Hey everyone. I originally had this story posted on AO3, but I took it down because I felt like it went off the rails as it progressed, so I decided to rewrite it and make changes to the story.

This takes place during G1. Enjoy! :)


It was a brand-new year at Monster High! All of the ghouls and mansters stood in the hallway going about their business. 6 ghoulfriends by the names of Frankie Stein, Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, Lagoona Blue, Cleo de Nile, and Ghoulia Yelps walked down the hall together wearing stylish new outfits.

"Are you ghouls excited for this voltaigious new school year?" Frankie asked excitedly.

"We sure are, Frankie!" Draculaura said with a cheerful smile.

"Every year at Monster High gets better and better. I can't say the same about my outfit, though." Clawdeen said.

"Aw, come on, Clawdeen, you look great! Don't be so down on yourself." Lagoona supportively said.

"I think I should be the one worrying out that kind of stuff." Cleo said, chiming in.

Ghoulia looked at Cleo and spoke zombie.

"You look cute, Ghoulia, but you might have overdone it a little bit on the nails." Cleo told her.

Suddenly, Spectra Vondergeist flew in with a megaphone and announced, "Attention, monsters! A new student has arrived at Monster High! He goes by the name of Jake Wilder!"

This got Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia excited as they loved meeting new students for the first time.

"We haven't gotten a new student in a while." Frankie said.

"Ooh, I know! I can't wait to meet Jake!" Draculaura said excitedly.

"Me too! But I don't see him anywhere." Clawdeen said.

"Maybe he's running late." Lagoona guessed.

At that moment, the 6 ghouls headed to their first period class, Dead Languages. Before going in, they saw a boy sitting down and playing with his phone. This was Jake Wilder, a 15-year-old human who had enrolled at Monster High over the summer.

"That must be Jake. Let's go introduce ourselves to him." Frankie whispered to her friends.

The ghouls walked in and sat next to Jake, who noticed them and put his phone in his pocket. He then gave a polite smile.

"Hello!"

"Hi! You must be Jake Wilder. Welcome to Monster High!" Frankie said welcomingly.

"Thanks! And yes, I am Jake Wilder." Jake said.

"I'm Frankie Stein." Frankie said.

"I'm Draculaura." Draculaura said.

"Clawdeen Wolf." Clawdeen said.

"Lagoona Blue." Lagoona said.

"Cleo de Nile. And this is Ghoulia Yelps." Cleo said, making a gesture with her thumb.

Ghoulia smiled and waved hello at Jake.

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm gonna be honest, I thought I would be ridiculed for being a human going to a school for monsters." Jake said.

"Monster High isn't like that, Jake. We welcome all species no matter what." Frankie reassured.

"And besides, you're not the only normie here." Draculaura said.

Jake learned the term 'normie' over the summer while enrolling. He was confused at first, but quickly adjusted to it.

"I'm not?"

"Nope! There's another one sitting next to you." a voice responded. It was Jackson Jekyll, also known as Holt Hyde.

Jake looked to his right and saw Jackson looking at him.

"Technically, I'm half-normie, half-monster, but still." Jackson said.

"Well, that explains everything! What's your name?" Jake asked.

"Jackson Jekyll." Jackson said.

"Nice to meet you, man! I'm Jake Wilder, but you probably already figured that out." Jake said.

Jackson giggled.

"Hey, Jake, do you mind if we take a look at your schedule? We wanna see if you have any other classes with us." Clawdeen said.

"Sure!" Jake said with a smile. He pulled out his schedule and laid it out on the desk.

Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, and Jackson looked at Jake's schedule. They were pleased and excited to find out they all shared the same classes as him.

"Looks like you'll be in all of our classes, mate!" Lagoona said excitedly.

"Awesome!" Jake said, ecstatic. He put his schedule away.

When the bell rang, Mr. Rotter got up from his desk and stood in front of the class.

"Good morning, class! I'm proud to announce that we have a new student."

Jake felt honored and relieved that he was being treated respectfully by the others. He really thought he was going to be bullied just because he was a human.

"What's your name, young man?" Mr. Rotter asked.

"Jake Wilder! I'm a human, or as you guys say, a normie." Jake said, a little nervous.

Mr. Rotter smiled. "Welcome to my class, Jake. I'm glad to have you here."

"Thank you, Mr. Rotter." Jake said with a grin.

Frankie leaned in and whispered, "Jake's so polite!" to her friends.

"I know, right?" Cleo whispered back.

Mr. Rotter went up to his chalkboard and started writing down various equations. The students opened their textbooks and followed along.

(1 hour later)

After Dead Languages was over, the students headed out.

XXXXXXX

Throughout the first half of the day, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, and Jake endured Mad Science, Clawculus, and Study Howl. During this time, Jake also met Clawdeen's older brother and Draculaura's boyfriend Clawd Wolf, Lagoona's boyfriend Gil Webber, and Cleo's boyfriend Deuce Gorgon, as well as Abbey Bominable, Robecca Steam, Heath Burns, and Manny Tor.

The ghouls and Jake went to the creepeteria when it was time for lunch. They got their food, sat down, and began eating.

"So, Jake, are you liking Monster High so far?" Draculaura asked.

"Absolutely! Everyone here is so nice. It reminds me a lot of my old school." Jake responded.

"What was your old school like?" Frankie asked.

"It was great. I made Honor Roll, had near-perfect attendance, and, um, I passed my freshman year with a 4.0 GPA." Jake said.

"That's awesome!" Lagoona said happily.

"Yep! I did get bullied a little bit, but not too much." Jake said.

"Ugh, bullying is the worst. Speaking of bullies, you might wanna watch out for Toralei Stripe, Jake." Clawdeen warned.

Jake raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Who's that?"

"She's just a jerk who doesn't care about anyone but herself. If you happen to come across her, ignore her. It's the best thing you could do." Cleo said.

"Gotcha." Jake said with a nod and mouth full of food.

Ghoulia looked at Jake and spoke zombie, asking him a question.

"I like the four classes I've had so far. I hope my last two are just as good." Jake replied.

Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, and Cleo were surprised that Jake was able to understand Ghoulia. Most humans couldn't understand zombies' grunts, moans, and groans.

"Jake, how were you able to understand what Ghoulia asked you?" Frankie asked.

"When I found out that were gonna be zombies at this school, I, uh, took the opportunity to learn their language over the summer. I thought it'd be a whole lot easier just to learn it." Jake said.

"Oh! Well, that makes sense." Draculaura said, smiling.

Jake chuckled in response.

After the gang finished lunch, they went outside and sat under a shady tree. Jake then thought it would be a good time to tell the ghouls his biggest secret: he was an orphan. He lost his parents and grandparents in a horrible accident a month ago, and as a result, was put through foster care. The home he was currently living in wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great either.

"Since we're out here, I figured I'd tell you ghouls something huge about me." Jake said.

"What is it?" Cleo asked.

Jake sighed. "I live in a foster home. I'm an orphan."

Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia were shocked at this news. They exchanged glances before looking back at Jake.

"Jake, we had no idea!" Frankie exclaimed.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Clawdeen asked.

"I didn't wanna bring you guys down. It's not a big deal anyway. I'm doing okay." Jake reassured.

"How did you become an orphan in the first place?" Lagoona asked.

"Well, my mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa died last month." Jake said sullenly.

The ghouls gasped and covered their mouths in shock.

"How did they die?" Draculaura asked.

"They were going on vacation and their plane crashed. I was staying with my uncle when it happened." Jake responded.

On the verge of crying, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia felt nothing but guilt and sadness for Jake.

"We're so sorry, Jake! Is there anything we could do?" Cleo asked.

Jake paused for a moment. "I'm not sure. Every day, I think about how a part of my family was taken from me, and there are times where I don't believe they're gone. And it was so recent, too, you know?"

"If you ever need support, we're here for you." Frankie reassured.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that. That means a lot." Jake said with a light smile.

"You're welcome." Draculaura said, smiling.

Shortly after, the gang went back inside the school. When the bell rang, everyone went to their fifth period classes. Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, and Jake went to Home Ick, and finished the day with Dramarama.

XXXXXXX

The day ended as the students piled out of Monster High. The main 6 ghouls and Jake walked out together, engaging in conversation.

"Did you enjoy your first day at Monster High, Jake?" Frankie asked.

"I sure did! It went way better than I was expecting, that's for sure." Jake said.

Ghoulia spoke zombie.

"My favorite class is definitely Dramarama. I love acting and Mr. Where is such an amazing teacher." Jake said.

"He's a great guy. He's probably the nicest teacher at the school, honestly." Clawdeen said.

When the gang made it to the parking lot, Jake got excited.

"Let me show you guys my car."

Jake led the girls to his car. Once they saw it, they were highly impressed.

"Here it is!" Jake said happily.

"Wow, Jake! Your car looks so cool!" Cleo said excitedly.

"Thanks! I got it for a pretty reasonable price. I had to work in fast food to save enough money to get it. Good thing I was able to get my license at fifteen." Jake said.

"Don't normies usually get their license at sixteen?" Lagoona asked, confused.

"Yeah, but I managed to get mine early. When the DMV found out I was orphaned, they let me off the hook, and, uh, I was grateful for that." Jake replied.

"Ah. I guess you could call that a miracle." Draculaura said.

"I guess so! Anyway, I'm gonna go. It was nice meeting you guys and I loved being able to hang out. I had a lot of fun today." Jake said.

"Of course! We loved meeting you and hanging out with you, too, Jake. And remember, we're always here if you need anything." Frankie reassured.

Jake smiled knowingly. "Thanks. Welp, I'll see you tomorrow!" He got in his car and started the engine.

"Bye, Jake!" the ghouls all said, waving.

Jake waved back at them and drove off vigorously.

After they watched Jake leave, the ghouls turned around and looked at each other.

"Man, Jake is such a sweet guy!" Clawdeen said happily.

"Yeah, he is. I feel awful for what he went through, though." Cleo mused.

"Me too. Losing family members is one of the most heartbreaking things to happen." Draculaura said.

"And it sucks that he has to live in a foster home. He deserves better than that!" Lagoona said.

"Agreed! Everyone deserves a family, no matter who they are." Clawdeen said.

Ghoulia nodded in agreement.

While listening to the conversation, Frankie was thinking real hard about what she could do to help Jake have a better life. She then came upon the ultimate decision.


After driving for quite sometime, Jake arrived at New Salem Foster Center. He got out of the car, approached the entrance, and opened the door. He sighed to himself as he entered, yearning for something better.