BlueSky509, Thank you so much for your reviews! I really appreciate your thoughts and I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying the story. Hope I continue to please! Wombaat, We'll soon find out what caused Gus to skip out on Jelly! ShegoRulz, Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it! Emily, Please don't die! Hahaha. Here's the next chapter :)

Six

Jellylorum sat down on the milk crate that stood backstage and listened to Gus' performance. He was signing beautifully, as always, with Callisto. Her tears had stopped several minutes ago and now she was just wallowing in her sadness. She had contemplated returning to the Junkyard and enjoying the end of the ball, but decided against it in the end. She wanted to talk to Gus and find out why he had stood her up, despite how much it was going to hurt her.

"Um, excuse me, Miss? I hate to bother you, but may I ask who you are?"

The sudden voice behind her made Jellylorum jump with fright. She spun around to face the cat who had addressed her. "My...My name is Jellylorum. Who are you?"

"Jellylorum? That name certainly sounds very familiar," the old tom standing before hersaid. He twisted his long whiskers as he continued to stare at her. "And your face... I've seen you somewhere before, haven't I?"

Jellylorum stared at the brown cat with questioning eyes. He didn't look recognizable to her, so she couldn't imagine where he could have seen her before. "Well, if you are around here a lot, then you might have seen me. I'm often here with Asparagus and I tend to-"

"A-ha! That's right!" He snapped his claws and an excited look came across his face. "You're Selini, Queen of the Stars."

Jellylorum stopped in the middle of her sentence and stared at the tom with astonishment. "How...How do you know about Selini?"

The tom chuckled. "My dear! Selini, Queen of the Stars, is one of my all-time favorite plays! I've seen it about a million times. And Selini is my favorite character, so much so, that I never forget the face of a queen who has played her. My name, by the way, is Epictetus."

Jellylorum blushed as her mind wandered back to the days when she used to act. "I haven't played Selini in so long..." she said in a soft voice. "In fact, I haven't acted for years. How could you possibly remember me?"

"You were one of my favorites," Epictetus said with a smile. "Sure, you weren't exactly the biggest theater star, but you put so much passion and life into Selini's character. You're a very hard actress to forget. But, did I hear correctly? Did you say you haven't acted in years?"

"That's right," Jellylorum replied with a nod.

"What a shame," the tom said sadly. "You were so wonderful, my dear. Why would you stop?"

Jellylorum's thoughts were abruptly filled with flashbacks of the day she had quit theater.

The dying applause of the audience as the curtain fell...

The bundles of wildflowers being placed in her paws by her friends and family members...

The sudden realization that her parents weren't there to greet her...

The anger she felt towards them for missing out on the biggest performance of her life...

The sadness that overwhelmed her as she started to feel alone, despite the theater full of cats...

The worry that began to overtake her as she walked home and wondered why her parents wouldn't have attended the play...

The tears on her father's face...

The sound of his profuse apologies...

The limp form of her mother in his arms...

The medic sadly explaining that there was nothing to be done to save her...

The guilt that she obtained when she realized that she should have been there...

Her vow to never act again, so that she would never be too busy when someone she loved needed her...

"It's complicated..." Jellylorum whispered as tears started to fill her eyes. "There were some...obstacles that stopped me from acting. There was nothing I could do about it. It just had to be done."

"That sure is a shame," Epictetus said. "Do you have any plans of returning to acting?" he inquired, a hopeful tone sounding in his voice.

"I don't know..." Jellylorum responded. "Probably not..."

"I see... Well, you will undoubtedly be missed, at least by me. I truly enjoyed each of your performances."

"Thank you, Epictetus," Jellylorum said, bowing before the elderly tom.

"The show has ended," Epictetus stated as the theater began to fill with the sound of applause. "I suppose I should be on my way. Do make me a promise though, dear. If you ever decide to act again, please find me and let me know. I want to be able to see you shine on stage once more."

"I will, I promise," Jellylorum said, walking up to Epictetus. She hugged the russet colored cat, and then placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "You'll be the first to know." Epictetus gently stroked the top of Jellylorum's head and gave her a sweet smile before departing. Jellylorum watched the aging feline walk away until he was out of sight.

"Jellylorum? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the ball?"

Jellylorum turned slowly to face Gus. "I could ask you the same question," she replied in a quiet, dejected voice. "We had plans... Why would you just cancel on me like that?"

"I...I'm truly sorry, Jelly," Gus said, walking closer to her, apology written all over his face."Inever meant for this to happen, but that's why I asked Callisto to send a message to you to explain. I was hoping you wouldn't get too angry with me if I gave you some form of reasoning."

"A message?" Jellylorum repeated, looking bewildered. "I never got a message from you about anything. I waited in my den for two hours, hoping you would show up, but I never got a message."

"You...You didn't? But I asked Callisto to send someone to explain everything to you right before I got onstage. I felt terrible for abandoning our plans, and I wanted to let you know what was going on. As I was on my way over to your den, someone from the theater approached me and told me that there was an emergancy and asked me for help. I rushed over here and found out that the actorwho was supposed to play the lead tonight was injured and unable to perform. They begged me to stand in for him because no one else knew his lines, and if I didn't do it, they were going to have to shut down the show before it even started. I thought you'd understand if I performed instead of going to the ball, so I asked Callisto to make sure a message of clarification was sent to you. I also asked to her invite you to come see the show, that way we could still, in a way, spend the night together. She promised me she would send one of the stage hands to your den and let you know." He grasped her paws and stared into her bright eyes. "Jellylorum, I wouldn't just leave you waiting, especially for something as important as the ball."

Jellylorum sighed. "Well, if it was Callisto that you asked a favor from, it probably never got done. That queen hates me. She probably never asked anyone to carry your message and only pretended she did."

"That's a pretty big accusation," Gus said skeptically. "I don't think Callisto hates you at all. Why would you say something like that? I know she's a little difficult to get along with, but that's just the way she is. She doesn't hate you, Jelly. Perhaps the stage hand she spoke with just got lost, or something."

Jellylorum shook her head. "Don't be blind, Gus. Callisto has been hateful towards me since the day she met me. I don't know why, but she really doesn't like me, and I wouldn't put sabotaging our date past her. She'd do anything to make me upset, even if you have to get a little hurt in the process."

"I don't know..." Gus said, still unconvinced. "That just doesn't make sense to me. I don't understand why she would do something like that. Are you sure that you aren't being just a little too judgmental? Maybe you are the blind one here, not me."

Jellylorum's ear fell flat against her head with sadness. "How could you say that?" she whispered. "Do you really think that I would make up such things about Callisto? I hardly know the cat!"

"I know," Gus said, "but I can't imagine Callisto purposely trying to break us apart from each other. That seems a bit cruel, even for her. I'm sorry, Jelly, but I won't believe such things without proof. I've known Callisto and worked with her for many years now. Despite her unpleasant attitude, I do consider her a friend."

"I can't believe that you would choose her over me..."

"It's not like that at all," Gus argued. "I just don't want to assume something about Callisto. I want to be sure that it is or is not her before I start pointing fingers. I'm not choosing anyone over anyone else. Please, don't get angry with me. I don't want to fight with you or Callisto. I just want to get everything sorted out."

Jellylorum couldn't ignore the betrayed feelings that she had, but she didn't want to dispute with Gus either. However, something in the back of her mind was certain that Callisto was the one behind the whole misunderstanding. "Maybe we should go talk to Callisto," Jellylorum suggested. "She might be able to straighten this mess out."

"Alright," Gus agreed. "Let's go see her then. She should be in her dressing room. Follow me."

I'm really interested in what you have to say and what you think will happen. Also, suggestions are always welcome! Please, tell me what you think! The more reviews I get, the sooner I'll update. Hooray! Thanks for reading!

Mew Painappuru