Chapter 2 - Falling in Love Again
I don't believe it... I can't believe ite... I'll never believe it. Probably the worst possible has happened... I can't believe it...
Well, we got into the tribe and everyone was happy. Firestar decided to recover (she actually jumped up and yelped "Ah'm Ahlright!" Coricopat who stood beside her was about to get a heart attack...) I ended up practicing magic with Mistoffelees (And boy, is that fun!) and I get along with mostly everybody. Outcluding Lonnie-boy, who I now hate more than ever, but I'll tell about that later.
I kept having fun with Chai, to the point that at least Star started to give us strange looks. Some of the older cats stared at us with that "Ah, the young love"-thing on their faces. This far, we've got many good laughs from them.
One day Chai and Stoff dragged me back to the forest my story started in. I looked around. In front of me was a bush that looked completely impenetrable and around me the usual forest.
"Okay, where's this great 'surprise'?" I asked, feeling frustrated. I'd expected a little more than a forest.
"Patience, Trif, patience." Stoff stated in a mystical tone which, in that situation, was unbearably annoying. Chai walked over to the bush-thing, lifted a branch and walked in. Misto motioned me to follow, and I did, thinking that I wouldn't have anything to loose anyway. The result was that I stood there for five minutes, eyes wide, mouth open and completely wordless.
The thing I saw was a clearing. Not a big one, just the size for a few cats to be in. In the middle of the clearing was a small pond and around the place were birches and willows. And some small, white flowers. And I couldn't but stare.
"I don't think she hates the place..." I heard Misto whisper to Chai, who grinned. Smiling widely I turned to them.
"What the heck is this place?"
"It's a... clearing. We call it 'The Blue Place'." Chai replied. From that day on, it was the place I could be found if I wasn't in the junkyard. Soft grass and a perfect view to the sky... The stars.
From a subject to another, all (I mean the problems... My broblems) began a week back or so. It was a little after Star finally got up. I sat on the top of one old Ford, in complete peace, looking at the stars and stuff, when the last mentioned cat rushed to me.
"Whut am Oi gonna do?" She cried out, in a tone I'd never believed I'd hear from her mouth. She sounded nearly desperate. I rolled over to lie on my stomach and gave her a curious look.
"With what?" Stars were so much more interesting than this Star's weird problems... At that point...
She sat down and stared me with a murderly look. She tried to figure what to say, couldn't find a way to tell something. That was the thing that awakened my interest. She had never been so... unsure.
"Well... Ya know..." She muttered turning bright red, which isn't that usual when we are talking of this gal, either. I started to get the creeps from her. I was about to start shaking her and yelling "Who are you and what have you done to Star?!" But I didn't feel like it...
"No, I have no idea what you're talking about." I rolled my eyes, "Spit it out or I'll fall asleep right here." Star didn't say anything, just turned, if possible, even more red. I was just about to leave, when she finally lay down and sighed very loudly.
"Alonzo."
This one tiny word made me almost jump out of my skin, and I guess my shock was pretty obvious. I sprang around and fixed my eyes on her, not believing what I'd just heard. "Lonnie-boy?!" I screamed a way down louder than I'd meant to. She hurried to calm me down.
"Don't shout, ye fool, 'e moight 'ear!" She hissed to me. At the that stage I didn't give a damn to who heard me. Still I tried to calm down and answer her strange questions as coolly and camly as I could.
I swallowed and looked at her, still a unbelieving look on my face. "What about Lonnie?" The question was needless, but I wanted to make sure that the thing was turning just as catastrophic as I supposed.
Star looked like she wanted to slap me. "'e won't notice me. Whut am Oi supposed to do?"
Another shock to me... If someone doesn't notice Star's character, he must be very blind, very stupid or very apathetic. With Lonnie-boy's case I was very eager to look at the second option. I didn't want to get any role in this play, so I just jumped down to the ground and stated "Stay away from him and the world and everyone's nerves will be saved."
Star pouted her lips, that is one of her most dangerous looks. She jumped down after me. "That didn't answer me question!"
Well I thought it did, and in this case, damn well. When Lonnie looks at Star in "that way" I'm going back to the forest. But Lonnie and Star, anyway...?
"Woi not?" Star asked with bright eyes. I could have listed a million reasons "Woi not" at that place, but my friend there seemed to have her heart filled with everything else. And in the other hand, she would probably have beaten me up if I'd started to tell them...
Anyway, that was how it all began. The rest of the conversation didn't make any sense whatsoever. Star kept repeating "Whut am Oi gonna do?" and sighing and I gave her some advices which didn't make any sense either. Since then I've tried to get her thoughts off Lonnie, and she's trying to make me stop trying... And neither of us has succeed thus far. The problem is that I don't like Lonnie and he doesn't like me, so we keep fighting every fifth day or so, because we both have pretty quick tongues. Star notices immediately when Lonnie's in a bad mood (she won't let the poor guy out of her eyes for a second) and then I end up fighting with Star. Even though I'm a lot more calm than Star, my temper is almost as bad, well hidden, though. That means I'm not that easy resistance. I'll be fighting 24/7 if Lonnie decides to "notice" Star!
The days went by. Star made the world record in sighing. She and Etcy should have set up a club named DIL - Desperately In Love.
***
Because I'm a person who everyone keeps talking to and who never really listens, I had someone to listen to every freakin' night. The subject was usually the oh-so-familiar "What am I gonna do?" Usually it's fun to listen people's problems with love, but then we have this Etcetera... One night we had this interesting conversation:
"What am I gonna do?"
"Huh?" I was asleep then, but it's impossible not to wake up by her voice.
"He doesn't notice me?"
"Alonzo?" A little sleepy, I wasn't exactly sure of who was talking when everyone kept complaining about the same thing. When I looked up I saw Etcetera's shocked face and rushed to fix what I'd said.
"Tugger, I believe?" I couldn't resist a jawn. Etcy nodded excitedly. I also believed there wasn't a possibility that he doesn't notice her...
"Yeeeah! What am I gonna do? You know it all, tell me!"
How would I know anything about love? I'd never been in love. And where on earth did she get the idea that I know everything? Deuteronomy does, but nobody ever understands what he's saying... I was starting to get tired with her problems. And everyone else's problems. I took a doctor-like look and asked,
"How long has this been going on?" This question was a BIG mistake.
"Well..." Etcy tok a comfortable pose. "First time I noticed him when he gave me that look. Y'know, THE look, and I got this feeling. And, I dunno, I just went like, 'dang', like the feeling that your head's going to explode! And he's just soooo neat and cute and..."
Etcy didn't stop talking, I just didn't listen anymore. I was glad that my patients aren't usually but those two girlies with "big" heartaches. If someone really in love would have come to me with her problems, I'd have ran away.
"And he's... What are you doing?" I was completely in my dreams, once again, and woke up when she stopped her praises.
"Thinking" I replied quickly. I know I should listen and all, but...
"Yeah, like the best thing I know?"
I got another shock (It wasn't until this that I noticed what I'd caused to Chai the day we got to the junkyard) and turned to look her with eyes wide. "Thinking is the best thing you know?"
Etcy rolled her eyes, obviously frustrated. "Tug! But it's starting to be a problem...And I thought that maybe you could help."
"Okay..." My sarcastic side was starting to enjoy the situation. "So what's the name of the problem?"
"Tugger!"
"Have you thought of this enough?"
Etcy pouted her lips like she would have liked to slam me. I grinned innocently and told her to go on, this time really listening. In the future I could teach to my grandchildren how to act when someone comes to complain about somebody's cuteness.
"...and he has such a great tail and.. Just so cute!"
"Tug's tail is cute?"
More frustrated sighs. Okei, I admit it, I'm a little mean. Sarcasm is in the blood with my family. You should have my sister talking! I apologized again.
"All in one, he's just so WON-DER-FUL! So, Trifie, what shall I do?"
That's what I hadn't found out yet. I just hate it when people call me "Trifie". I took a pose that Jennyanydots always has when aswering to questions, and looked into her eyes. "Just continue what you're doing. I swear he's already started to look at you somehow differently." Yeah, right. "Annoyed" would be the word for that.
"Yay!" My patient jumped up with a smile on her face. Nice to make people happy. "You're the cat! I knew you could solve this! Thaaanks!"
"No problem!" I answered when she was already running back to where she came from. Poor Tug... He's one of the nicest guys I know and the fact he can stand five kittens at once proves he's got nerves to share...
***
"...And the fact he can flirt with with five girls at once proves something completely different..." Chai finished my sentence with a grin. We were sitting in the Blue Place for the third time that week, laughing at my and Etcy's therapy moment. I didn't tell them about Star, though, especially when she happened her biggest heartache this far: She had gained her confidence and went over to Lonnie to say "Hi!" and this Cassandra here comes and takes him with her under her eyes. I ended up hearing a long story, fifty sighs and a few weird thoughts.
Firestar hates Cassie. That's probably because Cassie keeps flirting with Lonnie and Star herself can't flirt. She dislikes Pouncival because he likes to call her "Fiery Star" and she hates it. And then, Mistoffelees. He just had to go and introduce himself to her when she was still in bed and having the worst headache ever.
Speak of the devil... "ZAP!"
Chai jumped a few feet up. I was used to Stoff's tricks so it was actually just fun to see him scaring everyone. A gaze at him was enough to tell me where he was coming from.
"Say, Stoff, you didn't go tease Star again?" I asked. He looked around nervously. When Star hates somebody, she's pretty frightening and now she was suffering with her crush. I could understand his horror completely.
"I swear!" Stoff yelped, sitting down after checking the place, "I didn't even look at her when she threw a stone at me!"
Chai was watching Stoff with an amused expression. Those two were almost best friends, so it didn't matter what they said. "I can't believe you're letting some half grown girl scare you." He laughed.
"She isn't a half grown girl" Stoff sniffed, "She's a psychopath with worst grade aggressions, that's what she is!"
Okay, so she's a little bit short-tempered. Who cares? She's my best friend, I gotta say a word for her. "C'mon, she's not that bad. You just don't know her that well."
Stoff looked shocked. "I don't know if I want to know her. Look..." He pointed at a scratch on his cheek. "I got this while trying to make peace with her."
One small fact was forgotten. He had gone to the peace talks exactly ten minutes after Star noticed Lonnie. Because of taking a flower of conciliation with him my paranoid friend thought he was making fun of her (He didn't know a thing about it) and smacked.
I took a more comfortable pose on the grass and watched the sun reflect from the water. I could hear voice from the other side of the place. We all turned to look the comer who was Firestar. She grinned and walked to us. I took a glance at Mistoffelees, who had gone sit closer to a large tree, trying to look as small as possible.
"'Ere ya're!" She chirped. I nodded and told her to sit down. He jumped over Chai and sat down, far from Stoff. "Whut's going on?"
"Nothing special. How about you?" It was a miracle that Star was there. She usually doesn't care to spend too much time with us, half because she doesn't like to sit still. The reason of her appearance came in right after her. Lonnie-boy stuck his black and white face in and jumped to us.
"Now look who's here?" He asked, staying on a place where we all could see him as well as possible (and I'm afraid that the only one enjoying the sight was Star...)
I didn't understand Lonnies appearance either. He spent most of the time in the junkyard with the other guys, or some choosen females. So: Why the heck did he stand in front of us trying to look as mighty as possible and grinning like some idiot (in my opinion his looks were pretty often close to idiotic, but that doesn't matter...). Either he wanted to annoy me (in which he succeeded incredibly well just by showing up) or then... Oh dear.
I stood up. For some reason I just can't stay in the same place with him for too long (for five minutes). "So, what's Mr. Paintface doing here?" I just had to find out. I didn't expect to get any sensible answer out of him, though.
"Oh, Shorty, I didn't notice... You disappeared so nicely into that grass..." He replied. I grimaced and countered.
"Funny. I could have sworn that you were just too plain concentrated on your OWN SELF!"
One triumphant second it looked like I'd won. But that was just a second. And after that second he was back to his normal stupid oh-so-cool self. He turned his eyes to something on the ground and began to examine it dangerously interested.
"Look, there's something moving on the ground. It's black and terribly small...Trif?" He took an ant on his paw, "Now wait a second..." He looked at me and then the ant, "No...Could this be your long lost sister!?" He was talking to that freakin' ant! I loosed my temper, walked over to him and because he was far too much concentrated on that ant, he didn't even dodge when I smacked him on the face. He fell backwards and I left walking out.
"NEVER make fun of my family." I sniffed, meaning what I said. Lonnie sat up rubbing his cheek and cursing after me.
"You're out of your mind! Get some help with that temper, dammit..." He screamed after me, "You should be more like that friend of yours! Look at her, sitting there quietly and not beating innocent guys!" I figured out he ment Star who was sitting very quietly and very, very red, near us. He should just thank the Heaviside I'm not Star... There wouldn't be any Lonnie-boy anymore...
At this stage I walked out from the place. That's what happens all the time. Either of us gives the other a swing (and that's usually me because Lonnie's too much of a gentleman to hit a lady) or something. I ran angrily through the bushes and over the stones, thinking that someday one of our small fights will end up as something else than just a few bruises.
"Yo! Trif! Wait up!" I heard Chai's voice from behind me. I stopped, turned around and waited him to catch up with me.
"Great work..." Chai asked grinning (I think he's that kind of guy who says mostly everything with a grin), "You'll get a small fight with him as soon as he makes up something really rude."
"Eek. I have never been so scared." I said dryly and continued my way, he following me. I ended up telling him how much I disliked Lonnie - again. I'd done that at least five times that week and still he went on listening the whole freakin' thing. I respect that, you know. Listening. If I had to listen to babblings like mine from someone other, I wouldn't listen. I bet I can be just as bad as Etcy or Star.
"Well I don't know..." Chai said to this when we arrived at the junkyard. "You don't go around sighing or praising some guy to heavens..." A mischievous twinkle appeared into his eyes, "Yet..."
I tried to give him a smack as well, but he was a way down more alarmed than Lonnie and dodged. "You're a little faster than Lonnie..." I said with a playful grin, "But not fast enough!"
I pounced on him. We rolled around a small while, and ended up in the usual situation of me being under him and he pressing my shoulders against the ground a little too hard.
"Admit it, Shorty" He began triumphantly, pressing my shoulders harder, "You're never gonna win me in this game."
"Whatever..." I muttered with a cocky smile, even though he was really starting to hurt me. "I'm not admitting anything until the evidence comes out! Let me go."
Chai rose on his feet. I stayed on the ground a moment, staring at the sky, and then stood up as well. "You could stop playing with my shoulders, you know" I grimced, rubbing my shoulders, "Soon I won't be able to move my arms."
"Sorry." He threw me his apologicing "Puppy"-look. I laughed.
"Apology accepted...for now."
We'd probably have ended up discussing about something like usually, if something less usual wouldn't have interrupted us. First a blue lightning was shot from the sky (yeah, I bet you can guess who was coming) which caused an unnecessarily loud "bang" after reaching the ground. Next came another red coloured, now vertical, forming a cross with the first one. The centre of the cross began to widen with big noise, and after a while Stoff jumped out and the lightnings disappeared.
"Whaddya like of my new style?"
I turned to face Chai with the most serious expression I could get on my face in that situation.
"Impressive, I'd say."
Chai had his own opinion. "Doesn't really fit the magician."
"But it's pretty."
"You should take some controll over the noise."
"The same with the lenght of the spell."
"Stoff, I don't know how to break this to you, but..." I put my paw on his shoulder and took a deep sigh. Chai hurried to help me.
"What my dear collegue here is trying to say, is most definitely that..."
"How beautiful your new spell ever may be, the best one is still..." I continued still completely serious.
"The old good..."
"ZAP!" We both stated at the same time. Well, it wasn't exactly an accident, we have these small signals that we keep giving each other every now and then, when we want the other to do or say something.
The "Old Good ZAP" really fit every situation, didn't make too much noise or visual strain, and most of the time you could get a good laugh out of it. Especially if you plan it well enough...
"And besides..." I was supposed to say something else about this "ZAP" but a scary fact entered into my thoughts. I turned to Stoff, looking anxious. "Where's Firestar?"
"Stayed in the Blue Place with Alonzo, why?"
I was about to scream. Yes, exactly what I'd least expected and most been afraid to happen had happened. My nightmare might have already come true. Just then the two could be walking somewhere...
"No, wait, there she is. Aren't they cute, walking hand in hand and all." Chai's slightly amused tone on the top of all. It couldn't be true. I closed my eyes and slowly turned to face the direction where Star and Lonnie were coming from. I opened my eyes the same speed and after doing that, wished I hadn't. Two cats. Another one black and white and the other a mix of red, yellow and orange. Two. Side by side. Firestar stared at something invisible, her face glowing with happpiness like the whole other world was a totally unknown thing to her. And I didn't even dare to glance at Lonnie. Believe, I could just ask one question:
"What am I gonna do?"