Disclaimer: I do not own Monster High or it's characters.
Chapter 13,
"One large popcorn, small nip-corn, and two medium drinks." The young man said.
"Man, it's so cool that you guys have catnip popcorn. Do you get a lot of werecats in here?" Heath asked and the kid smiled.
"Just Toralei. Sometimes she'll bring Meowlody and Purrsephone. Every once in a while we will get another monster, but it's normally just her." The boy said and Heath blinked.
"Then why do you serve the nip-corn?" Heath asked.
"Well, to be honest, I make the nip-corn. I just persuaded my boss to sell it here so Toralei can have it." The kid said.
"No way, how did you do that?" Heath asked.
"Long story, short? Either they risk her having something here and gets sick or even dies. Or she could get upset and sue the establishment for not following through on our non-discriminatory policy." He said.
"Wow, you must really like Toralei." Heath said, getting a bit suspicious.
"Yeah, she's great. I love getting her opinion on my experiments." He said. Heath took a moment to glance behind him. Toralei was still getting the tickets for the movie, and he was the only person in line.
"What kind of experiments do you do, uh... I didn't see your name." Heath said and the employee took a step to the left and pointed at his little name tag.
"Jim. My name is Jim. I volunteer at the shelter and I really want to create a line of food that helps the underweight animals want to eat. A lot of them are cats, and I know that stray cats develop a evolved sense of taste. Typically going for food that is higher in protein. But I thought maybe if the food actually tasted better, then it could help regulate their weight." Jim said and Heath nodded.
"I think I get it, your like a vet-chef." Heath said and Jim shrugged.
" in a manner of speaking." Jim said and then his eyes turned to the door and he smiled.
"Hi Tori." Jim sad and Toralei giggles when she walked over.
"Hey Jimmy." Toralei said and she smiled at Heath.
"What movie are you guys going to see?" Jim asked and Toralei handed Heath his ticket.
"We came for classic's night. So we get to see this, 'It's a Wonderful Life' movie." Toralei said and Jim smiled.
"That's a good one. I think it's a really great movie to watch when you feel like you have done nothing with your life." Jim said.
"Better stop there Jimmy 'cause I haven't seen it." Toralei said.
"Yeah, I haven't seen it either." Heath said.
"What? It's such a classic Christmas film. Heck, I think it'd be a classic film even if it wasn't set in the Christmas holiday." Jim said.
"Sorry, Jimmy. I still haven't see it." Toralei said and Jim sighed and looked up into the air.
"I am so misunderstood." Jim said with a smile and Toralei hooked her arm with Heath's.
"I can text you my reaction later." Toralei offered and Jim giggled.
"I'd like that, girl. Hope you two enjoy the movie." Jim said and Toralei giggled and she led Heath towards their movie.
"So, Jim seems nice." Heath said and Toralei smiled.
"I'm glad you think so, since he's my best friend." Toralei said, and then she saw something that made her face fall.
"What's wrong?" Heath asked and Toralei groaned.
"Those two girls by the trash can are the Pearl sisters." Toralei whispered.
"The ones pretending not to smoke?" Heath asked and Toralei nodded.
"They don't really like me." Toralei said and Heath blinked.
"What do you mean?" Heath asked, but unfortunately, the Pearl sisters answered his question.
"Uh oh, here comes alley cat." The tall one said.
"Don't patronize me, Sue, I smelt alley cat before she walked into the building." The short one said.
"I'm sorry Peg. You don't need to have a sensitive sense of smell to know alley cat is coming." Sue said.
"Boy, I don't know how you can stand so close to that mess." Peg said to Heath.
"Yes, hot stuff. Perhaps you should ditch the garbage and hang out with people who've used a bar of soap before." Sue said. Toralei could tell that Heath was getting angry, but she still had her arm hooked with his, and they walked past the sisters and into their movie.
"Hey, hey, wait." Heath said, when no one could see them.
"What?" Toralei asked and Heath sighed.
"What? What was with those girls? I'm surprised that you let them say those things. I think you smell great, so I don't understand why they say differently." Heath said and Toralei smiled.
"You think I smell nice?" She asked, holding her hands behind her back.
"Well, uh..." Heath blushed, then cleared his throat. He couldn't say what he thought, so instead he nodded to convey the message.
"That's sweet." Toralei said with a blush of her own; then she decided to tell Heath about the sisters.
"After Valentines Day, when I fell in that pit, the humans in this town started calling me alley cat, because it smelled like I hadn't bathed in my life. At first I didn't care, because I knew the smell was still there. Once I was cured, I noticed that some people still said it." Toralei explained.
"People like the Pearl sisters?" Heath asked.
"Yeah. It hurt because they were purposely being mean to me. Pearl sisters still do it, as you can see, but others stopped after I got in a few little cat fights." Toralei said.
"Then why do the Pearl sisters still bully you?" Heath asked and Toralei sighed.
"Because they know that they're untouchable. Their father is the sheriff in town, and I know he'll throw me in juvenile detention if I give his daughters so much as a glare." Toralei said and Heath glanced behind him. Toralei's life was more complicated then he originally expected.
"I remember that man. He tried to do the Trick-or-Treatment on my cousin Holt. He certainly didn't care that he was innocent." Heath recalled and Toralei nodded.
"Yep, and his daughters are worse." Toralei said and Heath bit his lip.
"Is there anyway I can help?" Heath asked and Toralei smiled.
"Hey, I'm like plastic fruit. I don't bruise easily. I just forgot that Sue is dating the guy who runs the projector." Toralei said and even though he loved her smile, he didn't feel better.
"Now come on, let's enjoy this movie before it start- oh, shoot." Toralei said looking down.
"What's up?" Heath asked.
"I forgot to grab straws for our drinks." Toralei said and she straightened her back.
"I'll go get them." Heath said, before Toralei had the chance to say the same exact thing.
"Really?" Toralei asked, surprised that he beat her to the punch.
"Yeah, if you don't mind finding the seats, that is." Heath said and Toralei smiled at how cute he was.
"Ok." Toralei reached over and grabbed his popcorn and soda.
"Be right back Heath said, running off and Toralei walked in the theater and sat down.
"Ooh, abandoning alley cat already, hot stuff?" Peg asked when Heath passed by the Pearl sisters.
"Nah, I bet he's getting a gas mask so he can still enjoy the movie." Sue said and Heath's hands curled into fists. He hates how mean they were to his Toralei and that she couldn't do anything about it. He kept his mouth shut, which was hard.
"Forget something?" Jim asked when he saw Heath walking towards him.
"I wish I could forget those loud mouths in the hall." Heath muttered and Jim blinked.
"Oh, the Pearl sisters. Yeah, they are a rotten pair." Jim said and Heath shook his head.
"Isn't there any way to make them back off?" Heath asked and Jim sighed.
"I don't know. People are afraid of being thrown in jail, or worse." Jim said.
"Worse, how?" Heath asked.
"Well, the only kids who aren't afraid of the Pearl sisters, are the kids who get arrested all the time. And the sisters turned those kids into their little army. The sisters would send them out to destroy/hurt any building or even a person. Their dad lets it go because he finds no evidence that his children were there." Jim said and Heath sighed.
"No wonder Toralei won't fight back." Heath muttered.
"Yeah, well, at least she has friends like us to stay by her side." Jim said, and Heath saw a container of straws and picked up two of them.
"It doesn't feel like that's enough." Heath said sadly and he walked towards his movie again.
"Yoo-hoo, hot stuff." Sue said sweetly.
"Do you have a lighter, sugar?" Peg asked. Heath looked at them, they both had unlit cigarettes in their mouths and were standing cheek to cheek so both could be lit at the same time.
"Shouldn't you wait for projector boy to do that?" Heath asked, feeling like it was inappropriate.
"Oh, darling. Kurt is still working for the moment, and we can't be without nicotine." Sue said.
"Yeah, we got a doctors note and everything." Peg said and Heath softly scoffed at these two. Forcing a doctor to 'prescribe' nicotine as if they needed it.
"Well, if it's for medical reasons. Hold still." Heath said with a smirk and they puckered their lips as if they were about to kiss him, with the cigarettes in their mouths.
Heath held up his pinkie to the cigarettes, which confused the girls at first. Then Heath turned up the heat, and his pinkie and his hair lit up, and the girls stood in shock. Heath made sure both cigarettes were lit, and then he turned off his flame.
"If you really can't live without nicotine, then maybe you should switch to patches. Then you won't have to worry about having a lighter or not." Heath said and he walked away. The girls remained frozen for another 30 seconds and they they screamed and ran out of the theater. Only Jim witnessed their departure l, and he couldn't help but be impressed with Heath.