Redeemable? Chapter 7: Old Friend, a kim possible fanfic

Redeemable: Part 7 – Old Friend

For the first time in recent memory, Bonnie felt she was truly happy. Sure, there were fleeting moments when she could feel that, but it never seemed to last. Something she had done or something somebody around her had done would always bring her crashing back down into self-loathing and depression.

Instead she had the best prospect for a new boyfriend than she had since she broke up with Brick (it felt better to think of it that way rather than outright admitting that he dumped her.) It wasn't the fun they had together that made her think that way either. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, and considering how much fun it had been, that estimation had proven correct. It worried her a little how casual she had been about it, but kept telling herself it was because there was something real between them. Her only regret about Sunday afternoon was never going out and finding something to put the roses in, as they died pretty quickly left out.

The real test would come Friday night. He had already crossed the smaller hurdle of calling her the next day. She burned up the whole battery and a good chunk of her minutes just talking to him about nothing. Well, not just nothing. Somehow, listening to somebody ramble on and on about Kim and then being able to respond in kind felt good. In fact, is somehow released some of the power her former rival still held over her. The more they went on and on, the pettier those old differences sounded. Pretty quickly both of them were spent on the issue and moved on to more forgettable things to talk about. She was left feeling she had just had a really good time doing nothing more than lying alone on her bed with her cell phone plastered to her ear. Mervin was perhaps the first guy she had ever done that with. He was certainly a great deal smarter than her…former…boyfriend.

The date would be something else. It was to be planned, prepared for and he was going to have to treat her like a queen. What had happened their last two meetings wasn't necessarily part of the deal, though it wasn't ruled out or forbidden. After all, Bonnie Rockwaller wasn't a slut and she enjoyed being pampered other ways.

As for the present, she had other ways of pampering herself. Her Wednesday afternoon class had been canceled, so she took the train across town to retrieve her car in order to do some driving. Public transportation was driving her batty, so she was going to have to hit her father up for some more money in order to keep her car closer to campus.

Stupid rule against resident Freshmen parking on campus!

The other big problem with taking the train was that the stops were never as close as she would like to her destination. The long-term storage lot was at least half a mile or walking in the crowded city, if she didn't manage to get lost in the process. So far she hadn't been back to the lot since she dropped her car off the day she moved onto campus. That was all going to stop when she was a sophomore. For one, she would definitely force her parents to get her an apartment near the campus rather than spend one more year living in those nasty dorms. There seemed little chance she would luck out again and get a single. After having her own room most of her life, she was most def not ready for a roommate. Her only recent experience of actually sharing a room like that had been the Senior Ski Trip.

That really ended badly. Much as she despised Kim, she really screwed up by going through her things. That wasn't called for, by any stretch of the imagination. So what if she was taking the pill? Turned out it was for other reasons than the most obvious one, so Bonnie was the one with egg on her face. What she thought was a weapon ended up being a double-edged sword, hurting both of them.

Then there was that suit. What on Earth possessed her to steal it? Was she going to wear it and pretend she was Kim Possible? Why didn't she just put it back instead of stuffing it into another former friends bag?

She put those questions back out of her mind as she rounded the last corner before reaching the entrance of the lot. She could already see her baby blue two thousand six convertible Mustang. They even parked it under a tree so it wouldn't be quite so hot in the late summer sun.

Bonnie was distinctly less happy when she got closer to her most prized possession. Sure, a true might provide shade, but it also provided a roost for hundreds of birds. The attendant just shrugged, totally disregarding the fact she just verbally ripped his head off. They parked it where there was space. They kept the thieves out, not the birds. If she wanted, she could pay double and have it parked in a deck.

If her eyes had been lasers she would have sliced the guy clean in two, but alas, all she could do was glare daggers at him as she signed her car out. As it was, she barely had time to take it to a do-it yourself car-wash. She couldn't take it through drive through because of the rag top.

At least it sounded good once she got out on the expressway and opened it up. The V8 engine and the dual pipe, dual outlet mufflers had that signature pony car growl. Putting the top down she got into the fast lane, running with the traffic so she would have less chance of being stopped for speeding.

Her car still needed some hand detailing. Maybe when she saw Mervin's house she could come over, hook up a hose and get him to help her washing it. That way she could wear that little red bikini she had in the bottom drawer of her dresser. She was sure he (and every other straight male in the vicinity) would appreciate that view.

The inner belt expressway was built on an elevated platform, so she could see over most of the warehouses in the dock district below her. The view of the lake was spectacular. Lake Middleton back home was no slouch as far as a man-made mountain reservoir was concerned, but the great lakes looked more like an ocean to her.

For perhaps the first time she noticed the tower out in the middle of the bay. Actually, it looked more like some sort of modernistic sculpture than a building. It was tall and narrow and for some odd reason spelled the word "Go." Did Go City have some sort of collective inferiority complex that they had to put it's name out on the lake in the form or a two hundred foot concrete tower?

She didn't have too long to ponder that fact. The exit for O'Neil International Airport loomed ahead, so she made her way over to the right lane. She didn't want to chance getting lost off the expressway if she missed the turn. A pretty, petite woman in a sports car lost in a bad neighborhood was just…not something she wanted to experience. She had yet to join a local dojo, but she was still smart enough to know being a black belt in Karate didn't mean squat against firearms.

Bonnie was quite surprised when she got the call. She hadn't spoken to her old friend much in almost a year. At the start of her senior year in high school there was a sort of schism in the ranks of the cheer squad. Some of her friends found themselves in the uncomfortable position of taking sides, and for the most part, they had gone over to Kim. In the end she really couldn't blame them, but the hurt was there. Maybe now that the pain had dulled there was a chance of patching things up. She certainly hoped so. This one person had once been her best friend and had been by her side since elementary school.

There was no mistaking her once she pulled into the pickup lanes in front of the huge complex. Even from a distance she could pick up the platinum blonde hair and as she got closer, she could even see her luminous blue eyes. Ever since she could remember she envied Tara. In her opinion, the sweet girl was in fact the most beautiful girl in the whole school, though she would never, ever admit that.

She only had one bag, so she quickly threw it in the back seat and hopped into the car with her old girlfriend.

"Okay, Bonnie, I want you to tell me everything!"

"Everything? About what? School sucks, the classes are crowded and the food in the caf really stinks. I mean literally, it smells bad."

"That's not what I mean. I want you to spill about this new guy."

"Say what? I didn't even mention him." She was utterly surprised. For a change, Tara had done most of the talking during their short phone conversation the day before.

"Oh, come on. I've known you long enough to know how you sound when you're into some guy, and you just confirmed it." Tara giggled as the car sped back onto the expressway.

"I did what?"

"You said 'him.' If you didn't have some hottie on the line you wouldn't have said that."

Bonnie glanced over at the bubbly blonde. Did she underestimate her? Or was that school in Kentucky actually teaching her the ins and outs of gossip?

"Come on, what's he like? Is he a big hunk like Brick, or maybe like…Josh?" She got a faraway look in her eyes thinking about her boyfriend back home in the Tri-City.

"Well, he's kinda good looking. Definitely built more like Josh, maybe a little thinner. Taller."

"Aaaand?"

The look Tara shot her surprised her, especially coming from one of the more notable 'wait for the wedding night' types she knew. She guessed that didn't exclude talking about it.

"We, uh, haven't been out on a date yet. He's taking me out this Friday, though."

"Uh huh." She replied. Bonnie immediately realized that her old friend was quite capable of reading between the lines. "So, what's his name?"

"Well, heh, it's kind of a funny name. Mervin."

"Does Merv kiss good?"

"Yes, and he hates being called Merv. He's one of those guys who doesn't like nicknames."

"Oh? So I take it you haven't told him your full name yet, have you?"

"Tara, as far as I'm concerned, Bonnie is my proper name. If I had the time or the money I'd get a lawyer and get it changed legally. It's bad enough when my Mom or Stoppable calls me Bon-Bon. If any more people knew it was Bonne Delia, I'd just die."

"Humph. I think that's a pretty name. That's what it means, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. Still don't like it." She turned her attention back to her driving, turning down a ramp that would take them to Lake-Land Mall. Bonnie had already been there a couple times, though the experience kind of left her wanting. For a building twice the size of the mall back home, it seemed to have almost all the same stores, just in a different order; Club Banana, Abyss, Victoria's Circuits, Alexandria's Confession, Body and Bath Factory. She was starting to wonder if that was true of every mall in the country.

After driving at close to eighty miles per hour on the freeway, the ground level traffic seemed sluggish and frustrating. Bonnie had to fight the urge to lean on her horn as she pulled up to yet another backup. Tara was only going to be there for the evening, before boarding an overnight train to Denver, where Josh Mankey would be waiting to drive her back to Upperton for a couple days.

"Aw, come on! How can traffic be this backed up on an eight lane road?" Bonnie fumed. She kept staring straight ahead, trying to figure out what was going on, at least until Tara gasped.

She almost turned her head as a dark figure jumped into the tiny back seat of her car. Any further thoughts of looking at the intruder were swept away as the barrel of a pistol pressed against the side of her head.

"Drive, girl." He ordered.