A/N The contest is pretty much over but I thought I'd get this in the last few minutes. Unfortunately folks I probably won't be back to this story for awhile so I really hope this chapter is satisfying.
Freshman Year:
Justine stuck her head into the girl's locker room and glanced about. Quietly she stepped into the room and stale perfume assaulted her nostrils. Justine immediately heard giggling coming from the showers just off the very next row of lockers.
Crud she thought. She was never fond of showering with other people. There was just something uncivilized about the whole thing. Justine reached for the door handle when she heard Tara's voice.
"It's not fair, Ron saved us from the mutant kid but Kim got all the headlines."
Someone sighed
"So what, if he's not complaining about it why do you feel the need to?"
"He saved your life Bonnie"
"Yes and I thanked him didn't I?"
"But it's…."
"Yes I know it's not fair, you've been saying that since you saw the paper. Look this just proves that no matter what he does, he'll always be a loser."
Silence
"Oh…..my….God….you're not falling for the dork are you?"
More silence
"You're failure to heave uncontrollably at the suggestion can only mean yes."
"No, I just…maybe" Tara squeaked.
Another sigh
"Well I guess I shouldn't be so shocked, you practically through yourself at him when we were stranded."
"I wouldn't say I through myself at him" pause "the thing is I don't think he knows I exist."
"Shouldn't it be the way around? Shouldn't he be the obsessive stalker?"
"I'm not a stalker!"
"Are you sure you like him, maybe you have a fever, have you seen a doctor?"
"Bonnie please……maybe we should call the newspaper and explain."
"Tara just let it drop"
Justine quietly exited the locker room. A few minutes later she sat down in the study hall with a newspaper sprawled in front of her. She read the headlines to herself.
Kim Possible saves classmates from mutated freak. Sidekick helps somewhat
She was combing through the article when someone called out her name. She looked up to see Ron Stoppable quickly approaching her, a can of soda in his hands. He had closed the distance between them by half when his pants dropped down to ankles while he was mid-run. As one would expect his legs got entangled with his pants and he fell forward like a falling tree.
Justine couldn't help but have the words timber flash through her mind.
His face smacked hard against the ground. Luckily the floor had been carpeted or else there would be blood gushing from his nose right now.
He groaned, clutched his nose with one hand and snatched his can of soda with the other. He got up to his feet and shuffled towards her table.
Ron took in a deep breath. Obviously he wasn't in the best of shape.
"Justine" he said while holding his nose and trying to catch his breath at the same time
"Justine…big….make up……math…..test. Ain't got a calculator, KP gone home early, need yours please."
If bad grammar could kill he'd be a mass murder. She thought. "I need it I've got a pre-calculus test next period."
He took another deep breath and grabbed a seat right beside her. Apparently he had no idea about personal space.
"You don't need it. You're practically a calculator yourself; except you know you're human and not a machine."
What is he going on about?
"Last semester before they switched you to the brainy math classes, we were in the same class. And you were answering all the questions and 'puting all these equations. And I was pretty sure you were an android until you got that paper cut in US. History then I thought well she's human or at least a cyborg. Anyway you're smarter than me and even if I studied for a thousand years I'll never be as smart as you. Plus without the calculator you might get an A- instead of an A+. For me it's the difference between a C- and Barkin sending me back to elementary school.
She was going to tell him that she had never gotten lower than an A+ in her life (excluding a few gym classes) so why should she be willing to sabotage herself into getting one now because he couldn't figure out the difference between sine and cosine.
Justine was about to say just that when he popped the top of his soda can and had twelve ounces of grape soda gush into his face. He fell over backwards and bumped the back of his head against the edge of an empty chair before crashing to the floor. And for some inexplicable reason his pants dropped again; which didn't really make any sense seeing how he was lying on his back.
She looked at him squirm on the ground then, she looked back the newspaper, and then she remembered the conversation between Bonnie and Tara.
Ron climbed back up to the table, grape soda dripping from his cowlick. They both could hear the loud snickers coming from the other students in the study hall.
She had to ask, she had to know.
"Why do you do it?"
"What?" He asked as he slid back into his seat. Her eyes flickered to the newspaper.
"Oh the whole saving the world thing; that's Kim bag I'm just there to help, watch her back you know." He pulled the newspaper towards him. "Sidekick helps somewhat! Coolio, I never got that much recognition before and look in this picture of Kim that's the back of my head right there in the corner."
This was illogical by all counts. He's was obviously out of shape, and God knows he wasn't all that bright. It had to be a testament of Kim's skills to why he was still alive.
Yet Tara did say……..
Ron continued to read the paper "Sidekick Ram Unsteepable? Come on, how could anybody think that's a real name?"
Maybe he was a thrill seeker; maybe he had a death wish, maybe he was too stupid to realize he was risking his life all the time.
"That whole camp episode sounded really dangerous."
"Yep it was."
Short simple sentences, Hemingway would love this boy.
"But funny thing is Gill was pretty tame compared to Drakken and Shego, especially Shego. Now there's somebody you've really got to watch out for. You don't really know danger until you've had green plasma blasting all around you."
"So helping Kim, is that all you get out of that?"
"Well I get to see some really cool things and places too but yea it's mostly for Kim."
"And that's enough for you?"
"Why wouldn't it be?" he said nonchalantly "…..So about the calculator?"
And she gave it to him, though she didn't now why at first. It may have been a momentarily lapse of sanity. Later that day she reasoned that she probably pitied him.
But she couldn't help wonder if he was being truthful. She pondered on the Team Possible dynamic. Kim was a given she supposed, but Ron didn't make sense. It was an intriguing situation. She wanted to know what motivated him, why he does what he does. Maybe when she was free from her current experiments, one day, she would find out more about him.
It was what any true scientist would do.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Present Day:
"I don't know about this."
"What's to know?" Kevin asked as he plopped down her bed.
"What's to know? First of all the last party I went to had clowns and magicians."
Kevin lay back on her bed; he looked up at the poster of Stephen Hawking that lay over her bed. "Well I guess you're due"
Justine who was visibly nervous tried to maintain the facade of a person rearranging her book shelf. She had been holding the book "The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel" in her hand for the past five minutes. It had momentarily escaped her whether she categorized her books by alphabetical order or the Dewey Decimal system.
"No I can't"
"He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had failed."
She turned to him "no, no, do not start quoting nineteenth century philosophers to me ok."
He sat up "Would you prefer something from 23 BC "Carpe diem" seize the day my friend………The speech wasn't enough as far as closure goes."
"This is highly preposterous….I…..I don't want to ruin it."
"Justine what's there to ruin?" Kevin sighed "just talk to him, face to face. It'll be good for you"
Silence fell between them.
"I don't, I don't have anything to wear."
"How about that blue dress your aunt got you last Christmas?"
"What?" Justine was a bit shocked that Kevin had remembered the dress. She in fact had forgotten all about it. It was probably buried deep somewhere in her closet."
"You only wore it once and I thought it looked good on you"
"Really?"
"HISlaH" (Klingon: Translation: It is so; as you say or ask.)
She sighed "I set the pieces in motion; I might as well see how they play out. Come what may, I guess"
Kevin stood up "cool"
"What would you do?"
"Hmmm?"
"If you were in my position what would you do?"
He stood there silently as she awaited his answer. He looked into her eyes and there he found the confidence to lie "I would go to the party."
"I still feel a bit wary about this."
Kevin placed one hand on her shoulder "Look trust me, if I thought this wouldn't make you happy I wouldn't be here."
"Oh" she replied after a moment's hesitation. "Look you go on ahead, I'll meet you there."
"Are you sure, I can walk you there….."
"Its fine, I've got to get myself ready, I might be late…."
Kevin started to say something.
"But I'll be there" she interjected
"Promise?"
"Promise"
"Cool, I'll see you there."
He headed for the door "just remember this old Bulgarian proverb…."
"No, no more quotes"
"Alright fine" he started to close the door behind him but instead of closing the door completely he left it open wide enough for him to stick his head back in the room
"Seize the opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind."
Justine grabbed a book off her shelf, "Parable of the Sower" and tossed it at him. But it smacked harmlessly against the now closed the door.
"What an imbecile" she said with a smirk on her face. "Now where is that dress" she dove into her closet and started a frantic search that was soon interrupted by her mother.
"Mother I'm in the middle of something important."
"But there's some on the phone for you dear."
"Who is it?"
"A Bonnie Rockwaller, she says she's a classmate of yours."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The street lights were on when Kevin got home. It must have been at least twenty past nine. He had left Justine's house at 8:20, normally on average it was only a fifteen minute walk from Justine's place to his. But tonight it had seemed to take much longer. He wouldn't have been surprised if an hour had passed since he left Justine's house.
It was a solid hour of, thinking, wondering, doubting if he had made the right moves or not.
Kevin glanced at his watch; 8:32
He began contemplating a theory that linked emotional pain with the slowing of time. He imagined himself standing before a team of the world's best scientist. "My fellow scientist" he would say "It is of my humble opinion that as a victim of unrequited love's rationale and emotional capabilities, collapse under their own weight, a black hole of considerable emotional pain is created. A black hole that while unnoticeable by human senses can in fact slow the passage of time around said victim. In addition it deflects any source of positive thoughts while misery is unable to escape its gravitational pull."
The team of scientist applauded and that's where they day dream ended. Kevin sighed; he didn't have time to waste in fantasies, he had a party to get too. He pushed his way through the backdoor of his house, and was immediately mobbed by his parents.
Once he was tired of the onslaught of congratulations. Kevin backed away from them and announced that he didn't have time for pleasantries because he had a party to get to.
At first his parents were shocked which irritated Kevin, later when the news had settled in they were all too happy, happier than normal parents would have been, which further agitated Kevin.
"Oh you should wear those blue corduroys I brought you for Christmas. Those pants are really super cute"
Kevin cocked an eyebrow, if he had wanted to get teased and beaten up on this his last day of high school, then yes he and his mother would be on the same wavelength right now.
"I'm sure supercute is not the look Kevin would be going for" Mr. Guberman stated "Whatever Kev' decides to put on will be fine.
He wrapped a parental arm around Kevin "let's walk and talk son" Mr. Guberman carefully guided the fruit of his loins into the living room "Kev life isn't all about science, psychology and chess"
"I know Dad"
"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching. It's ok to have fun sometimes"
"Right"
His father gave him a little squeeze "There are condoms in my bedside table."
"What?" Kevin asked before his brain could fully register this abrupt comment.
"I want you to take some just in case, before you leave for the party"
Dear God it was like the baseball tryouts all over again (which he had failed miserably at). His father was again having unusually large expectations for him
"You must be responsible son they're not toys."
"Really? But I was going to use them to play Pogs." Was what Kevin wanted to say but what he actually said was "ok"
"Don't forget to have fun. But not too much fun" Mr. Guberman called out after Kevin started up the stairs to his room.
"I don't think there's much danger of that." Kevin muttered under his breath
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Ok we'll meet up at the white hen later, load up on gum and swamp game plans…."
Kevin rolled his eyes "what game plan?"
Peter's voice wafted over the speaker phone "you know the game plan to get you and Justine together."
"Are you done Pete?"
"Ok, hold on just one more question. You remember those psychological archetypes you were harping about the other day?"
"Yes"
"I've thought about, I think you've been holding back on me. The free spirit can't be the only one compatible with a Librarian there's got to be another match."
Kevin thought about this. Peter was right there really was another match. "Well honestly there is one more."
"Yea so what is it?"
"Well it's…" Kevin quickly and deliberately disconnected the call. Peter's joshing was not what he needed right now. For one thing he had to figure out a way to get Justine and Ron alone to talk.
He took a half step away from the phone when it started to ring again. He picked it up "look I'm busy right now and…."
"Hello"
This wasn't Peter's voice "Ron?".
"Kevin is that you?"
"Yes it's me, are you ok?" it may have been the connection but it sounded like there was a bit of a crack in Ron's voice.
"I'm fine but I don't think I'll be able to make it to the party"
"Whoa, wait a minute why not?"
"Oh I don't know it might just be this feeling of impending doom I have gnawing in my chest, that's holding me back"
"Oh come on, you can't back out now" Kevin glanced at the clock on his wall. "The party has already started."
"Dude you don't understand this has got to be the worst idea I've ever had. I don't know what I was thinking!"
"I already told her you were coming and that you wanted to talk things over with her" he lied.
Silence
"You did?"
"Yea"
"Talking to her on the phone would be kind of a dirtbag move wouldn't it?"
"Definitely"
Ron let out deep sigh.
"And don't forget you owe me dude" Kevin added "remember what happened when you tried to join the chess club"
"Wait are you talking about the thing with the pawn and Kelly's glass eye? I totally apologized for that"
"No the thing with Frank Bynum and the rook; don't you remember, he couldn't sit down for a week"
"Oh right" he could hear Ron shudder "you'd think something like that would be hard to forget…."
"Let's never mention it again."
"Maybe……maybe I should talk to Kim about this?"
Kevin's eyes went wide; the last thing he wanted was for Justine to be greeted with sixteen forms of kung fu once she walked through the doors of the party.
"I don't think…….."
"Ron!" shouted a female voice from the other line.
Kevin heard Ron yelp and this was followed by a frantic rustling coming from the other side. Kevin could only assume that Ron was hiding the phone somewhere.
"Hiya Kim"
Kevin held the phone tighter around his ear.
"Who were you talking too?"
"Oh, I uh….myself"
"Yourself? You were talking to yourself?"
"Yeah"
"………….Again?"
"Why not?"
"So what are you doing up here in the tree house then?"
Kevin's eyebrows furrowed He was in a tree house?
"Oh you know just hanging, thinking, pondering about stuff"
Kevin listened intently he heard Kim sigh "I've been thinking too, and I want to talk about what happened at the graduation"
"What…what happened at the graduation?"
Is he serious?
"What happened at the graduation? Are you serious? How about the valedictorian confessing her eternal love to my boyfriend"
"Oh yea that, I had forgotten all about it. It just went through one ear and out the other."
Her reply was a low murmur
"What uh. Are you alright?"
"I'm not jelling"
"Never said you were Kim"
"It's just that…you know."
"I don't remember you taking the Bonnie sitch so badly"
Kevin squeezed the phone into his cheek as hard as he could. Should he be listening in on this conversation? He had no right to listen in on their private conversations.
"When Bonnie kissed you….."
Kevin turned up the volume on his phone
"……I was miffed at first but deep down, I kind of knew Bonnie had an ulterior motive. But Justine, she, this is different Ron. She said she loved you."
Kevin felt a light stab of immense pain in his chestal region.
"I should have known. Every time she passed us in the hallway sometimes I'd catch her taking peeks at you through the corner of my eyes but I never put two and two together."
"What? When did this happen? I never noticed anything like that." Ron said
She sighed "Ron I love you but sometimes….allot of times….luckily…you can be a bit oblivious. You just don't notice these things, remember Yori?"
Yori…….it had to be that hot Asian chick that went to our school for like one day.
"That doesn't count she used her secret ninja training to mask her emotions"
"She was so, all over you when we had the mission to save Sensei"
"I don't really remember things being that way"
"And Tara, well the only way you would have noticed her is if she asked to sit on your face."
"Is that offer still on the table" Ron chuckled.
There was another pause, and then someone cleared his/her throat.
"I was just trying to add some levity to the situation. Lighten up the atmosphere, the atmosphere in here is so thick I'm chocking on it…….…………KP have I told you that you have the most beautiful green eyes"
It's hard to stay mad when you say stuff like that, come here" she purred. There were a few more rustling noises followed by the sound of apparent lip smacking.
"Ugh" Kevin put the phone down. He mentally counted sixty seconds and placed the phone back in here ear.
"Kim, I want to talk things over with Justine…..Just too clear things up."
It took every amount of willpower for Kevin not scream into the phone. There came the longest lull in the conversation yet. It was an eerie silence, like the quiet moments in a horror movie right before a maniac plunges his dull knife into a promiscuous girl's chest.
"Ok"
Kevin almost fell over onto the floor.
"Are, are you sure KP?"
"Yea, I know you want to do the right thing, and I trust you."
Shuffling noises
Kevin became aware that Ron may have completely forgotten that he was still on the line.
"You've got something on your lips; Let me just brush it off…hold on it won't come out maybe I should use my lips to clean it off."
"Ron stop….." she giggled.
"No, no it's right there. Don't worry I'll get it."
Kim chortled "The tree house won't hold"
"Ugh" Kevin tossed the phone on his bed once it was apparent that another impromptu make out session was in progress.
He shuffled into his bathroom and leaned against the bathroom sink. He turned the faucet on and let the water run onto his hands for a few seconds before splashing it across his face.
He wondered how he had gotten into such a fine mess in the first place. His plight he thought was akin to that of Sisyphus, putting his shoulder on to the boulder and rolling it up the hill yet again, and for all eternity. Peter was right this situation was hilariously ironic. Kevin almost laughed at the irony, but he accidentally bit his tongue instead.
He sauntered back to his room and plopped himself onto the bed, he snatched the phone up and placed it against his ear.
"Ron….hehee….stop you know that tickles" Kim gasped "oh…..wait…I didn't actually want you to stop…..Yes there's a difference……there's "stop-stop" and "stop-keep going it feels great" we had this talk remember?"
Kevin groaned, dropped the phone and rolled onto his back. He closed his eyes and reopened them a minute later. He remembered now, why he had currently thrown himself into this predicament.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Middleton High Jr. Prom: Last Year
Kevin took a sip from the red plastic cup in his hand as he leaned against the gymnasium wall, doing a perfect and exact imitation of a wall flower. He was this close to perfecting a risky opening chess move that fooled the opponent into thinking he was opening with a Queen's pawn when he was in fact actually working a King's pawn. Kevin's mind was reeling with possibilities when suddenly Peter shouted.
"What are we doing here? What is this, a study on social ostracism?"
Kevin glanced up from his plastic cup. He never gave much thought to why he was here. It felt to him like some kind of class trip, and besides once his dad got wind of the prom there was no way he could have stayed home and not feel like the dork that he ironically was.
He looked around the gymnasium, yes there were people on the dance floor living up, but there was just as much people hanging near the walls. And this was technically a party but it felt more like a mass gathering in the school hallways. Nothing was different, the same people mingled with their "own" social group.
No jock had his arm wrapped around the waist of a female mathathlete, no anime fan or otaku was petting a cheerleader, no super model looking chick was hanging out with a mousy librarian looking gal, and giving her tips on how to keep her hair up.
The truth was the social hierarchies remained the same in school and out. It was actually quite fascinating, if you could disassociate yourself from the fact that you were one of the losers.
"This is ridiculous" Peter fumed "I'm not having any fun are you having fun?"
Kevin responded with an "um"
"Weissmuller" Peter shouted to another classmate on the other side of the table "are you having any fun?"
Weissmuller didn't respond he just started off into infinity.
"What's the matter with him?" Kevin inquired.
Peter rolled his eyes "Jennifer is what happened. She's standing there across the room"
"Jennifer? You mean the Goths actually showed up. I thought they were all about being anti conformists?"
"Exactly, so a few of the Goths didn't conform to the other Goths who decided that all the Goths wouldn't show."
"That makes sense."
"Of course it does" Peter shook his head "Poor Weissmuller he's lovestoned."
"Yeah" Kevin peered around the room. He had convinced Justine to show up even if it was for less than an hour. It was a good idea he told her to try and melt her "icy" image before senior year. She however did not care about her image and it took him calling in a favor to get her to attend.
He was about to ask Pete if he had seen her when…..
"It finally happened. She's dating that loser. Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable are dating?!"
It was as if all the air had rushed out of the room. The gymnasium literally became a vacuum; nobody moved an inch, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. In a matter of seconds every pair of eyes in the room had now fallen onto the entrance where Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable stood shoulder to shoulder hand in hand.
Then it came, before Kevin could fully wrap his mind around what was going on, a thunderclap of approval was echoing across the walls of the gymnasium.
"Whoa" Peter whispered to Kevin as the others continued to cheer "didn't see that one coming"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"I knew it dude, I totally knew it" Ron Reiger stated "you had to be blind not to see that it would have happened sooner or later."
"Is that right Nostradamus? I remember it was not to long ago you thought she was checking you out in homeroom." Kevin said
"That was so last year"
"That was so delusional" Peter quipped, and then he scanned the faces in the circle of nerds that had crowded around him "guys this is huge"
"What do you mean?" Reiger asked.
"Dude Ron's a loser." Peter announced.
"Right…" Kevin said.
Peter rubbed his hands together "we're losers too…."
"And?"
"I'm not a loser" Reiger declared but he was ignored.
"Don't you see…" Peter continued "Ron's a loser, we're losers. But Ron's dating Kim Possible; it totally throws everything we know about the food chain out the window. It's like suddenly finding out you can divide a number by zero, it changes everything! Hope springs eternal my fellow nerds!"
Kevin stared skeptically at his friend "Pete, are you ok?"
"Look something is happening on the stage" Ron was climbing up the stairs of the stage. Kim was holding him by the arm trying to pull him back
"Ron you don't have to do this." She told him
"I so totally do, trust me KP it'll be badical" He ignored her additional pleading and continued onto the stage leaving her behind. He spoke briefly to the band and the lead singer handed him the microphone.
Ron tapped the mic "testing, testing…….Uh ok folks bear with me but um ok…." he took a deep breath "this song is dedicated to a very special lady."
Kevin never thought a human being could possibly become as red as Kim was right now. She wasn't really blushing as much as she was glowing brightly. Her face actually matched her hair.
"Ok here we go" Ron cleared his throat.
"Oh no, he's not going to sing is he?" Kevin wondered.
"Here I am broken wings, quiet thoughts, unspoken dreams."
A chorus of giggles erupted from many of the girls in the gym. The guys let out hoots and hollers of their own.
Kevin could feel himself blush "this has got to be rough, even I'm embarrassed for him.'
"Then you'd be embarrassed for nothing, look at him, he doesn't care what they think."
"Here I am. Alone again and I need her now to hold my hand." As if on some cue the lights dimmed
Kevin watched in fascination as Ron leaned back, closed his eyes and prepared to fully commit himself to the song.
Ron pointed to Kim "She's all….she's all I ever had. She's the air I breatheeee yea…She's all, she's all I ever haaaaaaaaaaaaad!"
Christ he wasn't that bad Kevin reasoned. This reasoning was also supported by the fact that the giggling girls had now dragged their dates back onto the dance floor. And a parade of slow dancing couples had commenced.
This however was all lost to Ron who was currently trapped in his own world, the price of giving himself up totally to the song
"It's the way she makes me feel. It's the only thing that's real. It's the way she understands. She's my lover, she's my friend. And when I look into her eyes it's the way I feel inside. Like the man I want to be. She's all I ever need."
"Interesting night eh Weissmuller…..Weissmuller?"
Kevin glanced at Peter who was waving his hands before Weissmuller's face.
Weissmuller blinked once twice, he pushed his glasses up his nose, clenched his fist and abruptly brushed past Peter.
"Weissmuler what the hell?" Peter exclaimed.
Every nerd in their group watched in amazement as Weissmuler made a beeline for the Goths.
"He's not going to…." Reiger started
Weissmuller waded through the group of Goths and stood before Jennifer. He said a few words that Kevin could not make out and put out his hand. Jennifer stared at him stunned for a moment; then she looked back and forth between the other Goths. They were equally as speechless as she was.
"So much time, soo much pain (but) there's one thing that still remains. (It's the) The way she cared, the love we shared. And through it all she's always been there."
The improbable happened; she reached out and took his hand. Weissmuller smiled and they both skipped onto the dance floor.
"Holy crap" Kevin heard Peter mutter. Then his head snapped towards another commotion.
Johnny Doss the star wide receiver for the football team had separated himself from the jocks. He strolled over the long, long walk towards the section of the gym designated for the brains.
It was a well known fact that Johnny had almost gotten kicked off the team because he was failing Spanish, so he had gotten himself a tutor; a brain by the name of Jeanine Estevez.
"She's all; she's all I ever had in a world so cold, so empty."
Johnny walked up to the girl who had been tutoring him all semester. He took a deep breath and said.
"Jeanine yo realmente le quiero" (I really like you)
Jeanine's jaw practically hit the floor. Kevin's did
Ron did a little spin on stage "She's all, she's all I ever haaaaaaaaaad!"
¿Querría usted bailar? (Would you like to dance?)
Jeanine nodded "Si" he grabbed her and then they were off.
Reiger ran his hands through his hair "What's going on?"
"It's some kind of Domino effect" Kevin assessed.
"More like chaos theory" Peter offered
"It's the way she makes me feel. It's the only thing that's real. It's the way she understands."
Then it happened like a dam giving way. Large groups of people separated themselves from their respective social groups and joined together in the middle of the gymnasium.
New couples paired up and joined up with the original slow dancers
"She's my lover, she's my friend. And when I look into her eyes it's the way I feel inside. Like the man I want to be. She's all I ever neeeeeeed!"
"There must be a gas leak or something. This is my one chance" In a fit of enthusiasm Reiger darted off in Bonnie's direction
"How much do you want to bet Bonnie kicks him in the…." Peter stopped and turned in a 360 degree motion. Kevin was gone.
Kevin poked and prodded his way through the masses. Man how could I have forgotten, she must have gone home already.
That's when he spotted her. She sat alone in the corner of the room her hands folded over her lap; she stared up at the stage.
He pushed past a few people until he was standing beside here. "Hey" he said.
She looked up at him with a grin "Looks like they got together, officially. It's about time"
"I'm sorry" he blurted out.
"About what?" she asked quizzically
"I, um I…if I didn't make you come here you wouldn't have…" he let his words trail.
"No its fine….. Like a meteor shower there are things better seen than heard about."
Kevin didn't reply.
"If you think about it, it's a really brave thing to do. It fits his character perfectly."
"Brave? I don't know…confessing to someone you've known for years, hardly seems like the most arduous task in world."
"How do you know? Have you ever done something like that? Telling someone you've considered a friend for so long, you love them, may be the most distressing and frightening thing ever imagined."
She was right, he knew she was right; it was the most distressing and frightening thing in the entire universe. He knew this from firsthand experience, but that was irrelevant right now.
"Do you want to go home?."
"No I'd like to stay awhile longer." Tears stood in the corner of her eyes but she didn't raise a finger to wipe them away.
"It's the way she makes me feel. It's the only thing that's real."
That's when he got his revelation, for the first time he realized that it might have been more than a standard high school crush. And the thoughts were followed by a sensation that felt like an ice pick slashing into the main organ of his circulatory system.
"You, you love him don't you?"
She lowered her eyes to the floor a tear fell down onto her lap "that hypothesis has yet to be confirmed" she joked.
It wasn't like Justine to joke or lie about a serious matter.
That was confirmation enough.
For both of them.
Kevin licked his lips, and looked away. His own issues, his fear, his worrying, his lost, he could deal with. But somehow he couldn't bear to see her in such a state.
Not knowing what to do next, he said the first thing that came to his mind.
"You want to dance?" He asked his voice cracking.
Justine reflected on his offer for a moment "sure" she said finally.
"It's the way she makes me feel. It's the only thing that's real. It's the way she understands. She's my lover, she's my friend!"
Kevin led her to the dance floor directly underneath the disco ball hanging from the ceiling. He turned to her and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her close, as close as friendship would allow.
Justine seemed to study his face as they danced "What are you thinking about?"
"Me? I'm thinking about a clip of a FIDE World Chess Championship match between, Classical World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik, and FIDE World Chess Champion Veselin Topalov I saw on the net."
She scrunched up her face "why would you be thinking about that?"
He drew in a breath "imagine this; in past encounters, Kramnik had defeated Topalov 10 times, lost 5 games, with 24 draws. In classical time control games since the beginning of 2004, the score is 2 wins each, with 3 draws. This is a huge match up; this is for the unified title."
"Alright"
"Now picture this; in the last game the third tiebreaker, Kramnik displays his skill in positions where the queens have been exchanged. Topalov's small inaccuracy on his twentieth move was punished by a precise sequence of moves from Kramnik, which eventually won him a pawn. In an extremely difficult position, Topalov made one final blunder, and the match was over."
"Ok" Justine said. "Just to let you know, I've never heard of any of these people."
"Before I go on, quickly, are you thinking about anything else?"
"No I'm only thinking about this game…..oh"
"Exactly" Kevin replied. "That's why I'm thinking about chess."
Justine smirked "Would it be ok if I thought about Quantum Physics instead of chess?"
"Be my guest, but between you and me I'd recommend you go with chess."
"Get away from me you freak!" Someone shouted over the music. The shout was then followed by a groan and a noise that sounded suspiciously like a nerd hitting the ground in pain as he clutched his privates.
I guess somethings don't change Kevin thought.
"And when I look into her eyes it's the way I feel inside. Like the man I want to be. She's all I ever need!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Present:
"Hello. Hello. Kev, are you still there?"
His eyes still on the ceiling Kevin grabbed the phone and placed it against his cheek "yeah I'm still here."
Ron chuckled nervously "sorry about that, I kind of got uh distracted."
"Right"
"Listen so I'll be at the party, I might be a little late though but I'll be there. Then I guess we'll just wing it from there.'
"Cool." Kevin then hung up and let the phone drop to the floor. He sighed "party time"
A minute later his mother burst unannounced into his room "honey I just want you to know if you feel like leaving the party early. You can just call and I'll have dad pick you up."
She stared at the motionless body of her son "hun, are you ok?"
"The Semi-Slav Defense is a variation of the Queen's Gambit chess opening, defined by the opening moves. The opening resembles a mixture of the Orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined and the Slav Defense." He told her without moving an inch of his body.
"Oh, that's nice, don't forget to say goodbye before you leave" she said cheerfully before closing the door behind her.
A/N Funny thing about this chapter is that while I was writing it, in the early parts I was disgusted with it the way it was coming together. I thought the flow and pacing were off and the characters weren't good enough but by the time I got to Ron and Kevin's phone convo I was feeling much better about things. And now looking at it this chapter may contain some of the better pieces of dialouge I've ever written
Go figure.
Well read and review as always