Jackson:

As extremely nice of Valentine as it was to ask what was wrong, it wasn't something I wanted to get into with him. I could tell he genuinely just wanted to help, but bringing him into it would probably just make things worse since Frankie didn't trust him and especially since I still didn't know him very well.

My morning classes went about as well as they always did, and I was personally looking forward to sitting with Valentine again at lunch. I assumed Holt hadn't yesterday due to his lack of trust in the vampire, likely having opted instead to sit with Frankie, Heath, Deuce, etc. Once I would have done the same, but lately I'd wanted to sit with Valentine instead. That was especially the case today, considering the issues between Frankie and me at the moment.

When I arrived at Valentine's usual spot in the creepateria, there was already another monster seated next to the vampire. He looked vaguely familiar -- black hair with purple and orange streaks, green skin, purple eyes -- but I couldn't remember his name. "Hey," I greeted the two of them.

"Hello, Jackson," replies Valentine, then with a glance at the other boy adds, "Have you two met before?"

"I'm not sure," I admit right as the guy says, "I don't think so."

"Then I believe introductions are in order. Jackson, this is Spelldon Cauldronello. Spelldon, this is Jackson Jekyll."

"Wait, Cauldronello as in --?" I start to ask.

"Casta, yeah," Spelldon finishes for me, "She's my sister. And Circe's our mom."

"That's right. I knew you looked familiar," I said.

"You too, actually. Great-grandson of Jekyll and Hyde, right?"

"Yeah," I nod, "Holt Hyde's my, er, other half, I guess we'll say."

"Ah. I've seen him around. I hear he's one hell of a DJ."

Well, he wasn't wrong. As much as my taste in music was different to Holt's, I couldn't deny the guy had serious talent. "Luckily for you, people around here love to throw parties whenever they can, and Holt is usually the DJ."

Spelldon considered that for a moment. "That sounds like it'd be pretty great for him. How's it affect you, though?"

My eyes flickered to Valentine, who had voiced a similar concern only recently. Valentine gave a soft smile in return. "I didn't tell him to say that, I swear," he said.

I could only smile back. "I know. Thank you - both of you."

Spelldon grinned. "No problem. Anyway, before you got here we were talking about the latest assignment we got for biteology, and how we're supposed to work in groups of three. You wouldn't happen to be in a group already, would you?"

"No, why?"

"Well, right now I'm paired up with Thad, but we need a third person. Would you be up for it?"

I nod. "Yeah, count me in."

"What's the assignment?" Valentine asked curiously.

"Essay on vampires," I explain.

"Ah, figured as much. We just got that one, too, and I'm beginning to worry I might be stuck working with Heath and Hoodude."

"If that happens, I wish you all the best of luck," I told him seriously, and he laughed.

The first thing I had in the afternoon was a spare, but like the Normie high schools I'd heard of—and the one I'd briefly attended during the Halloween stuff—Monster High had eight periods a day. So even with my spare, I had three classes to go.

During said spare, I usually went up to the library to study. But on my way there, I ran into Frankie. "Jackson," she said as soon as she saw me, "We need to talk."

"Is it about earlier?" I asked, "Because I—I really thought we'd dropped it."

"Well, I can't," said Frankie, "I need you to hear this. Look, do you remember when I said we needed to take a break from our relationship until you and Holt learned to get along?"

"Um, actually, I believe your exact words were that you needed to 'hit pause'," I corrected, "But yes, I remember. The thing is, though...you also said that when we finally did work things out, you'd still be there."

"I know, it's just—" Frankie struggled for the right words.

"But you moved on," I continued.

"Yes, but that happens, Jackson," Frankie reasoned, and I nodded.

"And that's my point exactly," I told her, "I didn't have any issue with that whatsoever. I understand that. In fact, I was honestly pretty happy for you and Andy. And then you and Neighthan. But the thing I fail to understand, then, is that when I first told you I was with Clair..." I trailed off, looking for a way to continue without being too blunt.

"I was hurt," Frankie finished for me, "Yes, I was. Because I still liked you. And Andy...he and I didn't last long because he could tell. It was the same thing with Neighthan when he and I were together. And when you told me you'd moved on--"

"So then you hadn't really moved on at all?" I asked.

"Well, I did but at the same time I didn't," said Frankie. "But please let me finish. When you said you were with Clair, I didn't know how to take it. I wanted to be happy for you but like you said, I was hurt and tried to move on by dating other people, too. Now here's my question: Could there still have been anything between us? Do you or Holt still have feelings for me at all?"

"Truthfully?" I asked, "No, I don't. Holt might, you'll have to ask him that yourself, who knows? But as for me..."

"So...you're happy with Clair, then?' asked Frankie, "I mean--she's a really nice person and I am still happy for--"

"Clair and I broke up," I cut her off. "She broke up with me a few months ago for Chad. That's what I tried to tell you this morning when you brought this up, before you switched seats."

"I'm sorry," Frankie tried to put a comforting hand on my shoulder, but I wouldn't let her.

"Don't," I told her, "I'm over it now anyway. Just like I'm over you, which--and I'm honestly sorry in advance for saying this, but--you should have thought of when you said you'd still be here."

It seemed like that last comment made her a bit mad, because when she spoke again, she sounded like it did. "I kept my word for a long time, Jackson. But eventually I realized that I didn't know exactly how long it would take for you and Holt to work things out. So yeah, I tried dating other people. As much as I still liked you, I couldn't keep waiting for you to come back around, okay?"

She then walked away, leaving me alone in the hall. Not unusual for me, but given the situation...

"I tried to come back around," I whispered, even though she was well out of earshot, "Before Clair...But you were already gone."

That was the truth. Although I was over both of them at this point, I really had intended to try getting back with Frankie before I met Clair. But again, she was already with someone else—at that point, it hadn't been Andy or Neighthan. She hadn't met Andy until the spring break of that year, and she and Neighthan got together some time after the events of the following year. So those two hadn't been who I was referring to when I said she'd moved on—I'd meant the guys she'd immediately flirted with after 'hitting pause' with Holt and I, before I met Clair. But she kept cutting me off before I could make that clear, so she thought I was talking about those two.

Still, I hated getting into arguments with Frankie--or anyone for that matter. That kind of conflict wasn't something I enjoyed having to deal with at all. Especially since I was one of those people who tended to dwell on that stuff until it was resolved. Not by choice, but still. That was how my brain worked whether I liked it or not.

I continued on my way to the library, trying to focus on something else. Now that I knew the reasons behind everything, I found myself having an easier time of letting it go. At least for now.

Pretty much my whole spare was spent reading and keeping up with the Tag chat--since people didn't have any qualms about tagging people while classes were in session, it seemed. It did get irritating at times especially when I was the one tagged, but I couldn't really do much about it. Muting my iCoffin was the best I could do.

Something a bit weird happened close to the beginning of my next class, which happened to be Home Ick. For once, it didn't have to do with Hoodude and Heath's antics--although since that was a pretty common thing in this class it wasn't considered abnormal anymore.

I was working in the same kitchen as Deuce and Valentine (the Home Ick room had three kitchens, and we were in the one closest to the door) when we heard Valentine's iCoffin buzz. While he went to get it, Deuce's attention travelled to Heath and Hoodude's kitchen for a moment.

"Those two, I swear," Deuce shook his head in amusement, "It's a miracle they're passing this class, the way they can get. Valentine, you coming back any time today, dude?"

But Valentine was staring at his iCoffin, eyes wide and an expression that looked to be a mix of anxiety and anger written on his face.