The morning was cold, and Jade was shivering, but not from the cold.
The university had a terrifying total of 1,056 students; there were more than 50 people in her class, and no one ever noticed her. Some called her 'Miss Kardashark' and others called her 'Melody's Friend' but now she would be...
The Monster Mash Girl.
God!
She grabbed her bag of toiletries and went to the bathroom to take a shower that would take away the sleeplessness from staying up last night with the boys.
She looked at her face in the mirror as she brushed her damp, tangled hair after the shower.
She looked ugly, and exhausted in general.
Nothing that tons of makeup, black eyeliner and a bit of red lipstick couldn't hide.
"My life is about to change," Jade told herself.
She was now famous! And she had the number of one of the Monster Mash boys saved in her phone!
Now she could call the boys and ask them to come eat with her at lunch break, all of them except for Zeth because ugh! He was so disappointing!
So rude!
Now she would be respected by the masses and become the most popular girl in school!
And did she mention that she had Finn's number saved in her phone?
In your face, Zedrick!
"This morning will be a new beginning," she told herself as she finished putting her clothes on: a red jacket and a low-cut black dress.
A thick fog was all Jade could see out the window in the morning, so she knew it would be one of those gloomy days.
But nothing would ruin this day!
She was ready to finally be popular!
She would never live in Melody's shadow again!
Jade thought about asking her dad if he knew the boys, but he wasn't there when she walked downstairs, so she figured he'd left to open his gym, the only one in the whole town, not counting the one at the hotel... The hotel where she spent part of the night with the boys.
Oh yes!
"Mum said I should look on the bright side of things and that's what I will do. Oh! I have to tell her that I met the boys!" she told herself as she drove to school.
Cameras and interviews, expensive clothes and a house in Malibu. Yes, Jade could already see herself becoming a star!
Now she would be even more popular than Melody!
The thought that the campus would be full of people waiting to ask her about the interview terrified and excited her!
When Jade parked outside the school, a van from the local news channel snapped her out of her thoughts. Not only that, but it was strange to see so many trailers and a lot of people in black shirts with the word 'Staff' written on their backs unloading a lot of things, from reflectors to huge cameras.
"They must be here to interview me," Jade said, checking her makeup in the rear-view mirror of her car, "Wait! It will be a surprise for everyone if I cross those doors with the guys by my side!" She took out her phone, taking a long breath, "Okay, okay. Let's send the message," Jade said, looking for Finn's contact. She counted to three, and began to type, "Hi Finn. I would like to invite you to my school, you and all the boys, except for Zeth, for my first interview ever. I will be your model if you come here to support me. And please don't bring Zeth. And I wanted to know if I will get paid to be a model. And please don't bring Zeth." She typed, but before she hit the send button, she shook her head, "No. I better not send that. What was I thinking?" She deleted it quickly, "I can't send that to Finn! After all... It's my time to shine! Me!"
Jade got out of her old black car like a total diva, and walked toward the main entrance to...
"Wait," she told herself, "I better show up inside by surprise!"
She made a right, and walked down a small stone path flanked by dark hedges. Her plan was to jump over the oversized pots of a hidden zone near the pool area to enter through the emergency exit of the cafeteria.
On her way, she began to practice what she would say.
"Oh yeah! Of course I'm the girl who soooo super interviewed Monster Mash last night!" She practiced her Kardashark accent, "Yeah, yeah, of course I'll give you an autograph! Am I dating any of them? Of course, all of them except Zeth! When will we get married? I don't know! Oh! How did the guys treat me? They were all nice except for Zeth. He was so rude. So ruuuude. Sooo rude! Oh-OH-Oh-OH-Oh! SoOoO RuUuUuDe! SOOOOO RUUUUU... Ah! Shit! Crap! Fuck!" She fell too dramatically and complicatedly while trying to jump over the huge flower pots, so much so that her bag ended up a foot away from her and one of her Mary Jane shoes flew through the air. But she quickly got up, fixing her hair. She picked up her bag, resuming her Kardashark walk. "Whoever put those flower pots there is literally sooo rude!"
There was something strange going on here. There were no people in the pool area, not a single soul.
Maybe everyone was already waiting for her inside?
She took a deep breath before opening the back door of the cafeteria.
Inside, it was brightly lit and warmer than she expected. The floor was cold. Wait. Damn it! She forgot to pick up her shoe outside. Oh well! Now she would be a millionaire and would buy several with her money.
"Here I am! The Monster Mash... Girl?" Jade frowned. This place was empty. Everything was peculiarly quiet. Not even Mrs. Locter was there.
That was strange. Mrs. Locter would never not be here.
Why was everything so quiet?
No...
There was noise, murmurs, girls screaming, boys laughing like idiots.
"Obviously everyone is waiting for me in the foyer," Jade said, walking with one bare foot in front of the other, swaying her hips.
Reaching the double doors of the cafeteria, she took a long breath and pushed them open with a bang.
"Here I am!" Jade shouted, head held high, "That's right! I'm Jade! The girl who..."
There was a crowd, people screaming, girls swooning, and teachers running around sweating in their fine tailoring.
But nobody noticed her.
"What the hell?" She didn't understand what was happening.
Why wasn't anyone looking at her?
"There she is! Jade Kardashark!" Zedrick shouted.
The whole school turned to look at her at the same time.
"Oh me... Yes! Here I am!" Jade struck a diva pose. When she looked back, no one was looking at her, "Oh! So rude. What is going on here and why is nobody asking me about the guys?"
In the centre of the hurricane, this donut made of people, there was something that had caught the attention of the whole school.
Something more important than her?
Like what?!
"Oh my god! I can't believe they are here," Jade heard a girl talking to her friend. Jade knew that voice. It was Raven, "Can you believe it?"
"We are going to be famous!" Brooke replied right next to her.
"Hey, girls, hey! I'm talking to you!" Jade reached out a hand to grab Raven by the shoulder, "What's going on? Why is everyone so happy and why is it not because of me?"
"Oh! The star of the show has arrived," Brooke mocked and took out her phone. "Zeth posted that he and his boys were coming to our school this morning."
And then it all made sense.
Jade was stunned, her coffin-shaped bag falling off her shoulder and her arms dangling like noodles.
"Oh My God! The boys came here just to see me one more time! This is sooooo romantic!"
"Wait, you think..."
"Where's Melody?" Jade interrupted Raven, and quickly looked around the crowd.
"She stayed home crying because of you! Traitor!" Brooke crossed her arms, "She introduced you to Monster Mash and you stabbed her in the back!"
"And stop talking like a Kardashark because it doesn't suit you." Raven made a face at Jade, "Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go. We don't talk to traitors."
"You two sooo obviously envy me," Jade said to herself.
And then she saw him...
Out of the crowd and looking like a monster from a Kaiju movie, Everett straightened up, his torso sticking out from the tiny female fans, and then he looked at Jade, his gaze cold.
Behind him, Jade could make out Frank's black and white hair as well as Alex's brown hair.
"No way," Jade whispered, "They really came all the way here to see me!"
Jade crossed a sea of screaming fans, barely holding on to her sanity and her bag.
"Let me through! I'm the girl they're here for! Let me through! Excuse me. Excuse me. Get out of the way!" When Jade finally squeezed herself between two huge football players, she huffed and smoothed her hair, finally stepping into the circular space where all the members of the band were. But there was something strange on the floor, a golden ring around the boys, barely visible but almost like glitter mixed with liquid gold.
Zeth was taking a selfie with five girls.
Frank was carrying Mrs. Locter bridal-style for a photo.
Finn was signing a poster next to Alex, who was signing autographs for some girls.
"Finn!" Jade shouted, and he turned his head sharply. "Oh Finn! You all came to see me! I mean, I soooo obviously knew you were coming when I called you this morning!"
Zeth, who was about to sign a photo of himself, turned to look at Finn slowly, with lowered eyebrows.
"You gave your phone number to this girl?!" Zeth tapped his foot.
"I..." Finn looked down, as if genuinely afraid of the band leader, "I just wanted to help. But she never called me, I swear!"
"You can't go around sharing personal information so lightly," Zeth grunted.
"Zeth is right. Hunters." said Everett, a giant among all those girls who were the same height as Jade. He was even gigantic compared to the tallest boy on the basketball team, who was almost as tall as Frank.
"It's dangerous and you're putting us all at risk, Seamons. Don't do that again." Zeth whispered after taking another selfie with a group of girls, handing the phone back to its owner. "So, Yadira... Finn gave you his number?"
"My name is Jade. And yes! He did! And he told me on the phone that you would come to school today to say hi because I am sooo close to you!" Jade shouted in front of everyone, "Finn and I actually spent the whole night talking on the phone!"
And then all the hubbub died down, and there was a long silence in the foyer.
"Are you high or why are you talking like a Kardashark?" Zeth asked.
"Oh my GAaAwD! You are literally being so rude right now." Jade replied.
"Can you please go away and stop lying, Miss Kardashark?!" Zedrick shouted among the crowd. "You don't have any of their phone numbers and you know it!"
Damn! Didn't he have anything better to do than bother her?!
"It's soooo not a lie, look!" Jade looked up Finn's number in her phone and called. His cell phone soon rang, making the entire crowd to gasp.
"Jade. Why are you doing this?" Finn asked, blushing bright red.
"I think it's best you change your phone number, Seamons," Zeth said, "We don't know if anyone else has it by now."
"Obviously I wouldn't share Finn's number with anyone, Zeth!" Jade frowned.
"I will get a new one. Sorry, Zeth," Finn nodded.
"Wow! How afraid are you of Zeth that you let him control you like this, Finn?" Jade asked, "Tell me, are you afraid of Zeth?"
"Say no, Seamons," Zeth ordered.
"No, I am not," Finn lowered his gaze, but Zeth approached Jade, pretending to raise his own phone for a selfie, but his intentions were different.
"Listen well, Romina. If you're trying to be the centre of attention here, you better leave." Zeth whispered, "I know you're lying because Finn spent the whole night with me doing paperwork."
"But..."
"Shhhh... I don't want any scandal, it's nothing personal," Zeth whispered in Jade's ear again, then looked up at Finn, "Keep smiling, signing autographs and taking pictures with our fans, Seamons. Be professional."
It was almost terrifying, the control that this arrogant cretin had over Finn, as if he didn't fear Finn's sharp teeth or his bulkier body. It was like watching a lifeguard tame a shark with one look.
"Wow Zeth! You are literally so rude. I don't understand why you hate me so much," Jade turned to leave, fuming, pushing people while trying to escape the eye of the storm. Zeth immediately closed his eyes tightly, expecting booing or something alike.
Instead, excitement and joy returned.
It seemed like these people were happy that Jade was gone.
Zeth couldn't say it made him happy though, but at least he was less stressed than before.
"Zeth, don't you think it would be good to go talk to her about this?" Frank approached Zeth and asked with a low voice, "Maybe if we explain to her why it's a risk for her to have Finn's number, she'll understand that you're not being rude."
"Frank is right." Said Alex. He had come closer and was speaking in a low voice too so that no one could hear. "Maybe she just needs to understand your motives. I mean, she thinks you hate her."
"I take responsibility for my actions, not for what she thinks." Zeth whispered, "That girl is right to be upset. After all, I asked her to leave, but I will not let her make a scene just because she wants attention."
"Hey..." Zedrick said, stepping forward. Zeth, Alex and Frank looked up to see him, "Would you three calm down? It was just Miss Kardashark being Miss Kardashark. She's always doing weird things to try to fit in."
"Is this usual for her?" Zeth asked Zedrick.
"Yes." The entire school responded in unison.
"Good to know. I'll still go talk to her about this though," Zeth said, and then looked up at Frank, "I think she deserves an explanation, and we deserve one too about why she lied."
"Sounds fair," Frank nodded as Zeth made his way out of the crowd.
"I am so sorry, guys. This was all my fault," Finn said.
"That's true," Everett said, "But her lying? It wasn't."
"Hey, guys," Alex looked around, gasping. "Fuck! Where's Draco?!"
Zeth heard Alex, but knew that wherever Draco was, he would be okay. Draco had always been like that, one second he was there and the next he wasn't.
"Draco, you better not do anything stupid," Zeth whispered, "Now, where are you, Jade?"
She wasn't far away, though.
Whenever Jade was sad, she would come down to the boiler room. It was the only place in the entire university without noise, and most people were too posh or afraid to even come near it. The heat from the steam pipes and hot air from the boiler itself helped keep her body warm, and it was peaceful.
On the stone step where Jade was sitting, someone had carved some words...
'Trenk and Leef are lovers. I, Apaul Nosferatt, know their secret'
She shivered. It made her imagine horrible things about this place that was probably a dungeon in the past.
She stared blankly at the wall for what felt like hours, lost in thought.
There was another thing written there...
'The son of Athenisia is mine, not Tharez's. Signed, Eroz Greak'
Jade had no idea who those people were.
"Never meet your heroes," Jade told herself.
She loved all the boys in the band, but Zeth had always been her favourite, and now he was the one she hated more than anyone.
He made her feel inadequate and unworthy.
Why would he ever hate her?
Although he was arrogant, he never showed himself to be rude to anyone until she became his first victim.
Why did he despise her so much? She had no idea.
All she knew was that this wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
It wouldn't have hurt Jade that much if Everett or Finn or even Alex treated her badly, but the fact that Zeth was the boy she admired and loved the most and disappointed her changed the game.
She truly hated, hated him so much that she vowed to return home, burn her Monster Mash merch, and never listen to their music again!
Was it really that hard for Zeth to just play along for once in his life for the sake of her social life?
Maybe she was right about her first impression of the boys.
Maybe they were, or at least Zeth, misogynistic and sexist!
The metal door behind her screeched open, and she tried to wipe away her tears with the sleeve of her jacket.
"Jessy, can we talk?" Zeth asked, and she rubbed her temples.
"My name is Jade," she corrected.
"That's what I said," he replied.
She nodded, even though she didn't want to see him or talk to him.
"How did you know that I would be here?" she asked as Zeth sat beside her on the stone step.
"I used to come here when I got frustrated thousands of years before this was a university," he said. When she looked at him with wide eyes, he nodded. "That's right, Draco told me you know it's not a show, that we are real monsters, so I sentenced him to ten years in his room but let him out in ten minutes for good behaviour."
"You don't look like monsters," Jade said and sighed, fiddling with one of the many rings around her fingers.
"All of us are," he replied, looking down.
"Frank is not a monster. Don't be cruel," she replied and Zeth laughed.
"He's a Rubinstein, of course he is, but not because of his prosthesis," Zeth whispered, but his face showed guilt. "He is a Sparkman actually."
"Frank is super sweet," she whispered.
"He used to call himself a monster for being 'rebuilt' and, in fact, he had no idea that his ancestors were... That doesn't matter." Zeth looked straight ahead, at the boiler, and sighed, clenching his fists.
Jade remained silent, eager to just leave him talking to himself. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed out of frustration.
"Why are you suddenly talking to me like you don't hate me?"
"Because I don't hate you," he said with a sincere smile, "I'm too old to hate someone."
"Well, I do hate you, and don't lie. You obviously hate me too," Jade whispered.
"I guess you haven't seen the comments from your interview," Zeth said, and she shook her head. "Well, I did, and I'm surprised by what the world thinks."
"I don't care," she waved off with one hand.
"Well, you should care," Zeth said, wiggling his eyebrows. He took her chin between his fingers and turned her face to his. "All those people think you have potential to be a YouTuber or something like that."
"I told you I don't care," She slapped his hand off of her face.
"Well, these people thought you were a professional. You were very in control to begin with, and it's not easy with someone as perfect and beautiful as me around. I mean, it must be hard to interview your crush,"
"You are not beautiful nor perfect. And why would I be remotely interested in some arrogant asshole like you?"
"Well, you fainted when you saw me for the first time."
"Oh, I get it now," Jade snapped. "You think I like sexist, self-centred, narcissistic, disturbed and misogynist men, right?!"
"You are so dramatic. You have no basis or foundation to call me any of those things," Zeth snorted.
Then laughed.
Why?
"You are unbearable!" She threw her hands up, "You think you're just too handsome and smart, don't you?"
"No. I don't think I am. I know I am. Now listen, I didn't come here to be insulted, if that's what you think. I have better things to do than pay attention to a spoiled Kardashark impersonator." Zeth said and finally turned serious. Jade swallowed hard. Did he just say... That?! Oh no! He actually looked angry! "Listen, I understand we got off to a bad start. Yes, I'm paranoid and a bit arrogant. I'm still working on it, but I want to apologise for telling you to go away. But I also want you to understand that the guys have worked too hard to make us a successful boy band, and you won't jeopardize that on my watch, got it?"
"Apology accepted," Jade nodded, and the smile Zeth gave her warmed her heart, and his sapphire blue eyes, the way they looked at her, it was priceless. "And Zeth. I also want to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied out there."
"Let's make a deal," he held out a bandaged hand to Jade. "We're your friends, even Everett in his own way, and I want us to agree that there should be no drama in front of the cameras. In Monster Mash, we talk about everything, and while I can be a bit bossy, it's for the good of our career. Many people, from employees to charities, depend on us and our money, so one bad experience can ruin everything. Do you promise not to do drama?"
She smiled and shook his hand.
"I promise."
"Okay. And please, stop it with the Kardashark accent," Zeth said, "It sounds fake and sooooo annoying."
They both laughed a little.
"Yeah. I've been told." She finally felt relaxed, "But why were you so, I don't know, rude last night?"
"Because there are more monsters around, all under my protection. But there are also people who hunt them for money, and I thought you had something to do with that," Zeth said, "Now I know that you are not a hunter, a friend of mine investigated you and met with Erich at the gym a couple hours ago to confirm your story, but you must be on the alert, because there can be consequences if you spend too much time with us."
She was speechless, her smile fading.
"Consequences? Am I in danger?"
Before Zeth could reply, the metal door behind them flung open.
"Zeth!" Alex was sweating, breathing heavily. and he smelled delicious too, like chocolate, "Help me! Draco is nowhere to be found!"
"Von Stroker has already taken several years off my life with his nonsense," Zeth groaned and stood up. "Don't worry, I'll call Evie. She always knows where he is."
When Zeth and Alex left, Jade sat pensive.
Was she in danger for knowing that the boys were monsters?
Her whole life she'd lived under the assumption that monsters were just fictional creatures to scare children into behaving. But if the boys truly were monsters...
What else did she believe was just a story and could turn out to be true?
Her thoughts were disturbed by the sound of footsteps echoing through the hallway, flip flops to be precise. Someone was coming her way, breathing heavily.
She looked up and saw Finn running into the boiler room with irrefutable urgency in his eyes.
"Have you seen Draco?" he asked, and Jade shook her head. The boy sighed deeply.
"Hey, before you go... I wanted to apologise, Finn," she muttered.
It took him a few seconds to process what she said, but then he nodded.
"Yes, I think I should apologise for something too," he said and sat down next to her. "Listen, I'd like to stay and talk about the elephant in the room, but Draco..."
"Zeth said he would call someone, a girl, to find Draco or something," Jade said, putting a hand on Finn's shoulder, and it was very warm, "Don't stress. Everything will be okay. Zeth looked calm so he surely has everything under control and will solve it."
"Zeth always solves all of our problems, I don't know what we would do without him," Finn laughed a little, "Sometimes I think I idolize him too much, you know?"
"I think Zeth is used to being idolized and solving your problems."
Finn released some tension, looking her right in the eye with a regretful look.
"I want to apologise about, you know, the video," he pulled his hoodie up over his head to cover his face. "It was stupid of me. It shouldn't have posted it like that."
"Wait. It was you?! How?!"
"Long story."
"Why did you do that?" She asked and he shifted his shoulders, "Because you don't want me to end up like you, I understand, but please! You're famous!"
"I don't think being famous helps much, I mean, I've always been ignored."
"Always like, always?"
"Yeah. My younger brother, Jawstin, has always been the favourite. Sometimes it seemed like no one remembered I existed." he said, laughing nervously. "At school it was worse. Literally no one knew my name."
"That sound very cruel," Jade said.
"I got used to it. You know? My grandfather was the only one who never ignored me. He was fun, a little crazy but he was my only friend. He passed away at ninety-one in 2006, but he was as strong as an oak until the day he died." Finn laughed nostalgically, "Oh boy, sometimes I miss my grandpa's crazy stories. I always thought those were hallucinations, but look! It turns out he always told the truth about everything."
"Your grandfather told you a lot of stories?" Jade asked and Finn nodded.
"So many things about a fantastic place called Evalon," he smiled, his gaze lost, "He always told one particular story, one that made him go berserk! Every time he told me that story he would start hitting everyone in the nursing home with his cane! Damn! It was so stressful!" Finn laughed a little and Jade laughed with him.
"And what was that story about?"
"It was about some invaders from a far away place who had conquered Evalon." Finn started with his eyes on the ceiling, "He told me that House Seamons ruled the water kingdoms and that the Watermen preferred the invaders to my grandfather's family. He said that House Seamons was literally kicked out of Evalon during The Age Of Fallen Empires exactly nine years before I was born. And he talked a lot about his ship too. He said she was huge, bigger than the Titanic, that's why she was called The Kraken's Nightmare."
"Wait a second," Jade said, frowning, "In Beach Seaty, there is a gigantic ship that was preserved and converted into a museum and her name is... No way!"
"Yeah, I know what ship you're talking about," Finn said, laughing a little, "That was my grandfather's ship, and he said there was so much gold and treasures inside that he built the city from the ground up in a matter of a decade."
"But if you and your family had everything in Beach Seaty, why did you move to Hawaii?" Jade asked and Finn shrugged.
"I have no idea, I just know that dad made that decision after my grandfather died. I was only eight years old when we left, so I didn't mind moving too much. Beach Seaty was never really my home, the best moments of my life happened in Hawaii. Because home is not where you are born, but rather where you become the best version of yourself."
"You're a very wise guy, Finn." She said and he smiled weakly.
"I... I'll go see if Draco showed up already. I'll see you later, okay?"
She nodded before he got up and disappeared down the hallway.
As soon as he was gone, Jade let out a deep sigh.
She hadn't realised how stressed she was until the pressure had completely dissipated.