The next day Franny went to school as herself. There was no reason to pretend anymore. The kids were afraid of her and probably always would be. Worse yet, Miss Shelly was probably afraid of her now too.
Franny opened the door to her classroom slowly. Suddenly a giant cheer went up from the kids inside.
“Hooray for Franny!” they yelled. “Hooray, hooray, hooray!”
Franny looked around, stunned. The kids were all hugging her and thanking her for saving them.
“Thank you,” Miss Shelly said and hugged her closest of all.
Franny was shocked. She fumbled over her words. “Uh, you’re welcome.”
“Your monster fixed the flagpole and the wall,” Miss Shelly said. “And it did such a great job, the principal wants to hire it to work here.”
The Lunch-Meat Monster waved and grinned proudly.
“You’re the coolest, Franny!” the kids shouted.
“You’re not scared of me?” Franny asked.
“Well, it would be hard not to be a little scared. I mean, you did make a monster out of cold cuts,” one girl said. “But still, you’re our friend. And that makes it all okay.”
“Friend!” Franny said. “Yeah, I am your friend. Just the way I am, just the way you are. Friends!”
