Cassandra tried calling Bombalurina seven times that night. She was never home until finally she answered around 11:34. “Hello?” Her voice was sleepy, and she sounded exhausted.
“Where have you been?” Cassandra demanded, flopping on her pink silk bedspread and winding the phone cord around a delicate finger.
“With Macavity,” Bom said with a yawn, sitting down heavily on the edge of her own blue bed.
“Have fun?”
“Of course.”
“You two sure be gettin’ pretty close,” Cassandra said, flicking her tail from side to side.
Bom grinned. “You know it.” She sighed and laid back on her bedspread, wishing for a moment the gingery tom was there with her, but he had said that she couldn’t stay that night, and besides, her parents wanted her in bed at a decent hour now that school had started, putting a damper on her late nights out at wild parties.
Cassandra rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “You think he’s worth a shot at?”
Bom sat up quickly. “You wouldn’t!”
“Wouldn’t what?” Cassandra asked innocently.
“Cass, I know you. You wouldn’t cheat with him, would you?”
“Not like you haven’t done it to one of my numerous boyfriends,” Cassandra teased.
Bom sighed and lay back again. “He told me tonight he only wants to see me for a really long time.”
“Sheesh, you two aren’t ever going to get any sleep!” Cassandra teased.
“Oh, you’re bad!” Bom giggled, rolling lazily onto her stomach. She groaned and closed her eyes. “Good Heavyside, I’m tired.”
“Toms will do that,” Cassandra mused knowingly.
Bom giggled again. “I know that, sweetie.” She touched her stomach lightly with a paw. “Ooh, I ache.” She flopped back against her pillow.
“Ooh!” Cassandra teased. “That rough, huh?”
Bom couldn’t hold back a burst of laughter. “Basically.”
Cassandra grinned. “Wanna get into details?”
“How about tomorrow?” Bom pleaded. “I’m so tired, and I gotta work on some of my homework.”
“Aw, okay,” Cassandra pouted, sticking out a fat lower lip. “I guess I can wait that long.”
Bom grinned and grabbed her backpack off the floor. “I’ll see ya later.”
“Okay, bye.” Cassandra waited til Bom had hung up the phone before she did, then lay back against her bedspread, waiting for sleep and dreaming of the cheerleader tryouts tomorrow that she would be captain of.
Mungojerrie could not sleep that night. He had such a headache that all he wanted to do was die. But he refused to ever take another aspirin again. So instead he got up, creeping ever so softly out his door, and walked past his dad’s room, down the hall, to Teazer’s room. He softly slid the door open and slid inside. “Tea?” he whispered.
Teazer blinked sleepily. “Huh? What?”
“Can I sleep with you?” Jerrie asked shyly, moving to the side of her bed. He had no fear of tripping over anything. They always tried to keep everything spotless.
“Of course,” Teazer said, sliding over so he could crawl in with her. She always enjoyed the extra comfort, and she knew that as long as they were together, they couldn’t be hurt.
Jerrie slid in next to his sister and pulled the covers up to his chin, resting his face on the pillow next to Teazer’s. He leaned in to whisper his thanks, but she was already asleep again. He sighed, wrapped his arm around her waist, and went to sleep, not realizing that a pair of brown eyes was watching them through a crack in the door. Roth hissed to himself. Those little sluts. He growled softly and went back to his room, determined those two would be sorry.
The next morning, the sky was bright, and everyone seemed to be in generally a good mood, considering they had to go to school. Demeter hummed to herself as she got ready for school. She carefully folded Munkustrap’s jersey and laid it in her school bag to return to him. She had washed it last night and had written him a quick thank you note to go with it. She glanced at her face in the mirror and smiled. She had applied her make up with great care and hoped Munkustrap would notice.
A tap on the door startled her. “Demeter, you need to leave, dear!” called her mother pleasantly.
“Coming!” Demeter called back, giving her hair one last pat and yanked on the hem of her shirt. It was pink with forest-green flowers around the collar and hem. Her mother was working her laundry magic on the stained shirt from yesterday and was hopeful for it. Demeter grabbed her bag and headed out the door for school. Her mother followed her.
“You can invite Munkustrap for dinner tonight, if you want, Demeter.”
“Okay,” Demeter agreed. Her parents were very happy Munkustrap had finally asked her out, and they wanted to do their best to keep them together. They didn’t trust them alone together at this point, so they tried to arrange for Munkustrap to come over when they were at home. Demeter smiled at her mom, then headed out the door.
“You better be home as soon as school’s out!” Roth hissed, glaring at the calico teen. Mungojerrie ducked his head and nodded, grabbing his backpack and rushing out the door after his sister. Rumpleteazer stood on the step, waiting for him, her brown eyes worried. Jerrie grabbed her paw and squeezed it gently, then gave her a light tug that plainly said ‘leave-now!’. Teazer followed him like a puppy on a string. As soon as the door had slammed behind them, Jerrie broke into a run, yanking poor Teazer after him. Teazer followed him, squeezing his paw.
“You okay, love?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” Jerrie said softly, slowing down to catch his breath. “Feel like doing some painting before school?” He grinned mischievously.
“Yeah!” Teazer exclaimed. She squeezed his paw. “Partners in crime?”
“Forever,” Jerrie promised.
Old Deuteronomy sat at his huge desk, examining a stack of papers that had migrated to his desk over the five minutes he had been in the lounge getting a donut. He sighed and grabbed a pen to sign a paper, sinking his teeth into the jelly donut in his left hand. He signed the paper and set it aside, enjoying the sweet strawberry jelly on his tongue before setting it aside and sighing softly. He reached for a picture on his desk. He sighed again and held the gold frame in his paw. A younger version of him smiled back at him, and that younger version had an arm around a beautiful queen that smiled at the camera like a ray of sunshine. He touched the picture gently with trembling fingers. Veronica… Her smile was so beautiful, as was the rest of her.
Munkustrap suddenly entered the office. Old Deuteronomy looked up quickly and set the picture aside. “Yes, Munkustrap?”
Munkustrap looked embarrassed he had burst in on the principal in the middle of such a personal moment. “Sorry, sir. Miss Grizabella said to just go right in.”
“It’s quite all right, Munkustrap. What did you need?”
Munkustrap glanced around. “The Homecoming committee wants to schedule a meeting.”
Old D nodded. “Alright. Who’s heading it?”
“Cassandra.”
“Tell them there will be a meeting Monday after school, all right?”
“Yes sir.” Munkustrap turned and headed out. Old D watched him go, then picked up the picture again. He gazed at it for several moments, then set it down, sighed, and returned to his donut.
After school, a nervous group of queens trooped into the queens’ locker room to change for cheerleader tryouts. Cassandra was the first one there, brushing her already perfectly smooth fur even smoother, her makeup in place, her tank top and spandex shorts washed and pleated smartly. She looked perfect. She smiled to herself conceitedly in the mirror as she gave her fur one final pat.
The door opened, and a noisy group of freshmen quittens entered, eyes bright, tails swishing. Leading the group was Victoria, chatting busily with Electra on her right and Etcetera on her left. A nervous group followed behind the three. Cassandra grinned. Newbies. They would be fun to work with. “Hello, girls.”
As if the voice of the Mystical Divinity himself had spoken, the group of queens hushed and stared at the all-mighty senior queen with wide eyes. Cassandra grinned to herself. Had them under her power already.
Victoria pulled herself up to her full height and tried to smile, but she felt her legs quivering. “You’re… You’re Cassandra, right?”
“Yep, that would be me. And you all must be the little freshmen I get to pick from,” Cassandra said, her voice friendly, but her tone condescending. She grinned and sashayed past the group. “See you out there.”
As soon as she was gone, the group let out a breath, as if they had been holding it. Victoria swallowed and headed for her gym locker to pull out her shorts and tee-shirt. Next to her, Electra and Etcetera, who shared a locker, were chatting nervously as they yanked on their clothes. Etcetera gave her fur a few quick pats, then turned to her best friend. “How do I look?”
“Nervous,” Electra replied. “Just calm down, Et. There’s no way Cassandra can turn you down.”
“Oh yes she can,” came a voice nearby. They turned to see a pretty, black and maroon queen none of them had seen before. The queen smiled. “Hi. I’m Vashti. I’m a sophomore.”
The three freshmen smiled shyly. “Hi. I’m Victoria, and this is Etcetera, and that’s Electra,” Victoria introduced, waving her paw at each queen.
Vashti smiled. “Nice to meet you. But I warn you now, Cassandra’s not fair. She’ll turn you down if she doesn’t like you. She and the senior in charge last did it to me.”
The three exchanged nervous glances. “Doesn’t Coach Griddlebone have the final say?” Victoria asked softly.
Vashti nodded. “She does, but Cassandra has a big influence on her, and she was able to convince Griddlebone I wasn’t good enough for the team.” Her slanted eyes narrowed angrily. “This year I’m gonna prove to her how wrong she was.”
Etcetera shivered. “She won’t try and do that to us, will she?”
“She might,” Vashti said, her voice slightly bitter. “But you three seem to have made friends with her already. She’ll probably keep you around. If you’re any good.”
The three swallowed as one. Victoria grabbed her tennis shoes out of her locker and slid them on, fumbling with the laces. “So, um… who’s ready to go?”
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer sat side by side in Skimbleshanks’ room, holding paws as the teacher wrote out the detention notice for them. Teazer laid her head on Jerrie’s shoulder and squeezed his paw gently. Jerrie squeezed her back, doing his best not to let tears come to his eyes. He knew they would be caught when they were outside spray-painting, and he knew they were going to have detention. And he knew when he got home his dad would hit him and yell at him, and he would spend all night in his room crying. But he didn’t care. He couldn’t care. It had happened so many times before that he was numb to it now.
Skimble looked up at the two perpetrators and sighed. “You two know it’s too early in the school year to start getting in trouble for vandalizing school property.”
The two remained silent, eyes on the ground, holding paws tightly. Skimble sighed and signed his name on the pink sheet, then stood up. “Come with me.”
The two got up willingly and followed the orange striped tom down the hall and out to the back lot. Skimble pointed to two buckets sitting in a corner with some sponges. “You two know what to do.”
The two grabbed the buckets and the hose nearby. Jerrie turned on the water and filled the buckets up. Teazer grabbed them and carried them over to the brick wall where they had so carefully spray painted their nicknames this morning. They knelt side by side and began to scrub the red brick, Skimble standing by and watching them.
Teazer could feel herself getting warmer and warmer as she dunked and scrubbed the rough brick with her sponge. She sighed softly and glanced over at her brother who had his jaw set firmly as he dunked and scrubbed. She caught his eye and gave him a comforting smile, which he returned, then went back to his work. Teazer scrubbed again at the blue paint. It was harder to get off than people thought, but they had done it so many times they were used to it and could get it off pretty quickly.
Skimble watched them, then nodded slowly. “You two keep that up until that’s all gone. I need to go to a meeting. When you’re done, you go to my room, understand?”
“Yes sir,” the two mumbled as one.
Skimble nodded again. “No dawdling. I mean it. Or you’ll get another detention.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
As soon as he had disappeared inside, Teazer took the chance to drop her sponge and wipe beads of sweat from her forehead. She sighed and glanced up at her brother. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” Jerrie said softly, dropping his sponge and rubbing his own face. “Are you?”
“You know I am,” Teazer said softly, squeezing his arm gently. “I just want to make sure… when we get home… you’ll…”
“I’ll be fine,” Jerrie promised, giving her a hug. “I’ve lived through it this far. One more day isn’t gonna make a difference.”
Teazer began to cry. “How can you be so confidant, Jerrie?”
Jerrie slid his arm around her and pulled her trembling body to his chest. “Shh. The same way you are. Because we have to be. It’s all we have.”
Teazer sniffed and buried her face in his sleeve, crying softly. Jerrie rubbed her back gently and rested his cheek on her temple. “Shh, love, shh. Quiet now. It’ll be all right.”
Finally Teazer lifted her face, wiping her face on her sleeve. “We… we better get this done so we can… can get home. Dad’ll be mad enough without us being any later.”
Jerrie nodded and grabbed his sponge again. The two began to scrub again, ‘The Thief’ and ‘The Pickpocket’ slowly disappearing from the red brick wall.
Etcetera leaned down to touch her toes, grimacing slightly. She hadn’t stretched very much all summer, so she was stiff. Next to her, Vashti was doing something she called ‘toe-touches’ where you jumped in the air in a sideways split and touched your toes. She was very graceful, and Etcetera couldn’t help but stare. She was so good. How could Cassandra have turned her down?
Nearby, Electra was sitting down, her forehead on her knees as she stretched her legs. Victoria was down in a rather painful-looking splits, leaning back to stretch her abs. Etcetera wished she could do the splits. She glanced over at Cassandra who was sliding down into the splits like she did it every day. Maybe Cassandra would teach her. That is, if she made the squad. She swallowed and braced herself for a forward handspring.
The first part went well, but the landing was horrible as she collided with a black queen near her. Both of them tumbled to the ground with an oomph! of pain. Etcetera shook her head and sat up, rubbing her lower back stiffly. The other queen sat up, rubbing her knee. Cassandra came rushing over and offered her paw to the black queen. “You okay, Exotica?”
The black senior nodded and rubbed the back of her skirt. “Yeah, I’m fine, Cass.”
Etcetera felt guilty, then ashamed that Cassandra had seen her do that. That was not going to score her any points in tryouts. Suddenly a brown paw was extended to her. “Come on, freshman, get up,” Cassandra said, motioning for Etcetera to get up. “We don’t carry collision insurance, so don’t let it happen again.”
“O… Okay,” Etcetera said softly, taking Cassandra’s paw and getting to her feet. Cassandra nodded and walked away.
Vashti whistled softly. “You are sooooo lucky! That was Exotica you smacked into.”
“Who?” Etcetera moaned, rubbing her sore bum.
“Exotica. Cassandra’s cousin.”
Etcetera swallowed. “Oops.”
Demeter brushed her fur back with a paw and smoothed her purple stretch shorts. She was ready for tryouts, but she knew it probably would be in vain. With Cassandra in charge, there was no way she would make the squad unless she was able to get Griddlebone on her side. She took a deep breath and, with head high, marched out of the locker room to the gym.
Instantly Cassandra was at Demeter’s side, her pretty features screwed into an ugly frown. “You know you’re not gonna make it into the squad,” she said, her voice too self-confident.
Demeter glared slightly. “I have a right to try out like any one else.”
Cassandra smirked. “Try out, yes. But remember, I make this team.”
Demeter turned and walked away before she knew she would have bitten Cassandra’s head off. She bent down to touch her toes, then lunged forward, knowing the whole time Cassandra’s eyes burned into her back, shooting a hole right through Demeter’s heart with her eyes.
Mungojerrie tossed his sponge into his bucket with a satisfying plop! He rubbed sweat from his face and stood up, stretching the kink out of his back. “Ooh,” he moaned softly.
Teazer gave the ‘t’ at the end of her nickname a last swipe, and it vanished from the wall. She stood up, rubbing her knees with a paw as she dropped her sponge in the bucket. She leaned against the damp wall to stand up fully, but her legs were too sore and stiff. Jerrie slid his arm around her to hold her up and brushed her sweaty forehead. “Let’s get these dumped and get inside.”
Teazer nodded and did her best to straighten her stiff knees. “We haven’t had to do that for a long time,” she said softly. “I forgot how tired you get.”
Jerrie nodded. His own arms ached from scrubbing, and his knees hurt where he had been kneeling on them for the last 45 minutes. “Yeah, it has been like four months.” He grabbed his bucket and Teazer’s. “I’ll go empty these.”
“I can do my own,” Teazer said quickly, reaching for the heavy bucket.
Jerrie waved her paw back. “You catch your breath. I can do it.”
Teazer started to protest, then nodded and sat down, stretching her feet out in front of her. Jerrie carried the buckets over to the drain and dumped the water, then set the buckets back in their proper place. He moved back over to his sister and helped her up. They squeezed paws and headed back to Skimbleshanks’ room.
Griddlebone blew her whistle with a ‘thweet!’. The groups of queens ceased their warm-ups and congregated around Griddlebone and Cassandra who stood smartly by Griddlebone’s side, like a Nazis commander next to Hitler.
Griddlebone looked over her clipboard at the list of names, then addressed the crowd of hopeful quittens. “We have a very good turn-out this year, and I am very pleased. Unfortunately, we can only take 30 of you onto this year’s squad. That means about half of you will not make it. The results of today’s tryouts will be posted on Monday. There will not be easy decisions to make, because you are all very good.” The young, white queen smiled at the group. “But I want you all to do your very best, and I am sure you will all do very well.”
Electra squeezed Etcetera’s paw. Etcetera squeezed back and swallowed, giving Cassandra a glance. Cassandra was focused on Demeter, her eyes blazing like two fiery orbs. Demeter seemed oblivious to the attention, but her face was red under her white fur.
“There will be five areas we will be testing you on: jumps, flips, cheers, partner work, and how you work as a group. If there is something you cannot do, don’t worry about it. If you get in, you will have plenty of time and help to learn. We don’t want anyone getting injured today.” Griddlebone smiled at the group again and waved a paw. “Everyone line up by the mats for flips.”
Electra smiled at Etcetera. “You’ll be great at this, Etcetera. I know it.”
Etcetera smiled and nodded. “I hope so.” She stepped into line behind Vashti.
“You will have two chances, if you fall the first time. You don’t have to do it a second time if you think you did your best. We’ll start with a forward flip. Ready? First girl- go!”
A tiger-striped queen that looked like a junior raced for the mat and launched into a nearly perfect forward flip, landing with her feet firmly planted, her arms over her head like a gymnast. “Wow,” Etcetera said softly. “She’s so good.” She began to worry. What if she fell? She wasn’t as good as some of the older queens… and they most likely would make the squad first…
Skimbleshanks slid into his room. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer sat by each other doing their homework. He smiled softly. “You two did a nice job getting that cleaned up. You are free to go.”
The twins smiled and nodded slowly, collecting their bags and trooping out the door without a word. Skimble watched them go. “Why can’t they behave that well in school?” he sighed before returning to his desk to grade papers.
The line had slowly moved forward. Etcetera was next. She took a deep breath and waited for the signal to go. The whistle blew, and she raced forward, hands ready to push herself off. Just as she swept her legs up to flip herself, her eyes moved to the gym door. Tugger was standing there, watching her with a grin on his handsome face.
Distracted, Etcetera did not start her jump properly, and, as a result, tumbled forward in a less than graceful roll on her hip. She gasped and bit her lip, her eyes burning with tears. She had messed up. It was over. No cheerleading. No blue skirt and sweater with the gold letter and pom-poms. No glory.
She suddenly became aware of someone at her side and looked up to see Tugger standing by her, his face wreathed with concern. “Hey, Etcetera, are you okay?”
Just hearing her name from his mouth… Etcetera nodded and rubbed at her eyes with a paw, knowing she probably looked like a crybaby to him. Tugger gently wiped away a tear on her cheek. “Hey, kitten, you can do better than that. I know you can. Come on. Try it again. You can do it.”
Etcetera closed her eyes a moment. Tugger thought she could do it. He KNEW she could do it. She WOULD do it. She would do it to make him proud of her. She got to her feet, brushing off her shorts and pasting on a smile. “I… I’ll try it again,” she said softly.
“You won’t try. You’ll DO it,” Tugger said, walking her back to the line.
Griddlebone smiled shyly at Tugger, as did Cassandra. Electra glared. Griddlebone glanced at Etcetera. “You wanna try it again, Etcetera?”
Etcetera nodded slowly and moved back into position. She took a deep breath and glanced at Tugger. He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs-up. Etcetera smiled at him and then focused her attention back to the mat. The whistle blew, and she raced for the center, kicking her feet up over her head and planting her paws firmly on the mat under her. For a moment, the world was upside-down, then it was back to normal as she landed in place, arms high over her head gracefully.
For a moment she wasn’t sure what she was hearing, but then her ears kicked in, and she heard the thunderous roar of applause. She turned around and smiled. The whole group was applauding for her, Tugger the most, his bright smile directed right at her as his mighty paws struck together just for her. Etcetera smiled at him, then at Cassandra and Griddlebone, then headed back to the line.
Teazer slipped inside first, her brother behind her. She crept for the stairs, Jerrie following her, trying not to let the old floor beneath them creak. They were almost to the stairs when a harsh voice snapped, “What the f*ck were you two doing? Why are you home so late?”
Knowing better than to bolt, the two turned to face their father, Teazer stepping in front of Jerrie slightly. “We… we had detention,” she said softly. Honesty was the best policy in this case.
Roth glared at the queen, who seemed to cower under her father’s harsh gaze. His gaze traveled up to Jerrie who was trembling slightly. Jerrie wondered for a second if he was going to hit him, but instead Roth shoved Teazer out of his way and grabbed Jerrie’s arm sharply, sinking his claws in. Jerrie yelped and winced. Teazer raced over to help her brother, but Jerrie waved her back with a paw. The last thing he wanted was her getting hurt because of him.
For a second he wasn’t sure where they were going, but he soon knew as his dad dragged him up the stairs to the hall closet. He yanked open the door and grabbed a roll of duct tape from the shelf. In a few seconds, Jerrie found his arms pinned behind him painfully and secured in place with the tape. He struggled and received a sharp blow to the cheek for his efforts. His dad gave him a shove that sent the littler tom tumbling into the closet. He lost his footing and fell forward, twisting sharply so as not to land on his face with no arms to break his fall. His dad slammed the door with a sharp bang, plunging the stuffy closet into a deep darkness.
Roth turned to Teazer who was cowering nearby, eyes scared. “You open this door, b*tch, and you’ll wish you never lived.” He turned on his heel and headed down the stairs.
As soon as he was gone, Teazer flung herself against the door and began to beat on it with her fists. “Jerrie!” she screamed. “Jer!” She pressed her ear to the door, praying to hear some noise from inside.
His head throbbed, but he was fine. Jerrie sat up and tried to move as close to the door as he could. “Tea, it’s okay,” he promised. “I’m fine, okay? Don’t cry.”
Teazer sobbed and laid her flat palms against the door, as if to feel her brother on the other side. “Jerrie,” she whimpered.
Jerrie wished he could be out there with her. “Teazer, listen to me. I’m gonna be fine. I promise. Don’t cry, okay?”
“O… Okay,” Teazer whispered, pressing her cheek to the door and sliding down it to sit on the floor, cuddled against the door, as if to protect the tom on the other side from anything that might hurt him. She laid her head against the door and closed her eyes, tears slipping between them and down her cheeks. “Jer, I’m so scared.”
Jerrie laid his head against the door. “Shh. Me too. It’ll be okay. Just don’t leave me, okay?” he pleaded.
Teazer nodded, though he could not see her. “I promise.”
Tryouts were going really well. All three freshmen were proud of themselves as they paused for a water break. Now they had to do partner work. Etcetera paired with Electra while Victoria paired with Vashti who was practically the same size as she was.
Demeter looked around for a partner, but it seemed that everyone had a partner but her. She sighed and headed over to Griddlebone to see if she could find her someone.
“Oh, you don’t have a partner, Demeter? Wonderful. You can work with Cassandra,” Griddlebone purred, smiling sweetly.
Demeter gasped and glanced over at Cassandra who was glaring in hate. “Um… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea…”
“Oh, don’t be silly, Demeter,” Cassandra said sweetly, moving to Demeter’s side and smiling at Griddlebone with a huge fake smile. “I’d be happy to work with you.”
Demeter shook her head. “Uh, no, that’s okay…”
Cassandra grabbed Demeter’s paw and pulled her away from Griddlebone to a corner of the gym. Demeter silently followed, wishing more than anything that Munkustrap would appear and save her. Cassandra faced Demeter and held out her arms. “Let’s try a lift,” she said, her smile so fake Demeter knew she was planning something.
“Uh, no, Cassandra, I don’t think so.”
“Demeter, I am a cheerleader. I know that you aren’t supposed to take grudges out in practice. Come on. Trust me.”
Demeter swallowed, but she knew she was just asking for trouble. She moved into position and allowed Cassandra to put her arms around her and lift her up to her shoulder. Griddlebone was walking among the queens, making notes and giving advice. Cassandra smiled at her and lowered Demeter gently to the ground. Demeter breathed a sigh of relief, then fell to the floor with a grunt. Cassandra looked pleased with herself for tripping the gold queen and smirked slightly.
Demeter got to her feet stiffly, trying to act as if nothing had happened. She felt a small smile on her face when Griddlebone announced group practices. Demeter found herself in a group with Electra, Etcetera, Victoria, Vashti, and, of course, Cassandra. She moved into her group, doing her best to stay behind one of the smaller queens to avoid Cassandra.
Cassandra grinned to herself. This was too perfect. She studied the group carefully, deciding that the freshmen would be perfect for what she was about to do. She steered the inexperienced cats into position, then grabbed Demeter’s shoulder. “We’ll lift you,” she purred, pulling her into position. Demeter struggled, but Cassandra was stronger. She reluctantly allowed Cassandra to move her, knowing that whatever she did, the rest of the cats would be there.
Cassandra moved into place and quickly explained to the others what to do: Demeter would brace herself on their shoulders and jump into their palms. They would lift her up, and she would balance there, using their weight as her brace. The freshmen and Vashti were eager to do it. Demeter took a deep breath and looked around, hoping this was not going to be the last time she saw this gym alive. She knew she was being silly, thinking Cassandra would kill her, but she also knew she was being rational in thinking that Cassandra would hurt her to keep her off the squad. She glanced towards the door, then smiled brightly. Munkustrap was leaning against the stair railing, watching her and smiling. Demeter smiled back, encouraged, and moved into her place. Munkustrap was there. Nothing could happen.
Cassandra glanced towards the door, following Demeter’s gaze. Her eyes narrowed. Munkustrap. This was too perfect. She turned her attention back to the group and readied them for the lift. With a quick count, Demeter jumped up and found them holding her feet steady. With one big push, she found herself high above their heads, balancing on their palms. She quickly found her center of balance and smiled happily at Munkustrap who applauded silently.
Perfect moment at hand, Cassandra suddenly shifted, twisting her paw under Demeter’s foot. Unprepared for the sudden movement, Demeter lost her balance. With a shriek she fell to the side, right by the inexperienced freshmen Cassandra had so strategically planted. Of course, they tried to catch her, but three freshmen who have never caught a fallen cheerleader before were no match for a junior, and Demeter tumbled from their arms, falling heavily to the ground while Cassandra looked on. She hit the ground with a horrifying smack.
In an instant, Munkustrap was at her side, sliding his arms around her, asking her if anything was broken, if she could see him, if she could move her legs. Griddlebone soon was by his side, checking Demeter over. Demeter stared up at Munkustrap with scared, green eyes. “I… I’m okay…” she said softly. She turned her eyes to Cassandra who had a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Munkustrap followed her gaze and, in an instant, was on his feet, advancing towards Cassandra, the queens parting before him like the Red Sea.
“What the f*ck is your problem??? She could have gotten hurt!” he snarled at Cassandra. He normally didn’t curse, and wouldn’t think about cursing at a girl, but he was too mad to think straight.
Cassandra faked horror. “You think I meant to hurt her?”
Munkustrap wished he was not so much of a gentleman, or he knew he would have tackled Cassandra and punched her. “I saw you, Cassandra! I saw you make her lose her balance! You knew she’d fall!”
Cassandra held up her paws in a gesture of peace. “Hey, Tiger, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything to Demeter. I know better than to hurt another cheerleader.”
Munkustrap was about to make a rude comment when Demeter slowly sat up. “Munkustrap…” she said softly. Munkustrap turned to her as Cassandra glared. Demeter held out her arms to him, and Munkustrap obeyed her silent plea, picking her up in his arms and carrying her over to the bench while the cheerleaders looked on. Griddlebone clapped her paws and motioned for everyone to continue, and the tryouts went on.
Demeter scrubbed tears from her face with a fist. “Munkustrap, forget it. I’m not gonna do cheerleading this year. I can’t take this from her! I can’t!”
Munkustrap cuddled Demeter into his arms and held her gently, resting his chin on her head. “Shh, Demi, shh. It’s all right. You don’t have to do cheerleading. It’s okay.” He tipped her face towards his. “But you can’t let her beat you, Demeter. You can’t. She is not the one in control. You can’t let her get you down.”
Demeter nodded and laid her cheek on Munkustrap’s chest. “I… I don’t want to do cheerleading anymore.”
“Is it because of Cassandra?”
Demeter nodded slowly. “Partially. But… I just don’t want to anymore.”
“I understand. You don’t have to, Demi.” Munkustrap gave her a tender hug. “You wanna go home?”
Demeter nodded and stood up stiffly, rubbing her shoulder gently where she had landed. “I’ll… I’ll go change.”
Munkustrap nodded and watched her go to the locker room. He glanced over at Cassandra, who gave him a cute smile. He glared back and turned away, growling softly and wishing Cassandra was a guy so he wouldn’t have convictions about hitting her.
Teazer’s crying had long since ceased, and she sat silently by the closet door, listening to her brother’s soft breathing on the other side. She shifted a bit, realizing how stiff she was. She changed her position, then held her breath as she heard a soft sob from the other side of the door. “Jer?” she whispered softly.
“I’m fine,” was his response, but Teazer could hear the pain in his voice. She bit her lip, then stood up.
“I’m gonna get you out of here,” she said.
Jerrie gasped. “Teazer, wait-.”
He was too late. Teazer raced down the stairs to the living room where her dad was sitting in his chair. “Dad,” she said softly, her voice humble as she moved closer to him. “Dad, Jer’s been in there a long time… I think it’s time to let him out.”
Roth looked up at his daughter, studying her tearful face, then sat up. “Oh, you think so?”
Teazer nodded and wiped at her eyes with her wrists, her face hopeful. Roth stood up and took her by the arm. “You’re right. Come on.”
Teazer thought that was strange he had said that, but she followed him willingly up the stairs. Roth yanked open the closet door, and Jerrie found himself blinded by the sudden light. He blinked and turned away a moment, but once his eyes had adjusted, he was able to make out the silhouette of his dad holding his sister by the arm. “Let go of her!” he ordered.
Roth ignored his son’s command. “You’re sister here thinks she can tell me what to do. Well, I’ll show you just how wrong she is!” Teazer gasped and tried to struggle away, but her dad just held her tighter. “You’re staying in there til I say you come out. And you-,” he added, turning to his struggling daughter, “are going to stay right here by the door all night, and don’t you dare move! And if I hear a single word from either of you-,” he shoved Teazer roughly against the wall, his hips and chest pressing to hers. Teazer gasped and froze, eyes scared. “You know what’ll happen.”
Jerrie struggled against the tape that held him. “Leave her alone!” he yelled. “Don’t touch her! She has nothing to do with this.”
Roth turned to his helpless son with blazing eyes. “You say one more word, and your sister is gonna get it worse than you, so SHUT UP! Do I need to tape your f*ckin’ mouth too?”
Jerrie instantly hushed, tears in his eyes. Roth growled and slammed the door shut, then flung Teazer against the door so she connected with it with a sickening thud. “You move from this spot,” he threatened, leaving his words hanging. But Teazer didn’t need to know the rest. She knew. She had heard it before. A lot. She sank down on the ground by the door, into the position she had been in for the last three hours, and stared up at her dad in terror. Roth watched her a moment, then turned and stormed away, slamming the door of his bedroom next to them.
Teazer began to cry softly. She pressed her cheek to the door, wishing she had the courage to open it. “Jerrie, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“Shh,” Jerrie comforted from the other side. “You heard dad. Let’s not talk. I don’t want you hurt. Talk to me tomorrow, okay?”
“O… Okay,” Teazer sniffed, scrubbing at her eyes again.
Jerrie smiled just a bit and laid his head against the door. “I love you.”
“I… I love you too,” Teazer purred, laying her hot face against the cool door. “Good night.”
“Good night, love. It’ll be all right. I promise.”
Jerrie was feeling extremely claustrophobic in the dark, crowded closet by the time he awoke the next morning. He knew his dad was already awake, so he didn’t dare whisper to his sister. He shifted in his position. His arms felt like pins and needles from being pulled behind him all night, but he couldn’t move them to make them feel better. He sighed softly and laid his head against the door, wishing he were anywhere but here. He knew he was never going to feel the same about this closet, or about dark spaces.
Teazer stirred outside the door as a shadow fell over her. She blinked sleepily and opened tired brown eyes to see her dad towering over her. She instantly was wide-awake, pressing her back against the door as she stared up at him, wondering what he was gonna do. She soon found out. “If you want your f*ckin’ brother out of there, move your ass now!”
In an instant, Teazer was out of the way, pressed against the opposite wall, watching her father. He yanked open the door, and Jerrie winced as the light blinded him, nearly tumbling out of the closet from being pressed against the door. His dad grabbed him up by the collar and nearly flung him at Teazer. “Get that off him if you want him.” He glared at the two. “You ever, EVER get detention again, and both of you are gonna get it!” That was bad punishment from him. He had never hit Teazer, ever, but always threatened to, and worse. He knew Teazer was Jerrie’s one weakness, and he took every advantage to use that against him. He turned and stormed down the stairs, and the two heard the door slam as he left for whatever work he did when they were not around.
Teazer burst into tears, burying her face in her brother’s shoulder, hugging him tightly. Jerrie wanted to return her embrace, but his arms still were secured in place. “Tea. Tea, shh, it’s all right. I promise. Shh.”
Teazer sniffed and did her best to get the tape off of him, slitting it with her claws and pulling. She was grateful Jerrie had long sleeves on, or she knew she’d be pulling out his fur as she struggled with the strips.
The instant his arms were free, Jerrie pulled his sister into a tight embrace, hugging her to his chest, breathing deeply, tears streaming down his face. Teazer held him tight and sobbed, and the two embraced for what seemed like forever. Finally they let go, and Jerrie wiped the tears from Teazer’s face with his thumb. “Come on. It’s Saturday. Let’s get to work.” Together they headed downstairs to clean up the house and pray that the worst as over.
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