A/N: Here's another little piece that takes place between "From Alley To House" and "Friends and Lovers." Zaph and Misto are still trying to blend in a bit…this time, by trying out extracurricular activities like any "normal students."

Walking along the sidewalk among a mass of students, one girl suddenly stopped and pointed downward. "Hey, we can join this club!" she said, turning to the male companion who had just bumped into her from behind because of her sudden stop.

"Join what?"

"The volunteering program! We were talking about extracurriculars, and this would be a great one and they're still looking for people!" Zaphia smiled broadly as she read the time and place for the meeting. Mistoffelees looked at her curiously.

"I take it you've made up your mind for both of us already?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't make any other plans for during that meeting if I were you." With a quick smile, Zaphia shifted her books in her arm and took off running across the grass, headed towards her next English class. Sighing yet smiling, Misto took off after her. She did this once every day or so. It was a fun game to play between classes. It was kind of like tag, but with more tickling when he caught her.

"Ok, for those of you who are new, we basically have a bunch of different activities going on at once, all with their own committee and chairperson to oversee them. Join as many or as few as you want, but please do contribute to everything you join, ok? We also do some massive projects…where we expect everyone to contribute from all the committees. But that doesn't happen often. Ok, fan out, scout out the projects and sign up for whatever you like. Welcome to the student volunteering!" Amid some applause the speaker sat down and the students began circulating the room, with older students holding up poster board and shouting advertisements for their committees.

Zaphia smiled, excited to actually be involved in normal student life. "Wanna split up and scout out everything, then meet back and see what looks interesting?" she asked Mistoffelees, who was also looking interested and nodded.

The two cats separated, wandering around the room just like any other student. Except that the stares and attention they got weren't exactly "like any other student"… but they did their best to ignore that. It was amazing how much they'd learned to block out the shocked looks on people's faces.

Standing in the middle of the room, Zaphia and Mistoffelees held up fliers so that they could both review them. The committee against hunger, the kid's committee, the environmental committee…the choices were varied. "The hardest part is going to be deciding what part to join!" Zaphia exclaimed, looking excitedly at Misto. She noticed he was looking somewhat guilty at that last remark.

Peering at him curiously, she let the hand holding the fliers drop to her side. "What?" she asked him. The tomcat shifted uncomfortably. "Well…" he started. "There was only one slot left…"

"You signed up for something already, didn't you"?" As she said this, Zaphia noticed he was half-grinning at her.

"Not exactly. I signed you up for something…" Beckoning to her, Mistoffelees walked over to the corner of the room, where a large sign for "Student Volunteering Current Events" hung. He pointed to a sign on the wall then backed away so Zaphia could read it.

There was her name, written in on the last slot for volunteers…reading the description of the activity Zaphia gasped, then turned to Misto, who was dangerously close to laughing. He coughed as her eyes narrowed.

"You signed me up for the fundraiser."

"Yeah, it seemed like a good idea to help wi-"

"You signed me up for the FASHION SHOW!?!?" the girl shouted these last words as Mistoffelees finally lost control and started laughing. Seething, she stormed out of the room before she lost all control in the middle of the crowd. With a grunt she sat down on the front steps of the building, half-aware that she tucked her tail around her so that no one would step on it. Yet another survival trick she'd picked up unconsciously.

The door squeaked and suddenly Misto was standing behind her. Warily, he sat down. He winced at the withering look Zaphia gave him.

"Zaph, don't be mad…"

"Why not? You signed me up for a fashion show because you knew I'd hate it and you thought it'd be funny to humiliate me."

The tom's eyebrows shot up. "That is not why I signed you up!"

"Right. I'm sure you thought I'd really enjoy it and would hate to miss out on the opportunity to prance around in front of strangers."

"Well, no…"

"You know how shy I am."

"Yeah…" the tomcat looked uncomfortable. "Zaph, I didn't do it to be mean…"

"Then why? What possible reason could you have?" Zaphia crossed her arms and waited expectantly. From the glint in her eyes it was obvious that this was very dangerous territory. Misto took a long time thinking about his answer.

"Well, I admit I did find it funny how you reacted. But I didn't sign you up to laugh at you. I thought it'd be a good thing for you to do."

"Why, exactly?" The tone Zaphia used was practically dripping icicles.

"Because… because you think you look horrible and would rather hide from people. Something like this is for charity, so it's low-pressure, and would give you a chance to see that you're wrong. Plus I thought it'd be nice to see you dressed up." Misto hesitated. "I liked it when you dressed up and forgot to be self-conscious. You're beautiful, and I want to teach you to believe that…"

Zaphia let her arms fall to her sides and her facial expression softened. "You should have talked to me before you signed me up like that. I'm entitled to decide if I will or will not do something. It's not your place to decide I should do something because it's good for me."

"I know… I'm sorry." Mistoffelees lowered his head, ears drooping. "I just wanted…" His eyes widened as Zaphia rubbed against his shoulder. He looked at her curiously.

"Your heart was in the right place, as usual." The queen sighed as she rubbed her ears against her boyfriend.

"You're not mad?"

"No, not really. You made it really hard for me to stay mad." She wrinkled her nose at him, and he smiled.

"I bet we could take your name off the list if you want. It's volunteering, after all, and I'm sure they have people change their minds… and it's not like it's last minute or anything, so it's not like you'd leave them hanging…" He raised an eyebrow as Zaphia pursed her lips, thinking.

"Zaphia?"

She looked at him. "I'm just thinking. My first instinct is to run in there and say I can't do it. But that's because I'm afraid and uncomfortable about it…"

"Understandable."

"But whenever I've backed out of something because I was afraid or uncomfortable, I usually end up regretting it. And when I go against that instinct and do something I'd really rather not… it usually works out really well." She smiled at Misto. "Case in point - coming to this school. Going looking for you in the alleys…" The tomcat hugged her.

"Well, I'm certainly glad you went ahead with those things. But you don't hafta do the fashion show just because you don't want to. That's a weird reason if you ask me."

"Yes, but I'm a weird person. And maybe it will help me get over some of my fear of people…and it is for a good cause…" Zaphia rested her chin on her hand while she thought. She couldn't help smiling at Mistoffelees' idea of 'teaching you to believe that'…

"What's so funny?" the tomcat asked.

"You. You think I'm pretty." Zaphia blushed.

"And I still don't know why you can't see yourself that way."

"And I don't see why you can see me that way. So why don't we just call it even?"

"Never. I will convince you if it's the last thing I do." With a grin, Misto leaned over and licked Zaphia behind the ears affectionately. She smiled even broader.

"You just won't give up on trying to make me feel better or flattering me. That, in a nutshell, is why I couldn't stay mad at you," she whispered. Purring slightly, she leaned against him. "I wouldn't push it though, or next time I'll sign you up for open mike night." She giggled at Misto's sudden look of alarm.

Clutching the garment bag to herself, Zaphia looked around nervously. She hadn't realized that all the girls would be changing in the same room. Backing into the darkest, most isolated corner of the room, she attempted to break all speed records for changing into dress clothes.

While struggling with the zipper, she noticed that the chatter had stopped almost completely. Bracing herself, she looked up. Just as she had feared, everyone was staring at her. She forced a feeble smile.

"Hi."

The other girls just stared, hair brushing hands stopped in midair.

"I'm Zaphia."

Still nothing but stares.

Slightly annoyed, Zaphia swished her tail behind her. "Is something wrong?"

Raising their eyebrows and mouthing "oooook" to their friends, the girls all turned back to the business of getting ready.

Zaphia sighed. This was going to be a long show if everyone refused to talk to her or acknowledge her existence. Forcing a smile onto her face, Zaphia walked out on the stage, stomach twisting into knots. Walk to the end, turn around, look out into the audience… She was preoccupied with not making a mistake when she heard Mistoffelees voice. With her ears she could pick him up easily in the crowd.

"You look so beautiful…" he whispered, and she smiled for real.

That thought stayed with Zaphia as she walked backstage again. She found herself checking her reflection to see if she was blushing as much as she felt like she was.

After the first round of clothing, when the program changed and all the girls were back in the room changing again, Zaphia found herself wishing for the awkward silences with a kind of wistfulness. The comments were getting nastier as the girls' animosity built off each other.

"You know, just because this is a volunteer event doesn't mean they shouldn't have higher standards for who they let in."

"Yeah, I know. Some people just were not meant to be in a 'fashion show.' People should stick to their strengths."

"Hey, does anybody know where my lint roller is? I just have to get all this fur off me, it's so disgusting, where did it all come from?" the girl looked pointedly at Zaphia, who had been trying to get fur off her own outfit. Zaphia scowled as she looked down at her own clothing.

"I'm always so glad when one person is so much worse than the rest of us. I've been doing this for years and it's so great when there's someone for the audience to make fun of so the rest of us look better…"

"Yes, I want to thank you for being such a nasty person. It really does make me feel better," Zaphia said, looking the girl straight in the eye.

"Excuse me?"

"I believe you heard me."

With an incredibly ugly look, the girls all stalked out to line up for the runway, leaving Zaphia to trail after them. She sighed. It was never good to rise to the bait of people like these…but she had felt her hands tingling and knew that if she didn't let off some anger, her claws were going to come out on their own. That would have been even worse.

Forcing a smile onto her face, Zaphia took to the runway, following the others out. Turning around, she felt absolutely ridiculous and was thinking about how humiliating this all was…till she spotted Mistoffelees sitting in the audience. Her smile turned real as she realized the he was whistling - until he pretended to swoom and started fanning himself with a program, that is. With a laugh, the feline turned and followed the others backstage. Who cares what these girls think? The people I care about are all that matter, she thought to herself, as she changed into yet another outfit. That thought helped her block the far nastier comments the girls made this time.

Following the crowd to the lobby of the theatre where this whole show had taken place, Zaphia found herself being attacked by Mistoffelees. Smiling hugely, he picked her up in a massive hug and spun her around. Zaphia giggled, despite her slight embarrassment.

"I think he enjoyed the show…" she said to no one in particular.

"Of course! You should have seen yourself up there!"

Zaphia smiled at him, and with a quick kiss on the cheek whispered, "Can we get out of here now?"

"Good idea…" started Misto. "I have some pictures to post online."

Zaphia stared at him in horror. "Haven't I been through enough?" she asked.

Her boyfriend looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"You don't know how mean those girls were to me…" With a downcast look, Zaphia recounted all the insults that had been thrown at her backstage as the two walked outside. It was a good thing they got away from the crowd, for soon Misto was hissing angrily.

"That's it, I'm going to give those girls a piece of my mind…" Mistoffelees said, turning to go back in.

Zaphia smiled slightly. "Not that I don't appreciate the gesture," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. "But it won't do any good to make a scene now."

"But you can't just take that…"

"Do you think I seriously didn't say anything to them?"

The tomcat grinned. "No." After a moment spent looking into space, a more mischievous grin spread over his face. "I still have a good idea, though…" Despite Zaphia's protests, he refused to share just what his little plan was.

A few days later, sitting in the apartment with Katie and Erin, Zaphia was innocently lapping up a bowl of milk for breakfast. "Do you know anything about this?" Katie asked, laying the morning paper in front of her feline friend.

Zaphia almost snorted milk out of her nose as she read the headline. "Local string of hair-dye disasters. Bleach blonde beauties experience vivid green tresses."

"Do you know anything about that?" Erin asked, eyebrows raised. "Seems something unexplainable happened to a few of the girls who were at that fashion show you went to Saturday."

Zaphia merely went back to her breakfast without a word. Mentally, though, she made a note to thank Mistoffelees later.