"Author's Note: This chapter introduces another one of the bad guys in this story. This one may look pretty, but she's a teenage, pampered snob. Her name is Jenny Monoxide. Follow along if you want to know a little more about her role in this story. Once again, I don't own The Nightmare Before Christmas, or Corpse Bride, so please don't accuse me of theft or plagiarism!"
The next day, at school, I was sitting next to Sabs at lunch, eating Spider-Web Spaghetti for lunch. Gav always sat the popular table, and Dury wasn't at school today.
It's because Mr. Frightenburg (me and Dury's teacher) said 'Dury had a nasty fall down the stairs.' I knew Dury had a ladder to his bedroom, which was in the attic, but I know the truth about why he didn't come in. He didn't fall down the stairs. He doesn't even have stairs! He was being beaten up by his dad.
'This is very scaralicious!' Sabs wrote to me when he tasted the spider-web spaghetti. Personally, I think scaralicious was a cheesy way of describing something good. Only nerds in Halloweentown say that. But Sabs is a nerd, so I shouldn't complain.
I bit my lip. I want to tell him about what I saw the other night, but I don't want to have Dury sent away. "Umm...You remember yesterday, when I left you to follow Dury?" I asked him, nervously. 'Yeah, why do you ask?' he replied in his writing. I scratched my head.
"Well, I followed Dury home while I was invisible, and guess who joined me?" I said. He wrote 'don't tell me. The Corpse Bride joined you.' "Exactly." I continued, "Well, anyway, my hunch about Dury getting beat-up was right. I saw Mr. Linehold beat him up just for coming home late, and he had rum and beer and ale and all other drinks! Now do you believe me?"
Sabs reluctantly wrote 'I guess you're right all along about Dury. But I'd like to ask this about the Corpse Bride. Is she pretty?'
I gave Sabs a frightened look. "This is serious, Sabs!" I argued with him, "If anyone nosy hears that, we'll lose Dury!" God, it really reminds me of the song, Bring Me to Life by Evanescence. It's a really huge cry for help!
His joking expression changed to a really grave one. He wrote, 'I know he'll be moved somewhere else, but I never thought it could be that urgent!'
Just when he wrote that, we heard a huge, nasty sound of really sharp nails scratching a black board over the speaker. "Attention students of Jekyll High." our principal, Ms. Nightsky (a twenty-six year old witch), announced over the speaker, "I have a special announcement. We have two new music teachers in this school. They just came to Halloweentown yesterday, so I want you to be at your best behavior and make a really good first impression, and that goes to Gavin Quarry as well."
I knew who the two new music teachers are. They must be Bonejangles and the Corpse Bride!
I nudged Sabs in the gut. "I think you're going to able to find out about the Corpse Bride soon, Sabs." I told him. Music was right after lunch. I'd like to meet the Corpse Bride again, but Bonejangles!
I didn't like him since he looked a bit weird and creepy. Just look at him! He has a really, really huge under bite. I'm surprised he was even able to eat with his jaw like that! Maybe he's not as crazy as he looks. But I'm afraid I might be wrong.
"Hi, guys." I heard someone say. Sabs and I turned around. Dury's was right behind me! Oh, I hope he didn't hear what we were talking about.
"Dury!" I said, surprised and shocked, "You scared me!" Yes, Dury was now here in front of me. Somehow, he must've been taken to school, went to the nurse's office, and was given a late slip. Dury had a black eye on his right, and his left palm was all wrapped in white strips.
"Sorry about that." he said, "In case you're wondering why I have a black eye, I accidentally fell out of my room. It's in the attic, you know." Yeah, right! I saw the whole thing! He didn't fall out of his room. He was getting beat up by his dad!
Anyway, Dury sat right next to me. "Am I going mad?" he asked me, "I thought I was hearing voices yesterday. One of those voices must've been ticked off or something." I looked around the cafeteria. "Nope," I replied, "You're not going mad at all."
Just then, I heard a screech of a cat. It was the school bell, signaling the end of a class period, or lunch. I picked up my messenger bag, and the three of us started walking out of the cafeteria and into the hallway.
The hallway had white walls with actual webs (with ink and tar splattered all over the spiders and webs) all over them; the floor was so black you couldn't tell if there was a hole in them, and the ceiling was red with blood. No, really, it was. It was dropping on the floor with it. Like a typical high school, there were class rooms, doors and lockers on the sides. But this place was so creepy, you'd scream and faint the moment you see it.
The music room, also known as Room 127, was right at the end of the hall. Sabs was holding his music book, and Dury looked behind. Some other students had Music after lunch too. But I wish Jenny Monoxide wasn't at this class!
Jenny Monoxide was a vampire with golden blonde hair that was curly and half waist long, ruby lips, snow-white skin, bright-green eyes, the perfect complexion, perfectly shaped vampire teeth, a.k.a fangs, and the perfectly shaped nails.
But although she looked pretty, she was a spoiled, teenage snob who only hangs out with any handsome, rich, and popular guys. Today, she was wearing a blood-red spaghetti strap tank top with a black mini skirt, nails painted maroon, golden bangles, earrings with amethyst stones, a choker with diamonds around her neck, and a couple of black, high heeled sandals. She turned her head away from me, in a snobbish way. "I trust you were able to find green powder for that ghastly skin of yours." she said to me sourly.
Vampires have a really old fashioned way of speaking. Usually, they used fancy words, and they spoke like wealthy, refined people from the seventeenth century do. They use it so much; it makes me sick just listening to them. But my brother Jake or Dury or anybody in Dury's family didn't speak that way. Jake, Dury, Modesty (she's dead now), and Mrs. Linehold spoke normally, while Tennes spoke with a fluent cockney accent.
Anyway, my face turned tomato red. I feel like choking Jenny to death in front of everybody.
"My skin's just as white as yours!" I shouted at her, my anger going to full blast really fast, "And no one even makes green skin powder. You're as dumb as a rock!" Nobody's able to power their whole skin anyway, and nobody ever talked to the daughter of Kenneth Monoxide before!
Jenny tried to look as dignified and refined as possible. "I do not listen to the petty insults and complaints of commoners," she said in a dignified and disgusted tone, "They are filthy, low life ruffians!" First of all, I'm not poor. Abby and I live with Uncle Mark, who was rich. And second of all, I'm not filthy! I just took a shower this morning!
"Well, you're pampered so much; you won't be able to scare anybody at all!" I shouted right at her. The next thing I knew, Jenny and I were shouting at each other. It was a fight to end all fights. No, I'm not talking about the type of fights in which we use weapons or hands. It was completely shouting.
In fact, my fight with Jenny must've been so bad, Sabs wrote 'oh, brother. Why do girls always fight?', and softly slapped himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand.
Suddenly, I heard piano music coming from the music room. It must've been Piano Sonata No. 11 in A minor ("Alla Turca") K. 331 (K. 300i) - Rondo all turca by Mozart. I stopped shouting and I listened. I looked at the door of the music room. Dury wasn't there! I opened the door, and I found an amazing sight at the grand piano!