You’ve been really quiet today, Cleo,” Draculaura said, nudging her ghoulfriend and captain during fearleading practice the next afternoon. The ghouls of the fearleading squad had stopped to take a water break and go over the steps one more time. Hard as she tried, Draculaura just couldn’t seem to get the end of the routine down. Cleo was hoping a short break might help her ghoulfriend refocus on the steps, and then they could finally nail the piece.

“Have I?” Cleo said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She waved at Deuce, who was playing Casketball with some of his friends on the other side of the Monster High gym. With all the excitement over her mother’s arrival and preparations for her welcome-home ball, Cleo hadn’t gotten to speak to him all day. “I guess I’m just worried about perfecting our new dance. I’m also really wrapped up in my mother’s welcome-home ball. It’s going to be a huge event, and I want everything to go perfectly. I’m sure it will, but there are just so many details to figure out that I’m a little distracted.”

“I’m totes excited about it!” Draculaura squealed. “When does your mother arrive? Are you nervous to see her after so much time has passed?”

Cleo gave a dismissive wave. She hadn’t told any of her ghoulfriends yet that her mom had already arrived… because she hadn’t quite figured out how to tell them that all the memories of her mom had turned out to be very different from the woman who was now living in their house. She was hoping that after her mother had a day or two to settle in, she might start to resemble the mother Cleo had promised all her friends. “She actually arrived last night,” Cleo said, forcing a smile. “She’s… here!”

“Is she everything you remembered and more?” Frankie asked eagerly, joining their conversation.

“Did she bring a huge trunk full of glamorous clothes with her from Egypt?” Draculaura wondered. “I bet Clawdeen will be itching to get her paws on the latest Egyptian fashions!”

“Mother actually hasn’t had time to unpack yet,” Cleo said quickly. After seeing her mom’s jeans the night before, and the casual (and very wrinkled) linen outfit she was wearing around the house after breakfast that morning, Cleo had a feeling her mom did not have a trunk full of glamorous clothes. She had a terrible feeling her mother had a trunk full of junk.

But by responding to Draculaura’s question in the way she had, Cleo wasn’t lying to her friends, either—because she didn’t know for sure what kinds of clothes her mother had brought along with her. Her trunk was, in fact, still packed. And Cleo was sure that with time, her mother would adjust back to the de Nile way of life—all luxury and glamour and fashion. Maybe there were a few fashion gems hidden somewhere in her luggage. If not, Cleo would be more than happy to lend her mother a few pieces from her own wardrobe.

Cleo was just as evasive in answering Frankie. “Oh, it’s been years since we last saw her, so of course she’s changed a bit.” Cleo didn’t add that by “changed a bit” she actually meant “changed completely.” “Most ghouls tend to change at least somewhat with time—I mean, can you imagine if we were still wearing last year’s fashions? It would be a monstrous tragedy.”

“So where has she been all these years?” asked Draculaura. The little vampire began stretching, which reminded Cleo it was time for the squad to get back to practice. They needed to move things along so Cleo could get home and carry on with preparations for the ball. Cleo hoped that once the time came to tell her mother about the ball, Dedyet de Nile would remember how great her old life was. But before they could tell her about the ball, they had to make sure all the preparations were ready. There was still so much to do!

While the ghouls on the squad lined up to take their new routine from the top, Cleo said proudly, “My mother has been on a very important archaeological dig! She risked her life to assist a team of researchers and archaeologists.”

Frankie, Draculaura, and the other girls on the fearleading squad exchanged a surprised look.

“Digging for treasure, relics, and important artifacts from Egyptian history is very glamorous,” Cleo added, a bit defensively. “She was assisting a team of scientists and learning about our Egyptian scaritage and the importance of history to our future.”

“Was—was she actually…” Draculaura began timidly. “… doing the digging?”

Cleo rolled her eyes. “Of course she was actually doing the digging.” Before anyone could press her for more details, Cleo started the music and counted off. “Now let’s get back to work.”

As the ghouls ran through the routine again, Cleo tried to lose herself in the music. She wasn’t sure why she wasn’t telling her best ghoulfriends more about her mother. Cleo was actually very proud of who her mother had become… but there was still something so unfamiliar about her that she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with all the changes.

In fact, all day she had been just the teensiest bit worried about the welcome-home ball. After seeing her mother prepare her own snack in the mansion’s kitchen and walk around in a pair of falling-apart slippers, Cleo wasn’t so sure the elaborate party they had been planning was even appropriate anymore. She worried that her mother might find all the extravagance over-the-top. And there was still the burning question of what she would actually wear to the ball.

But by the time they reached the end of rehearsal, Cleo had managed to put her worries about the ball out of her mind. Because she had more immediate problems—specifically, Draculaura still couldn’t get the steps for their new routine down, no matter how many times they went over it.

“I’m so sorry, Cleo,” Draculaura said with a sad, little shrug. “I don’t know why I’m having so much trouble with this new routine.”

Cleo shook her head. “Stop apologizing,” she said, gently scolding her ghoulfriend. One of the things that irritated Cleo was hearing people apologize for things they had no need to apologize for. Draculaura was trying—so there was no reason she should be sorry for her efforts. It wasn’t her fault. It’s not as if she was being lazy or getting distracted. She was putting in her best effort, and still, the routine just wasn’t working. Clearly, something wasn’t clicking for Draculaura. “Why don’t I stay after practice with you, and we can go over the whole thing again? Maybe if we break it down and rehearse the routine piece by piece, it will stick.”

“Really?” Draculaura asked hopefully as the rest of the squad filed out of the Monster High gym. “But you must have so many other things to do! Your mother just came home, so you must be eager to spend time with her. Don’t you remember how, when we went to my father’s wedding in Transylvania, all I wanted to do was spend time with him after being away from him for many months? And there are all the preparations for the ball you need to complete before this weekend.…” She trailed off, waiting for Cleo to take back her offer to stick around and help. “Don’t you have a coffin-load of homework?”

But Cleo simply shrugged and said, “If you nail this routine, it’s a good thing for the whole fearleading squad. I’m your captain—and your ghoulfriend—so I’m going to help until you get it. Now let’s get to work and see if we can figure it out before they lock the school gates for the night.”

“Thanks, Cleo,” Draculaura said, grinning. “I really appreciate it.”

Cleo turned on the music and began to count off. “Don’t mention it,” she said, flashing a smile back at her ghoulfriend.