Blue Eyes, Shining 9: Reality Happens
Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the songs referenced in this story and the music are the property of the respective authors, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time).
This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.
Enjoy! Please read and review.
A/N Forward:
It's the last month of the school year for Middleton School system students, and the last year at Middleton High School for the seniors, so forgive them if their minds wander this last month.
This chapter: for the guys (Ron, Felix, Mike, and Chip), between finals, college in four months, and other events (such as real life and their families, friends, girlfriends, and fiancées), they're a bit busy.
This is the final story in the Blue Eyes, Shining, Arc 1 of the JadeKimVerse, but take heart, all you Jaded individuals: the JadeKimVerse continues in Arc 2: Birth, and Rebirth, and in Arc 3: Retribution.
Thanks for being with me this far, and thank you in advance for reading and reviewing.
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Chapter 1 – 04/30: the end is coming, gentlemen….
Ronald Dean Stoppable was daydreaming already, even though he hadn't gotten out of bed yet. It didn't help that he was wide awake at 5:10 in the morning, more than an hour before he normally woke up and got out of bed: he hadn't slept well, and his brain had raced almost all night. He wished he knew why, and scenes, images, and thoughts flashed through his mind….
"It finally happened!" Bonnie Rockwaller had yelled out at the Junior Prom.
"She's dating that loser. Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable are dating?!"
There was silence, and applause suddenly broke out in the prom. Then, the music started, and he couldn't have asked, not even prayed, for a more appropriate song:
I know we've been friends forever
But now I think I'm feeling something totally new
And after all this time
I've opened up my eyes
Now I see you were always with me
Could it be you and I
Never imagined
Could it be, suddenly
I'm falling for you
Could it be you were right here beside me
And I never knew
Could it be that it's true that it's you
And it's you….
That first kiss was magical, and he had never wanted it to end. Ron Stoppable, the many-times proclaimed loser, was kissing Kim Possible, the girl of his dreams, and she wasn't running away from him. He knew that, if his life had ended after that kiss, he would have departed this Earth happy, having lived what he thought was a fulfilled life…
but it hadn't ended.
They'd come back after a wonderful summer at her Uncle Slim's ranch in Montana, he'd watch his friend Wade grow so much (and lose so much, Ron thought with a grin: that boy had definitely worked off the weight!), and Wade's dream had become his new reality: the geek had gotten the girl.
While they were working on the Bunker upgrades Ron had even met Rebecca Jane Casey at the ranch, an older woman (so old: she was a whole 23!) who had made him feel like a king as she'd crushed on him big time. She finally admitted defeat when Wade told her about him and Kim: 'since Pre-K,' he'd said, and she'd backed off, only teasing him for the rest of the summer, much to her and Kim's delight, he subsequently learned. Kim, Joss, and Rebecca Jane had become good friends, and their swimsuit session… Woo-Hoo, double side order of Hoo! Ron still remembered Kim's swimsuit with a great deal of fondness, almost as much fondness as Wade had had for Jocelyn's suit.
When he came back from Montana, Ron had gone to a florist and placed a very unusual order, according to the look on the florist's face: two individually–potted small Saguaro cacti, one he would take with him and the other to be delivered to Ms. Kimberly Ann Possible. Hers had the note with it:
'So you don't forget me: This will live as long as my love for you, KP…Ron.'
He'd come downstairs to the incessant doorbell ringing and he'd opened the door to a flying fireball, attaching her lips to his in front of his parents, much to his dad's delight.
She liked the cactus.
Dr. Wade Load had finally professed his love to Andrea Jocelyn Possible that summer in Montana, and she had reciprocated, much to his delight: they were both thinking about the other, and both been frightened of being rejected by the other. Wade had helped Joss finally learn what had happened to her mother and why she had been wracked with nightmares for so many years. Joss had, in turn, later helped him get past his own demons with the late Stephanie Watership that had ultimately caused his agoraphobia. Together, the pair had done 'loads' for their friends during the past 10 months, helping two of them get past injuries suffered at the hands of drug dealers in separate incidents, both of them almost dying but, miraculously, surviving.
Slim had begun to fall in love with Dr. Director that summer, and she had done the same: unfortunately, neither of them admitted their feelings to each other, let alone themselves, until after they had all gone to Arlington National Cemetery to allow Joss to visit her mom for the first time since she was killed; Joss had been three years old when she and her mom had been kidnapped. It was after that visit, that Christmas Eve in Middleton, when Slim had proposed to Dr. Elizabeth Director, and she had agreed to become his wife.
Great minds thought alike that night, Ron remembered with a chuckle. The same night, and almost at the same time, he had proposed to Kimberly Ann Possible, his BFGF. He'd been thinking about doing it, ever since the summer, but it was her singing, that Christmas Eve night, that had sealed his decision: he saw the true angel inside of her, displayed for all the world to see.
"I want my angel, forever," he said with such passion that Kim had gasped, and he'd dropped to one knee, opened the box that he carried inside his pocket, and turned it to face her.
She blessed him by agreeing to share her life with him, and Mr. Dr. P shocked him by giving them his blessing.
Ron would never forget James Possible's response: "You've protected my daughter better than any father could dream of, and you've shown her more love and caring than anyone outside of this house, so why would you think that I'd want anything more than for you to marry my Kimmie-cub?" Ron hoped that, when he became a father and his daughter's boyfriend came to ask Ron for her hand in marriage, he would be as understanding.
The look on Monique's face when Kim showed her her Christmas present was priceless.
The look on Felix's face had said it all: he pulled Ron to the side later and asked him where he'd found the ring. He confessed that he wanted to propose to Monique, but he needed to wait for a year or two: he didn't feel he was ready, even after they'd dated for six months.
"Dude," Ron had said, "It took us 12 years, so don't worry about waiting a few months, or even a few years: if she really loves you as much as I think she does, she'll wait."
Ron almost wished that the old Bonnie was still around…almost: he would have loved seeing the look on her face when he and Kim came back after winter break, Kim with her engagement ring. Instead, Bonnie had hugged Kim and congratulated her, even suggested that she surprise the rest of the cheer squad at that afternoon's practice. The cheer-sisterhood had gone gaga when Kim walked into the locker room with her ring hand outstretched, and every one of the ladies had come out after practice and given Ron congratulatory hugs and kisses.
Even Sarah Best had shocked Ron by coming up to him after school while he was waiting for Kim to come out of practice. She congratulated him, surprising him immensely, with a kiss on the cheek and a giggle as she whispered, "You're a good man, Ron Stoppable: you deserve to be this happy." Blushing, she turned and headed home while Ron reached up and touched his cheek.
Those kisses were almost as good as the ones he'd received when he was elected Homecoming King and the ones he'd received when the team had won the District Championship in football. Ron had been voted team and District MVP for the season after his record-shattering performances at running back.
It was almost like his high school senior year had been scripted for him, but he still didn't know the ending: where he was going to college.
Ron had had a great year in his first and only year in high school football; even after breaking almost all of the MHS single-season rushing records, though, he wasn't offered an athletic scholarship; now, his best chance was MIST's new culinary program, but they wouldn't make their decision until later, in May. He'd already been admitted to Go City University's program, but Kim had offers from several schools, including the MIST International Relations program, London, Italy, and Singapore (or was it Hong Kong?) and she'd shocked everyone, including her parents and several college admissions professionals, by not having made a decision yet. Kim's indecision had been caused by the recent events in her life, and Dr. Director had contacted all four schools, explaining as much as she could why Kim had not yet made a decision. Not surprisingly, the schools had all agreed to keep her slot open until she made her decision.
Ron was, obviously, rooting for her to stay locally, but she had explained her reasons for possibly leaving to him: "Ron," she had started as they held each other, "I need to be on my own, without my parents, for awhile, and even without the Tweebs. They've gotten better since getting into high school, but I still need some time away from them."
"What about us?" Ron had asked with a bit of a whine, and Kim answered with a loving, lingering kiss.
"You can't get rid of me, my future husband," she smirked. "You're stuck with me. Besides, with all the new com capabilities on the 'Net, we'll never be out of touch," and she grinned. "Just, no more 3:10AM calls, all right?
"And remember: Wade has that new scramjet available, so we can be together a lot more often that we would have if we had to fly commercial," and Ron shuddered, thinking about the look he'd gotten from Kim when he moved to first class out of Greece and left her in Coach. Then, a wicked thought crossed his mind…
"KP, how high does that scram fly? 75,000 feet, right?" and she nodded.
"Shucks," and she stared at his choice of words, and he grinned even more. "I guess I'll have to settle for the 10-mile-high club, then." he pouted and continued to grin.
The hand, quick to the back of his head:
"RON!"
was followed by another long, lingering kiss.
Kim's indecision, Hana's arrival into the Stoppable family, everyone discovering the little one's amazing capabilities, and the way she'd managed to wrap her big brother around her little finger so successfully, had helped him decide that he wanted to stay local, if at all possible. Besides, he'd agreed with Kim and Wade that the Tweebs could use some leadership/assistance on missions, now.
When Kim finally told them her decision, MIST, Ron never imagined that he had ever seen that many adults cry, but he cheered in public and, with Kim, privately. Now, he just needed to know his fate.
Learning about his Mystical Monkey Power was one thing: learning from the Lotus Blade's own mouth, so to speak, that he had more to learn about the gifts of the Blade and that he had rudimentary healing powers, had almost blown him away. That time this past February, in the Montana Bunker, had turned into a special time for all of the his closest friends, the very special people in his life: Ron, Kim, Joss, and Wade had grown closer than any other people on the planet had ever been by sharing their consciousnesses and their desires, dreams, and fears first-hand by, literally, being inside of each others' heads. He'd learned more about his fiancée than any married man would learn after 30 years of marriage, just as she had learned about him at a depth she'd never considered possible.
What he'd appreciated the most was what he'd learned about Jocelyn and Wade: he'd learned that they would make it as a couple, mainly because they truly loved each other at a level neither of them had realized heretofore. He'd learned Joss' fears and loves as well as those of Wade, shocking himself to learn that both he and Wade had eerily-similar deep fears.
Jocelyn and Wade had both been through so much, Ron mused, that they deserved a break and some more goodness in their lives. He could see small changes in Wade even before he'd even gone to Montana, and Ron was more than happy to set him up at the 'Bench' with a little landscaping, reconstruction, and a lunch that made them both comfortable. The two young people had returned, literally shining, and Wade hadn't quit smiling for the last 11 months.
What began Ron's serious thoughts towards a decision to propose to Kim while they were still in high school was her apology to him for taking advantage of him all these years as a friend, going all the way back to his 'dating,' if that's what you'd call two 12-year-olds going to a movie and pizza afterwards, Justine and Kim's recurring attempts to remake him in her desired image. What pushed them even further was her very public apology to Wade at the Bunker this past summer: she had opened her heart up for all to see after she'd announced that she was naming Wade as a full partner of Team Possible and changing the website's name to reflect that recognition.
Wade had exploded at her, telling her why he'd really been helping her, and Kim had admitted what Ron had suspected: she got a huge rush from the missions, the danger, and she had been taking advantage of Wade's needs to be needed and feeding her rush at the same time. When she had told Wade that she'd understand if he never wanted to speak to or see her again, Ron was convinced that time had stood still: it was so quiet in the Bunker, breathing was the loudest sound in the room.
He knew then that anyone that was as beautiful as his BFGF was, as well as loving and willing to admit her faults and beg forgiveness, was the person that he wanted to live out his life with, to raise their children with, and to grow old with. Then, she had apologized to Justine, as well: that sealed the deal, as the only two women in his life that he'd ever really cared about were driving him in the same direction.
He still didn't know what was bothering him, what had kept him from getting a good night's sleep for the past three weeks: it wasn't the missions, and he couldn't even blame it on Zorpox. After the events of the previous few weeks before his sleeplessness began, Zorpox was gone, at least temporarily: he was no longer a separate entity, but now an integral part of Ron as he had always been before, below the surface, only now fully integrated.
'Man, I sure could have used him this fall in football season,' Ron chuckled inwardly.
It wasn't his studies: he was acing all of his classes and had lifted his class ranking 13 points since the last check at mid-year; he wouldn't make the top ten at Graduation, but he'd never expected to: he just wanted to make his both his parents and Kim proud of him.
That was it, he realized, what had been bothering him this long, and it seemed so simple:
It was graduation.
It was leaving his comfort zone of Middleton High School and going out into the world of college.
He laughed as he stood up: for someone who had jetted around the world with Kim Possible and Global Justice, he was worried about leaving MHS for the outside world.
He glanced at his alarm clock: 6:25. He turned off the alarm and sat up.
He wondered if Kim was worried about it…NAH, not Kim. 'She could do anything, including not be worried about the future,' he thought as he stripped and headed for the shower.
'We need a fun time…another Middleton Teen Settlement evening with everyone, the whole crowd. I wonder if Wade can get Jocelyn here on short notice, or if she's already coming down this weekend.
'I need to talk to Chip, and see if the Motherboards are performing this weekend. After all we've been through, we deserve a break before this last month of transition.
'Can't use the 'Pepe Le Pew' joke again: it's old, now,' Ron laughed as he finished soaping and started to rinse. 'I need another gag, or maybe just the threat of one can be the gag itself….
'But, what for dinner…hmmm,' Ron thought as he turned off the water and reached for the towel.
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Felix Josiah Renton had tossed and turned for the past four weeks, never sleeping more than two-three hours at a time at night.
He'd tried bashing zombies at 2:00 AM, to no avail. He'd tried reading his physics books, psychology books, his Mom's 'Grey's Anatomy' text, and he'd even broken down and actually read 'Lo, The Plow Shall Till The Soil of Redemption:' not even that tome could put him to sleep.
He'd finally sat up, grabbed his tablet, and started doodling about 20 minutes ago on the screen, and he had his answer:
Monique Jenkins.
He had developed, as Ron Stoppable, his BMF (best male friend: he'd even begun to think in Mon-speak, he smiled. She's invaded my brain, and it was a simple, painless surrender) had told him, an incurable case of 'Mon's disease,' but he hadn't realized how bad until now.
He'd typed 'Mr. Felix Renton and Ms. Monique Jenkins-Renton' and had doodled heart shapes around the names on his computer.
What a field day a psychiatrist would have with this, he contemplated: a guy, so totally hung up on a girl that he was doodling her married name.
Married name?
"Renton, you are in sooo deep, now," he announced to no one.
"I can't help it," he admitted to his empty room, "I love her."
"I'm in love with you, Miss Monique Jenkins," he admitted once again, out loud.
He'd never told her, but the signs were there: the first time she sat on his lap in the chair, she stood up after a few moments and turned, looking at him with a devious smile as he blushed: "Happy to see me, baby boy?" she'd purred, and she stood the rest of the time, glancing down to show him what power she had over him.
They were so much alike, and yet so different: her passion was fashion, while his passion was her.
He laughed: now, that sounded like a man so deep in love he can't find the door out of the maze…and never wants to, either.
He remembered the first time he'd met Kim: she'd obviously never met anyone who was a paraplegic, so she spent her time stomping on her tongue every chance she had to open her mouth. She'd finally gotten over it when he went with her to rescue Ron from Motor Ed with the fake delivery (Turbonic Charger Valve: Ed was an idiot if he believed that name was real!).
That was the time of discovery for both of them: Kim began to realize that Felix was a person, he began to realize he had no shot whatsoever with Kim because she adored Ron, and he saw that Ron worshipped her every pore. He and Kim were still friends, and he loved to harass her about 'cage bats' on occasions.
Kim had, however, blessed him beyond words when she introduced him to his Ebony Goddess, his 'Queen for Life.'
He'd been as tongue-tied when he first met Monique as Kim when she first met him, and Monique had thought it was because she had a better tan than Felix. He clarified that for her, months later, when they had started dating (he'd wanted to 'straighten it out for her,' but he was afraid of getting kicked there for that line if he'd said it to Monique: she was far too quick on the uptake). He told her that he had never in his life seen someone so beautiful, and his brain wouldn't allow speech, for it would distract his eyes as they drunk in the vision he was seeing.
Her response: "You've been spending too much time around Ron," after giving him a thank-you kiss that threatened to curl his paralyzed toes. "You're picking up on Mr. Smoothie's lines…me like, baby boy."
It wasn't until their senior year that Felix had the nerve to really talk to Monique, one-on-one, and not until after the Homecoming Dance that he's asked her to go out: he still felt self-conscious about the dancing 'sitch.'
'I've been around Kim too long, too: 'sitch' was never in my vocabulary before I came to Middleton,' he grinned.
He'd already talked to his mom about Monique before inviting her over for dinner. He was worried about Mom's reaction to Monique being 'a person of color,' he'd told her: they'd never talked about it before, even though she worked in the labs that were so multi-cultural. After she got past the gushing and crying about her 'little boy turning into a man and dating,' she had told him to, in no uncertain terms, 'remove his cranium from his rectum before she had to purchase, and have Anne Possible install, a glass stomach on her son," and he had laughed long and hard with her. "This is the 21st century, after all, and race didn't matter to her: all that matters, Son," she had said and pointed to his heart, "is what you feel there." He'd hugged his mom for that blessing, and they'd had a wonderful dinner a few weeks later, on a Saturday night.
Once he had gotten the nerve to ask Monique, she'd shocked him by immediately accepting. Now, he had to do his prep work for the dinner.
Felix had gotten up early that Saturday morning to prepare his favorite dish for his favorite girl: jambalaya the way that his Dad had shown him before he died and left the written recipe that Dad's mother had taught him: the recipe with everything: the wonderful tasting andouille sausage, chicken thighs ('they're cheaper, Son, but they have so much more flavor than the white meat parts of the bird,' Dad had said), ham, and shrimp, peeled and de-veined, and peppers that would cause the Sun to sweat.
His mom had insisted on preparing her family recipe for fried chicken and cream gravy, with grits on the side, and a watermelon salad to help cool off Felix's jambalaya. Monique shoved both of her beautiful feet into her mouth that time, though, Felix remembered with a big grin, when his mom made a big to-do about the dishes.
Monique made a snide comment to his mom about her cooking fried chicken and stereotyping with watermelon, and Mom had gone off, 'old school,' on Monique, explaining to her how she'd grown up on fried chicken and cream gravy, grits, collards, pigs' feet, fatback, watermelon, and 'red beans and rice.'
"How dare you, Monique, believe that 'your' people had an exclusive right to any food!" Felix had sat back and smiled: he knew that, when Mom's Texas accent came out, someone was in trouble: part of him wanted to defend his girlfriend, part of him was worried about Monique's reaction, but part of him was also relieved that it wasn't him the rant was aimed at, this time.
His Mom explained that she had grown up on all of that food (Monique had grinned at the watermelon reference), Texas grapefruit, meat loaf ("Not Anne's Brain Loaf," she giggled, and Monique joined her. 'Mom, giggled? Monique, giggling: this is way to strange, even for Middleton,' he thought), fajitas ("before they became cool and trendy food," she'd explained: "they were the part of the meat the butcher threw in for free because no one wanted to buy skirt steak back then," she sighed: "now, it's $6.50 a pound, and not even trimmed properly," Mom groused.), both flour and corn tortillas, and cabrito.
She told Monique that she'd grown up in a part of Texas where the school systems had integrated in the mid-1950s, just after Brown v. Board, and the schools themselves began a year or two later physically bringing all students together. She laughed as she told her about her twin sister's mad crush on a young black man in high school that created the most beautiful music when he touched his violin; her sister had even gone out with him, but, even though he liked her, he told her later that he was too worried about her and what people would think about her that they only went out two or three times.
"That's my paradigm, Monique," his Mom had crossed her arms across her chest and smiled, waiting to see if the color would return, figuratively, to Monique's cheeks after the blistering talk she'd received.
Monique was able to extricate both her feet and apologized, and the two women in Felix's life stood up and hugged, then laughed the rest of the dinner as his Mom regaled Monique with Felix stories that left him blushing most of the night.
When she was ready to leave, his Mom hugged her and kissed her cheek. "You're a very lovely young woman, Monique: now, I understand why my son likes you so much and has those pictures of you plastered all over his room," she'd added, just twisting the knife into Felix some more to get more blood to his face.
At least Mom went back into the house while he walked Monique to her car. He considered apologizing to her for Mom's reaming, but she told him she loved his Mom and her 'tude.
"Now I know where your spunk comes from, Felix: you've gotten through all you'd been through with 'flying colors,'" she joked, "with a mother like that."
Then, she leaned over and kissed his cheek, and then she did it.
She kissed him on the lips, and her tongue knocked: he opened the door, and he tasted Heaven on my sidewalk: the jambalaya and greens and fried chicken and watermelon all mixed with the totally unique flavor of Monique Jenkins that he never wanted to get rid of.
When she straightened up, she smiled down at me. "We've got to do that more often," she smiled that special smile, and she walked around the rear of her car, got in, blew him a kiss, backed out, and drove away.
He sat on the driveway for over 15 minutes, just savoring dessert.
That was it, what had been bothering him this long, and it seemed so simple:
Graduation.
Leaving his comfort zone of Middleton High School, leaving Monique, not seeing her every day and possibly losing her, forever.
He laughed as moved out of the bed to the regular chair he used in his room. He'd been through hell, and he was worried about graduation? No, he was worried about Monique going off to school and meeting someone else, losing her to another, walking, man.
He wondered if Monique was worried about him…NAH, not her. Nothing seemed to faze her, the gift of Mon that had been somehow magically been granted to him. Just like Kim, in more ways than one, Monique could do anything, including not be worried about the future, he thought as he headed for the shower.
'Should I tell her, be up front, about how I feel,' Felix asked himself in the shower as he transferred to the shower seat.
'Maybe I need to be totally honest with her, now, no matter how she reacts.
'Man, get real! She's even more in love with you than you are with her, so tell her, fool!
"That's what I need to do: this weekend, at graduation, when?' he finished soaping, washing, and rinsing with a question remaining as he transferred from the shower seat to his chair.
A click, then –
"Felix? Are you awake?" came from the home sound system.
"Finishing up my shower, Mom: I'll be down in about 15," he replied.
"All right. Breakfast is ready."
"MOM! It was my morning to cook!"
"Sue me, son," Rebecca laughed. "I felt like a Denver omelette this morning," and she clicked the system off.
'How she does it, I'll never know,' he thought as he got dressed, then checked his portfolio activity from overseas: Japan was up one per cent, and London was holding steady.
He checked the 'ring fund:' only about 75 per cent of what he needed.
'Let's go for Graduation, but I need to ask Ron if he and Kim would like to join Monique and me at a getaway evening this weekend to MTS.'
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Michael O'Kelley Cotton had come home later than normal, around 1:30 AM, after he'd come home from working his last shift. His boss and the rest of the team had thrown him a going-away party for his last night, a pre-graduation party and a congratulations for what he'd told them he was doing with the money from the job, and they'd even given him a cash gift in his going-away card to help with the cost of it.
He still had to finish his US Government report for class tomorrow (Friday, May 2); he'd finished everything except the conclusion, but he'd had difficulty finding the right words the past two days. He showered before he started to work on the report, hoping that the water would stimulate his brain cells. As he toweled off and slipped into his pajamas, he tried to blame his mental block on his work schedule, but he knew, deep down, that that wasn't the reason.
She was the reason.
Justine Leanne Flanner, his reason for working these crazy hours: to give her a surprise at graduation that, he hoped, would 'rock her world.'
Ever since he'd transferred into MHS from Lowerton High at the beginning of his sophomore year, he'd been in love, from afar, with the slender, beautiful, blond-haired young lady with the severe face and the amazing intellect.
He'd gotten in trouble more than once at school: being at the wrong place at the wrong time (his usual bad timing) seemed to be his lot in life. It earned him time in detention, and that's where he met Kim Possible for the first time.
The world-saving cheerleader had treated all of the guys in Detention with such respect and dignity, especially after they'd helped her capture Shego while Ron removed that exploding tick from her nose. He'd let her paint his fingernails, as had all of the other guys in D. They'd all taken flack for it, but he didn't care: she was Kim Possible.
That event had given him the courage to walk up to Justine a few days later and start talking to her, much to her surprise. He'd shocked her: his size having stereotyped him as a slow person, but she found out otherwise, and they had a very lively discussion about string theory before she had to go home. He'd lingered after school the next two days later to talk to her, and she was much more receptive to him each time.
Just talking to her, being with her, had turned Mike's attitude back to his future, and he began to buckle down in his classes, earning some surprised looks from his teachers as they returned his homework and test papers with more A's and B's rather than a few B's and mostly C's (and some grades even lower).
He'd made certain that he wasn't seen with her: he knew that she had a reputation to uphold, and being seen with him wouldn't help it. He had, however, told Ron that he liked her…a lot. Several of the 'D' guys heard their conversation, and it was all over school within two days that he liked Justine; somehow, she never heard it, he learned later.
When she left to go to Montana during the summer, he was sad, but he'd decided that he was going to tell her when she got back. She shocked him instead, showing up on his doorstep out of the blue. He remembered that day, and he was fairly certain that he'd never forget it ….
"I didn't know, Mike," she grinned as she spoke, and Mike was in love all over againa: her voice was so smooth and refined, "and I wanted to give you these two things before school started," she said as she handed him an envelope.
"That's just one," he said softly, holding the package as if it were spun gold: Justine Flanner had given him a gift! He was confused and looked it, too.
"And this," and she jumped up and kissed his cheek.
"I think you're cute, too," she added, and she then turned and ran back to her car and got in, closing the door.
He opened the manila envelope, and he pulled out the sheets: there were pictures, pictures of his Justine in a swimsuit that concealed but made her look like a supermodel to him, the thin gauze-like covering that she wore over the swimsuit both concealing and revealing her wonderful form, the shot shimmering in the sunlight from the glossy paper it was printed on. He stood there on the porch, grinning like an idiot, until she left, and even longer, before he went into the house and asked Mom how she knew that Dad was the one.
He went out that day and began his search for the perfect ring, that one thing that he knew would tell her just how he felt, how much he loved her. He found it, but it was way more than he could afford. After a serious discussion, his parents agreed to spot him the down payment, enough to hold the ring for six months while he got a job and paid for it and paid them back.
Late that fall, he'd told Justine why he didn't push for them to go out as much, why he had met her rather than picking her up for their times together, and he remembered her wonderful kiss and her crying at the same time.
"Mike, I can't believe that you were so worried about me, my reputation, that you would hide us and hurt yourself, just for me. Thank you, my 'Big Mike,' but that's got to stop, now."
That's how they ended up at the Middleton Days fair, eating Nacos in public in a contest, and he got to lift her and kiss her and say something really, really dumb: "Brainy's cute." Her kiss on the cheek in public let him know that she was proud to be seen with him, and the crowd cheered.
The next school day, they both got the same attention that Ron and Kim had received after Jr. Prom. They were the latest celebrities, two more defying the dreaded 'Food Chain.'
They saw each other most of the late winter and early spring, movies and things that allowed Justine to relax somewhat. She was still troubled by her father's disappearance a few years back, so his re-appearance had shocked her, her family and Mike. Then, both Justine and her dad disappeared for a time, as did Kim and Ron and Wade, and no one knew what was happening with them at all. When they returned, six weeks before graduation, none of them would talk about their time away. Kim and Ron worked like dogs for over a week and got completely caught up with all of their past-due work; Justine knocked hers out in two nights.
Mike went to her house one evening while Justine was gone to talk to her mom, to tell her how much he loved her daughter, and to ask permission to propose to her at graduation. Her mother cried and hugged him. He showed her the ring and told her his plans, and she cried even more. She told him what Justine had done for their family while her dad had disappeared, and now it was his turn to cry. He promised her that he'd never leave Justine or his family, and she said that she believed him. He left with her mother's blessings and had headed in to work that night with a spring in his step.
Justine had been pre-occupied after she returned, and they hadn't had as much time to spend together as he wanted. That's what was keeping him up now: he was worried that she'd found someone better than him, that she would leave him.
He'd wanted to talk to her tomorrow night, Friday, but he found the email tonight from her begging off on Friday and asking if he was available on Saturday night for their dinner-and-a-movie date. He emailed her back that Saturday was good, too, and he'd pick her up at 6:30 at her house.
This was why he hadn't gone to sleep: he was truly frightened of losing her to someone better looking, much more refined, and way smarter. He was certain that he couldn't live without her.
He had to make sure that he wasn't losing Justine to another lucky man somewhere.
He was prepared to fight for her, if necessary, even though he abhorred violence.
'Someplace different for dinner this time,' he thought, and maybe that would help him ask the questions he feared to ask and learn the answers he feared to hear.
MTS, maybe? They hadn't been there in months…he checked the schedule, and confirmed that the Motherboards were performing that night: good, he and Chip got along, and both he and Justine liked Chip's music. Maybe he could get Justine on the dance floor: that would certainly loosen her up, he laughed to himself.
He glanced at the clock: 6:45 AM. He'd have to work on the report after he got home tonight. He changed clothes, putting on his school clothes, and headed to the kitchen to make coffee and start breakfast before he woke up his little brother.
-----
Christopher David Robinson Design was designing at 5:40 in the morning. He was designing his future, or at least planning a part of it.
And, it all had to do with Sarah Janine Best, that wonderful woman who'd allowed him into her life, and for whom he'd written music that had turned his future upside down.
Chip had been ferreting out Sarah their entire junior year: watching her in the library, in the halls at school, in class, in the cafeteria as they dodged the Mystery Meat and Mystery Gravy, everywhere he could think of that she might be, but he was too scared to just go up to her and talk. He was a musician, a communicator with song, yet he couldn't communicate with her, it seemed. He was afraid of her beauty, her confidence, her rejecting someone like him.
She was the first one to recognize his parents' 'bear' fetish in his name, and he grinned the first time that he heard her Dad call her 'Sarah-Bear.' "We were meant for each other: it's fate," he had said after he stepped onto the porch from inside their house, and she confirmed his opinion by a wonderful kiss that tasted great and lasted far too short a time.
He'd ridden past her house several times in the spring and early summer, but finally he'd ridden past her house one day last summer and saw her out: he took the chance and rode up to her. The conversation was hilarious, when he looked back on it, but she had made the move and they went to MoonNickel's to talk and drink. That's when he'd learned that she was even more fascinating than he'd ever dreamed she could be.
Her family was as unique and as interesting as she: Mom had remarried, and Sarah's father was a little person, black, and a computer genius. He and Chip had hit it off almost immediately, talking hardware while Sarah sat, mesmerized by their conversation. She later told him that she was intrigued by anyone who could have an intelligent conversation with her and her dad. He'd kissed her forehead for that compliment and he'd hugged her.
He never wanted to let her go: she felt like she was made for him, when she was in his arms, so warm, so soft. He made every attempt to get back in that position during the fall, but he never got the nerve to tell her how he felt…until that night at the Teen Settlement.
He'd invited her to the Teen Settlement, letting her know he had written a song for her. He didn't tell her that he'd written it 10 months ago, but he's not had the guts to sing it to her. He was ready tonight, with Ron's and Wade's help and advice.
He watched her while he sang for Ron, Kim, Joss, and Wade, and she looked so conflicted: anxious, depressed, wanting to alternately slap him and throw him on the ground,
He planned his movements to the lyrics as he sang the song a second time and Wade had taken Sarah to the dance floor.
The sun will shine through every window, mirrored in your brighter life.
And you'll forget your
shades of deeper blue.
Close your eyes and realize,
"Close them, Sarah," Wade had smiled as she closed her eyes, and Chip had already begun to move off the stage while he was singing and down to the dance stage, receiving the roses from Ron while he continued to sing. He looked at Sarah, and he wanted to speed up time, she looked so hurt.
That I am here with you
He reached out and took her right hand, and he felt her tremble.
And you'll forget your
shades of deeper blue.
Open up, so you can see, just how much I love you
She opened her eyes, and it was Chip was holding her hand; in his other hand was a bouquet of beautiful lavender and pink long-stemmed roses, her favorites (he'd found that out from her Dad, who'd grinned when he was asked).
And we'll move past our
shades of deeper blue.
He leaned forward and kissed her, a quick peck on the lips, but it was in public
She reached up and touched his face, then pulled her other hand free, taking his face in both hands, closed her eyes, and captured his lips.
This wasn't even her song, so he spoke as soon as the crowd stopped applauding them.
"Sarah, I've wanted - no, I've needed to tell you this for the last 18 months; I just hope and pray that you agree with me," he cued the band, and the band began to play the intro a bit louder to indicate that something was about to happen:
Chip held her right hand, and he began to sing with Ron and Wade acting as his backup singers: Kim and Joss were smiling in the audience.
He watched Sarah's face while he sang to her: as far as he was concerned, she was the only person in the room, the only one who mattered. She began to relax, to grasp how he felt, and her smile that he'd loved began to emerge from its hiding place.
When he got to the bridge section, she turned his song interactive: he'd never had that happen to him before.
(Chip) I know all the rules to every game,
I know when the skies will start to rain
How come I never knew your name?
"Gee, I don't know: why not?" she smirked at him, and the audience had laughed.
And when every dream that I rely
all turn to sand and when I die
Chip suddenly got a lot quieter, almost whispering to her through the headset:
Please, won't you be the one to cry (for me).
"Yes, I will," she whispered, and he smiled and mouthed 'thank you.'
Chip released her hands, and he spread his arms apart, like he was trying to capture the world:
(Chip) One night by a moonlit river, I would give the world to have you there
(+RON and WADE) de de de de de de de de
(Chip) One song that my soul delivers as an answer to my prayer
(+RON and WADE) de de de de de de de de
(Chip) I'll wait 'til the mountains fall,
I've stood 'til the skies came tumbling, too
(+RON and WADE) I will sacrifice and give it all
Chip took both of her hands back, looking seriously at her:
(Chip) now that I'm holding a woman like you, like you
Then he took her in his arms, and he stared into her eyes and sang as if she was truly the only person in the room:
now that I know I love a woman like you, like you, like you
then he kissed her tenderly on the lips as the song ended, and the audience cheered.
"I love you, Sarah," Chip had finally confessed.
"I love you, Chip," she replied, turning his heart into mush.
"You go, you two!" the crowd yelled, and he then realized that his microphone was still on.
"Oops," he grinned and reached down to his mike control.
She stopped his hand.
"Kiss me, Chipster," she said, loud enough to be heard over the mike, and then she let him turn off the mike.
It was bad enough that he hadn't seen Sarah for the past two weeks, but when she came back she couldn't even tell him where she'd been, and that vexed him so. She came back both calm and unnerved, as if someone or something had been pushing her from outside of her control.
'Who'd dare to try to push her?' Chip asked himself, and laughed. He'd learned of her martial arts skills, the hard way, one night when, on a dare, she'd thrown him several times to prove to him that she could do it. He had seen her on the pistol range only once, but that was more than enough; just thinking about that sent a slight shiver up and down his spine. She had a way of doing that to those who knew her, and especially, her Dad had told him, those who cared for and worried about her.
'Note to self: never, ever, make Sarah angry, if you want to live,' he'd thought after getting up for the sixth time after she'd tossed him into her mats, massaging his bruises. Brains, dangerous, and a body worth killing for: that's what he'd found, he'd lucked into, and he continued to ask himself how he had become so lucky to find a woman like Sarah. But, those hands were gentle, too, he'd learned when she apologized for throwing him so hard and rubbed his shoulders and neck….
He had thought that there might be an agent coming sometime that month, but he hadn't expected him that night, the night he told Sarah how he felt. The agent had cornered him after everyone had left, telling him that they had a great sound and that he wanted a disk of tonight's performance to play for some producers he knew.
That same agent handed Chip a contract this afternoon immediately after school, outside the front door, but he hadn't shared that knowledge with anyone. He needed a lawyer, his parents, and Sarah, necessarily in that sequence. He needed to understand all of the nuances of the contract; he thought he understood some, but he wasn't certain. He needed to understand how much time this would take from his college classes, if any. He needed to understand how much time he'd have to spend away from Sarah, if any.
He was working on a song for her, one that would tell her how much he'd missed her while she was gone for that little time that had seemed like an eternity to him.
That's why he was still awake, now at 6:40 AM, so he got up and went to take his shower and get ready for class. He sang the lyrics in the shower, reworked them, and came up with what he wanted to communicate to her. After he dried, he finished changing the lyrics, changed a few chords, and slipped everything into his case, packed his guitar, and took everything to the car for school and a, hopefully, planned unplanned encounter.
-----
Author's afterward:
Coming next:
Chapter 2: the ladies (Kim, Monique, Justine, Sarah, and Bonnie), between finals, college in four months, and other events (such as real life, mother disappearing in a time vortex, father reappearing after being gone for years, Zorpox, and their friends, boyfriends, and/or fiancées), they're a bit busy.
Chapter 3: the ones who aren't graduating, or who have already done so: Wade, Jocelyn, Slim, Betty, Arnold, Rebecca Jane, and Joss' friends Becky and Jennifer aren't graduating from high school, but their lives are impacted by this event, as well.
Thanks again for reading, and please review.