(One month ago)
Jake was at his uncle's house sitting on the couch and playing with his phone. The reason why he was there was because his parents and grandparents were about to leave for their trip to Portland, Oregon. They thought he was going with them but he turned it down since he was afraid of flying and he just didn't feel like traveling.
Jake's uncle Steve went up to him. "You gonna miss them while they're gone?"
"Yeah, but it's only three days. I'll be fine." Jake responded.
"At least we'll have the opportunity to hang out, just me and you. We never do that." Steve said with a smile.
"That's true!" Jake said, smiling back.
After Jake's parents Richard and Minnie and his grandparents Walter and Thelma finished packing their stuff, they came into the living room.
"You guys all ready to go?" Jake asked.
"Yep! Everything's packed and I'm pretty sure we didn't forget anything." Richard said.
Jake nodded. "Alright."
"Are you sure you don't wanna come with us, honey?" Minnie asked.
"Positive. Airplanes freak me out. I know that sounds selfish but that's just how I feel." Jake said.
"We bought five tickets, but we completely understand why you don't wanna go, Jake." Walter reassured.
"Flying isn't for everybody." Thelma said.
Jake stood up and looked at his family. "Welp, have fun!"
"We will!" Richard said happily.
At that moment, Jake group-hugged Richard, Minnie, Walter, and Thelma; they said bye to him and Steve before leaving.
"Looks like it's just you and me now, Uncle Steve." Jake told him.
"Don't worry, Jake, we'll have fun together. You can count on that." Steve said, grinning.
Jake also grinned. Both his uncle and his aunt were pretty adventurous and free-spirited, qualities he appreciated.
XXXXXXX
In the nighttime, Jake and Steve were watching a movie together. Then, all of a sudden, Steve's phone rang. He paused the movie and pulled out his phone to answer the call.
"Hello? Yeah, this is him. I am related, yes. WHAT?! Oh my God! Okay. Okay, thank you for letting me know. Bye." Steve spoke into the phone, and hung up. His eyes welled up with tears.
"What happened?!" Jake asked sporadically.
Steve sniffled and hesitated to tell his nephew the bad news.
"Jake...your mom, your dad, your grandma, and your grandpa passed away unexpectedly..."
Those words hit Jake like a ton of bricks. His face showed utter shock as his tears rolled down his cheeks.
"H-how...?!"
"Their plane crashed. There was some turbulence a-and the pilot couldn't keep it in control." Steve said, his voice breaking.
Jake started sobbing uncontrollably. Steve pulled him into a hug as he sobbed, too; it went on for a few minutes before the two of them let go of each other.
"I love you, Jake." Steve said through sobs.
"I love you, too, Uncle Steve." Jake said, filled with grief.
Jake and Steve sat back down. Steve had the same melancholic look on his face, while Jake covered his face with his hands.
(Present)
Jake and Frankie were driving to Monster High. As they were, Jake was in a deep thought while watching the road. Frankie took notice of this and was curious.
"What are you thinking about?" Frankie asked.
"Oh, just my family and how I was told of the news that they died." Jake replied.
Frankie's face turned sympathetic. "You must miss them so much."
"I do. I still remember where I was when it happened. I was staying at my Uncle Steve's house, and, um, he got a call from somebody telling him that the plane they were on unexpectedly crashed. The truth is, I didn't know what to make of that, you know? I was in shock." Jake said.
"I'm very sorry. Losing family members isn't easy." Frankie said sullenly.
Jake sighed. "Yeah. It hurts to think about. If you're wondering why I don't talk about it that much, then that's why."
"I totally understand, Jake." Frankie reassured.
"Thank you." Jake said, smiling lightly.
"You're welcome." Frankie said, also smiling.
When Jake and Frankie made it to school, they parked the car and got out, then entered the building. They greeted Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia.
Suddenly, Rochelle Goyle, a gargoyle, and Venus McFlytrap, a plant monster, approached the gang.
"Hi, ghouls!" Rochelle greeted.
"Hey, Rochelle! Hey, Venus!" Frankie greeted back.
"What are you guys up to?" Venus asked.
"Nothing much, just fanging out. Oh! Jake, this Rochelle Goyle and Venus McFlytrap." Draculaura said.
"Hi!" Rochelle and Venus both said.
"Hi! Nice to meet you ghouls." Jake said politely.
"You too! I, uh, couldn't help but notice the scratches all over you." Rochelle said.
Jake looked at his body. "Oh, yeah. I got these the other day."
"Rochelle and I heard Toralei, Purresphone, and Meowlody attacked you in the bathroom. Is that true?" Venus asked.
Clawdeen chimed in. "It's more true than it has any right to be."
"Exactly. Those cats are out of the picture for three weeks since Headmistress Bloodgood found out." Jake said.
"Oh, good. We were worried they were going to be left without any punishment, but Bloodgood suspended them. Thank ghoul!" Rochelle said with relief.
"Mm-hmm. You'll never believe why they attacked Jake in the first place." Lagoona said.
"Toralei was kicking my seat in Clawculus, and then, um, Mr. Mummy heard her and sent her to Bloodgood's office. Then she called me up and I explained to her what Toralei was doing, and she made her apologize. When we left, she said I was gonna pay for getting her in trouble and that's when I got attacked." Jake explained.
"That petty jerk! I can't believe she did that to you." Venus said, angry.
"I know, right? And she did it because we didn't invite her to this listening party we had for Michael Jackson." Jake said.
Rochelle and Venus became confused. "I'm sorry, we don't know who Michael Jackson is." Rochelle said. "Yeah, he doesn't sound familiar to us." Venus said.
"Well, if you're interested, we recommend listening to his music." Frankie said with a grin.
"You're gonna love him." Cleo said, grinning as well.
Ghoulia nodded in agreement.
"You can check him out on FrightTube." Jake said.
"Okay! Maybe we will." Rochelle said.
"I wouldn't mind discovering somebody new for a change. Lately I've been listening to the same stuff over and over again and it's getting pretty boring." Venus said.
"Same thing for me." Rochelle said.
At that moment, the bell rang before the conversation could even continue. Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia said bye to Rochelle and Venus before heading to first period.
"You know, I think I recognized Venus and Rochelle when they came up to us. Are they in Home Ick with us?" Jake asked.
"Yes, they are!" Draculaura said.
"Ha! I thought I knew them from somewhere, I just couldn't figure out where." Jake said with a smile.
The gang went inside Dead Languages and took their seats, followed by Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, and Heath. Mr. Rotter began teaching shortly after that.
XXXXXXX
At lunch, Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Abbey, Robecca, Operetta, Rochelle, Venus, Jackson, Clawd, Gil, Deuce, and Heath were enjoying their food and engaging in conversation. Then Spectra, Manny, and Iris joined everyone a few moments later; they were quite ectastic to say the least.
"Jake, we have some exciting news to share." Spectra said, all hyped up.
"What?" Jake asked curiously.
"We listened to Michael Jackson yesterday!" Manny said happily.
The gang (except for Rochelle and Venus) got excited upon hearing those words.
"That's awesome! Did you guys have fun?" Jake asked.
"We sure did! We listened to all of his albums back-to-back and boy, was it an experience!" Iris said.
"I'm glad." Jake said, smiling.
Manny changed the subject. "Oh, how rude of me! Jake, this is my girlfriend, Iris Clops. Iris, this is Jake."
"Hi!" Iris greeted.
"Hi!" Jake greeted back.
Abbey chimed in. "So, Spectra, Manny, Iris, what is your guys' favorite Michael Jackson album?"
"Off the Wall. I love the disco and funk elements to that one." Spectra said.
"Mine's Thriller." Manny said.
"Same here." Iris said.
"Gotta love those two instant classics!" Jake said happily.
Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Abbey, Robecca, Operetta, Spectra, Rochelle, Venus, Iris, Jackson, Clawd, Gil, Deuce, Heath, and Manny all agreed to that.
The gang continued chatting until the end of lunch. After throwing away their food scraps, they left the creepateria and headed to fifth period; Jake, the main 6 ghouls, Jackson, Rochelle, and Venus walked to Home Ick and took their seats.
"I wonder what we're gonna be making today." Frankie said.
"We made muffins yesterday, so my guess is another baked good." Cleo said.
At that moment, Ms. Kindergrubber (the teacher) stood in front of her students.
"Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Ms. Kindergrubber!" the class greeted in unison.
"Today, we will be baking pies. I have the ingredients placed on your desks. You can make whatever flavor you choose, but they must be different from the student next to you, so no duplicates allowed. Any questions?" Ms. Kindergrubber asked.
The class shook their heads no.
"Excellent! Three, two, one...bake!" Ms. Kindergrubber said, and went back to her own desk.
With that being said, the class began preparing their pies. They thought real hard about the flavors they were gonna make.
Jake looked at his friends. "What kind of pies are you guys gonna be making?"
"Cherry. It was the first thing that came to mind for me." Frankie said.
"I'm going to make...blueberry." Draculaura responded.
"I've decided on my personal favorite, apple." Clawdeen said.
"I think I'm gonna make a raspberry pie." Lagoona said.
"Good choice, Lagoona! Me, I'll be making a chocolate créme pie with sprinkles." Cleo said.
Ghoulia spoke zombie to explain that the flavor of pie she was gonna be making was pumpkin.
"I'm going to be making a banana créme pie." Jackson said.
"I will do...pecan!" Rochelle said.
"And I'll just do lemon meringue." Venus said.
"What flavor are you gonna do, Jake?" Frankie asked him.
"Key lime. I'm doing it because my dad's car was key lime green and I wanted to make something that reminded me of him." Jake replied.
Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, Rochelle, and Venus were moved. They smiled happily.
"Awww, that's so sweet!" Draculaura said.
Jake smiled back warmly.
At that moment, the 10 friends started preparing their pies. After putting everything together and adding the finishing touches, they put their pies in the oven; the rest of the class followed suit.
Once the pies were done baking, the students carefully took them out of the oven and set them on their desks. It was then time for Ms. Kindergrubber to inspect their work.
"Okay, let's see what you've got here!" Ms. Kindergrubber said. She went up to each student one-by-one and took a good look at their desserts; fortunately, she was satisfied. "Excellent job, everybody!"
The class hooted and hollered, happy with what they accomplished.
"As always when we cook food, you may have a taste." Ms. Kindergrubber said.
The students grabbed forks and took bites of their pies; most of them turned it out good, there were only a couple that tasted weird.
"I have tin foil on my desk if you want to take your dessert home with you." Ms. Kindergrubber said.
Without hesitation, the class grabbed tin foil and wrapped their pies in it, eager to take them home and share them with their familes.
When Home Ick ended and the bell rang less than an hour later, the class left. Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, Rochelle, and Venus put their pies away in their lockers.
All of a sudden, Sloman "Slo Mo" Mortavitch, a zombie and Ghoulia's boyfriend, approached Jake and lightly tapped him on his shoulder.
Jake turned around. "Hello!"
Slo Mo smiled and spoke zombie, introducing himself.
"Nice to meet you, Slo Mo! I'm Jake Wilder, the newest student here at Monster High." Jake said politely.
Slo Mo spoke zombie once again.
"Oh, you're Ghoulia's boyfriend? Nice!" Jake said, grinning.
Slo Mo spoke zombie, telling Jake that the two of them were in Dramarama together.
"That's awesome that we're in Dramarama together. I don't think I've seen you before, though. At least I don't think I have." Jake said.
Slo Mo grunted and groaned while making a gesture with both his hands.
"Oh, you were gonna introduce yourself to me on the first day but you were too shy to do so. That's understandable. I get shy, too, sometimes." Jake said.
Happy that Jake understood, Slo Mo smiled and patted him on the back.
Ghoulia went up to her boyfriend and kissed him. The rest of the gang greeted him and vice-versa.
"I see you've met Slo Mo." Rochelle said, looking at Jake.
"Yep! He's in our Dramarama class." Jake said.
"Speaking of Dramarama, we better head there before the bell rings." Cleo said.
At that moment, Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, and Slo Mo said bye to Rochelle and Venus and went to Dramarama.
Clawdeen turned to Frankie and whispered, "I'm still amazed that Jake is able to talk to zombies so easily. I know he learned how during the summer, but it's still fascinating to me."
"He must've studied very carefully and precisely to be this good at it." Frankie whispered back.
XXXXXXX
The end of the school day was here. After getting their pies out of their lockers, the gang said bye to each other and went to their respective homes. Jake and Frankie got in the car and headed home.