Frankie stayed out in the hall while Clawdeen talked with the Headmistress. They had heard some other students talking as they passed by, and they said something about how being called to the principal's office was usually a bad thing, signifying that you were in trouble.

They worried for the werewolf. Frankie couldn't think of anything that Clawdeen could have done to get her in trouble so quickly. She was with them the entire time. Were they going to get called in too?

Then, there was the fact that Frankie was standing on their own, in a very crowded building with people who were just build a lot taller than they were. They knew logically that people were much shorter in the past, where most of their parts came from. However, they were one of the smallest, even with the tall soles on their boots. Still, they weren't used to being on their own. Right now though, there was a lot going on and they wished they had their 'locker buddy' with them. The halls were a lot more nerve wracking without one.

They were starting to get anxious but also kind of bored looking at the same entryway. Unable to stand still anymore, they opted to creep out and pace in the hall for a few moments while they waited for Clawdeen. They didn't know why but it did calm their brain a bit.

"Hey," A large looking male monster called, "Hey, stitches, what's up?"

They indeed were talking to them. He was looking right at Frankie and they did, indeed, have stitches. Was that some sort of nickname?

"Hi. I'm Frankie!" They greeted, with a smile, "Pronouns they/them. I'm 16 days old."

The male monster looked at them, backed by a few others with matching monster high letterman jackets, "That…isn't real." He said

"Those are the facts." Frankie said, "I was created in a lab using dead people as parts."

"What? No." the monster corrected, "those stupid labels of yours."

"Labels?"

"Yeah, cut it with that non-binary crap." he said, "It doesn't exist."

Frankie looked on, confused, "Yes, it does. Because I'm it?"

"No, you don't understand, We're all guys here. Boys, men." He emphasized the last word.

"I'm not." Frankie simply stated, unsure of what was going on.

"That stupid non-binary thing, is not a real gender." He explained, "It's what you have in your pants."

The boy stepped forward. Frankie automatically stepped back, only to hit a wall. The rest of the boys closed in, blocking the exits.

"Gender…" Frankie swallowed hard, Their voice shaking "Gender isn't what parts you were given at birth. That's your sex." They struggled to keep their voice steady, "Can you please take a step back."

"Look at her, she's clearly a girl." another boy said.

That hit a nerve like they never thought it would. They knew some people wouldn't respect their pronouns. To blatantly go against them was a harsh kick to Frankie's self worth.

"Nah his chest is too flat." another said.

Frankie could feel walls closing in as the boys picked them apart. They were understandably up set and a little mad but they couldn't escape. Frankie stood frozen, trying to think.

"Please, you have way better ways of spending your time Vance." An unexpected voice said.

The boy stepped back, "Hey Cleo, we were just getting to know this lovely lady here."

Frankie flinched as they came back to themselves, moving towards the small hallway where Clawdeen was talking with Bloodgood and where Cleo stood.

"It seems that they aren't interested in listening." Cleo stated.

The boy rolled his eyes and smiled, "Yeah we have to get to class, come on boys."

Cleo and Frankie watched as the boys walked away. When they were out of earshot, Frankie let out a breath they didn't realize they'd been holding as Cleo walked away.

"Thank you!" Frankie called.

"Stay away from me." Cleo said, turning a corner.

Frankie was very confused. Cleo didn't like them so why did they help, then act mad about it? Why were emotions and social interactions so complicated? Frankie couldn't seem to grasp the social nuances. How does one make friends? Clawdeen seemed to just be a fluke.

Clawdeen emerged from the hall after a few more minutes looking paler than when they went in.

"Are you okay?" Frankie asked, "Did she give you detention?"

It took a minute for Clawdeen to collect her thoughts, "No, Bloodgood chose me to speak at the upcoming founder's day dinner. My mom was an alumni."

Frankie grinned, "Congratulations!" they said, "That's good news?"

Clawdeen smiled, "Yes."

"Then why do you look like you're going to be sick?" Frankie inquired.

Clawdeen looked like she was going to vomit right there.

"Do you need to see the nurse?"

"No!" Clawdeen said suddenly, "No. I'm just nervous about the speech."

"Oh." Frankie said, "I'm sure you'll be great! You could always ask your parents for help. There might even be records of some previous speeches you can reference for information."

Clawdeen smiled, "That's a good idea. Thanks frankie."

Frankie grinned, "Happy to help."


Clawdeen was great to have around. She was nice to everyone, especially Frankie. They didn't share all their classes, which was fine, Frankie enjoyed them with or without their roomie nearby. Frankie even attempted to introduce themselves to other fellow classmates but they didn't seem interested or moved to get away from them entirely. Many just staring into their iCoffin's.

Frankie was confused about where they were going wrong. Greetings, name, pronouns, and maybe something personal. What was wrong with that? They were starting to feel a little defeated. There had to be some kind of secret to making friends.

At one of their breaks, a gargoyle stopped them at their locker and handed them a package. How exciting! They thanked the stony creature as they flew back to whatever pedestal they came from.

Frankie wasted no time in opening the box. There was a note stapled to it under the yellow paper. It was from their parents!

"Forgot to give you this when we dropped you off! Happy first day of school! - Mom & Dad"

Frankie bounced in excitement when they opened up the box to see an iCoffin with a green case and a stitch design. This was perfect! Maybe now they could more easily connect with other monsters!

They grabbed their jacket and bag before walking out to the quad, fidgeting with the device. Accessing the internet was easy so they dove into research on the device. It was fascinating how they could help with the social experience.

"Hi, Frankie!" said a voice, Clawdeen, behind them.

"Oh, hey, roomie!" Frankie greeted before looking at the device again, "I got a phone. It will help me build a healthy social network which is essential to a successful highschool experience, according to several hundred articles I just read."

Clawdeen sounded like she was about to say something but they heard a small commotion in front of them.

They stopped to see two monsters throwing around a foot. They are pretty sure they are the only ones apt to lose limbs. They checked just to be sure, that would be a problem.

"Oh, good, that's not my foot." Frankie said aloud, before looking back at the device, still trying to figure out what all the applications were and what they did.

"Um, listen," Clawdeen said, "in that amazing brain of yours. Have you ever heard of monsters randomly changing?" She let out a nervous laugh, "I don't know, maybe into something crazy, like human, or something?"

"Nope. Don't think so." Frankie said, but suddenly a zap and spark in their head lead to their brain being flooded again, like the day before about werewolves, "Actually yes, I do." Frankie turned to look at Clawdeen, "I know all about it. It only happens to part monster. As they get older, usually during adolescence, their true nature starts to appear when they experience fear or anger. The fight or flight response can temporarily transform them into human form."

There was a pause between them. Clawdeen looked a little taken aback.

"Wow, I know so much." Frankie grinned, "It's awesome." They looked over to see a group of monsters on their iCoffins and thought it was the perfect time to approach. "Oh! Hey! Fellow students! Hello, fellow students, I also have a phone." They didn't seem to hear them so they spoke a bit louder, "I said I also have a phone."

THey didn't respond but Clawdeen spoke from beside them, "I think they actually communicate with each other using the phone. You know, social media and stuff."

"Oh, that makes sense. I need some social media." Frankie stomped excitedly, "You're a genius. Just like me."

Frankie turned around to head back towards the school. They could learn more about it later. It was almost time for their next class. Clawdeen followed as they headed to monster history together.

They took some seats near the back.

"I'm so excited! I love classes. Especially monster related ones because not all of my parts knew they even existed." Frankie explained.

"Me too!" Clawdeen said, "I never went to school with other monsters. Online classes are boring. This is so fun!"

Frankie smiled at their friend. Suddenly there was a sound and everyone laughed as an elemental monster shot up a puff of smoke. Frankie was not entirely sure what so funny but laughter is contagious.

Mr Komos seemed like a fun teacher and Frankie was eager to learn about the history of other monsters.

"Who can tell me what year the school was built?" He asked.

Frankie had read a lot on the school before coming here, the pretty much remember everything so the question seemed easy enough. They and Cleo both raised their hands. Komos pointed to them.

"Name's Frankie. Pronouns They/Them." Frankie said, "The school was built in 1071."

"Frankie, point you." Komos said, "And who can tell me why the school was built?"

Both Frankie and Cleo raised their hands again. Once again Komos called on Frankie.

"To be a face place for all monsters to be their true selves."

"Wow you guys are killing this!" Komos said to the class.

Frankie was quite enjoying knowing things. It was great to balance out the fact that they struggled to understand a lot of concepts. Like a phone. But they were learning.

"Who can tell me what the greatest threat to all monster kind is?" Komos asked.

Frankie was a little too eager this time. Her hand flew up…up…then landed next to Duce.

"Can we give frankie a hand?" Komos asked.

Duce didn't hesitate in giving Frankie back their hand. They nodded an embarrassed thanks to him before reattaching it.

"Frankie, I'm just gonna assume you know all the answers before I even ask the questions." Komos said.

That worked for them. They didn't want to risk more parts flying off.

Komos called on Cleo who noted that humans were the greatest threat. Frankie thought the entire concept was interesting. Clawdeen seemed really interested too. It was interesting to learn that Hyde was killed by other humans.

Even their parents were afraid of them. They had a really good security system.

As they were leaving, Frankie even learned about hi-fives from Komos. It was awesome.

It was their last class before lunch so, with time to kill, Frankie went off to find the library while Clawdeen talked to Komos.

The library was huge and it was quiet. Frankie liked being around other monsters but they felt a lot more relaxed right now. It has been a long morning with a lot of new. Books gave them a sense of familiarity.

Frankie was curious about these weird avalanches of thought they have, so they wandered over to the section in the research archives about monster psychology. They were immediately sucked in, they could feel sparks flying out of them. Maybe they were a little too excited as the lights started flickering. They took a breath and put the book they were reading on the shelf.

The library went dark so they flicked on a battery powered light that was sitting on the shelf. It sparked to life and Frankie was met with a very human face. The human screamed, then Frankie screamed.

Then, as they screamed at each other, the human fell over with a thump and a groan.

"Stupid books." The human said.

Frankie recognized that voice. "Clawdeen?"

Frankie went around the shelf to see Clawdeen laying on top of a pile of once stacked books. Only she wasn't quite Clawdeen. Her hair and eyes were brown, her skin was darker and was missing the claws and fangs. Still, it was undoubtedly Clawdeen.

"Clawdeen?" Frankie spoke, "Are you okay?"

Frankie helped her up.

"Of course I'm not okay! Look at me! I called out, why didn't you say anything?" Clawdeen asked.

Frankie didn't remember hearing anyone, "Sorry, I completely zone out while I read. And the library is haunted."

The lights came back on as if to punctuate their point

"Right, haunted." Clawdeen said, "That makes sense."

Clawdeen took a moment as she collected herself. After the fifth deep breath, Frankie watched as Clawdeen regained her monster qualities. Still, she seemed distressed.

Frankie led Clawdeen to one of the tables stacked with chemicals, sat her down then went to grab her a glass of water. When Frankie returned, she poured an entire jar into the glass and nodded at Clawdeen to take it.

"What is this?" Clawdeen asked.

"Magnesium carbonate." Frankie said, "It's very calming." Atleast to them it was. Their parents showed it to them when they first went outside. It was very overwhelming, "Honestly, I don't see what the deal is." And they really didn't, most of their parts came from humans or part humans. Many of them were really cool.

"This is why you asked about monsters transforming." Frankie stated, connecting the dots.

Clawdeen sighed, "Yes, and you heard what Mr. Komos said. It didn't turn out so great for Hyde."

That was a bit of a problem. Clawdeen was really nice, how could anyone think her human side is a threat. Those claws were far more threatening than measly human genetics.

They glanced over and saw something out of place. Was that a pickle?

"Wow, this is a pickle." Frankie said as they picked up the jar, "How can I help?"

Clawdeen seemed to not be expecting that. However, the werewolf explained that Hyde might have made a cure for humanness in a secret lab on campus. Clawdeen handed Frankie one of Hyde's old lab journals.

"I hoped his old lab journals might have some clues but they're just fill of gobbledygook." Clawdeen explained.

"I don't know what gobbledygook is but it sounds delicious." Frankie said as she opened the journal, "Oh, that's not handwriting. It's code."

"How did you-"

"Alan Turing's cortex." Frankie said, Clawdeen gave a gesture that indicated she didn't know what that was, "He cracked the German code in world war two and saved the world. He was awesome." Frankie said, choosing not to share the fact that he died a criminal in 1954 for homosextuality. Frankie pulled out one of their notebooks and a pen to decode the journal. It didn't take long before Frankie realized that it gave them coordinates on campus.

They found a map of the school cemetery and pointed out the location to Clawdeen.

"But that's strictly off-limits." Frankie noted.

"True." Clawdeen said before she seemed to get excited, "So we sneak in under the cover of night, baby! Hi-five!"

Frankied bounced excitedly and rubbed their hands together.

"We'll need to work on that." Clawdeen said.

Frankie looked at her confused. Was that not how hi-fives worked?

"Well, no." Clawdeen said, "You put your hand on the other person's."

"Oh. I'll do that next time." Frankie said.

Clawdeen looked at her watch, "We should probably go get lunch."

"Yes! Lunch!" Frankie said, gathering their things and leading the way out of the library.


When they got to the creepateria it was packed. Monsters were yelling, throwing footballs, casketballs, yelling to their friends all while getting food. It was a lot. Frankie realized this day was a lot and maybe there were too many monsters shoved in one place.

Clawdeen looked over to them and could see that something was wrong. When she looked around, it definitely seemed overwhelming.

"Hey!" A voice, Deuce called from across the creepateria, "Clawdeen! Frankie! Come sit with us."

Clawdeen tapped on a zoned out Frankie's shoulder. Once she had their attention, she pointed out Deuce who was waving them over. They walked over and put their stuff next to two empty seats.

"Hi, Clawdeen is it?" A boy with red hair that was literally on fire greeted them, "I'm Heath." Frankie recognized him as the one that told them what an iCoffin was.

"Yeah! Hi." Clawdeen greeted, "This is Frankie."

Frankie waved awkwardly, "Hello! My pronouns are they/them. I'm made out of a collection of dead people's body parts."

Heath took a second then smiled. "Fire."

"Let's go get some food." Clawdeen said, looking at Frankie.

They got in line with their trays, Frankie was behind Clawdeen and kept getting bumped into by the person behind them. They clench their jaw so hard it popped out of its socket.

"Oh, crap!" Clawdeen exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

Frankie nodded , putting their tray down and popping it back into place, "Yes, I just clenched too hard I guess.."

Clawdeen furrowed her brows, "Are you okay? Why are you clenching your jaw?"

Frankie blinked, "I'm not sure."

Clawdeen thought for a moment, "Well, I usually do that when I'm angry or stressed."

Frankie shrugged, "I don't know if I'm feeling any of that. Maybe a little stressed?"

"Just be more careful." Clawdeen shrugged, not knowing how else to help.

They got their lunch and went back to the table. Deuce was preoccupied with talking to Heath while Frankie and Clawdeen talked about all the things they liked about being in a real school and a little bit about themselves.

Clawdeen talked a lot about her dad, not really remembering a whole lot about her mom.

"So, when your parts go flying off, does it hurt?" Clawdeen asked.

"No really." Frankie said, "It's more surprising when it happens. The longer it's detached the more it hurts to put it back together. Also, it depends how frequently I fall apart. Dislocating my bones hurts a lot more." they'd never really thought about it before. "Fun!"

They then took a bite of their sandwich and it was okay. The eye it came with was…not okay. They didn't like how it felt. They did like the Alectryon meat on the sandwich, spicy!

A/N

At some point if people get mad at me for certain concepts, I might have to share some life cause it does happen.

This entire thing is so much fun though! I'm loving this. I grew up with monster high so this is awesome to actually see grow with the times. Yes, there are changes that I don't like but I kind of like a lot of it too.

Hope you enjoyed!