THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER
***Here is my entry to Slipgate's 2011 Kim Possible Valentine's Day Challenge. The story features not-yet-a-couple Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, and similarly not-yet-dating (if ever) Bonnie Rockwaller and Robin Lewis. For those keeping track, this comes well before 'So The Drama' and the Junior Prom, but after 'Ron Millionaire,' so figure sometime after Season Two but before the end of Season Three (and in February, of course). Not that it is required to have read it, but this also comes before my story 'Only Two Things in Life are Certain.' ***
The walls were decorated for Valentine's Day, covered in construction paper flowers, hearts, and even little cupid silhouettes, all in pink and red. She was beginning to get sick of the images and the colors, and it was only the end of the first week in February. It was like they were mocking her with their very presence. And what made it even worse was, never mind the fact that she was on the committee that decided on the decorations, there was no good reason for her to feel this way. She wasn't here in school for adoration and attention, she was here to get an education and just be a normal girl.
Normal. Well, except that apparently no guy thought she was normal enough to actually notice her, lately.
Not that it bothered her. Not one bit. At all.
Sure it doesn't, her inner voice chided.
Kim Possible shut her locker door with a little more strength than normal, as if to shut that little voice up, and the slamming seemed to echo throughout the corridors of the school. To her self-conscious mind, it was as if all eyes were on her at that moment.
"Everything okay, KP?" a pleasant, familiar voice asked.
Kim turned towards the voice's owner, blond, brown-eyed Ron Stoppable, and pasted on a smile that she hoped looked sincere.
"No problem, Ron. Why do you ask?" the redhead said.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't usually dent my locker door unless there's a major homework backlog, or I'm storing stuff from Bueno Nacho for study hall snackage," Ron teased, nodding towards the small dent she'd put in the locker. "Or, you know, to keep something inside from getting out …"
Rufus popped up into view from one of Ron's pockets and nodded fervently in agreement.
"Uh-huh. Angry," he chattered, putting on a small jeweler's monocle and scrutinizing the dent.
Kim smiled a little more sweetly and opened her mouth to reply when a smug, female voice cut her off and sent Rufus diving for cover.
"Destroying lockers again, Possible? Or is it that your locker can't hold the huge amount of gifts you're not getting from admirers?" Bonnie said, smirking and examining the damage with overly-exaggerated gestures, really playing it up. As she did so, she made sure to show off the armful of flower bouquets, boxes of candy, and other assorted gifts she was carrying. "Oh, wait, then it would be bowed out, and not caved in, right?"
Kim pointedly tried not to notice the presents, instead looking down at the books in her arms, but still counting the tokens of affection her rival carried out of the corner of her eye.
… ten, eleven, twelve … how does she do it? Kim asked herself. Sure, she's prettier than I am, and more popular, but she treats everyone like Kleenex. How many will she have by the fourteenth at this rate? Is it too much to save the world and even get one cutesome guy to give me a valentine? Please? Even a card? I'm really not picky, and …
"…uh, KP, earth to KP?" Ron prompted.
Kim blinked and snapped out of her little pity party, to see Ron's concerned face staring into hers, and Bonnie strutting down the corridor like some big cat on the prowl. Apparently while she was zoned-out, the well-tanned, self-proclaimed 'Queen' had gotten bored of the lack of sport and moved on.
Real smooth, Possible, she chastised herself, her shoulders slumping.
"Sorry, Ron," Kim said a little sheepishly, smiling in embarrassment and tucking a lock of her red hair behind her ear. "Just making sure I hadn't forgotten any of my books or homework, that's all," she lied.
Ron nodded, giving her a warm, reassuring smile. "Hey, maybe some of the flowers are carnations?" he offered helpfully.
Kim laughed at the memory. Apparently, Bonnie had a slight allergy to carnations, which she hadn't known until her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brick Flagg bought her an enormous bouquet of them Freshman Year. The rash and itching had seemed like karmic justice, especially seeing fashion-conscious Bonnie forced to cover herself in a foul-smelling purple cream for the next week. She'd become persona-non-grata until the rash cleared and the ointment was no longer needed.
"Nah," Kim said, shaking her head. "I'm pretty sure Bonnie made it pretty clear to everyone after things were back to normal that carnations were a one-way ticket to permanent dateless status if she could at all help it."
"You mean when she made Brick's life into living H-E-double hockey sticks for the next month?" Ron asked innocently, with a huge grin on his face. "I dunno, I bet there's a freshman or two who doesn't know the score. I could maybe drop some hints, might be fun …"
Kim covered her mouth with her hand to hold in a laugh. As funny as it might be, it would also be horribly petty. More importantly, she knew that you shouldn't play around with allergies. Having a doctor for a mother made her more conscious of those things than most.
Still, the thought and resulting mental picture was pretty funny.
"No, Ron," she said finally, once she was sure she wouldn't encourage him with a smile or laughter. "As much fun as it might be, we can't."
Ron shrugged. "Hey, no problem, just thought Bon-Bon might be due a little payback for her attitude."
"Did I miss somethin' good?" another voice asked, coming up behind them.
Kim turned to see one of her other good friends, Robin Lewis. Unlike Ron, Robin had bright blue eyes and short, light brown hair. He was wearing the same style of clothing he had always worn for as long as she could remember: a bright red silk Chinese jacket with wooden buttons and some yellow piping on the front, the hint of a white shirt beneath it, black silk pants with a drawstring tie, and black slipper-shoes. Ron once said he looked like a refugee from the Peking Opera.
Robin himself insisted the clothes were perfect for a martial artist. They were cool in the heat, warm in the cold, and allowed for a wider range of movement than jeans or cargo pants. He'd usually then demonstrate it by bending over backwards nearly double at the waist.
"Just Bonnie being Bonnie," Kim said.
"Complainin' 'bout the pyramid again?" Robin ventured. He knew Bonnie wanted to be at the top of the pyramid, and that it had been a bone of contention between her and Kim for quite some time.
"Nah, just showing off the pile of Valentine's Day gifts she got," Ron said.
"Oh yeah, that's right, Valentine's Day is comin'," Robin said, rubbing the back of his head absently with one hand. He didn't notice the momentary tightness around Kim's eyes when he said it.
But Ron did.
KPKPKPKP
Cheer practice was a torment for Kim, one of her own making, which only made it worse.
She had to stop herself from grinding her teeth every time another well-wishing boy came to bestow some token of affection on Bonnie, be it flowers, candy, or a cute stuffed animal of some kind. She knew that it shouldn't get to her, and she knew that Bonnie's laughing and giggling and cooing was only for show, but knowing hadn't made her feel any better.
Every gift and smile from a male admirer and every self-satisfied catlike grin, carefully-rehearsed giggle or shy expression from the teal-eyed brunette threatened to send Kim's blood pressure skyrocketing.
Bonnie was playing with them, leading them on and teasing them and it was working! They were putty in her hands, and every one of them reminded Kim that sure, she could save the world and be a hero, but none of them saw her as a girl. Certainly not one you would get a gift for, even a friendly one.
She knew it shouldn't matter. She knew it was petty.
She didn't care. It wormed its way under her skin like an irritant.
She noticed that all the other cheerleaders, even shy but brilliant Jessica White, had some kind of gift. The freckled blonde held a small scientist-themed teddy bear complete with white lab coat and a little test tube, a gift from one of the boys she shared Advanced Calculus with. She'd been beet-red when the other cheerleaders teased her about it, but she clutched it like a lifeline.
By the time they hit the showers, Kim was afraid the cold water would turn to steam when it hit her fair skin.
The combination of the water and the fact that Bonnie actually kept her mouth shut helped Kim cool off, just a little bit.
She still needed time alone. The annoyance and anger was roiling beneath the surface, and she didn't want to explode at anyone because of it. She was so wrapped up in her own personal drama that she didn't even see Ron as she exited the gymnasium.
"Making the usual Bueno Nacho run?" he asked. Robin nodded enthusiastically.
"We gotta, right?" the martial artist asked. "It's a tradition. 'Sides, I'm real hungry and it's like two hours to dinner!"
"Yeah, well, you're always hungry, buddy," Ron teased.
"I thought you said it was my metabolism, or somethin'," Robin said.
Kim smiled at that. Robin was always eating, or looking forward to eating. He said that it was due to his strenuous martial arts training as well as his foraging in China. That was the reason he ate all he could, whenever he could, since he didn't know when he might eat again. But it was the way he ate that was most unusual. Robin virtually inhaled his food, barely chewing it, and she wondered sometimes if he even tasted it before it hit his stomach.
Kim briefly considered making something up, begging off, and going home instead. In the end she decided against it. She was Kim Possible, and she wasn't going to sulk in her room like some sullen child!
Maybe the break would do her some good.
Robin was beginning to shift from one foot to the other, like a small child doing the 'I have to go to the bathroom' dance.
"KP? While we're young?" Ron said good-naturedly and tapping his watch. "You know, before Robin dies of starvation?" he added, thumbing toward the martial artist, who immediately stopped moving and frowned.
"Hey! I ain't gonna die!" he said, before adopting a thoughtful expression. "Prob'ly. I mean, I ate lunch, and then I ate some of those cookies Hope baked an' gave me at cheer practice, so … could I really die of no food so fast? Don't it take a couple days at least? I know I went longer'n two days in China a few times …"
Rufus popped out of Ron's pocket and slapped one hand over his face, shaking his head solemnly.
Kim took in the entire scene, from Rufus' overacting towards Robin's dilemma to Ron's overall amused expression, and broke out laughing.
"Yeah, Bueno Nacho sounds really spankin' right about now," Kim said, catching her breath.
KPKPKPKP
Kim only half-listened to Ron's chattering as she looked around the various booths at Bueno Nacho, occupied by the remainder of the Middleton Cheer Squad. Marcella Romero chatted animatedly with Hope Sing in one booth while in another Liz Haggarty laughed long and loud over some joke Crystal MacKenzie was telling her. Jessica was sitting quietly in a booth by herself, a pile of textbooks before her, absently eating her salad while poring over one of the books. The scientist-bear sat like a sentinel next to her.
Almost across the length of the restaurant, Bonnie was whispering conspiratorially with Tara King, the two squeezed into a corner booth along with Bonnie's gifts.
Kim's eyes narrowed again at the sight. Why Bonnie? Why not her? Should she act differently, just to get recognition? She saved the world on a regular basis. Didn't that count for anything?
Was she really that shallow? Frankly, the thought terrified her. That she would even consider being more like ill-tempered, nasty Bonnie, just for some stupid gifts …
Kim didn't notice that Ron was watching her, or that Robin was also watching Bonnie intently, albeit for different reasons. The three friends all seemed lost in their own thoughts.
And as they sat there distracted, Rufus made a quick pass over all three plates, selecting a choice morsel from each. He took a few leaves of lettuce and a baby tomato from Kim's salad, one of the nacos from Robin's Grande-sized Naco Platter Deluxe, and then finished with a few mouthfuls of filling from one of Ron's tacos. After he'd devoured his ill-gotten gains, he scampered back across the table with a belch.
"Heh heh, perfect crime," Rufus said in delight as he ducked back into Ron's pocket.
Almost at once, the three came out of their distracted states.
"Everything okay, Kim?" Ron asked. "You kinda look worried, there."
"What? Oh, yeah, no big. Just planning out the day," Kim lied.
Get your head out of the clouds, Possible, she chided. Even Ron's noticing how distracted you're getting.
"If you say so," Ron replied. He'd seen Kim secretly sneaking looks over at Bonnie's pile of gifts, and had a pretty good idea what was wrong. The real question was, what could he do about it?
"Any missions?" Robin asked hopefully. A mission would take his mind off things he really didn't want to think about. Part of him really wanted to give Bonnie a gift of his own, but that meant … well, it meant picking sides, something he desperately didn't want to do.
"All's quiet on the Wade front," Kim answered.
"Rats," Robin complained. Then he spoke again.
"Do you know when visitin' hours are at the prison?"
Kim and Ron both stared at him, like he'd grown a second head.
"Aw, geez," Robin said, looking worried. "What'd I do now?"
"And who are you going to visit at the prison?" Kim asked sharply. She already knew the answer. Now it was simply a matter of how long it would take for the martial artist to tell the truth.
"Um, no one?" the martial artist offered.
"Yeah, that's not fooling anyone," Ron said helpfully.
"Strike one," Kim said, smiling.
Robin looked curiously at her for a minute, and Ron nudged him.
"Baseball, Robin," he sighed. "Three strikes and you're out."
"So what happens at three strikes here?" Robin asked.
Kim's grin got a little wider.
"I hit you with the Puppy-Dog-Pout," she said.
"Aagh! Not that!" he shouted. Robin knew when he was beaten. As a last small face-saving gesture, he muttered, "at least in martial arts you gotta fight fair."
"Robin," Kim prompted sweetly. "No changing the subject."
"Okay, well, I know you guys don't like her, but Aunt Amy's still my aunt. I should prob'ly visit her, right?"
Kim's smile faded. Sometimes, she really hated being right.
"Sorry, I keep forgetting you two are actually related. Majorly gorchy that DNAmy is your mom's sister," Kim said. "But why now? Why today?"
Robin shrugged. "I ain't seen her in a while, an' I'm bettin' Uncle Monty ain't been to visit her, either. I know Mom only goes near Christmas an' Aunt Amy's birthday, an' she's prob'ly getting' lonely with Valentine's Day comin'."
"Well, just remember," Ron added. "Don't go bringing her things, even if they sound harmless."
"Definitely," Kim said. "It took a lot of convincing for Betty Director to keep you from getting charged as an accomplice in her escape attempt last year."
"Still, you have to admire her creativity," Ron mused. "Using hydrogen peroxide and cotton balls to help mutate prison rats to break down the walls was pretty slick…"
"Ron!" Kim snapped. "So not helping!" She immediately flashed an apologetic look at the blond, who nodded his okay. He understood her outburst. She hadn't meant to sound angry, but she also didn't want Ron's distractions to dilute her message, and Robin could easily be distracted even at the best of times.
Robin looked down at the table like a chastened child. "I know, don't go givin' Aunt Amy nothin'. I don't think it'll matter. Last time I was there they had her behind glass, like at the zoo."
"All right," Kim nodded, trying not to smile at the mental picture. If anyone deserved to be in a cage...
"Just stay out of trouble, and don't let her make you feel guilty!" she added hastily. Robin was just a little too quick to believe any sob story a girl gave him. That was how DNAmy had convinced him to bring the admittedly-harmless (to anyone else) items in the first place.
"I'll have Wade get you a ride, okay?" she offered.
The martial artist nodded, hopped over the back of the booth and walked out the door. He was headed in the general direction of the nearby prison.
"Or, you know, they can pick you up on the way," she said after Robin was out of hearing distance.
"Hey, let me walk you home, KP," Ron offered.
"Sounds great, Ron," she replied.
At least at home I don't need to be bombarded with reminders of being the odd-girl-out on Valentine's Day, she thought quietly.
KPKPKPKP
Bonnie made her way toward home, her sense of dread rising with each step. She looked briefly at the armful of gifts and hoped against hope that it would be enough, that she misremembered her twin sisters' record. Part of her wanted to just throw the entire lot into a dumpster and say to heck with it, but she knew that it would only make things worse.
Why did her sisters always have to make everything into a competition? Especially one she always managed to lose, no matter how hard she tried?
I bet Possible doesn't have problems like this, she thought to herself. No, 'Little Miss Perfect' never has to worry. The whole world loves and adores her because of that stupid website.
As she reached out to open the door, it opened seemingly of its own accord. There, standing just inside, were her twin sisters, brunette Connie and blonde Lonnie. They grinned nastily and looked at each other, seemingly communicating by mental telepathy.
The grins only got wider as they stepped to the sides, letting Bonnie pass between them.
"Mom's out for a few hours shopping and getting her hair done," Connie said.
"So we're here to make sure our little sister is okay," Lonnie finished.
Bonnie bit back the nasty retort she wanted to let fly, and instead just tried to push by them and get to her room.
God, why couldn't I have baby sisters, or even older brothers? Little sisters I could intimidate, and older brothers would either have moved out, or wouldn't care what I was doing, Bonnie thought to herself.
"Seventeen?" Connie asked.
"Seventeen," Lonnie confirmed. "And no jewelry, clothes, or accessories in the lot," she sniffed haughtily.
Bonnie stopped, and could feel the anger rising inside. She resisted the urge to stamp her foot and turned to face her tormentors.
"They're high school students! Flowers and candy and stupid stuffed animals are pretty much par for the course," she hissed. "What do you expect from someone with either a part-time job or an allowance? A car? A Coco Banana designer original? Maybe a diamond tennis bracelet?"
"Well," Connie said, "at your age, we were getting rings, necklaces, and expensive purses … from college freshmen."
Bonnie resisted the urge to fire back with her thoughts on exactly why the two had been getting those gifts, but only barely.
"Not a car, though," Lonnie added wistfully, oblivious to her younger sister.
"No, sadly," Connie agreed. "But we're getting off the point."
"Right. Never mind the fact that by this time in February Junior Year, we each had over twenty gifts," Lonnie said. "I don't understand it, Bon-Bon," she said with mock-sympathy. "You're not that ugly."
The two sisters laughed and high-fived each other as Bonnie mustered every bit of her Rockwaller pride and calmly walked up the stairs to her room. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her run away, lashing out and giving them the excuse they wanted to retaliate, or otherwise lose her composure. She would not show weakness.
Why? Why did her father have to go away? Why did he have to leave her to the tender mercies of her older twin sisters and her oblivious mother? Why couldn't he have taken her with him? Sure, Mom loved her and genuinely meant well, but she was blind to the environment here. She had no idea how miserable Connie and Lonnie made things for her. God, why couldn't they have stayed at junior college year-round, or moved across the country to go to a normal college in California or Florida or something?
Because they peaked in high school, and now they want to drag me down with them, she admitted. They don't dare let me be better than them at anything
Bonnie shook her head to clear it. That line of thought never ended well. She'd either end up miserable or angry, more than she was already.
She unlocked and opened the door to her room, and once she was safely inside and the door re-locked, she threw the armful of Valentine's Day gifts into the corner, where they landed atop a larger pile of the same.
Most of the gifts were from guys she hardly knew, anyway. Sure, it was traditional for the cheerleaders to get all kinds of things from the various athletes, as well as any guys who hoped to catch their eye, but they were all so typical. Even that nerdy Jessica had gotten a personalized bear. Didn't she deserve a gift like that? Just one?
Possible hadn't gotten anything at all, and Bonnie wagered she wasn't sitting alone in her room crying over it. You didn't see Miss 'I Can Do Anything' moping. No, only Possible could make her feel even worse. Here she was sitting amongst a pile of gifts feeling sorry for herself.
Sure, Brick had given her the standard bouquet of roses, which at least meant he'd listened when she'd made it clear over and over again that she was allergic to carnations. After Freshman Year, she wasn't taking any chances on him forgetting. But the note that came with it was the default tag that came from the florist; he hadn't even bothered to write or sign it himself.
She'd dated Brick all through high school, and while she was grateful for the flowers, she wished just once that he'd surprise her, that he'd show that he really knew who Bonnie Rockwaller was.
A tiny voice told her that Brick did know who she was. She was a small, petty, vindictive girl who was just like Connie and Lonnie. She was vain and superficial.
And every day it became just a little harder to deny it.
Why couldn't her life be like Possible's, just for one day? Hordes of sycophantic hangers-on that believed her press, adored by the teachers, was that really too much to ask?
Bonnie blinked in astonishment. Had she really, even for an instant, in the depths of despair, wished her life was more like Possible's?
Her cell phone buzzed, and she flipped it open. She'd set it to vibrate instead of ring, so it wouldn't be a distraction at cheer practice, and she forgot to switch it back.
She wished she hadn't as soon as she saw the caller. It was from her sisters' joint cell. The two shared one, oddly enough, in addition to their own personal ones. They had left a single word text message.
'LOSER'
She could see the two of them in her mind's eye, laughing like hyenas, and she saw red.
In a flash of rage and self-recrimination, she threw her cell phone, hard, and watched as it broke into several pieces as it stuck the far wall and fell to the floor. She let out a strangled cry as she did.
She'd let them get to her again. Even now, even in high school, the two of them managed to make her feel five years old again, like a little girl.
She wasn't a loser. Not like Possible or Stoppable or Lewis or anyone else at school! She was better than Kim! She had to be better than Kim. What was she doing, questioning herself? She was the Queen of Middleton High. She wasn't weak. She didn't need anything from anyone. Bonnie Rockwaller would never show weakness, never again. Not after her father left and her sisters had made her pay for every vulnerable moment she'd shown since.
The rage spent, she sighed heavily and gathered the remnants of her cell phone. It was time to head to Club Banana to get a new one.
Again.
KPKPKPKP
"You're sure everything's okay?" Ron asked for what Kim felt must be the hundredth time. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor by Kim's bed, looking at her over a 'Fearless Ferret' comic tucked safely into his Geometry textbook.
Kim rolled over onto her back on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Yes, Ron, everything's fine," she insisted. "I admit, I got a little tweaked at cheer practice seeing the guys fawn all over Bonnie, but I'm okay now."
Ron just nodded. He knew better. Kim wasn't fine, but she wasn't ready to talk about it, and no one could force her to until she was ready. If he'd needed any more proof of her being distracted, she still hadn't noticed his 'comic in the textbook' stunt.
"Monique got a nice blouse and skirt combo from Philip," Kim said out of the blue. "He managed to get them from the Club Banana in Upperton and swore the staff to secrecy."
Ron nodded and smiled a little. Philip was a boy who went to school at the Upperton Academy, and who had been dating Monique for the past few months. As for the secrecy angle, Monique was pretty well connected to the Club Banana grapevine, so Philip's ability to keep the gift secret was actually a little impressive.
"But you're okay with that," Ron said neutrally.
Kim twisted onto her side, facing Ron. She opened her mouth to say something, and shut it before speaking. Finally, she did speak.
"Yes. No. I … I don't know, Ron," Kim sighed. "I mean, I save the world more times than Bonnie changes boyfriends. I see different countries, shake hands with royalty and heads of state, so why am I so twisted up over some stupid holiday invented to sell flowers and candy?"
Ron shrugged. "Why did I chase Amelia? Why did I work so hard to impress Zita? Why did you risk your life to go on that date with Mankey?"
Kim frowned. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
Ron put his book down, face down, to hide the comic, and put his hands up in a warding-off gesture.
"Okay, okay, the last one was a little petty," he admitted. "But you could have died over it, and for someone whose name is one letter away from 'monkey,'" he joked.
Rufus popped up, as if on cue, and spat in disgust.
"Monkeys, yuck!"
"Ron!" she said sternly.
"Look, KP, you want things. We all want things. DNAmy wants to hunker down in a love-nest with," here Ron shuddered, "Monkey Fist. Bonnie wants to be Cheer Captain, adored and worshipped by all. I want them to bring back the extra-spicy Barbeque Nachos at Bueno Nacho. You want a Valentine's Day gift, and I would be quick to note, you still have a whole week before you need to worry," he said.
"Sure, it's a crime about the Barbeque Nachos," he continued, adopting a thoughtful expression, "but hey, imagine if Bonnie got her wish? She'd probably have people like us banned from Middleton."
"All I want is for someone to notice me, to say 'here you go, Kim. It's not much, but Happy Valentine's Day.' Is that so wrong?"
Ron shook his head. "Not at all, KP. Just give it some time, I have a feeling things will turn around," he said, smiling. Maybe he wasn't Josh Mankey, or Bobby Johnson, but he was still Kim's best friend. He could at least do this small thing for her, since it obviously meant so much. He just hoped she wouldn't be offended that it was from a friend, and not a boyfriend.
He forgot that, sometimes. KP was so incredible, so competent, and so perfect, that he tended to forget that she was just a high school student. He was used to being tuned out and ignored, but for all her protests to the contrary, Kim did sometimes just want some attention of the high school kind. Attention Bonnie always had.
Now, what to get…
KPKPKPKP
Robin knew the routine by know, and emptied his pockets. A cell phone Kim and Ron had pretty much insisted he needed to have, his empty wallet, some loose change, and his house key each got placed into the small bin by the metal detector.
He passed through without incident, and was led to a small meeting area separated by a thick plastic shield that left half a table and a telephone on each side, as well as two chairs, each bolted to the floor.
A heavyset, bespectacled woman with dark hair in something of a bowl-cut and a gap-toothed grin wearing a bright orange jumpsuit waved happily as Robin entered the room.
Robin sat down in the chair on his side, picked up the phone receiver and spoke.
"Hey, Aunt Amy, how's it goin'?"
Amy Hall, more colorfully known as 'DNAmy,' picked up her receiver as her grin only grew wider and her dark eyes twinkled.
"Oh, my cute little Robin! How you've grown! I only wish they'd let me hug you and squeeze you and give you a big kiss!" she said jovially, leaning forward and giving the separating barrier a kiss.
Robin winced a little, as he tended to with any overt sign of affection. "Aw, geez! Aunt Amy, do you gotta do that?" he asked. "Ain't the glass stuff all gross?"
"Oh, Robin," she chided. "Now, what is my favorite nephew doing here today?"
"Um, Aunt Amy? Ain't I your only nephew?" Robin asked. Then, before she could answer. "Hey, Kim an' Ron wanted me to let you know. I can't bring you stuff no more, on account of the last time with the rats and all…"
"That's okay, sweetie," she said, her good mood unchanged. "I probably shouldn't have asked you anyway. Oh, I really do wish I could reach out and pinch those cute little cheeks," she continued.
Robin instinctively moved a few inches back before reminding himself that she couldn't reach him. He settled back into the chair and sighed.
"I… I kinda need some girl advice about a gift," he said. "For a friend!" he added quickly.
It didn't seem possible, but Amy's grin got even wider, and Robin swore it looked like the top of her head might fall off. She clapped her hands together and then spoke.
"Oh, how sweet! And just in time for Valentine's Day, too," she gushed. "But why not ask your mother?"
Robin rubbed the back of his head and looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm kinda proud of this, but I figured I had to go to a woman for advice. Pop don't know nothin' about anythin', an' Mr. Dr. Possible's really nice, but I see who runs stuff. Mrs. Dr. Possible runs the house, Mom runs our house, and even Kim runs all a' Team Possible. I mean, it's even got her name, but me'n Ron just follow her lead. An' considerin' the girl, I really couldn't ask Mrs. Dr. Possible …"
"Slow down, Robin!" Amy said, struggling to keep from laughing. Her nephew was always so rambunctious and full of energy. Oh, he'd been so cute when he and Monty-wonty had been planning their trip to China. Now he was all grown up and asking about girls. And he'd come to her to do it!
"All right, sweetie. Tell me about this girl," Amy prompted.
"Well, she's real pretty, although I suppose that ain't sayin' much. All the girls grew up pretty. She's got really tan skin, an' brunette hair with three shades a' highlights, an' teal eyes that you could look at forever, an' she's a cheerleader and a ballet dancer an' real popular an' top of the Food Chain, whatever that is, an'… an' she really ain't got no use for me," he finished.
He stood on the tips of his toes and held his arms as high over his head as he could, gesturing. "She's waaaaay up here," he said, and then crouched down and held his hand a few inches off the floor. "An' I guess I'm waaaaay down here."
Amy's eyes twitched for a moment, as unpleasant memories surfaced, but only for a moment. Then, she began to laugh, despite her best efforts to hold it in. It was a deep belly-laugh that brought tears to her eyes. The irony, if Robin was speaking the truth, simply could not be believed. When she saw Robin's face fall, it snapped her out of it.
"Oh, oh Robin, sweetie," she said, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve, "I'm not laughing at you, honey. I…" she got a thoughtful look on her face. "Did your mother ever tell you about high school, what she was like?"
Robin shook his head no.
Amy clucked her tongue and tapped absently at the glass for a moment. Should she air the family's dirty laundry? Considering how big sister Mary had treated her during high school, it would serve her right. Even if Amy had given the family dog bat-wings, it hardly justified Mary's attitude back then. Then again, there really was no point in sewing discord in the family. What was past was past, and she didn't really have any bad blood with her sister.
"You want to get this girl a present?" Amy finally asked.
"Yeah, somethin' other than candy or flowers. Somethin' that'll make her smile. She really has a beautiful smile," Robin said, remembering Bonnie's glowing face after she'd finished her Swan Lake recital for the Talent Show. He would never admit it, but he really felt Bonnie should have won instead of Ron, or even Kim. That was the smile of someone who had done something she loved, a labor of years of hard work and practice, like the martial arts was to him. If he could make Bonnie smile like that, it would be worth anything.
Amy nodded to herself, reaching a decision. She wouldn't rat out her older sister. If Robin actually got together with this girl, whoever she was, he would learn the truth soon enough.
"Alright, honey," she said sweetly. "The key to a girl's heart is very, very simple. Show her that you know her as a person, what she likes, what she doesn't like. The gift should show that you were thinking of her, and not just getting something because it was a chore, or expected of you. Okay, sweetie?"
Robin nodded hesitantly. "I think I got it. Get her somethin' that says, 'hey, Bon … I mean, my friend's girl, here's somethin' I got 'cause it reminded me of you,' or somethin' like that, right?"
Amy clapped her hands together again like an overgrown child. "That's right, my little angel. Like when your Uncle Monty bought me that Limited Edition UK Variant of the Cuddlebuddy Carry-All. Remember how happy it made me?"
Robin remembered. The Cuddlebuddy Carry-All was an all-pink van (even the tires!) with heart-shaped side- and rear-windows, scaled to hold about six normal-sized Cuddlebuddies.
The one Uncle Monty had bought her also had the British Flag on the front hood. Aunt Amy was in heaven over the gift, so much so that she actually bought one of the real Cuddlebuddy Carry-All vans, an advertising tie-in for some company he couldn't remember, and for a time drove it everywhere. He wondered for a moment whatever happened to it.
Now the only question was, what could he get for Bonnie that would show he knew the 'real' her? Not candy or flowers, he knew that, but what?
A wide grin spread across the martial artist's face as the idea came to him.
KPKPKPKP
Ron walked through Club Banana's accessories section and nearly knocked Robin over.
"Whoops! Hey, didn't see you there, buddy!" Ron exclaimed.
"Oh, hey Ron, how's it goin'?" the martial artist asked. "What'cha got?"
Ron held out the small bundle. "This? Just a little something I'm getting for KP to hopefully brighten her day." He was holding a pink t-shirt with 'Cuddlebuddies Rock!' across the chest, and a small empty field. He also had a small iron-on patch that Robin couldn't see.
"That's real nice, Ron. What's that, though?" he asked, pointing at the patch.
Ron turned it over, and Robin could see it was a Pandaroo. The martial artist nodded in approval. Pandaroo was Kim's absolute favorite, in the same way Otterfly was Aunt Amy's.
"You're so smart," Robin sincerely complimented Ron. The blond had figured this out without having to get advice from anyone.
Unlike you, he scolded himself. He wished for probably the millionth time that he was smarter, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead he decided to concentrate on complimenting Ron. It was a terrific idea, and spoke to the very heart of Aunt Amy's advice.
"She'll love it, an' no one else'll have a gift like it, 'cause most guys think Cuddlebuddies are just for kids."
"There's more," Ron said, clearly proud of himself. He opened another small bag from the nearby market, and Robin laughed when he saw the box.
"Turtles! Ain't they Kim's favorite chocolate?" Robin exclaimed.
"You bet," Ron said. "I think the Ron-Man is on a winning streak today. It may not be a gift from Mankey," he paused to wrinkle his nose in annoyance, "but KP will have something that says 'here you go, Kim, happy Valentine's Day!'"
Ron then stopped short and scrutinized the martial artist.
"Say, what are you doing here, anyway?" he asked. "You always shop at Smarty Mart, which is very sensible, by the way," Ron continued. "Odd to see you here without me or Kim, actually."
"Uh, just here to visit Monique?" Robin lied. He hoped that Ron would believe him. It was hard to lie to people, and somehow they always knew when he was doing it. Probably just another of the hundreds of skills his youth in China kept him from developing, like understanding pop culture.
"Monique's not working today, Robin," Ron said, gesturing toward the counter. Robin thought quickly.
"Gettin' my trophy fixed?" he said, opening the bag he had with him. Inside was a small trophy with a small marble base with a plaque, a rising column, and a small golden figurine executing a high-kick. Ron recognized it as one of Robin's first and only martial arts trophies. Sure, there was a sporting goods/custom shop in the mall. It was where the school got their trophies repaired or adjusted. But Robin's didn't look broken.
Ron studied him even more carefully, which prompted Rufus to pop out, scamper up Ron's shirt to perch on his shoulder, and squint at Robin while tapping one foot expectantly.
"Uh-huh," Rufus sniffed, arching an eyebrow at the boy.
Robin immediately began to falter under the pressure, and was beginning to consider just telling Ron the truth, only to find himself saved by Tara King's timely intervention. The blonde, bubbly cheerleader marched up to them, stepped between Ron and Robin, and put her hands on her hips in exaggerated manner.
"Ronald Stoppable!" she exclaimed in mock-anger. "Are you and your pet bothering this poor boy?" She struggled not to laugh outright looking at the exaggerated expressions Ron and Rufus wore.
Robin looked visibly relieved at Tara's intervention.
Ron hid his grin at Robin's antics and adopted a more serious composure. "I dunno, Tara. Seems Robin here is acting pretty suspiciously …"
Tara winked at Ron and gestured toward the door with her eyes.
"I'll have you know I asked Robin here myself, to get a male opinion on some clothing I was thinking of buying," she said, smiling broadly.
Ron took the hint and turned to leave.
"I've got my eye on you, Lewis," Ron said sternly in his best Mr. Barkin imitation. He then turned back toward Robin, slapped him on the shoulder, and said "hey, just kidding, buddy. Have fun with Tara, okay?"
"It ain't what it looks like!" Robin blurted out, only to have Tara elbow him in the side and shoot him a glare. Ron just chuckled and left the store, shaking his head.
"Ow! What was that for?" Robin complained, rubbing his side. "You got real pointy elbows, Tara."
"And you're absolutely horrible at lying, Robin," Tara said sympathetically. "Why didn't you just wait for me by the active wear section like we discussed?"
Robin looked chastened. "I saw Ron and wanted to talk to him. He got Kim a friendly gift for Valentine's Day. Turtles an' a Pandaroo patch an' a Cuddlebuddies shirt!"
She flashed a bright smile. "That's nice to hear. I know it'll mean a lot to Kim. She doesn't know how good she has it, having a friend like Ron…"
"You mean like you an' Bonnie?" Robin asked. "I mean, sometimes I think you're the only person Bonnie'll let in, you know?"
Tara nodded. "Something like that, Robin. Okay, well, I checked with Bonnie, and anything on that rack," she said, pointing, "is her size."
"Thanks Tara, you're really great!" Robin gushed.
"I still think you should tell her it's from you," Tara replied. "You chickened out the last time we talked, remember? You didn't even ask her out like you said you wanted to. I think you should sign the card, or something."
"I can't, Tara," Robin said more softly. "If Bonnie knows it's from me, she won't want it, an' I just want to make her happy. I ain't high enough on the Food Chain."
Tara sighed and shook her head. "I think it's a bad idea not telling her, and you're selling yourself and Bonnie short, but you asked for my help and I promised I'd give it."
"An' you promised not to say nothin', right?" Robin asked.
"That too," Tara said. "Well, I'll leave you to your browsing. Good luck, Robin."
"Thanks again!" Robin said, waving to Tara before turning toward the active wear section.
KPKPKPKP
Kim sleepwalked through her day. It was Valentine's Day, and as she had feared, not a single gift. No cards, no flowers, no candy, nothing.
Bonnie, on the other hand, was sporting armfuls of all three, and even a small cluster of pink and red balloons with Valentine messages on them like 'LOVE YOU' and 'BE MINE.' The well-tanned brunette was walking down the corridor with her head held high, looking every bit the Queen she played at being.
She walked by Kim without a word, not even a smug smile. It was as if Kim didn't exist, which at the moment, matched the redhead's mood perfectly.
By the end of the day, Kim was ready to just dig a hole, crawl in, and pull it in after her. She was so caught up in feeling sorry for herself that once again, Ron managed to surprise her.
"Hey, KP!" he said happily as he bounded over to her, his chocolate brown eyes twinkling, grinning ear-to-ear.
Ron's mood was infectious, and Kim smiled.
"What's the occasion, Ron?" she asked. "All excited for the Bueno Nacho run?"
"Well, hey, you know, never knock the Bueno Nacho, Kim, but this is more special. Right, Rufus?" he prompted, looking expectantly at his pocket.
When nothing happened, he jumped up and down a couple times and repeated, "Right, Rufus?"
There was an annoyed grumble, and Rufus came out, dressed in a tiny diaper and angel wings, holding a small archer's bow with a heart-tipped arrow. The mole rat resisted the urge to shoot the harmless projectile at his master, and then turned a beet-red when he heard Kim's laughter.
No, death was too good for his master. He would come up with a plan so cruel, so diabolically clever that Ron would never see it coming …
"Oh, oh Ron, that's… " she said, struggling to compose herself. "That has got to be animal cruelty," she teased, already feeling better. She reached down and scratched behind one of Rufus' ears, reducing him to contented rumbling and cooing.
After a few moments, Rufus jabbed Ron in the arm with the arrow and looked at him expectantly.
"Okay, okay," Ron grumbled, opening his locker.
"One for you," he said, handing Rufus a heart-shaped cookie nearly as large as the rodent himself, covered in pink and red frosting. Rufus started eating immediately. While his mole rat pride might have been moderately wounded with the outfit, bribes of food made everything better.
It still didn't mean revenge wasn't coming, just that it would be less lethal and more humiliating. Maybe he'd drop one of Ron's red shirts in the wash again. Surely pink underwear would be embarrassing …
"And for you, KP," Ron said, oblivious to Rufus' scheming, handing Kim a gift-wrapped box with a simple tag that read 'to Kim.' He cleared his throat and spoke dramatically.
"Here you go, Kim. It's not much, but Happy Valentine's Day."
Kim was at a loss for words when she took the package. She honestly hadn't expected Ron to go out and get her anything. It wasn't like they were dating, after all.
She tore through the wrapping with childish glee, and opened the box. Her expression fell for a moment when she saw the 'Captain Constellation 50th Anniversary Collection Box' inside, and Ron gestured for her to open it.
Her expression went from mildly annoyed to surprise when she did, seeing the pink Cuddlebuddies Pandaroo shirt and …
"Are these …" Kim asked, fumbling to open the chocolates.
"Caramel-filled, one-hundred percent milk chocolate Turtles, KP. Exactly the way you like them," Ron said simply.
Before Ron had even finished, Kim had torn open the box and popped one of the treats into her mouth.
"Happy Valentine's Day, KP," he said again.
Her eyes closed and she moaned a little as she let the chocolate and caramel linger for a moment. It was probably as close to heaven as she was going to get for a while. At least, she hoped so.
"Should I leave you alone with them?" Ron teased.
Kim opened her eyes and smirked at him.
"Ha ha, Ron. It is to laugh," she retorted, offering one of the Turtles to Ron, and at the last moment giving it to Rufus instead, who stuffed it into his mouth whole.
"Ah, hey, come on, KP!" Ron complained. "I was only kidding!"
Kim laughed, and thanked whoever had made sure to put Ron in her life. She popped another Turtle into Ron's mouth, and took his hand.
"Let's go to Bueno Nacho, my treat," she said, already feeling much better. Maybe she didn't have a boyfriend, but she did have a best friend, one who knew her and really cared about her. All was well with the world.
"Aren't we forgetting the Son of Fu Manchu?" Ron joked as soon as he'd eaten the Turtle. He looked around for Robin, wondering where the martial artist was.
Kim smiled. "Robin said he had something to do first, and that he'd catch up later." She immediately broke into a run, headed for the front doors of the school.
"I'll race you! Last one there gets to carry all the books home," Kim called out. Ron tried to catch up.
"Aw, hey, no fair getting a head start!" he said.
KPKPKPKP
Bonnie knew something was up when she saw Tara standing by her locker, grinning ear-to-ear like an idiot. The petite blonde was bouncing on her heels.
"Need to visit the girls' room?" Bonnie quipped. She followed Tara's gaze as she looked down. There was a large box right in front of her locker, wrapped in hot pink paper with a lavish red bow. There was no tag.
"Do you know who this is from?" Bonnie asked, arching an eyebrow.
Tara shook her head 'no' quickly. "I didn't see anyone leave it," she said.
Well, that's technically true, she thought to herself.
Bonnie sighed, handed her armful of gifts to Tara, and ripped the paper open. She hoped it would at least be easy to carry. When she saw the small Club Banana box and the pink envelope taped to the top of it peeking through piles of red tissue paper, she gasped.
She carefully slipped her nails under the box edge, popping the tape, and then she opened the box. Underneath the tissue paper was a gorgeous white leotard with 'Queen Bonnie' in beautiful golden cursive letters on the chest. She quickly checked the tags, and noticed that it was even in the correct size. She also saw a glitter of something golden in the larger box, and rummaged through the tissue paper once more.
She lifted out a weighty, if small, trophy.
It had a small marble base with a plaque, a rising column, and a small golden ballerina figurine 'on point,' her arms outstretched. The plaque read 'TO THE BEST BALLERINA AT MIDDLETON HIGH.' She opened the card last, and was surprised to see it had been made on a computer, with an image of her from the Talent Show, as she received her applause at the end of her 'Swan Lake' recital.
It was unsigned, but the inside read 'Happy Valentine's Day, Bonnie' in neat, computer-printed letters.
The well-tanned cheerleader looked at the trophy, the card, and the leotard, and smiled happily. It was a beautiful, sincere smile, and not the cruel, smug one she reserved for those she looked down on.
Neither of her sisters had ever received a trophy as a Valentine's Day gift.
Let them choke on that, she thought to herself. Someone out there really knew her, and that beat jewelry and designer purses any day.
As she and Tara walked off, a spring in her step, Robin Lewis stepped out from behind the row of lockers directly behind Bonnie's.
He heard Bonnie's voice, trailing off.
"So, was this from Brick, do you think?"
"I really couldn't say," he heard Tara answer.
Okay, it hadn't been perfect. He hadn't been able to bring himself to sign his name, to choose a side, but he had made Bonnie smile. He'd shown her, even if she didn't know it, that someone out there noticed her and knew who Bonnie Rockwaller really was. And it wasn't some vain, selfish witch, but something more than that. It was someone who had passions outside the Food Chain.
So maybe she would think Brick had done it. In the end, did that really matter? Bonnie was happy, and as long as Bonnie was happy, Robin was fine.
And that smile was worth everything.
KPKPKPKP
Happy Valentine's Day!