The day dawned bright and sunny, just as a good autumn day should. The gray shadows lengthened into bright portraits of color, shedding a white brilliance over the world. It was the first day of school all over London.
Two young queens walked down the street, their books clasped in front of them. “So, who do you think we’ll have for teachers?” Jemima asked, smiling at her best friend, Victoria.
Victoria shrugged. “I have no idea. Do you think we’ll find any cute guys?”
Jemima rolled her eyes. “Oh please, Vicki. That’s all you ever think of.”
“Do not!” Victoria said, winking at Jemima.
“Oh, come on, Munkustrap. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Cassandra could find out and rip my throat out,” the gray tabby tom moaned, stuffing his books into his locker sharply.
Alonzo shoved his black shades up on his head. “But Demeter’s been waiting for you to ask her. She’s been waiting since last year. Are you gonna make that poor queen wait some more?”
Munkustrap sighed. “I don’t want to, but Cassandra-.”
“Forget Cassandra! Demeter loves you.”
Munkustrap sighed again. “I know. I love her too.”
“So ask her!” Alonzo commanded. “Today. At lunch.”
“But Cassandra-.”
“I’ll handle Cassandra. You ask Demeter to Homecoming.”
“Okay, okay,” Munkustrap moaned. He flashed a grin to his best friend. “You think she’ll come?”
“Of course,” Alonzo said, pulling his shades down over his eyes. “I bet my prize football she’ll say yes before you even ask.”
21-32-04… 21-32-04…
Why wouldn’t it work? Mistoffelees sighed under his breath and spun the locker dial for what seemed to be the zillionth time. He yanked the handle, but it still didn’t open. His face turned red as he realized the other cats were watching him wrestle with his locker. He spun the combination again and yanked. No luck.
“Having some trouble, freshman?” came a snooty voice nearby. Misto looked up to see Rum Tum Tugger nearby, his arm looped around a tall, butter-yellow, soon to be forgotten queen.
Misto turned bright red. He turned back to his locker, wishing he could just get inside and hide there. He yanked the handle again with no luck. Finally he used his magic. The locker sprang open with a rusty screech. Anyone who had not been watching him before sure were looking at him now. He closed his eyes a second, wondering if it would help to disappear right now. He quickly stuffed his books into his locker, slammed it shut, considering how he was going to get it open again, turned, and, with as much dignity as he could muster, walked down the stairs, aware that the whole school was watching him go. His ears burned red beneath his black fur. I am the all-school geek, he thought to himself.
Munkustrap was hurrying down the hallway, heading for his first hour class. He hated English. He turned a corner and ran right into somebody. He fell down on his rump. He looked at the cat he had smacked, who was on their butt too. It was a familiar gold and black queen with deep, forest green eyes and a spiked collar. Demeter!
“Demeter! I am so sorry,” Munkustrap said, getting up quickly and helping the smaller queen to her feet.
“It’s… it’s okay,” Demeter said as she smoothed down her blouse. Her eyes grew wide as she viewed her papers from her folder scattered all over the floor. She began to snatch up the papers. Munkustrap grabbed some and handed them to her. She smiled at him. “Thanks,” she said softly.
Munkustrap tried not to blush. “No prob. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Demeter said. She got up, brushing off her skirt.
“See ya later,” Munkustrap said.
“Yeah.” Demeter smiled at him again, then turned and walked away. Munkustrap watched her go. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a piece of loose leaf notebook paper under the drinking fountain. He picked it up, planning to return it to Demeter, until he saw his name written on it. That perked some interest. He began to read, recognizing Demeter’s delicate script and Bombalurina’s free, bold writing.
Hey, Dem! Do you like Munkustrap?
No. Why?
Because you are drawing a picture of him on your notebook.
Okay, okay, so I do like him.
Thought so. How much do you like him?
What do you mean?
Like, you know… How far would you go with him?
You mean… like, would I make out with him?
Yeah.
Well, I like him, but I don’t think I’d go THAT far with him.
Why not?
I’ve never done it before, and I don’t think I’d want to.
Why? It’s fun.
I know… I just… don’t know yet.
What’s there to know about?
Never mind.
So, how much do you love him? Enough to marry him?
Maybe.
What’s his best feature? The six-pack, right?
No. I like his eyes.
Why?
They… they just tell me everything. I know I can trust him. I know he loves me and he can’t hide anything from me.
Cool.
Munkustrap stopped reading. Demeter knew he loved her? She liked his eyes?
Yeah. He’s really sweet.
Do you want me to ask him out for you?
NO!!!!!!
Why not?
I just want to let him make the first move.
Why?
I just do.
What if he doesn’t?
He will, I hope.
The note ended there. Munkustrap looked up slowly. Wow. He never knew Demeter loved him so much. But now he had to return the note to her without her finding out he’d read it.
Jemima sighed in frustration. She was lost. She was really, truly, 100% LOST. Nothing looked familiar, and she was sure she didn’t want to approach a strange faculty member. She turned around a corner into another long hallway. The only person there was a senior, a black and white tom wearing a lettered jacket that said Alonzo. He looked up and smiled at her. “Hello.”
“Hi,” Jemima said softly.
“You look lost,” the tom said, smiling at her.
Jemima blushed and nodded. “Is it that obvious?”
“Where are you going? I can show you,” the tom offered.
“Algebra with Jellylorum,” Jemima said, glancing down at her Algebra textbook.
Alonzo smiled. “Oh fun. Come on. This way.”
Jemima followed him, self-consciously smoothing down her skirt and her fur. She caught up to his long stride and smiled up at him. “So, what have you lettered in?” she asked, indicating his lettered jacket.
Alonzo grinned. “Well, this one’s for basketball, but I’ve also lettered in football, baseball, track, swimming, and drama. By the time I finish this year, I’ll also letter in tennis and volleyball.”
“Wow, you play a lot of sports,” Jemima said, smiling brightly.
“Yeah. How about you?”
“Oh, I’m not athletic,” Jemima said softly.
“Maybe I can teach you,” Alonzo offered, smiling at her in a way that made Jemima’s heart flutter.
“I… I’d like that,” she whispered.
Alonzo smiled, then stopped walking. “Here we go.” He pushed open the door and held it open so Jemima would have to walk under his arm to get in.
Jemima blushed. “Thanks.” She quickly slipped inside, then watched as Alonzo gave her a heartbreaker smile, turned, and walked away.
“Who was that?” Victoria asked as Jemima slid into her seat. Miss Jelly looked up, smiled, and went back to writing.
“Alonzo. He’s a senior,” Jemima said, blushing a bit.
Just then Mistoffelees came rushing into the room, fur in disarray, books falling out of his arms, and a crazed look on his face. As he entered, he stopped short and stared. The most beautiful queen he had ever seen was sitting perched on the edge of her desk like a glowing, white angel. She was even dressed all in white, from white jeans to white tank top to white headband. She was glorious.
Victoria gave the tuxedo tom a disgusted glance, which he returned with a goofy smile. He pulled out his chair to sit down, setting his stuff down on the edge of the desk, and it all fell to the floor. Victoria rolled her eyes. Misto grinned a bit and, with a face redder than his sweater, got down on hands and knees and began to pick up his books. Victoria turned to Jemima and muttered one word that would crush his whole school year. “Geek.”
Mungojerrie padded down the hallways of Jellicle High towards his locker. At his side was Rumpleteazer. She squeezed his paw gently and gazed up into his eyes. “Are you gonna be okay?” she asked softly.
Jerrie nodded slowly. “Yeah. I’ll live.”
“Good,” Teazer said lightly, smiling at him.
Jerrie smiled back at her and stopped in front of his locker. He spun his combination and opened his locker. He sighed softly as he loaded his books into it. “I’m scared, Tea. I’m really scared.”
“It will be okay,” Teazer promised softly. “It’ll all be okay. I’m here.”
Jerrie nodded and grabbed his science book. “I’ll meet ya at lunch, same place.”
“Of course.” Teazer smiled, turned, and walked away. Jerrie watched her go, then rubbed his arm gently. He prayed this day would go slowly, yet he wished with all his heart it was all over. He fingered the collar of his shirt a moment before yanking it up higher and heading for his classroom.
”Oh, sweet Heavyside, you were right!” Electra squealed. “It’s perfect!”
“Oh, I know,” Etcetera giggled. “I love this mirror.”
“Nah. You like what’s ON the mirror,” Electra teased.
What was “on the mirror” was the absolute best view ever of the Rum Tum Tugger’s locker. When perfectly positioned on the inside of Etcetera’s locker door, it offered the most gorgeous view of him, especially at the angle he was at now. Back to them, with a view of his absolutely to-die-for butt in absolutely adorable, skin-tight jeans. Etcetera giggled as she watched him swish his tail as he talked with a butter-yellow queen, who obviously was flirting right back with him.
“Omigosh, I’m gonna faint,” Electra moaned as Tugger’s tail gave a sensual swing.
“Shh!” Etcetera hissed. She studied the image in the mirror with interest. Heavyside, he was cute!
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Tugger spoke to them. “If you two freshmen are through looking at my ass, you may wanna come over and introduce yourselves.” He said this without even turning around, but it was nice, not snooty or cruel.
Electra and Etcetera were stunned a moment, then began to giggle. Etcy slammed her locker shut, and the two headed for Tugger. He greeted them with a perfect smile. “Yo. You two seem to be pretty interested in something in that mirror.”
Etcetera let out a tiny giggle while Electra turned bright pink. Tugger grinned and ran a finger down Etcy’s nose. “Look all ya want, Sugar. I don’t mind.” He grinned. “So, tell me. You two lovely ladies have names?”
“Huh? Uh, names? Oh yeah! Yeah, we do! I’m… I’m Etcetera, and this… this is… is…” Etcetera struggled to gain control of her mind again to find the name of her best friend, but it wasn’t working.
“Electra,” Electra cut in, realizing this was not working for poor Etcetera.
Tugger grinned. “Sweet. Well, see you two around, all righty?” He turned and walked down the stairs, head high, step sure, tail swishing. The two freshmen sighed as one.
“You two are virgins, aren’t ya?” came a voice in their ear. Both turned sharply to see the butter-yellow queen who had been flirting with Tugger earlier. Both turned bright red.
“Why?” Etcetera demanded, not really anxious to answer that question.
“Cause I know you are. And let me tell you right now, Tugger’s trouble.” The queen’s green eyes held sadness.
“Whaddya mean?” Electra said softly.
“He knows you’re innocent, and he’s gonna try to take that from you. He does it to every queen he likes. Dates ‘em, uses ‘em, and dumps ‘em like old fish. He’s trouble.”
“How do you know?” Etcy asked with a quiver in her voice.
“Every queen knows that, sweets. I’m telling you this for your own safety. Tugger takes one night. One. He lets ya have it, then takes you out in the hall and leaves you all alone. He’ll try to bed you.” The queen’s eyes were sadder by the moment. “He’s gonna do it to me today at lunch.”
“You mean, you and Tugger… uh…” Electra stuttered for a phrase.
“Just last night,” the queen said dreamily. “Soft and passionate. But Tugger’s all different. He’ll use whatever he can to bed you. So, as a warning to you both, don’t even think about going out with him. I mean it. You’ll only regret it.” And with that, the queen turned and walked away.
Etcetera swallowed, and Electra cleared her throat. “Uh, Etcy… let’s… get to class.”
“Yeah,” Etcetera said softly, turning to go, but, as she did, a pang of longing filled her heart, and it took her a moment before she could tear herself away from Tugger’s locker.
Bombalurina walked into the school in her most stunning outfit ever. A low-cut, silver shirt, tight, black mini-skirt, silver sunglasses, and a silver jacket over her shoulder. She looked around. Good old Jellicle High. Whoop-de-doo. She sighed and headed for her locker. “Hey Bom,” came a familiar voice nearby. She turned with a sigh.
“Hello, Macavity,” she sighed dutifully. Why couldn’t he take the hint and leave her alone?
Macavity’s eyes traveled the spacey outfit Bom wore and whatever it happened to reveal as he leaned against the wall. Bom followed his eye movement and yanked her jacket over her. “Quit it!”
“So, Bom, did you miss me over the summer?” Macavity purred, moving closer to her.
“Yes, Macavity,” Bom sighed, turning to go, but Macavity grasped her arm in his paw.
“So, no boyfriend yet, Bomby?”
Bom sighed for the third time. “No, Macavity.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up at 4, right here.”
“But-.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll see you then.” Macavity gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and walked away. Bom watched him go.
“Yes, Macavity,” she whispered, then headed for her locker.
The bell rang. School had begun.
On to Chapter 2!
Back to the Jellicle High Intro
The Ultimate Jellicle High Main Page
