AN: To JB, flyingdutchmen, YOLO and guest. Thanks all for the reviews. I'm glad you're all enjoying it.
And now on to the next part
Purrsephone was still struggling with what to do when she heard the doorknob jiggle. It was quickly followed by a bang on the door and worried voices calling her name. Hopping off the chair, she unlocked the door to let in two very worried werecats.
On seeing her, Toralei immediately closed and locked the door while Meowlody slipped an arm around Purrsephone's shoulder, softly demanding, "What's wrong?"
For an answer, like the previous day, Purrsephone held out the envelope and note. Toralei took it from her and looked at the envelope.
The orange tabby's mouth lifted in a slight sneer. "Should've guessed."
Meowlody briefly glared at her friend before moving so she could read over Toralei's shoulder. After reading it, they both looked at Purrsephone, confused.
Meowlody tilted her head, tail curling and uncurling. "Isn't this a good thing?"
Purrsephone shrugged. "I don't know. I was all ready to give up, you know, and he says it won't be a problem but Cleo won't take it well. You know she won't. And he's never going to forgive me for what we've pulled on his girlfriend."
Toralei bristled softly. "She deserved every bit of it."
"I know she did," Purrsephone nodded without sarcasm. "After everything...but that doesn't matter. Not to him. He's never going to see it that way and I was right, he's not going to want to be friends if he finds out who's really writing those notes."
Toralei gave a little giggle. "Can you imagine the three of us hanging out with Cleo like he's hoping."
Meowlody, however, didn't let the conversation get sidetracked. "You don't know that for sure, Purrsephone. You can't tell the future. Take another chance."
The dark-haired werecat frowned, "But Cleo-"
"Is his problem. He thinks he can convince her to not freak over the notes. He's probably wrong but that's his problem. You're not keeping the notes a secret from her, he is so it's on him."
"But if he knew-"
Her twin cut her off again, "Right now, yes, he'd be mad but he doesn't know you. He's already figured out you're nice. So, let him find out about you, the real you not the rumor you and find out about him, the real him not your fantasy him."
Purrsephone's tail swished back and forth in time with her thoughts. Maybe...
Meowlody sat on the desk near her, kicking her booted feet. "C'mon, take another chance. You've gotten this far. No telling what will happen if you take another one."
Purrsephone's voice was low but less resistant. "It could all blow up."
Toralei leaned back against the desk. "If it does, then we'll put the pieces back together. What have you really got to lose?"
The next morning, Deuce forced himself to wait until after first period to go check the locker to give the ghoul a chance to write him a note. He had decided not to tell Cleo about the notes yet. Better to see if SN, as he was calling her without a better name, had wrote back before starting a fight that might not even be needed especially when things were going so well. He and Cleo had gone to the movies on a double date with Draculaura and Clawd. Everything had gone been the way it usually was. Cleo and Draculaura had gossiped and taken several side trips into various stores and he and Clawd had carried all their bags for them. Well, it did get a little out of hand when Cleo counted the bags and realized Draculaura had more than her. She had insisted on hitting more stores until she had more bags than her little friend, at which point they had almost missed the last showing but they'd made it so no harm done.
As soon as Cleo had kissed him goodbye on her way to fearleading practice, though, the temptation to go check on the locker had been almost overwhelming. However, he didn't know when the ghoul had gotten his note and there was no way to tell if she had had enough time to respond or not. Of course, going after first period still didn't give her much time but his curiosity was too strong to wait any longer.
Quickly spinning the dial, he unlatched the lock and looked inside. His mouth immediately broke into a grin when he saw a note. He quickly snagged it and headed off to another part of the school to read it in quiet.
"Hi, I may not be the best pen pal either but I'll try. Of course, that means I don't know what to write now. I mean what can I tell you that won't tell you who I am and I'm really not ready for that. I guess the safest thing to tell you is stuff I like. I really like gymnastics and I like music I can dance to especially when I can combine them. I, also, like movies but I like action movies more than romantic girly flicks. I don't know why but I usually don't like the romance things. The ghouls in them annoy me too much. The only time I really watch them is when I'm with my ghouls, eating ice cream and making fun of them like turning down the volume and making up our own lines. I think our stuff is a lot better than what was originally written anyway. Ummmm, trying to think if I should put anything else in here but really coming up dry. The only other thing I can think of right now is fave subject which is mad science. So, your turn. What do you like to do? I mean I know you like sports but what else and maybe even why you like SKRM and Casketball."
Deuce smiled and slipped the note into his pocket as he headed to second period trying to think of what to write back. She was right. This was kind of awkward. What to say to someone you didn't know but already felt close to? Still, at least she was trying and he had promised he would too and he stuck by his promises. Besides, this kind of awkward was nothing compared to the awkward that he was going to run into later today when he had to talk to Cleo about this. Still, that was later. He quickly pulled out his notebook and wrote a note back while the teacher took attendance.
"Hey! Thanks for writing back. You're right, this is kind of weird but I think it's nice. I like listening to music, especially stuff with a jamming beat. I'm not really into dancing by myself but it's fun at parties. I don't do gymnastics but you're right that I like sports. It's just fun to push myself, see what I can do. I don't care so much about the winning or points but I just like seeing if I can make it or not if that makes any sense. My fave subject is kind of a secret but I like cooking. I say I don't because I got teased about it when I was younger but it's actually really cool. I like coming up with new stuff. What you and your friends do with the movies sounds like fun and really creative. Hopefully, I can get in on that some time. Trying to think of other stuff you about me you wouldn't know from just asking around. Kind of weird that, I don't know anything about you but you already know quite a bit about me. I don't even know if you're seeing anybody or which grade you're in. Well, that's not true. I know the important things. You're nice and helpful and that really is the important stuff, you know. Just to let you know since it's kind of your business, I'm gonna talk to Cleo tonight. I'm supposed to meet her at the maul. Hopefully, she won't go on another shopping trip again, my arms are still sore from last night, lol. Do you hang out at the maul? What was the last movie you saw?"
He dropped it off right after second period was over, leaving quickly so he didn't scare off the ghoul, whoever she was.
Torale peeked around the corner. "Coast's clear."
Purrsephone went over to retrieve the note while her friend and sister watched out for her. Reading it quickly, she, unknowingly, copied Deuce and wrote back during attendance, still using the term friends instead of my sister and my friend since that would be too much of a tip off of who she was.
"Hi back, Sounds like you like sports for the same reason you like cooking. You like seeing what you can do with what you know and your skills. I can understand that. It's part of why I like gymnastics and dancing. You can get real creative with it and my friends and I've seen some really complicated stuff when it comes to dancing. Stuff that really pushes the balance and body and stuff and it's fun to try out. I'm glad you're gonna tell Cleo and hope it goes well. My friends already know by the way, I mean they know I'm writing to you but I'm not gonna tell them anything private or anything like that. Yes, my friends and I do like to hang at the maul but we usually don't buy anything. My family really doesn't have a lot of money so I really can't shop much or mostly at all. Part of me says not to tell you that cause you might think I'm trying for sympathy but, if this is gonna work, gotta be honest, right? Anyway, happier note. I did get to see Jack the Normal Slayer in the theater last weekend. My friend's boyfriend got extra tickets so I got to go. He's really sweet like that. About once a month, he treats his girlfriend's friends, including me, to a movie or something. Anyway, have you seen it? It's a lot of fun and the effects were great. The normals looked so real. I mean they didn't look like real normals of course but they looked like something that could actually exist. It was pretty cool. Oops, class is starting, gotta close."
Deuce grinned when he saw that SN had responded so fast and made sure to get his response written during attendance, ignoring the curious looks from his friends. He'd explain later. During lunch would be best or at the maul. The maul would probably be easier, then he could just explain to everyone at the same time and the mansters could help him convince Cleo. He made sure to get the next note into the locker right as lunch began so, hopefully, she could answer it before his next class. He was enjoying the notes. She was definitely nice and he liked that she seemed to try to focus on the good and not dwell on bad things. He found her mention of her friend's boyfriend interesting. The whole group of them sounded nice and fun and Deuce hoped to add them to his group of friends soon.
