A/N: Sigh. No one's tried to guess the Shakespeare allusion in the second chapter. :/ I suppose I'll just tell you. When Tumblebrutus volunteered to play the dad in their game of Den, Pepper said she preferred "Cartwheel Antony". That was referring to Julius Caesar. Marcus Brutus was Caesar's best friend, but when Caesar became emperor of Rome, Brutus, along with Caius Cassius and many other men, betrayed Caesar and killed him. Caesar's dying words were, "Et tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar!" Mark Antony was a man who looked up to Caesar and saw him as a great ruler. He and Julius Caesar's cousin, Octavius Caesar, both had armies and battled against the armies of Brutus and Cassius. Brutus's army defeats the army of Octavius, while Antony's army beats the army of Cassius. In the end, both Brutus and Cassius die by their own hand, and the rest of the conspirators are dead as well. If you didn't know, Julius Caesar was based around actual events in Roman history, and Shakespeare depicted the story as accurately as he could. Anyway, that's an explanation to my Shakespeare allusion. Enjoy this chapter :D
Ch 7: The Ball
Did he really just ask me to the Jellicle Ball? I stared at him, dumbstruck. I suppose there's no harm in going with him… "Yes, Plato, I will go to the Jellicle Ball with you."
A huge grin spread across his features. "Yes!" he shouted, laughing. We talked for a little while, about nothing in particular. He hugged me, and we parted ways, as it was sundown, and I was still grounded.
I walked into the door of our den, and was greeted by Jemima.
"Hey, Pepps! What did you and Plato talk about?" she asked me excitedly.
"Oh, a little of this and a little of that, and he asked me to the Jellicle Ball!" I replied, squeakily.
"EEE! Tell me about it!" she squealed, and we both laid down on my bed. I told her what happened, in very precise detail. "Awe! That's so cute! Do you know what collar you're going to wear? Or if he's going to get you one? I want details!" she demanded.
"I don't know details, Jem! But I promise I will tell you when I get them," I told her. She sighed, and left my room to go to sleep. This Ball is going to be a good one. I faded off into a pleasant slumber.
They days until the Jellicle Ball passed quickly. The day before the Ball, my human and her family came home from vacation.
"Pepper!" my human shouted when she saw me. "I missed you little one!" She picked me up and hugged me. I guess I can tolerate it since she's been gone. She rubbed my head, and I purred. Actually purred, not just acted. Then her tom-friend came over to greet her, and I made my way to the Junkyard, to continue with preparations for the Ball. A Peke strolled by, on her way to the Park, I presume, and I politely waved to her. See, Pekes weren't a bother like Pollicles were. We had a mutual respect for each other.
I arrived at the Junkyard after a relatively uneventful stroll. All the cats were running about, humming their favorite songs as they went about their assigned duties. I padded over to my father, who was of course in charge of giving assignments.
"Hello, Dad! What can I do to help?" I asked, nuzzling him in a daughterly way.
"Hi, Dear! Hmm, let's see what we need help with…" He looked around at all the different areas of the Junkyard. "Ah, you can help Tumblebrutus, Electra, and Jemima with clearing the fences of any stray garbage," he said.
"Okay! I'll get right on that!" I said before scampering off to clean with my best friends and sister. "Hey guys!" I said as I got to them.
"Hey, Pepps!" Jem greeted.
"Hello, darling," Lecty fake-purred. We all laughed. Electra was a dork.
"Hey, Pepper," Brutes said, concentrating on the plastic bag he was attempting to wrestle out of the fence. We went about our job, wrangling bags, wrappers, and the occasional odd piece of rubbish out of the Junkyard fences, cracking jokes all the while. By sundown we had just about finished.
"Woo! That was fun," I said sarcastically. My three comrades laughed. It was rather fun, just not like playing games or the like.
"Hey, Pepper, do you want to go out with me tonight?" a quiet voice came from behind me. I turned around to find a handsome looking Plato, smiling at me.
"Sure! I'd love that!" I replied happily. I received "You WILL tell me everything" looks from both my sister and my best friend as Plato and I padded away. We went to sit on a hill just outside the Junkyard. The hill overlooked the city and had a gorgeous view. We lay on the grass, backs to the ground, gazing at the stars and watching the occasional cloud drift by. A sudden breeze came and chilled the night air, so I instinctively snuggled closer to Plato for warmth. He purred and entwined our tails together. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. This is going to be a great Ball.
A little while later, we decided it was time to head back. We walked to the Junkyard, conversing quietly about our favorite dances from the Jellicle Ball last year. When we got to my den, he hugged me goodbye and left. I went inside, and my family was already asleep. I padded to my room and curled up to sleep as well.
The next day was the day of the Jellicle Ball! Etcy, Lecty, and Vicky were going to be staying over tonight after the Ball, and I was really excited. Of course, I had to go to my human home for a little bit before going to the Ball. She and her dad were watching a recorded episode of a new show called "The Community". I went and sat with them for a little bit, and listened to them laugh. I finally decided to head back to the Junkyard to get ready.
My mom had agreed to help Jem and me get ready. Mom helped Jem get ready first, because it's her first Ball, and she needed help. She came and helped me with getting my fur all nice and shiny. Plato and Pouncival came to meet us together, and Plato gave me a lovely black collar studded with rubies. Pouncival gave Jemima a cute silver ribbon with a little moon pendant on it, because Jem loves the moon. We both linked paws with our respective dates and proceeded to the center of the Junkyard, where the Ball was supposed to take place. We saw all the other kittens there, with their dates. The couples were Victoria and Mistofelees, Electra and Admetus, Etcetera and Tumblebrutus, Jemima and Pouncival, and Plato and myself. We were all beaming. We started to chat amongst ourselves, but were interrupted by the first line in the Jellicle Ball.
"Are you blind when you're born?" my father sang in his clear voice. The Jellicle Ball had begun!
We all danced and had a wonderful time. When the time for the Mating Dance came, we all wondered who would become mates. To everyone's surprise, Old Deuteronomy took a new mate. It was Jellylorum! We'd all known they were seeing each other for a while, but we'd never have guessed they'd become mates. After the Ball, Plato and I walked to the hill we went to yesterday.
"I had a wonderful time with you tonight, Plato," I said to him, looking deeply into his eyes.
"I had a good time, too," he said, looking back into mine. He leaned down to kiss me. I kissed him back, but something felt amiss. Isn't your first actual kiss, not like a Truth or Dare kiss, but kiss with someone you like, supposed to be somewhat special? I guess this was special, it just didn't feel, amazing, like everyone said it does. I don't know.
After a little while, we walked back to my den, where all the tom-kits were saying their goodnights to their respective queen-kit dates. Plato and I said a quick goodbye, and all the toms left. Then, the real fun began. We played games all night, like Tag, Hide-n-Go-Seek, and things like those a bunch of queen-kits would be expected to do. Our most conversed topic: toms, of course. We all got tired at around 3:00 A.M., so we went to sleep.
At about 4:30, I woke up to find Jemima missing. I went to where I knew she'd be, the roof.
"Hey, Jem, is everything alright?" I asked.
"Oh, um, not really," she replied, startled at the sudden words.
"Wanna talk about it?" I asked, padding over to my little sister.
"Sure…" she said. She told me that she didn't think she and Pounce would last. He was a nice enough tom; she just didn't think they'd have feelings forever. I told her that was a normal part of growing up. We talked for a while about random little things, like sisters do sometimes. Our favorite topic to discuss together was the heavens, or rather, the heavenly bodies we call the moon and stars. Jemima and I had always had an obsession with the night sky, her focusing more on the moon, myself on the stars. When the sun started to make its presence known, we went inside to go back to sleep.
[A/N:] Today was another weird day. I decided that I hate mice. They're smarter than me. However, we got a mouse trap, and plan to catch the little critters and set them free somewhere where Pepper can't kill them. I also watched the series premier of the previously mentioned show, "The Community". It was so hilarious! I'd definitely recommend it to someone who's looking for a Thursday night show. I'm not sure what channel it's on, or at what time, but it's great. And! I watched the season premier of "The Office", which is another favorite show. Yay! But enough about T.V. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and thank you for reading. I hope to get more reviews! :D
