad hit his mom." The cadaver revealed, eliciting gasps of shock from most of the ghouls present.
"He what?" Cleo asked in surprise, her usualy cocky and haughty attitude replaced with genuine horror and concern.
"Are you for real?" Clawdeen asked in shock.
Frankie nodded. "That's when I realized why he was so scared, but… oh god…"
That made all of them stand at attention. Usually, the phrase around school was 'Oh ghoul' or 'oh my ghoul'. For Frankie Stein of all people to say it that way…
"What happened?" Gill asked, his voice coming through with an immense amount of worry for his hospitalized classmate, as well as the girl in front of him.
"Manny's father came up to his room." Frankie continued, steeling her nerves as best as she could. "Asked him so many terrible and… vulgar questions." She explained tot the group. "It seemed like Manny might've dodged a bullet… but…"
"Aaeeeeeuuugh?" Ghoulia questioned, concern and worry running through her as well.
Frankie's breath hitched, and she couldn't help it when the tears started rolling. "He saw my shoes by Manny's door." She revealed to her friends. "And it was all downhill from there."
The way her voice hitched and came out in such a high pitch had most of their hearts breaking, the site of this bubbly girl so broken up over an event that none of them were sure what happened.
"I'm afraid to ask…" Deuce admitted as he turned to look at Frankie. "But… what happened?"
"Manny's father beat him." Frankie finally admitted as the dam burst, the horrific incident and Manny's agonized wailing returning to her eyes as she began sobbing in front of all of them. "He beat him bad… broke his arm, cracked his ribs… I can't even begin to imagine how badly his face was hurt from all those punches…"
Most of the ghouls gasped in horror as Frankie revealed what Manny had gone through the night prior. Draculara sought solace in Clawd's arms as listened to the horrific tale, and Lagoona leaned into Gill's side as she covered her mouth in shock.
Clawdeen's eyes were wide with horror as she processed what she'd just been told, and Cleo looked as if she were about to throw up. Even Ghoulia, one of Manny's rare, occasional victims looked stricken by the news.
And the mansters weren't much better.
Gill could only comfortingly rub Lagoona's shoulders as he processed what he'd been told, and Clawd could only do the same with Draculara, hugging the vampire to him tightly as he realized how bad the minotaur had it. Deuce looked completely and utterly horrified by the news, and the snakes above his head looked no better.
"Oh my god…" Gill whispered, shaking his head.
"Crikey…" Lagoona mumbled, wide-eyed.
"But…" Deuce couldn't help but to shake his head. "He… he seems so happy…" He whispered, unable to connect the tragic suffering to the school bully.
"Did any of us care to ask?" Frankie couldn't help but question, her voice high in pitch as sobs racked her body.
None of them had an answer.
The news of Manny Taur's suffering quickly spread across the school, and it had created a shroud of darkness upon the usually peppy and happy student body.
Even the likes of Torelli Stripes and her sisters couldn't bring themselves to get up to their usual cruel antics, unable to imagine the horrors that was Manny Taur's personal life.
Even Jackson Jeckyll, Manny's number one bully victim, couldn't help but feel bad for his tormentor. The worst Jackson had ever had happen to him was get stuffed in a locker, but he'd never been physically hurt by the minotaur.
Many of the students couldn't help but feel guilt over the minotaur's predicament, despite having absolutely no blame or part in the Casketball star's suffering.
Even the teachers were stricken by the news.
Headmistress Bloodgood couldn't help but feel as if she had let it happen, let the teen's suffering slip past her.
Mr. Rotter couldn't help but feel as if it was his assignment that had triggered the minotaur's hospitalization.
Even Mr. Hackington, the most sadistic and cruel teacher in Monster High, couldn't find it in himself to be the usual tormenting teacher that he was, instead giving out assignments and teaching the class no differently then Mr. Rotter.
Mr. Where found himself becoming more active in the students learning, trying to help any of his students who were failing or needed some sort of accomodations, as if he needed to make up for Manny's suffering.
Coach Igor wasn't as active as he usually was in Physical Deaducation. Most of the time, he was usually telling the students to decide what they wanted to do, so long as they would exercise.
And among the student body, a great many of them found themselves completely unable to function as they normally did.
Heath Burns wasn't his usual cocky self. Most of the time, he would be seen helping fellow students these days, and since the news of Manny's suffering had come out, not a single accidental fire had been reported. Even his occasion number one victim, Jackson Jeckyll, who happened to be his cousin, was often being helped by his former bully.
Torelli Stripe would usually keep to herself, only ever talking with her sisters, Meowledy and Pursephone. No antics or trouble had been noticed from the three Stripe sisters since Manny's abuse had come to light.
Clawd Wolf and Deuce Gorgan found themselves playing the big brother role they were used to a lot more often. What's more, they found themselves appreciating it, enjoying the chance to help out their fellow students.
Before Mr. Rotter assigned his essay, Manny Taur was nothing more than a local jock and school bully with occasional kind moments.
After that day, he'd become a pillar, an example of suffering in silence.
And not a soul could free themselves of the guilt that was not theirs.
A constant beeping had been his only friend for the past three days. Well, that, and the visits from his mother and sister.
Breathing hurt, but that was more than likely because of the cracked ribs on the right side of his body. His father had a mean kick, and it probably wasn't helped that it was the tip of the combat boots, rather than his shin.
His arm was itchy, stuck inside the cast that kept it set in place so it could heal. The inside of his elbow was sore, but that was most likely cause of the tear where his bone had punctured through.
His nose ring had been removed, as his nose had been broke from his father's beatdown on his face.
He found himself watching cartoons a lot of the time, but he wasn't much of a distraction from his thoughts.
Contrary to popular belief, Manny Taur wasn't the dimwit he seemed to be. Sure, he wasn't the best in the classroom, but that didn't mean he didn't have an average intellect.
And something he did a lot, was think.
Such as now. With nothing to do, alone in the hospital room. The white curtain and the smell of antiseptic's and other drugs had become the norm for him at the moment.
It was almost taunting.
He'd found out that his dad had been caught the very day after Manny was admitted to the hospital. From what he was hearing, the minotaur was screwed with all the evidence against him.
Manny was thankful.
But at the same time, he was worried.
Loathe as he was to admit it, his mother was jobless. How could she afford to pay the bills and feed her two children?
Minnie had been terrified when she found out about her brother's condition.
The first day, Manny had been out of it somewhat because of the anethesia they'd had him on. He didn't have an actual visit until the second day. By then, he was already in his cast and his ribs had been wrapped.
He had been warned that he would be able to play sports again, as he would make a full recovery.
He was more than happy that a possible sports career wouldn't be impeeded.
He was coherent on the second day of his visit, and despite his injuries, he still ended up playing the roll of big brother, making sure Minnie was happy during the whole visit, listening to what she'd been up to.
One thing he was always, always happy about, is that his father had never touched Minnie.
As much as he suffered, he would never want his little sister to suffer like he and his mother had.
Manny was terrified of his father.
But his temper was something to be feared at Monster High for a reason.
But it wasn't just the events that had occured the past few days that bugged his thoughts.
When his father had broken his arm and cracked his ribs, when he'd… hurt him… Frankie had been there. She'd seen it all.
And she was the one who apologized.
And it had confounded Manny.
What reason would Frankie Stein have to apologize? She'd done absolutely nothing wrong. She'd had to witness the horrible event. If anything, Manny should've been sorry for not paying attention.
So what if she forgot to grab her shoes? It's not like Manny had remembered either, and it was his own ignorance that put Frankie in that position.
Honestly, what had he been thinking?! Inviting her over to his house?! He wouldn't have asked her to do it at her house, because it wasn't right to invite yourself into someone's home. His mother had taught him that. But he knew his own home would be a risky venture, so why?!
Maybe he just felt like he had no choice.
Or maybe… he wanted to finally show what he went through… that he was suffering too.
"Knock knock…"
Manny was shaken from his thoughts by the familiar voice of the very girl he was thinking about.
Looking towards the entrance of his hospital room, he found himself shellshocked by what he saw.
Frankie was there, waving at him slowly, looking at him with a sympathetic gaze, but she wasn't alone.
Accompanying her was the Wolf siblings, Draculara, and… Heath?
"Hey…" Manny said slowly, adjusting himself ever so slightly as he grabbed his remote, pushing the button that would raise his back a little.
He groaned as his ribs were aggravated slightly, but the doctor had warned him that his ribs would be sensetive to the slightest movements until they healed.
The group of visitors could only watch with concerned gazes as Manny grunted when the top of the bed stopped raising, the sudden loss of motion just as irritating as the motion itself.
"You alright, man?" Clawd asked as the group all entered the hospital room, looking at the minotaur with concerned gazes.
Manny nodded. "Yeah… breathing hurts but that's just cause of the ribs."
If they'd known him better, they might've realized that it was a rather poor attempt at dry humor.
"Frankie told us about what happened to you." Draculara admitted, Clawd's arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Manny couldn't help but to appreciate the vampire's caring personality, even though they'd rarely interacted much. "Yeah, I'm sure."
There was a tense silence that settled among the group of teen monsters, no one really sure of how to start a conversation… to pass the time for this visit.
Of course, Heath couldn't help but to make a joke.
"Still the toughest guy and Monster High, huh, man?" He joked, cracking a smile for the first time since he'd heard the news about Manny.
Manny began to laugh almost on instinct, only for his visitors to cringe as the laugh immediately turned into a cough. "Please don't make me laugh right now… hurts the ribs." He requested as he gently massaged the spot where his ribs were aching.
"Sorry, man." Heath apologized, rubbing the back of his head in shame.
Clawdeen wasn't really sure what to say. For most of the time she'd known Manny, her opinion of the minotaur had been as a rather obnoxious jerk, but ever since Frankie had told him what had happened, what he most likely went through…
She had herself convinced that she was here to support Frankie and Draculara… but she wasn't too sure now.
"You sure you're alright, Manny?" Clawdeen finally asked, her brow furrowed in concern for the minotaur. "Frankie said you took quite the beating."
Manny nodded, laying his head back a little. "Wasn't exactly my smartest idea, swinging on a trained soldier." He said with a light smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Draculara couldn't help but to shake her head. "What kind of man can do this to his own son? And a soldier too…" She whispered, covering her mouth in shock as she looked at Manny's injured form.
Manny simply shrugged, before immediatel regretting it, hissing as his hand shot to his ribs. "Ow…" He groaned, relaxing back into the bed.
"You sure you're okay, Manny?" Frankie asked, stepping up to the bed next to the minotaur.
Manny smiled at the cadaver. "I'm fine." He assured with a nod, before turning to Draculara. "And to answer your question… he wasn't much of a father to begin with."
"No shit." Clawdeen remarked with a scoff. "There's no call for something like this…" The werewolf shook her head, only able to imagine how much Manny had truly been through.
"How come you never said anything, man?" Clawd asked, the caring personality he was known for coming out. "We would've helped you?"
Manny shook his head with a sigh. "Did any of you actually care before you found out?" He asked suddenly, turning to look at the group of teens, who were admittedly thrown off guard by the question.
"What do you mean?" Heath asked in confusion. "Of course we did." He assured, but the minotaur wasn't so convinced.
"Come on, let's not beat around the bush." Manny said, his gaze turning serious as he looked at the group of classmates visiting him. "We all know that I'm not known for being a casketball player."
No one had the heart to agree with him, no matter how much it was true.
"You were always such a jerk." Clawdeen finally began with a sigh.
"Clawdeen!" Clawd snapped.
"Am I wrong?!" Clawdeen snapped right back, completely unintimidated. "Look, I know he's not the jerk we all thought he was now, but did we really have much of a reason to assume otherwise?"
"Did you ever care to actually ask why?" Manny suddenly piped up, catching everyone's attention. "Sure, that doesn't excuse anything, but you all hated me enough that you didn't care why I did it, just that I did it."
"Why did you do it?" Heath suddenly asked. "I mean, I know I was right by you half the time, but I never really knew why you did it."
Manny looked at Heath for a moment, before examining the others. They all had the same curious looks Heath did.
"I…" Manny trailed off. He was really unsure of why. "I… I guess it was an outlet of sorts." He finally spoke, laying back on the bed, turning his gaze away from the group. "I knew that there was nothing right about it… but it was a way to let out some stress."
No one was really sure what to say to that. It made sense, in a twisted sort of way. With no way to vent at him, he took his frustrations out on the easy targets at school.
"Well… now you're father's gone." Frankie spoke, taking a seat in the visitor's chair next to Manny's bed. "You shouldn't have a need for an outlet anymore."
"No…" Manny admitted with a sigh. "Now, I'll have to start looking for a job once I'm out of here," He added on, to everyone's surprise.
"Why?" Clawd asked. "Why would you need a job?"
Manny had a rather blank look in his eyes as he spoke. "Because Dad was the only one with a job." The minotaur revealed to his classmates. "Mom was expected to care for the house, and me and Minnie weren't old enough to have a decent job…" He let out a sigh. "The only reason he's guaranteed time in prison is because of all the evidence against him. I know for certain that we wouldn't be able to afford the court costs to fight him."
The group looked at each other with looks of sadness. Manny was free of suffering at his father's hands… but now his family were without a source of income.
The poor guy just couldn't catch a break, could he?
"What about the Coffin Bean?" Clawdeen proposed, catching everyone's attention. "I imagine once your out of here, you'll have to take it easy. Lagoona would probably appreciate the help."
"She's right." Draculara agreed. "And I'm sure Coach Igor would be willing to make accomodations for such a job." She added, offering the minotaur a slight smile.
A smile Manny returned.
"Heck, man, let us help you out." Clawd said, moving to stand next to Manny. "You don't have to do this alone anymore… you never should've had to in the first place." He said, crouching down to one knee. "We'll spread the word, the whole school will!"
Manny couldn't help the hesitence in his voice. "The whole school?" He questioned. "I doubt the entire school would be willing to help the resident bully."
"Dude…" Heath spoke up, catching Manny's attention. "Word spreads fast. Ever since what happened to you came out, the entire school's been so… gloomy."
"You were suffering Manny." Draculara spoke softly, moving to stand next to the minotaur's bed as well. "And no one cared enough to even ask or notice. It happened right under everyone's noses."
"Even Hack's been affected by it." Clawdeen revealed, to the minotaur's surprise. "No more sadistic experiments, calling out students, embarrasing people… he's basically becom Mr. Rotter."
"And Mr. Rotter put the essay on hold." Frankie revealed to the minotaur. "He seems to think it was his fault for assigning the essay."
"What?" Manny asked in confusion. "But it wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but mine."
Everyone straightened up at his words, concern clear on their faces as they looked at Manny.
"How in the world was it your fault, man?" Clawd asked in disbelief.
Manny looked confused at the question. "I was the one who lost track of time." He admitted. "If I'd have been paying attention, none of that would've happened."
"But it wasn't just you, Manny." Frankie spoke, a look of guilt on her face. "I wasn't paying attention either, and it was my shoes that set your father off."
Manny shrugged out of habit, before wincing. "He would've found something to flip out on me over eventually." He said with a sigh. "This is the first time he's ever broken a bone like he did. And it was because I swung on him."
"What about your ribs?" Draculara asked. "Frankie told us about that. You didn't swing on him when he cracked your ribs."
"The cracked ribs were a regular occurence." He said offhandedly.
Everyone just balked at his words.
"A regular- How often were you playing sports with cracked ribs, man?" Heath asked in concern. Until now, Manny had never, ever sat on the sidelines of any of their sports events unless it was because he was getting a little too rowdy. But if cracked ribs were a regular occurence…
"Any time it looked like I was breathing too hard and getting angry easier." Manny admitted with a pained sigh. "Half the time, I'd let myself just get angry so that the adrenaline made it hard to feel the pain."
No one was quite sure what to make of that.
And then Clawdeen laughed.
"Well, you are definitely tough, aren't you?" She remarked, trying to lighten the mood a little.
It backfired completely.
Manny nodded. "I had to be, for Minnie."
All of them perked up at his words.
"He never touched her, did he?" Draculara asked, a rare angry look coming onto her face.
The minotaur shook his head. "No. It was always me and mom, but it was never Minnie."
"What if it had been?" Frankie couldn't help but ask.
"My temper's not just for show." Manny replied. "My dad could easily kill me in a fight… but there's not much anyone can do when their asleep."
Everyone was horrified by his words. He took all that punishment, him and his mom both… but to hear that he'd actually thought out how to kill his father if he'd ever touched his sister…
Manny hadn't just suffered… he'd nearly snapped.
"Hey… can I talk to Frankie for a second?"
Manny's question caught everyone's attention, and they all turned to look at him in confusion.
"Me?" The simulacrum asked in surprise, pointing a finger at herself.
Manny nodded.
Frankie exchanged looks with the others for a moment, before nodding at Manny. "Um… sure…"
"We'll be just outside, man." Clawd assured, patting Manny's leg with a smile before leading the other's out the door, leaving Frankie alone with the minotaur.
Once it was just the two of them, Frankie turned to look at Manny.
"What'd you want to talk about?"
"When Dad did what he did… you stayed…" Manny recalled turning to look at Frankie in curiously. "You kept apologizing… why?"
Frankie averted her gaze, a look of guilt coming onto her face. "It was my shoes that set him off…" The cadaver recalled sadly. "If I hadn't taken them off, maybe he wouldn't have noticed."
"Frankie, what happened that night wasn't the first time he's beat me." Manny retorted with a shake of his head. "It's just the first time it was that bad."
"Manny, that doesn't make me feel better." Frankie said with a shake of her head. "It just proves my point. It was my actions that resulted in not just a beating, but one worse than usual." The girl couldn't help the shiver that ran through her at her words. "It doesn't even sound right saying that."
Manny looked at the downtrodden girl in front of him. He didn't like that she was blaming herself at all. It wasn't her fault. "It's not your fault, Frankie." He assured her, adjusting himself slightly.
"Yes it is…" Frankie mumbled, keeping her gaze averted.
"No it's not." Manny said once more, sternly this time, his gaze firm as he looked at Manny. "It's not your fault at all. My father has been that way for as long as I can remember, and it's not your fault he went on another bender."
Frankie was quiet for a moment, before she looked up at Manny. "If I stop blaming myself, you have to promise not to blame yourself either."
Manny looked at Frankie, silent for a moment, before he smiled slightly. "Okay then. It's neither of our faults."
Frankie finally gave a small smile of her own. "Okay…"
"Can we come in now?" Draculara's voice called back into the room. Both Manny and Frankie turned to look towards the entrance, where they found the vampire leaning into view. "Because there's a nurse out here arguing with Clawdeen and I don't think Clawd or Heath can hold her much longer."
"Yeah." Frankie said with a laugh.
"Come on in." Manny welcomed with a smile, waving the group back into the room.
As the rest of the teens filed back into the room, Manny could safely say that, despite his pain…
He'd never felt so good in his life.