Chapter 3- Confusion

Jemima woke up with a smile on her face the next morning. She remembered the events of the night before very clearly. Soemthing she had waited for, actually for several months now; Alonzo and Cassandra were no longer together. She knew that sounded horrible, to want a couple to break up so badly, but how could she control how she felt about Alonzo?

She got up out of bed, told her mother she was going out ot the junkyard to play, and stepped outside into the bright summer air. Victoria was sitting on the old TSE1 lazily basking in the sunlight. Jem headed over to her, crawling up beside her best friend. Tori smiled at her and rolled over onto her stomach, a knowing grin on her face.

"Didn't Alonzo promise to see you today?"

Jemima grinned. "Yes, he did actually. I don't know where to meet him though, he just said he'd see me."

"Hello ladies." She saw a flash of grey fur as Astrid jumped over them and landed right next to Jemima. They giggled and shook their heads at their goofy friend.

"Good morning Astrid." Jem answered, grinning at her childhood friend. Tori had begun a conversation with him, but Jem had zoned out, staring around the junkyard in search of Alonzo. A few minutes passed by, Tori and Astrid had tried to include Jemima in the conversation but she didn't seem to notice so they gave up.

Slightly annoyed, Astrid decided to give Jem a slight shove off the car, which she did not see coming. She fell off and landed on the ground with a squeal of surprise. Astrid and Tori were laughing histercally, landing on the ground next to her a bit more gracefully. "Are you there Jem? I'm sure that got your attention." Astrid laughed, offering her a hand.

Blushing, she took Astrid's paw and he helped her up off the ground. "Jemmie, you were completely zoned out, we had to find some way to get your attention." Tori giggled.

She faced the two of them, who were still laughing, giving up on her search for the black and white tom for the moment to scowl at her friends. When they stopped laughing she finally said, "That wasn't funny guys."

Suddenly, from behind, she felt someone grab her sides where she was ticklish and she jumped and squealed in surprise. Whirling around, she saw Alonzo, grinning at her and her annoyance quickly faded. "Hey." he said with a grin, offering her a hug. She accepted the hug without a second thought, he held onto her than was really neccessary.

She turned to see Mistoffelees had showed up and Victoria and Astrid were grinning at her. "We'll see you later Jem." Tori said, pulling her boyfriend away and Astrid followed.

Plato walked up after a few seconds and gave Jemima a small smile before sitting up on the tire, guesturing for them to join him. Jem began to walk over to him, only to have Alonzo pick her up and set her on the tire before jumping up himself.

"So did you have fun yesterday Jem?" Alonzo said, playfully pawing at her.

"Yes I did 'Lonzo. How about you?" She shot right back. She swiped at him, leaving her paw in the air a little too long and he caught it, intertwining his hand with hers.

"Definitly." He gave her hand a slight squeeze, staring into her eyes until she blushed and looked away. Plato coughed loudly to remind them that he was still there. Alonzo reluctantly looked at his best friend, keeping his hold on Jem's hand.

"Not to ruin the moment or anything, but what exactly is going on with you two may I ask? The whole tribe wants to know." Plato asked curiously.

Alonzo's happy smile faded a little as he thought about Plato's question. He let go of her hand and she looked back and forth between Plato and Alonzo, curious to hear his answer. He glanced at her, a very contemplative look on his face before turning back to his friend. "To be honest, I don't exactly know Plato. I like her, I know that....."

Jemima agreed, she didn't really know what was going on either. To her surprise, Alonzo jumped off the tire and walked a little way away from them, sitting down in the shadows. She went to follow him but Plato held her back. She turned to him in confusion. "Let him think. He doesn't want to do anything stupid to hurt you, just let him be for a little while."

She held Plato's friendly but serious gaze for a while before glancing back over at Alonzo, now concerned. Sighing, she turned to Plato who looked concerned for her as well as Alonzo. "You okay Jemmie?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Just confused I guess."

"'Lonzo's just got a lot on his mind that's all....."

"Plato what has everyone been saying about me and him?" she asked curiously.

"Well.....they're just confused that's all. They were under the impression that you and Alonzo were dating now and everyone thought it was a little too soon after Cass......they're just worried he'll do something stupid and end up hurting you." he answered reluctantly.

"But no one but me, you, Lonzo and everyone who was there last night really knows what happend."

"Actually, no one really knows everything that happend except for you and him. You two were off by yourselves, no one else was actually there. Sure, you told us about it but its not the same as actually being there."

Jemima nodded, now trying not to get lost in thought. She looked up to see Tugger, surrounded by the young kittens. Happy for the distraction, she gave Plato a friendly smile, took once last glance at Alonzo and walked over to join them.

She tried to have fun with the flirtatious tom, but she couldn't seem to find the inner kitten that liked flirting with him. Her gaze kept being drawn to a much more exciting tom sitting in the shadows, though he didn't seem very exciting at the moment. She gave up eventually, and headed over to Alonzo.

"Alonzo? C'mon tell me what's wrong." she said quietly, walking towards him. He didn't answer her, only looking up, his face in a very upset expression. He held his paw out for her, but this time she hesitated.

Noticing her hesitation, he said, "C'mon you know you want to." Trying to pull off a smile. She held his gaze, which had become slightly desperate, before setting her paw in his. He pulled her onto his lap and she sat there, confused. He had let go of her hand and just left her to sit there, not holding her like he had before.

They sat like this for a while before he finally got up. She walked with him back over to Plato. "Plato, I think its time to head home....."

She looked confusedly at Plato, her face stricken with worry. "Alonzo, why don't you say goodbye to Jemmie and meet me over there in a few minutes?" He pointed in the general direction before walking away, catching Jemima's grateful look.

Alonzo nodded and turned to Jem, not quite looking her in the eyes. "Alonzo, what's wrong?" she asked again. His green eyes met her big brown ones and he held the gaze, just staring. She noticed he had started to look apologetic and upset. Confused, she stared right back.

"Jem, I gotta go okay? See you." he finally said, giving her a quick hug before running after Plato. Jemima was left alone, confused as the sun began to set on the Jellicle Junkyard.