MH:TamingMonsterHigh B Side 02

~Operetta~

Now I know what people say about me. I know what they think, I've seen how they act and quite frankly, I don't care. Live with me and love me, or hate me, that's your own doing. But I know who and what I am, and that's enough for me. It's a lonely game up at the top, I knew that going in, I was taught that practically from birth. "People will only use you, no matter how much you love them; they'll get what they want from you then leave you with less than you started with"…my father's not always the most…cheerful of people, but he does know a lot about the world and I wouldn't trade him for anything. But Lukas was different than that, he wasn't anything like how my father described people to be, he was unlike anyone I had met. So of course when that girl came trying to take him away from me, well, it was only natural for me to act the way I did.

The moment the vampire girl had left the auditorium, the he turned to me.

"What didst thou say to her?"

"Who, me?" I feigned a note of innocence as I took a seat on the couch that stood in the back stage lounge area for the actors. "I was only giving the girl a bit of friendly advice ami."

"Operetta."

The other students could sense a tension building between us, so they found it wise to move off a bit to give us our space. I simply remained sitting there, looking up at my blonde friend, as innocently as possible.

"There really is nothing to tell you. I was just curious as to her intentions."

"Her intentions were to accept an invitation of mine. I am the one who asked her, not the other way around if you would recall."

"Only because That other vampire told you too," I scoffed. It's not that I had anything against vampires in general, nor the Dracul girl. I just wasn't happy with anyone who tried to take Lukas away from me on a permanent basis.

"Her name is Laura you know."

"I know that," I waved it off and stood up, sweeping my shawl back over my shoulder. "What do you want me to say Lukas? I've given you my blessing to take this girl out. What more do you want from me?"

"I should not have required your permission. I am my own person, and I have the right to associate with whomever I would so like to."

At first what he was saying offended me, I was ready to rebuttal and argue against him for that, but the more he said, the more my anger faded and his words cut deep into me. So I just looked away, holding my hands nervously. He sighed and reached and took my hands, bringing them up to kiss them gently.

"I apologize if mine words offended thyne delicate sensibilities far too much my dear Operetta. Twas not my intentions I swear to thee."

" Pas besoin de vous excuser mon ami," I say softly, looking back up to him. "It was my own fault, and you are right. I have no rights to hold you so tightly to me. I just…worry for you."

"I know my dear Operetta, and I you," he offered me a soft smile. "That is why I shall not leave you without escort for the event."

" Qu'est-ce?? But you are supposed to escort that vampire girl…Daxter."

"Dexter," he gently corrected. "And I shall indeed, but we may meet at the dance, while I shall bring you along as we usually do then."

I smiled back at him. "You really are the only boy father would let me outside of our home with after all."

"Exactly," he kissed my hand again. "So is that a fair compromise then?"

"Oh I suppose," I feigned as if it was such a taxing idea for me to grasp, but the smile upon my lips betrayed my act. "I shouldn't be that hard for me to find someone suitable to replace you with at the dance after all."

He just chuckled. "Ney, I dost not think it would be."

I giggled a little too along with him. That was the last of our conversation though as Mr. Where came up from the front of the stage via the curtains at center stage.

"Alright my actors hurry now. We've a very limited amount of time before the shift change, and we've much to discuss about this season's Musical West Side Gory</a>…"

~Wolf Family~
--Omniscient—

The Wolf Family was a large pack, crammed into too small of a house. Everyone knew it, no one denied it. But there was nothing they could do to help it any. It was just as it was. And today was like any other, with the second eldest Wolf sister arguing with her mother over the rooming arrangement of her older sister.

"It's just not fair ma! How come Rorachelle's got her own room while the rest of us are all stuck smushed up hu?"

"We've gone over this before Clawdeen," the white werewolf said as she maneuvered her very pregnant belly through the living room, picking up random bits of laundry that had somehow gotten strewn around there. "Your sister pays rent first of all, and second there's no more rooms in the house as you so love to point out."

"Exactly. So where's the pups you got in you now gonna go then hu? The roof?"

Sylvia shot her daughter a reprimanding look; Clawdeen lowered her ears and looked away fast, realizing she'd over stepped her boundaries.

"Sorry mama."

"You ain't sorry yet girl," she growled a little warningly then returned to picking up the loose articles of clothing. "And they're going in your pa's and mine's room till after graduation. After Clawd leaves, we're doing a room swap."

The teen wolf groaned again. "Great, so depending upon what they even are depends weather I gotta share a room still or not."

"You'll be sharing a room no matter what 'Deena, so just move past that already."

"But maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

The same old argument continued on. The middle wolf sister was tired of listening to the same old story and grabbed up her school books from the kitchen table and headed upstairs towards her room. Halfway up the stairs though, she nearly got run down by her younger brothers.

"Hey! Fleatus! Clawson!"

"Sorry 'Rissa," they said in unison then ran off through the downstairs, obviously also nearly running over their father as she soon heard him bark at the kids too.

Clawrissa just shook her head and continued on upstairs and went to the room she and her twin shared. But when she opened the door, she didn't find her twin, but instead her younger sister, sifting through her closet.

"What're you doing in my room 'Leena?"

"'Lissa said I could borrow her leggings," the tween wolf said as she continued to toss various clothing items over her shoulder.

Clawrissa growled a little as a jean skirt nearly clocked her. "And why would HER stockings be in MY closet?"

Howleen looked back her older sister with an eyebrow raised. "Geeze, what bug bit your butt?"

The older wolf put her books down and then moved to shove her little sister out of her room. The tween tried to fight against it but she was soon out of the door, and the same doing being slammed in her face.

"Hey you can't do that to me!"

Clawrissa sighed and leaned against the door, holding her head.

"Papa already said you had to take me to the park!"

"What?!" she threw the door open now, causing her younger sister to fall into the room and land flat on her face on the floor. "Nuuh, no way. I have homework I have to do."

The tween looked up and grinned a fanged grin. "Too late. Papa already said you had to."

Clawrissa was at a loss at that. She wanted to run, to scream, to cry, but instead she just clenched her fists and stepped over her sister going down to find her father.

"Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapa!!!"

The wolfman was in the fridge pawing his way through the left over mailman from two nights ago when he heard his daughter calling. It surprised him enough to make him jerk up and hit his head against the top of the inside of the ice box. She he came out from it, rubbing the sore spot and closing the door as the teenager came rushing into the kitchen. He growled a little from the bump, not because he saw which child it was.

"What is it Clawrissa?"

"I can't take Howleen to the park I have homework to do!"

He sigh-groaned at that; Manny was an old wolf, and was actually getting pretty tired with raising pups at this point. They were all cute when they were little, but once they became teenagers then they became "real monsters" for sure. It wouldn't be so bad if he could get them to leave once they turned 18, but so far he'd failed at that plan. So of course this latest, whatever teenage angst of burst, was clearly not a first, nor the last, and he wasn't in the mood for any of it.

"Now 'Rissa…"

"Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaapa!" Howleen now skidded into the room, nearly knocking over her sister. "There you are! Don't listen to 'Rissa, she's just a looser."

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"Why? Because I just want to actually do my school work?"

"You could do it at the park you know."

"But I don't want to."

"Too bad. Papa already said you had to take me."

"No way!"

Manny's patience was growing thin. "Alright you two!" he barked authoritivly, stifling anymore arguments from the girls. "Clawrissa, you are taking your sister to the park."

"But pa-"

"No buts," he snapped. "Howleen, you have 1 hour to hang out with your friends at the skate park."

"Aw, but pa-"

"I said no buts," he snapped again. "You both better be back here in an hour and a half or you're both grounded."

"But-" they both started, but a growl from their father quieted them both and they quickly ran off.

Manny grumbled, reopening the refrigerator, looking in it again.

"These pups are going to kill me, I swear it."

--later…--

Clawrissa was still growling under her breath a little over having to do this. She had her backpack on over her shoulder; she might as well use this forced babysitting time to do her homework after all. Howleen was a few steps ahead of her in his helmet and skate gear, riding in her skateboard.

"I still don't see why someone had to come with you," she mumbled. "You know how to get to the park by yourself."

"Papa said I wasn't allowed to go by myself," the tween said over her shoulder.

"But why me? Clawd's the jock."

"He had a Casketball thing."

"Clawdeen then."

"Going to the Maul with 'Laura. And Maulissa had homework," she added before her sister could ask the next.

"I have homework too!"

"Yeah, I know. But I told papa you didn't."

Clawrissa shot her sister a bit of a glare. "You dirty mutt."

The tween stuck her tongue out at her and then turned her attention back forward. She stopped, and picked up her skateboard, looking out at the Casketball courts. Clawrissa came over too, about to ask what she was looking at when she saw it herself. Out on the court were two guys, playing some one-on-one. But what was so eye catching was that she recognized the one boy very readily, and it caused a blush to spread across the bridge of her nose.

"No way, is that…"

"Hey Gorgon!" Howleen called out.

Both players stopped and looked over to them. Clawrissa squeaked and tried to duck down. Howleen looked down at her sister, eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Are you trying to embarrass me or something?"

"Embarrass you?" she squeaked. "Do you know who that is?!?!?!"

"Uh…yeah…what's the big deal?"

Clawrissa turned brighter red, not really sure how, or if she even wanted to respond to that.

"Hey Howleen," a male voice said.

The older werewolf looked up but was actually surprised not to see who she was expecting standing over her on the other side of the fen se. She blinked, trying to figure out if he brain was fooling around with her or not. But no, what she saw was real.

He looked very much like her classmate, but he was younger and is snake hair was in a different pattern. He also wore tinted goggle-like glasses instead of fully dark lens glasses, so you could still see his snake-like eyes behind the frames.

"Uh…hi?" she managed to get out.

He looked own to her and grinned a little sheepishly. "Hey, sorry, didn't see you there."

She meeped a little and tried to hide her deepening blush behind her bangs. The snake-boy seemed a bit confused, but her sister just brushed it off.

"That's my sister Clawrissa. She's being a dork right now, so you can just ignore her. C'mon, let's go hit the half pipe."

Normally the older wolf would've argued that, but she was still in a state of shock.

He shrugged. "Alright," he looked back, calling to the other, older boy still on the court. "Hey Deuce, me and 'Leena are gonna go skate!"

The older gorgon nodded and gave him the thumb sup, so the younger went and grabbed what looked like a gym bag and then left the court via a gate to go with the younger wolf to go skate boarding. Clawrissa watched them go and then slow started to stand up as her senses started to come back. That was just so surreal…

"Well those two seem to be really hitting it off."

She looked left and nearly jumped right out of her skin. While she'd been watching her sister and the boy go off the older boy had come over and was leaning against the fence just inches away from her. He didn't look at her, more looking over to where they'd gone, but that was good because that meant he missed her staring at his shiftlessness and turning bright red because of it.

"H-Hu?"

"Seth and 'Leena," he nodded over.

"O-oh, y-yeah," she looked away fast, trying to hide her blush. "I-I didn't know you had a younger brother."

"I don't. That's my cousin. He's staying with me and my mom till my aunt moves over this way."

"Oh, well th-that's cool."

"You're Clawdeen's sister right, Clawdia?"

"R-Rissa," she swallowed a little hard. "Clawrissa."

"Oh, right, my bad sorry."

"I-It's ok."

He nodded then got off the fence. "Well it was good talking to you Clawrissa. I'll be seeing you around school then hu?"

She nodded, still trying so very hard not to look at him. He found that a little weird, but some underclassmen girls were weird sometimes, so he just shrugged it off and went to go back to shooting some hoops. Clawrissa looked back over to see him doing that just once then decided it'd be better to move off quickly so she wouldn't seem like a total stalker. She wound her way over towards the skate park part in the park and found a bench to sit ion from where she could attempt (but not get very far in) working on her homework and still keep an eye on her sister.

But she found herself less watching her sister rip through the air on the wheeled board and more watching the gorgon boy. He was a lot like his older cousin she thought, and seemed closer to her own age. Maybe…no, she couldn't think that way; thinking that way just made her turn brighter red and she pulled up her book to hide it even though no one was watching her.

"I'm sooo going to kill you for this Howleen," she told her text book. "So, so going to kill you."