My Darling Feline (Bill X Fem! Reader)

Chapter Eleven: Red Hot

"Just like last year, we've been invited to perform at the Harper's Festival of the Meteor! Naturally, we'll be accepting," The teacher announced.

The drama club erupted into excited chatter, practically vibrating with the kind of energy only theater kids and free snacks can conjure. I blinked at Bill, silently screaming what is happening, and thankfully he picked up on it.

He leaned in. "Okay, so. Basically, every year we get to do this big production at a city-wide festival that celebrates the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs and gave mammals their time to shine. Real feel-good stuff if you ignore the mass extinction angle."

"Huh," I said, eyebrows raised. "So a party for the end of the world?"

"Well, the start of ours," he grinned. "Anyway, what we're really excited about is getting to go into the city without an outing permit. Total freedom for like, twenty-four hours."

"Ah. So the art department's gonna get steamrolled again," I sighed, already picturing the glitter, cardboard, and twelve gallons of hot glue in my near future. "Guess I should start emotionally preparing to live in the supply closet."

Bill pouted. "Hey, come on, don't be like that. You'll be out in the city with us! And if you need some big, strong muscles to lift... boxes of whatever? I got you."

"Gee, thanks, Bill."

He beamed. "Anytime!"

Bill: impervious to sarcasm since birth.

"Y/N! We're heading to the warehouse to start prep for the festival. We're gonna need all the hands we can get!" Dom called out, waving me over like I was the final puzzle piece in a group project on fire.

I glanced over at Legoshi, who shot me an apologetic look as if to say run while you still can. Bill gave me this weird little half-smile, like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or be annoyed.

"Sorry," I told him quickly, already stepping away. "Duty calls."

"Don't work too hard without me," he called back, a hint of teasing in his voice.

***

"That is one big-ass dinosaur," I said, lips parted in honest awe as I stared up at the towering, lime-green T-Rex sculpture standing proudly in front of me like some prehistoric god. The thing had to be at least two meters tall, and it was entirely handmade. Probably with blood, sweat, and several creative meltdowns.

"Yeah, but we can't use the same sculpture again this year," Dom said with a shrug, already sounding exhausted.

"Why not?" I asked, because if I had to glue scales all over a giant paper-mâché reptile, I needed a damn good reason.

"It's a competition," Legoshi answered, his voice low as his ears drooped slightly. "Each piece has to be original. Fresh. One of a kind. Or whatever the rules say. I don't know, I just know it means more work."

"Why a dinosaur anyway?" Kai groaned, arms flopping uselessly at his sides. "Can't we do something easier?"

Dom's eyes lit up like he'd just been handed the script to his one-man show. "Dinosaurs are the ancestors of all animals. They were revered as gods! The festival celebrates their extinction, when that fateful meteor hit one summer and changed the course of evolution forever."

"Here we go," someone muttered.

Kibi, the ever-helpful tiny anteater, popped in with his usual trivia. "People say the festival is to honor the ghosts of the dinosaurs, but let's be real, everyone's just here for the lighting ceremony at the end."