It was 12:06 in the afternoon when Betty Barrett ascended the steps of Animated High. If he was quick enough, he could at least be on time for 5th period. He took his seat in Mr. Rotter's AP contemporary literature class just as the bell rang and pulled out his class copy of 1984. The stoic teacher gave him a nod of recognition. A few minutes into the lecture, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"You were not in creepateria this morning." Abbey stated in her usual matter-of-fact tone.
"Yeah," Alex added, "Sam wanted to show you the new Fastpoint comic she got. She seemed really bummed you weren't there. I can't wait for you to read it though. It retcons the whole DeathCap Comics universe back to the way it was before the reboot. There was even-"
"Where were you, anyway?" Clover hastily changed the subject.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. We were at the doctor's office. Something kinda came up unexpectedly." Betty replied, turning to face them. This caught the attention of Rochelle. She looked up from her book.
"Doctor? Is everything alright?" Concern dripped from her voice and Betty instantly felt guilty.
"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. We're in a little bit of pain, but…" Betty's eyes both glanced upward towards his eyebrow piercing as he spoke."It won't be a problem for much longer." The four ghouls glanced at each other suspiciously and then back towards Betty. Abbey opened her mouth to challenge his last statement.
"Ladies! Mr. Jekyll! Do not make me have to separate you!" Mr. Rotter's stern voice boomed from the front of the room. Betty muttered a meek apology and turned back to his book, his ghoulfriends quickly following suit. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
40 uneventful minutes went by and then finally the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. "Don't forget to read the next chapter!" Mr. Rotter yelled to his students, but most of them were too far away to hear. Betty dashed to his locker and quickly called his human friend Chad.
"Hey! I just got back from the doctor's office. Yeah, she told me to just take some Advil and let it run its course." unbeknownst to him, resident blogger Mira Nova was perusing the hallways looking for her next story.
"Completely done for, they said. Apparently there's nothing they can do."
Mira perked up at those words. She quickly pulled out her iCoffin and hid a few lockers down from Betty's.
"It's true. We don't have much time left."
Mira gasped and quickly snapped a photo of the scene in front of her. Did he say he was running out of time as in...death? Details about that particular subject were a little…foggy for her, but even so, Betty seemed a little early in his life to be experiencing it. In moments like these she really regretted snooping around in other people's business, but she definitely had her blog post.
At 8:35 that morning, every phone in Animated High sounded at once as The Ghostly Gossip was updated. Conversations were halted and hallway traffic came to a standstill as several students stopped to check their phones.
Normie's days are numbered?
Yesterday, sources caught a phone conversation of one Betty Barrett in which he confessed to being told by a doctor that he didn't have much time left on earth. This story is still developing, and more details will be reported as they come in.
Dora's eyes scanned the short article again.
"Dude." Was all he could come up with after a couple of minutes.
"What?" Asked Dee Dee as he approached his best friend. Dora handed over his phone.
"Dude!" Dee Dee exclaimed. "If this is someone's idea of a joke, it isn't very funny."
"I know." Dora replied in a stern tone that contrasted with his usual jovial one. "Maybe the ghouls know something about this."
Dee Dee nodded and quickly scanned the hallway. Jerry, Mandy, Tara Boumdeay, and Franny were all crowded around Jerry's locker. They were looking over Mandy's shoulder at something on her phone and talking to one another in a hushed whisper. The boys headed toward the group.
"Hey, did you ghouls see that weird blog post?' Dora asked the group.
"Uh, yeah ," Mandy responded. "Why would Mira post such a far-fetched tale? And expect anyone to believe it?"
"But why would she post something like this if it wasn't true?" Tara Boumdeay asked. "You know how seriously that ghoul takes her blog."
"C'mon guys," Jerry cut in. "Mira's gotten a story twisted around before, remember?"
"But-" Franny started.
"But nothing." All eyes turned towards a fast-approaching Edd, flanked by Abbey and Sam. "Look, if my cousins were dying, I would know about it. That ghost writer has lost her spark."
"Am not so sure." Abbey responded, giving Edd the side eye. "He was acting very strange yesterday. Said he did go to see doctor."
Franny burst suddenly into tears, clinging to Dee Dee and Tara Boumdeay. "But that means we're gonna lose Betty and Noah-" the rest of her sentence was cut off by sobbing.
"There there, sweetie," Tara Boumdeay whispered, handing her best friend a tissue. "That does it. We have to put this whole thing to rest right now."
"Yes," Abbey agreed. "We go ask Betty."
"Well we can't just tell him we know," Mandy insisted. "What are you even going to say? 'Oh, by the way, Mira eavesdropped on your private conversation yesterday and now there's a story posted on the internet about you for the whole school to read, so can you tell us if it's true?' He'll be mortified ."
Jerry stared at her. "That's actually a pretty good point. Okay, we'll meet in the library during lunch to find what we can about human death, so we at least know what we're looking for. Sound like a plan?" The group collectively nodded. "Good. I'll see you there."
At 11:30 that morning, the group re-convened in the dusty confines of the Animated High library. Sam moaned as she typed away at the computer in front of her.
"Sam says that when a human dies, they're put into a box that is measured especially for them. The box is then put into a long black car to a place where it can be buried in the ground. It's customary for the person's box to be decorated with flowers, and then their family and friends are invited to a gathering to watch them be buried." Jerry translated.
"Like some sort of going away party?" Tara Boumdeay asked. "I'm glad I'm not a human. That's pretty morbid."
"But that proves it!" Edd exclaimed. "I'm Betty's family so if he were dying, I would definitely be invited to the going away party and so would my parents. This whole story is bogus."
The other students weren't so sure yet, but they all let the subject drop for now.
—-
At 2:56, the music stopped. Betty blinked, suddenly aware of his surroundings. The sun beamed down and burned his eyes, and he quickly had to side step to avoid being trampled by the massive herd of students walking behind him. He'd apparently stopped in his tracks in the middle of the front walkway of the school. He looked down and discovered the cause of this to be his dead iCoffin. He plugged his phone into his portable charger and it blinked back to life. Underneath the time display was a message from Noah.
"You got any idea why D-low hugged me holding back tears this morning? Did I miss something?" Betty opened his phone to respond
"Um, no? I don't think so. Did she say what was wrong?" He left it for Noah to find later and put his phone back in his bag. Not a moment passed before it began buzzing with a call from his dad.
"So anyway, I was all like 'dude' and she was all like-" Franny recounted the events of the day and was suddenly cut off by her best friend Tara Boumdeay, who pushed her back behind the doors to the school, pointing in Betty's direction.
"You're going to pick us up right?" Betty asked into the phone.
"Okay. Yeah, we spoke to the florist yesterday. We picked out this really cool arrangement of Forget-Me-Nots. Pretty appropriate for the occasion, right?" The two ghouls in hiding glanced at each other.
"Do you remember what Jerry said? About humans getting flowers when they're-"
"SHH!" the two turned their attention back towards Betty.
"Yeah, I know. Moms will be devastated. They said they won't be back until 11 or 12 that night, and we'll definitely be gone by then. But we'll be sure to take a lot of pictures before we go!" He continued to the person on the other end. "Okay, see you in a few minutes."
The girls gasped as Betty put his phone away. Tara Boumdeay pulled out her phone and pulled up the group chat. They had to tell everyone what they had just heard.
Betty sighed as he silenced his blaring alarm clock. 7:00 am. As he walked to the bathroom to get ready, he was suddenly struck by a memory.
"It's nothing personal, normie. You just look like such a freak." Manny told him as he shoved him off of the lunch table. Betty looked towards the other mansters, but they said nothing. So they all agreed. Even Dee Dee.
He cringed. He'd had to eat lunch in a bathroom stall that day. He looked at his reflection, desperately wishing he could change it. He sighed and got dressed. He had to leave early since he now had no car and his parents weren't home. He plugged his headphones into his phone. Noah had gotten them into this situation, only fitting that he deal with it.
Noah Parker cursed under his breath as he walked to school. Although the weather was warming, mornings in March were still frigid. He sighed in relief as he approached Animated High.
"Heya there, sweetpea," Operetta drawled in greeting as Noah waltzed through the front doors of the school.
" What's good, Oppy?" Noah responded, his usual loud and energetic self even at the early hour.
"Just peachy keen like always, hun. Say, you seen the Ghostly Gossip lately?" She asked.
" Nah, we usually stay away from that garbage ever since that story about us and Jerry. Humiliated the poor ghoul and almost tanked our relationship. It really ain't cool what they're doin'." He replied nonchalantly.
"Oh. Okay. Well sugar, you know you can tell me anything you wanna, right?" She continued.
" Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks Oppy." That was kinda weird for the rough and tumble ghoul to say, but honestly Noah was just glad their botched attempt at dating didn't mess up their friendship. Oppy was a cool ghoul.
"What's the word, cool cats?" Came a new voice.
"Johnny!"
" Johnny."
Johnny spirit sauntered casually down the main corridor of Animated High, and students jumped out of his way as if he had the plague. He put his arm around Operetta's shoulder.
"Hey, babe." Noah snorted.
" I'll never get why everyone lets you float around like you own the place ."
Johnny shrugged. "Guess they don't have a choice. Besides, I never see you doing anything about it," he replied with a bit of challenge in his tone. Noah rolled his eyes.
" You know you don't scare us, Spirit. Anyway, it seems like Oppy's got you on a leash without our help."
Johnny bristled at that "Y'know Hyde, I'm gettin' real sick of-"
"Why don't we scamper on down to the catacombs and finish that new song we been workin on, sugarpie?" Operetta cut in. She really didn't want to deal with a fistfight this early.
The couple walked away and Noah made toward the auditorium. He found the symphony on stage setting up and dashed up to join them, plugging his guitar into its amp. Jennifire was nearby greasing the corks on her clarinet. He huffed and sat down next to her.
"Another run in with the phantom pianist?" She asked, not even looking up.
" That guy is such a jerk!" Noah insisted.
She chuckled and shook her head. "You boys are so easily provoked; I may never understand it. My brothers were just the same. He has done nothing to insight your anger."
Noah really hated to admit it, but she was right. Johnny really didn't scare Noah, and he knew a little better than to try that tough guy act on Betty. Plus, it was kinda funny seeing guys like Edd and Manny faint when he walked past them.
"Your emotions run like wildfire, I am very impressed you came to terms so easily with your end." She continued. Wait. What.
" My what now?"
" Of course, it must be so hard for you to talk about. I am sorry." A tear fell from her eye and promptly turned to smoke upon hitting her face.
" Jen, are you okay?" Noah asked, facing her. She smiled.
"Yes, I will be okay. So kind of you to think of me."
"Okay, Okay, enough chit chat. Places people!" The director yelled as he approached the stage. Well. That was weird. Noah took his place in the stool beside the amp and looked up as the director began counting them off.
After an awkward hour of rehearsal, they were dismissed to second period. Noah emerged out into the crowd of students in the hall. Jennifire was nowhere to be found, so he made his way toward the art room. His Spotify playlist suddenly changed to a song by Pierce the Veil. He pulled out his phone to skip it and saw he had a message from Betty. He scoffed. If D-low had told him what was wrong, would he be asking? JJ could be so oblivious. Maybe it was just a normie thing.
He took his usual seat in front of his canvas and continued his painting for this week.
"Psst, Noah." he heard a whisper. He turned and met the shiny magenta eyes of retired popstar Catty Noir. "We're turning up at Mandy's place on Saturday, you in?"
" Yeah totally- oh, nevermind. We can't make it, we kinda got a...thing that day."
"Oh," she said, looking kind of taken aback. "It's that soon?"
" What was that?"
" I said I'll see you soon!" she hastily corrected herself as she got up and turned in her painting, promptly leaving the art room. Man, everyone's acting off today. He touched up his work and quickly followed suit.
He basically had the rest of the period to himself, so he decided to riff on his guitar for a little bit. He couldn't do it in the building anymore ever since that one time Headmistress Bloodgood caught him, so he moved to the front steps and set his bag beside him.
"Hey Noah!" Noah turned towards the front of the school where the shout came from.
" Jerry Fine-Stein! Where have you been hiding?" Her skin glowed a light mint green and her eyes sparked in the sun. Just as bootiful as ever. She sat on the step beside him.
"I was actually just in the library. I found this book about the original Jekyll and Hyde. It was way harsh; It said that Edward Hyde trampled a child in the streets of London, is that true?"
" Nuh-uh! Those stuffy normie's didn't like that grandpa's were different so they dragged their reputation through the dirt!" Noah declared passionately. " Some of the people they charged him with killing didn't even exist in the first place! Then they made Dr. Jekyll out to be a complete basket case and threw them both in jail! That is until they got bailed out by our grandma, Lucy."
" Oh, man. I didn't know any of that!" Jerry replied. She actually knew all about it, she had heard the exact same thing from Betty before. They were both incredibly salty about the smear campaign launched against their grandparents that made their family flee to America in the first place, and you could hardly bring it up around them without a passionate rant. Jerry felt a little bad about bringing up something she knew was a sore subjet for them, but she had to make sure Mira and the other ghouls didn't get caught. It was for their own good, right? Her phone buzzed in her lap and she glanced down.
"Mira got something, meet us back in the library." Tara Boumdeay. Jerry jumped up. "Sorry, Noah, I really gotta go."
Noah watched her go in curiosity. He checked the time and quickly jumped up himself and dashed back inside the building. The only way to not be late now was to go through Section C, the so-called "vampires only" hallway. It really irked them when other monster's used it, but he didn't really care when it was either that or detention. As he made his way through he felt someone glaring at him, and met eyes with a large group of the former prep-school vampires. He braced himself, but instead of giving him grief like they usually did, they just let him pass.
Noah's third period was Chemistry II with Mr. Hack. No thanks. Science was never his strong suit. Plus, there was seriously something off about this particular teacher. He just took a little too much pleasure in the cutting open of living things for Noah's liking. He pulled out his phone.
"Keep an eye out. Today's been weird, Bro." He typed the message out and then disconnected his phone from his headphones. The world went dark.
Betty blinked a few times. What was that ringing sound? "Oh, shOOT!" He bolted through the closest door- which just happened to be the right one- and took his seat as the bell finished ringing. Mr. Hack passed out a hefty amount of worksheets to the class.
"Okay class: no whispering, no talking, no looking around, no coughing or sneezing, no you can't use the bathroom, and if I catch you on your cell phone the whole class gets detention. You have until the end of the class to complete the worksheets or it's a 0 for today."
Everyone groaned. Good old Mr. Hack. Charming and likeable. Betty tried to ignore the stares and whispers in his direction as he did his work. He knows he's different, don't they ever get tired of reminding him? Were they all paying more attention to him than usual, or was it just his imagination? He blazed through his work in about 20 minutes, it was just some simple thermodynamics equations. He looked up and noticed that Mr. Hack was asleep. Typical. Half the class were on their phones and the other half were talking amongst themselves. He pulled his phone out and saw Noah's message.
Huh. Maybe it wasn't just his imagination then, everyone was acting a little odd. Granted, every day at Animated High was pretty weird. Last week they had lost their school crest in a rollerblading contest and the school nearly toppled over, so maybe he could just ignore whatever this was.
The bell finally rang for lunch. He set his work on Mr. Hack's desk as he jolted awake and practically ran from the room. He shot Clair a text.
"Okay, transportation is set and decorations bought. Am I forgetting anything?"
"Measurements, goofy." She responded almost instantly.
"Oh, right. I can get a tape measure from the woodshop teacher and get them during lunch."
"Have you told the other monsters about Saturday?"
"No. I just don't know how they'll react, y'know?"
"Aren't they always telling you about how you don't belong? So why would they care?"
"Yeah you're probably right. It's just a difficult situation."
"Yeah, I hear you. Let me know how it goes."
Looking down at his phone, he didn't notice Draculara until he bumped her as he passed.
"So sorry!" He exclaimed.
"It's alright." She reassured him as she walked away. She made her way to the library where her friends were already gathered around in a circle. Mira floated in the center.
"What's this all about?" Draculara asked.
"While Jerry had Noah distracted, Mira looked in his locker."
"Well what did she find?" Mandy demanded.
"Just this. It appears to be a receipt for some kind of car rental."
Dee Dee glanced at his phone. "Edd says Betty is in the boys locker room right now taking measurements of himself and writing them down." He told the group.
"Then what Mira said is true." Fraknie finally admitted. The room fell into extended silence.
"Well we can at least show Betty he means something to us." Draculara spoke up.
"Yeah," Jerry agreed, "we can do something nice for him and Noah."
"What are we going to do? Hijack the gym and throw a huge party during lunch?" Mandy asked sardonically.
"You're on a roll Mandy! It'll be closed tomorrow, but we can do it Friday!" Tara Boumdeay agreed.
Mandy smiled. Very well then. Friday would be a day for the monster history books.
" Betty! Noah!" Mama Hyde's voice boomed from the upper floor of the house.
"OKAY BYE MOM I'MLEAVINGNOWLOVEYOU!" Betty yelled back as he shut the door and literally sprinted down the walkway in the direction of the high school.
It hadn't been his fault, really! He just wanted breakfast and that vase had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he had finished cleaning it up just a moment sooner, he may never have been found out. Betty scoffed internally- for all that moms had freaked out when they learned that he and Noah knew about each other, they loved being able to reprimand them interchangeably and hold one accountable for the other's actions. Which reminded him, he really should do something nice for Noah. It wasn't really fair that he took the heat when Betty was the one who lit some of Crossfade's droppings on fire on the neighbor lady's porch after she'd berated Franny and made her cry. He had no idea how his mother had found out in the first place, but maybe seeing Dracula on his porch that evening struggling to contain his laughter behind his tea while watching her frantically try to put it out had tipped her off. It was most of the reason he couldn't bring himself to be too pissed at Noah about the car. Oh, and he should probably check with the rental company, Saturday was fast approaching and he wanted to make sure everything was in place for-
"OOF!"
He was pulled forcefully from his thoughts by his books scattering everywhere and his ass hitting the floor. He looked up to see who he had carelessly bumped into this time and cursed himself internally when his eyes fell upon a blush pink colored carnation and then a matching pair of eyes.
' Oh my ghoul- I'm so sorry…Valentine!" He stuttered.
"That's alright, darlin'. Just be more careful next time. Can't have you fallin' for me too hard." He replied, smirking. He reached a hand down to help Betty back to his feet, winked, and then was gone with a confident flourish.
Betty picked up his belongings from the ground while trying to manage the flush he could feel creeping up onto his face, then heard a new voice from above.
"Y'know Betty, maybe if you weren't such a clumsy dork, I could actually stand to be seen with you."
"Hey, Uncle Grandpa."
"Hey yourself, normie," She hopped down from the top of the lockers to join him. "Didn't know tall, dark, and sleazy had a thing for you."
"Pfft. I doubt it. I think he just says that stuff to mess with me," He replied, feeling the heat that had been slowly drawing from his face return in full force. "Besides, you can never really tell what that guy's intentions are.
"Yeah, I know what that's like," Uncle Grandpa stared thoughtfully in the direction Valentine had gone for a moment, before snapping out of it. "Hey, don't you have PE with Manny and his goons this period?" She asked him.
"Yeah. we're playing flag football," Betty shuddered. "And no way can I convince Noah to stick this one out. He says that all the 'sweaty stuff' is for me to do since I love 'handling balls'. His words, not mine."
Uncle Grandpa laughed. "I have AP clawculus. How about we ditch instead?"
"Won't we get in trouble?" Betty asked. Though he did his fair share of rule breaking, it usually wasn't intentional, and sometimes his inner teacher's pet jumped out at him still.
"Not if we don't get caught, fool. Unless you'd rather go handle balls instead?" She teased.
"Hey!"
She cackled and tore off in the opposite direction, and he gave chase. They took several winding turns through the old building before throwing open a pair of glass double doors that lead out towards the dumpsters, and then continued onto a relatively secluded path leading to the woods behind Animated High. Betty put a hand up to avoid being scratched by branches as they breached through the treeline, eyes darting around when he realized he lost sight of her. Suddenly a flash of orange entered his peripheral vision, and then his life flashed in front of his eyes as he was flipped over to the ground on his back in a small clearing. Uncle Grandpa laid herself down after him, lying beside him in the opposite direction.
"See? Told you it would be fine," she said after taking a moment to settle down.
"Yeah, real stealthy," Betty replied, still reeling from his impact with the ground.
"Well we didn't get caught, did we? And hey, you're getting pretty fast- Y'know for a human ," She replied. Betty tried not to flinch at those words, but she must have seen it anyway.
"Hey, I was just kidding!" She quickly tried to backpedal as her tone and expression softened in a way that was usually uncharacteristic of her. "You know I don't think less of you for being half normie, right?"
"Yeah, I know," He gave her a small but reassuring smile. "It's just that a lot of other people…do."
"Well, if they can't look past what's on the outside to see what you're really like, they must be pretty fucking stupid," Uncle Grandpa responded, making a note to not bring it up again.
"Kinda like they do to you?" He asked.
"What?!"
"C'mon, Uncle Grandpa, you may have everyone else fooled into thinking you're all sharp claws and biting remarks, but not me. I see another side of you they don't. Maybe if they just bothered looking a bit harder they'd find it," he explained.
"And if you ever said that in public I'd claw out those pretty eyes of yours- but, God, you might be right. Y'know I'm actually concerned about keeping my grades up now? I've even thought about college once or twice! I never really did that before I came here, or before I met Headmistress Bloodgood. Or before…I met you, really."
"Hm. Maybe that side of you was always there, and you just couldn't express it before," replied Betty, thoughtfully.
"Yeah, that's true. I definitely didn't grow up in the most nurturing environment. I know that no excuse, I don't really mean to be all 'sharp claws', I just don't really know any other way to treat people. Hell, it was a complete accident that we became friends."
"Heh. Yeah. 'Accident'".
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She snapped.
"Uncle Grandpa, do you remember how we met? I found you in the belltower, sobbing."
"Yeah, I remember. You asked if I was okay," she recalled.
"Yeah, and then you said 'pass me those tissues, sweater vest, I've has the worst fucking day.'" Betty chuckled fondly at the memory. "You were completely unbothered with what I thought of you because I so obviously don't 'run this place' as you put it. I was never someone you were in competition with so you never treated me that way. Maybe if you were like that with everyone, they could see you the way I do."
"Even if I wanted to, that's easier said than done," She said after a moment. "If only things were different."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Yeah, if only things could be different."
The two sat in prolonged silence after that, just staring up at the endless blue sky. If only. If only she'd had the pampered childhood her siblings got. If only he was his own person, free from his duality, and prejudices, and expectations. Eventually, Uncle Grandpa looked over to find Betty staring at her.
"What?" She asked.
"You really think my eyes are pretty?" He shot back.
"Oh my God! Shut the entire fuck up!" She yelled, scandalized.
Bettys laughter echoed throughout the clearing, but was still drowned out by the sound of the schoolbell. He looked down at his phone.
"Oh man, that's the third block. We've been out here a while," Betty remarked, surprised.
"You got somewhere to be?" Uncle Grandpa asked.
"No. we had all our graduation requirements out of the way already and they couldn't really figure out a spot for us with the influx of new students, so we have free period on Thursdays before lunch."
Uncle Grandpa scoffed. "I wish they would figure out a solid schedule. It's like they were so focused on getting more students to come here they had no plan for when they got here. Scheduling my classes for this semester was a complete clusterfuck."
"A clusterfuck is a small price to pay to be able to go to a school like this one, honestly," Betty replied. He shuddered a little thinking of his day at the human high school across town and the whole "halloween incident" as he and Noah dubbed it. "Maybe they should build an extension or something."
"Ha! On our budget? I'm impressed there's still working toilets sometimes!" Uncle Grandpa proclaimed, laughing.
Their banter continued a while longer until it was nearly time for lunch.
"Hey, listen-" They both started at once.
"Oh, sorry! You first!" Betty insisted.
"I heard what's happening Saturday." Torelei stated bluntly.
"What?! How?" Betty asked, a little taken aback.
"It's all over the Ghostly Gossip." She replied.
"Oh. Of Course. Well, that's actually kind of what I wanted to talk about. I didn't want you to feel put off or anything."
"Put. Off. Have you lost your fucking mind?!" She screamed at him.
"Woah! Where is this coming from? We're just going as friends, but I didn't think you'd be bothered anyway!" He defended.
"Just…Going…" Uncle Grandpa struggled to process for a moment. Then burst into laughter. Betty looked on, hopelessly confused. "Well, come on! We should be getting back now!" She grabbed his hand and led him back towards the building.
Upon re-entry, they were nearly run over by the rush of students trying to make it to lunch. He appears to have lost Uncle Grandpa in the crowd, but was quickly accosted by Edd.
Hey, Bro! I saw you sneaking back in here with Toalei- mrrrreaw! What were you two doing?" He asked, shoving his elbow into Betty's ribcage.
"Nothing you would find exciting," Betty replied, rolling his eyes at his cousin's crudeness. He never really appreciated Edd's innuendos, or the way he spoke about women in general.
" Sure. Oh, I think Bloodgood is looking for you. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your little rendezvous, you can say you were with me." Edd said.
"Thanks," Betty replied. He did appreciate Edd's willingness to cover for him though.
"You got it, dude!" He heard Edd yell after him as he made his way towards bloodgood's office. He nodded towards Rochelle and Venus sitting in the hallway. They both waved back, looking a little apprehensive.
"Mr Jekyll! Please come in!" The Headmistress's voice boomed from inside.
He entered and sat in front of her desk to face her.
"Very good. I have received a note from your doctor excusing you from gym class on account of your injury sustained in some kind of accident. A class which you appear to have been mysteriously absent from," She said.
He withered a little under her stern gaze. "Oh, yeah, uh, I was doing independent lab work in the catacombs. Edd was with me," He replied, nervously glancing up towards his helix piercing.
"Yes," She continued, side eyeing him skeptically. "Anyway, It says you are to have this week's gym period off as well as the next. Is that correct?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Excellent. Do not hesitate to let me know if you need anything else to assist in the healing process. And Betty?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"You're a very good student with a very bright future ahead of you. See to it that you continue attending your classes. Dismissed."
"Okay. Thank you!" He responded before jumping up and hurrying out of the office, feeling her eyes on him as he went.
—-
Elsewhere, Uncle Grandpa sat at her lunch table, poking at the wad of meat in front of her.
"It's definitely beef," Eddy commented.
"Could be human for all we know," Ron Stoppable replied.
They all glanced at each other and collectively pushed their trays towards the center of the table. The two younger werecats began hissing as their table was approached, but Uncle Grandpa put up a hand, making them stop. Mandy walked with the same confident stride she always did, and flanked by Jerry and Tara Boumdeay, she definitely turned a few heads.
"Your royal highness," Uncle Grandpa drawled sarcastically. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"We saw you fangin' out with Betty earlier," Tara Boumdeay spat almost accusingly.
"You didn't go ruining the surprise, did you, hairball?" Mandy asked.
"Don't get your bandages in a twist, I did no such thing!" Uncle Grandpa replied in feigned shock. "I did learn something interesting though."
"What's that?" Jerry asked, bolts buzzing curiously.
Uncle Grandpa thought for a second about what Betty had said about not treating others like competition, but fuck that. This was way more fun.
"That's for me to know, stitches, but I still plan on helping you. You know how I love to party."
One Last Hurrah!
In relation to the still-developing Jekyll-Hyde story, our sources tell us that an official note from the New Salem Institute of Medicine was faxed directly to Headmistress Bloodgood's office yesterday, seeming to confirm some kind of ailment. According to a would-be popstar, Noah himself spoke briefly of some kind of event taking place this Saturday. On a lighter note, however, some monsters are already aware of plans for a sendoff party this afternoon, details are in the Graveball/Fearleading group chat!
"How do we know they won't read that?" Tara Boumdeay asked in the deadpan tone she usually used when she thought someone had done something stupid but was trying not to say so.
Draculuara shrugged from where she was balancing a container of paper cups in each hand and a stack of paper plates on her head. "Maybe something to do with accusing Jerry of two-timing?"
" Hmph! Everyone's a critic. I said I was sorry!"
Tara Boumdeay's ears perked up as she heard the voice seeming to come from somewhere inside the walls, but she brushed it off. They had a narrow window between when the last gym class of the morning let out and when lunch began, so they had to work fast. They approached the main entrance to the gym to find Uncle Grandpa, Eddy, and Ron Stoppable looking on as Elle struggled to move her DJ equipment up the short flight of stairs.
"Noah's gonna combust when he finds someone else DJ'ing," Uncle Grandpa scoffed.
"Y'all just let me worry about that," Operetta said as she emerged from the gym doors and stood opposite of Elle, effortlessly lifting the table. "The boys and Mandy are with Noah now, so we gotta do all the heavy liftin' ourselves."
"Don't let anyone in here who's not helping set up until it's time," Tara Boumdeay reminded Uncle Grandpa and company as the other four ghouls entered the building.
"Whatever," she replied- and then, "someone better bring booze," under her breath.
Tara Boumdeay helped Abby move aside all manner of sports equipment, balls, hoops, tetherball stands, and wrestling mats off the floor. Tables usually reserved for ticket taking at casketball games were pushed into the room and quickly filled up with snack food. They got the DJ booth set up, LED lights placed around the room (someone even brought a disco ball), streamers hung, balloons blown up, and as if as a final touch, Jerry came sprinting into the building and triumphantly slammed down a large tray of freshly baked cookies.
"Okay! Great work everyone! The guys say they're on their way!" she yelled.
—-
Noah had nearly had his fill of weird bullshit this week, so when a group of mansters plus Mandy asked him to come hang with them at the Coffin Bean just before lunch, he almost refused.
"It'll be fun man!" Dee Dee proclaimed.
"Yeah, we hardly ever get to hang out!" Gil agreed.
"I'll buy," Dora said.
" Alright, why not?" he eventually relented.
They made their way through the mall a short distance from the school. Some older, more conservative monsters shot annoyed glares in the direction the loud music was coming from, but that was nothing Noah wasn't used to. The Coffin Bean seemed to stay busy at all hours of the day, and a singular long line eventually divided into two as it neared the open registers. As they made their way to the front, Dora, Dee Dee, Gil, and Edd got into one line and he and Mandy ended up in the other. He made a conscious effort to turn his music down as low as he could without turning back to his other half so the people ahead of him could order.
"So…" she started.
" Yeah ," he muttered.
It's not that he didn't like Mandy- he just didn't really know how to act around her anymore. Every time he looked at her he saw the person who hacked all his social media and almost got him killed just for some attention. Was that who she really was, or was the person who Dora was head over heels for the real her? Huh- not often that he wasn't quite sure what to think of someone else, instead of the other way around. He chuckled.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
" I usually don't fumble the social scene like this- That's JJ's move, " he answered.
She laughed, loud and genuine- a sound he may have never heard from her before.
"I was thinking the same thing- about me, of course," she replied. "I-"
Ding! Mandy pulled out her phone.
"UGH! My dad keeps getting on my case about college applications! 'YOu're A DenILE Mandy'. And of course Nefera got a full ride to some fancy modeling school, so I can't do any less than that! Hff , sorry, I don't mean to go on about my problems," she said, seemingly remembering where she was and who she was with.
" You're good. I kinda know what it's like for people to think you're supposed to act some kind of way just 'cause of who your family is, ' Noah assured, remembering the aging newspaper clips in his attic about Edward Hyde and his alleged escapades. " Like, forget my grandparents, please. I just wanna be my own person. "
"Yes! Exactly! It's like when people look at me all they can see is royalty- which, I mean, they're not wrong- but I'm a person too! I have my own likes and dislikes and everything!" Her phone buzzed again.
"This bitch!" She gasped, outraged probably by something her sister had said.
'Can I help you?" came the cashier's chipper voice.
" Hey, bro. I'll take a chai latte. " Noah replied.
"Perfect! And for the lady?"
Mandy composed herself long enough to look up from her phone. "I'll have a chocolate frappuccino with extra chocolate chips, white chocolate, extra drizzle, add caramel, and two affogato shots. Add It to my boyfriend's tab," she said, glancing over to where Dora was ordering.
"Right away! It'll be ready at the other end!" said the cashier, then let out a long-suffering sigh when their backs were turned. "I can help who's next!"
They caught up to the guys at the counter, and after a short wait, sat at a table near the door in the cafe.
"You guys catch the game last night?" Asked Dee Dee.
"I turned it off after the 3rd quarter," Edd huffed.
"Because the Hounds were getting steamrolled," Dee Dee snorted.
"You cheer for the Cleveland Hounds, dude?" Dora chuckled.
'Yeah, bro! They can still turn the season around," Edd defended.
' I'm surprised you don't pull more ghouls, bro. Don't they know how loyal you gotta be to be a Hounds fan? " Noah jabbed. The other three men burst into laughter.
"I don't understand the words you're saying," Mandy cut in.
"I was watching the Great British Baking Show last night!" Gil supplied. Another round of laughter spread around the table. "Hey! I'll have you know it can be just as intense as any Graveball game!" Gil insisted.
"Yeah, man, I bet those old ladies get really cutthroat," Dora said.
"' OI, the vanilla in these cupcakes isn't subtle, innit?' Get fucking wrecked. "
"Fuck you guys," Gil stated bluntly. They all cracked up again, as much about getting under his scales as at hearing the usually reserved man swear.
"Excuse me!" A middle aged woman who appeared to be completely human save for strikingly yellow eyes approached their table. "Can you keep it down? Some of us are trying to relax with our families and it's upsetting to listen to a group of uncouth teenagers laugh and swear and blare their awful music!" She yelled at them.
"How dare -" Mandy started.
"Sorry! We'll keep it down!" Dora quickly cut in, trying to avoid a scene.
"I should hope so! Kids these days are so disrespectful! I would've got a woopin' if I had said a swear word in public at your age! And you-" She pointed an accusing finger at Noah- "Turn that garbage down! No one else wants to hear it. Wait- you do know there are others around you, right?"
" Can't do that," Noah spat through gritted teeth.
"Seriously, where are your parents anyway? Turn it down or I'll call security!"
" What part of I can't turn it down are you not getting, you deaf old bitch?! ' He could vaguely feel his cup melting in his hand.
"Well I never- you know what, I'll just take them off myself," she said, stepping closer to him.
" You're not gonna touch me!" He screamed, punctuated by the slam of his chair hitting the cafe floor.
"Woah woah woah, what's going on here?!" A middle aged snake-eyed woman with red scales ran up to the table.
The old lady didn't stop glaring at Noah for a moment, then, seeming to notice the attention she was getting, changed her attitude quickly.
"Ma'am please, call the cops, he's gonna hurt me!" She practically sobbed, faux- sadness etched into her features. He heard his friends collectively gasp.
He suddenly felt sick. He must have dipped the moment the woman mentioned the word "cop". The next thing he remembers is walking briskly down the sidewalk a few blocks away. Why did that stupid bitch have to bring the cops into this? It's like she knew he couldn't risk another run in with the normie cops, they already didn't like him and after Halloween- he could feel himself shaking, The ice cold metal on his back. The gurgling of the machine above his head ready to smash down and end him- kill him- he doubled over dry heaving, his chest tightening and tears pricking his eyes. He sat there stunned for a few moments until glittering gold flashed into his peripheral.
"Hey. Hey, It's okay," Mandy said in a hushed whisper, kneeling down next to him. "Look at me. You're going to breathe in through your nose, hold it for three seconds, then breathe out through your mouth. Ready?"
" ...cant…" Noah eventually choked out. He tried to say more, but the words just weren't coming.
"You can. I'll do it with you. In," she drew a long breath in and held it there for a few moments. "And out," she slowly let it out. Noah tried copying her for a few minutes, breath coming out quick and shallow, until they finally evened out and the shaking began to subside. They sat in a drawn out silence until he felt ready to stand again. He regained his balance and finally took notice of the grip on his wrist that held his hand to her chest.
"Sorry," she said, as if only now noticing herself. "It's supposed to help you match my heartbeat, but my heart's in a jar at home. Should we keep walking?"
" Yeah, I could use a distraction, I think. Thanks," He replied. She made some sort of noncommittal noise in response.
" Where did you learn that, anyway?" He asked, gesturing to the spot on the ground where they were previously sitting. She shrugged
"You don't get as old as I am without learning a trick or two. I thought I shouldn't leave you to your own devices after what happened at the cafe, but I didn't think it would be so severe," she stated bluntly.
" I don't really know what came over me, actually. She said the word "cop" and I sorta freaked out, and then, well, you know… " He trailed off.
"Oh. Oh. " She drew in on herself for a moment, and was unable to meet his eyes. After a beat she looked back at him.
"I was kept in the dark for centuries, y'know."
" What? "
"It's a long story," she continued. "Myself, my sister, and my father all became trapped in our tomb. It was an endless drift of night and day and back into night wondering what was going on outside, and if I'd ever see it. Tell anyone and I'll deny it, but I'm still afraid of the dark. It hasn't gone away even after thousands of years. Sometimes things happen that we just don't get over."
" That's comforting, " he snorted. She chuckled
"Don't get me wrong, it's definitely gotten better over the years-more manageable. But it hasn't gone away, and I'm not really expecting it to anymore. It helps to be patient with yourself, y'know?
' Huh. Maybe that is what I need. It would definitely help for other people to be patient too, though. "
"I think I know exactly what you mean," she agreed. "And, hey, I know it doesn't make it okay, but I really am sorry about the part I played on Halloween. I never meant for it to go that far."
" I know. I- that helps. Thanks, " Noah replied. He didn't think he quite forgave her yet, but it was getting easier to relate the conceited person she was in the halls of Animated High to the genuine person that Dora was madly in love with. Just then, her phone buzzed.
"The guys are looking for us. Apparently that wyvern lady was the manager. They explained the whole situation to her and she basically told the old woman to leave her store before she embarrassed herself anymore," Mandy laughed. "She said your next drink is free, BTW."
—-
Back on the grounds of Animated High, Dee Dee checked his phone- 11:25. The ghouls should be done by now, right?
" Where did everybody go? " Noah asked. Besides a few students here or there, the courtyard seemed to be mostly empty.
"Something's up in the gym," Dee Dee replied, before either Gil or Edd had a chance to ruin the surprise.
Throwing open the double doors that led to the gym, Noah was met with energetic cheering from a large portion of the student body.
" Not that I don't love a good standing ovation, but what the hell is all this? " He asked.
"Look, Noah, we know about what's happening to you. About you, Y'know, dying, so we wanted to show you-' Jerry started.
"Now HOLD on there, Jerry-fine, just what are you going on about?" Noah interrupted.
"Don't try to pretend everything's okay, Noah. We don't need it. We did this for you . We saw the note from the hospital and overheard Betty telling Chad that there was 'nothing they can do' and to just 'let it run its course'," Jerry explained. If not for the earnest looks on the faces of the people around him all nodding in agreement, Noah might have burst into laughter then and there.
" You know what. Betty can deal with this one, " he stated before promptly reaching up and powering off his headphones.
—-
"So what we thought was you planning a 'funeral' was actually you just planning a date with that normie girl Claire this whole time?" Franny asked.
"Not a date, but essentially, yes," Betty confirmed.
" Oh. So the flowers are for decoration and the measurements you were taking are for your clothes. Duh," Tara Boumdeay exclaimed.
"Yes. Claire didn't get to go to her prom last year, so I wanted to go all out for this one,"
"Ha! And you blockheads all thought they were dying !" Uncle Grandpa boasted.
"So did you until you figured it out, peasant," Mandy scoffed.
"But Mira found this in your things!" Clover ignored the glares from her older siblings in favor of holding out the car rental receipt. Betty took it back.
"Thank you, I'll be needing this. Someone may have blown through a stop sign and hit a fire hydrant, severely damaging the car. That's what I was telling Chad on the phone- the mechanic said it was too expensive to fix, so it's getting totalled. As such, I decided to rent a limousine for Saturday night, since none of our parents are free to drive. Claire's family is out of town and my moms work too late. Driving makes my dad nervous."
"Shit, dude!" Dora spoke up. "Is that what the doctor was for?"
"Yes. I came away with minor whiplash, and the doctor said there wasn't a lot she could do for me," Betty said.
"Ha, medicine here is so primitive, in mountains we have easy cure!" Abby insisted. She lifted a hand to the back of Betty's neck, freezing it for a moment before withdrawing the ice, several times in succession. The tension slowly melted from Betty's shoulders.
"That…feels much better, thank you."
"So we did all of this for nothing?!" Operetta demanded.
"Great. So can I go now?" Johnny asked from her side.
"Not exactly for nothing," Betty replied, giving Johnny the side-eye. "I do appreciate the lengths you all went to to do this for me, it was an unexpected, but not unwelcome surprise. Though next time I would appreciate it if you would ask me or Noah directly instead of eavesdropping and rifling through my things," he punctuated this by holding up the receipt. The others looked away sheepishly.
"Well we might as well not let all this party junk go to waste," Uncle Grandpa commented.
"I hate to say it, but Uncle Grandpa's right," Tara Boumdeay conceded. "We set all this stuff up, might as well enjoy it."
—-
"...So basically it turns out that the whole reboot was just a tampering of the universe by a being called the seer who lives on the moon," Alex explained animatedly.
"Speaking of which, Alex, have you seen the news coverage of this new masked vigilante that's been galavanting around New Salam? Webarella, is it?" Betty asked. She looked a little taken aback.
"Oh! There's Sam! Looks like she could use a dance partner! Toodles!" Alex exclaimed, hastily retreating onto the dance floor.
Betty moved to get up himself, but quickly scurried out of the way of Tara Boumdeay, rushing by him carrying a hysterically laughing Franny, and Dee Dee, who was chasing the two. Suddenly, his noise canceling headphones were put up around his ears from behind as the music swelled in volume.
"I knew you weren't really dying," Uncle Grandpa proclaimed.
"So I've heard," he replied, turning to face her.
"Wanna dance?" she asked.
"Why not?"
As they danced, Uncle Grandpa's eyes shifted towared's Mandy and Dora were garnering a good bit of attention towards the center of the dance floor. Betty tried to stifle a sigh, but she must have heard it anyway.
"Okay, okay, I know. I'll leave them be for now. It's your party, after all," she quickly defended. Suddenly, mischief lit up her face. "And I think I know how to make it even better."
Betty didn't really like the sound of that, but before he could ask her to elaborate, she shoved him backwards. He flailed a bit, bracing for the impact with the ground but it never came.
"We have got to stop meeting like this, love."
Betty composed himself after a moment, standing from Valentine's grip (a very strong grip, and so fast too, to catch him before he hit the floor- no wait, don't think like that)
"Thank you," he managed.
"Anytime- and I do mean anytime. It seems fate wants us to dance. May I?" He asked, holding his hand out.
"U-um, yeah, I mean- Okay," he answered, cringing internally.
Valentine either didn't notice Betty's awkward behavior or didn't mind, wrapping his hands around his waist as they swayed to the beat. Unable to hear the music, he struggled to feel the vibrations through the floor, and eventually just settled for matching his motions to Valentine's.
"You must feel mighty special, having this whole big party in your honor," Valentine remarked teasingly.
"Yeah, I just don't know why everyone thought- well- I just feel bad. For making all of you worry," Betty admitted
"Hm. Well, there's no harm done, really. At least now you know what a support system you have," Valentine answered.
Betty looked around him at the gym full of decorations and his classmates enjoying themselves. Huh.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do."
They swayed in silence for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company.
Crash !
Well, that was short lived A young mouse boy called Stewart emerges from underneath a table that now lay on its side on the floor, followed by Eddy and Ron Stoppable. Sam groaned in agitation and Alex was struggling to catch a stack of papers that had been thrown by the impact, one of which landed at Betty's feet. He picked it up and gazed at a drawing depicting an arachnid monster in a bright red and white spandex outfit and a domino mask. He moved to hand it back to Alex.
"Thanks!" She said, quickly taking it back.
"Did you draw this?" Valentine asked. "How charming! I've been fond of comic books since they came out! Of course, it's not an interest I've ever really shared with anyone- it didn't really fit with the whole Heartbreaker motif- but I think the aliases and campy fight scenes are very fun!"
"You enjoy comic books? Hm, who knew? But you should feel free to express yourself, y'know! It's much more fun than hiding, I think," Alex speculated.
"I couldn't agree more! It's mighty kind of yall to give me another chance after the way I acted, and I intend to make the most of it."
"...Good. I like you much better now than I did when you were acting like a jackass," Sam stated bluntly. That startled a laugh out of Valentine.
"Well, I'll try to keep up the good work. That kinda reminds me of the alias I used to use. Back before monsters could exist out in the open, it was much easier to try to blend in with normie society," Valentine continued.
"...Fascinating! Life for monsters among normies must have been so different- and yet, monster culture prevailed! What was your name then?" Sam asked. Valentine sighed.
"Gabriel John Utterson." He admitted. Both Ghouls burst out laughing.
"Hey! It was a real winner at the time!" He chuckled.
"Where did you-"
"AND JUST WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" The music came to a screeching halt as Headmistress Bloodgood busted into the room flanked by Mr. Hack and Mr. Rotter. Headmistress Bloodgood put her head back on her body and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I will deal with you all accordingly later. For now, just get to class."
As they all filed out of the gym under the watchful eye of the staff, Betty didn't think he'd be feeling left out for a while.