Chapter Text
Everyone at Monster High knew about Cleo. People knew the way she smiled, walked and talked to a tee. If she changed her hairstyle or makeup routine, it was sure to be noticed by anyone and everyone. She was a style icon, Monster High’s very own ‘Cleo de Nile’ - The Queen Bee.
So, of course, when Cleo and her boyfriend, Deuce, broke up, everyone knew. Cleo could feel it in their gazes when she walked down the hallways with just Lagoona. Some looked at her sadly (‘Love isn’t real!’ is how Lagoona herself reacted when Cleo told her about the breakup, before bursting into a fit of tears) and some watched on happily (jealousy is a terrible thing - not that it was any of Cleo’s business anymore anyway). It wasn’t like things had ended badly between the two of them, but it still made school ten times more awkward.
And, it was all in time for the new school year…!
Cleo frowned and Lagoona turned to her inquisitively. “Are you okay, Cleo?”
They were walking down the hallway, once again, on the way to their next class. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about… Deuce.”
“Oh, Cleo ,” Lagoona cooed sympathetically. Cleo sighed. Sympathy wasn’t what she wanted. “I bet he’s missing you already.”
“I know he is,” Cleo muttered. “That is the problem.”
However, as they continued to walk down the corridor she noticed an unfamiliar face. A blue-skinned student with black and white hair and a very cute jacket was walking towards them. Cleo could feel her cheeks heating up. She had noticed them earlier, from the back, introducing themself as “Frankie, they/them” to a couple of random nobodies. Cleo hadn’t paid them much notice, but now she could see their face… Her heart was hammering like a drum.
Then she saw Clawdeen. Old habits die hard and, safe to say, she hadn’t made the best impression.
Oh, well. She could make up for it later, right?
Still, she found herself looking at Frankie for just a little bit longer than she should have been. This was… new for her. She had never considered she could be attracted to someone who wasn’t a man. Sure, she knew about Deuce and his two moms but Frankie was something entirely different. Yet, Cleo found that it didn't affect anything. No, she was attracted to Frankie the same way she had been attracted to Deuce, and that only meant trouble…
Frankie was in one of Cleo’s classes. That was a good thing, right? They sat in front of her, eager to learn about… whatever the class was about. Cleo didn’t really focus too much on whatever the teacher was saying - she was too focused on the monster in front of her.
“Cleo!” A voice demanded, disrupting the ghoul’s train of thought. “Cleo de Nile.” It was the teacher.
“Oh, uh, sorry sir. Could you repeat?” She replied sheepishly. The teacher scoffed.
“I said that you will be working with Frankie on the next group project,” he repeated, pointing to them. They turned around and smiled widely at Cleo. The teacher continued, quite firmly, “I expect you will be nice to them. After all, this is their first paired project.”
“Of course,” Cleo grinned easily, though she avoided Frankie’s gaze as she feared she might break.
“Very well,” the teacher huffed, then continued to ramble on to the rest of the class.
Frankie leaned closer to Cleo and whispered, “I’m so excited! I hardly know anything about werewolves!”
Cleo giggled and looked at them strangely, “Isn’t your best friend a werewolf?”
“Yes, that’s why I’m so excited to learn about it!” Their grin seemed to get wider and wider the more they thought about it and that made Cleo want to giggle. But she didn’t, mindful of where she was. Instead, she smiled and nodded, and that was the end of the conversation.
It left her longing for more, just a minute more of Frankie’s time and attention, but maybe that was too much to ask for. She held onto the hope that they would talk more over the next few weeks since Frankie at least seemed eager about the project.
Frankie pulled her aside after class next to the lockers where Cleo and Lagoona hung out, and they arranged a couple of times to meet up.
“Perfect!” Frankie said with a grin. “I’ll see you then, then!”
“Bye, bye,” Cleo cooed, then watched on adoringly as Frankie walked off.
It took her a few seconds to recognise that Lagoona had in fact been there the whole time. Lagoona turned to her slowly and looked her straight in the eye.
“Oh. My. Ra.” Lagoona said very slowly.
Cleo gulped and stared cautiously at the ghoul. “I…”
“Cleo!” Lagoona yelped and slapped the ghoul on the arm. Cleo couldn’t tell if it was enthusiastic or scolding. “Not again!”
Okay, it was definitely with enthusiasm. The giddy grin on her face told all.
“Lagoona, lower your voice,” Cleo whispered, pulling the ghoul into a huddle. “You cannot tell anyone about this, okay? They’ve only just joined the school!”
“I won’t! I won’t! You know me. I’m just… so happy for you!” Lagoona exclaimed, grabbing Cleo’s hands in her own and squeezing them tightly. “You’ve moved on!”
Cleo’s brows furrowed. “I have…” she murmured, then looked up at the locker across from them. Deuce’s locker. She shrugged and let a smile spread across her lips.
“What are you going to do about it then?” Lagoona asked excitedly.
Cleo smiled. “I suppose I’ll just have to test if they like me back.”
“Aren’t you a bit rusty in flirting?” Lagoona teased and Cleo huffed.
“Honey, I am the Queen of flirting,” Cleo crooned with a wink, and Lagoona let out a little giggle.
It turned out Cleo might not have been as good as she first thought.
With the excuse of their ‘project’ as a springboard, Cleo had met up with Frankie multiple times over the past few weeks. Yet, no matter how often Cleo would try and flirt with the monster, they seemed completely unreceptive.
For instance, when they went on a study ‘date’ to an ice cream parlour, Cleo ordered one scoop of blueberry and one scoop of pistachio. When she told Frankie that it reminded her of their eyes, they just agreed and went on to explain how heterochromia is a lot more prevalent than you might think. To be fair, getting to watch Frankie explain in detail about something they were passionate about made Cleo’s heart throb, but that's beside the point!
When Cleo would compliment their hair, Frankie would smile brightly and begin explaining how their parents constructed their highlights! When Cleo would wave them goodbye after their meetings, they wouldn’t stand and watch her go off in a lovesick gaze as she would! It was so frustrating!
But what was even more frustrating was the fact that it just made Cleo fall for them even more!
When it came to their final meeting, the day before the presentation, Cleo wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. This would be the last time she would have this excuse to see Frankie outside of the lessons they shared. Though they had been building a friendship over the past few weeks, Frankie seemed so much closer to their other friends, Clawdeen and Draculaura. What if they wouldn’t want to see her anymore once the project was done?
Cleo took a deep sigh and knocked on the door of Frankie’s dorm.
“Hey, Cleo!” Frankie said as they opened the door, letting Cleo in.
Cleo smiled and followed Frankie to their bed, sitting next to them. Frankie reached off to the side of the bed and laid down a pile of folders.
“Okay, so this should be all the stuff we need for our presentation,” they said and tucked a strand of hair behind their ear. “Do you want to run through it all now?”
“Yeah, sure!” Cleo agreed with a wide smile. Frankie smiled too and Cleo felt her heart melting.
“Okay then. Well, I was thinking we could alternate reading out paragraphs? You know, for some variety.”
“Perfect!” Cleo nodded happily.
“Great! Okay, let’s give it a go then.”
They proceeded to run through the script in several different ways. Cleo found herself staring at Frankie for just a little too long when it was their part. Though, no matter how strong her blush was, Frankie still didn’t seem to notice. They just continued on like nothing was happening.
As always…
Cleo tried to keep smiling, though it did confuse her to no end. How could Frankie be so… oblivious to it all?
“I’m so excited for this, Cleo!” Frankie told her once they were finished for the night. They were practically bouncing as they led her back to the door to leave. “We’ll do great, I’m sure of it!”
“You’ll do amazing, Frankie. You’re brilliant!” Cleo affirmed, patting Frankie on the arm.
Frankie smiled nervously and scratched a hand at the back of their neck. “Really? You think so?”
“Absolutely,” Cleo cooed then strutted down the hall. At least she managed to make them flustered! That was progress. Though, whether it was exactly romantic wasn’t entirely clear…
The presentation went well. Though, Cleo did find herself getting distracted whenever Frankie got a little too excited about what they were talking about. Once or twice she even missed her cues, which led to an awkward moment of silence before she had to quickly find her place. Which was embarrassing. But, Frankie seemed really happy by the end. (They even gave her a thumbs up, grin wide, once they finished, which was… enjoyable.)
Of course, it was all Lagoona could talk about afterwards.
“You are down so bad, ghoul,” Lagoona accused, to which Cleo tried adamantly to brush her off.
“Look, honestly, it’s not that serious,” Cleo tried to explain, but it was clear she was lying. It was so deep. Way, way, way too deep!
“The way you look at them! Cleo, I would kill for a monster to look at me like that,” Lagoona insisted.
Cleo looked down at her feet. “I… Okay, so maybe I do like them. Like, a lot. But I don’t know what to do, Lagoona! Every hint I drop they just don’t get.” Cleo sighed deeply. “I think… they just don’t like me back.”
“Oh, Cleo. I don’t think that’s it. Maybe you should just give them time,” Lagoona suggested. “I heard they’re pretty new to this whole… being alive thing.”
“Oh,” Cleo breathed out, then looked up at Lagoona inquisitively. “How do you think I should go about it then? How can I make them see that I like them?”
“Well, Draculaura and I arranged a ghoul’s night out for next Friday. Maybe I can convince her to bring Frankie along, if you’d like to come too?”
“Well, if Frankie’s going…”
Lagoona smiled and squeezed Cleo’s hands. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Cleo didn’t quite think it was real when she was huddled in a dorm room with Draculaura, Lagoona and, of course, Frankie Stein. Though Lagoona and Frankie were debating in the corner over what skirts they should wear, meanwhile herself and Draculaura were fighting over the mirror.
“I need to see myself to do my eyeliner, Cleo!” Draculaura grunted, nudging Cleo out of the eyeline of the mirror.
“Well, I have eyeliner to do too!” Cleo disputed.
“You literally have permanent eyeliner!” Draculaura bit back.
Eventually, the two ghouls finally ceased their arguing and everyone was ready to go out.
“Wow, Frankie, love the skirt,” Cleo complimented and Frankie smiled brightly.
“Thank you, Cleo!”
Cleo looked over at Lagoona and raised her eyebrows. Lagoona smiled and tapped her nose.
Just give them time…
Cleo sighed and followed Lagoona out of the dorm. This was hopeless, wasn’t it?
The four of them made their way to the party’s venue. It was a pretty big place and it was certainly lively! Cleo couldn’t help but smile at how Frankie’s eyes lit up in excitement as soon as they entered.
Lagoona ran off and quickly came back with four cups of punch and the four of them soon made their way onto the dancefloor.
Cleo let herself enjoy the music, dancing and swaying in the excitement of it all, but she found herself stopping when she noticed Frankie’s awkward, clunky movements.
“You look like you’re having fun!” Frankie shouted to her over the music.
Cleo giggled and nodded. “I love to dance,” she replied.
Frankie tried awkwardly to replicate her movements and Cleo shook her head. “C’mon,” Cleo said, reaching out her hand to Frankie, who hesitantly accepted it, “follow my lead.”
Cleo began to twirl Frankie around by their arms, moving in time to the music. Frankie giggled and began to follow along with Cleo’s movements. Then, suddenly Cleo lost her footing and she felt herself start to fall backwards. What she didn’t expect was for Frankie to hook their arm under her and stop her from falling.
“W-Woah there,” Frankie said with an awkward smile. They stayed in that awkward position for a few moments before Cleo quickly stood up straight.
“Oh Ra! How embarrassing…” Cleo chuckled out nervously.
“Are you okay?” Frankie asked, looking down at Cleo’s ankle.
Cleo put on a wide smile and nodded her head. “Yes! Yes. Of course. I’m so sorry about that. I guess I got carried away…”
“So, uh, are parties always this loud and bright?” Frankie asked quietly, changing the subject.
Cleo’s smile softened. “How are you holding up? Do you think they’re your thing?”
“It’s fun!” Frankie hummed. “I enjoyed dancing with you. Though, I’m not sure I could do this all the time.”
“Ah, are you more of a quiet night in kind-of-monster, then?” Cleo teased.
“I think it depends,” Frankie shrugged. “What about you?”
“Well, believe it or not, I think I’d have to agree.”
Cleo looked down at the ground, flustered. Frankie was also avoiding her gaze.
“Hey, you two!” Draculaura’s voice called from about a metre away. “Lagoona’s ride is here! If you want a lift, we need to get going!”
“Alright!” Frankie called back, then subtly nodded their head at Cleo. “You ready?”
Cleo smiled and nodded.
Cleo told Lagoona all about it the next day.
“See, Cleo! I knew it would be a good idea!”
“They were really nice,” Cleo sighed happily, reminiscing about the night. “I feel like we really bonded.”
“You should totally ask them out!” Lagoona squealed, but Cleo adamantly shook her head.
“I can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“Because…” Cleo paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. “I don’t know. I’ve just… never asked anyone out before. Isn’t that supposed to be the boy’s job?”
“Yeah, well Frankie isn’t a boy, Cleo!” Lagoona pointed out with a big grin. “This relationship is going to be… different from your other ones. And maybe that means you’ll have to take on a different role.”
“I don’t know if I can. I mean, I get flustered around them as it is. It’s… so not like me!”
“Oh, Cleo,” Lagonna sighed sympathetically. “You’re hopeless, you know that?”
“I do,” Cleo admitted, with a dry chuckle. Lagoona smiled.
“I suppose we’ll just have to see what happens…”
It was strange when, for the next week or so, Cleo felt something (or maybe someone?) following her. She couldn't really explain, but it felt as though everywhere she went there was this… presence behind her.
Cleo tried to ignore it, but it started to overcrowd her mind. What is it called… paranoia? When it is all you can think about but there's no rational explanation why?
Cleo was practically praying for a distraction when Frankie walked up to her at the lunch table.
"O-Oh, hey Frankie," Cleo said, trying to not come across as nervous.
Frankie smiled and eyed the seat next to her. "Is that seat taken?"
Cleo thought briefly about Lagoona but decided she wouldn't mind and shook her head. "Of course not. Sit down."
Frankie did so and placed their tray next to hers.
"So, how's your week been?"
Cleo gulped nervously. "Oh, you know…" She murmured with a quiet giggle. "Same old."
Frankie looked at her in concern anyway and asked, "Are you okay, Cleo? You seem nervous…"
"I…" Cleo stammered. She looked down at her hands and sighed. "I'm just a bit out of it, that's all."
"Oh, what's wrong?" Frankie asked gently.
Cleo shook her head. "It's nothing. I'm just being a bit paranoid, I guess."
"Paranoid?" Frankie repeated, now sounding a bit nervous themself. "W-Why? What's on your mind?"
"I dunno, I just feel like I'm being followed all the time. It's strange. I mean, I'm sure it's nothing, but…"
Cleo finally looked up at Frankie and noticed the deer-in-headlights expression on their face. Subtle sparks were bouncing off the bolts on their neck and the twitching hand behind their head told all.
"Frankie…?" Cleo prompted, unsurely. "What's… going on?"
Frankie gulped. "I… It's a long story."
Cleo looked at them intently for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Well, I'm happy to hear it."