Jemima was wandering about the junkyard one cool fall afternoon. She was looking for her friend, Mistoffellees, to talk to. She always enjoyed talking to him—he always gave the best advice. Plus he was fun, smart, nice to all of the Jellicles… And magical, of course, but that wasn't something that should make him any different from the other toms and queens. Jemima just thought of it as another thing that made him unique.
However, her search was not proving successful. Where was he?
Just then, she saw Misto's friend Tumblebrutus come out of the pipe.
Jemima wasn't very fond of Tumble—the only reason she really paid attention to him was because he was one of Misto's friends; and any friend of Misto's was a friend of hers. Even if it was Tumble…
"Hey Jemima."
She sighed and said "Hi, Tumble…"
"So what's up? I mean, you're just sitting here… Doing nothing," he said.
"I'm looking for Misto. Have you seen him?"
"As a matter of fact, I have," he said.
"Well… Where is he?"
"I think he went off somewhere with Victoria."
"Oh, great…" she thought. Victoria was her friend and all, but she had a big crush on Misto. "There's no telling what they might do…"
"You're jealous, aren't you?" asked Tumble.
"Jealous?" Jemima asked. "What do you mean? I'm not jealous… Why should I be?"
"Because you like him—Misto, I mean. And so does Vicky. You don't want them to do something that you wouldn't approve of…" Tumble trailed off.
"Well, I'm not jealous of Vicky," said Jemima, and she ran off in a huff.
~+**+~
Jemima ran. She ran as fast as she could. "How could Vicky do this to me? She knows I like Misto! How could she steal him? He's so nice and funny… And everything I could imagine! And if things go on like this, he'll never ask me to the Jellicle Ball…"
She continued to run until she reached a small grove. It consisted mostly of trees, bushes, and a few shrubs here and there. It was her hideout. No one knew about it but her.
She paced the moss-covered ground. "They're probably at the Fox Hole…" she thought. The Fox Hole was a common jellicle meeting place, in an abandoned attic room above a tavern. It wasn't far from her grove.
Jemima started off running again.
~+**+~
Once she reached the Fox Hole, she began to look around for her friend. At one end of the attic she saw the Rum Tum Tugger flirting with Electra and Etcetera. He winked at her as she scanned the room.
To her left, Plato and Pouncival were playing, and in a corner Bombalurina and Demeter were talking in hushed voices.
She spotted Misto and Vicky in an alcove near the back of the attic. The alcove had a window that looked out at the street. Jemima watched them for a few minutes before she began to approach.
"Hey!" she said.
"Uh, hi Jemmie," Vicky replied. She didn't seem too happy to see Jemima.
"Hey Jemima! How are you?" Misto said. At least HE was in a better mood than Vicky…
"Fine, thanks. What are you doing?"
"We were just hanging out, not doing much really," he said. Jemima could see Victoria swat him with her tail.
"Actually, we were doing something. That is, until you got here…" Vicky said.
"Oh…" Jemima was disappointed. At this point, although Vicky was her friend, she trusted Misto more. "Alright then, I'll go. I just wanted to talk to Misto today."
"Well, we kindof just wanted to spend the day together… ALONE," Vicky hissed.
It was apparent that Misto had no say in Vicky's decision to exclude Jemima. It was also clear that he would have chosen otherwise. He gave Jemima an apologetic look, and she left the Fox Hole.
~+**+~
The next day, Jemima awoke early so that she could talk to Mistoffellees before Victoria sought him out for the second day in a row.
She found him at his house, on a small navy cushion with his owner's name for him, "Quaxo", embroidered in white. She looked at him for a minute or so before prodding him awake.
"Jemima! What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to talk."
"Okay… Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong… I just didn't get to talk to you yesterday."
"Alright," he said.
They left Misto's house and went to the junkyard to talk.
"So what's up?"
"Oh, nothing really…" Jemima said.
"Yes there is, or you wouldn't have wanted to talk today or yesterday. Spill."
Jemima paused. "Fine. Originally I just wanted to talk to you…" she paused again.
"And…?"
"But THEN…" she took a deep breath, and began to talk rapidly. "THEN Tumble told me that you went somewhere with Victoria, and something felt kinda strange, you know? Like you and Vicky going somewhere wasn't… I dunno, natural or right… Like it shouldn't be done. And THEN I found you at the Fox Hole, and Vicky seemed really upset, like I was bugging you or something, and THEN I left. I figured that the only reason she wanted to go somewhere with you is because she really, really likes you and all, but THEN I thought that she would at least be respectful of MY feelings and let me be included. So THEN—"
Misto interrupted. "Whoa, wait a minute! She likes me that much?"
Jemima just realized that she had made a mistake of gargantuan proportions. A.) Misto wasn't supposed to know that Vicky liked him because Jemima had promised not to tell, and B.) Now that Misto knew, he would like Victoria even more because he knew that she liked him.
"My life is OVER…" she thought. But she regained her senses enough to reply.
"Yeah… I guess."
"I knew that she liked me," said Misto. This came as a shock to Jemima. "But we had been seeing each other—I mean seriously seeing each other—for almost the whole summer."
Jemima's jaw almost dropped. Why hadn't Vicky told her? And even worse, why hadn't Misto told her?
"I… I didn't know…" she said. Jemima hung her head.
"I knew you'd be hurt, so I didn't tell you. Vicky and I didn't tell anyone. We knew that someone would end up feeling bad. Let's face it—all the toms like Vicky. And after Tugger—I mean, I shouldn't brag, but I come next," he said. Jemima knew he was right. No offense to the other toms, but there wasn't much competition against him.
"I'm sorry. I should have left you alone."
"You have a right to know. We should have told you. Victoria's your best friend; it was foolish of me to think that keeping our relationship a secret until the Ball was a good idea."
"You're taking her to the Jellicle Ball?" Jemima was close to tears. She choked on her words.
"Probably. I promise I'll dance with you, though." She knew he was just trying to be nice. That's was he was—nice. Just thoughtful and nice. So was Vicky. They were a perfect match.
"I have to go…" Jemima said.
"No! You can't go. I know why you're leaving, and that isn't a good enough reason." He was too good.
Jemima turned away, but Misto held her back. When she turned to him, a tear had coursed down her cheek.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry…" He held her close while she sobbed. "I know you care for me. But even if Victoria were out of the picture, I wouldn't want to jeopardize our friendship. You're such a good friend, you know that?"
"What? Being jealous of your best friend and plotting revenge is being a good friend?" She gave a short laugh, and Misto chuckled.
"See what I mean? You're great. Don't beat up on yourself… Do you want to hang out together? Just us—not Vicky. Maybe it'd be nice."
"No…" said Jemima. "No. Go about your day."
Misto sighed. "Then I'll go. But promise me you won't do anything. Don't hurt yourself, and don't hurt Vicky. If you did, I wouldn't forgive myself."
Jemima was shocked. "Why would you feel guilty?"
"Because if I had been with you the whole day, it wouldn't have happened."
She understood. Jemima bade Misto a fond farewell, and began her walk back to her grove.
~+**+~
She went to her grove first. She had to think things through. First of all: what was she going to do now?
Jemima figured that she should talk to Victoria. They were friends, right? They had always talked about everything. Why was now any different?
Next came the Ball. If Misto was going with Vicky, who would she go with? Jemima thought of the other Jellicles:
"Munkustrap and Demeter, Skimble and Jenny, Jelly and Asparagus, Tugger and Bombalurina, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, Alonzo and Cassandra, Coricopat and Tantomile…" Jemima paused. "Misto and Vicky…" Who was left? "Pouncival, Plato, and… ugh, not Tumblebrutus!" Under no circumstances would she go with him. She decided that her best bet was Pouncival.
About fifteen minutes later, Jemima was on her way to the Fox Hole. She and Victoria had been exploring there awhile ago, and they had found a little trapdoor near the back. They used to creep in and talk for hours. This was her destination.
She found Victoria in that same alcove as yesterday, only this time she was alone. Vicky looked strangely unhappy.
"Hi. Can I sit down?"
"Yeah, sure," she replied, not too enthusiastically.
"Okay, I'll get right to the point. Misto told me about him and you… And I'm not mad! And I'm not jealous either. I just wanted to know what you were thinking."
"I knew you liked him," Vicky said. "But one day, we were just alone in the junkyard, and—"
"Please, spare me… No offense."
"Right, sorry. Anyway, we just really like each other. I know you wanted him to take you to the Ball. I know you thought he was your perfect match. But then I faced the facts—he's everyone's perfect match! Everyone loves Misto. He's perfect. Just… perfect. No one can be perfect like he is."
"Tell me about it…"
"And then I realized about a month ago what I'd done. What would I do when you found out? And what would you do? Would our friendship last? I was scared, Jemmie," she said.
"I understand. I'll probably go to the Jellicle Ball with Pouncival. It shouldn't be too bad."
"Hope so. I'd better get going. See you later, Jem…"
"Bye Vicky."
~+**+!
About Three Weeks Preceding The Jellicle Ball
Jemima was wandering about the junkyard, as usual. She had pretty much gotten over Misto and Vicky, although her heart still pained to think about it.
She still hadn't gotten a date for the Ball. Plato had announced a week ago that he didn't want to go with anyone, and Pouncival had had his eye on Etcetera.
Tumblebrutus had been flirting with Jemima an awful lot lately. She knew he liked her, but she refused to pay any more attention to him. Although she rarely acknowledged his existence, he was persistant.
They bumped into each other yet again in the junkyard.
"Got a date for the Ball, Jem?"
She ignored his comment. He continued.
"Cuz from what I've heard… Misto and Vicky are breakin' up."
This, however, was enough to get her attention.
"What?!" She spun around to face Tumblebrutus.
"Well, I don't know for SURE… It's just a rumor, you know…"
"Stop stalling, I KNOW you know something! Who told you?"
"What do I get in return?"
Jemima scowled. "Not a date."
"A dance?"
"No. How about a hug?"
"Kiss, or there's no bargain."
She shuddered. "Alright."
She was hesitant at first, but she did give Tumble a quick kiss.
"NOW tell!"
"Fine." He looked satisfied with the meager kiss. "I heard it from Tugger."
"How did he know?"
"Well, I do know that Tugger is right over there…" He pointed across the junkyard, towards the tire.
"Thank you. I think this is the first time you've done something good."
"Same goes for you."
She ignored Tumble's last comment, and approached Tugger. Etcetera sat between his legs, and was enjoying every minute of it.
"Hear the news?" Tugger asked.
"Yeah. How'd you find out?"
"Misto—told me himself. No joke."
"Why'd they break up?" she asked.
"Don't know. He wouldn't tell me."
"Where is he?"
"I talked to him at some grove type place… About five minute's run from here," said Tugger. He added, "I'd never been there before."
Jemima gasped. Her grove?
"Thanks Tugger! I'll see you at the Ball!"
"No problem!" He winked and smiled.
Jemima ran to the grove.
Sure enough, Misto was there, pacing just as she always had on the moss-covered ground.
He looked up, startled, as she approached.
"Hey, Misto."
He didn't bother to say hello, but started with "So you've heard…"
"How'd it happen?"
He sighed. "Vicky… awhile back she started acting kinda funny. Checking out other toms, talking about the Ball a lot, and I mean a LOT. Then she began to—I guess criticize me. It got to be mean sometimes. I didn't like it. So we broke up. I told her that I wouldn't be treated like that. And you know what she said?! `I'm really sorry, Misto, I didn't mean any of it.' If you didn't mean it, then why'd you say it? She had a reason for doing all that stuff. I couldn't trust her anymore. I guess you're all happy about the breakup," Misto said.
"No, I'm not that coldhearted," Jemima replied.
"Got a date yet?"
"Nope. Thought about going with Pounce, but he's probably gonna go with Etcetera. Tumblebrutus isn't at all my type, and Plato isn't going with anyone."
`The only ones left besides them are you, me, and Vicky…" Jemima thought.
"Well, I think a lot of us are going alone this year," he said.
"Yeah… I can't believe that Vicky did this to you. Misto, you should have heard her a month ago—you wouldn't believe how many compliments she paid you. She loves you, and I know you love her, too. You just don't love each other in the same way," Jemima said.
"I know you're right," he said. "But I still can't get over it."
"Did you know that I have been coming to this grove my entire life… Just to think. It was always helpful just to pace back and forth—sort things through."
"Really? Me, too," Misto replied.
"Wow… all this time, going to the same place for comfort. I always thought that this place was secret."
"Same here! It was the most fun place in the world!"
"And still is!"
They both paused and looked away. They looked at the trees, the moss, the bushes and shrubs… They absorbed the landscape. And then their eyes met again.
"I don't know you very well," said Misto. "I know some things, but not very much. I want to get to know you better. I think it'd be nice."
"So, sort of like becoming best friends?"
"Yeah. I mean, you're already my friend, but I want you to be a closer friend," he said.
Jemima knew that he was about to say, "Like Vicky was," but he stopped himself. Misto sighed
"Wanna go to the junkyard?"
"No, let's just stay here. I want to talk to you."
And so they talked. And talked. And talked. Sometime that afternoon, they left the grove to talk some more. They went to the Fox Hole, and talked there. They went to Misto's house and talked some more. They were becoming better friends by the minute.
They told all their secrets, dreams, and desires. They spoke of the past—of their feelings. They even spoke of the Ball—but only for a short time. Instead of seeming glamorous as it used to, the Ball brought only unhappiness. For both of them. They talked all day. And they talked all night in their grove. And when the sun came up to greet the new day, they were still talking.
"Oh my goodness! It's already tomorrow! I mean today! I mean…"
"I know what you mean," said Misto. "But right now, I think we should get some sleep."
"Yeah, you're right," said Jemima. So they curled up and slept until mid-afternoon.
Jemima was up first. She sat up, yawned and stretched, and sat back down again. "Misto's so beautiful when he's asleep…" she thought. "So I won't wake him up yet." She watched him for a few more minutes, and then curled up beside him, and fell asleep.
Misto awoke about five minutes later.
"She's so beautiful, just laying there. I think all cats look at peace when they're asleep." He snuggled up beside her, and fell asleep. Again.
They both awoke to the sound of, "What are you two lovebirds doing here?!" It was Tugger. He shook them awake.
"What? What is it? Oh, no… and… Tugger! What are YOU doing here?!" asked Misto.
"Looking for you. I hadn't seen either of you since yesterday afternoon. Got me worried."
"Well you needn't worry about us," said Jemima, rather irritantly.
"Well, it wasn't really my choice, actually. Munkustrap wanted to know where you were, and I said that I thought I knew. So now I've found you."
He trotted off, looking smug.
The next two weeks went by a lot like that. They were rarely seen apart, much like Coricopat and Tantomile.
Victoria could be seen with Etcetera, flirting with the Rum Tum Tugger and the other toms. She and Jemima had not spoken for some time.
But finally, it was two days before the Jellicle Ball.
"So Misto…" said Jemima. "Have you thought about the Ball recently?"
"Yeah, a little," he replied.
Jemima hesitated before asking, "So, are you going with anyone?"
"You know I'm not."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot." This was not true. She had not forgotten.
Misto sighed. "I don't think I'll be going with anyone this year."
"Well, I need to go. See you later Misto!"
This was a shock to him and to Jemima. They hadn't been apart for over two weeks! But she walked calmly and coolly out of the grove.
~+**+~
Jemima was looking for Demeter. She would know what to do. "I just hope Misto isn't mad at me for walking out like that…" she thought.
Jemima reached the junkyard, and soon found Demeter grooming herself near the oven.
"Hi Demeter!"
"Hey Jemima! Where's Misto?"
"He's somewhere else. Can I talk to you?"
"Sure," Demeter said.
"Well, the Jellicle Ball is in a couple days. And a month ago, I thought Misto was taking Victoria. But then a week or so ago, I learned that he wasn't. During that whole time I wanted him to take me to the Jellicle Ball. And I still do! But I don't want it to mess up our friendship."
Demeter paused and said, "I understand. But you have to take a chance on this. Don't give up something just because it might be awkward or strange getting it. Tell Misto how you feel."
"I thought about doing that. But what if he says no? Or what if he says that it would be a bad idea? And what would Vicky do if she saw us?"
"You need to take this chance. If he says no, you will regret asking. If he says yes, then you'll be thrilled. But if you don't ask, you will regret that choice forever."
Demeter gave Jemima a quick hug, and they turned and walked their separate ways.
~+**+~
Jemima found Misto at the Fox Hole, talking to Munkustrap. When he saw Jemima, he smiled, waved, and gave her a hug.
They said at the same time, "Can I talk to you?" Munkustrap laughed. They took seats at the back of the attic.
"You first," they said again.
They laughed, and Misto said that he'd go first.
"Jemima, you're one of the best friends I've ever had. You have helped me when I needed a friend, and I thank you for that. You have been everything and more to me."
Jemima was surprised, but said, "You, too."
"I wanted to know," Misto paused. "If you would like to go to the Ball with me."
Jemima at first wasn't sure what to say, but then replied, "Of course! I'd love to! That's what I wanted to talk to you about. And I was worried that you would say no—"
"Why would I say no?"
"Because of our friendship. I was worried that you weren't fully okay about the whole Victoria thing."
"I'm over her! Have you seen her flirt with Plato?"
Jemima laughed. "So it's a date?"
"Yeah."
"But wait—" she said. "When I asked you about the Ball earlier, you said that you didn't think you'd go with anyone this year."
"Jemima, I didn't mean it. I was just saying that because I didn't know how you felt about going with me. And I would have felt awful if I asked you to go and you said no."
"Me, too. But I talked to Demeter—"
"And I talked to Munkus—"
"And he/she told me to ask you," they said, at the same time. They smiled at each other and agreed to meet at the junkyard on the night of the Jellicle Ball.
~+**+~
So they met that evening at the tire, just before the Ball began. They both looked their best—coats glistening, everything brushed to perfection. They beamed at each other.
"You look wonderful!" said Jemima.
"You look beautiful!" said Misto.
As they walked through the junkyard, talking, Jemima could not help but think, "This is bliss… Exactly what I dreamed of."
They passed Tugger, who whistled at them. Munkustrap and Demeter were smiling, and Victoria… Well, she wasn't paying much attention to them at all.
The Ball finally started. Everyone danced. And danced. They danced the night away. Jemima and Mistoffellees danced together. Jemima even danced once with Tumblebrutus, and Misto was even brave enough to dance with Victoria. That didn't last long, for almost immediately after dancing with Misto, Victoria and Plato did the mating dance.
"So that's what she's been doing all this time!" Misto whispered in Jemima's ear. Jemima blushed.
And after Gus was chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer, the cats departed. Jemima and Misto went to the grove to sleep.
"What did you think of this year's ball?" asked Misto.
"I loved it! Everything was just as I imagined it!" Jemima replied. She paused and said, "Are you unhappy about Vicky and Plato? I mean, seeing them like that?"
"No," he said. "I'm not."
"Good! I was worried that you might still be brooding over that."
"Brooding? Me? I don't do that!" said Misto.
He sprang up, tackling Jemima. The wrestled playfully for a few minutes, all the while Misto saying, "I… Do… Not… BROOD!" and Jemima laughing hysterically.
However, much to Jemima's surprise, in the midst of her laughing, Misto gave her a soft kiss near her ear. She stopped.
"What was that?"
"I kissed you."
"Well I know that…"
"Did you not like it?"
Jemima smiled coyly and said, "Of course I liked it." She kissed him on the nose. Misto smiled, and nuzzled her.
"I love you, Jemima."
"I love you, too, Misto…"
Then, they kissed each other once more, whispered "Goodnight," curled up, and fell asleep.
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