Chapter 4

Bombalurina, Demeter, Victoria, Electra, Etcetera, Jemima, and Anglina were sitting near an old washing machine gossiping away.

"Hey guys!" she called.

All heads turned as Teazer ran up to them with a tom in tow that wasn't Mungojerrie.

Anglina grinned at the calico queen. She could tell by her best friends' eyes that she had something exciting to tell her. She wondered where Mungojerrie was. He was a handsome tom. It was then that she noticed the new tom behind her friend. She gasped quietly. He was better looking than Jerrie. Not that Jerrie would ever really notice her. He was too busy trying to get Rumpleteazer to look at anyone else. The red and light pink queen was the notorious duo's best friend. She hadn't been in the junkyard very long, but already the two troublemakers had befriended her. They'd taken a liking to her after rescuing her from a Pollicle. And they shared a common experience and expertise: Macavity and stealing.

As he hurriedly tried to keep up with Rumpleteazer, he looked ahead to the group of queens sitting and talking. As he neared the group, he let his green eyes rove around the circle. His eyes came to rest on a little red and light pink queen. She sported a diamond collar and had lively brown eyes. She was bit curvier and muscular than Teazer. Their eyes met and he felt his face grow warm. She smiled at him and her eyes sparkled. As he ripped his eyes away from hers, he looked around the circle. He recognized Jemima and Etcetera from earlier. He was impressed with the queens of this tribe. While the other queens were beautiful, they paled in comparison to these.

Teazer smiled at the group as "hello's" were exchanged. "This is my friend Firewind. We know each other from when I was younger. Jemima, Etcetera, Pouncival, Tumblebrutus, and myself were playing around and he ran into us. Munkustrap said he could stay for a bit and he might become a Jellicle.

Anglina was impressed. Her friend sure had connections with some hot toms. First there was Mungojerrie and now Firewind. Not that Mungojerrie would ever look at her as more than a friend, but he was still dreamy. But now, after seeing Firewind, he was defiantly easier on the eyes. "Hello Firewind. I'm Anglina. I hope we'll get to see a lot of each other." She looked at Teazer who was trying not to laugh.

Teazer's small body shook with silent laughter because she knew that her friend had a huge crush on Firewind. And… from what she could see, he was looking at her almost the same way. 'Good. She needs a tom to pay attention to her. Jerrie really only pays attention to me.' The last thought popped up out of nowhere and into her head. 'What the…? Where did that come from?' but as she thought about it, and as weird as it was, he did pay more attention to her then Anglina. He slept with her at night. Anglina had her own box, saying she didn't like sharing sleeping space.

"Teazer! Have you introduced him to Jerrie yet?" Etcetera's overly perky voice broke through her thoughts.

"No I haven't 'cause that last time I saw Jerrie was early this morning before we went to play when Anglina and I pushed fish on top of Alonzo, Pouncival, and Tumblebrutus. And…" she broke off, not sure if she should tell them. "He's been acting really weird lately. I'm just afraid that he'll flip out when I introduce him to Fire. Why, I have no idea." She shrugged her shoulders.

Demeter sat there during Teazer's little speech and looked thoughtful. "Um, dear, what do you mean? I mean, why do you think that Jerrie has been acting weird?"

"Well earlier this morning, after Anglina and I made Alonzo, Pouncival, and Tumblebrutus smell like fish, he asked me if I had a date to the ball. I said no, because I don't have one and he seemed unusually happy. Also, whenever I'm very near him or I touch him, even if it's by accident, he shudders and becomes extremely quiet. I don't understand it."

Demeter smiled and said quietly, "Honey, I think he likes you. As in, a tom likes a queen."

Bombalurina looked at her and then asked, "Do you ever see something in his eyes that you can't understand?"

Teazer thought for a minute, then nodded her head, her pearls bobbing. "Yeah, I saw it today. It was… I don't know, it was very intense. It was like he was staring into my soul or something."

The red queen smiled. "There's no doubt he likes you. Trust me, I should know."

"Well, why not?" came Firewind's voice. All the females turned to look at him. He blushed a bit, but it was hard to tell because his head fur was red. "I mean, come on, how could he not? She's beautiful. My guess is that he doesn't know how to act around you or tell you."

Teazer just stared at him. 'This was unexpected.'

"Teaze, take it from me, when you're near him, it probably makes him feel all giddy inside. I haven't met him, but I do know the charms that queens have and how they affect toms. A queen had a similar effect on me, but it ended badly." He said, shaking his mane.

Teazer smiled at what her friend was saying. "Fire, you're almost becoming like a gal pal." She giggled softly and the rest of the group grinned. Then she became quiet as the full meaning of Demeter's and Bombalurina's statement sunk in. "Me? He likes me? I still can't imagine why he'd like me. Nobody has ever really liked me, not even my parents." She said incredulously as she looked around the circle. She was also a little shocked to see similar expressions on the other queen's faces. 'He likes me?' her mind couldn't grasp the fact that her friend since childhood might like her in a way other than friendship. Yeah he was handsome and fun to be around… And they had been through a lot together… but… She had never thought of him as a possible lover because it had never seemed an option. They wee so much alike that they could have been siblings, but apparently from Demeter's comment, everybody else thought that they could be and were more. As she drifted back into reality, she noticed the queens and Firewind were still staring at her. Well, except for Anglina. She was staring at Firewind. "What? Why are you staring at me?"

The rest of the queens started to laugh.

"Hehe…honey," Bombalurina tried saying through her laughter. "You look like a deer caught in headlights"

Teazer blushed harder. "Excuse me, but it never occurred to me that he would see me as more than a friend. As she looked up to the sky, she noticed that it was getting darker. "Anyhow, Anglina, we should head home. I want dinner. Firewind's gonna stay with us." She passed a look to Anglina who blushed.

"Yeah me too." She gave a laugh, low and throaty. "I can still smell the fish on the boys from earlier. See you later darlings." She pushed herself up and headed towards her friend.

When the two queens and the tom were gone, Jemima suddenly broke the silence by giggling. "I wish I could see the look on Jerrie's face when he gets a look at Firewind. I can't believe Teazer doesn't see how he looks at her."

The rest of the queens nodded in agreement and then each left for their respective homes.