In the morning, the Stein household was sitting at the table eating breakfast and conversing with each other.
"Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Stein, I'm sorry if I sounded rude yesterday. I just had a bad day at school." Jake said apologetically.
"It's okay, buddy. What happened?" Viktor asked.
"In Clawculus class, this girl named Toralei kept kicking the back of my seat." Jake said.
"Why?" Viveka asked.
"Because she's nothing but a bully. She picks on everybody at school." Frankie said.
"That's awful! Frankie, you've told us about her before and she seems pretty mean." Viktor said.
"She is. But we just avoid her when we can. It's better that way anyway." Jake said.
"Good! It's the best thing you can do." Viveka said.
Frankie, Jake, and Viktor were in agreement with that.
Viktor changed the subject. "Who called you yesterday, Jake? We heard you talking to somebody but we didn't know who it was."
"My old foster home. One of the workers wanted to know where I was, um, and I told her I'm living here now." Jake responded.
"Oh. You didn't tell that place you left?" Viveka asked.
"No, and I really should have. I left at the last minute." Jake said.
"My question is why did they wait this long to call you? You left that place, like, a week ago, right?" Frankie asked.
"Yeah. I guess they didn't notice at first or they just forgot." Jake said.
"Maybe." Viktor said.
"Jake, how've you been sleeping lately? You've been sleeping okay?" Viveka asked.
"Oh yes. There haven't been any midnight trips to the bathroom in a few days." Jake said.
"That's so great!" Frankie said, smiling.
"It is!" Viktor agreed.
After finishing breakfast, Jake and Frankie freshened up and left for school, saying bye to Viktor and Viveka on their way out; they got in the car and drove away.
XXXXXXX
When Jake and Frankie arrived at school, they entered and walked down the hallway to greet Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia. Jake leaned against the wall and inadvertently put his hand something sticky.
"Ew!" Jake exclaimed.
"What happened?" Cleo asked.
"My hand got caught in something sticky. I'm gonna go to the bathroom and wash it off." Jake said.
"Okay." Draculaura said.
At that moment, Jake went to the boys restroom. He approached a sink and turned on the water to wash his hands. When he was done, he dried his hands and was ready to leave, only to turn around and find Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody standing there. Their presence startled him.
"Hey, Jake." Toralei greeted with an evil grin on her face.
"You guys I'm ignoring." Jake said. He tried to leave, but Purrsephone and Meowlody were blocking the door. "Get out of my way!"
"You can't leave. Not just yet." Toralei said.
Jake made a face. "You're not still mad at me for not inviting you to the party, are you?"
"Yes, but that's beside the point. Remember yesterday I told you were gonna pay for getting me in trouble?" Toralei asked.
"Yeah..." Jake said awkwardly.
"Well, it's time to pay, Jake. I didn't wanna have to do this, but you left me no choice." Toralei threatened. She and her friends began stepping closer to him.
Jake was getting scared really fast. He didn't know what was about to happen to him.
"What the hell are you...?"
"Shhh!" Toralei whispered.
Meowlody put a piece of duct tape over Jake's mouth, then she, Toralei, and Purrsephone pinned him against a stall door. The 3 cats protuded their claws and before Jake knew it, they started scratching him all over his body, ignoring his muffled screams of pain. They were ruthless about it, too.
When Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody were done, Meowlody ripped the duct tape off of Jake's mouth. He was out of breath and writhing with pain; on top of that, he could barely move.
"I think we've taught Jake a lesson. Let's go." Toralei told her friends. They all left the restroom casually.
Jake now had scratches all over him. His wounds were so fresh that there was blood in some areas. Even though it hurt to move, he gathered up enough strength to sit down and just...cry. He buried himself in his knees and bawled like a baby, he felt so helpless and vulnerable.
In the hallway, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia noticed that their human friend was still in the bathroom. They started to get worried.
"Jake's been in the bathroom for a quite a while. I think we should check on him to make sure he's okay." Frankie said.
"I agree." Clawdeen said.
The ghouls went to the boys restroom and were unprepared for what they saw: Jake sitting on the floor while covered in scratches and tears streaming down his face. All of them gasped with utter shock and covered their mouths.
"Jake! What happened?! Are you okay?!" Frankie asked with wide eyes.
"Everything hurts..." Jake sputtered. His eyes were red and puffy from the crying.
"Who did this to you?!" Lagoona asked.
Jake managed to get back up, albeit strained. "Toralei and her cronies."
Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia seethed. They were now ready to throw hands with the trio of werecats.
"Jake, we're gonna take you to the nurse and get you cleaned up." Draculaura said.
"And then we're gonna confront Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody and report them to Headmistress Bloodgood!" Cleo said angrily.
"If it were up to me, I'd give Toralei a piece of my mind!" Clawdeen growled.
"No, Clawdeen, don't hurt her. Don't be reckless." Jake warned.
"He's right. It'll only add more fuel to the fire." Frankie added.
Clawdeen nodded begrudgingly. As much she wanted to get back at Toralei, she knew that it would only make things worse.
At that moment, the ghouls all got ahold of Jake to help him walk and left the bathroom. While they were walking down the hallway, the other students were watching with shocked looks on their faces.
Clawd, Deuce, and Heath looked on, astonished at what they were seeing.
"What happened to Jake?!" Clawd asked.
"I don't know but he looks hurt really bad!" Deuce exclaimed.
"I hope he's okay!" Heath exclaimed.
As Jake and the ghouls carefully headed to the nurse's office, he sniffled and wiped tears from his eyes.
"It's gonna be okay, Jake. We're almost to the nurse." Frankie reassured.
"We've got you." Draculaura reassured.
"Thanks, guys. I don't know what I'd do without you." Jake said, giving a light smile.
Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia smiled as well.
The gang made it to the nurse's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" the nurse said from inside.
The door opened immediately as the 7 friends walked in. Nothing could prepare the nurse for what she saw next.
"Oh my ghoul! Jake, what happened to you?!" the nurse asked with a horrfied expression.
"I got attacked by three students in the bathroom." Jake responded.
The nurse nodded intently. "Let me find something to clean your wounds." She opened a drawer and grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Why would anyone want to attack you?"
"A combination of pettiness and psychopathy." Jake guessed.
The nurse put some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and gently applied it to Jake's cuts. He winced while his friends watched worriedly.
"I'm trying to be as gentle as I can without hurting you." the nurse said.
"It's okay." Jake said with a thumbs up.
After the rubbing alcohol, the nurse used a towel to wipe the blood off of Jake, something that Draculaura couldn't watch due to her fear of blood.
"Okay, sweetheart, I think you're all cleaned up now. The scratches will take at least a few days to heal." the nurse said.
"Alright. Thank you for this." Jake said, grateful.
"You're welcome! Also, just to be safe, I'm sending you home for the rest of the day, okay?" the nurse asked.
Jake simply nodded. The ghouls' hearts hurt for him.
Frankie approached the nurse. "May I be excused, too? Jake lives with me and I wanna look after him."
"Okay." the nurse said. She grabbed two yellow pieces of paper and wrote on them. "Here's your referrals. Give these to Headmistress Bloodgood."
Jake and Frankie took their referrals. "Thanks again for your help." Jake said.
"No problem!" the nurse said with a smile.
At that moment, Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia left the nurse's office just in time for the bell to ring. They stopped in the hallway.
"We're gonna stop by Bloodgood's and then head home." Frankie said, referring to herself and Jake.
"Alright. We're gonna go deal with you-who-know." Lagoona said.
The gang nodded and went in opposite directions. None of them expected their day to start off badly at all.
Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia found Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody standing by their lockers playing with their iCoffins. The 5 approached them angrily.
"What do you ghouls want now?" Toralei asked, annoyed.
"You have got a lot of explaining to do." Clawdeen sternly said. She was looking at Toralei dead in the eyes.
Toralei looked confused. "What'd I do?"
"Don't act like you don't know, Toralei. You and your friends attacked Jake in the boys' bathroom." Draculaura said sternly.
"Oh, that. Well, he was asking for it." Toralei said, smug.
That statement made the ghouls even more mad.
"How could you do that, Toralei? Jake's one of our best friends and it's unbelievable that you would even stoop that low!" Cleo said angrily.
Ghoulia angrily spoke zombie in agreement.
"If only you guys invited us to the party, none of this would've happened." Toralei said.
"Oh, you are so petty! You always have to make everything about you!" Clawdeen exclaimed.
"Why do you even hang out with that loser anyway?" Toralei asked.
"Jake's not a loser, Toralei! He's a great guy and he doesn't need your negativity." Lagoona said.
"Besides, he's suffered enough recently. He certainly doesn't need you bringing him down." Draculaura said.
Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody's facial expressions changed.
"What do you mean he's suffered enough?" Toralei asked.
"Well, for starters, he lost his mom, his dad, and his grandparents in a plane crash." Cleo said.
Toralei, Purrsephone and Meowlody gasped and covered their mouths, shocked.
"Then he had to be put through foster care until he started living with Frankie." Lagoona said.
"And just last week, he was having problems dealing with extreme thirst and needing to go the bathroom a lot." Draculaura said.
"On top of that, he admitted he has huge anxiety and paranoia." Clawdeen said.
The 3 cats now felt absolutely wracked with guilt. Up until this very moment, they had no idea about Jake's problems.
"Oh my ghoul...I...I feel so ashamed! We didn't know he was going through so much." Toralei mused.
"Come on, we're taking you to Bloodgood and telling her everything." Cleo said.
Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody looked at each other with sadness in their eyes.
Meanwhile, Jake and Frankie were heading to Headmistress Bloodgood's office.
Frankie looked at Jake. "How are you feeling?"
"A lot better than I was, but my body still hurts a little bit." Jake responded.
"If I was strong enough, I'd carry you." Frankie said with a smile.
Jake couldn't help but smile back. He and Frankie made it to Headmistress Bloodgood's office and entered as the door was already open. Her eyes widened with shock.
"Jake, what happened to you?!" Bloodgood asked.
"Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody ganged up on me and attacked me. The nurse gave me a referral to give to you allowing me to go home early." Jake said.
"She gave me one, too, since Jake and I are living together and I wanna check on him." Frankie said.
Headmistress Bloodgood took the referrals and approved them. She was also furious at the thought of one of her students getting hurt by other students.
"Thank you both for letting me know. I cannot believe those three had the utter audacity to hurt you, Jake!" Bloodgood exclaimed.
"Are you gonna punish them?" Jake asked.
"Oh, you bet I am." Bloodgood seriously said.
It was at this time that Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody came in. The cats showed nothing but remorse when they saw Jake's scratches.
"Yeah, it's as bad as it looks." Jake remarked.
Headmistress Bloodgood seethed. "Toralei Stripe, Purrsephone, and Meowlody, I am VERY disappointed in your behavior. Attacking another student is inexcusable!"
"We feel terrible, Headmistress Bloodgood! You have to believe us, we do!" Toralei said, guilty.
Jake was surprised. He didn't buy it at first, but eventually realized those feelings were true.
"We didn't know that Jake went through so much until we were told. His family's death, him living a foster home, the medical problems, his mental health, all of it." Toralei said.
Headmistress Bloodgood simply nodded. Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia, however, were unsatisfied to say the least.
"So, Headmistress Bloodgood, we're prepared for whatever punishment you give us." Toralei said.
"Well, I appreciate you taking responsibility for your actions. That's not something I see from you every day. However, you're still going to be punished regardless of your remorse." Bloodgood warned.
"I understand. But before you do anything, can you please give us a chance to apologize to Jake in private?" Toralei asked.
Frankie interjected. "You're not going anywhere near him!"
"No, really, it's okay. Headmistress?" Jake asked, curious for her approval.
Headmistress Bloodgood relented and made a gesture with her hand.
Jake, Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody stepped out of the office while the ghouls eyeballed them.
"Jake, we're so sorry we attacked you. We weren't thinking clearly and-and we were just upset." Toralei said sincerely.
Jake sighed. "It's alright."
"And about your family dying, you have our condolences. I wouldn't wish that on anybody." Toralei said.
"Thank you, Toralei. That means a lot." Jake said. He was starting to get choked up.
Holding back her own tears, Toralei's eyes were filled with sympathy and compassion, now knowing everything.
"Can I give you a hug?" Toralei asked.
"Sure. Just be careful." Jake said.
Toralei nodded and hugged Jake. Purrsephone and Meowlody also hugged him, which made him feel better.
"I also take back every mean thing I've said about you." Toralei said.
Jake smiled. "Thank you. I forgive you."
Toralei, Purrsephone and Meowlody smiled back. After that, the 4 went back inside Headmistress Bloodgood's office.
"Now, Toralei, Purrsephone, Meowlody, I am suspending you three from Monster High for three weeks. If you EVER hurt another student again, you will be expelled. Am I clear?" Bloodgood asked.
"Yes, Headmistress Bloodgood!" Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody all said obediently, and left.
Headmistress Bloodgood sighed and leaned back in her seat.
"What a day this has been. Anyway, Jake, Frankie, you're excused to go home. The rest of you, get to class."
At that moment, the gang left the office and stopped in the hallway.
"You guys are leaving?" Draculaura asked.
"Yeah. Jake needs to rest." Frankie said.
"I do." Jake said with a nod.
"Okay. I guess we'll see you tomorrow then." Clawdeen said.
"I should be able to come tomorrow, but I'll let you guys know if anything changes." Jake said.
"Alright. Take care, loves." Lagoona said.
"We will!" Frankie said, grinning.
"We'll be checking on you, Jake." Cleo told him.
"I appreciate that!" Jake said happily.
Jake and Frankie said bye to the ghouls as both parties went in opposite directions.
After leaving the building, Jake and Frankie stopped in the grass.
"Do you want me to call one of my parents to come pick us up?" Frankie asked.
"No, it's okay, Frankie. I can drive." Jake said.
"Are you sure?" Frankie asked apprehensively.
"Yes." Jake responded.
"Okay." Frankie said.
Jake and Frankie hopped in Jake's car; he put the keys in the ignition and drove off.
"Was Toralei sincere when she apologized to you?" Frankie asked.
"I think she was. You know, I've said this before about bullies, but even they're capable of showing compassion and kindness." Jake said.
"That's true." Frankie said, smiling.
When Jake and Frankie got home, they got out of the car and approached the house. Frankie unlocked the door and entered, followed by Jake. He was quite nervous to say the least.
Viktor and Viveka were sitting on the couch watching TV before they noticed the kids.
"Hey, kids. Why are you home so early?" Viktor asked curiously.
At first, Frankie's parents didn't notice Jake's wounds, but when they did, they were immediately worried.
"Jake, oh my ghoul, are you okay?! What happened?!" Viveka asked.
"Toralei and her friends attacked me." Jake said.
"Why?!" Viktor asked.
"It's a long story. Anyway, um, my body hurts so I'm gonna go lay down." Jake said.
"Of course! Go right ahead." Viveka said.
Jake took off his shoes and socks and headed to his room.
Viktor and Viveka looked at their daughter in hopes of finding answers about the whole situation.
"Frankie, we're gonna need some context here as to what happened." Viktor said.
"Well, when we got to school, we were all hanging out as usual. Then Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody came up to us and asked why we didn't invite them to the Michael Jackson listening party." Frankie said.
"Then what?" Viveka asked.
"They invited themselves to sit with us at our table, and then, uh, Toralei took Jake's phone and started going through it without his permission. She said his music tastes were lame." Frankie said.
"Well, that's not nice!" Viktor exclaimed.
"When we went to our third period class, Clawculus, Toralei started kicking Jake's seat. He kept telling her to stop but she wouldn't listen. Eventually, Mr Mummy heard it and sent her to Headmistress Bloodgood's office." Frankie said.
"What happened after that?" Viveka asked.
"Bloodgood made Toralei apologize to Jake, in which she did. But then he told us she was gonna make him pay for getting her in trouble." Frankie said.
Viktor and Viveka nodded intently with concerned expressions on their faces.
"And that's when today happened, when she and her friends attacked him while he was in the bathroom." Frankie said.
"Is Jake gonna be okay?" Viktor asked.
"I hope so. We took him to the nurse and she cleaned his scratches and everything. She said they'll go away in a few days." Frankie replied.
"That's good, I guess. I just can't believe anybody would wanna hurt him. Poor baby!" Viveka said with despondence.
"I know. I'm glad you guys came home early. Jake needs his rest." Viktor said.
"I agree." Frankie said, nodding.
Meanwhile, Jake was laying down on his bed. He wasn't tired or anything, he just tried to not to move since literally everything hurt. He was using his phone to keep himself from getting bored.
Back at Monster High, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, and Heath were sitting in Dead Languages. Mr. Rotter reprimanded the ghouls for being late, but once they explained why, he understood. He sent his best wishes to Jake.
"I can't believe Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody had the nerve to attack like that!" Jackson exclaimed.
"I know, right? I'm glad they got what they deserved." Deuce said.
"And to think they did it all because they didn't get invited to the listening party." Clawd mused.
"Yeah. They've always been petty, but physically assaulting someone over a party is just sick." Heath said.
The students followed along to what Mr. Rotter was teaching. However, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, and Heath were too worried about Jake to focus on the lesson.
"I can't concentrate. I'm too worried about Jake." Draculaura whispered.
"Me too. I can't stop thinking about him." Clawdeen whispered.
"Should we text him and ask him how he's doing?" Lagoona whispered.
"Yes, but let's wait until Study Howl. I don't want us to get caught using our phones." Cleo whispered.
The ghouls all agreed to that, and so did the mansters.
(4 blocks later)
When it was time for Study Howl, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, and Jackson sat at their usual spot and pulled out their iCoffins.
"Let's text Jake to see how he's doing." Jackson said.
At that moment, the gang texted Jake. They patiently waited for a response back, and they got one within a minute.
"Oh, thank ghoul! He says he's doing okay." Draculaura said.
Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, and Jackson sighed with relief.
"He's just been resting." Cleo said.
"Good! He needs to." Clawdeen said.
"And Frankie and her parents have been checking on him." Lagoona said.
A shortly after, Operetta came in and joined the gang. She was unaware of the tension at first.
"Hey, y'all! What's shakin'?" Operetta greeted.
"Hey, Operetta. Did you hear what happened to Jake?" Jackson asked.
Operetta's face changed. "No, I didn't. What happened to him?"
Ghoulia spoke zombie, explaining what happened.
Operetta gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh no! Is he okay?!"
"He's alright. He's at home resting. Frankie and her parents are keeping their eye on him." Draculaura said.
"Good! Why would Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody attack him? I mean, I know he was told he was gonna pay for getting Toralei in trouble, but I didn't really understand what she meant by that." Operetta said.
"None of us did. You should've been there when we found Jake in the bathroom. He was all covered in scratches." Lagoona said.
"I bet." Operetta said while shaking her head in disbelief.
"We took him to the nurse and she cleaned him up, then took Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody to Bloodgood. She suspended them for three weeks." Clawdeen said.
"That's great! Those crazy cats deserve it. Did they apologize to Jake at all?" Operetta asked.
"Yeah, they did, but only after we explained what he went through. They seemed to genuinely feel bad for him, though." Cleo said.
"I guess you learn something new every day." Jackson said.
"Mm-hmm." Operetta agreed, nodding.
(1 hour later)
After Study Howl ended, the gang headed straight to the creepateria for lunch.
Jake got out of bed and walked out of his room, albeit a little strained. He came into the living room as his stomach rumbled. The Steins looked at him.
"Hey, guys." Jake said.
"Hey. You doing okay?" Frankie asked.
"For the most part. My body still hurts but I can still walk at least." Jake said.
"Good. You hungry?" Viktor asked.
Jake nodded accordingly.
"Do you want us to make you something to eat?" Viveka asked.
"Uh, a grilled cheese with tomato soup, please." Jake said.
"You got it!" Viktor said, and went to the kitchen.
"I'll have one, too, while we're at it." Frankie said.
Viktor nodded while smiling. He grabbed 2 pieces of bread, then put 2 slices of cheese on one of them. After that, he turned on the oven and put a pan on a burner, then put the sandwich on the pan and it began sizzling. He repeated the process one more time.
Jake sat on the couch next to Frankie. The two of them looked at each other.
"Hi." Frankie said.
"Hi." Jake said.
"So, uh, do you think you'll be able to come to school tomorrow?" Frankie asked.
"Probably. My scratches should start going away by tomorrow. I hope they do, anyway." Jake responded.
"Me too." Frankie said.
10 minutes later, the grilled cheese sandwiches were done. Viktor put them on 2 plates, then heat up a can of tomato soup in the microwave. He poured 2 bowls worth of it and put everything on the table.
Jake and Frankie went up to the table and sat down, then started eating.
"How are they?" Viveka asked.
The kids gave a thumbs up, indicating that their food was good.
Jake looked at the Stein parents. "What are you guys gonna eat?"
"We already ate." Viktor said.
"What'd you have?" Jake asked.
"Salad." Viveka replied.
"Oh. I eat salad at school sometimes. It's pretty good." Jake said.
"Mm-hmm." Frankie agreed.
"Is the food there just all health foods or what?" Viktor asked.
"Well, they have pizza, chicken, burgers, you know, stuff you'd get from fast food places. But they also have, uh, soups, salad, sandwiches, that sort of thing. They have dessert, too." Jake explained.
"Oh, nice!" Viveka said with a smile.
Jake and Frankie continued eating their sandwiches and tomato soup.
Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Abbey, Robecca, Operetta, Spectra, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, Gil, Heath, and Manny sat together at lunch. To be quite frank, they had a hard time getting work done in their classes due to their worry about Jake.
"I can't believe Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody did what they did. Who do they think they are?" Spectra asked with an angry look on her face.
"You tell 'em, Spectra! Nobody attacks our friend like that!" Manny exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table.
"At least those kitties got suspended." Clawd said.
"That's what they get." Gil said.
Robecca chimed in. "When they come back, we need to make sure that they don't go near Jake ever again. It's too dangerous."
"I agree. But what makes you think they'll listen?" Abbey asked.
"They'll listen. They felt bad when we told them about Jake's problems." Draculaura said.
"And besides, Headmistress Bloodgood can always take action." Clawdeen said.
"She threatened to expel them if they hurt him again, and she was very clear on that front." Cleo said.
After that discussion, the gang pulled out their iCoffins and texted Jake to check on him once more; they all got responses letting them know he was fine.
"I gotta give props to Jake. He's one tough cookie." Deuce said.
"Ain't no doubt about that." Operetta said in agreement.
The others also agreed with that. It was important to not let anybody kick somebody else while they're down and let them be pushed around.
When Jake and Frankie got done eating their grilled cheeses and tomato soup, they put their plates in the sink. After a quick check-on by the Steins, Jake went back to his room and laid down, staring at the ceiling.