Not So Perfect After All

"Guess what, guess what?" Jemima squealed as she ran over to her friends.

"What happened?" Etcetera asked while the other kittens, Victoria and Electra, listened eagerly.

"Munkustrap just told me that I'm getting my own song and a solo dance at the next Jellicle Ball!" Jemima said as her body shook with excitement.

"Wow, that's great," Electra said, hugging Jemi.

"Congratulations," Etcy said and patted Jemi on the back.

Victoria smiled and congratulated her friend but she couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit jealous. She wished it could be her getting her own song and dance instead of Jemima. True, Jemi did have a better voice than her but she couldn't dance nearly as well as Vicki did.

Nearby, another cat heard the commotion and swaggered over to see what was happening. "What's going on?" he asked curiously.

"Oh hi, Tugger. I'm getting a song and solo dance at the next Jellicle Ball!"

"Wow, good job," Tugger replied. Then he looked at Vicki. "Hey, I thought it would've been Miss Perfect over here to get her own dance. After all, she is the best at everything."

Vicki sighed. Why did everyone always expect her to be perfect? She always had to act like she was the best at everything and like she didn't have a care in the world, when really, she wasn't the best at everything and worried all the time. She couldn't talk to anyone about it though because "Miss Perfect" wasn't supposed to get upset. She had to be happy all the time and never just act like herself.

"Yeah, Vic," Electra said in response to Tugger. "I wonder why it wasn't you that Munku picked."

"That's mean, Electra!" Etcy yelled. "Jemi will do a great job at the ball!"

"Yeah, but we all know that Vicki'll get an even better part than Jemima," Tugger said. "She's Little Miss Perfect!"

Tears welled up in Vicki's eyes and she ran off before anyone got a chance to see how upset she was. She ran to her favorite place in the junkyard, an old ford, that she often went to when she needed to be alone.

Her whole body shook with sobs as she thought about all the other queens who would kill to have her life and how she would gladly give it up to any one of them. "Why can't I have a life like Jemima?" she asked herself out loud. "She's so sweet and everyone loves her for who she is. Even Etcy has a better life than me!"

"Ahem," a voice came from the back seat of the ford. Vicki spun around quickly and came face to face with her mate, Mistoffelees. "Are you ok?" he asked with concern in his eyes. She quickly wiped away her tears and tried to act cheerful, despite the shock and embarrassment she felt after being caught crying.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked while trying to smile.

"Sleeping," he replied. "What's wrong?" He crawled into the front seat to be with Vicki but she quickly moved away.

"Nothing," she snapped. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," he said, still concerned.

"It's nothing. You wouldn't understand anyway. No one would. Sorry I woke you up." She advanced towards the broken window of the car.

"No, Vicki, don't leave. Please...talk to me," Misto said as he jumped in front of the window. "You can't just pretend that everything's ok when it's not. Please talk to me...you have to talk to someone otherwise nothing will ever change. You know I'd never judge you or tell anyone what you say. And I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

Vicki looked into his beautiful blue eyes and what she saw staring back at her was love and compassion, but most of all understanding. So she took a deep breath and began telling him what had been upsetting her sonce they were tiny kittens.

"Everyone always expects me to be so perfect. If I do one thing wrong all the other cats are shocked and disappointed in me, like I've let them all down or something. I have to be the most beautiful cat, the most talented, the sweetest...I never have time to just be Vicki! And I can't talk to anyone about it because I'm Victoria - no, I'm 'Little Miss Perfect,'" she said, quoting Tugger. "And I'm sick of it."

She let herself sink into Misto's loving arms and neither of them said anything for a few moments. Finally, Misto said, "I understand. But now you have to understand something. I love you, not the mask you wear for everyone else. I love the real Victoria, and not because she's the most beautiful cat, the most talented, or even the nicest! Although you are just about the nicest cat I've ever met. I love you because you're you. You may think you're fooling everyone else by acting perfect but in the end, you're only fooling yourself. I don't expect you to be perfect, I never did. And I'm sure all the other cats feel the same way."

Vicki looked up at him and realized that he was right. She sighed and said, "It's been so long since I've been myself, I don't even know who I am anymore."

"You're the cat I fell in love with the moment I set eyes on. You're probably the kindest cat in the junkyard and you get pleasure just out of seeing someone else happy. You have the kind of beauty that makes all the toms stare, but also beauty on the inside that attracts not only toms, but queens as well. You're an extremely talented dancer who knows how to dance from the heart. But you're not perfect, nor will you ever be. And if you keep trying to be someone you're not, you might lose the real Victoria forever."

Vicki smiled a real genuine smile, which she hadn't done in months. "Thank you Misto," she whispered. "I think I can finally be myself now." She and Misto jumped out of the car and Misto sat down to watch Vicki dance like she'd never danced before in her life. She was dancing out of pure happiness, something she hadn't done since she was a kitten, and she put so much of herself into that dance that every cat in the junkyard stopped what they were doing to watch. This was the Victoria they had missed out on for so long. Now, finally, she was back.