Disclaimer: Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Shego, Dr. Drakken, Wade, Rufus, and any other regular characters used in this story are property of Disney and the creators of Kim Possible. I could only hope to be that brilliant... :)

A Note About Rating: I have given this work an overall rating of PG-13 for language, thematic content, violence, and moderate sensuality. Some chapters may be stronger in these elements than others, therefore the rating may vary from chapter to chapter. I will make a statement at the beginning of the chapter if this should occur. Oh, and I'll try to keep "bad" language to a minimum, but in my opinion, a little bit of swearing is the lesser of a few "evils"...

"Thanks for the lift, Inés." Kim excitedly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door of the semi that was dropping her off there in Middleton.

"It was not a problem, Kim. It was the least I could do after you prevented my alpaca herd from being stolen." The short, dark Peruvian woman smiled widely at Kim, watching her jump down from the passengers seat. She couldn't help but think that the world would be a much nicer place if there were more young people like this girl. It almost seemed as if there were an evil organization; an entire underground set up for the sole purpose of complicating life for others. But, ay, que será, será.

"No big." The fiery teenager shut the door, and with a final wave watched the truck pull away. She was incredibly glad to be back home; as much as she enjoyed what she did, the feeling of being able to return to her family and just collapse into bed after a mission was inexplicable. Relaxation was not something that a teen hero could take for granted, that she had learned.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Kim heard, then saw another truck approaching. It stopped just in front of her, and as the door opened, Ron's lanky figure could be seen exiting the semi, boyishly leaping to the ground, then shouting a quick "thanks man" back to the driver.

"Hey KP," he began, "I know I'm a little behind schedule, but I asked Juan if he would stop by Bueno Nacho for me." He thrust forward a bag with the remains of a chimirrito in it as Rufus appeared from his pocket, nodding vehemently. "For some reason," he continued, "the guy laughed at me. I said "grassy-us" and everything."

"Yeah, Ron. Can't imagine why someone from Latin America would find Bueno Nacho food funny... Let's get home."

Kim remained fairly quiet as they walked to her house together. A gentle smile remained on her face as she spent the duration of the journey listening to Ron lament about how some people couldn't appreciate good food, and the missions they'd been on together. It was calming, and the impending night was still a periwinkle dusk, a warm breeze accompanying both it and the two teens to their destinations.

Hours later, the redhead lay in bed, unable to sleep. Despite the serenity the evening had held, there was always more than enough to worry about, and now it was catching up to her. When school started later that month, she would be facing her last year at Middleton High. Graduation, college, a career... all things that loomed in her near future, yet they seemed so unattainable. She'd already had to quit the swim team and yearbook in order to balance cheer, school, homework, and her missions, and even so, she was losing grips on her social life.

Monique and her, though still very close friends, had drifted apart junior year; apart from science, they'd had no classes together. Josh Mankey and Kim had dated on and off for a few months, but then Josh had moved away to Upperton, and they'd only talked through email, and then even a handful of times, both agreeing to move on. Bonnie had only grown more heinous, constantly bragging about her college boyfriend and how many things he bought her. That is, until she found out that she was pregnant, with twin boys, nonetheless, and was forced to quit cheer and deal with her boyfriend leaving her. Felix, the paraplegic son of a scientist who worked with Kim's dad, had become quite popular. In fact, he was currently dating Monique, as far as Kim knew. Ron was the only one she could really keep track of anymore, and even he couldn't be with her all the time- he had Zita to keep him quite busy. And what Zita saw in him like that was still a mystery to Kim, as in all the years she'd known him, she'd never seen Ron as a boy.

Speaking of boys, she wished that she had one. Not that she had the time or energy to maintain a relationship anyway. Still, just someone that she could come back to after a mission and cuddle with. Someone that she could go to the movies and make out in the back row with, or take to a restaurant other than Bueno Nacho. It seemed like everyone was paired up with someone except for her, and it was really beginning to get on her nerves. Since when could Ron hold someone down when she couldn't even find someone. She knew she looked pretty good- she'd been complimented more than once on her looks. Everyone seemed to love her at school, except Bonnie, of course, who now hated her more than ever. She just wasn't around enough anymore to be able to see people, and all the stress had made her slightly bitchy at times. But it couldn't be helped.

Aside from all things social, there was college to worry about. She wasn't concerned about getting accepted -or the money, for that matter. Saving the world was just about as much extra-curricular as you could get, and even if her parents weren't in such high-paying jobs, she'd been offered several cheerleading scholarships. No, it was something more pressing that worried Kim about her next level of schooling. She couldn't make up her mind about what she wanted. She was pretty sure that she didn't want to go to a very big university- she'd spent her whole life in Middleton, with the same group of people and didn't want to get lost in school where no one knew anyone else. She'd considered just staying in Middleton; Ron was planning to go to the community college, and although she wasn't sure that she wanted that route, she had been thinking about the local liberal arts college... which led her to what she wanted to study, which led her to how she wanted to spend the rest of her life...

Come on, Kim, snap out of it! She scolded herself for the umpteenth time that month. This is your summer vacation, so not the drama. If she could just get away for a little while, to somewhere where none of this mattered, just long enough to sort things out. What would she give for that...

The sing-song ringing of the Kimmunicator roused its owner from her troubled sleep. Picking it up, she groggily peered into the screen, taking time to register Wade's face, complete with an expression of utter disbelief.

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Kim... You're not gonna believe this..."

(To be continued...)