Cats Middle School

Chapter 1: Bombalurina

The tires of the rusted, old bus screeched against the road as the bus driver slammed the break down. My head crashed into the seat in front of me, and I slowly sat up again, rubbing my head gently.

"Ouch," I muttered. I glanced at my sister, who was reading a thick book. "Demi, stop reading. We're here!"

Her ice blue eyes met mine as she peeked above her book. "I know, Bomba. Don't worry about me." After glancing out the window for a second, Demi's eyes returned to her book.

What a long trip. I mean, I could typically cope with long journeys, but that was only with someone to talk to. It was just so quiet. The only noise besides the occasional squeals of the tires was the low, throbbing music coming from the driver's earbuds.

My phone buzzed again. My friends had created a chat about the first day of school, and it was going crazy. Every few seconds I got another notification. It was honestly pretty annoying. Cassie, my absolute best friend, was caught up in a bit of drama with Exotica. Apparently, when they had taken pictures of their outfits and sent it out to the group chat, Cassie realized that their clothes were the same. And they couldn't change now since they were already at school.

I rolled my eyes, pressing the 'Do Not Disturb' button without a second thought. I would figure out how things sorted out at school.

I pressed my head against the cold window. The glass was smudged with grease, so it was difficult to see outside, but I saw a glimpse of my school, Cats Middle School. A couple of students were trickling through the double doors, and, against my will, I grinned. Being back was good.

"Get off the bus!" The driver twisted around in her chair, her earbuds almost slipping out of her ears. She glared straight at me since we were the only ones on the bus. Ugh. I guess the driver was still mad about having to go out of her way for two girls.

I wrapped my hand around the battered strap of my dusty red backpack. Demi heaved a long sigh, she closed her book and picked up her pack. It, of course, wasn't as glamorous as my backpack, of course, but Demi was more interested in the function of the bag.

Demi, my ever perfect sister, stepped out daintily into the aisle. I followed her, swinging my backpack back and forth. When Demi reached the driver, she flashed a sweet smile, then climbed down onto the pavement. The driver rolled her eyes as I walked past, muttering something under her breath. I hopped down onto the cracked and weathered sidewalk, just as the bus doors closed and the vehicle pulled away from the bus stop.

I headed to the middle school, Demi trailing behind me. Her head was bent over her book, her black hair hung over her face. Red streaks shot from the top of her head to the tips of her silky locks. I frowned. My hair was dull by comparison. It was all the same color, and I wanted nothing more than to spice up my look with hair dye. But my mom didn't want me to do it. After all, Demi's streaks were natural. Luckily, I was going to be away from my mom for the entire school year, and I smuggled some hair dye in my bag.

I glanced around. The sun was covered by a few wisps of clouds, but otherwise, the sky was the purest blue I'd ever seen. A frigid wind whipped through the few trees that were planted around the sidewalk. I shivered and crossed my arms in a desperate attempt to keep warm.

"Demi, over here!"

The shout came from across the street. Demi froze, a huge smile spreading across her excited face. She spun around and waved at the boys across the street. "Munky!" Demi cried. With a quick glance around to check for speeding cars, she ran across the road to the spot where Munkustrap, her unofficial boyfriend, stood with his younger brother.

My eyes immediately jumped to Munky's younger brother. The Rum Tum Tugger. Just thinking his name made my heart flutter, and when his eyes met mine, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack.

I finally broke away from Tugger's gaze to see my sister passionately hug Munky. She talked about him all the time, and she had missed him all summer. When Demi finally pulled away, they started talking about their summer and how excited they were that the school year was finally starting again.

Munky was what you would call a 'good kid.' Demi too. They both could be counted on to follow the rules to the letter and to be respectful and sweet to pretty much everyone they met. It was no surprise that Munky was the school president last year, and he would probably return to office this year too.

I didn't have anything against Munky. I mean, he made my sister so happy. But one thing's for sure, Tugger was just so much more attractive. I drank in his chestnut brown hair that was casually tousled and his deep eyes that made me feel like I was drowning in a chocolate lake.

Slowly, I crossed the street. I tried to look casual, yet gorgeous. That was actually hard to do. I tucked my short red hair behind my ears and shot a small smile at Tugger. "Hey," I said, shifting my weight to one of my legs. "How was your summer?"

"It was fine," he answered. His voice was thick and smooth, like honey. Tugger ran his fingers over his leather backpack strap. "How was yours?"

"Oh, it was amazing," I gushed. My eyes met Tugger's, and I quickly dropped my gaze. "I mean, it was interesting. I can't believe that it finished so fast."

"Exactly." After an awkward pause, a small smile tugged on the edge of Tugger's lips. "Oh, I was going to ask you if you had a date for the Jellicle Ball. Do you?"

My heart stopped as the butterflies in my stomach tripled. I'm sure I almost fainted. "N-not yet," I said, my voice trembling majorly. I tried to cover it up as well as I could. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just looking for a date, that's all," Tugger said. He dragged a hand through his hair and looked down for a second before his eyes flicked up to meet mine. "Would you like to go with me?"

My eyes widened. Was the cutest boy in the entire school asking me out? I'd had a crush on him since the first day I met him, and now my dreams were coming true. "Of course," I breathed. My breath hitched for a second, then I cleared my throat. "I mean, yeah, you can come with me."

"I guess you're the best out of the other girls, which isn't saying a lot, by the way. I mean, you're really cute and stuff, I guess." He moved closer to me. "I would ask your sister, but she looks so happy with my lame brother."

A surge of jealousy washed over me. I gulped. I just wanted to be happy. And I should be glad that Demi was happy. Especially after all she had been through.

And I knew how Tugger worked. When a girl wasn't obsessed with him, he would pursue her and try to get her interest. When the girl finally started to like him, Tugger would crush all her dreams and start going out with some other girl. I knew I had to start playing hard-to-get for Tugger to continue to like me, but it was hard.

And when he leaned closer and whispered, "By the way, you look beautiful today," I knew I couldn't play hard-to-get.

...

The Jellicle Ball was one of the highlights of the year. Everyone always went, and it was a way for everyone to get to know each other and catch up after a long summer. All the students would get a chance in the spotlight- literally. The person behind the spotlight would shine it one a student, and they would have to sing about something. Sorta terrifying, but it was fun. The songs would introduce people, and help kids find new friends.

I couldn't wait- I mean, after all, I had a date!