Chapter 4:
For a moment Victoria was silent. She was stunned.
"You… want to be my mate?" she said in a voice barely above a whisper. Misto simply nodded, still breathing very fast. He looked a tad stunned himself, as if he couldn't believe what he had just said.
"I've loved you since the day I met you." Misto was looking at her intently, gauging her reaction and praying that he hadn't said too much.
Victoria didn't make a sound. This wasn't right, Misto was her friend, her best friend. He could never have feelings like that for her. But he did. She felt faint.
"Victoria?" Victoria looked up at him, he looked concerned.
"I need to go." She said in a voice that was at least an octave higher than its usual pitch. "I just… bye Misto."
She raced out the door and into the storm.
%%^^%%
Misto just stood there, looking at the door. He felt empty. It was only when black spots began to dance before his eyes that he remembered to breathe. He didn't feel the tears streaking down his face.
He had told her and she had left.
No.
He had told her, and she had run. She had run away from him.
Suddenly, Misto was filled with uncontrollable anger.
'Why can't she love me! Am I that different from any other Jellicle?'
"STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! Why did you tell her?" He yelled.
Mistoffelees hurled an empty tin across the room with a cry of anguish, before dissolving into a sobbing wreck on the floor.
'Why can't she love me?'
She had been his friend since they were kittens. Mistoffelees had just been adopted by the Rum Tum Tugger, but was still shunned by the tribe. Even Jennyanydots, who took care of the kittens, was afraid of him.
But Victoria wasn't. She was kind and it was she who showed the rest of the tribe that he was nothing to be afraid of.
From the moment he had laid eyes on her he was love struck. In his father's hideout, Macavity's hideout, there had never been beauty of any kind. I Misto's opinion, the junkyard was a much nicer place than Macavity's hideout, especially with Victoria around.
When Mistoffelees had watched her dance at the Jellicle Ball, he had been entranced by her grace and beauty. He was so enraptured that he had almost missed his cue to sing.
But then she had danced with Plato. To make matters worse Plato had offered to be her mate. He felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest.
But despite this, when they had stood side by side while Old Deuteronomy sang about addressing a cat, Misto couldn't help but be in awe of her. Couldn't help but love her.
But she didn't love him.