Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzo 5: My 'Gal'etea
Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song referenced in this story and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.
Please refer to chapter 1 of Blue Eyes, Shining: Intermezzi if you have questions regarding this concept.
Enjoy! Please read and review.
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Intermezzo 5: My 'Gal'etea
Story: begins during Blue Eyes, Shining
Time stamp: this series of events occurred during chapter 9, on day 19
When: Starting in the mid-morning
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'Why did I come?'
Justine Flanner asked herself the same question for the 23rd time.
'I could have been in the lab this entire time; instead, I took Kimberly up on her invitation to come up here.
"Mom wanted me out of the house: she said I hadn't spent any time anywhere except at school and the labs in a long time, and she was right: she just didn't know that that was my life, besides her and the family.
'I didn't know that this would be a cheer-fest.
'I feel as out of place as an electron in a nucleus.'
I walked around all of the swimsuit-clad cheerleaders and ranch workers, most lounging on blankets and lounge chairs, and they all were disgustingly attractive,
'And, even worse, he's here!'
'I'm getting out of here before I run into him and make a fool out of myself,' and as she turned and headed for her car a voice called her name.
"Justine Flanner! Hey, Ah'm shore glad you came; Ah thought you didn't make it 'cause Ah hadn't seen you,' and I turned to see a girl who had to be related to Kimberly.
"Ah'm Joss Possible, Kim's cousin" the redhead announced, and stuck her hand out to shake mine. "Your kinematic continuum disruptor device rocked!" Joss added.
"You know about the continuum distruptor?" I was surprised as I shook her hand; this girl could be no more than 13 or 14.
"Shore," Joss replied. "Ah keep up with all of Cousin Kim's adventures, and Daddy liked your paper, so he passed it on to me to read,"
"Daddy?"
"That'd be me, Ms. Flanner: Slim Possible, at your service," and Slim took my hand and kissed it, turning me, the usually-unflappable Justine Flanner, a deep red, or at least that's what it felt like when my face heated up. "It's a pleasure to meet you, finally."
"Justine!" and Kimberly came running out of the main house, smiling as always.
I hated her constant perkiness.
I hated her, period.
"I'm so glad you came!"
"I was here yesterday, Kimberly," I responded dryly, and she looked a little embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, Justine, I was a little busy yesterday, and-" I waved her quiet.
"I was there at Dr. Load's party, Kimberly, and I saw it all, including your apology to him. Very touching," I said sarcastically.
"I meant every word of it, Justine," Kimberly said, looking more than a bit embarrassed. "I've not been fair with Wade, and that stopped with the apology.
"Is that why you wanted me to come, Kimberly? To witness the great Kim Possible apologize to Dr. Load?" I asked her after I walked away from Slim and his daughter, and she followed me.
"No, Justine," and she grabbed my arm. "I wanted to talk to you, away from everyone else," she added.
"Why? So you wouldn't be seen with me?"
"NO! I wanted to get us away from the distractions of school and missions and labs, and I wanted to clear the air between us before we started school and we both got too busy," and I realized that she had pulled me to the Bunker and inside to an elevator door. The door was open, and she drug me in and hit a button.
"And, I wanted to find out what happened to the friend I used to have and admire and want to be like before she got the corn cob stuck up her ass," Kimberly added as we exited the elevator on level 4 below ground, and the door opened to reveal a waiting area with sets of couches strategically arranged to facilitate conversation, and a coffee and drink bar.
"Corn cob, Kimberly? Now, I have a reason to be very upset, Kimberly." I sat on the arm of one of the couches.
"And, what's with the formal talk, Justine?" Kimberly asked, sitting across from me on another couch arm. "You were never this formal, before."
I ignored her last comment.
"If you don't like the way I talk, Kimberly, than that's just tough!" I yelled at her, and she smiled?
"Do I have to get you more pissed off before you tell me what's been bothering you all these years, Justine?" Kimberly asked softly, and I couldn't tell her.
I didn't want to tell her.
I was embarrassed.
I was…
I told her.
"I WAS IN LOVE WITH RONALD DEAN STOPPABLE, AND YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME, ALRIGHT?" and then I lost it for the first time in a public place in a long time, and I ran and opened the door marked 'workout room.'
I found my refuge: a punching bag, and I started punching it and crying at the same time:
"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"
WHAM, WHAM!
"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"
WHAM, WHAM!
"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"
WHAM, WHAM!
"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"
WHAM, WHAM!
"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"
WHAM, WHAM!
"I HATE YOU, KIMBERLY POSSIBLE!"
WHAM, WHAM!
"Justine," and I turned around to hit whoever was touching me, and it was Kimberly, again.
I couldn't take her, anymore.
I cried harder than I did that night, after I finally admitted to myself that he would never be mine.
I stood there, crying like an idiot, and she did the last thing that I wanted her to do and the first thing that I knew she would do:
She hugged me.
I liked it.
-----
Before you assume (and you know what that means, don't you?): I'm neither an asexual person, nor am I a gender-confused girl-scientist, nor am I an unattractive sexually-ambiguous geek, OK?
Now that that's clear….
-----
I liked the way she felt, the way she smelled, she used the same shampoo that I did: Strawberries and Mint Fields Forever.
"We use the same shampoo," Kimberly said into my head.
"Did you ever wonder why Ronald likes it so much, Kimberly?" and she tensed as I grinned.
The great Kim Possible is an information freak, and this was a piece she'd never had.
She let me go, and stared at me like I had two or three heads.
"You…were in love …with Ron?" and I nodded, reaching for my purse that I'd left somewhere.
"When?"
"Five years ago, before you started your 'mission work,'" and I laughed at my joke.
Kimberly didn't get it.
Ronald would have.
"You were too exciting for me to compete with, and Ronald just naturally gravitated to you and left me standing on the school front steps, so to speak," 'and I'll never find another one like him. OH, RONALD, MY RONALD!'
"Did you ever tell him, Justine?"
"Tell Ronald Stoppable, the most handsome man I'd ever known, that I was in love with him back when I was 12? I'm a genius, Kimberly, not an idiot!" and Kimberly laughed at me!
"I'm sorry, Justine," when she finally stopped laughing (and just before I was about to get up and leave), "but I've never heard those words come out of any other girl's mouth but mine and one other, and that one was just a few days ago: Ron Stoppable, and Handsome."
"Can we help it if we have truly exquisite taste in men, Kimberly?" and we both laughed at that statement, because we both knew what the rest of the world was missing:
Ronald Stoppable was a good man, and good men are hard to find at any age.
"I'll let you in on a secret, Justine," and she leaned closer to me. "Shego thinks he's hot, too!"
"The green woman who works for Doctor Drakken? Thinks our Ronald is hot? Does Ronald know?" I was trying to imagine Ronald with her, and I was successfully stifling my laughter.
"Yes, he does, and he's scared of her," Kimberly answered, and I nodded approvingly.
"He's not thrilled about being toasted if he gets her mad, is he?" I asked, and Kimberly got a very strange look on her face.
"She offered him 'something' one time, if you get my drift," Kimberly winked, "and he said he didn't want it burned off or turned to ashes," and we both laughed even harder.
"Well, at least she has good taste in men; that's more than I can for her taste in bosses," I smirked, and Kimberly and I laughed, again.
"Justine, I have to know: how long were you two an item?"
"Kimberly, we were never an item. You were his best friend, I was just a girl who liked him, and you know how sweet Ronald is: he took me to the movies twice, and we had pizza twice, and then you got involved with the babysitting web site and took Ronald along, and I never went out with him again: he was always too busy.
"Kimberly, I still have the movie ticket stubs from my 'dates,' if you could call them that, with Ronald. I could never bring myself to throw them away.
"I hoped, for two months, that Ronald would see the error of his ways and come back to me, but that was not going to happen; that's when I, as you so eloquently put it, 'got the corncob stuck up my ass.'
"You had it all, Kimberly: brains, beauty, a figure to die for, and my Ronald. I had the brains, but I was not beautiful by any stretch of the imagination, I had no figure (in fact, the jocks called me 'the girl with the anti-figure'), and I had no Ronald, so I moved forward with my books: they were the only ones to never desert me.
"Kim, even you deserted me, back in elementary school: we used to play and tease the boys and push Bonnie Rockwaller over the edge, but you went to cheerleading and left me behind," and, darn it, I started to cry again!
I hated that.
"I've missed you too, Kimberly. That's why I acted the way I did when Barkin assigned us to work together. I had to show you and myself that I could do it alone, that I didn't need anybody: not you, not Ronald, not anyone!
"And, what happens?" and now, I was really leaking. "You and Ronald and Monique save me and the entire town from that dinosaur that Amy and Drakken released.
"How can I compete with you, Kimberly?" and now I was gone, and I sobbed into my hands like a little girl.
"Justine," she had put her arm around me, "you better than anyone else would understand the laws of probability.
"I knew Ron from Pre-K; we'd been friends since then. The odds were heavily stacked in my favor that Ron was always gonna be around me. You should ask my parents: the boy has practically lived at our house ever since he discovered Mom's 'Brain Loaf.'
"Ron is that side of me that I never show people: that side that cares and worries about everyone's feelings, including Bonnie's," and her name caused me to suck air and think of the ways I could have used that dinosaur.
"I knew Ron liked me, and I knew we were best friends, but I never knew that he loved me until the Diablos," she said it in such a soft and dreamy voice, and her confession was a knife twisted into my heart.
I lowered my head a bit: 'Good-bye, Ronald. I'll miss you,' and I shed tears of loss.
"But, Justine, you're not the lost cause you think you are!" and I looked up at her in disbelief.
"You're brilliant: you took a chance on my plan to use the Kimmunicator batteries, and we made the disruptor work. I followed your lead, and we succeeded."
"No, Kim, I followed your lead, remember? I was scared out of my wits when I saw that dinosaur, remember? I didn't even recognize the species. You took charge, and together we succeeded."
"That's what I mean, Justine: you won't even take credit for your own invention. You are brilliant, you have a wonderful sense of humor, you're attractive, and-."
"Hold on, Kimberly: I don't go that way," and I laughed, and she looked shocked for a moment, then laughed along with me.
"Neither do I, but I can see the pretty girl underneath all of these protective shells and barriers that you've thrown up over the last five years, Justine, and she's dying to come out, so to speak," and we both chuckled..
"Ron would beg you to forgive if he knew that he'd ever hurt you in any way, Justine-"
"NO! DON'T TELL RONALD, PLEASE!"
"-and I won't tell him because you are my friend; or, at least, I hope you'll let me back in. Granted, I left you, but I won't ever do that again, Justine. I've seen far too much, since the Diablos, in the past few weeks to ever allow me to ever take a friend, or anyone, for granted, ever again," and a very sad look landed on Kimberly's face. She wasn't going to tell me, now, but I'd find out, one way or the other.
"You were the last person that I needed to talk to, Justine, because I had no idea how I had vexed you so to cause you to hate me."
"Kimberly, I never hated you: I wanted to be you!" 'liar.'
"And, I wanted to be you, Justine," Kimberly stated with authority, and now I knew she was crazy.
"WHY?"
"Because, Justine, you had all of those people paying attention to you for what you knew, not for what you looked like or what you did. I'd have killed to be recognized for my brains. I went so deep into all of these things because I knew I could never compete with you, and I knew how much it would have made Daddy proud of me if I was doing what you were doing," and Kimberly burst into tears.
'Now, I am officially in shock.'
"You didn't know, did you, Justine: I'm a real Daddy's girl. I do what I do, and Daddy's proud of me, but he sees you on television, and I can't help but see a bit of longing in his eyes, like he was saying 'what if….' It's the same look that he gives Dr. Porter: he loves me, don't get me wrong, but I know he wishes sometimes that I was just like you."
"Kim, you don't know how lucky you are to still have a dad. Mine left Mom and me and my younger brother and sister four years ago, and I've been bringing home money from my conferences and inventions to help Mom out with our family bills.
"We haven't seen or heard from him since, so don't tell me how hard you have it!
"You have the perfect family, the perfect house. Even your cousin who looks like you has it all," and Kimberly held up her hand and looked like she was going to hit me.
"Justine, you really don't know what you're talking about, now," and her voice had gone icier than I'd ever heard her before.
"Joss doesn't have a mother any more: she was killed when she was three years old," Kimberly said with an almost-acid flat tone in her voice, and that bomb shattered all of the hate I'd been accumulating over the past 5 years.
I just sat there, looking like one of the freshmen who had wandered into my graduate-level seminar and sat down: deer in the headlights, and the 18-wheel trucks were coming straight at me at 200 kph and accelerating.
"Kim, I'm sorry, I didn't know," I whispered, and this time I was serious.
"And, you also didn't know that Joss was forced to lay in the same cell with her dead mother for weeks before she was rescued," Kimberly added in the same tone, and she speared me through the heart, this time, and the heart came all the way out the other side.
I cried for Joss Possible, and Kimberly joined me, and we hugged away our pain, my pain, her pain.
"What can I do to help her?" I asked, and Kimberly looked shocked and surprised and happy, all simultaneously.
"An autograph would be a good start, Miss 'Famous Scientist that I'll Never Be,'" and Kimberly and I both laughed.
"And, allow me to help you, Justine," she added. "Let me take you into town with Monique, and let us spend some time with you: her MSS are NTBB!"
"Mad…shopping…skills…not…to…be…believed, right?" I translated the acronym, and Kimberly grinned.
"See: you can speak 'Mon,' and she'll love you forever, and you'll love Club Banana," Kimberly gushed, and she stood up and pulled me up, as well.
"Ever since Dad ran away, I've always shopped at J-Store," and Kimberly visibly shuddered.
"Girl, even Ron can show you stuff at Smarty Mart for a better price and quality that you'll get at the J-Dog," Kimberly chuckled, and I laughed. She flipped on her Kimmunicator and called Monique.
"Mon? Kim. Fashion 911! Five minutes, in front of the Bunker! I need your MSS."
"Kim! No problem, but what happened?"
"I found something that was lost, Mon: a friend that I'd misplaced, I hope, has come back," and Kimberly smiled as I nodded as Mon broke the connection.
"Kimberly, you have to tell me one thing," I said in a calmer voice. I didn't hate her, anymore, but I had to know….
"What's that, Justine?"
"About Ronald: Big Ears, and…?" and she looked shocked, then grinned a very wicked grin and nodded vigorously.
"I found that out when we exchanged bodies," and she opened the door as I stared at her.
"Exchanged bodies? Like, switched brains?" and she nodded as I went thru the door. "That's impossible, Kim!"
"'Check my name,' Ms. Flanner," and she giggled as we stepped into the elevator.
"Oh, and by the way: someone has a huge crush on you," she said matter-of-factly, and I almost teleported to the surface.
"WHO?"
"Mike Cotton."
"As in 'Big Mike?'"
"The very same," she replied as the elevator door opened. "He told me when I was in detention that time: he thinks, in his words, 'Brainy is sooo cute!'"
Now, I have a 5-proton hydrogen atom, and someone thinks I'm cute? Can't be happening, Flanner.
Monique was outside the door with a drop-dead gorgeous older girl that I thought I'd seen here before.
"Justine!" Monique squealed, and she ran up and hugged me.
"Monique," I responded tentatively. I wasn't used to all these hugs.
"Justine, this is Rebecca Jane Casey; Rebecca Jane, this is Justine Flanner, my friend," and as Kimberly introduced us, I felt better just to hear those words 'my friend.' "Rebecca Jane was responsible for Joss' swimsuit that she had on yesterday as well as and the new suit that Bonnie's been showing off," and Ms. Casey smiled and then grinned wickedly.
"Can you do that for me?" I asked eagerly. I never thought about my looks before, mainly because I never considered anyone except Ronald as even a remote possibility. Ms. Casey grinned even bigger.
"Oh, most definitely, Ms. Flanner."
"Justine."
"Justine," she repeated as we got into a car, and she got behind the drivers' seat.
"Hand on, Justine: you're in for the ride of your life," and Rebecca Jane gunned it, and we burned rubber on dirt: a feat in itself.
'I'm hanging on, Rebecca Jane, and I'm ready.'
-----
I just stepped out of the car when we returned from my all-day pampering (that's what it turned out to be, and darn it: I enjoyed it immensely!), and Ronald turned the corner and ran into me, almost knocking me down.
"I'm sorry, miss, are you hurt?" and I shook my head no.
"Well, then, you must be an angel, because you surely must have fallen from Heaven," Ronald was smooth, and all three of them (Kim, Monique, and Rebecca Jane) were holding their mouths to keep from laughing.
"Who did I have the extreme pleasure of bumping into?" Ronald reached down, took my hand, and kissed it. I giggled, and that gave me away.
"Justine!?" I nodded, and Ronald smiled real big!
"Justine, I didn't recognize you: you look smokin' good!"
"Why, thank you, Ronald," I replied with a bit of a smile.
"KP, no offense, but would you be very upset if I had dinner with an old friend instead of you, tonight?"
"No, Ron, as long as Justine doesn't mind," and I shook my head no.
"How about dinner at 6:30 tonight, Justine?" I nodded.
"Good: I'll meet you right here at 6:30, OK? I'll cook something special for us," and Ronald kissed my hand again and trotted off, whistling.
"Kim, are you sure you want to keep him? I'll take him off your hands for another disruptor, and I'll even make this one portable. The man makes me speechless!"
"Nice try, Justine, but I already tried with Ron and struck out," Rebecca Jane stated sadly, then grinned broadly. "But, if he's cooking for you, you must be someone special, so you might just have a chance," which resulted in Kim's comment:
"HEY: NO TOUCHEE MY BOYFRIEND!"
Monique laughed at her as we all headed upstairs to store my loot.
-----
I came to the spot outside where I was to meet Ronald , and there was a sign pointing to a door in the main building and flower petals making a path to that door.
I followed the petals, thinking how lucky Kimberly was to have won Ronald , and I started to tear up a bit, but I held up and didn't do it.
I pulled open the door, and there was my dream dinner table come to life:
A small, round table for two, an ivory-white, perfectly starched linen tablecloth on top, and two of each: tall, white candles flickering, and long-stemmed red roses, one in each bud vase. I walked over the table and leaned over, smelling the roses: freshly-picked.
"Excuse me, but this room is reser-Justine?" Ronald was more than a little surprised, and he smiled really big..
I was wearing a navy satin halter dress that Rebecca Jane has picked over my objections, and it contrasted perfectly with my pale skin and showed off more skin than I ever had shown before with the V-neckline. My 'girls' were enhanced with the extra built-in support in the dress. I wore a pair of navy 2-inch pumps and navy sheer hose, and I felt like a princess must have felt.
"Good evening, Ronald."
"Justine: you look magnificent," and he KISSED ME ON THE CHEEK! RONAND DEAN STOPPABLE KISSED ME! "That dress is so beautiful, but not as beautiful as the person wearing it."
"Thank you, Ronald, but I'm nobody special," and Ronald stared at me and took my face in his hands and stared at me!
"Justine," he almost growled, "note the serious face: you are most definitely somebody special. I don't waste my time with nobodies, and I definitely don't spend my time with people who aren't special. Therefore, by definition, you fit two categories, which makes you doubly special in my book," and he KISSED MY NOSE!
"So, Madam Flannery of the special house of Ron's friends, shall we dine?" and he released my face, put his arm around my waist, and guided me the two steps to the table, pulled my chair out for me, and placed my napkin in my lap.
"Watch it, big boy," I teased him, and he grinned and walked briskly into the kitchen.
DID I JUST MAKE A PASS AT RONALD STOPPABLE?
He returned with a rolling cart piled high with covered dishes and containers, pulling it up next to the table.
"I hope you don't mind: I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could, so I prepared the dinner to be served from the cart."
"No, Ronald, I don't mind at all," and I smiled.
I SMILED?
"Justine, you are the only person besides my mother who calls me Ronald and can have it sound like music; you know you always could do that," and he placed a soup bowl in both places and uncovered the soup tureen.
"Tonight's soup is not BellCam's chicken noodle," and I grinned. "We have a lightly-seasoned seafood medley, containing shrimp, scallops, crab, and lobster in a freshly-made seafood broth with cilantro, green onions, and a hint of chives," and we began my night of magic.
-----
The meal was fantastic.
The dinner company made the meal look like school cafeteria no-cheese cheese pizza.
Ronald was charming, witty, funny…all of the things that I remembered about him from those two 'dates.'
So, why wasn't I mad that I wasn't spending the night with him?
Yes, I, Justine Flanner, who'd only dated one boy in her entire life, was ready to spend tonight and all of eternity with this man.
We talked about everything under the sun, literally: from High School to the days at Elementary and Middle Schools, from Bonnie ("Justine, she has soo changed, and for the better!") to Kimberly ("I don't know, Justine, after the prom I was so hooked on Kim; it's only gotten better since then, and I didn't think that was possible." "Check her name, Ronald," and we laughed together), to Connie from elementary school ("You remember her: she had the neck brace, and she was so tall." "Ronald, she was tall because she was wearing the back and neck brace, and she was forced to stand up straight, not slouch like most fifth graders!" "oh."), to Rufus ("How long can I expect him to live, Justine?" "Ronald, he's already off the charts, so I have no idea." "Can't you just make a new chart for him?").
He told me about Wade, and his struggles with agoraphobia, and how proud he was that Wade was still here, and how Wade had fallen, hard, for Jocelyn. I told him a story about Wade in one of my classes, and Ronald laughed heartily. Then, he told me some of what Wade went thru with the Diablos. We drank a toast to Wade with white sparkling grape juice.
Ronald told me part of Joss' story, and I cried with him. We then drank a toast to innocence lost.
I had so much fun that my smile muscles started to hurt.
-----
It was 10:15 before Ronald walked me out of the dining room, and the sky was clear and the moon was full.
"Justine, I'll say it again: you look ravishing," and he kissed my cheek again.
"You deserved someone so much better than me," he said sadly, and I wanted to slap him and kiss him.
"What do you mean, so much better than you? Ronald Dean Stoppable, you are the man of my dreams: what could be better than that?"
"Someone who wouldn't dump you after two dates because his best friend was jealous of you," he said, and he lowered his head.
"Kimberly … was jealous … of me?" I shook my head several times to make sure that no circuits were broken.
"Yes, Justine; remember, we were 12, and you were my first date ever, and Kim had wanted that to be her. When I told her that we had gone to a movie, she cried. When I told her that we were going out again, she got mad. She told me that it was 'your best friend forever, or Justine,' and I had to make a choice after that date," and I was mad at Kimberly, age 12, but no longer mad at this Kimberly, and felt sorry for Ronald, age 12, and cared about this Ronald.
"I knew that you were coming up, and I had hoped that I would see you, Justine, so I could give you this," and he smiled as he handed me a small book.
I opened the cover, and laminated inside were his two movie tickets and the receipts from our pizza dinners.
Ronald Dean Stoppable could always make me cry, and I almost started, then.
"I wanted you to know how special you were to me, Justine, and you will always be that special. You were my first date, ever, and no one can take that away from you or me. When every other girl ignored me or laughed at me, you took a chance. I took that same chance with Kim, and now we're a couple.
"I'll do anything and everything I can to help you find 'your Ronald,' Justine," and he kissed me on the nose, again.
"Thank you for having faith in me, Justine," and he turned and took a step, but I stopped him.
"Ronald!" I yelled, and he turned around.
"I will always remember you, Ronald. And, I'll always remember tonight: this has been the most special night in my life."
"A special night for a very special lady," and he came back and held out his hand.
"Care for a late night stroll, milady?" and I took his hand.
"What do you know about Mike Cotton?" I asked him as we began to walk.
"You mean, besides the fact that he has the extreme hots for you, Justine?" and I looked at him in surprise: Kimberly was right?
"Does everybody know this except me?"
"Well, the incoming freshman don't know it, yet, but they haven't been on campus for longer than two-three hours for pre-registration," and Ronald grinned his dreamy, goofy grin.
I loved that grin: it was the grin of a new day dawning for Justine Flanner.
-----
"Bonnie!" I called out as I walked towards the swimming hole. Bonnie looked over the top of her book.
"Justine? When did you get here?" and she jumped up and hugged me.
Bonnie? Hugging?
"I've been here a couple of days.
"Wow, Bonnie, that swimsuit sure looks great on you."
"You think so, Justine? Thanks," and she smiled.
It must be a synthodrone, like Dr. Drakken used on Kimberly.
"Yours looks great, too, Justine. That mesh dress shows just enough of your swimsuit to get attention," and she pointed to the group of guys that were watching me and giving me the thumb's up!
That's it, they must all be synthodrones.
And then we both had the same thought:
"Rebecca Jane!" and we both laughed as we sat down to really talk to each other for the first time since third grade.
-----
I stayed another week, and I had the time of my life, but Stockholm was beckoning.
I had already thanked Monique and Rebecca Jane.
Now, it was time for Ronald, my Ronald…but no longer My Ronald: he belongs to someone else, now.
He and Kimberly were standing by my car, waiting.
It was time.
"You're leaving early," Kimberly pouted. I laughed.
"Yes, I have a quick experiment to check, then a conference in Stockholm, but somewhere I need to stop by Mike's house and deliver something," and I smiling.
I seemed to have been doing that a lot, lately: smiling.
"Oh, really?" Kimberly smirked. "And what would that be, Justine?"
"Oh, just a message, Kimberly," and I smiled, and Ronald gulped.
"We've created a monster, Kim. Run like the wind, Big Mike! Run, be free!" and he and Kimberly both laughed along with me.
"Kimberly, thank you."
"Awww, Justine, 'No Big.'"
"It was Big, Kimberly: really, really Big. We're talking real-time cold fusion big," I responded, and I did the last thing that she expected me to have done when I got here, and what I wanted to do:
I hugged Kimberly Ann Possible, and she hugged me back.
"Same shampoo," we both said.
"Jinx! You both owe me a kiss!" Ronald was feeling bold, so we each kissed a cheek, and laughed as he feigned falling down in shock.
"The Ron-Man has the ladies in a tiz-zie!" he said, and Kimberly giggled.
"I'll leave you two alone, Justine. See you in school, and good luck with the conference," and Kimberly turned and walked away.
I noticed that Ronald was enjoying watching Kimberly walk away a bit too much.
"Ronald!" and he turned back to face me, his dreamy, goofy look back on his face.
I loved that look, and I always will.
"Ronald, thank you for the best night of my life," I told him, and I was sincere.
"I feel like I've just been Pygmalion'ed."
"What do pigs have to do with it, Justine?" He asked.
I looked at him in shock, then laughed when he winked at me.
"I was thinking of the more modern version: 'My Fair Lady,'" he said as he reached over and kissed my cheek.
"You are, and you shall always be, 'My Fair Lady,' Justine. I was no Rex Harrison, but I thought back then that you were way prettier than Julie Andrews."
"Oh, Ronald," and I hugged him for that.
"It's true, Justine, because you gave me the courage and confidence to finally go and be with Kim, even when it hurt you."
"I really didn't plan that, Ronald."
"I know, Justine, but that's what it felt like to me.
"Thank you, Justine," and he kissed my cheek again, then pulled back, smiled, and hugged me tight.
It was just wonderful, but it felt different, now.
"I'm telling," a familiar voice came out, and we separated and I turned to see-
"Leaving so soon, Justine?" Wade grinned, and came over and stood, looking me over.
"Thanks for treating Joss so well, Justine. That means a lot to me."
"I know, Wade, and you're welcome," and I kissed the top of his head.
"Judging from your clothes and your smile, you're a lot better than you were when you got of the car, days ago."
"'Once again, Dr. Load, you are correct,'" I quoted the class response, and we both laughed. "How about you, Wade?"
"Hey: I'm not in jail, so that's a good thing," he responded, and I took that comment and got in my car and closed the door, rolling my window down after I started the car.
Ronald leaned over thru the car window, turned my face to his, and
RONALD DEAN STOPPABLE KISSED ME ON THE LIPS!
It was just a brush, but it was wonderful. Another dream to store, and I envied Kim: she would have so many more of those kisses to come.
"Bye, Justine. Have a safe trip to Stockholm, but stay away from the meat cakes!"
"Why?"
"I have no idea!" and he pulled back and waved as I raised the window.
He mouthed 'Thank You,' and I mouthed 'Be Well, Ronald,' and he clutched his heart and grinned his goofy grin.
I pulled out of the ranch parking area and headed forward to Middleton.
-----
I didn't get to Mike's house until I got back from Stockholm: Mom was so happy to see me that she made me sit down and tell her everything that happened. My little brother and sister were both ecstatic that I brought them autographed pictures of Team Possible, all in one picture and individuals. I had a lot of time to think about everything that happened to and from Stockholm, and I received rave reviews of my new attire there.
Oh, and by the way: the conference went extremely well, and I was invited back for next year.
-----
Just before school started, I drove over to Mike's house with my message.
I knocked on the door, and Mike came to the door.
"Hey, Justine," he said in his quiet voice as he came outside and closed the door behind him.
"What brings you here?"
"I didn't know, Mike," and I grinned, "and I wanted to give you these two things before school started," and I handed him the package.
"That's just one," he said softly, and he looked confused.
"And this," and I jumped up and kissed his cheek.
"I think you're cute, too," and I ran back to my car and got in, closing the door.
I looked thru the windshield at Mike: he was standing there, a big grin on his very red face, reaching his hand up to just barely touch the spot where I kissed him. He looked up, waved, then opened the package and pulled out the contents.
The one on top turned his face even redder, and his grin got even bigger, and he gave me a 'Big Mike' thumbs-up.
'Gotcha!' I thought as I backed the car into the street and headed home.
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Intermezzo 5 fin.