Beautiful Nightmares

Chapter Seventeen

It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. A big, huge weight of lies. She had only did it to fit in with the other teenagers at Monster High. Was it the right thing to do or was she only trying to defend her lies with a better outcome in mind? Everyone was talking and buzzing about what happened… all were chattering among themselves… all except for one ghoul. She noticed someone had left before she really had a chance to explain herself and without another thought, she knew exactly who it was.

After the bustling in the hall died down from excitement, they were once empty again. Catty wasn't exactly excused from classes, so she'd be in a bit of trouble, but she needed to find that special ghoul. The one that she might have been able to call her best friend… had she not lied.

She stopped right in her tracks when she heard the beautiful, familiar vocals bringing out a sad ballad. Catty wanted to stay there and listen, but she also wanted to speak to the ghoul in distress. She slowly opened the door and the song immediately stopped.

"Twyla..." Catty opened the door and the other ghoul began to pack up immediately.

"I have nothing to say to you." She gathered her books and in her rush she dropped one.

"Twyla please, the only thing that wasn't real was my name..." Catty wasn't sure if she would win this… not fight… disagreement? Either way, she had to try. She couldn't lose her newly gained friends because of this.

She scoffed and zipped up her backpack. "No Dak-" she stopped herself with a sigh. "Catty, look… I get it. I get why you lied… there's no way you would've been able to attend this school normally if everyone knew who you were. I just… I feel betrayed, not by you… by your facade."

Catty felt bad about deceiving her new friends… friendships without a foundation of trust… what were they? "I'm so sorry Twyla."

"It's okay, you… you put up a great second identity. It was almost flawless."

'It was… until I had no choice but to confess.' The popstar thought bitterly to herself, but all of this was for the greater good. A greater good where Persian couldn't hurt her anymore. "Twyla… can you ever forgive me?"

Twyla nodded. "Of course I can forgive you, it'll take some time for me to adjust, and realize that you didn't lie for a bad cause but I'll be okay." She stuck out her hand and tucked some hair behind her left ear. "To a new start?" She offered timidly.

Catty smiled and shook the other's hand. "To a new start, friend."


"Is this thing on?" The iCoffin's camera flashed black before it kicked in. "There we go. Hi everyone! I know it's been a long time and I've been on hiatus. But now, I'm live to let everyone in on what I've been up to." She sighed as the camera kept recording. "It sounds really cliché but I… I came into the spotlight young. My mom and dad were approached by someone in the supermarket whom said, yours truly, was adorable and asked them if they ever thought of child modeling. I got noticed pretty quick. I had done some pageants at a young age and my chosen talent was always singing."

She shifted on spot and continued. "What have I been doing?" She thought only for a moment. "I've been going to school! That's right boys and ghouls, I've been attending the most lovely school, Monster High!" She turned the camera around to show the school's logo on the floor and a brief recording of her surroundings. "The classes are amazing, the faculty is… interesting." A usually stiff, non-negotiable Mr. Rotter stood, he waved when he noticed the camera recording. Catty giggled. "The student bodies? They're simply amazing. You have your fangtastic ghouls, fearleaders, jocks… just like the normie high school movies I binge-watched, but they're better because they're monsters!"

She took the camera down the hall with her. "This is my locker," it was decked out in pink, shimmery material. "I have Dead Languages, Mad Science, Ge-Ogre-phy, sometimes I go to study howl. I have these great friends. There's one!"

An iconic blue beanie floated by, or seemed to. "Invisibilly!"

He turned fully visible and waved. He blushed when he saw the camera recording. "Oh, hey Catty!" His trademark half-smirk could melt any ghoul's heart. "He's just one of the friends I've made my time here at Monster High. Twyla, but she refuses to be on camera and I respect that, but then there's-"

The camera turned suddenly and an excitable Heath grinned while he was in the frame. "Hiya internet! I'm Heath Burns, the most eligible hunk of burning love you'll ever set eyes, even multiple, on."

Catty returned to the frame and lovingly smacked her friend in the shoulder. "This is Heath, he sure is something."

The hallway turned ice-cold as the chest of the beautiful Abbey Bominable took up the majority of the frame. "Excuse fire-nuts, he will burn out soon."

"The frame is just fine where it is." He told Catty with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and adjusted the frame towards Abbey's face.

"This is Abbey, she's Heath's ghoulfriend. They're official!" She gave a light squeal of excitement. "I totally take the credit of getting them together by the way. It was definitely me." She gained control of her camera once again. "There's no place I'd rather be than Monster High, so… I reveal to you that I am staying for the remainder of the school year. Just living out unlife like an average teenager. It sounds like a silly thing but to me, I'm brand new and I'm having so much fun."

After she showed most of the school off, she turned the camera back around. "There you have it fans! Catty Noir, the people's popstar, is gonna hit the books. Gotta take advantage of the opportunity to get an education, one that I didn't have before. I'll keep you posted about my adventures here. Bye for now, my loves!" She blew a kiss to the camera before ending the recording.

Catty breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad it was done. Now she just had to edit it before she could post it. "I thought you'd never shut that dumb thing off." Twyla appeared beside her, startling the young popstar.

"Twyla!" She giggled. "I know, I just… I thought about everything you said-"

She tucked some multicolored hair behind her ear and shook her head. It fell out of place again. "No Catty, I was wrong. I was bitter and I was hurt." She knew that Catty was only doing what she had to do to protect herself. It was a selfish act, but it wasn't a bad selfish. "You only did what you had to do ghoul, I realized that. It took me awhile, but I did. And I adore you even more for it."

Catty smiled at her best friend, "Twlya… thank you."

"No Catty, thank Dakota. She's the one who brought us together. I never would've known you without her." She hugged Catty.

Catty supposed she was right. "Thanks Dakota." She squeezed her friend in return. It felt good to finally have things go her way.


It had been such an eventful night! The school surprisingly wasn't too psyched out as far as her popstar status was. They treated her like a regular student and she couldn't be happier, so she thought, until her parents offered to have her move back home with them.

Catty didn't even need to think about it, she agreed instantly. She would stay with her parents and finish her schooling for the year. William Tabby helped Catty gather all her stuff from the quaint home they stayed in to her parents home. It was as if nothing changed and for that she was eternally grateful. "William…" she hugged him tightly. "Mr. Tabby, you are officially free from Catty Noir's bullshit."

He chuckled as he tightened his hug on the werecat. "Catty, I was never trapped. I stayed, I did this, I was with you because I wanted to be. Never once did I not want to be here for you."

Catty grasped his shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "You can make it home to Sophia."

He smiled with the mere mentioning of his wife's name. Oh how he did miss her.

"Thank you William." Reid and Stella took turns giving him a hug.

Stella gave him a basket of food. "You'll need this for energy during the travel home."

Reid and Stella Noir bought William plane tickets to go home. It was much faster than the drive he and Catty endured. "I can never thank you enough."

"Pish-posh, the opposite!" She added another sandwich to the basket of food and Catty bid him one more farewell before her father drove him to the airport. Catty swore she would pay William back… and pay him well.