the cats meow ☆ johnny castle

☆iii, knight in shining armour☆

☆

"jimmy jimmy cocoa puff, jimmy jimmy ride

jimmy jimmy cocoa puff, jimmy get me high (oh my God)

love me, if you love enough, you can get me high" - a&w, lana del rey

☆

The Houseman's and the Kellerman's were sat together for dinner in the main dining room.

Catherine couldn't stand the small talk on business and medical procedures, so she leant towards her grandfather, cupping her hand around her mouth.

"When's Neil coming?" She whispered, a little too louder, and turned towards the banging doors before she could get an answer.

Neil strode in, smiling and looking ever so slightly windswept.

Max stood up quickly, harnessing the attention of the middle-class aristocrats. "Jake, Marjorie. I want you to meet my grandson, Neil. Goes to the Cornell school of Hotel Management." Max put his arm around Neil, smiling proudly.

The Houseman's offered the appropriate 'wowed' reaction, and as the two Kellerman men sat, they pointed towards Baby.

"Our Baby's starting Mount Holyoke in the Fall."

"Oh, that's great." Neil smiled kindly at Baby, but his eyes were predatory. Baby shifted uncomfortably, so Catherine took it upon herself to interrupt.

"I'm going to Yale next year." She looked around the table, half-listening to her support and half-listening to whatever Neil may do.

He glared at her. "Yeah. She's studying English Lit."

Catherine smiled innocently.

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

Catherine shuffled slowly in a half circle, before going counter-clockwise again, clinging onto some random waiter.

The man with sunglasses from her first night was dancing with a tall, long-legged blonde. They were showing off their tricks, and looked obviously at ease in the spotlight.

Catherine met eyes with the waiter she was dancing with, if it could even be called that, who was smirking at her. "Who are they?" She nodded at the dancers.

The young man scoffed at them. "They're just the dance people." He said it like it was a derogatory term. "You wanna-"

"Are they new?" She couldn't shake her awe watching them. "I didn't see them last year."

"I really don't know, okay doll? D'you wanna go to my room or not?" He shifted closer to her and she looked at him with wide eyes.

"I- I don't- No, not really." And she pulled herself away, mumbling about fresh air.

Catherine snuck outside, rubbing the back of her neck. Her head was throbbing from the amount of bobby pins needed to secure her hair into a french twist, and the air inside was hot.

As she explored the paths, experiencing brief but strong flashes of nostalgia, her blue dress blew around slightly.

When Catherine caught sight of a tiny bridge with almost no water running beneath it, she immediately steered herself over. A figure was on it, struggling.

They were alerted by the clicking of her heels, and turned around to reveal Billy. He was holding three long watermelons, and looked close to dropping all three of them.

"Hey, Bill. You need any help?"

He grinned at her. "KitKat, you're my knight in shining armour."

He passed her one, and she immediately secured it between her arms, holding the cold fruit close to her chest.

The two went to begin walking up to the large structure at the end of the path, but panicked and froze when they heard more footsteps. It was an unwritten rule that the dance people and the upper-class people couldn't fraternize.

"Hey, Catherine. Billy. What are you guys doing down here?" It was Baby, and she was smiling.

"Baby, you can't be down here. Kellerman'll have my head if I let you-" Billy panicked, still clutching the watermelons.

"I'm a Kellerman. And I say Baby can come along," Catherine smiled mischievously, and handed her watermelon off to Baby before taking another one of Billy's.

The trio walked up, but just before they made it to the door, they heard a shout.

"Catherine?"

She whipped her head around to the voice, and pinpointed Neil as the culprit. He was standing up on a hill, looking around.

"Stupid curfew," Catherine said, disappointed. "I'm sorry, I gotta go. Sorry I couldn't help!" She pushed the watermelon back to Billy and ran back down the stairs towards her cousin.

"Come on, Cathy. You know there's a curfew for a reason." Neil reprimanded.

Catherine blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I lost track of the time. I didn't mean to."

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

Over the next couple of days, Catherine spent most of her time lounging around her bungalow with Baby and Lisa.

The three were sitting in her kitchenette, eating fruit and gossiping about the other guests and staff.

"Okay, be completely honest - and I'll know if you're lying - do you actually like Neil?" Catherine pointed threateningly at Baby.

"He's your cousin! I can't talk about your cousin!" Baby laughed, making Catherine almost fall off her chair giggling.

"I don't like him, so I don't care if you don't." Catherine said definitively, waiting for her answer.

Lisa leant forward from where she was curled up on the counter, wanting to hear Baby's answer.

"... I don't like him." Baby screwed up her eyes, waiting for the others' response.

"I knew it!" Lisa shouted out, grinning.

Her confidence immediately faltered when Catherine mentioned how Robbie had nice eyes (a purposeful plan to bait Lisa into spilling the truth).

"You like him, don't you?" Catherine's eyes were wide.

Lisa shrugged, picking up a decorative wooden apple and tossing it aimlessly a few times. "Maybe."

Catherine screamed, but Lisa threw the wooden carving at her. "What about you? Surely there's gotta be someone who's caught your eye?"

Catherine thought about it for a second. "Nah, not really. Besides, I don't have time for guys. I need to focus on my future. Yale, writing books, becoming a best seller, activism."

"Shut up, it's the summer holiday. I don't want to hear it," Baby laughed, cutting her off.

Catherine had a quick flash in her mind, a simple thought of dark eyes. She laughed awkwardly, changing the subject to possible activities they could do.

☆

omg i want to cry

im so swamped with school work (i prewrote the chapter thank the stars) and saw that we hit 4k reads? 

ily guys so much

also next week i have like no homework so i might do a bonus update (dont take my word for it) 

also i need to redo the cover with my new user so let me know if u have any title recs or if it shld stay the same

all my love,

nikie