A/N
Hey guys, I feel bad as I neglected to give credit to the person and story that inspired me to write this in the first place. Nadiahilkerfan wrote 'I'm an optimist but I'm still nervous' on Archive. The link is at the end of the chapter if you want to give it a read.
They woke up the next Tuesday, Frankie had a good feeling. No more secrets. Even Clawdeen was humming a tune while she was getting ready. The three of them headed to breakfast together and found their now usual table in the creepateria. Many monsters waved at the group as they walked past.
Deuce and Heath, trays in hand, sat down with the three of them, Deuce sitting next to Clawdeen and Heath on his other side.
"Hey guys!." Deuce greeted, "How'd you sleep?"
"Like the dead." Clawdeen yawned, "It's nice not to have the whole, 'no humans' thing hanging over my head."
"Or the witch thing." Draculaura stated.
"Or the fear that my very first friend was going to get hunted down and killed." Frankie added.
The group paused and looked at them.
Frankie just shrugged, "It's true."
"Clawdeen taking down Professor Komos was fire." Heath said.
"She had help." Cleo said as she plopped her tray on the table and sat next to Frankie, lagoon sitting between her and heath.
"Yes." Clawdeen confirmed, "Thank you, Cleo."
"Why are you sitting with us?" Draculaura asked.
Cleo tilted her head, "I mean, we did just save the world together."
"I'm still mad at you for ratting me out to Bloodgood."
Cleo huffed, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. But spelling me was rude."
"So I was insulting my roommates." Draculaura said.
Cleo and Draculaura stared each other down.
"So," Lagoona said, looking at the trio, "Was this witchcraft thing why you needed the mayonnaise."
"Yep." Frankie said.
Clawdeen and Draculaura stared at them.
Lagoona was all too happy with herself, "I opened the door."
"You?" Clawdeen asked, "I thought you hated them."
Lagoona gave a quizzical look, "I never hated you. Ghoul friends stick together." She shrugged.
"If it weren't for you, we'd probably be dead right now." Frankie stated, "And not the fun, undead dead. Just dead."
"Ok." Cleo said, "Dark."
Frankie just shrugged and continued to eat their breakfast.
"So, what does this," Heath gestured to Cleo and Lagoona, then the table, "Mean? You want to be friends now?"
Cleo hummed in thought, "Let's just call it, turning over a new leaf."
"Just try not to step on it." Deuce said in jest.
Cleo simply shrugged and focused on her own meal.
Frankie felt stiff while they were walking to class later that day. They tried to rub the knot out but they had no luck, seemingly aggravating it.
They took their seat next to Clawdeen and flexed their shoulders. They weren't expecting the red hot wave of pain that spread through their left shoulder, squeaking in pain as it popped out of its socket. It didn't usually hurt that much if at all but that really hurt. They used their other hand to stabilize it so it didn't move around.
"Frankie!" Clawdeen said with a worried look, "Need a hand?"
Frankie nodded gratefully as Clawdeen gripped their arm. They pulled and cringed when it slid back into place. That pain eased a bit as they rubbed their shoulder.
"Does it usually hurt that much?" Draculaura asked, leaning over the desk behind them.
Frankie gave a small shake of their head, "No but it hurts occasionally. I'm okay though."
Bloodgood, their substitute Monster History professor, walked in a moment later, smacking her riding crop onto the desk to get everyone's attention. For a moment, Frankie missed Komos.
Frankie walked into the lunchroom with Clawdeen. It was somehow more hectic than usual. They tried to take in everything, all at once. All they could process was indistinct noise. No reason or pattern, just chaos. They were starting to think twice about sitting at their table.
"Frankie?" Clawdeen asked, "Are you okay?"
Frankie inhaled deeply, confused at their sudden anxiousness, "I think so?" They spoke but more so through their teeth.
Heath and the casketball team entered the cafeteria and added to the chaos with their energy.
"Hey, ghouls!" Heath said before patting Fankie on the shoulder.
"Nope!" Frankie said to Clawdeen, handing her their empty lunch tray then promptly fled the lunch room at a brisk walk.
Their heart started to pick up and bound in their ears. Much faster and much louder than they'd like with all the other noises in the school. It felt like the walls of the school were closing in on them and a weight sat in their chest. They would struggle to breathe more as people bumped into them.
Frankie didn't understand what was going on but their own fight or flight response was responding definitively in flight. They could barely catch their breath but they didn't stop moving.
They thought they saw Ghoulia and Abbey wave but they powered past them. They had to get away from everything, pressing their hands over their ears to block out most of the access noise. Frankie wasn't entirely sure where they were going until they got to the dorm and shut the door.
The blue skinned monster could only hear their heartbeat now. Was it supposed to be that fast? They guessed not. Sitting in their electric chair, they hugged their knees to their chest in an awkward fetal position, trying, desperately to slow their breathing.
"The average heart beat is 60 to 100 beats per minute." Frankie mumbled, they themselves averaged about 55 to 65, not technically being human and all.
They played with the rips on their jeans, counting each beat. Their heartbeat was slowing down until they heard multiple voices, seemingly talking all at once. Frankie put their hands on their ears again but the voices just kept talking, grating on their nerves.
"Please just shut up!" Frankie yelled out of frustration as a teat slid down their cheek, small zaps of electricity sparked as the tear made contact with their stitches. At least everything was quiet now. They felt awful, angry, anxious and stressed all at once. They didn't even know why.
They didn't know how much time passed until they opened their eyes and could breathe again.
Draculaura and Clawdeen sat on the werewolf's bed, watching them in concern but overall silence. Frankie suddenly felt oddly self-conscious, resting their forehead on their knees.
"How long have you been there?" Frankie asked quietly.
Clawdeen looked at her phone, "About 25 minutes?"
"Are you okay, Frankie?" Draculaura asked softly, "You sounded…angry when you asked us to be quiet."
Frankie sighed and stared at the ceiling, "I don't know. Yes? I'm tired now."
"Abbey and Ghoulia said you ignored them when they called after you." Clawdeen said carefully.
"Oh. I thought I saw them." Frankie said monotonously, "I don't remember hearing them talk though."
Draculaura looked like she wanted to say something else but decided against it. Frankie didn't prompt her either.
"So, do you need anything?" Asked Clawdeen.
"I don't think so." Frankie said, "Thank you though. Sorry I yelled at you."
"It's okay." Draculaura offered a smile Frankie didn't have the energy to return, "You haven't felt like this at all before?"
Frankie uncurled themself and thought for a moment, "Yes actually. The first time we were in line at lunch, and that day in the hallway the day after we found out Draculaura was a witch. It was all very overwhelming. The only time it was this bad was the first time I went outside and our alarm system went off. I usually like being around other monsters but sometimes there are just too many of them."
"I really think you should talk to your parents about this." Clawdeen said.
"Why?" Frankie asked.
Clawdeen and Draculaura met each other's eyes before looking back at Frankie, "Well, they created you, didn't they? They know more about you than anyone. They probably know something about what's going on."
"Huh, you're right." Frankie said, regaining some of the pep in their voice. "It might take a while, I know the have a phone but I don't have their number. I'll send them a letter bu gargoyle."
"Wait, you haven't spoken to your parents once since you got here? It's been two week and we almost died." Clawdeen asked, "We've talked to our dads almost every day."
Frankie frowned, "I haven't really thought about it. Do you think they would be mad?"
"No but they probably want to hear from you." Draculaura said, "We almost died our first week. Bloodgood probably sent them a message. They were probably worried."
Frankie sighed as they closed their eyes. They really were exhausted now.
"I think I need a bit of a recharge." Frankie said.
"Okay," Clawdeen said, "We'll tell Scary you're not feeling well.
"Thanks, Ghouls." Frankie said as they exited the room and headed to class.
They felt relaxed being left alone now.
First thing they did was grab a notebook and pen, scribbling a note to their parents. They peeked their head out into the hallway and whistled through their fingers. A moment later, the hall gargoyle appeared and Frankie handed them the letter.
"Please deliver this to my parents." Frankie said as it took the letter, "Viktor and Mary Stein.
The gargoyle nodded, taking off.
Frankie shut the door and sat back in their chair, letting the high voltage relax them
Frankie jolted awake at an unfamiliar ringing and buzzing sound. They must have fallen asleep, their electric chair was on a timer and it was now powered off. They patted themself down and dug their phone out of their back pocket. It was ringing and vibrating as a ten digit number lit up the screen. Frankie tapped the green button with the word 'answer' underneath it.
"Um, hello?" Frankie called.
There seemed to be an unintelligible noise coming from the phone. They hesitantly put the phone up to their ear.
"Hello? Frankie? Hellooo?" Frankie recognized Victor's voice.
"Hello?" Frankie asked, "Dad?"
"Frankie!" he said happily into the phone.
"Wow, phones are neat." Frankie said.
"We were so happy to get your letter. We completely forgot to write down your phone number." He said, "First, are you okay? We heard one of your teachers tried to-"
"Sorry." Frankie interrupted, "I just don't really want to think about that, if thats okay?"
"Of course it is." Victor said, "Now, you said in your letter you got an extreme physical and psychological reaction when you were overwhelmed."
"Yes," Frankie admitted, "It was strange. There was so much noise and chaos. I usually don't mind some random things but sometimes it was a lot all at once." Frankie began to fidget with the hem of their sweater vest, "It didn't feel good. I felt like I needed to get away. I didn't even know where I was going before I got to my dorm. When my friends came to find me, I got really angry when I heard voices."
"Going to a safeplace is a good coping mechanism for a meltdown." Victor mused. Frankie could hear shuffling papers on the other end of the phone.
"Meltdown?" Frankie asked.
"Yes, it can happen as a result of being overstimulated." Viktor explained.
Frankie felt the pieces fall into place, "You think I'm autistic."
"That's my Frankie." Viktor said proudly, "We think so. Though there might be more going on there, like ADHD. You like people and need stimulation and new things. We didn't know if that was because you were so new, or if it was actually a part of you. The line between ADHD and autism is blurred at best."
"Why didn't you mention this before?"
"Because weren't entirely sure." Vickor said, "We're scientists of everything except for psychology. We wanted to observe you more but you excelled so quickly. We thought it would be easier for you to integrate with other monsters if you weren't the only new kid."
"Oh." Frankie said, "That makes sense, I guess."
"I'm sorry but I'll give you the results when I get them, okay?" Viktor offered.
Frankie nodded, "Okay."
"So, you mentioned some friends?" Viktor asked excitedly.
"Yes!" Frankie grinned.
They started rambling about their first week. Meeting her ghouls, Hyde and even the stealing of mayonnaise. They had to assure Victor that Clawdeen was a good human and that Draculaura was a good witch…four times. He seemed interested so Frankie spurred on, feeling more and more energetic the more they talked.
After a while, Clawdeen and Draculaura poked their heads in and quietly entered the room. Frankie cut off mid sentence, "Clawdeen and Draculaura are back. Talk to you later, dad, bye!" Then they swiftly hung up.
"Hi." Frankie beamed, "How was class?"
"It was good!" Clawdeen said, "You were asleep when we dropped off your homework. How was your nap."
"Unintentional but I feel a lot better." Frankie said.
"You were talking to your dad?" Draculaura asked.
"Oh! Yes. He was a lot of help." Frankie said.
"Glad to hear it." Clawdeen handed Frankie a plate, "We brought you dinner since you didn't eat lunch."
"Aww, thanks guys." Frankie said, taking the plate and going to sit at the table in their dorm.
Frankie opened their notebook and made a list of symptoms so they could think better as they ate. Then they wrote down everything they knew about autism and ADHD, not noticing their roommates watching them.
"Would you say I have problems with social cues?" Frankie asked them.
"Um...sometimes?" Clawdeen said sheepishly.
"Cool thank you." Frankie said before they continued jotting down notes.
After a while they finally closed their notebook to see Clawdeen and Draculaura doing their homework at the table as well.
Frankie looked over the work they had missed and got down to that next.
A/N
archiveofourown . o r gworks/40333182/chapters/101030304