Kim Possible: Reaching You
Chapter 3
The first thing Kim thought when she awoke that morning was if the occurrence from last night had actually transpired. It was so fresh in her memory, but she'd had dreams that she swore were real as well. Perhaps seeing the mysterious teen when she was fully awake would be more enlightening than lying here wondering.
Her cell phone's alarm went off less than a minute later. She leaned over and tapped the screen to halt the errant buzzing, still satisfied that her body was beginning to naturally rise without relying on the alarm. She then noticed the blinking green dot on her phone, the indicator for having received a text or email. If she'd gotten it late last night, she assumed it was from Wade and she was suddenly excited to read it.
With time to spare before school, she opened her email on her phone and saw she indeed had a message from what she assumed was Wade's screen name, complete with an attachment to download. She knew just enough about these things to click the attachment and open it.
Words assaulted her en masse as she realized she was staring at a lengthy, multiple page readout with the Go High School seal of authenticity plastered across the top. She smiled and mentally thanked Mr. Load, though she remembered she still owed him and his crew Bueno Nacho. It was honestly a small price for what she'd needed.
The bold font at the top of the page indicated that it was the sealed, permanent record of one Sheridan Go, complete with a professional snapshot of said girl in the upper right corner. It looked like a recent yearbook photo, but it was the expression on Sheridan's face that drew her attention the most. The raven haired teen was actually smiling in an almost seductive way. She looked confident, carefree, and like any normal teenager who knew she looked as good as she did.
This wasn't the withdrawn, almost reclusive girl she'd known thus far. The picture wasn't old, which meant that whatever had caused this severe turn in attitude had happened fairly recent. Sheridan had said yesterday that she had been kicked from her own home which lent credence to the rumor that she'd been not only expelled from school, but exiled to Middleton as well. Now all that was left to decipher was the reasoning.
Kim skimmed across the fact laden paperwork, losing her interest with the heavy handed jargon that most adults used. Finally, she reached a section that focused on the student's behavioral issues:
Sheridan has shown a willingness to learn and has impressed many of her teachers with her intelligence and ability to quickly adapt to new teaching techniques; however, she has also shown a severe lack of patience when she doesn't feel challenged by her schoolwork. She has also shown a tendency to question authority, up to and including direct hostility. There have been several complaints of Sheridan's tendencies to disrupt classes and openly question the information being taught to her.
Recently, she has even begun to engage in violence with juniors and seniors. On at least three known occasions, Sheridan has engaged in physical confrontations with other students on school grounds. One incident in particular saw law enforcement become involved after Sheridan antagonized and assaulted five non-students directly outside of campus. Sheridan's proficiency in violence has become a point of concern and a parent/ teacher conference will be forced soon.
Jeez. The girl's condition last night made so much sense now. Wherever Sheridan had wandered off to in the dead of night, she seemed to have found someone or multiple some ones more than willing to throw down against her. Considering she was still standing enough to walk home, Kim assumed her opponents had met a violent fate.
Below that she saw a section marked with red which seemed to be the most recent addition to her file:
Sheridan Go was expelled as of the date listed above for the open assault of a faculty member outside of school grounds. James Holcombe (victim) was hospitalized two nights previous to the listed date after an altercation in downtown Go City with Sheridan. Police reports, while conflicting, seem to place most of the blame on Sheridan, who assailed Holcombe outside of a bar late that night. Property damage was minimal, though included a broken storefront window, and the victim was only saved by police arriving and subduing Sheridan (a reported three officers were required to restrain her). Sheridan has admitted to instigating the altercation.
A mug shot was included in the file and Kim cringed from the sight. Sheridan looked outright enraged, her fingers visibly bending the mug shot card she held. She was covered in the dried remains of either her or someone else's blood and her left eye was looking to be swelling shut. The thought that the girl had savagely beaten a teacher made her stomach drop. From how the file read, Sheridan seemed outright dangerous, so why send her to another school and not to a juvenile detention center?
No. This didn't seem right. Kim just simply didn't get the feeling that Sheridan was a loose cannon just waiting to snap and kill everyone around her. Even her violent display in the lunch room had been reactionary and she'd held herself without wavering or nervously twitching. The girl seemed totally in control of her anger, at least from what Kim had seen. She had the sudden feeling that she wasn't getting all the facts.
She clicked off the email and let the information simmer in her brain before standing to begin her morning routines. Her exercises were quick and only meant to limber her up, but they gave her body something to do while her mind went into high gear deciphering anything the file might have disregarded. Kim knew most of these things were only viewed from a skewed, outside perspective, so maybe they were painting Sheridan in an unfair light.
She sighed. Or maybe Kim was simply trying to find the good in someone who had very little of it. Violence was inevitable sometimes, Kim knew that well, but it was nearly impossible to fully justify. Whatever her reasons, Sheridan did seem like she had no qualms about hurting people. Still, if she was so prone to altercation, then why didn't it happen last night? Kim certainly hadn't been gentle or nice with her demands to sit down and shut up, so why didn't it turn ugly?
She finished her exercises and stretched, feeling fully awake and intrigued. Nothing got the gears turning like a good mystery and Kim had a secret love for such things. She liked figuring things out; it kept her mind sharp.
She showered quickly as her musings had eaten up more time than she'd anticipated. The dripping shower head showed that Sheridan was already up and getting ready, which also meant she'd gone to bed dirty. She must have been more exhausted than Kim had thought. It didn't seem too out of the ordinary to have a whole other person living in their house, so she had faith that it would be easier to acclimate to as time progressed.
Showered and dressed in her usuals, loose fitting, purple short sleeve that barely revealed her navel and khaki capris, Kim hurried downstairs to the cupboard to snatch some fast food, namely energy bars. She stopped dead as she saw Sheridan sitting at the kitchen table, lightly dabbing a toaster strudel on a plate. She seemed to be lost in her own world, but soon took notice of the redhead with a blank stare.
Kim first noticed the face, now more exposed thanks to her hair being pulled back into a lazy ponytail. Her first thought was that, by her word, the wound from last night had disappeared. The second thing she thought was that the girl was actually very lovely and in a natural way. She wore little makeup, mostly light, black lipstick and eyeliner, but she naturally had a glowing tint to her already exotic colored skin. It didn't hurt that the frown and anger were missing from her face this morning. In its place, however, was an almost unnatural level of…neutrality.
It was hard to pinpoint at first, but the longer she looked at her the more she realized that Sheridan was simply devoid of emotion, at least on the outside. It was a step up from yesterday, but one could still tell something was amiss if they bothered to pay attention.
"About time," she said and even her voice was lacking in fire or personality.
Kim narrowed an eye as the girl stood and devoured her strudel in two bites. She began to walk for the front door, but Kim merely watched her in confusion.
"You coming?" she turned to the redhead.
"I'm going to find my mom and let her know I'm ready," Kim answered.
"She already left; had a call at the hospital."
"She left me!? How am I supposed to get to school?!"
"You're riding with me. Doy."
That stopped her train of thought swiftly. Something had definitely changed since yesterday, but it was hard to ascertain precisely what. The antagonism was gone, replaced by a bizarre melancholy that honestly didn't fit the girl.
"Is that okay?" Kim asked.
"I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't. Hurry up," and then she was leaving.
Kim ran to grab her energy bar before dashing after the strange girl, locking the house as they left. Walking behind Sheridan, Kim noticed her clothing was even a tad brighter than yesterday. Yesterday's had been loose, bulky, and big enough for her to hide inside from the world around her. Today, she went with more fitting teen attire: tight, black jeans without the shredded legs and a form fitting, green and black tee that hugged her frame and was low cut enough to show the ample amount of cleavage she possessed. She'd gone from emo to sporty in less than a day and it was a stylish whiplash that Kim couldn't explain.
Due to her musings, she didn't notice the car until they'd literally walked up to it and then she felt her eyes widen considerably. It was a beautiful two door sport that hugged low to the ground with mixed green and black racing stripes in a glorious paint scheme; it probably cost more than their house. How and when it arrived she had no clue, but there was no doubt it was a rich person's car.
"Don't drool on it," Sheridan quipped as she rounded the hood and entered the driver's seat.
Kim shook the shock free and hurriedly crawled inside, admiring the clean, leather seats and myriad of technological wonders that adorned the dashboard. The ignition turned and the thing almost silently growled to life before pulling out smoothly onto their street. Shockingly, Sheridan didn't do the obvious acceleration she was expecting and instead found a comfortable pace at which to cruise. Kim had expected an uncomfortable silence as they drove, but Sheridan surprised her yet again by speaking.
"So, since I didn't wake up this morning to a speech from James and Ann, I take it you didn't rat me out."
Kim didn't look at her, instead finding the passing scenery outside much more interesting, "I told you I wouldn't."
"I've learned recently that what people say and what they do don't usually mesh."
"Maybe you hang out with the wrong people."
"And who are the right people? People like you?"
Kim didn't answer. She knew the beginning of a bad conversation when she heard it and she wasn't intent on bringing back the rage machine from the previous day.
"I don't like being ignored," Sheridan finally let a tiny growl slip with the words.
"What do you want from me?" Kim spun to face her. "You get pissed when I ignore you, but you get even more pissed when I try and speak to you. You don't like being ignored? Well I don't like getting sent mixed messages."
Cool it, Kim, her mind chided. Remember why she's here. She doesn't need the fifth degree right now.
Kim exhaled, "I'm sorry."
"Oh, how angelic of you," the other girl placed fingers to her chest mockingly. "Must be nice to be able to take back that kind of shit just by apologizing. No wonder you're oh so popular."
"Is it my popularity that pisses you off?"
"Far from it," she laughed mockingly. "I told you yesterday, I don't want you or anyone else's friendship."
"Why?" Kim almost begged the question.
It was her turn to go silent and Kim fought off another round of anger that boiled in her stomach. She knew she was being immature by goading her on, but there was no justifiable reason the girl needed to be this difficult. Kim wanted her to open up, but the redhead wasn't in control of her own emotions well enough to manipulate her into sharing anything.
Maybe Kim had had it too easy these past few years when it came to dealing with people. Everyone was usually very receptive and polite to her, mostly because of her status as a cheerleader, but also due to her legitimate desire to meet anyone and everyone halfway. Even the more difficult students at Middleton eventually made some kind of peace with her.
Sheridan appeared to be the anomaly, the one person Kim just simply couldn't connect with. She was just so infuriatingly confrontational when she wasn't being introverted. Kim wondered where the girl in her file was, the confident, alluring teen she'd been before. It bothered her that someone could regress that deeply in such a short amount of time.
Or maybe…maybe it bothered her that she'd finally found someone she had failed in reaching. Granted, she hadn't had much time to try, but Sheridan's behavior was already making her regret the attempt and that was so not like her.
The other girl chuckled, "Wow, I just sent you into a funk, huh? You really shouldn't let people get to you that easily."
Kim scowled and almost literally bit her tongue in an attempt to stifle whatever hateful comeback she had prepared. Instead, she jerked her head back to the window. Now she was enjoying this, enjoying Kim's frustration like a terrible human being would.
"Aww, did I hurt the princess' feelings?" Sheridan was goading her now. "Is the princess not used to being spoken down to by a commoner?"
"STOP CALLING ME PRINCESS!"
It had only taken a second to blank out, to let her autopilot raise her ire and help spew that ear piercingly loud roar of disapproval. Kim could still feel her face splitting from the open mouthed display, every one of her teeth showcased and grinding against one another almost audibly. She glared daggers into the dark haired teen who'd responded by hitting the brakes and unconsciously moving away from the redhead.
The immediate shame and embarrassment Kim felt was multiplied by the fact that her mind was slowly beginning to feed details back to her. Her fist stung and she dreaded the long seconds it took her to pivot her sight to her front. Without thought, with her anger fueling her, Kim had struck the dashboard of the car with a hateful, violent fist. She'd succeeded in not only bruising her knuckles, but also cracking a sizable section above the glove compartment.
She slowly pulled her hand away, slowly nursed the now throbbing knuckles against her chest, and slowly sat back against the seat. She propped her head against the window with a dull thud and went silent; nothing she could possibly say would make a difference now.
She didn't know how long they'd sat there, feeling the other girl's eyes burrow into her skull. Finally, she felt the car continue its trek, saw the world passing by outside until she shut her eyes tightly and forced out the shame she knew she'd be feeling for the rest of the day.
She didn't look at the driver, couldn't bear to make eye contact even when they'd arrived at school and Kim had barely waited for the car to stop moving before she bolted for the almost empty, grassy knoll on the left side of the school. It was usually where couples hung out to disguise make out sessions, but it was thankfully devoid of life. She found a quiet, shaded corner facing the woodland area next to the campus and slid down to the ground against the wall.
She felt like she needed to cry, as if her moistening eyes weren't a clear indication, but she fought it with a tenacity she'd learned from years of practice. She had nothing against a good cry, hell The Memopad made her weep every time she watched it, but there were some things just not worth shedding tears over. She felt like garbage, but bawling would serve no purpose except to draw the attention of anyone who saw her today.
She settled for breathing, deep and even, clearing her mind like she was taught to do. She mentally hurried her body to settle, very aware that first period was closing in, but she couldn't risk walking inside and allowing anyone to see her in her condition.
"K?" a familiar voice almost startled her.
That startled feeling suddenly burst into relief as she realized it belonged to Bonnie. The brunette was over to her in an instant and Kim grabbed her arm and yanked her down into a hug. With familiarity, Bonnie sidled next to her and gently stroked her hair.
She was the literal only person Kim would have wanted to see at that very moment. Over a year ago, Bonnie had been the sole witness to a similar violent outburst from Kim. Her friend had told the redhead that Tara had gone home early that day after a student who frequently verbally bullied her had resorted to throwing a rock at her during gym. The attack had left the platinum blonde with a small head wound and, even without having seen it, Kim had become enraged almost beyond measure.
It had been Bonnie who'd stepped into an irate Kim's path, who'd talked her friend down from seeking out the bully and doing something that would have gotten her expelled. She'd succeeded, but Kim still let her rage out on a set of gymnastic pads for a full minute. Those same pads still held small indentions of Kim's knuckles to this day.
She'd avoided Bonnie for the rest of that day, ashamed and embarrassed that her friend had seen that side of her. Luckily, B had never shared the incident with anyone, so it remained their little secret; a secret that Sheridan was now privy to.
"It happened again?" Bonnie finally spoke, gentleness evident in her voice.
Kim merely nodded against her neck.
"Anyone see it?"
"Sheridan. I broke her car."
"You broke the whole car?" she lightly giggled to try and rouse something positive from her friend.
Kim didn't return it, "I broke enough."
Bonnie continued petting her, "You've let that frustration build up too much. At least it's infrequent."
"It shouldn't happen at all."
"Wouldn't that be nice?"
Kim allowed herself a few more moments to calm and collect before hugging her friend with gusto.
"Thank you, Bonnie."
"Anytime. By the way, it looks like someone else is worried about you."
Kim looked up as she stood and saw the brunette pointing back to the parking lot. Sheridan leaned against her car, staring at the two with an expression Kim couldn't place from that far away. Kim didn't have the heart to tell Bonnie that the angry girl didn't care; she was probably just weirded out by the redhead's freaky display of strength. Or maybe she was just mad she had to replace her dashboard. Either scenario made Kim color from shame.
She forwent keeping eye contact with the green girl and simply walked inside with her friend close behind. She shot Bonnie one last grateful smile which the brunette returned. Despite the morning's terrible outcome, Kim still took solace that she had such loyal friends in her and Tara. It made these things so much easier; not easy, but easier.
Three periods later she finally felt better, though it made it difficult having to keep avoiding eye contact with Sheridan for the rest of the day. Luckily, there was only the homeroom class and Dr. Lipsky had graciously avoided calling on her. Kim had a strong desire to be away from people, not so much from a dislike of them, but more from a fear that she might do something…unforgivable if someone were to antagonize her in any way. Not that she was used to being antagonized, but there were a few students who disliked her that she was aware of.
Ron had actually been insanely sweet to her, asking if everything was okay in homeroom and then spending the next three periods making slight attempts in entertaining her. It would have been annoying if the blond didn't have a gift for physical comedy. He actually succeeded in making her chuckle by meeting her outside the second period class, casually leaned against the wall in a flirtatious manner. Except, his head had been tucked into his shirt and the little head of the naked mole rat he kept as a pet peeked out in its place.
All it took was a dainty wave of his fingers and the mole rat, Rufus, wiggling his tiny eyebrows and she stifled a snicker with her hand. The look of pride on Ron's face afterward had been heartwarming and she was certain he was going to be treated twice in the future to Bueno Nacho.
It was also around this time that she was surprised by a digital recorder being placed into her face as she stood at her locker. She balked and took a step back as she took in the girl who'd appeared from nowhere before her. Monique Symone, the wavy-haired fashionista of their school and current head of the school paper. Her sudden appearance made Kim remember what today was.
"Ready for our interview?" Monique asked, recorder still held forward like a microphone.
Kim had forgotten she'd been handpicked by Mon herself to interview about fashion in Middleton High, which was still odd considering Kim wasn't exactly top form when it came to dress and presentation. In fact, most of her clothing was outright tomboyish in nature.
"Are you recording now?" Kim asked, seeing the digital counter moving.
"Girl I'm always recording," she answered shamelessly. "People love the behind the scenes stuff even more than the actual interview. They're like deleted scenes."
"I still don't know what you think I can offer about fashion. I'm pretty basic when it comes to clothing."
"I'm not expecting expert's insight, you know? I just think, out of all the students, you have the most unique wardrobe. You'd be surprised how many people like it."
Kim bit her lip, unsure how to even begin such a train of dialogue.
Monique went for the opening, "Or I could just grill you about the Hero of Middleton again."
Kim sighed. Of course she'd go that direction. It was their last interview all over again, except it felt more like an interrogation after the first set of questions. It had already taken her by surprise that anyone would think to relate her to the person in Middleton who'd been whipping up on what little small crime existed there. At least, she'd hoped no one would relate the two.
"And I'll answer the same way I did last time: I don't know anything about it. Despite what you may misquote me as saying in the paper."
"I don't misquote, Kim," she defended herself, though she didn't sound entirely convinced. "Besides, Byron pulled that article before it went to print."
"As well he should have. It was basically slander."
"I resent that. Slander is spoken. When it's written, it's libel."
Kim chuckled at that. Despite her annoying insistence, Kim liked Monique if for nothing else than she was usually quite helpful in bringing problems around the school to the forefront through her paper. It was her insistence on saucy stories that usually rubbed Kim the wrong way, especially if they were untrue or at least improperly researched.
Mon switched off her recorder, "You look out of it, Possible. You feel alright?"
"Bad morning," she answered, but smiled it away.
She nodded and her face softened, "We can postpone the interview then. I want you at your best, after all. Can I ask a favor though?"
Kim nodded.
"Maybe get me some juicy info on Sheridan Go? I heard she's living with your family and she's at the top of the informational demand list. You should see the amount of requests I get about her. Especially from the boys."
"She's new and she's pretty," Kim laughed. "Of course the guys are curious. I don't blame them."
The sudden, loud shift of a locker door made them both look over…and Kim's heart leapt into her throat as she met eyes with her new green house guest. The girl she'd just called pretty out loud was within hearing distance at her own locker now staring at Kim with a bewildered expression. Kim froze like a prey animal and held her breath, the gravity of what her words implied sinking in slowly.
Her brain begged her to walk over and explain herself before any kind of misunderstanding stuck, but her stupid, rebellious body didn't budge until it was too late and Sheridan spun with books in hand to power walk the opposite direction.
Only two steps away and she plowed into a football player Kim couldn't remember the name of, but everyone nicknamed him Mongo. He was notorious for the chants he received at games, uproarious amounts of "Here comes Mongo". He was a big kid, just as sizable as their star quarterback Brick Flagg, built for power and speed, but the girl still went through him with seemingly little effort.
"Watch it!" Sheridan yelled and tried to keep going.
"Me!?" Mongo growled and grabbed her bicep. "You ran into me!"
"You were in my way!" she snatched her arm free and gave him a pants wetting glare before turning away.
"Stuck up little freak!" he called after her.
Sheridan stopped dead. Kim actually saw the small musculature beneath her clothes stiffen and flex as she slowly turned to look back.
"Excuse me?!" she growled.
"You heard me. You're Go City's little princess. I've seen you on TV loads of times. You may have been royalty at Go High, but you aren't shit here. So learn your place, queeny."
Sheridan marched back to him with grim purpose and Kim had the sudden sense that someone needed to halt this before it reached a fever pitch.
"I'm sorry," the raven haired girl began, "but don't you have a minimal effort scholarship to practice for, you Neanderthal?"
He bowed up to her, making her nimble frame look tiny in comparison, "I'm pretty sure that was an insult."
"I'm pretty sure you're a genius."
"You so don't want to fuck with me, girl."
Sheridan leaned into his face and whispered, "Give me a reason, cocksucker."
This was apparently too much for him and he responded to her declaration of his expertise in fellatio by shoving her hard against the lockers. Kim had just enough time to hear the students still in the halls all collectively gasp in surprise and hear Monique give a nervous "uh, oh" before she dropped her bag and made for the ensuing altercation.
Still, it took less time for her to travel the ten or so yards to them before she saw Sheridan bounce off the lockers…no, she didn't bounce. She'd actually pushed herself back, rebounding off the metal and dropping her books as a single fist arced up and out faster than Kim could dash. The sound of the lockers shaking under her body was immediately followed by a sick pop as Sheridan's fist met Mongo's cheek.
