At school the following morning, Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia stood in the hallway engaging in conversation about what happened at breakfast on Saturday.
"How are you holding up, Lagoona?" Frankie asked her.
"Not too well. Gil and I had an argument after we left the diner, and it was pretty bad." Lagoona responded.
Jake put his hand over his mouth and looked down at the floor, feeling wracked with guilt.
"He said Mr. Where never should've paired me and Jake together in the first place. I told him that it wasn't up to us but he just wouldn't listen." Lagoona said sullenly.
"What happened after that?" Cleo asked.
"I tried telling him he was making a big deal out of nothing, but that only made him even more mad. Then he started yelling at me, which made me so upset I couldn't think straight!" Lagoona exclaimed.
Lagoona's friends felt nothing but sympathy and remorse for her as they felt she shouldn't have to go through this.
"We're so sorry, ghoul. What can we do to make you feel better?" Clawdeen asked.
"I don't know." Lagoona said, sighing. She then looked at Jake. "How've you been doing, Jake?"
"Same as you. I feel like this is all my fault." Jake mused.
"No, it's not your fault, it's mine." Lagoona said, hanging her head down.
"It's neither of yours' fault. It's Gil's fault for being a huge jerk about this." Draculaura said.
"Draculaura's right. He's making this a bigger deal than it is." Frankie added.
Ghoulia agreed by speaking zombie.
"Am I really?" a voice asked in an angry tone. It was Gil.
The gang noticed Gil standing in front of them and scowled at him.
"I'll tell you whose fault it is, it's Lagoona's fault, it's Jake's fault, and it's Mr. Where's fault! But I guess you wouldn't see that, would you?" Gil asked sarcastically.
"Get outta here, Gil! No one wants you around with how much a jerk you've been!" Clawdeen told him angrily.
Gil scoffed and shook his in derision, then walked away.
"Until Gil apologizes, I don't wanna talk to him." Jake said.
"Me neither." Lagoona said.
Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Cleo, and Ghoulia also felt that way. Then Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody approached the group, wondering what all the fuss was about.
"What's wrong with Gil? He seemed pretty mad when we walked by him just now." Toralei said.
"He's just acting like a jerk." Cleo responded.
"Why?" Purrsephone asked curiously.
"Because he's jealous of Lagoona and Jake working together in Dramarama class, if you can believe that." Frankie said.
The werecats didn't know how to react to that to be quite frank.
"Wow. We don't know what to say...hopefully you guys can work something out." Meowlody said.
"That's what we're hoping happens, too. Speaking of which, Lagoona, I need to ask your opinion on something." Jake told her.
"What?" Lagoona asked.
"The other day, um, Clawd suggested that either me or you talk to Mr. Where and tell him we don't want him to pair us together anymore. Personally, I'm torn on it since I love working with you, but we both know that Gil would stop being jealous. What do you think?" Jake asked.
Lagoona thought real hard about it. "I'm torn on it, too, 'cause it's not a bad idea. I love working with you as well, but if it makes Gil jealous, then maybe we should stop."
"Okay. Does anyone else think is a good or a bad idea?" Jake asked.
Ghoulia spoke zombie to give her two cents on the matter.
"I'm with Ghoulia. If you two think telling Mr. Where you don't wanna be partners anymore will resolve the fiasco, then you should do it." Draculaura said.
The rest of the ghouls nodded their heads in agreement.
"Alright. When we get to Dead Languages, I'll ask Clawd just to be sure." Lagoona said.
"Good luck on getting this sorted out." Toralei said with a sincere smile.
"Thanks, Toralei." Jake said, smiling back.
At that moment, the bell went off and the students started heading to first period. As Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia headed to Dead Languages, they were told, "See you guys later!" by Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody and told them bye on their way to class; Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, and Heath came in shortly afterwards.
"Hey, Lagoona, Jake. How are you guys doing?" Jackson asked with concern.
"We're hanging in there." Lagoona responded. She then looked at Clawd. "Clawd, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Lagoona. What's up?" Clawd asked.
"Jake told me you suggested to him that him and I tell Mr. Where we don't wanna be partners anymore. Do you think that's a good idea?" Lagoona asked.
"Yeah, I think it's a good idea. It would make Gil calm down about this whole thing." Clawd said.
Jake and Lagoona looked at each other and nodded, confident in themselves now. They just hoped their plan wouldn't backfire on them.
"Thanks, Clawd." Lagoona told him, gratuitous.
"No problem!" Clawd said with a grin.
Soon enough, Mr. Rotter started teaching the class and they followed along.
XXXXXXX
When it was lunchtime, the students of Monster High served themselves food as a unit. Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Abbey, Robecca, Operetta, Spectra, Rochelle, Venus, Iris, Howleen, Skelita, Jinafire, Twyla, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, Heath, Manny, Slo Mo, and Hoodude gathered outside and sat in a circle underneath a tree, taking in all the shade while they ate.
"Where is Gil? He usually sit with us at lunch all the time, no?" Abbey asked, confused.
Jake, the main 6 ghouls, Jackson, Clawd, Deuce, Heath, Manny, and Slo Mo's facial expressions changed as they did not want to talk about Lagoona's boyfriend right now, given his recent behavior.
"It is strange. In first period, I noticed he was looking all sullen and mad. I asked him what was wrong but he kept insisting he was fine and that there was nothing going on, but I could tell from his tone something was up." Robecca said.
"Eh, we don't wanna talk about it." Jake said awkwardly.
The others simply nodded; they didn't ask, they just respected their friends' wishes.
A short time later, Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody came up to the gang and greeted them.
"Hey, everyone!"
"Hey!" the gang greeted back jovially.
Jake changed the subject. "Hey, Toralei, Purrsephone, Meowlody, what kind of music do you ghouls listen to?"
"Mostly just pop and rock, why?" Toralei asked.
"Oh, you're missing out on a lot if you only listen to those two genres. Jake, maybe it's time you, uh, introduce them to a certain someone, if you know what I mean." Deuce said in a playful way.
"I know exactly what you mean, Deuce." Jake said, winking.
The 3 werecats suddenly became intrigued.
"What are you talking about?" Purrsephone asked with a giggle.
"Remember how you said you were upset you didn't get invited to the Michael Jackson listening party we had? Well, you can find him on FrightTube and now you can listen to him whenever you want!" Frankie said happily.
Upon hearing that, Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody's smiles grew wider. They pulled out their iCoffins and opened the FrightTube app, then searched MJ's name, successfully finding him.
"We found him!" Meowlody exclaimed.
Everyone collectively hooted and hollered with glee.
The cats clicked on Michael's profile picture and the first thing they saw were a bunch of music videos and singles; they scrolled over to where it said 'Albums' and skimmed through all of them.
"Looks like he has twelve albums according to this." Toralei said.
"Yes, he does, and all of them are amazing." Jake said.
"He hasn't made anything horrible. Not a lot of artists are able to do that." Heath added.
"We'll be listening to him after school. Thank you so much for recommending him to us, guys!" Purrsephone said excitedly.
"You're welcome! And after you're done with MJ, I have a playlist with thousands of songs from the fifties to the nineties. You'll love that, too." Jake said, grinning.
"I'll text y'all the link to it right now." Operetta said. She pulled out her iCoffin and did just that.
When Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody got Operetta's text, they read it and got their hopes up.
"Thanks, Operetta!" Meowlody told her.
Operetta nodded while smiling.
After Toralei, Purrsephone, and Meowlody put their iCoffins away, them and the gang continued chatting.
"You know, this is gonna sound selfish, but I'm kinda bummed that there's only song that shares my name." Iris said.
"What song is it?" Manny asked.
'Iris' by the Goo Goo Dolls. It's the only song I can think of off the top of my head that has my name in the title." Iris replied.
"Ooh, that's an amazing song!" Cleo said, chiming in.
"Love that song! But it's not the only song that shares your name, Iris." Jake said.
Iris tilted her head in curiosity. "What other songs are there if it's not the only one?"
"There's 'Iris' by Miles Davis and 'Iris (Hold Me Close)' by U2." Jake said.
"There you go, Iris! That's two other songs that have your name in the title!" Venus told her with a happy smile.
"Oh! Well, in my defense, I'm not a jazz fan and I haven't listened to every U2 album, I've only listened up to The Joshua Tree." Iris said, giggling.
"Ah, I see." Jake said, nodding.
After that little discussion, the gang talked until lunch was over; they all threw away their scraps and headed to fifth period.
When Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, Jackson, Rochelle, and Venus made it to Home Ick, and when the rest of the class did, they took their seats.
Ms. Kindergrubber presented herself. "Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Ms. Kindergrubber!" the students greeted.
"Today, I will be baking a dirt and worms cake. Make sure you have your notebooks out because you'll all be baking one tomorrow, so you'll want to record the ingredients and have them memorized." Ms. Kindergrubber announced.
At that moment, the class took out their notebooks and opened them to a new page, ready to write.
"Before I start baking, let me make sure I have all the ingredients ready on hand. I have eggs, flour, gummy worms, Goreos, um...it looks like I am missing sugar. There's a bag of sugar in the supply closet next door and I need three people to bring it in for me since it's too heavy for myself to carry. Who wants to volunteer?" Ms. Kindergrubber asked.
Jake, Jackson, and Rochelle were the first ones to raise their hands before anyone else could get the chance.
"Rochelle, Jackson, and Jake, you may go next door and get the sugar for me." Ms. Kindergrubber said, smiling.
With that being said, the three left the room and went next door; on their way there, they spotted Gil getting a drink of water at the water fountain and vice-versa. Jake and Jackson didn't pay any attention to him, but Rochelle was more than happy to say hi to him.
"Hi, Gil!" Rochelle greeted with a jovial smile, waving.
"Hi, Rochelle." Gil greeted back. His tone was cynical, and walked off back to class in a hurry.
Rochelle, a little off-put, tilted her head. "That was weird."
"Can one of you help me open this door, please? It seems to be sticking." Jake said, interjecting.
"I got it, Jake." Jackson told him. He was able to open the supply closet door easily.
As Jake, Jackson, and Rochelle entered the closet, they turned on the lights and began looking for the bag of sugar.
"Alright, sugar, sugar, Ms. Kindergrubber wants us to get sugar. I don't know where it could be, though." Jake said in an unsually fast manner. He went further down to the point where his friends couldn't see him.
Rochelle was confused and concerned by Jake's sudden change in mood.
"Is Jake okay? He is not acting like himself." Rochelle asked, looking at Jackson.
"He's just a little on edge right now." Jackson responded.
"How come?" Rochelle asked.
Jackson hesitated for a moment. "I don't if I should tell you, Rochelle...it's kind of a touchy subject."
"Jackson, it is okay. You can tell me." Rochelle reassured.
"Well, since you really wanna know, Jake and Lagoona have been working together a lot in our Dramarama class and Gil's jealous of that." Jackson said.
Rochelle became even more confused. Oh...why would he be jealous? They are just working together, aren't they?"
"Yeah, but Gil seems to think it's something more even though it's not. He's making this a bigger deal than it needs to be, to be honest." Jackson said.
"Huh! How long have Lagoona and Jake been working together?" Rochelle asked.
"About two weeks. It all started when we had to perform scenes Mr. Where assigned to us, and, uh, when Lagoona and Jake did theirs, there was a part at the end where they kissed. It was a passionate kiss, too, and definitely unexpected." Jackson explained.
"Oh my ghoul!" Rochelle exclaimed with shock and wide eyes.
"I know, right? While I was watching the performance, I turned to Draculaura and I was like, 'This is so awkward!'." Jackson said.
"I bet it was!" Rochelle said.
"Ever since then, Mr. Where's been partnering them. Gil seemed fine with it at first, like, he didn't get mad about the kissing scene and a few others, but now he has a problem with it." Jackson said.
Rochelle made a face. "That is so weird. He was okay with it and now he is not okay with it. I don't get it."
"Me neither. When we go to Dramarama, Jake and Lagoona are gonna tell Mr. Where they don't wanna be partners anymore. We hope that'll make Gil understand." Jackson said.
"Hopefully he will understand." Rochelle said.
"I also hope Jake doesn't get mad at me for telling you. The last thing I want is for him to think I'm a bad friend." Jackson mused with worry.
"I am glad you told me, Jackson. He needs the support." Rochelle said, smiling understandably.
Jackson also smiled. "That's for sure. He needs all the support he can get."
"Come on, let's help him find the sugar." Rochelle said.
Jackson and Rochelle walked further down the closet and looked for the sugar; they eventually found Jake holding one edge of the bag.
"Hey, guys, I found the sugar." Jake said, satisfied.
"Great!" Jackson and Rochelle said excitedly.
At that moment, Jake, Jackson, and Rochelle each grabbed an edge of the bag and hauled it back to Home Ick, setting on the counter.
"Thank you very much for getting the sugar! Was it heavy?" Ms. Kindergrubber asked.
"Not really. It was pretty easy to carry with our combined strength." Jackson responded.
"Oh, good." Ms. Kindergrubber said with a joyful giggle.
Jake, Jackson, and Rochelle went to their desks and sat down.
"Alright, everybody, now that I have all the ingredients ready for my dirt and worms cake, I can begin! Be sure to copy down them down as I repeat them back to you." Ms. Kindergrubber said.
The class did exactly what their teacher told, with them writing down the ingredients as she repeated them. After that, she mixed everything together and put the cake in the oven, with it baking for 25 minutes; the oven timer went off when it was done.
Ms. Kindergrubber put on some oven mitts and carefully pulled the cake out of the oven. Her students were looking at with gusto.
"We'll let the cake cool down for a minute before we taste it." Ms. Kindergrubber said.
When that minute was up, Ms. Kindergrubber grabbed a bunch of forks and napkins and set them on the counter.
"Dig in!"
Everyone leaped out of their seats without hesitation and took bites of the cake, indulging in every single one.
"How is it?" Ms. Kindergrubber asked.
"Delicious, Ms. Kindergrubber!" Frankie told her, grinning ear-to-ear.
"Excellent!" Ms. Kindergrubber exclaimed with a chuckle.
After the class finished taste-testing the cake, they went back to their desks; Ms. Kindergrubber wrapped the dessert with tin foil and set it aside. She then had the class watch a slideshow presentation for the rest of the block.
(1 hour later)
When Home Ick ended, the students headed out collectively. Jake, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Lagoona, Cleo, Ghoulia, and Jackson said bye to Rochelle and Venus on their way down.
"Boy, that was the best dirt and worms cake I've ever had!" Clawdeen said happily.
"Me too! It was so moist and rich while also fluffy at the same time. It was the best." Draculaura agreed.
"Ms. Kindergrubber sure knows how to make great desserts!" Jake said, smiling.
Jake's friends agreed with him.
Jackson changed the subject. "Hey, Jake, I gotta tell you something."
"Hm?" Jake asked.
"While you, me, and Rochelle were in the supply room, um, I told her about the situation between you, Gil, and Lagoona. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to or not but I did. Are you mad at me for doing so?" Jackson asked nervously.
"No, of course not. I don't mind that our friends know about it." Jake said with a confused grin.
"Oh, okay, good! I didn't want you to think I was a bad friend if I told anybody." Jackson said.
"Hey, you're not a bad friend, Jax. I'm glad you told Rochelle, she's one more monster that has our backs." Jake reassured.
"And that's a wonderful thing." Jackson added.
Cleo stood next to Jackson and looked at him. "Jackson?"
"What's up, Cleo?" Jackson asked her.
"Remember our improv scene me and you did on Friday?" Cleo asked.
"Yeah. What about it?" Jackson asked.
"Hypothetically, given the situation Lagoona, Jake, and Gil are in right now, Deuce would be okay with the two of us working together, right?" Cleo asked to be sure.
"He would, he's a very chill dude." Jackson said, smiling. "Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering, that's all." Cleo said with a soft smile.
When the gang (and Slo Mo) made it to Dramarama, they could see Gil and Mr. Where talking, much to their confusion.
"Um, what's Gil doing in our class?" Frankie asked.
"And what are him and Mr. Where talking about?" Lagoona asked.
The gang moved a little closer to hear what was being said more clearly.
"You want to be in my class?" Mr. Where asked, kind of confused.
"Yes, I've been taking an interest in theater and the arts again the past few days and I wanna be a part of it." Gil said.
"I see. I had you two years ago, it would be nice having you back." Mr. Where said while stroking his chin.
"So can I transfer to this class for the scaremester?" Gil asked.
"You can, but you'd have to ask Headmistress Bloodgood to see if she can have your schedule changed, Gil." Mr. Where replied.
Gil nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Mr. Where!"
"Of course!" Mr. Where said, grinning.
Gil grabbed his stuff and jogged to his own sixth period class without noticing the gang, who came in and took their seats.
"Good afternoon, people! Today will not be an improv day. Instead we'll be watching a documentary on musicals, which'll take up the entire class period. Any questions, comments, concerns?" Mr. Where asked.
Jake raised his hand.
"Jake, go ahead." Mr. Where told him.
"This isn't about the documentary, but we overheard Gil talking to you about wanting to be in this class." Jake said.
"Ah, yes, that is true. I told him he'd have to talk to Headmistress Bloodgood about getting his schedule changed." Mr. Where said.
Lagoona raised her hand.
"Lagoona?" Mr. Where asked.
"Well, in that case, Jake and I feel it's best if the two of us don't be partners anymore. It's making Gil jealous and he's being mean to us about it." Lagoona said.
Mr. Where was surprised about the jealously but ultimately understood.
"I understand. If you guys don't wanna be partners anymore, that's totally fine! All you had to do was say something."
Jake and Lagoona sighed with relief.
"Thank you for understanding, Mr. Where!" Jake said happily.
"You're very welcome! Does anybody else have anything they'd like to share before we watch the movie?" Mr. Where asked.
The students shook their heads no in unison.
"Very well." Mr. Where said.
At that moment, Mr. Where loaded up the projector and the documentary begun.
(1 hour later)
It was time for Dramarama and school to be over. The class left as Mr. Where said bye to them on their way out.