[A/N:] I realized that I hadn't yet described Pepper's appearance. My picture is Pepper, but you can't see her eyes. They're a really pretty green color. :]
Ch 4: Discoveries and Decisions
When I got back to my human home, I found my human and her family all rushing about, putting clothes, toiletries, and random other commodities in bags. What on earth are they doing? When the mad rush of packing was over, my human came and picked me up.
"Bye, Pepper! I loves you little one! We'll be back in about a week," she said, hugging me and stroking my head. They're going on vacation! I jumped out of her arms and ran underneath the bushes.
"Bye, guys!" my human's father called as they walked out the front door. I like her father. Ryann's sister's pets seemed sad that she was leaving. After they left, I made a mad dash for the Junkyard. A week in the Junkyard! Yes!
"Hey everyone!" I called.
"Hello, Pepper! What brings you here during the daytime?" Jellylorum asked me.
"Well, my human and her family are leaving for a week on vacation," I answered happily.
"Oh, well that's good. Sorry to be brief, but I have things to attend to," she said as she stalked off toward Etcetera, who was clutching Tugger's leg and squealing. Etcy, Etcy, always with the Tugger nonsense. I saw Lecty walking out of her parents' den, and I decided to surprise her. I crept up behind her and pounced, tackling her.
"Hey Pepper!" she said. I, unlike my tacklers, make sure my victim's face isn't smashed to the ground.
"Hey Lecty!" I replied. "Whatcha doin?"
"Oh, just goin to see Brutus. Wanna come?" she replied.
"Sure!" and we were off to see the completing factor in our trio.
"Hey, Pepper! Hey, Lecty!" he said from Pouncival's favorite haunt, the chair on top of the junk pile. He jumped down and waved goodbye to his younger, but only by three minutes, brother. We padded to our trio's favorite spot, a pond just outside the Junkyard.
"So, guys, the Jellicle Ball is coming up soon. Any idea who you want to go with?" Electra asked.
"Well, yeah, but I don't think she likes me enough to go with me," Brutus said sadly.
"Lecty and I could ask for you, Brutus." I said, wanting to help my friend.
"Yeah, we'd set you up with her," Lecty added, smiling.
"You'd do that for me?" he asked, his eyes brightening.
"Of course we would! We're your best friends!" we said simultaneously.
"It's too bad we can't choose mates yet," Lecty sighed. She had her eyes on my cousin Admetus, but Brutus and I were the only ones who knew.
"I'm actually glad. I have no idea who I'd like as a mate," I said. It was true. I had always been more concerned with just having fun and living life.
"Well, the queen I like doesn't like me at all… At least I don't think she does," Brutus stated.
"Who is it?" I asked, curious.
"Promise you won't laugh?" he said.
"We promise," Lecty and I said together.
"It's Etcy…" he said. Etcy? Wow! This might be difficult…
"You like Etcy? Hyperactive, Tugger-obsessing Etcetera?" Lecty asked, in disbelief.
"Well, yeah…" Brutus replied softly.
"We have our work cut out for us, Lecty! Let's get moving," I said. "Bye, Brutus." I smiled and hugged my friend.
"Bye guys," he said. He went back to hang with Pouncival, who had been joined by Plato. Surprisingly, Addie was there, too.
Lecty and I didn't have to search long to find Etcy. She, Vicky, and Jem were sitting by the big tire, sunning. "Hey, Etcy, can we talk to you for a moment?" Lecty said to her sister.
"Um, sure. Excuse me, guys," Etcy said to Vic and Jem. She padded over to us. "What's up?"
"Well, we know of a tom who likes you," I said.
"Really? Who?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Well, he's a funny tom," I said.
"And he's smart," Lecty added.
"And some queens would say he's cute," I put in.
"And most would say he's sweet," Lecty finished.
"Any guesses?" I asked.
"TUGGER!" Etcy shouted.
"No, Etcetera. Tugger is not an option. Any other guesses?" Electra said.
"Um…. Nope," she said.
"Okay, well who, besides Tugger, do you like?" I asked.
"Well, I kind of like Pounce, and I like Misto a little, and I don't really know Plato that well, and Tumblebrutus I like some, and that's it other than Tugger," she said. Sigh. A true, devoted fangirl…
"Well, one of the toms on that list likes you. Think about it, if we're the ones asking about it, then who's the most likely tom?" Lecty said.
"Um… Oh, I know! Mistofelees!" she shouted. Sometimes, Etcetera can be just a little bit dense…
"Try again," Lecty and I said together.
"Oh! I'm an idiot! It's Tumble, isn't it?" she said, smacking herself in the face.
"Yes," we sighed.
"Well, I like him too," Etcy said, somewhat softly.
"Great! Well, bye!" I said, and Electra and I padded back to find Brutes.
"Brutus! Come down!" I shouted. He hopped down and we went back to our favorite place.
"So, does she like me?" he asked quietly.
"Well, I don't know how to tell you this…" Lectra said, faking disappointment. His eyes darkened and his ears drooped, waiting for the bad news. "But, SHE LIKES YOU!"
He almost exploded. He ran around the pond a couple of times, saying incoherent phrases. If I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn he was on catnip. Pure, unaltered, catnip.
"Calm down, Brutes! You still have to ask her to the Ball." I said.
"Oh, right… I think I'll go do that now…" he said, and he padded off toward the Junkyard.
"Well, that went well," Lecty said. I laughed.
[later that day]
I saw Addie sitting on the old car, alone. I decided to go talk to my cousin.
"Hey, Admetus," I said as I jumped onto the car.
"Hey, Pepper," he replied.
"Whatcha doin?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing. Just watching everyone," he replied.
"Sounds interesting," I said. "So, the Jellicle Ball is coming up soon."
"Yeah," he said.
"You thought about who you want to go with?" I asked.
"Well, yeah, but I'm too shy to ask her, and I don't think she even knows I exist…" he said, somberly.
"Well, maybe I could help?" I said, smiling.
"You probably could… Does she like me?" he asked hopefully. Am I supposed to know who it—oh, der! Electra!
"If it's Electra you're talking about, then yes, she does," I replied happily.
"Really?" he asked, almost losing his quiet, shy appearance.
"Yeah! She wants to go to the ball with you!" I said.
"Oh, thanks so much, Pepper!" he said, and he gave me a hug. He ran off, to go find Lecty, I assumed. Could today get much better? I asked myself.
I was sitting on the old car, just enjoying the afternoon, when Jemima walked up.
"Hey, Pepps," she said quietly.
"Hey, Jem!" I said.
"Can I ask you something?" she asked, quietly. She jumped up on the car and took a seat.
"Sure, sis," I said, curiously.
"How do you know when someone likes you?" she asked.
"Well, Jem, I don't really know. I don't know if anyone's ever liked me," I replied.
"Really?" she asked, wide-eyed.
"Yeah, and if they have, they've never told me," I replied.
"Well, I know of a couple toms who like you…" she said quietly.
"Really? Who?" I asked.
"You help me and I'll help you," she bargained.
"Alrighty. Who is it that you want to know if they like you?" I asked.
"It's Pouncival… He's always been one of my best friends, besides you and Vicky, but I can't tell if he likes me. He seems to like flirting with me, but I just don't know…" she said.
"Well, think about it, does he flirt with you quite a bit?" I asked.
"Well, yeah…" she replied.
"Does he seem nervous when you two are alone?" I asked.
"Well, yeah…" she replied again.
"Does he blush when you two touch each other in really any way, shape, or form?"
"Well, yeah…"
"I do believe you have your answer, Jem." I said, smiling.
"Oh! And to give you yours, it's Misto and Plato, but Plato likes you more," she said before scampering off. Mistofelees and Plato?! Oh, Heaviside… Victoria liked both of them, but she liked Plato a lot more. What in the name of Everlasting Cat am I to do? Vicky likes them, and I don't even know if I do at all. Maybe I'll just keep this a secret, and only Jem and I, and maybe Lecty and Brutus, and of course Misto and Plato, will know. Sigh, that's almost all the kittens, with the exception of Addie, Etcy, Vicky, and Pouncival. What's a queen to do? I could…
I was broken from my thought process by a cat jumping onto the old car. Please, please don't be Victoria! I looked over at the other cat and sighed in relief. It wasn't Victoria, but Pouncival.
"Hey, Pounce," I said.
"Hey! Can I ask you something kind of personal?" he asked, quietly. Why does every kitten come to me about their problems? Do they think I have the answer to everything? Well, I guess I can't complain. I did seem to have a way to solve everyone else's problems, I just could never figure out my own.
"Sure," I said.
"Well, I like a queen, and I don't know how to tell her. I want to ask her to the Ball, but I'm too scared she'll say no…" he said quietly.
"I'm going to take a stab at this, and guess it's Jemima." I said.
"How did you know?" he asked, bewildered.
"She asked me how to tell if you liked her. Anyways, seeing as you now know she likes you, just ask her," I said.
"Oh, wow! Thanks!" he said and bounded away. I bet I'm going to end up being the next Jennyanydots… I sighed. It's not that I didn't like the matronly cat, I just didn't want to be forever the one everyone went to for a problem solution. Now to focus on my problem…
I sat on the old car for a couple more hours until it got dark. I decided to go to my human home, away from distractions.
"Bye everyone! I'll be back tomorrow!" I shouted as I padded out the gate. It started to rain again when I was halfway home. Stupid rain…
When I jumped through the pet door, Penny, the Pollicle, came to greet me.
"Hi, Pepper! How are you?" she barked.
"I'm just dandy, Penny." I said, sarcastically. She should have been able to tell that I was miserable. I was soaked to the core, I was cold, and I was still wondering what to do about Misto and Plato.
"Oh, well that's good! I'm doing pretty good myself," she said, wagging her tail and beating it on the computer desk. You can be so dense, sometimes…
"Penny, I need to ask you something. What do you do when a friend has a crush on someone, who just happens to like you, but you don't even know if you like them back, but even if you did, you don't want to hurt your friend?" I asked her.
"Well, I know this is kind of an obvious answer, but just follow your heart. If your friend truly cares about you, then they'll understand that it wasn't meant to be with the one who they liked. Make sense?" she replied. Wow, that was really deep for a Pollicle.
"Yeah, thanks, Penny," I said. I rubbed up against her, showing my gratitude. She muttered "Erm, well, this is awkward," before walking away. That made me laugh.
"SCREAM! SCREAM!" came the annoying screech of Penny's "brother", Jason the bird.
"Will you shut up?" I called to him.
"No, I will not. I'm scared of the storm and I miss my human," he grumbled.
"We're all frightened of the storm, and the humans will be back in a few days, you idiot," I snapped. That bird really gets on my nerves sometimes.
"Whatever," he muttered before flying off into the living room. I live with the weirdest animals on the planet. I jumped onto the counter where my cat-food bowl is kept, and I ate some of it.
[A/N:] We actually do keep the cat food on the counter, because if it was on the floor, Penny would eat it. And Jason really does scream. A lot. So, yeah. This is based on mostly true things, and how I think the pets react with each other. Pepper really does do that to Penny, though. It's kinda funny to watch. :]
And thus, I curled up on a pile of papers sitting on the dining table and went to sleep. I love to baffle the humans with how odd my bedding choices are. At least I don't have to worry about Misto and Plato when I'm here…