Chapter 4 – Rumors
Every one was finally awake and moving about, Rhino being the last one to actually get out of bed. The little hamster traversed toward the kitchen in a search for breakfast, rolling his ball along the floor. Only half awake he looked to the kitchen table and saw the thirteen year old girl he knew so well. Penny was at the table, with the cordless phone up against her ear, and Rhino listened intently, "Tomorrow at ten is fine. Thanks a lot. See you then, by." She said before clicking the 'off' button on the phone. Curiosity was always something he had plenty of, even at the early hours of the morning, "So who was that?" he asked. Penny turned around quickly, startled by his sudden entrance. "Rhino? When did you get here?" she asked after her fear began to subside. "Just a few seconds ago. So are you going to answer my question?" he asked still curious. Penny shifted her eyes side to side making sure that Rhino was the only one who would know. Then leaning forward she picked him and his ball up and leaned in to whisper, "That was the Family Vet, I just made an appointment for Mittens, she threw up this morning and Bolt says she's been having mood swings." "Oh." Rhino said as if it weren't important, than thinking about it some more, the meaning behind Penny's words became clear to him. His eyes went wide as he realized just what the girl was suggesting. "Oh." He repeated with more surprise and wonder. Suddenly he began to smile, and then he chuckled at the thought. He didn't have to verbalize his thoughts, he knew what Penny was thinking, and neither of them was going to share.
Angeliera stood outside like she always did, just watching the scenery as she thought of what to do. She stopped thinking for a moment and spread her wings, stretching the muscles in them to their fullest, and then she flapped them up and down loosening the joints and removing any stiffness she felt. "I haven't flown in a while, maybe that will be a good change of pace." She said. "So those things really let you fly?" she heard from behind her. Turning around, she noticed Sassy just standing there with a look of… well, sass on her face. "Yah they do. Want to join me?" the Neutrosian asked. "Not really, Bolt says I'm not as sexy when I'm scared." Sassy said nonchalantly. The winged girl stopped in her tracks, the thought of Bolt saying anyone was sexy other than Mittens seemed foreign to her. "Huh? He said that to you?" she asked turning to the white cat. Sassy smiled secretly before saying, "Oh yah, he told me that right before we jumped onto the helicopter to get here." The cat said as if it were the most widely known fact in the world. Angeliera's faith in the white shepherd began plummeting and she had to ask, "What else does he say to you?" 'Hook, line and sinker.' Sassy thought to herself. "He calls me his kitten while Mittens isn't around, and just this morning he asked to see me alone in the tool shed. We were meeting at one o'clock for a little fun." she said, her whiskers tingling while imagining the 'fun' she would have when she actually got Bolt alone. "This is bad." Angelira said in a panic, "Maybe Clera and Ferla will know what to do." With that, the Neutrosian took off to find her friends. Sassy chuckled at how easy it was to fool the girl. "When Mittens hears the gossip, she'll try to confront the dog at the scene, only he won't be there." As Sassy walked away, she failed to notice a clear ball with a hamster inside peeking around the corner.
"Yah, that's what Sassy said." Angeliera finished telling her story. Clera was the first to pipe up in a sort of interest, "Ok, but was that really Bolt?" she asked. Ferla nodded her head in response, agreeing with the shorter Neutrosian girl. "Sassy mentioned him by name, it has to be Bolt." "What has to be Bolt?" the girls heard from the hallway. Turning slowly, the three saw the black cat whose heart was on the line, Mittens. "Um, nothing Mittens." Angeliera quickly said. The other two just sighed in a frustrated defeat and slapped their foreheads with their right hands, hiding their faces. "Angeliera, I heard Sassy and Bolt in the same sentence that can only lead to trouble." Mittens lowered her eyelids knowing how to get the girl to spill her beans. The cat just gave the poor winged girl a glare that could have melted an iceberg instantly. Almost immediately, Angeliera put her hands up defensively and shouted, "Sassy told me that her and Bolt were going to have an afare." "Oh is that all?" Mittens said dismissing it all. "Wait, you're not worried?" Clera asked slightly confused. "I have faith in Bolt. I know he wouldn't do that to me. He loves me, he told me so himself." she said over her shoulder as she walked away. As soon as she was a good distance away, she whispered to herself "It's Sassy I'm worried about. She might try something drastic. I'd better tell Bolt." And with that she pushed all four of her legs to move faster in order to find her love before anything happened.
Bolt was relatively easy to find. Lying in the bed that he and Mittens shared, he had his eyes closed, an easy target. "Too easy." The white cat snickered as she jumped up and flipped the lights off. As she landed on the carpet, her fur began changing, shifting to a darker tone. White of her fur shifted to black and the black began bleaching itself to white. When it was all said and done, she looked exactly like Mittens. Putting on a fake smile and strutting her stuff, letting her tail sway back and forth seductively, she walked up to the sleeping dog. She could tell that he was dreaming, the way he smiled and kicked his hind legs, now she wanted him to dream about her. "Mmm, thanks Mittens." He suddenly said dreaming. Sassy almost growled at the fact that Mittens was even in his dreams. Sassy didn't understand it, the dog was so loyal to the black cat that it was as if he were human and not a dog at all. 'But even humans aren't this loyal.' She thought. Lowering her head down so her mouth was practically toughing his ear, she whispered, "My pleasure Bolt." In Mittens' voice. Bolt literally jumped out of bed at the surprise she just gave him. "Mittens. Don't do that." He gasped. "Sorry." Sassy said still using the seductive approach, seeing how much it took to make him crack. Still using her Mittens disguise, she sauntered up to him to make her move. "Uh… what's up?" he nervously asked, his instincts telling him something was very wrong. "Nothing Bolt, I was just wondering if we could just spend the day together." Sassy said keeping the suggestive theme in her voice thick. Bolt's ears folded down on his head this new Mittens scared the daylights out of him. "But Mittens, aren't you sick?" he panicked as he began to back away from the cat in front of him. "No I feel fine Bolt, just a little…" Sassy sucked in the air she needed through her teeth, making a kind of hissing noise to attempt to heat up Bolt's blood. "…excited." she finished, letting out the entire breath as she spoke. "Oh, ok. Uh…are you sure you're ok?" saying this, Bolt backed up into the couch, successfully pinning himself between it and the strangely crazy Mittens. His tail pinned itself under his butt, looking around for any way out he caught something out of the corner of his eyes, this Mittens had a perfect left ear, the real Mittens had two cuts in the side of her ear that you would miss if you weren't looking for them. "You're not Mittens." He whispered in shock, his ears pressing themselves harder against his head.
Sassy could not believe her pointed ears, her disguise had been perfect and he still was able to figure it out. Shock replaced the look of sexuality on Sassy's face as she tried to figure out what she did wrong. Suddenly a voice could be heard coming from the hallway, Mittens was on her way to find her boyfriend, "Bolt, where are you?" Sassy turned her head and started hyperventilating, everything she planed was tumbling down around her. Bolt was about to call out when Sassy turned around again and planted a forceful kiss on his lips and turned her colors back to normal, just as the real Mittens turned the corner and saw them. "BOLT!" Mittens called out. Breaking the kiss, Bolt forcefully by pushing Sassy away from him. "Mittens!" he exclaimed. "How could you." She asked storming up to him, her tail singing angrily. "It's not what it looks like…" he tried to explain, pulling his tail between his legs. Mittens was furious with Bolt, "I didn't think you were capable of doing something like this but I guess I was wrong." She said starting to let the tears flow. "Y…You weren't wrong Mittens you see, what really happened was…" he tried tell her. "You promised me." she shouted, "Doesn't that mean anything to you?" she asked softly crying. Bolt looked into the eyes of Mittens to see the sadness disappointment swell and sparkle within her emerald orbs. Her tears spilled over onto the floor making a pool of sparkling water. "Of course Mittens, it means the world to me. You mean the world to me." he said softly trying to ease her doubts. "I just don't know if I can believe that now." Mittens said as she slowly walked away. "Mittens, please…" Bolt pleaded with her, his ears drooping with the sadness flowing through him. Mittens turned slowly to interrupt him. "Please Bolt, I just need to be alone." and turned to walk slowly away, her tail drooping to the ground. As she disappeared into the rest of the house, Bolt lowered his head so that his eyes were hidden from the view of everyone. Watching the sight unfold Sassy smiled as he quick thinking had created the best situation ever. "Well that went well." She said with an air of victory. "Go away Sassy, now." he growled angrily at her. "Wha… Bolt I'm all you've got now." The white cat said in desperation. Bolt's anger flared up in his soul turning his head, he glared growling loudly to tell her he was serious, and his eyes shined a brilliant hot white, starting from the center of his pupils spreading all the way across his iris' turning his eyes completely white. "LEAVE!" he roared at the selfish white cat.
End- Chapter 4