As soon as Frankie returned home from her visit to the headmistress’s office the next morning, she hustled to her dad’s lab. Watzit trailed behind her, yapping at her legs, begging for a game of fetch. Frankie had a feeling her pet could sense that the scaremester break was almost over, and he was trying to spend as much time with her as possible. She loved having so much time to play with him and knew she would miss their special cuddle time when she was back at school all day the next week.
“It’s alive!” Mr. Stein bellowed when he saw his daughter round the corner into his part of the lab. A portion of the laboratory had been carved out to use as Frankie’s bedroom when she was brought to life, and it was Frankie’s very favorite place to fang out—but the other side of the lab remained Mr. Stein’s lair.
Frankie laughed. “Yes, Dad, I’m alive,” she agreed. “Just like yesterday and the day before and the day before that and…” She glanced around the lab, curious about which of the mysterious machines and tools they would be using to build her creation.
“And how are you this morning, my greatest creation?” Frankie’s dad put down a beaker filled with yellow liquid and turned off a machine that was buzzing loudly nearby. Frankie loved that her dad was always willing to set everything else aside for a chat with her. She knew he was very busy with his work, but he always had time for her. And she felt a little jolt of happiness each and every time her dad referred to her as his greatest creation.
“I’m sparktacular actually,” Frankie said, beaming. “If you have a couple of minutes, I need to talk to you about something important.”
“Excellent,” Mr. Stein said. “Let’s head up to the kitchen and discuss it over a coffincino. Your mom is always telling me I should step out of the lab for a few minutes each day to get some fresh air. Sound good?”
“Yes. And I agree with Mom. You spend so much time down here. I could help you redecorate the space a little bit—add a few personal touches, so it’s not so… ‘lab-ish’?”
“What’s wrong with ‘lab-ish’?” Mr. Stein asked.
Frankie took another look around. The space was filled with rusty machines and colorful beakers of liquid and creations that were half-assembled. In its own way, the lab was pretty creeperific. It was certainly decorated in a different style than Draculaura’s castle or Cleo de Nile’s elegant palace, but Frankie liked it and realized she felt comfortable here. Maybe lab chic was her thing?
Back upstairs, Frankie got herself a snack and settled in at the table across from her dad. Frankie’s mom looked up from her book and smiled. “Good morning, sweetheart. Anything special planned for today?”
Frankie briefly told her parents how she was hoping to be chosen as one of the Monster Exchange program buddies. “I would love to show one of the new ghouls around school!”
“Well,” said her mom, “it sounds like a really nice way to help out. I’m glad you’re stepping up to be a part of it.”
Frankie’s dad took a sip of his coffincino and coughed. “Hot! Ow, that’s hot! I really ought to build a coffincino machine that brews coffee at just the right temperature. It comes out of our machine too hot.” He ripped a scrap of paper off the bottom of Frankie’s mom’s newspaper and jotted a note to himself.
“Perhaps,” Mrs. Stein suggested, giving him a sideways look, “if you just took a moment to sit and relax while your coffee cooled, you wouldn’t always burn yourself. You are allowed to slow down and relax every now and again.…”
Mr. Stein grinned sheepishly. “I could do that too. But there’s just so much to do, and so little time!” He turned to Frankie. “You said you wanted to talk about something. Now, what’s on your mind?”
“I have such a voltageous idea I can hardly stand it!” She pushed aside her plate and continued. “I’d like to work with you to build something of my very own in the lab!” The smile that crept onto her dad’s face made Frankie’s heart swell with happiness. “We were assigned a project over the scaremester break. It’s an independent study project of our choice—and I want to do something that will show the other students at Monster High who I am and what it’s like to be in my family. I think the best way to show everyone a little something about who we are would be to build something in the lab! With you, Dad! We get to present our project on Monday, the day we get back from break.”
Frankie’s dad was nodding enthusiastically as he took in everything his daughter had said, but her mom looked less excited. Frankie’s mom spoke first. “This project is due on Monday? And we’re just hearing about it… now? That’s three days away!”
“Frankie, this is so last-minute!” her mother scolded. “You’re usually much better about staying on top of your homework.”
“I know,” Frankie said with a sigh. “It took me a long time to come up with the perfect idea. But it can be done! Right, Dad?”
Mr. Stein gulped down the last of his still-scalding coffincino. He cringed, his face turning bright red from the burning coffee. “So hot!” he cried, then leaped to his feet. “But a few coffee burns are certainly worth it, in the name of science and inventions. Of course this can be done, Frankie! No challenge is too great for a great inventor. But if we’re going to make something truly spooktacular, we need to get started right away.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” Frankie cheered.
Frankie’s mom couldn’t help but smile at her husband’s and daughter’s enthusiasm. “All right, it sounds like you two had better get to work!” she said. “But, Frankie, keep in mind that leaving things until the last minute is never a good idea. Please try harder to stay on top of your assignments and responsibilities in the future.…”
Frankie met her mom’s eyes and nodded solemnly. “I promise, Mom.”
“Okay, then get to work!” her mom replied, giving her a quick hug.
Feeling so excited that her stitches could burst, Frankie made her way down to the lab after her father. “So, here’s what I was thinking,” she began. “What if I build myself a new pet? I feel so bad about leaving Watzit home alone while I’m at school all day, and it could be fun for us to create a new little critter for him to play with. What do you think?”
“Hmmm,” Mr. Stein said. “A new pet, eh?”
“Or we could try to make me a sister?” she said with a sly smile. “Or a brother. A little brother could be just as interesting as a sister.…”
“Frankie,” Mr. Stein said in a warning tone. “You know that’s out of the question at the moment. My work to build you took years, and we only have three days, so we need to be reasonable—”
Frankie nodded, giggling. “I know, I know. I just like to remind you, every now and again, that it would be nice to have a sister or brother sometime.”
Mr. Stein shook his head. “Enough discussion of siblings for now. Don’t you think we already make a nice little family of three? You’re certainly more amazing than your mother and I ever could have hoped for.”
Frankie laughed. “Just consider it—but for now, do you think we really could make another pet? Watzit would be so excited!” At her feet, Watzit sat and wagged his tail happily. “See? He loves the idea of me building him a new fiend!”
“I suppose a new pet is a possibility,” Mr. Stein replied. “Have you drawn up any plans? Of course, that’s the first step to every great invention: a plan!”
“As a matter of fact, I have,” Frankie said proudly. She had been watching her father’s work closely enough from afar that she already knew how important it was to plan before just jumping into things. She grabbed the designs she had sketched the night before and that morning and set them on the lab bench. “Ta-da!”
Mr. Stein leaned in close. Frankie waited nervously for him to say something. Eventually, he murmured, “Ah yes… I see… I like what you’ve done here. Yes, yes, this is brilliant.”
“Really?” Frankie squealed. She had drawn up designs for a tiny critter, just about the same size as Watzit. Her body would be stitched together using spare parts that were lying around the lab—there were plenty to choose from! Frankie had seen some creeperific plaid fabric in Clawdeen’s bedroom and hoped she might be able to persuade her friend to sew her new pet and Watzit matching sweaters. They would be so scary-cute! She was thrilled to hear that her dad was impressed.
“Before we begin,” Mr. Stein said, bustling around the lab, “I need to go through some important rules for the lab. Safety is essential, of course—and I want you to feel totally comfortable while you’re working in here. When an inventor feels relaxed and confident in the lab, that’s when the best ideas emerge.”
For the next hour, Mr. Stein walked Frankie all around the lab, showing her how everything worked. He introduced her to machines whose names she couldn’t pronounce, and let her touch substances that were so powerful that—if mixed incorrectly—could destroy Monster High.
Frankie was overwhelmed by everything and quickly realized that what her father did for a living was way more complicated than she had realized. But as he spoke, she took careful notes and felt like she was really able to follow along. She was totally at home in the lab—just like her dad—and couldn’t wait to get started!
She was so eager, in fact, that when her dad stepped around to the back of a machine to fix a loose wire and it took longer than a few moments, Frankie decided to start working on her project on her own. She grabbed the welder her dad had showed her how to use and fused two pieces of sheet metal together into something that would work perfectly as the back and shoulders of her new pet. Then she found four tubes that would work as legs and began sawing at them to make them equal lengths. She didn’t want any rough edges, so Frankie carefully buffed them all until they were smooth. She could feel the energy coursing through her body—the lab made her feel every bit as alive as a full electrical charge. No wonder her dad loved inventing so much!
Mr. Stein stood proudly to the side and watched as his daughter rushed around the lab, pushing buttons and letting sparks fly. Her hair stood on end, and her skin glowed an even brighter green than usual. Though Frankie still had a lot to learn, her dad chose to stay out of her way so she could learn through trial and error. After all, he knew his greatest inventions had come after many false starts.
Frankie flipped a switch on one of the machines and felt a jolt. Zap! She was blasted backward. She crashed into the lab table behind her, sending a beaker filled with lime-green goo spilling onto the table. The thick liquid oozed over the table’s black surface, leaving a bright green trail in its wake. Several drops of the goo splattered onto the floor, where they exploded with a pop!
Now Mr. Stein jumped into action. He grabbed a cloth and tossed it onto the spill—but he wasn’t quite fast enough. Some of the green goo had oozed under a pile of spare parts that were waiting to be used for something later. Coated in the thick green liquid, the spare parts began to zap and fizz like fireworks. Frankie and her dad dived for cover under a lab bench.
Frankie’s eyes were wide. She felt awful! This was her first time working in the lab, and she had scared up a disaster. “I’m so sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean for this to happen! I can’t believe I made such a big mistake.…”
But to her relief, Mr. Stein laughed. “Frankie, this is all part of being an inventor—sometimes, things go according to plan; other times, they do not. It’s all part of the process!”
Another pop rocked the room, and the buzzing sounds intensified. Mr. Stein shrugged his shoulders and said, “Luckily, this is all easily fixed. No worries, dear.” He patted Frankie on the cheek. “Your next task is to clean up and begin again. After all, nothing great was ever created without a few problems along the way.”