On Monday morning, Frankie woke up feeling less than sparktacular. Though she and her ghoulfriends had searched for Zappit all day on Sunday—the last day of their scaremester break—her sweet little pet was nowhere to be found. She and her parents and ghoulfriends had looked everywhere, but it was as though the little beast had simply disappeared. They had run out of ideas about where to search, and Frankie was sick with worry. She spent Sunday night curled up with Watzit, who happily gave her the extra helping of cuddles she needed.

As Frankie got ready for her first day back at school, the only thing keeping her from short-circuiting in a pool of tears was the fact that she would get to meet her new Monster Exchange buddy that morning. Even though she had lost her pet and was probably about to fail her assignment, at least she got to make a new ghoulfriend and be a part of making someone else’s day go well. That was enough to energize her at least a little bit.

Frankie smiled as she remembered the advice Draculaura had given her the previous day. “You have to believe in your bolts that Zappit will be okay,” Draculaura had told her. “And until you find her, you should try to think about something else—something fangtastic, like meeting Isi Dawndancer and giving her a totes amazing welcome to Monster High!” Frankie knew Draculaura was right—she had to focus on helping Isi Dawndancer have a great first day at Monster High.

As she got dressed, Frankie thought about how grateful she was that Draculaura had bought her the new skirt. Having a creepy-cool outfit ready meant she didn’t have to waste any extra time on choosing something to wear, and she was able to spend a few minutes before school searching and putting up MISSING posters. But still, she had no idea where else she could look to find Zappit. She just couldn’t imagine where the little creature might have gone.

Frankie arrived at the headmistress’s office about twenty minutes before school began, eager to meet Isi Dawndancer. When she got there, a ghoul came dancing over to her and asked, “Any chance you’re Frankie Stein?”

Frankie looked at her, surprised. “I am.” The ghoul seemed to be bursting with energy, and her outfit was to die for—a loose, flowy turquoise minidress and killer fringed boots. As she spun and danced in the hall beside Frankie, her dress fanned out around her.

The ghoul grinned and said, “I’m Isi Dawndancer, one of the new Monster Exchange students starting at Monster High today. I’m here on an exchange from Boo Hexico, and I just heard you’re going to be my Monster Exchange buddy. I’m so excited to be here!” Isi’s eyes sparkled in the lights of the hall as she spun and danced to a silent beat.

“Oh!” Frankie exclaimed. “If you’re Isi, then yes! I was chosen to be your Monster Exchange buddy. Maybe you already know this, but that means I will show you around to your classes and introduce you to some of the other students. I’m going to do everything I can to help you feel at home here at Monster High!” Frankie beamed at Isi. They were going to be fast ghoulfriends—Frankie could tell already!

Isi nodded enthusiastically. “The headmistress told me all about you. I was a little nervous about this Monster Exchange, but I just have a feeling I’m meant to be here at Monster High with all of you.”

Frankie realized that her new ghoulfriend had barely stood still since they had met. “I’m getting the impression you really like to dance, huh?” Frankie said. She couldn’t help but feel energized around Isi.

“I love to dance!” Isi exclaimed. Then she patted her skirt flat and stood still. She looked a little embarrassed. “Dancing is sort of my thing. Sometimes, I just can’t help myself, and I break out into spontaneous dance. I feel the movement washing over me and I go with it.” She shrugged. “Totally freaky, right?”

“Freaky-fab for sure,” Frankie replied, laughing. “If dancing’s your thing, then go for it!” At Monster High, everyone had something that set them apart… something that made them totally unique and different from all the other students. That’s what made it such a special place to go to school—everyone’s freaky flaws were recognized and, better yet, appreciated and celebrated. It was one of the things Frankie loved most about Monster High.

As she watched Isi twirl gracefully around her, Frankie thought about the Fearleading squad and said, “My ghoulfriend Cleo de Nile is going to love meeting you!”

Just then, Frankie noticed two other unfamiliar ghouls standing nearby. The headmistress stepped out of her office and said, “Ah, Frankie. I see you’ve already met your Monster Exchange buddy, Isi Dawndancer. Isi is the daughter of a deer spirit! I hope you’re getting to know each other. This is Batsy Claro and Kjersti Trollsønn. They’re the two other students who will be joining us this scaremester.”

Kjersti Trollsønn, the daughter of a troll, looked up from her handheld video game and briefly made eye contact with Frankie. Frankie said a quick hello and complimented the new ghoul on her scary-cute retro-looking skirt. Kjersti reminded Frankie a bit of her ghoulfriend Ghoulia Yelps. Ghoulia always had her nose in a book or game, just like Kjersti did at the moment.

“Kjersti is from Goreway,” Headmistress Bloodgood continued. “Her parents are off on an expedition, so she’ll be spending the scaremester with us at Monster High.” The headmistress looked up and smiled as Ghoulia slowly slumped toward them in the hall. “Ah, here’s your Monster Exchange buddy now, Kjersti. Ghoulia, I believe you and Kjersti have met already and will continue to get along very well.” Frankie smiled to herself at the perfect match as the headmistress added, “Thank you for agreeing to keep Kjersti company in her first week at Monster High, Ghoulia.”

Ghoulia lifted her nose out of her book, pushed her red cat’s-eye glasses up on her nose, and blinked. Ghoulia and Kjersti nodded hello to each other, then quietly made their way down the hall side by side, each lost in her own world.

Batsy Claro, the daughter of a white vampire bat was, on the other hand, quite chatty. “Hi,” she said to Frankie. “I’m visiting from Costa Shrieka. Have you ever been to the jungle?”

“No,” Frankie said, her eyes wide. “I would love to see it sometime, though!” Frankie took in Batsy’s voltageous outfit—it was bright and cheerful, all vibrant pinks and greens, like a vase of fresh-cut flowers.

When Frankie complimented Batsy’s outfit and told her what it reminded her of, Batsy looked alarmed. “Oh! One should never cut flowers from the soil simply to put them in a vase, where their only purpose would be to wilt and die. Flora is meant to be worshipped in its natural habitat.”

“I guess I never thought about it that way,” Frankie said with a small shrug. She felt a little awkward until Batsy smiled at her, and then Frankie realized that Batsy hadn’t been scolding her—just sharing her opinion. Before the ghouls could talk more, Headmistress Bloodgood continued her introduction. “Batsy and I met when she took me and some of the other Monster High teachers on a tour around the jungle last summer,” she explained to Frankie. “I learned quite a lot about the exotic animals and the beauty of the Costa Shriekan jungle. Batsy has a true appreciation for the natural world around her. She’s a real outdoor lover.”

“Maybe sometime you could show me around Costa Shrieka?” Frankie asked. “I’d love to see the jungle and learn more about it.”

Batsy nodded enthusiastically, and her grin widened. “It would be an honor.”

The headmistress nodded and then gestured down the hallway. “Ah, and here comes Venus McFlytrap. Batsy, I think Venus will make an excellent Monster Exchange buddy for you. Let me introduce you to each other.” Batsy waved good-bye, and she and the headmistress walked away, leaving Frankie and Isi alone again.

Frankie realized that the headmistress had worked really hard to pair up the new ghouls with buddies who would be a perfect fit—so that meant she also thought Frankie and Isi would make a perfect pair of ghoulfriends! Frankie felt even more sure that they were destined to be beasties. She wondered briefly how Isi would fit in with Clawdeen and Draculaura. Would they feel an instant connection to the new ghoul too? She was sure they could all work it out.

“So, have you met anyone else at Monster High yet?” Frankie asked Isi as they set off in search of Isi’s locker.

“Just one ghoul,” Isi said, her face lighting up. “Her name is Twyla. We met for a fleeting moment under the light of a golden moon, back home before I left—Twyla is part of the reason I’m here actually.”

Frankie knew Twyla too. She was a very sweet ghoul who was also a bit shy. “Well, we’ll have to find Twyla later so you two can get caught up.”

As Frankie helped Isi unload her things into her locker, Isi said, “I’m so glad to have you helping me out this week. It was really hard for me to leave my family and all the animals that surround our home. The birds of the air and the beasts of the field are all my friends back in Boo Hexico. I miss the forest creatures so much already. It’s going to be difficult being away from them and my family for so many months.”

Frankie couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be away from home for so long! She felt even more determined to make sure Isi felt totally at home at Monster High. She smiled at her new ghoulfriend and placed a hand on her shoulder. “All of us at Monster High will feel like family to you soon enough—just wait and see!”

Isi smiled back, and Frankie hoped that she had made her feel at least a little bit better. “Do you have a big family in Boo Hexico?” she asked.

“Yes. And we are all very close.”

“I would love to have a large family,” Frankie said wistfully. “At least, I think I would. Clawdeen Wolf—she’s one of my beast ghoulfriends and you’ll meet her soon—has a huge family, and she’s always telling me it’s not always as great as it seems. But I think it would be amazing to have a pack like Clawdeen’s. Always someone to hang out with, all that energy surrounding you day after day…”

Before Isi could say anything more, Cleo de Nile came around the corner. “Are you ready for your project presentation, Frankie?” Cleo asked with a friendly smile.

Frankie cringed. For just a few minutes, she had forgotten about her doomed project presentation and her missing pet. She checked the time and realized she and Isi had to hustle if they were going to make it to class on time. She didn’t want Isi to be late on her first day! “As ready as I can be…” she said with a worried smile. Then she introduced Isi to Cleo.

Cleo stepped forward with a huge smile and said, “Well, hello there,” as she brushed her shimmering hair off her shoulders. “I’m sure I need no introduction?” Cleo was the daughter of Egyptian royalty, the captain of the Fearleading squad, and one of the most popular ghouls at Monster High. It wasn’t unusual for her to assume someone new to Monster High already knew who she was! But Isi didn’t seem to mind. She smiled warmly at Cleo and introduced herself. A moment later, Cleo spotted her sweetie, Deuce Gorgon, and said, “Gotta go—but I’m sure I’ll see you around!”

As they made their way toward class, Frankie told Isi all about the independent study projects that were due that day. “I’m really nervous about standing up there to give my presentation,” Frankie admitted, leading Isi to a seat in the middle of the classroom.

“Presentations make me nervous too,” Isi said sympathetically. “With bright lights shining right in my eyes, I tend to freeze up.”

Frankie nodded. “Exactly. Also, things didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped they would. I had this plan to bring in a special invention I made in my dad’s lab, but—”

Before Frankie could tell Isi anything more about what had happened with Zappit, Mr. Rotter came into the room and asked everyone to be seated so class could begin. Frankie was sorry she couldn’t tell Isi the rest of the story—she felt sure that Isi would understand how hard it had been for Frankie to lose her new creature, especially since Isi had told her about her close relationship with the animals that lived near her home in Boo Hexico.

“I’m sure you’ll be fawntastic,” Isi whispered, giving Frankie a reassuring smile.

But Frankie wasn’t so sure. She had pictures of her time in the lab to share, but that was it—after all that hard work, she didn’t have much to show for it. Would anyone believe that her project had been a success? Her dear, sweet Zappit was gone, and Frankie’s project was incomplete. She’d hoped to demonstrate how her little pet could spin and dance around the table, and let everyone hear her adorable little roar. Oh well, Frankie thought. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

“We have a lot of project presentations to look forward to today,” Mr. Rotter said. “So we had best get started. I trust you all had a productive scaremester break, and that I will be impressed with the work you’ve done?” There was a murmur of agreement from all the students in class. The presentations began, and as student after student was called up to share their work, Frankie grew more and more nervous.

Then, near the end of class, she heard her name: “Frankie Stein? Are you ready to share your project with the class?”