Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters. Also, I do not own the monologues that Toralei will read later.

Chapter 18,

Heath was stretching by the bleachers, all by his lonesome when his gym teacher Irene Maiden walked into the room, with Coach Igor.

"Students!" She said and everyone gathered around them.

"It seems that there was a little incident down in Mr. Hacklington's class today." She started, putting her arms behind her back and slowly paced in front of them.

"I won't go into detail for the few of you who would be reckless enough to repeat such a stupid prank. Long story short, the drama class is compromised so they will be sharing the gym with us. And I have decided to teach those detention students an... acupuncture lesson; so today Mr. Igor will be in charge. Mr. Where and the drama students will arrive shortly. Mr. Igor, set up the vines for the obstacle course. I wanna make sure the drama kids have plenty of room." Irene Maiden said and Mr. Igor gave her a very respectful nod.

"As you wish, Ms. Maiden." Coach Igor said and she gave him a curt nod.

"Adio, Efiga." Ms. Maiden said, and Heath smiled. Ms. Maiden said that so often since she resumed her job here at Monster High. Since it was Greek, he once asked Deuce what it translated to. According to Deuce, 'Adio, Efiga' means 'bye, I'm out.'

"Wouldn't the drama students be more comfortable in the auditorium?" Clawd said and Deuce shrugged.

"I think Ms. Siren has her choir students in there with that German music teacher and his band." Deuce said and Heath rose an eyebrow at him.

"German music teacher? You mean Holland Opus?" Heath asked and Deuce smiled.

"Yeah, Mr. Opus; that's the dude." Deuce said. Clawd looked at Heath and crossed him arms over his chest.

"Ok, so they wouldn't be more comfortable, but surely they could find somewhere else to prance around like pixies." Clawd said and Deuce elbowed him.

"Careful, dude. If one of the thornwillow sisters hear you talking like that, they'll snap you like a twig." Deuce said and Clawd eyed him.

"They are nymphs; why would they get particular about the term 'pixies'?" Clawd asked.

"Sometimes people call them pixies because they think nymphs and pixies are the same." Deuce explained and Clawd rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." Clawd said bitterly and Deuce blinked.

"And to quote Albert Finney 'To be a character who feels a deep emotion, one must go into the memory's vault and mix in a sad memory from one's own life'." Mr. Where boomed as he swung open the doors and allowed a gaggle of students into the gym. Deuce was just about to ask Clawd why he was being so sour, when Clawd glared and the drama students.

"Don't look now, Heath; but you're about to get happy." Clawd said. Heath turned and his eyes landed on Toralei and he smiled widely. She was a little stiff when she entered the room, and she lazily scanned the surrounding area. But when her gaze fell on Heath, she tended in surprise and then she smiled warmly at him. Her smile was so wonderful that Heath flamed up, and Toralei bashfully giggled at this.

"Vines are down! Ok, 5 laps running then 5 laps swinging!" Coach Igor said and then he blew the whistle. Deuce and Clawd were surprised when the, normally apprehensive Heath, started running laps as requested. They just hoped that jogging 5 laps will calm Heath's flames before he got to the vines. Deuce and Clawd gently paced themselves and they ran side by side, like the buds they are. However Deuce kinda got frustrated by the way Clawd growled softly when they passed the drama class.

"Dude, tone down the drama, would you?" Deuce said and Clawd looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" Clawd asked.

"You don't have to get so mad at Toralei for just being in the same room as you. I swear, you and Cleo are just the same sometimes." Deuce said and Clawd scoffed.

"Yeah, right. If we were so similar, she wouldn't have dumped me to be with you." Clawd said.

"And yet, you didn't get this upset over that. Bro, Toralei's done, like, nothing to you." Deuce said and Clawd rolled his eyes.

"Well, she's done plenty to Draculaura and Clawdeen and Cleo and Lagoona and-"

"I get it." Deuce made him stop.

"She's a bad kitty, born and bred." Clawd said and Deuce shifted his lower jaw.

"You know, I like to think things are a little more complicated then that." Deuce said and Clawd sighed.

"Who cares? She's proven time and time again that she is cruel and untrustworthy. And quite honestly, I bet things would have been better if she never came to Monster High. Don't you agree?" Clawd asked and Deuce shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean you don't know how that would affect things." Deuce said and Clawd rolled his eyes.

"Ok, fine. Technically we can't really know something like that. Why are you defending her?" Clawd asked and Deuce gestured to Heath.

"Because Heath is our friend and I don't think he would appreciate the way you're talking about Toralei." Deuce said.

"Oh, that?" Clawd said with a grimace and Deuce nodded.

"Yeah, that." Deuce said and Clawd sighed.

"As far as I am concerned, Heath is on thin ice." Clawd said and Deuce cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Uh-huh, why?" Deuce said, almost sarcastically.

"First of all, Heath and I aren't that close to begin with. We don't really have a lot in common and if I really think about it, I think we only know each other because he is on our skultimate roller team. Even then, he is spending time with Toralei, who loves to play dirty and share our secrets with Rocco. On the same token, he is letting her walk around in his varsity jacket, even though she is a big cheater. You add the way she seems to backstab everyone she's ever met, and you're stuck with one unsavory character." Clawd said and Deuce shrugged.

"Maybe it just seems that way, but-"

"Dude, can we, like, not have this conversation right now?" Clawd asked.

"After gym?" Deuce asked and Clawd hesitated.

"Fine, I guess." He said, but mostly to shut Deuce up.

Heath was on his third lap when he finally worked off his flame. He knew that they were in entirely different classes, but he was just so excited to see Toralei- even if it was just running circles around her. Or so he assumed at least.

He was running past the bleachers when he felt something wrap around his torso and pull him off to the side. He found himself pressed against the wall in a small blind spot and looked down to see an orange tail wrapped around him. He smiled at Toralei as her tail unwound and returned to her; he didn't know what to say.

"Gosh, I'm so happy to see you." Toralei said in Heath's voice and he rolled his eyes.

"You make me sound as dorky as Shaggy." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"Well, you both eat all the time, and you're both accident prone, and you both hang out with a talking dog-" She jabbed a thumb towards Clawd and then she giggled.

"We might as well call you and Clawd Shaggy and Scooby." Toralei said and Heath chuckled.

"Then who is Fred, Daphne, and Velma?" Heath asked and Toralei scoffed playfully.

"Are you kidding? Velma has to be Ghoulia, Fred has to be Deuce, and that defaults Cleo, unfortunately has to be Daphne." Toralei said and Heath nodded.

"Ok, ok, you got me there. Even though you don't like Cleo, that seems to work very, very well." Heath said and Toralei shrugged.

"Thanks." Toralei said.

"You're welcome... Hey, how come you don't like Cleo anyways? I mean you never seemed to like her." Heath asked. Toralei paused and crossed her arms.

"You know, for your information, I knew Cleo for several months before I started disliking her." Toralei said and Heath blinked.

"Really?" Heath asked and Toralei looked away.

"Well... I like to tell people that I'm being tough, you know? You find the people who rule the show, kick them from their throne, and then you rule the show... but since it's you... well... when I first met Cleo, I felt bad for her." Toralei said and Heath was shocked.

"Seriously?" Heath asked and Toralei shrugged.

"I mean, I guess it doesn't really matter now, but back then? Yeah, I did." Toralei said.

"Well, what happened?" Heath said, incredibly interested.

"Oh, let's see." Toralei muttered as she stepped into the darkness of the bleachers and Heath followed.

"When we first got to Monster High, you know, Meowlody and Purrsephone, and I; Bloodgood thought that it would be grand if we joined some club or sport to participate in. The girls didn't care, so I picked the fearleading squad. It felt so natural to me, all the twirls and dancing and prancing- I moved like that my whole life, when I was living on the streets. Not only was it something I was actually good at, but K was surrounded by a group of girls who loved it too. They always told me how amazing I was and they loved the ideas I had for our routines. And I got really close with the fearleading captain, Nefera de Nile, Cleo's older sister. She was very protective of the three of us, until I messed it up." Toralei paused to sit on the floor and lean her back against the wall.

"I really liked Nefera, and being Egyptian she really liked the girls and I... but when Cleo joined the team, she was just awful. She had no clue what she was doing, and Nefera refused to help her; out of fear that Cleo might surpass her. I remember her saying that one day Cleo would embarrass herself enough to quit. When that happens, she would shine her fearleading trophies everyday when Cleo came home to remind her never to try out again." Toralei said and Heath went ahead and sat next to her.

"So, yes, I felt bad for Cleo. She was trying so hard to keep up, just for her sister to bully her out and rub it in her face? There's a lot of bad things I'll do, but I won't kick a monster while they're down, that's just cruel. So I decided to stay after school with Cleo and train her personally, so she had a chance at staying." Toralei said and Heath's eyes widened.

"You taught her that stuff." Heath asked and Toralei nodded. Then she recalled something and smiled.

"Man, you want to know what I just remembered? Cleo was dating Clawd at the time. They didn't love each other, though, they were basically dating just because as 'top monsters' that's what was expected of them. Deuce had a crush on her, but refused to do anything about it because he knew she was in a relationship. You should have seen the look on Cleo's face when I told her Deuce was crazy about her." Toralei said.

"How did you know?" Heath asked and Toralei smirked.

"You know cats are just as empathetic as dogs, we are just more selective to who we choose to comfort. Personally, I can always tell which monsters hate or love each other, it's easy. When it comes to monsters emotions towards me, I try to block it or sometimes so doubt what I sense... but others is easy. I knew Deuce likes Cleo the second he saw her. She just didn't know until I told her." Toralei said and Heath smiled.

"Well, who-da guess." Heath said, impressed.

"Well, anyways, Nefera kinda hates the fact that I taught Cleo and trained her to be better. She felt like I betrayed her and she selected Cleo to replace her- not because she wanted Cleo to be a leader, but because she didn't want me to be rewarded for being a traitor." Toralei was silent for a moment and took a deep breath.

"And when Cleo became captain, she kinda disregarded everything I taught her and she treated me like someone whose never heard of the word 'fearleading'. I hated what she was doing to the team, and even though I loved it, I quit the team and joined drama instead. At least there I can still dance." Toralei said and Heath whistled.

"Dang, no wonder you're not Cleo's biggest fan." Heath said and Toralei nodded.

"Yeah, the fact that she keeps walking around like she owns the place is just another fire under my butt, to bring that princess back down to earth." Toralei said and Heath bit his lip.

"Did you tell Cleo about Nefera?" Heath asked.

"Nah, what's the point? If she's smart, she would know that Nefera wanted her to fail, some adding baggage isn't gonna change a thing. And if she actually believes she earned her spot, then she won't believe me. Heck, even if she did, she would never admit it." Toralei said and Heath looked down.

"Well, at least you enjoy theater." Heath said and Toralei smiled.

"Yeah. I mean, sometimes me dancing is still a little stiff, like a fearleading performance, but I'm getting better. Oh, you want to know what our big assignment is today?" Toralei asked.

"What is it?" Heath asked.

"We had to find two poems or monologues that work together and read them back to back. Then Mr. Where will pick a couple and we will put together a short skit to perform next week." Toralei said.

"Hey that's cool. When are you reading yours?" Heath asked and Toralei looked through the bleachers towards her drama class.

"Right after crescent star- oh crud she's on strange now." Toralei and Heath quickly stood up. They rushed back to their classes; Toralei sitting with her group and Heath running like a maniac. But when Heath got to the vines, he peeked his attention to Toralei as she read her piece.

"You hate me, don't you? I am never good enough for you. No matter what I do, it's not as good as my sister. I always have to hear how she would have done it better; or how she already did it better. Why does she want to ruin my life? She just wants to blot me out like I was some sort of mistake. I'm just a copy. A copy of a copy. Not as good as the original. Not as good as you. You are so perfect. Everyone around me is so perfect. And there was nothing left over for me. I am the left over failures. I am the fatty waste you toss to the dogs. Everyone hates me.

"Why does everyone think I am so horrible. Probably because I am. A horrible creature doomed to walk this earth and suffer; for you. I'm hurting. Hurting so bad inside. Cut off from everyone. Punished for some past life wrongs. What did I do in a past life to deserve this. Or am I paying for the sins of my father, and mother. Am I your sin? Or do I remind you of some sin you want to forget? Or am I a disappointment that keeps disappointing. I even disappoint myself.

"I will never be my sister, I don't want to be her. I hate everything about her. But I don't want to be me either. Sometimes I want to fade away. Become a shadow, fading away, forgotten. Maybe if you forget about me I won't make you so sad anymore." Toralei read and she flipped a page.

"Mr. Agnon, things that I deal with everyday, it seems to always be happening to me and how do I know when it's big enough for me to get you? I don't want to bother you over every little thing that happens to me because then I think you will get angry at me as if it's my fault and I know, I know I'm not angel but I think it's all because of the fact that thinks started out wrong for me and ever since, it's always been a problem. Like you said earlier, perception, people see me as some loser and overtime that perception has only been cemented in people mind.

"Cause, I've tried; I've tried to show other sides of myself but I'm never looked at differently. It's like a curse I can't break and so guess I've sort of accepted the fact that I am this loser, troublemaker or whatever you want to call me. I've grown to become this character from everyone's mind because it makes everyone happy. I bring comfort in a way because I'm labeled and I know I sound crazy but these are the things I'm dealing with and I just wanted you to hear it from me." Toralei finished and her class applauded. Heath thinks he heard Mr. Where suggesting that her assignment may have been better if it were reversed, but other then that it did wellZ

Heath felt a little sad though, when he listened to Toralei read. He didn't know what these two speeches were from, but he couldn't help but wonder if Toralei connected with them on some level. Does she really feel labeled? Does she really feel like fading away until she is forgotten? It does seem to fit in with her saying she doubted anyone would notice her disappearing for a month, last night. Granted this assignment was most likely selected by then, so her feelings may be different now.

But still, maybe there is something he could give or say to Toralei that would remind her how much she matters. After all, Christmas was coming up and he could do something nice for her. Although he'll probably need Ghoulia's help.