A short time later, Jake and the Steins were sitting at the dining room table eating dinner, while also talking about the most recent situation.
"Boy, I cannot tell you how relieved I am about Gil." Jake said with his mouth full.
"He's a very understanding monster, for the most part anyway." Frankie said.
Jake swallowed. "What do you mean for the most part?"
"Well, there was a point in time where he was afraid of meeting Lagoona's parents due to them being salt water and him being fresh water. He did end up meeting them eventually and they liked him, which was a good thing. But his parents didn't like the idea of him and Lagoona seeing each other." Frankie explained.
"Oh, that's terrible. What did Lagoona do about it?" Jake asked.
"She was left wondering why Gil kept on giving in to his parents. He was scared to say no to them at first, but he ended up standing up to them and they relented." Frankie said.
"Wow! Talk about strict parents!" Jake exclaimed in surprise.
"I know, right?" Frankie agreed.
"What you said made me wonder if Lagoona and Gil were dating behind his parents' backs." Jake said.
"They considered it for a while." Frankie said.
Jake nodded. He was then thinking of asking Viktor and Viveka what they would do if him and Frankie started dating, but decided not to. Like Jake stated before, Frankie was more like a sister to him anyway, and he wasn't ready to be in a romantic relationship with anyone at the moment.
Frankie looked at her parents. "Hey, Mom, Dad, do you ever wonder why Jake and I never have homework?"
"Not really, although it's kind of interesting." Viktor said.
"Why do you guys never have homework?" Viveka asked.
"We do it all in Study Howl." Jake said.
"Mm-hmm. Ghoulia helps us with our Clawculus homework a lot of the time." Frankie said.
"Oh, okay! We figured that's what you guys did, but we weren't entirely sure." Viktor said.
"At least you guys get it done! That's the best thing!" Viveka said giddily.
"Yes!" Jake, Frankie, and Viktor agreed.
After the 4 finished their dinner, they put their plates, utensils, and cups in the sink and went to the couch to watch The House with 1,000 Monsters.
XXXXXXX
Later in the night, while Jake was laying in bed, he was thinking about what Frankie told him about Lagoona and Gil, which got him thinking about his relationship with Frankie. He felt the two of them had a brother-sister bond ever since he moved in; he was an only child growing up, so he never got to experience having a sibling.
Jake came out of his room and approached Frankie's door, knocking on it.
"Come in!" Frankie yelled from inside.
Jake opened the door and put his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, Jake." Frankie greeted with a smile.
"Hey." Jake greeted back.
"What's up?" Frankie asked.
"Can I talk to you about something?" Jake asked.
"Of course! You can talk to me about anything." Frankie said welcomingly.
Jake smiled and sat down on Frankie's bed beside her.
"You're wearing your cute pajamas again."
Frankie giggled endearingly.
"Anyway, when you were, uh, telling me about Lagoona and Gil, it got me thinking about our relationship." Jake said.
"What do you mean?" Frankie asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Ever since you took me in, I've always considered you, like, my sister." Jake said sincerely.
Frankie's expression changed from curious to touched.
"Really?"
"Yeah! In fact, all you ghouls are like sisters to me, and the guys are like my brothers. I didn't have any siblings growing up, but ever since I met all of you, I feel like I do now." Jake said, grinning.
"Wow, Jake, I-I don't know what to say...you're like a brother to me, too." Frankie said while getting emotional.
"That means a lot." Jake said, touched.
"What you said means a lot to me, too. When we took you in, we wanted to ensure that you felt loved, cared for, and taken care of." Frankie said softly.
"I do feel that way. Even though my parents and grandparents are gone, at least I have you guys." Jake said.
Frankie smiled. "Come here." She opened her arms, inviting Jake in for a hug.
Jake gladly accepted the offer as he and Frankie wrapped their arms around each other, embracing warmly for a minute.
"I love you, Frankie." Jake whispered.
"I love you, too, Jake." Frankie whispered.
After letting go each other, the two looked at each other before Frankie gave Jake a kiss on the cheek, which made him grin.
"I'm gonna go to bed now." Jake said.
"Me too. Good night!" Frankie said.
"Good night!" Jake said, and hopped off Frankie's bed to close her bedroom door. But before hitting the hay, he decided to do one last thing. He went to Viktor and Viveka's room and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Viktor yelled from inside.
Jake opened the door and the elder Steins looked at him with delight.
"Hey, Jake!" Viktor and Viveka greeted.
"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Stein. Can I, um, talk to you guys real quick?" Jake asked.
"Sure! What's up?" Viveka asked.
"I just wanted to tell you both that I love you." Jake said sincerely without hesitation.
Moved but a little surprised at the same time, Viktor and Viveka blinked a couple of times.
"What brought this on?" Viktor asked, chuckling.
Jake sat on the elder Steins' bed. "It's just that you've done so much for me the last few weeks and I don't think I've shown enough appreciation for it."
"Well, we're doing our best, baby. I know we can't fully replace your parents and grandparents, but we're here for you no matter what." Viveka said.
"Besides, to us, you're already our son. We're here to take care of you and provide you with the love and nurturing you need. We love you." Viktor reassured.
"With all our hearts." Viveka added.
Jake smiled, touched by those words. Him, Viktor, and Viveka shared a group hug before he got off their bed.
"Good night, guys." Jake said.
"Good night, Jake!" Viktor and Viveka said.
Jake shut the door and went back to his room. He had a happy look on his face, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, a great feeling for him. He hopped in bed, turned off his lamp, and went to sleep.
(1 week later)
The rest of the week flew by as usual. Mr. Where continued pairing Jake and Lagoona together and the two of them worked well with each other; this didn't bother Gil in the least. However, everyone put that aside because this week, Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody came back to Monster High after their 3-week suspension.
As the werecat trio walked through the halls, Jake's friends scowled at them dismissively. All the cats felt was guilt, embarrassment, remorse, and shame.
Heath was ready to do some confronting. "I'll be right back."
"Heath, what are you doing?" Jake asked him, worried that he was going to do something crazy.
"Standing up for you." Heath replied sternly, and walked off.
Jake sighed while Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Abbey, Robecca, Operetta, Spectra, Rochelle, Venus, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, Gil, and Manny watched with angry looks on their faces.
As Heath approached Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody, they looked at him unassumingly.
"Hi, Heath." Toralei greeted, not showing a hint of hostility.
"Hi yourself. You've got some real nerve showing up here after what you did to Jake." Heath said. He was as serious as ever.
"Bloodgood said we could come back after three weeks." Toralei said.
"Still, I don't think you fully understand the consequences of your actions. What would you do if somebody attacked you like that? I don't think you'd be very happy." Heath said.
Toralei simply sighed, not wanting to start anything. "Look, Heath, we realize what we did was wrong and we feel awful. We apologized to Jake and he's forgiven us. Let's just move on."
"You can say you're sorry all you want, it doesn't take away what you did." Heath said.
"We know. We promise we won't do something like that ever again!" Toralei said, desperate in her tone.
Heath simply didn't care and lit his finger on fire, about to raise it up to the sprinklers, only to be stopped by Jake, who ran to him and got ahold of his arm.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Heath, come on, man. Don't do that. You know they hate water." Jake said nervously.
"Let him do it, Jake!" Deuce interjected.
After Heath pulled away from Jake's grasp, he raised his lit finger to the sprinklers which caused them to be set off and subsequently, water poured down on Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody for a good 30 seconds. They were shivering profusely.
Jake watched helplessly while his friends had smirks of satisfaction on their faces, glad the cats got what's coming to them.
"Was that really necessary?!" Jake asked Heath, upset.
"Jake, don't get mad at us for defending you. It's what friends do." Heath said. He was totally blithe and didn't give a crap.
Toralei and her friends pretended to be okay with it. "It's okay, we deserve it."
"Quite frankly, you deserve much worse!" Cleo yelled.
"Cleo!" Jake exclaimed. He turned back around and looked at the cats. "Go dry yourselves off in the bathroom."
Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody nodded and ran to the ghouls' bathroom in a jiffy. It was at this time that the bell rang and the students headed to their first period classes.
After sitting down in Dead Languages, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, and Heath looked at Jake.
"Jake, are you mad at us?" Frankie asked.
"No, I'm not mad, I'm just...you know what? Forget it. You guys got your revenge. Let's just move on." Jake said, antsy.
"We were just trying to stand up for you." Draculaura said.
"I-I know, but...can we stop talking about this, please?! You guys are freaking me out!" Jake exclaimed. He almost started crying, but held it in.
"How are we freaking you out?" Clawdeen asked.
"I've never seen you that angry before, and it's scaring me!" Jake said nervously.
The ghouls and mansters now felt wracked with guilt. They didn't mean to scare him, they were just trying to protect him.
"We're so sorry, mate. We didn't mean to scare you." Lagoona said.
"We were just trying to make you feel better." Cleo said softly.
Ghoulia spoke zombie in a remorseful way.
"We promise we won't talk about it anymore." Jackson said.
"You have our word." Clawd said with a smile.
Jake now felt a little relieved. "Thanks, guys."
Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, and Heath rubbed Jake's back supportively.
(1 hour later)
When Dead Languages ended, Jake, the ghouls, and Jackson walked to Mad Science and took their seats, followed by Robecca. She greeted the gang.
"Hi, Jake!" Robecca told him jovially.
"Hey." Jake responded in a bleak tone.
Robecca tilted her head in concern. "What's wrong?"
"Our anger towards Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody freaked him out." Frankie said.
"Oh, Jake, I'm so sorry! We didn't mean to freak you out." Robecca said, feeling guilty. She placed her on hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Robecca." Jake said.
"We promised we wouldn't talk about it anymore." Clawdeen added.
"I understand." Robecca said, nodding.
Soon enough, Mr. Hack put away the newspaper he was reading and began teaching the class.
(1 hour later)
After Mad Science, the gang (minus Robecca) headed out to Clawculus and took their seats, with Operetta greeting them accordingly.
A few minutes later, Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody came in; they smiled and waved at Jake on their way to their desks, in which he reciprocated. Operetta was confused about that little moment.
"What the heck was that?" Operetta asked, looking at Jake.
"What was what?" Jake asked in confusion.
"You think just because they apologized to you and you've forgiven them means y'all are cool now?" Operetta asked. It's as if she was disappointed.
Draculaura chimed in. "Operetta, please, just let it go. We promised Jake we wouldn't talk about it anymore."
Operetta's face softened, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, sweet pea. I won't bring it up again."
"It's okay, Operetta." Jake said, smiling understandably.
Just when Mr. Mummy was about to start his lesson, he got a call from the skull telephone on his desk; he picked it up in an instant.
"Hello? Okay, I'll send them over. Thank you." Mr. Mummy spoke into the phone, and hung up. "Toralei, Purrsephone, Meowlody, Headmistress Bloodgood wants to see you."
The 3 werecats nodded and left the classroom, being eyeballed by the entire class. After they left, Mr. Mummy started on his lesson.
While Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody walked down the hallway, they wondered what Headmistress Bloodgood was going to say to them and if they were going to be in even more trouble than they were before.
"What do you think Bloodgood's gonna say to us?" Purrsephone asked.
"I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see." Toralei said.
"I'm so nervous! Who knows what'll she say? You think she'll tell us to stay from Jake? I wouldn't blame her if she did." Meowlody said.
Toralei put her arms around her friends, telling them, "Neither would I. We did a horrible thing."
The werecat trio made it to Headmistress Bloodgood's office and entered as the door was already open.
"You wanted to see us, Headmistress Bloodgood?" Toralei asked politely.
"Yes. Close the door and have a seat, please." Bloodgood ordered.
At that moment, Toralei shut the door and she, Purrsephone, and Meowlody pulled up 3 chairs, sitting down.
Headmistress Bloodgood had a studied look on her face.
"First thing's first, how do you three feel right now after your suspension?"
"While we were gone, we took the time to reflect on what we did." Toralei said.
"How exactly did you do that?" Bloodgood asked.
"We, um, thought about the incident night and day and tried to better ourselves." Purrsephone said.
"And we vowed to never ever pull a stunt like that again." Meowlody added.
Headmistress Bloodgood nodded. "I see. I can tell from your ghouls' tone and looks in your eyes that you're being genuine about this."
Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody nodded. They really did feel remorseful over their actions.
"I was originally going to order you stay away from Jake, but because you three seem trustworthy enough, I won't. But remember this, if you ever attack anybody at our school again, you will be expelled. Do you understand?" Bloodgood asked sternly.
"Yes, Headmistress Bloodgood!" the cats said obediently.
"Good. You may head back to class." Bloodgood said.
Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody got up and left the office, reflecting on their visit with Headmistress Bloodgood. They went back to Clawculus and sat down to catch up on the lesson.
XXXXXXX
When it was time for lunch, Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, Clawd, Gil, Deuce, Heath, Manny, Slo Mo, Abbey, Robecca, Operetta, Spectra, Rochelle, Venus, Iris, and Howleen decided to eat outside, sitting in a circle underneath a shady tree. They were engaging in conversation like usual and none of them talked about the incident, although that wouldn't last for very long...
"I saw Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody in the bathroom this morning. I haven't seem in a while, did they just disappear for a bit and now they're suddenly back? Or did something happen to them?" Iris asked, genuinely curious.
Iris' friends (except for Howleen) refrained from telling her what happened out of respect for Jake.
"Don't worry about it, Iris. It had nothing to do with you." Manny told her.
"Okay..." Iris said awkwardly.
Howleen also didn't know what was going on. "I'm also wondering what happened to those kitties. They were gone for a few weeks and nobody even mentioned them."
"Well, we didn't find out what happened to them and we didn't want to." Clawdeen said.
"Yeah, we just minded our own business." Frankie added.
Those statements made Iris and Howleen exchange confused and suspicious glances. All the while, Jake and the rest of the gang just kept their mouths shut until they finished eating. After they threw away their food, they went back to their little circle.
Iris tapped Howleen on the shoulder, in which she turned her head instantly.
"Can I talk to you alone for a moment?" Iris whispered.
"Sure." Howleen whispered, and got up away from the others with Iris.
"Why do you think our friends don't wanna tell us what happened to Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody?" Iris asked.
"I don't know. It's like they're hiding something from us, but I just can't put my fang on it." Howleen said.
"Let's ask them." Iris said.
Howleen nodded as she and Iris went back to the group.
"Guys, this thing with Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody's buggin' us. We need to know what happened to them and why they disappeared for several weeks." Howleen said.
"What's going on?" Iris asked.
Jake's friends looked at him nervously; he just shook his head and didn't say anything.
"We don't know anything, sorry!" Deuce lied.
Iris and Howleen's facial expressions showed that they weren't buying this whole charade.
"Those cats are nothing but bullies. Why do you care that something happened to them all of a sudden?" Cleo asked.
"Because we just so happened to notice their absence and didn't bring it up until now." Howleen replied.
"And when I stumbled upon them in the bathroom this morning, I saw that they were drying themselves off. I figured they had an encounter with water or something." Iris added.
Heath stiffened. "Well, we, uh, wouldn't happen to know anything about that, hehe..." He adjusted the collar of his jacket as he said this.
At this point, Iris and Howleen were running out of patience. They were certain that something went down, but the gang not telling them exactly what made them heavily frustrated.
"Come on, guys! Why can't you just tell us?!" Howleen exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Iris agreed.
But the gang just wouldn't fess up. They promised Jake they wouldn't talk about it anymore and they were going to keep that promise.
"Fine, you don't wanna tell us? Be that way!" Howleen said angrily. Her and Iris crossed their arms and looked sour.
Clawdeen was having a hard time seeing her sister mad. Although she was willing to not say anything for Jake's sake, she hated seeing her sister upset. She felt the same way for Iris.
"Clawd, Manny, a word." Clawdeen told them while gesturing to the right with her face.
Clawd and Manny followed Clawdeen away from their friends.
"What's up?" Clawd asked.
"I think we should tell Iris and Howleen what Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody did to Jake, just to get it over and done with." Clawdeen said.
"Why? He'll get upset!" Manny said with a shocked look.
"Yeah, sis, we promised him we wouldn't say anything anymore! We're not ones to break promises." Clawd said.
"I know, but Iris and Howleen deserve to know the truth." Clawdeen said.
"Are you sure, Clawdeen? Are you sure you wanna do this?" Manny asked, apprehensive.
"Positive. As much I don't wanna hurt Jake, I can't hold it in anymore." Clawdeen replied.
Clawd and Manny looked at each other before nodding at Clawdeen. The 3 of them went back to the gang.
"I'll do the talking." Clawdeen whispered to her brother and the minotaur.
Iris and Howleen were still sitting there with their arms crossed and the same pouty expressions.
"Hey, um, Howleen, Iris, I...I need to you ghouls something." Clawdeen said, hesitating.
"Oh, so NOW you wanna tell us something, huh? That's rich!" Iris said derisively.
"Well, at least you're finally talkin'." Howleen remarked.
Clawdeen reluctantly pulled Iris and Howleen to the side. As she did this, Jake noticed and wondered why she was doing so.
"Clawdeen, where are you going?" Jake asked.
"I'm sorry!" Clawdeen whispered quickly, and walked off.
It didn't take long for it to hit Jake just what he thought was going to happen. He was mad now, and Frankie, Draculaura, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Abbey, Robecca, Operetta, Spectra, Rochelle, Venus, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, Gil, Heath, Manny, and Slo Mo were worried and scared for him.
"She's gonna regret this." Clawd whispered to Manny.
"No kidding." Manny whispered back.
After Clawdeen led Iris and Howleen away from the others out of earshot, she took a deep breath.
"Okay, I'm gonna tell you two what went down with Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody, but can you please promise not to make a big a deal out of it?" Clawdeen asked, putting emphasis on 'promise'.
"Sure, just tell us what happened." Iris said.
"Sometime today, Clawdeen!" Howleen said impatiently.
Clawdeen sighed. "They got suspended for three weeks because they attacked Jake in the bathroom..."
Upon hearing that information, Iris and Howleen were absoutely horrified.
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah..." Clawdeen muttered awkwardly.
"W-why would they do that?!" Iris asked with her eye huge.
"Because we had a Michael Jackson listening party one weekend and they were upset that we didn't invite them." Clawdeen said.
Howleen growled with rage. "I oughta give those cats a piece of my mind!"
"No, Howleen, don't! This situation's over and done with. Jake wants to move on anyway." Clawdeen said quickly.
"Clawdeen, we can't just move on from something like this. Our friend got attacked, it's not something you can just sweep under the rug." Iris said.
"It happened weeks ago, plus we already got back at them this morning when Heath set off the sprinklers above them. And we promised Jake we'd let it go, so that's what we're doin'." Clawdeen said.
"I don't know if I can let this go." Howleen said.
"Me neither. I wish Manny would've told me sooner! I'm his girlfriend, he's not supposed to be keeping secrets from me!" Iris exclaimed angrily.
"He probably didn't want you to worry. Now listen, you two don't say a word to Jake about this, got it?" Clawdeen asked carefully.
Unfortunately, the 3 were too late as Jake was already standing right behind them with an angry look on his face.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that!"
Clawdeen, Iris, and Howleen turned around and gasped unexpectedly.
"In fact, I'm surprised you didn't find out when we met, Iris. Didn't you notice that scratches on me? Shouldn't that have given you inkling something happened? Or did Manny just not tell you?" Jake asked, mad.
"It didn't cross my mind. I'm sorry, Jake." Iris said apologetically.
Howleen chimed in. "Jake, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Jake replied. He then looked at Clawdeen. "Clawdeen, you say you're not gonna bring it up anymore and then you go ahead and blab to Howleen and Iris!"
"I know, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you, I just couldn't see them frustrated after they kept insisting on wanting to know." Clawdeen said. She felt terrible judging from her tone of voice.
"Don't you think we deserve to know what happened?" Iris asked Jake.
"Yeah, we're your friends. Do you not trust us?" Howleen asked.
Jake was too upset to answer. He stormed off somewhere else away from the gang. Clawdeen, Iris, and Howleen went back to the gang and slumped down, feeling guilty. Everyone felt guilty, really.
"Looks like Jake didn't take this whole thing too well." Jackson said.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Clawdeen remarked.
Iris looked at Manny angrily. "I'm mad at you!"
"What did I do?" Manny asked, confused.
"You should've told me Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody attacked Jake! How could you keep something like that from me?!" Iris asked.
"I just didn't want you to worry, babe! Jake's okay now. His scratches are completely healed." Manny reassured.
"Still, I deserve to know the truth, don't I?" Iris asked.
Manny lowered his head in shame. "You do. I'm sorry, Iris. I should've told you."
"It's...okay. I'm glad Jake's alright." Iris said with a sigh of relief.
"He may be alright from his injuries, but he might not be alright now that you and Howleen know." Frankie said, chiming in.
"I'm glad we found out! He needs that extra support!" Howleen declared.
Clawdeen was still sad. "This is all my fault."
XXXXXXX
For the rest of the day, Jake didn't talk to any of his friends. Not only did he feel that they were being petty due to their revenge on Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody, but he was also upset because they broke a promise they made to him, even if Clawdeen was directly responsible for telling.
As Jake and Frankie drove home, he didn't say a word to her, worrying her greatly. She tried to reason with him, but it didn't work. When they got home, Frankie was struggling to get through to Jake.
"Jake? Jake, why won't you talk to me?" Frankie asked.
Jake didn't say anything and plopped on the couch with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face; Viktor and Viveka noticed the tension.
"What's going on?" Viktor asked, concerned.
"Your daughter doesn't know when to move on and let the past stay in the past." Jake responded in an almost smart-alecky tone.
"Come on! We were just trying to protect you! Why is that so hard for you to understand?" Frankie asked urgently.
Jake stood up. "I tried to stop Heath from setting off the sprinklers, he didn't listen. You guys were so hellbent on getting back at Toralei that you didn't bother to realize how it would affect me. And when Clawdeen was telling Howleen and Iris, none of you even attempted to try and stop her!"
"They deserve to know what happened, Jake! We all care about you, did you expect us to just take you for granted?!" Frankie asked.
"You made a promise to me and you broke it! You know what I could've done? I could've ratted Heath out to Bloodgood after he set the sprinklers off, as well as the rest of you guys for letting him do it, but I didn't. Wanna know why? 'Cause I'm not a snitch." Jake said.
"Are you saying we're snitches?" Frankie asked.
"I'm saying that you guys are some of the pettiest people I have ever met in my life! You linger onto problems and let them go to your head!" Jake yelled.
Frankie started to get angry herself. "Well, excuse us for trying to be good friends to you!"
At that moment, Jake and Frankie stormed off to their rooms and slammed the doors. Viktor and Viveka watched their entire argument and frankly, they were shocked. It was the first time the two ever had a contentious moment.
"What was that?" Viktor asked his wife.
"I don't know! I've never seen them fight like that." Viveka said.
"Neither have I. I feel like we should've stepped in, but maybe it was too late." Viktor said.
"I agree. Should we talk to them?" Viveka asked.
"Let's wait a little bit and give them their space. They're both pretty heated right now and we don't wanna catch them at a bad time." Viktor said.
"Okay." Viveka said with a nod.