Clawdeen was finally ready to reveal her monster style designs to her ghoulfriends. They’d all come together in the art studio. They crowded around a giant display hidden under a tarp. Everyone had her eyes shut, waiting for the big moment.
“No peeking,” said Clawdeen nervously. “Okay, ghouls. Here goes!”
Clawdeen took a big breath and whipped off the tarp. Beneath it was an array of mannequins, each one dressed in a spooktacular style. Flared skirts, lightning-bolt collars, bat-wing sleeves, and stylish belts.
“Creeperific!” gushed Draculaura.
“You are so talented,” Ari complimented her.
“You really like them?” Clawdeen was smiling, pleased.
Draculaura nodded. “I can’t wait to wear these at the salon opening tonight. They are fangtastic!” Draculaura was touching the fabric of one dress, impressed.
“Thanks.” Clawdeen blushed. She exhaled at last. She’d done it. “All my inspiration was thanks to you and the ghouls. But I still think there is something missing…”
Frankie burst into the room, late, carrying an armful of notebooks and books. She was charging around in circles, unable to stand still, and talking a mile a minute as if she’d just drank four extra-strong Mummy Mochas. “Hey, sorry I’m late, but I just got this big burst of energy, so I decided to take a walk around the school fourteen times, you know, after I did the Humanology reading assignment…” She threw all the books in her arms up in the air.
“Who broke Frankie?” Clawdeen whispered to Draculaura, worried. Something was clearly the matter with her. But what?
Frankie fritzed and fizzled, a bundle of sizzling energy. She kept on talking without even pausing for a breath. “Oh, and then I did the rest of the reading for the next two semesters.” Her eyes widened when she spotted the mannequins. “Oh! Those looks are so voltageous! I knew you could do it! Hey, do I sound like I’m talking fast? I’m talking fast, aren’t I?”
Frankie was so jittery that she was pacing back and forth while she talked. Her arms were flinging this way and that, and she bumped into one of the mannequins and knocked it over. Little sparks were exploding all around her.
“Um, Frankie?” called Ari, trying to catch her attention.
“Frankie! Frankie, slow down!” Draculaura said to her friend. She rushed over to her. “How many Mummy Mochas did you drink?”
But Frankie was so hyper she could barely take in her friends’ words. “Why? I’ve never been so full of energy! That’s a great idea! I’ll go get us all some Mummy Mochas. I’ll be right back!”
Clawdeen reached out a hand to stop her. Zap! Frankie electrocuted her!
“Whoa!” Clawdeen exclaimed. “No, no, no, why don’t we sit down for a minute?” She guided Frankie over to a chair, making sure not to touch her again. The others gathered around, concerned.
Frankie was shaking and twitching. Her arms flailed uncontrollably. Her eyes were wide and unfocused.
Ari shook her head. “It’s like there’s too much electricity inside her. She’s all amped up.”
Frankie’s hand brushed against one of the dresses! Zap!
“Oh no! My dress!” exclaimed Clawdeen. All her hard work! What had Frankie’s electricity done? Was it ruined?
Absolutely not!
The place that Frankie had touched sizzled and sparked. The threads began to glitter and glow! The dress was electrified, and it looked fangtastic!
Frankie didn’t even hear the other ghouls speaking. She placed her hands on another dress, and once again glowing streaks of shimmering energy spread across it.
“Amazing!” agreed Draculaura.
Clawdeen was stunned. “Ahoo!” she howled. “This is what my outfits were missing! A power-station salon deserves electric fashion!”
The ghouls grinned, but Frankie just looked down at her hands. She had no idea what was happening. Bright streams of electricity were jumping between her fingertips! She touched another dress. Zowie! It lit up. She grazed her fingers over an outfit and it sparkled. Soon every dress was electrified!
Clawdeen was thrilled. Now she really was almost ready for the opening. All she needed was a fashion show run-through—for their classmates. Lagoona turned up the music and the ghouls started getting ready. Clawdeen would make a last-minute fix to an outfit, and Frankie would electrify it! After a break for Mummy Mochas, the ghouls picked out the dresses they were going to model and helped style one another’s hair.
In the main hallway, the lights dimmed dramatically. Students stopped at their lockers, looking around.
“What’s going on?” monsters wondered.
A beam of light fell on Ari, standing at the top of the stairs. “Presenting Miss Clawdeen Wolf’s Fierce Electric Fashions!”
“Oh cool!”
“Hey, look!”
“A show?”
“A show!”
The ghouls made their entrance wearing Clawdeen’s voltageous fashions.
“Look at those ghouls!” Silvi loved the new line of clothes!
Venus clapped her hands. “Bright lights meets frights!”
“Shock and awesome!” exclaimed Silvi.
The ghouls strutted down the steps, stopping now and then like models on the runway.
Ghouls rushed up to Clawdeen, wanting to know how they could wear one of these clawesome styles.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Can I get one? Can I get one?”
“We are really turning some heads!” Ari was so happy Clawdeen’s outfits were a success!
The band had broken off fighting with one another long enough to see what was going on inside the school. Bonesy and Skelly’s skulls spun around. Wow!
“Sweet!” said Deuce. His snakes hissed.
They couldn’t believe what Clawdeen had come up with—especially Rayth, who had a crush on her.
“Hey, Cl-Clawdeen,” he stammered. “You look, um—I mean you and the ghouls are, like, um—you are very…” He scratched his hair nervously. “Hey!” he added, holding up his guitar. “Did I mention we started a band?”
Clawdeen blushed. “Thank you, Rayth.”
The ghouls passed through the crowd, their high heels clicking on the marble floors. They made their way to a classroom to take a break from all the excitement. The fashion run-through had been a success, but now they had to get ready for the opening itself.
Frankie was looking a little paler than usual. She’d lost some electricity making the dresses shimmer, but she still didn’t feel like herself.
“Are you okay?” asked Draculaura.
“It still feels like there’s a little electricity left. Maybe I can…” She shook her hands as if they had fallen asleep and she was trying to wake them up. She shook them harder. Tiny sparks flew out of her fingertips. She shook them even harder, and a giant ball of energy shot out of her hand and rocketed around the room.
The shining orb was literally bouncing off the walls! It ricocheted off the window. The ghouls ducked down to avoid getting hit by it as it flew past them. Wherever it hit, it left a black char mark.
“Look out!” called Clawdeen.
The ghouls dove out of the way. The ball crashed right where they had been standing—and created a huge smoking crater in the middle of the hall.
The ghouls were coughing and rubbing their eyes.
“Zzzzzznap!” A tiny face poked out of the crater. He was bright yellow with spikes of blue and yellow hair and wide electric-blue eyes.
“Awwww!” gushed the ghouls.
“Adorbs!” said Draculaura, looking at the tiny round creature with giant eyes and little ears. “What is it?’
“Zzzznap!” it said again.
Frankie giggled. “I guess it’s a ‘znap’!”
“Znap! Znap!” The little creature jumped up and down.
Clawdeen reached down to shake its little paw. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Znap.” She jumped backward. He had shocked her! “Maybe we can just bow?” she suggested.
Znap floated through the air right toward Frankie. He floated around her, studying her. She looked at him. He landed on her arm with a fireworks display of sparks. Frankie’s hair stood straight up! She laughed, delighted. She didn’t mind getting a little shocked.
“So, ghouls,” Ari said. “Now that we have our fierce new looks, what do you say we head over to the power station and see if Cleo’s ready for tonight?”
Frankie took out her iCoffin to see if she had any messages. She frowned. Why hadn’t she heard from Twyla? “Let me catch up with you,” she said to the others. “I have to check on something first.”
Frankie took off out the front door before her friends could protest. For a moment, Znap hesitated. Should he stay or should he go? He looked at Frankie. He didn’t ever want to be apart from her, and he buzzed through the air right after her devotedly. Wherever she went, he would follow!