Abby sat on her bed, pouting like a child. Her roommate was busy smacking herself with black powder to achieve the perfect horrifying look.
"I just don't understand why I have to go," Abby said, her voice almost a whine. "Can't you guys just say I was sick?"
"Phoebe wants us all to be there!" Sophie reminded her.
Another voice came from the doorway, surprising both of them. "And besides, I thought you were a wild girl," Phoebe interjected, sticking her head through the doorway. "Can't handle a party?"
"I can," Abby argued, immediately on the defensive. "I love parties. Why can't we go a JOX party? Those are fun."
"It'll be just like a JOX party...only more expensive."
"Why don't you want to go?" Sophie asked in genuine curiosity.
Abby made a frustrated noise in her throat and put her hands back on her cheeks. "I don't want to see ROR's stupid, smug faces."
"She doesn't want to see her brother," Lily gathered, popping her head in the doorway above Phoebe's and sliding her glasses up her face.
Abby groaned, throwing her hands up in the air, "Why is everyone in my room?"
"Is that true?" Phoebe asked, raising her only eyebrow. Although her hair covered half of her head, Abby knew there wasn't a second eye under there. "What's the matter with you and your brother?"
"Nothing," the centipede girl snapped. "How did you guys even know I had a brother? Or that he was in ROR?"
"I know all the names of everyone on the competing teams, and Nathaniel shares your last name," Lily replied. "Knowledge is power. Also, you two look alike."
"We're twins."
"So your brother's a ROR, huh?" Phoebe teased smugly. "This should be the perfect opportunity for you two to catch up, then."
Abby stood up to protest, but was promptly restrained by Phoebe and Amber, who had seemingly come out of nowhere just to harass her. Amber took special joy in dragging Abby from her room and down the stairs.
"No, no, no, no, no! Aughhhhh!" Abby screamed as she was dragged down the front lawn of the sorority house, all thirty legs flailing at once.
"I hate all of you!" Abby shouted over the pounding music. While her sisters gave a halfhearted attempt at dancing (by nodding their heads menacingly, a HSS tradition), Abby stood as still as a statue with her arms tightly crossed over her chest.
Her silver eyes darted all around the room, as if she was looking for something. Suddenly, she noticed one of the members of Oozma Kappa dancing dangerously close to her and making eye contact in a way that disgusted her. He was a small monster even for normal standards, and looked to be the consistency of a rubber ball.
"Don't even think about it, half pint!"
Time to see if he bounced like one.
Pulling her foreleg back, she punted him into the air. He did, indeed, bounce off the second floor balcony and the ceiling, seemingly without injury, and ricocheted back to collide with the back of Abby's head.
As Abby tried to clear her vision and realign her eyestalks, she could hear her sisters laughing at her from behind. "Shut up, you worthless piles of trash!"
"Trash ain't worthless, it's delicious!" Amber cackled. "So, thanks Abby. You're delicious, too."
Abby got to her feet and gave Amber a look of disbelief as she nursed her bruising head wound. The Oozma Kappa boy, however, appeared to be just fine. But from the way Abby was looking at him, he wouldn't be for long. He scampered off in a few short seconds under her intense glare.
The rest of her sisters stopped laughing as the music cut out. An older boy walked on stage, and Abby recognized him as the monster who had approached her brother the night she met HSS. His name was Jeremy Worthington. Now, why did the name Worthington ring a bell...?
"Alright, everyone," he said. His voice oddly crackled, like he never finished puberty. "This year the RORs have invited every team that registered in the Games, no matter how far they got."
A round of cheers awarded him, and he basked in them for a minute.
"Alright, let's hear it for the EEKs!"
As Jeremy introduced all the teams, Abby counted the heads around him. There were a couple missing from the team, her brother included. In fact, she hadn't seen him during this entire party, which was odd considering how hyperactive her brother tended to be. She expected to at least see him fly around once or twice.
"HSS!"
The rest of her sisters gave their intimidating gestures, but Abby already had a deep frown on her face. Something felt wrong...
"And, finally, the underdogs of the Scare Games...Oozma Kappa!"
The boys of the newest fraternity looked surprised but pleased as the crowd began to cheer for them. But suddenly, a waterfall of sticky maple syrup fell over them and completely drenched all six boys. Abby stepped back in shock.
"Or should I say...chickens?" Jeremy snickered. He made a chicken noise, and suddenly Abby saw her brother descend from the rafters with buckets of feathers. He sprinkled them all over the Oozma Kappa team, laughing all the while.
The crowd, who had previously cheered, now began to laugh and jeer. Abby looked back to see even her own sisters give stifled giggles and smirks. Oozma Kappa looked absolutely depressing, like they had expected this to happen. No one was coming to their rescue, even after cheering for them moments before.
Abby suddenly felt a deep kinship with them. The underdogs that no one believed in.
"Hey!" she snarled, storming up to shield OK from the RORs. "Why don't you pick on someone your own speed?"
Jeremy stopped chortling to scowl at her. "Uh...what?"
The whole crowd stopped to turn on her, and even her sisters looked on incredulously.
"Yeah, you heard me. You're only picking on OK because you know they can't fight back. It's pathetic how you pick on someone who's obviously weaker than you just to stroke your own ego. I'd love to see you try this on someone like me."
"Is that a challenge?" Jeremy laughed.
Abby scowled. "Maybe. But we're already in a challenge, aren't we? Tell you what...if we beat you in the Scare Games, you have to apologize to Oozma Kappa. In front of everyone."
Jeremy strode over to her, the crowd parting like the tide to make room for him. He leaned in close to Abby's face, breathing his garbage breath right on her snout. "Fine. But when you lose, we'll prank your whole team in front of everyone."
"Fine," she snarled, scrunching her snout against the smell.
Jeremy turned his back to her. "Now get out of my house," he growled.
Scoffing, she turned to leave. "Let's go, you guys," she muttered to OK as she passed. They followed her like ducklings, shuffling out of the house. Once she was outside the doors, they opened once more to reveal Nate dropping to a landing behind her.
"What was that all about?" he demanded.
"What was that all about?" she repeated, turning to face him. "What was your thing all about? That was cruel, and you know it!"
"So what? They're losers," Nate snorted, gesturing to them. "Look at them! They're practically begging for it!"
Abby blinked in shock. "I don't know what Douchelord Supreme has been telling you, but Mama raised us to never to abuse our power to bully others."
"Mama? Mama hated her recruits! She always told us how terrible they were!" Nate argued, standing higher on his tail to gain leverage.
"But she helped them! She made them into real scarers! She didn't sit around and mock them all day!" Abby shouted, stepping forward. "You know what? You know who you're acting like? Hardscrabble!"
Nate fell back at that, his amber eyes wide. Abby scoffed, whirling back around and leading the syrup-and-feathered boys away. "Come on. I'll take you guys home."
As she left Nate alone on the porch of the ROR house, one of the boys spoke up. "Um...thanks," he muttered softly.
Abby only hummed.
"No, really. You didn't have to do that."
"Yeah, I did."
"So this is where you live?" Abby pondered, looking over the two story house. It looked like the ideal home for a family, if she'd ever seen one. It was also kept neat and tidy, at least from the outside. Lights shone through the living room and upstairs, so there were other occupants in the house besides the team.
She went up to the porch with them and stood awkwardly, wondering if it was an appropriate time to leave. The boys still looked dismal, and with all their heads bowed, none of them reached for the door. Abby took matters into her own hands and rang the doorbell, hoping one of the other OK members would collect their feathered brothers.
Instead, the door opened to reveal a strikingly familiar face.
"Unbelievable," Abby grumbled.
"Abby!" Arabella squeezed her sister in a tight embrace. "Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question," Abby coughed through the stranglehold.
"Oh, I'm spending time with Mrs. Carlton, of course! Hehe!"
"Who?"
"Boys!" A new face poked through the doorway. It appeared to be a short, squat monstress with curlers in her blonde hair. She wore a floral pattern dress and an expression on her face that suggested she had just lost a dearly beloved son. "What happened to you?"
"The RORs," Abby supplied helpfully. "They were the unfortunate victims of a cruel prank."
"Oh, no!" Arabella gasped. "How awful!"
"Don't worry. I put those jerks in their place." Abby's smirk reached the far corners of her cheeks, her teeth peeking through only slightly.
"Let's get you boys washed off," Mrs. Carlton fussed, herding her pack upstairs and to the bathroom. "And Arabella, be a dear and get your friend some hot cocoa for me."
"Yes, Mrs. Carlton," Arabella chimed cheerfully. She grabbed Abby's wrist, who looked ready to make a run for the hills. "Come on!"
"No, no, no, I really can't stay—"
"I insist!" Abby groaned as her sister dragged her through the house to the kitchen. Everything in the OK house looked like it came straight out of a grandmother's attic. The younger Hardscrabble girl decided to get some answers out of her sister.
"So...explain to me what you're really doing here."
"I told you," Arabella giggled, warming up some milk, "I'm hanging out with Mrs. Carlton. She's my friend, you see."
"I see. And, Hardscrabble..."
"—Doesn't know, of course. Ouf! Could you imagine that conversation? Oh, no, no, no." Arabella shook her head, adding the warm milk to the cocoa powder in two mugs and stirring. "Oh, I should make cups for the boys, too...Mr. Carlton!"
The door to the basement opened, and a squat monster about the size of Mrs. Carlton poked his head out. He had a finned mustache and thinning fins on his scalp. "Yes?"
"Would you like some hot cocoa as well?" Arabella asked politely.
"I sure would, thank you very much!" He was a jolly man. But when he looked at Abby, all that jolliness faded into sheer terror. Abby supposed it was the face she had on. Her resting bitch face was as legendary as her mother's...or so she liked to believe.
"Who's this lovely lady?" Mr. Carlton's voice tried to remain peppy, but the girl didn't miss the way he swallowed hard.
"Abigail," she sneered.
His brows shot up, and she was almost sure his fins flared out like her Mama's when she was surprised. "P-Pleasure to meet ya." Then he ducked back into the basement and shut the door hard.
Arabella gave her a look as Abby smirked. The younger caught her sister's eye and pouted. "What?"
The older one simply sighed and placed eight mugs of hot cocoa on a tray. Giving Abby her own, she took the tray into the living room and set it on the table just as the boys descended the staircase, all in pajamas and wrapped in towels and minus feathers. They all thanked Arabella as they took a mug and sat down.
"I made one for Mr. Carlton, as well," Arabella informed Mrs. Carlton as she came down the stairs as well. "Should I bring it to him?"
"You know, I wonder what Don is doing in that old basement," she sniffed. "It's unlike him not to greet the boys."
"Yes," Abby broke in, a grin on her face. "Why don't you bring old Don up here? I would sure love to get to know him better."
"Be nice, Abby," Arabella sighed, leaving to retrieve him. Abby's grin faded as she left, and she suddenly felt all sorts of uncomfortable around the OK boys and a peppy mother hen.
"So," she started, just to make conversation, "I hear you're friends with Arabella."
"Of course! Who do you think taught her how to cross stitch?" Mrs. Carlton cheerfully replied. "And I hear you're a HSS girl?"
"Well, yes, but I think I'm going to finally get myself kicked out after this escapade."
Ding dong!
"Mrs. Carlton?" one of the boys spoke up, looking out the window. "The scary HSS girls are here!"
Surprised, Abby brushed her way to the front door and opened it, revealing her sisters. The newest recruit was at a loss for what to say. She had gotten her entire team involved in a stupid bet in an offer to protect some scaring failures.
"So...I guess you guys are pretty mad," Abby assumed.
"We were—" Amber snapped, obviously still quite irritated, but she was cut off by Phoebe's arm in front of her.
"But...that was pretty hardcore of you to stand up to the RORs," the president admitted. "Even if we'll all be humiliated if we lose."
"We won't," Abby stressed.
"Be humiliated?" Sophie piped up, a smile on her face.
"No! Lose! We can't lose." Abby grinned widely, puffing out her chest with pride. "Not when I'm here."
"You'll just mess us up!" Amber laughed, pushing her. Abby laughed and pushed her back, and the two fell into a wrestling match on the floor.
"I...guess I should make more hot cocoa," Arabella noted from a space not two feet away, staring at the five girls in the doorway. Mr. Carlton was at her side, looking very uncomfortable.
"Arabella!" The girls cheered, even Amber, and rushed forward to hug her. Arabella laughed as she was covered in arms, tentacles, and spider legs. "Guys! It's good to see you too!"
"Alright, everybody, let's all sit down," Mrs. Carlton suggested gently. "I'll make some hot cocoa for you girls while you catch up." And with that, she left to bustle in the kitchen. Mr. Carlton hastily joined her.
The HSS girls sat down and recounted the party to Arabella. Abby smiled gently at Arabella's proud look as Phoebe told her how she stood up to the RORs. By the time she had reached the end, the Carltons had returned with hot cocoa for everyone.
"So, euh, Arabella," Don began. "How d'ya know Abigail here?"
"Oh! She's my sister!"
Abby was too shocked to slam her hand over her eyes, but mentally she was doing the same thing. Arabella's smile disappeared from her face moments afterward, and she clapped her hands other her mouth in shock. "O-Oh, I mean, that I think of her like a sister! That's all!"
"No," Abby disagreed quietly. She put her chocolate claws over Arabella's silver ones and looked into her eyes. "She's right. She's my sister. And she always will be."
The room started chattering, voices overlapping each other. "—knew it!" "It was obvious, right?" "The centipedes—!" "But why—?" "—Hardscrabble—"
"I'm illegitimate."
The room, filled with thirteen college students and two adults, went completely silent. Every single eye was trained directly on her. Abby took a deep breath through her snout, looking down into the swirls of her hot chocolate.
"Yes. The product of an affair between Dean Hardscrabble and my Mama," she looked at HSS, "who you've already met."
"Is that why she, um, Hardscrabble, I mean, she—"
Abby cut Lily off. "—Hates me? Yes. If word got out, her reputation would be ruined. You see, my Mama was only...oh, god. Ten, twenty...she must have been only twenty three, twenty four at the time. Just out of college."
"How did they meet?" an OK boy piped up.
"What happened?" Phoebe asked, her face softer than Abby had ever seen.
Abby sighed. "Oh, okay. You guys want to hear the story? Let's see...now, I only know what my Mama told me. But it's the gist of it. So here we go."
And Abby began to spin the tale of a young snake monstress and her true love. "My Mama was fresh out of college, and already working at Monsters, Incorporated as an assistant to one of the higher ups. One day, I think...Hardscrabble had come in for something. A meeting, it must have been, or something like that. Mama said she was in awe of her, like many others, I'm guessing. But the difference was that Hardscrabble noticed her, too."
A young assistant and a very prestigious and respected authority, caught in whirlwind of love.
"So then...things happened. Don't need to go into detail, do I? I suppose they kept that a secret for a while, until of course my Mama got pregnant with us. Then...Hardscrabble got angry. Left. Forever."
Yelling, screaming, a fight. Broken glass everywhere, and a young, scared, twenty four year old girl in her apartment sobbing alone. Her only company was the incubating children in her womb.
"You know what's awful, though? My Mama really, truly loved her. She never dated again after that. Always said it was because she was busy with us, but I think she never really got over her."
And there she was, the daughter the snake monstress hatched and raised, sitting there with her mother's name.
"Anyway, so my Mama raised us by herself. A long chunk of time passed in which Hardscrabble never talked to me, not once, and then...now we're here." Abby shrugged as she glanced around the room. "Questions?"
The dead silence in the room was broken only by Mrs. Carlton's loud sobbing. "Oh!" she cried, rushing over to embrace Abby. "How awful! Oh, I'll be your mother, dear!"
"That's really not necessary," Abby mumbled as she awkwardly pat a grieving mother monstress on the back. Arabella, meanwhile, could no longer hold back the tears in her eyes and wrapped her arms around Abby as well. "Oh, Abby, I had no idea!"
And, just for good measure, the rest of HSS embraced her, too. All crying. Even Amber.
"Aghhhh." Sadly, Abby liked all of these people at least a little bit, so she suffered their smothering with only a wriggle of her legs. "Hey, I'm okay. Sure it's sad, but...hey, I'm stickin' it to the ol' lady. That's why we can't lose."
"Yeah! We'll definitely help you, Abby!" Sophie squealed.
"Great." Gently pushing the crowd off of her, she brushed herself off. "Well, anyway, tragic backstory over. We can talk about something else now."
"How about the way you guys swung over that ledge in the first event?" one of the OK boys praised, answered by a chorus of agreeing hums and excited chirps from his brothers.
The HSS girls engaged in conversation immediately. "Well, it was all Abby's idea..."
As they talked, Arabella gently tugged on her arm. "Come on," she said softly, sensing that Abby wanted some peace. "Let's go get some more hot cocoa for you."
The two sisters retreated to the kitchen, where Arabella took her time preparing another cup of hot chocolate for her. Abby remained quiet, but stayed close to her sister as a source of comfort.
"Arabella?" Abby finally spoke, very softly.
"Yes?"
"What do you know about the Worthingtons?"
"What do I know about them? Hmm." Arabella reached up into the cabinet for the bag of marshmallows. "Well, they're a well-known scaring family."
"No, no. I know that. Did...did Hardscrabble have something to do with them? I can't...I remember reading something about..."
"Hah! Did Mummy have something to do with them?" Arabella chuckled. "Of course! Okay, story time, but from me this time. A long, long time ago, back when Mummy was in school, and dragons still roamed the planet, she was in a scaring class with this boy named John Worthington. Well, he was John Worthington the first, but not at the time, he was just John. Anyway! He said that Mummy would never be a good scarer and that girls weren't as scary as boys. Well, obviously she didn't like that very much. So after she got suspended for fighting, she instituted the Scare Games. The entire Scare Games is based on the Hardscrabble/Worthington rivalry! And you, my dear sister, have just made history repeat itself. Again."
Abby paused. "I wasn't even trying that time."
Before Arabella could respond, they both heard footsteps enter the kitchen.
"Whoops. Never was good at stealth." Abby was surprised to see Don standing there. The last they had met, he had been scared stiff of her. She hoped her backstory didn't make her seem soft. "Anyway. I came to tell ya, Abby...I saw ol' Hairdscrabble in ya from the first moment we met."
"It's Hardscrabble and—" Abby snapped, only to get an elbow in the gut. Without looking at her sister's frowning face, she cracked a strained smile. "Thank you for the compliment. But I didn't mean to startle you. And I'm afraid we might have gotten off on the wrong foot. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to try again. I'm Abby Flint. And you are...?"
Don smiled and pulled out his card. "Don Carlton. Scarer."
A/N: I felt like Don and Sherri would house OK for a long time after they graduated...like scaring failure grandparents.