Stine, Hannah, and Slappy were in the car and going to school. Slappy wanted to sit in the front, but Stine said that he needed to sit in the back. So Hannah got to sit with her dad, and Slappy sat alone in the back.

Alone. The puppet was used to that word.

Slappy shook the seatbelt that had him pinned. Well, not really. He could have used his magic to unbuckle himself, but he wanted to give Papa a hard time. He enjoyed seeing Stine in pain. Scaring him was not enough. He needed to feel. Feel the pain that Slappy felt when he was betrayed and trapped in a book for years and years.

"Why do I have to wear this flippin' seatbelt, Papa?!"

"The same reason that I did not want you to sit in the passenger seat," Stine replied. "I do not want you to get hurt. To be broken."

The puppet would have cried - if he had a heart. "Too late for that, Papa! I am already broken! You broke me!"

Stine managed to hold back tears. "Physically. I do not want you to be broken physically."

Slappy pointed a wooden finger at his nose. "Have you forgotten about my chipped nose?" He pointed at his chin. "And my chipped chin? Of course you have! You replaced me with..." He glared at Hannah. "...her."

Hannah noticed the look on her father's face and decided to change the subject. "Tell us more about your new student, Dad."

The writer was rubbing his eyes. "There is not much about her. The mistress was clear that I should never bring up her parents or any member of her family."

"Why not? What is wrong with her family?"

"They finally realized that they were as ugly as heck and returned to their home in the ground," Slappy spat.

"Slappy!" Hannah snapped.

"Actually...he is right. Sort of," Stine admitted.

"He is?"

"I am? Papa, are you high on apple juice?"

"The part that you said that her family returned to the ground..." He hesitated. "...could not be far from the truth."

Hannah fiddled with her hair. "Why would they be in the ground? Unless..." The realization hit her, and she covered her mouth. "...oh my gosh."

Slappy's chocolate eyes darted from side to side. He glanced at his sister, and then at Papa. Then back at his sister. He was not grasping the situation that was at hand. "What is the big deal? Are you two suddenly offended by my jokes?"

Hannah shifted in her seat to look at him. "Do you not understand, Slappy? The new student's family is dead."

The three of them were silent for the rest of the ride. Even Slappy kept his wooden mouth shut. Never did he consider that there was a human in the world who was as miserable as him. Sure, Zach lost his dad, and Sonny and Sarah did not have a dad, but they at least had other family members who loved them. Papa's new student had no one to turn to. She was alone and an orphan.

Alone.

Slappy pressed his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. "I must know who she is," he mumbled. "If she meets my qualifications, she will be my bride."

Minutes later, they were at school. Stine and Hannah said their goodbyes and headed to their appropriate classrooms. Slappy was about to be on his merry way, but the author grabbed his arm and tugged him to the classroom.

The puppet fought with him. "Let me go, Papa! Or you will be in a world of hurt."

"I wish that I could leave you alone. I really do. But I do not trust you. I am worried that you will cause mischief somewhere in this school."

Slappy jerked away and massaged his wrist. "What makes you say that?"

Stine pulled him to the side. "You and the monsters caused so much trauma and damage."

"Now you know how we feel. How I feel!"

"It took the townsfolk months and months to clean your mess. Thanks to you, I am on everyone's radar."

"You always said that you wanted to be the center of attention. Now you are! Hahaha!"

"Not like this! The mayor said that if something like that happens again, I will be in jail."

The writer felt a tap on his shoulder. "Mr. Stine?" a soft voice said.

He spun around, and Slappy hid behind Papa's legs. "Yes. I am him. I am Mr. Stine."

The girl in front of him was a beauty. She had long, blonde hair and wore a purple, sleeveless dress that reached to her knees. Her low heels sparkled, and her brown eyes could send any boy in a trance. That includes evil dummies.

Stine gave her a warm smile. "I have not seen you before. Wait. Are you the new student?"

"I am." She held out a hand for him to shake. "I am Shelly Madison."

"Nice to meet you, Shelly." They shook hands. "It is a pleasure to have you in my class."

"Thank you. To be honest, I am not that excited to be in your class."

"Oh?"

Shelly rubbed her arm and lowered her eyes to her feet. "It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Stine. I mean it. But..."

He motioned to his classroom. "We should talk in my classroom. We will have privacy there."

"There will be no privacy if I am there," Slappy said under his breath.

With his creation hiding behind him, Stine led Shelly to the classroom and pulled out a key. He inserted the key into the keyhole and pushed open the door.

"Ladies first," he said.

"Back off, Papa. She is mine!" Slappy whispered.

Shelly thanked her new teacher and entered - and slipped. Slipped on a spill of orange juice. She fell on her back and groaned.

Stine gasped. "Shelly!"

"I...I think that my spine is broken!"