Miracats episode 1: A New Life part 2

Later, while most of the household was asleep, Jester was suddenly awoken by some quiet sounds coming from outside. Thanks to his keen sense of hearing, he could hear a quiet thud, then quick footsteps, and finally the sound of teenagers whispering. Jester leaped out of bed, quickly pussyfooted up to Beth's bedroom window, and looked outside. He saw five figures dressed in black.
One of them, a teenage boy, spoke to one of the figures softly, "Okay, just pass this one test and you'll be a member of our gang. Got that?"
A familiar female voice followed; "Yeah, Spike."
"Great!" whispered Spike. "Now, come on!"
Three other teenagers followed their leader while the female figure turned once more to make sure they didn't wake anyone. Jester immediately recognized her face.
"Mel!" he hissed in terror.
He watched in disdain as Mel quietly followed the gang into the night. Somehow, Jester could tell that these youngsters were trouble and that Mel was hanging out with the wrong crowd.
He ran back over to Beth's bed and pounced on top of her, meowing loudly, "Beth! Beth! Wake up! Wake up!"
Beth stirred and asked in a tired voice, "Jester, what's gotten into you?"
Jester ran back up to the window and meowed, "It's Mel! I think she's in trouble!"
Beth yawned. "I get it," she said sleepily. "You wanna go outside, right?"
"No! Well, yes!" Jester tried to explain quickly. "But...You don't understand."
Beth opened the window. "There you go," she said.
Jester leaped out the window and looked back at Beth.
"You have to follow me!" Jester yowled. "Please, Beth, it's important! We have to help your sister!"
Beth was still confused. "Jester, what's wrong with you?"
"Come on, Beth!" Jester continued. "Hurry! We mustn't waste any time!"
David suddenly came into the room.
"Beth, honey, what's going on?" he asked. "Why is Jester making all that racket?"
"I don't know, Dad," Beth replied. "He seems really upset about something."
David looked out at Jester who took a few steps forward and then looked back at them, yowling, "Hurry up, you guys! Follow me! Mel needs us!"
Beth started to realize something. "I think he's trying to tell us something."
"Must be important," David agreed.
"Well, let's go follow him and see what it is!" Beth said, heading for the door.
"Beth, wait!" her father stopped her. "At least put on your robe and slippers first."
Meanwhile, Jester could hear Claude barking, "Silence, cat! You're going to wake my mistress and then you'll be sorry."
"Please, Claude," Jester said. "I don't have time to argue with you."
"What's so important that you have to risk disturbing my mistress' slumber?" Claude snarled.
Suddenly, a light flicked on and the unpleasant woman opened the window, crying, "What on earth is going on out there?"
That's when Beth and David came out of the house.
"Sorry, Mrs Mays!" David called politely.
"I swear, Mr Andrews," Mrs Mays shouted over Claude's barking. "If you can't find a way to keep your daughter and that cat of hers under control, I certainly will!"
"Beth! Dad!" cried Jester. "Come on! We gotta go now!"
He started off into the direction his catlike instincts led him to believe Mel, Spike, and the others had headed.
"Jester!" Beth called. "Wait for us!"

Meanwhile, in the streetlight lit ally, Mel watched quietly as Spike and his gang were torturing a poor stray cat. Not just any stray cat though. It was Jester's tabby friend.
"He's so ugly," sneered one of the gang members.
"Look at him quivering," snickered a second.
"The little weenie cat," jeered the third.
"We should feed him to my dog," guffawed Spike.
The poor cat just sat there, petrified. Mel continued to watch, secretly feeling sorry for the poor thing.
The gang then turned to Mel and Spike handed her a large pocket knife.
"Now's your chance, Mel," Spike said. "If you wanna be a part of our gang, you gotta prove you're hardcore like us. Now, here's the test: Use that knife to cut off the cat's tail. If you pass, you're in."
Mel didn't want to admit it but she was horrified. They wanted her to do what? Couldn't they see the cat was already suffering enough? Mel didn't want to let her new friends down but she couldn't find it in her heart to harm this poor, defenseless creature either. She may have turned dark and mean when her mother died but not to the point where she wanted to harm innocent animals who couldn't speak up for themselves. Mel stood there quietly, looking at the knife, then at the cat, then at the gang, then back at the knife.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" said Spike impatiently. "Do it!"
"Do it! Do it! Do it!" the rest of the gang chanted. "Do it! Do it! Do it!"
The pressure was on. This was now Mel's chance to become a part of a group instead of being alone all the time. She could feel her heart racing and sweat running down her forehead. She wanted to be included and prove how tough she was but this sort of act was just going way too far. The tabby just sat there in front of  Mel, looking up at her with his one good eye pleadingly.
"Do it! Do it! Do it!" the group continued.
Mel suddenly had a flashback of something her mother told her a long time ago, "Don't ever let people make you do something you know isn't right. Even if they think you're weak for not doing it, you're actually proving you're strong by not doing it. Just be yourself and keep doing the right thing no matter what others say."
That recollection of her mother's words of wisdom was suddenly interrupted by a shrill meow. Mel, Spike, and the other teenagers gasped as Jester lunged right in front of his vulnerable friend.
"Jester?" Mel cried. "What are you doing here?"
"Wait! That's your cat?" Spike asked.
"No, he's my sister's," Mel answered.
"Don't you dare harm this cat," Jester caterwauled, arching his back defensively. "He's my friend, Mel. A much better friend to me than those punks will ever be to you."
"Don't just stand there, Mel!" Spike ordered. "Complete the task already!"
Mel bit her lip and defiantly threw the knife to the ground. Spike and the other teenagers gasped in disbelief.
"Thank you," the tabby squeaked pitifully to both Jester and Mel.
"Why did you do that?" Spike scoffed. "I thought you wanted to be a part of our group."
"I did," Mel said. "Until I realized that my ticket to get into your group was to hurt an innocent animal."
"It's just a stupid cat," Spike said.
"It's a living thing, Spike," Mel fought back. "If my mom was still here and saw what I was about to do to the poor thing, she'd be very disappointed in me."
"Well, your mom's not here anymore," Spike told her. "You gotta forget about her."
"I can't just forget her!" Mel cried, close to tears. "She was a really special part of my life as well as my dad's and sister's. Besides, it doesn't matter if she's here or not. I still gotta do the right thing and I know cruelty to animals is far from the right thing."
"Forget the right thing!" shouted Spike. "Doing the right thing is for losers. Besides, what's the big deal? Animals don't even have feelings."
Mel couldn't believe what she just heard. She scowled at Spike in rage. "Can't you see what's happened here? My sister's cat just came to the defense of this poor creature. He knows what we were doing was wrong and that the other cat doesn't deserve to suffer any more than he already has."
Spike scoffed again. "Mel, it's a cat! It doesn't know anything!"
"He knows a lot more than you do!" another voice spoke up.
They all turned to see Beth coming their way.
"He certainly knows that my sister's been hanging out with the wrong crowd," she continued.
"Beth!" Mel cried, coming over to hug her little sister.
Beth was shocked. She really didn't expect this from Mel.
Spike shook his head in defeat. "Well, let's give up, guys," he told his gang. "Mel's much too weak to be hanging with us."
"You mean, I'm too strong to be hanging out with you," Mel corrected.
Spike threw his hands in the air. "Whatever! Let's get outta here before I vomit!"
"Whitney Daniel Tyler!" a woman's voice suddenly shouted.
A short, stocky figure in a red sweater came into view.
"Mom!" Spike cried.
The other gang members snickered.
"Your real name is Whitney?" one of them giggled.
"Shut up!" Spike yelled at them. "It's not funny!"
The young man's mother grabbed him by the fist.
"Sneaking out at night and causing trouble again after you promised me otherwise," the woman fumed. "I expected better from you, young man!"
"But, Mom, I--"
"No buts! You are in so much trouble when we get home! As much as I'd hate to, I might have to send you to Juvenile Hall!"
As Spike was dragged home by his furious mother, the other gang members split.
Meanwhile, Mel had explained to her family about how the memory of her mother's words as well as Jester's bravery and loyalty gave her a change of heart. She hugged her father, saying, "I'm so sorry about how I've acted. I shouldn't have been so mean to you guys. And I really shouldn't have believed those guys were actually my friends."
"Well, at least you learned a lot from this experience," David said gently. "You did the right thing. I'm really proud of you, sweetie, and your mother would be, too."
"Thanks, Dad," Mel said, tearing up.
"But no more sneaking out at night, okay?" her father told her.
Mel nodded in agreement.
Beth then joined the two in a family group hug and Jester joined as well by snuggling up to Beth's leg.
"Well, let's go home," David said, getting ready to head back to the car.
"Wait, Dad!" Mel said. "Just a moment."
She went over to the tabby and bent down to pet him. The timid cat moved back a little at first but, once he felt Mel's gentle touch, he started to relax.
"It's okay, little guy," Mel whispered. "You're gonna be fine now."
She turned to her father. "Dad, this poor kitty needs a home. Can we keep him?"
"Please, Dad, can we?" Beth agreed enthusiastically. "He could keep Jester company while we're away at school."
David thought for a moment. The girls and the cats all looked at him hopefully.
"Well, he could use a trip to the vet to get that bad eye taken care of," he finally said.
"I'm sure I can cover that. And I think Melanie could use a furry companion of her own."
"So, we can keep him?" Mel asked excitedly.
David nodded. "We can keep him."
The girls cheered and Jester did a happy kitty dance. The tabby just smiled and purred.
As Mel lovingly scooped up the big cat in her arms, Beth wondered aloud, "I wonder how Jester knew you would be here."
Mel shrugged as she held her new pet in her arms. "I dunno. Probably just a hunch."
She suddenly thought of something. "Hmm. Hunch...That sounds like a really cool name. What do you think, Hunch?"
The cat just purred even louder and gazed at Mel contentedly as if to say, "I'm fine with whatever you want to call me." And he was.
Mel smiled as if she actually understood. "Okay. Hunch it is then."
Jester looked at Hunch, meowing, "Welcome to your new family, Hunch."
"Thanks, Jester," Hunch mewed back. "You're a true friend."

So, Hunch had finally found a forever home with people who loved him and did whatever they could to care for him. He also had formed a beautiful friendship with Jester who was now like a brother to him. Furthermore, Mel decided to hang out with Beth and her new friends at school from now on and Beth finally had her name cleared thanks to Corina and Jessica explaining everything they could to Principal Stanley about the incident with Heather and that Beth was far from guilty. And best of all, no more arguments in the Andrews' household. Jester's life was indeed changing. But with Hunch around, he had the feeling it could all be for the better.

End of episode 1.