We went on our first family trip today… to The Maul! I was really excited, but also really nervous. Dad took the long way there and drove by Monster High to show me where I'd be going to school, which made me even more nervous so that by the time we got to The Maul, I was a total casketcase. I almost asked Dad to take me home, but I went in anyway. We all had lunch at the food corpse, and then Mom took me shopping while Dad went to look for some neck bolt polish. The first place Mom took me was her favorite store, but all the outfits sort of looked like old wedding dresses. I really didn't want to hurt Mom's feelings, and I didn't tell her this, but I wouldn't have been caught alive in most of those clothes. I guess Mom must have sensed that I wasn't very excited 'cause we didn't stay there very long. As we were leaving the store, we ran into Clawdeen Wolf and Draculaura. Mom introduced me to them and said we were shopping for school clothes. Clawdeen looked at the store and started to say something, but Draculaura accidentally hit her with the umbrella she was carrying and said, "Mrs. Stein, if you would like us to show Frankie some of the places we shop, we'd be happy to do that." Fortunately, Mom said yes and mentioned something about finding Dad before he made it to the laboratory supply store. Clawdeen and Draculaura took me around to all the scary cool stores and told me all about Monster High. It was like we had known each other forever. Draculaura is soooooo nice, and Clawdeen Wolf is so confident and funny. While we were shopping, I confessed I wasn't sure what kind of styles would look good on me. Draculaura and Clawdeen both started laughing, and I thought I'd said something wrong. Then they both put an arm around me, and Clawdeen said, "Ghoulfriend, with your figure, you shouldn't be wondering how good a style looks on you, but how bad you'll make it look on anyone else who wears it." Draculaura even invited me to try out for the fearleading squad. I was too excited to tell her I didn't know what that was, but it sounded like fun. By the time Mom and Dad came to find me, I didn't want to leave. I'm so glad I stuck it out and didn't ask Dad to take me home.