Disclaimer: This is a complete work of fiction, there's no resemblance to actual persons, places or events. If so, it is utterly not intended. I do NOT own Monster High or anything to do with it. I do NOT claim to own artists' works, lyrics, copyrights, labels, etc. Their exposure in this story is completely non-profit and just for fun. I own nothing but my own plot idea, thank you!

Heartlessly Heartfelt

Chapter Nineteen

"Wait! Mon ami! Wait!" Rochelle chased after Operetta in a heavy footed manner she travelled most everywhere. Operetta stopped in her tracks, she wasn't sure if she said something offensive or that hurt her feelings or maybe she wanted a clearer explanation? 'Music is a soul's healin' power.' She thought triumphantly. Any rock and hardplace she'd ever been stuck between – music never failed in helping her heal. Whether she sang a song and the lyrics made her and / or others cry, or if it was an anthem, or an up-tempo angry kinda song – there was a song for everything. Every mixed up, crazy mood or feeling... emotion, music held it all no matter what your genre preference.

"What's up buttercup?" She asked in her sweetened southern-belle accent, glancing casually to her right where a slightly out of breath Rochelle accompanied her.

"Music, you said helps everything. What if there was say... a song, a melody that could convey my feelings? That I could sing and it could help heal my wounded soul?"

"That's th' spirit!" The red headed beauty grinned widely, "Now... you just tell me what yer feelin' and I'll do a little research and find ya a male partner – the song I'm thinkin' of is a duet. Which is two people, usually a guy and a gal sing – but we'll work on findin' one of those later. So... let's maybe start with goin' over how ya feel about this whole ordeal."

Rochelle and Operetta found a nice shady place away from everyone and everything, where they decided to sit and Rochelle took a deep breath, this would be harder to get around than the great wall. "The love Garrott and I have shared... is... was... very strong. He is my first for everything you know," she gave a sultry smirk and Operetta's eyes widened a bit, but she caught on very quickly.

"Ooh! Oh I got'cha sweet pea. The connections there, so you really feel ya love this fella."

"Oh I know that I do. J'aime Garrott, de tout mon cœur – with all my heart." She sighed, shaking her head as she held it in her stone hands.

"Ya love him, why ain't y'all together?" Operetta put up a hand in protest, "I know nothin' is as easy as talkin' 'bout it... but I'm just tryna do some diggin' into yer soul."

Rochelle nodded, "Oui, I know. I... we haven't written one another in so long. I thought that with me being away here at Monster High... and Garrott in Scarie... that he just found a new flame. He stopped writing and I absolute-mont will not act with such desperate behaviour as to keep writing and pestering him. If he desires me, he will tell me and prove such thing, non?"

"Non –" She furrowed her brows, trying out the whole foreign language thing but not executing it from the start. "I mean yeah, no that's right. I'd probl'y think the same thing m'self really." She curled up into a ball as she encouraged Rochelle to explain the feelings of her heart – which was another task that could be easier said than done.

"So he broke up with me via a sudden telephone call. I was willing to talk such things out, to salvage our broken pieces... but he rather shatter those left over. Such relationship endings can be very hard to put together. Such as say, affair... or loss of trust. But Garrott and I... non – we never had those types of issues. When I was there in his arms, he wanted no other. Had eyes for no other ghoul." She sighed as she revisited some brief nostalgia. Shaking her head sorrowfully, she was brought back from those lovely thoughts. "So what was 'broken' wasn't... shattered, you know?"

Operetta gave a slow nod, taking in everything that Rochelle was telling her. "Yeah, I mean if ya break someone's trust, that's like a mirror – you can try and put it back together, but it'll never be th' same."

"Exactly, oui." She shifted with a certain yet subtle hopefulness. "See, Garrott he would never break my heart in such way. That is not him. Not in a million millenia... not in... eternity. But he wrote me such beautiful, love, romantic prose – poetry, he drew pictures of me, he sang to me..."

"Ooh lover boy's a musician too?!"

Rochelle giggled, "French boys usually have many talents more than one."

"Maybe I need to find me one of 'em!"

"Absolute-mont!" The ghouls shared a brief laugh together, until it was interrupted by the reminder of what happened not too long ago. "But then... earlier, before you came by, Garrott, he called me on my iCoffin."

"And?!"

"I did not answer, non." There was a disappointment hanging in the air from both ghouls.

"But why?"

"I didn't want to give Garrott more things to say to my broken heart. I could not handle anything else you know. This whole thing is... very hard for me."

"Yeah, I really couldn't imagine... y'really loved... love this guy. Love... it just don't die honey bun."

Rochelle shook her head, "Garrott is my first... I will always love him in some way, whether we work out for the best or we become ancient history... he showed me many things I would have never known about not being with him."

Operetta herself had a bit of experience to fall back on, she wasn't pure by any means but she also didn't find that one fella she'd like to spend the rest of her days with yet. "I think that y'all can fool around and stuff, but when you have that... that special somethin' with someone... it makes it that much more... well, special."

"Oui, that's right. That special is what I feel... felt, no... feel with Garrott."

"You still love 'im, but he broke up the relationship. Don't it make ya wonder if maybe... he's a lil' nervous himself?"

"Wh-what?"

"Yer thousands of miles away in high school in another dang country, maybe he's thinkin' that he ain't cut out for ya anymore, or that you've found a new flame too. Miles and miles apart sometimes cut love up in the cruelest o' ways. Some folks can't handle it, but others beat all odds. I don't think y'all talked enough in deep about this, and for that... the miscommunication is what's killin' ya's. No pun intended," she giggled a bit, but then let out a sigh. "I'll find ya a good song to show ya what I mean, but I need some alone time to find it."

Rochelle quickly gathered herself and gave a curt nod, "Oui, I do not wish to talk more about this, you have enough information and I have given a little more than what I wanted. But merci, for the ghoul chat - I needed it." And leaving Operetta to reach into her side bag and pull out some headphones and plug them directly into her iCoffin as she stretched out in the terrain to flip through her huge list of songs, and Operetta had a massively long list. It was surprising that her iCoffin could even function, that's how long the list was.

She made her selection and closed her eyes to envision the lyrics and Rochelle's situation with Garrott, contentedly smiling – she drifted into her favorite frame of mind: filled with music.

"I got it!" Operetta shouted out as she bolted up from her spot in the midst of the field.

"My bladder?! Because I felt something fall through my furry ass!" Clawd jumped nearly out of his fur as Operetta rose up from no where. Or what he felt was no where anyways.

She laughed heartily, "No, no ya silly canine. I'm talkin' about a perfect song for... Rochelle's uh, situation."

"You mean Garrott breaking up with her via cell?"

Operetta was flabbergasted. "But how did ya-"

"Gossip. Spreads anything and everything like wildfire."

"Right. Uh, yeah. She wanted me t'find her a song that she could sing that'll help her heal, y'know... music as a healin' power. But I have a couple options for her and what she'll need is a male half to complete a duet. You wouldn't... be interested in that sorta thang, would ya big guy?"

Clawd thought about it briefly but then he shook his head rather quickly, "Nah."

"But ya have some pretty good vocal chords on ya Clawd, didn't sound too shabby earlier at the Vocals cabin."

He raised a hairy hand in protest. "But singing isn't really my thing. It's more of your thing and everyone else that was in class today. However, I'll spread the word to my sisters that you're looking for a male lead for a duet, soon you'll have some options at least?"

She gave a nod, "Fair enough, thanks ya big ol' lug."

He smiled wide, his canines showing proudly. "You're welcome, my pleasure to help. At least when you rise from the ground up – you look decent doing it."

She chuckled again, "Sorry 'bout that Clawd, I swear I won't creep up on ya again. I'll try to give warnin'." Before Clawd could say anything else, Operetta got up quickly. "I gotta go catch Rochelle, I'll see ya around." She ruffled his shoulder and took off like lightening.

"Huh, okay then..." he shrugged and watched her make her exit, determining that she would be an excellent candidate for a female athlete.

It was nearing dawn and no other monster were even awake at this time, other than Rochelle Goyle and Operetta – that was. "I am so tired," Rochelle groaned. "why did you drag me out of my comfy cottage bed, mon ami?"

"Because, I have a three songs that I want you to do so all you and I still gotta do, is find ourselves a male singer. We can do this efficiently now – or part o' it... c'mon ghoul, I'm excited! Gimme a break, so... are ya excited to see my choices?"

She had to admit, she was excited. Very much so. She hadn't looked forward to singing in a long, long time. Or what felt like it anyways.

Being on those black and white keys was something Operetta learned from a very young age. Piano, whilst her mother was still in existence was a very beloved instrument in her home. She knew it forwards and backwards, even inside and out. "Let's try a few bars o' each song and then determine what ya like the best. We'll record it. You should have some kinda recording to listen back ta. Your own voice singin' them vocals will get'cha really feelin' it. Y'know what I mean?"

Rochelle cleared her throat as she read the music while her pianist accompanied her with candlelight music. It wasn't much, but it was also all they needed. "Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor. Reachin' for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore... and I wonder if I've ever crossed your mind... for me it happens all the time. It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now. I said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now... and I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now."

Operetta stopped the piano and just thought for a moment. "Hmmm."

"You don't like?" Rochelle asked her musical friend, who gave a quick nod.

"O'course I do! I just... ain't sure if that's the right song for ya. Listenin' to ya singin' the words puts things into a much different perspective. Let's go on to this one." Even though she knew this song would be better suited to acoustic guitar, all she had was a piano to work with so she pulled away the current set of sheet music to reveal another song. After giving it a look over Rochelle gave a nod of her head as they proceeded to try this one on for size.

"I got all this love deep down in my heart, still right there from the day we broke apart. And baby I tried but I couldn't let you go, you were tied to me like an anchor to my soul, oooh. All I wanna know... if there's anything left of everything we had is there a small chance you'd ever want me back? Can you tell me right now, should I lock the door or will you come in the way you did before? Oooh, just like you did before. Is there anything left of everything we haad."

Had the song went on a bit further, Operetta would've had to stop herself from doing the male part – she didn't want to drive Rochelle unintentionally crazy! "What'cha think?" She asked the stone-ghoul quickly.

"I am unsure if I like it, 100%. Wonderful lyrics, I enjoyed the part where he is tied to the soul like an anchor, that shows how heavy the pull someone that's loved can have in another's life. Oui?"

The southern-belle nodded, "I can agree with that, that's quite some pull indeed. But I have this feelin' you'll really like this last song. It was m'first choice... but I found those other two. So lemme know when you're ready and we'll get this started!" Her eyes widened as she covered her mouth innocently, "this... quietly, started I meant."

Rochelle gave a playful roll of her eyes as she let out a soft giggle. "Can you play le melody for me? Just so I know what I am singing?"

Operetta nodded as her slender fingers graced the piano keys. After a good minute or so Rochelle, who'd closed her eyes to envision the melody soon opened them. "Let moi take a run through, but I do believe we have found my song."

"Alrighty songbird, gimme what'cha got!"

Taking a nice deep preparation breath, Rochelle let Operetta shine with a soft intro – then she began softly as to not disturb anyone. "Love that once hung on the wall used to mean something but now it means nothing. The echos are gone in the hall, but I still remember the pain of December. Oh there isn't one thing left you could say, I'm sorry it's too late... I'm breaking free from these memories gotta let you go, just let it go! I said 'Goodbye' - set it all on fire, gotta let me go, just let me go. Oooh-ooh. Oooh, whoaa."

Instead of stopping the song, Operetta just filled in the male vocals with the piano, so Rochelle could continue the song she clearly didn't want to stop singing. But, she stopped suddenly. "This..." she hugged Operetta tightly.

She took no time in hugging Rochelle back, "So, y'like it?"

"J'aime! Non, I don't like it, I love it. We must find a male to sing with moi as soon as possible. This is... perfect. Merci, mon ami, merci!"

"I'm just glad that music could help ya in a time like this in yer life. It's a beautiful thang, music... ain't it?"

Rochelle Goyle would never be one to debate that, ever.

Well, here's another chapter!

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