A/N: Hello again, everyone. I didn't anticipate this story stretching out to another chapter after this - that's right, there will be one more chapter at least - and yet, here we am. I also didn't anticipate settling into a chapter every two weeks, although some of my other stories it's been more than two years since I updated. Well, we'll see.
The latest figures have the addition of eight reviews and a story alert, as well as a story alert for one of my other stories. Hey, this might have contributed to that. I'd like to thank each and every one of you individually, and I will too, as you well know.
To King of Darkness, thank you, Your Highness. I too like those particular interactions. Tara's not finished with Kim yet.
Mr. Average, thank you. I like the clever turn of phrase as much as the next person. We have fun with words in my family, and I try to be smart in that regard whenever I can. I think I've had an experience or two with YIM. I think I remember it could have gone better, although I've had some times worse than others with AIM too. (shrugs) As to the job, it looks like the business is going to close. That's the bad news; the good news is the guy who used to be the boss here has said he could use me so it looks like I'm going to continue in the same line of work. We'll see if I can keep making a living at it. Long story.
Daccu65, thank you. As to the job, see above. As to the story, I too like to focus on the minor characters. Sometimes I look at a show and imagine what kind of stories there could be under the surface. I'm going to try to get other cheerleaders involved; we'll see.
Thank you, kaiokken. There's nothing wrong with what Tara is doing; she hasn't really done anything yet! And Kim, have feelings for Ron? He's Ron! They're just best friends; they're not interested in dating! Can you tell I was saying that in my Kim voice? Seriously, again, they're not at that point in their relationship yet! She had no problem with him dating Zita, did she? As late as the third season which led up to So The Drama, they both said that them even appearing to date would be awk-weird. And ogod check on the spell chek Oops, there I go again.
Thank you, Comet Moon. Tara, manipulative? Perish the thought! If she was, blame it on Bonnie's influence. Speaking of Bonnie, no she wasn't aware; she wasn't even online. Bendy? I'm not sure what that means. Like Bender B. Rodriguez of Futurama?
Thank you, SWP. Thanks for your concern about my personal life too; we're getting through it, one day at a time, you know. As to Bonnie, I like to think she truly has her best friend's interests at heart. She sees Tara crushing on Ron, she sees Ron tight with Kim, she knows that Tara's heading for a heartache, and she can't let that happen. As to Kim's feelings for Ron, see above.
Eoraptor, thank you. As to the episode order, I'm going by the production order, in which Crush is number 13. True, it was the first episode shown, but showing episodes out of order is so common isn't not funny. This at least took place after Tick, Tick, Tick; which was the first time Kim & Ron met Drakken & Shego. According to the production order this takes place after Number One, which took place after Sink Or Swim. I'm basing this on that as you can see from the first chapter.
And my panda pal, you got in just under the wire. Actually, you got in just over the wire, but I had to include you. What, Tara, devious? Nah, certainly not. So she's not as dumb as the blonde stereotype or the cheerleader stereotype would make you think. So she's human and she knows who & what she wants; does that make her a bad person? I don't think so. I like to think of her as someone you want to be your friend, which would mean you don't want her for your enemy. I'm not saying her wrath would be anything like, say, Bonnie; it's just, you know. Thank you for your review, the one that almost got away.
And here's the next chapter.
Kim Possible and all Kim Possible characters and concepts are copyright Schooley-McCorkle and Walt Disney Television Animation, a unit of Disney Entertainment / Buena Vista Entertainment.
George 'Terrible' Testaverde is copyright the superlative John Moschitta and Peter Engel Entertainment and NBC, a unit of RCA. (I borrowed one of my favorite teachers from Bayside High of Saved By the Bell fame)
George Washington and Winston Churchill are copyright themselves.
I don't know who has the copyright on Global Positioning Satellites, if anyone.
Chapter Seven: It All Comes Together
The next day - the day of the Spirit Dance - more than one member of the cheer squad came to school with a lot on her mind. At least three cheerleaders - a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, believe it or not - were a bit preoccupied; and while there might have been various degrees of overlap in the size and / or content of their respective collections of cranial baggage, the intersection was by no means one hundred percent.
Take a certain pretty little blue-eyed blonde named Tara Gardner. She was the only one of the three who already had a date to the dance - Ron Stoppable - but she was by no means secure in that status, at least in her own mind. Ron had a female best friend, Kim Possible - a redhead who was head cheerleader btw - who had her eyes on a certain pretty boy, Josh Mankey. Problem: Tara's own best friend, Bonnie Rockwaller - brunette co-captain of the squad and arch-rival of Kim - had eyes for the same boy. Now, if Kim got to Josh first, Bonnie might go back to Brick Flagg, her old boyfriend, who was pretty reliable, if not too bright. But if Bonnie got to Josh first, Kim would be left high and dry, and Ron - Tara's date but Kim's best friend, remember - might feel obligated to go with her as they had always gone together as friends. And where would that leave Tara?
With that in mind, she was in a bit of a sitch: risk Bonnie landing Josh and risk her own date with Ron, or insure her own date with Ron by helping Kim to land Josh even if it meant betraying her best friend.
Then there's Bonnie. In addition to the above, she was also the Queen Bee of the student social structure, or Food Chain as it is sometimes known; no mean accomplishment for a sophomore. She also had no support at home in the form of a blissfully ignorant mother and two older sisters who were geometrically worse in personality than her, if such a thing is possible. It was really a lot to deal with; no one appreciated just what kinds of pressure she was constantly under. Or at least that was what she told herself.
As to the dance, she could easily get back with Brick, who she'd just dumped - for the third time - but there was her pride to consider. Even without this sitch, she hardly ever smiled. With it, well…
And then there was Kim. It took a lot to get on her mind, as not much got to her. Fighting super-villains and saving the world on a regular? No big. Keeping above-average grades? No big. All her clubs and activities? No big. A longtime best friend of the opposite gender who tended toward the random, lived his life by the credo 'never be normal', and occasionally freaked out? Maybe a bit annoying, but only on a sporadic basis. No, Kim Possible had just two weaknesses - three if you count Club Banana: boys and Bonnie. And lately the latter had been exploiting the former to the redhead's detriment.
The topper had come the previous night, not from Bonnie but from Tara. The blonde had cybertronically warned her - for reasons of her own - that if she didn't secure the date with Josh, Bonnie would. Adding a sense of wonder as to Tara's motives to her stressing over the young artist, it could be understood if Kim's brain was a bit out to lunch, or brunch considering the time of day.
She had come to school that day determined to get to the bottom of things by grilling Tara, but the blonde was prepared. She was sticking with her BFF like glue, accurately figuring that Kim wouldn't want to talk about it with Bonnie around. This had the secondary effect of keeping Bonnie from asking Josh, to the point that she'd finally asked Tara if she even wanted her to ask Josh to the dance or not. While Tara most certainly did not, she figured it wouldn't be good to tell Bonnie that, so she apologized and put a little bit of distance between the two of them, but not much. You never knew if Kim Possible was watching or where or when she'd turn up; sixteen types of kung fu might not be the same as having ninja skills, but at Middleton High School it was close enough.
O
Third period, and the dance is hours away. Early in the hour, Kim and Ron had been paged over the PA system to report to the assistant principle's office. They both knew what that entailed, so they resigned themselves to spending their free period meeting with Barkin, After-Action Reports - and extra homework in Ron's case - in hand.
As that meeting was winding down, strict protocol was being maintained; Barkin had ingrained the necessity for such regimentation in his office, much like when Kim went 'mission mode'. With the end of the debriefing in sight, there was a perceptible air of being able to relax, and the old soldier finally felt the situation was appropriate to allow himself a minute or so of interacting with and caring for the students, in his own brusque way.
"Possible, is something the matter? You seem a bit preoccupied."
Ron knew from experience not to speak unless he was spoken to, so he just turned in his seat toward his best friend and raised an eyebrow expectantly, indicating that he shared Barkin's concern for her, even more so.
Kim's eyes momentarily flared, along with her nostrils.
Immediately thereafter, though, she regained control. Her sight flickered to the man across from her, then to the boy next to her, before taking a few seconds vacation behind tightly closed eyelids as she inhaled deeply. Opening her eyes, she spoke.
"N-n-no, Mr. Barkin. I'm just, I've just got a lot on my mind, that's all."
She was denying the truth; he could smell it. But the teacher-student dynamic was such that he couldn't really pursue it; he could only wait for the situation to resolve itself, as they had a way of doing when it came to Kim Possible. So he took his turn at raising an eyebrow at her, glanced briefly at Ron as if to communicate an unspoken message (Ron played a significant part in resolving the aforesaid situations relating to Kim, and Barkin knew that too), then with nothing more to say, brought the meeting to a close.
"Very well then. It's still free period, so the two of you have the rest of the hour to yourselves. You may go now."
"Thank you, Mr. Barkin." the two of them chorused as they stood.
As he was turning around to leave, Ron couldn't help but feel a warm feeling on the back of his neck. Turning back, he saw a now-standing Barkin boring a hole into him with his eyes; Ron was getting a lot of that lately. As soon as their eyes locked, Barkin started nodding, slowly. Ron picked up on the silent message, nodded himself - quickly - and then hurried to catch up with Kim.
The message? To stick with Kim and find out what was wrong with her, and to do what he could to resolve it. It was something he was going to do anyway.
O
Meanwhile, in a classroom taught by George 'Terrible' Testaverde, Tara surreptitiously glanced at her watch.
She knew that this was a free period for Team Possible. She also knew that on this, the day of the Spirit Dance as well as the rest of the week, those who were on the decoration committee were excused from class early to finish their jobs. That included a certain young artist named Josh Mankey.
With Kim and Josh on the loose, the blonde felt that she needed to be there and somehow make sure someone asked someone to the dance. Then they could go off to the gym or wherever, and Ron would be left there for her to spend an extra minute or two with.
O
By now Ron had caught up with Kim. As they ambled between the rows of lockers on either side, Ron briefly pondered on how to broach the subject with Kim of what had her tweaked.
He decided to do what he always did: open his big mouth and let out whatever subject found its way to the front of his mouth first, no matter how random.
"So, how do you want to spend the rest of the free period?"
Silence came from her.
"We could go to the library. Maybe get in early for lunch?"
More silence.
"Or maybe to the gym? No, wait, no practice the day of the dance, right?"
He got a response from her that time. Two letters, and both of them were the letter 'm'.
Exhausting himself in the easygoing vein - for the moment - Ron decided to go empathetic.
"You had any more mission flashbacks?"
"No."
Well, that was the most he'd gotten out of her yet!
Encouraged, his easygoing nature decided to resurface and combine with the empathy.
"Kim, Drakken's in jail, Christmas was saved! What's the big?"
He knew that putting in his theory that the Blue Meanie himself had discounted would get her to crack, and he was right. She rounded on him as her mouth - and certain other body parts (no, not those parts!) went into motion.
"Okay, first of all, he was NOT trying to steal Christmas!", she spouted, or is it shouted? Then, having let off some steam, she seemed to give up on holding out on her friend. "…and I've got to tell you, Drakken, was easy compared to this." she finished, managing to retain a bit of attitude.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Ron went into encouragement mode, one of his favorites when it came to her. "Reality check, Kim. If you can defeat an international super-freak, you can handle Josh Mankey."
As he finished, he struck a muscle-building pose, but not even he knew why. It couldn't have been about Josh; he was a pretty boy, not a muscle-bound jock.
Just then, the Kimmunicator rang.
O
A faint but unmistakable sound was overheard from down the hall. It was the door closing of the classroom next door, the room where Tara knew that Josh had class for that period.
She knew what that meant: Josh had just left the room, heading for the gym. With Kim and Ron probably already having ended their meeting with Barkin, there was a good chance that they would run into each other, and maybe someone would ask someone to the dance by the end of the hour. But how to tilt the odds in her favor?
She didn't even have a faint outline of a plan, but raising her hand, she put the plan she didn't have into action.
"Yes, Miss Gardner?"
Tara held up her hand with the watch and pointed to it with her other hand. Then she pointed toward the wall where the class calendar for the month was posted.
The balding teacher's eyes shifted above his closely cropped mustache, darting back and forth between the cheerleader and the calendar. In seconds he'd put the message together.
The watch. Time. The Calendar. Month. Time. Month. Time of the month.
Just before the beginning of the school year, the teachers had gone through orientation with the dean of female students. The code had been devised as a silent way of letting a teacher know that a girl had to get to the restroom, sooner rather than later.
Nodding, the teacher beckoned the student to come up to the desk as he pulled a bathroom pass out of his lap drawer.
Without a word, he handed it to her, and off she went.
After the door had closed, it occurred to the teacher that it had been that particular aspiring coed's 'time of the month' one time last week too. And according to the rules of teacher-student interaction, he couldn't ask her about it either. He would just have to content himself with notifying the dean of female students and leaving it to her.
O
Beep! Beep! BEE-Beep!
"Kim! He just left third period, and he's headed your way!"
"What?!"
"Subject: Mankey. I've triangulated his position on the GPS satellite."
O
The platinum blonde didn't walk the halls so much as she skulked them. It wouldn't do for either her date or her date's best friend or her date's best friend's potential date to see her before she saw any of them. Plus, it was also a free period for Bonnie so she had to look out for her best friend as well. Inwardly, Tara came close to despairing, knowing that the sitch called for at least two more eyes than she had. With no plan of action, she decided she might as well head for the gym - where she knew Josh would be at least - and hope for the best.
O
Speaking of the frosty-haired artist, he was almost to the gym when he remembered he still had his books, which he should probably put in his locker before he got to work. Some artists, like some geniuses, were prone to being a little absent-minded. Chuckling to himself - and not noticing a blonde shadow he seemed to have picked up somewhere - he headed for his locker, a hall or two past the gym.
O
"He's passing the gym."
Kim did a triple gasp, searching the hall in the general direction of where Josh would have to be coming from, then, panicking, opened the nearest door - fortunately, it was to a janitor's closet, not a classroom - and ducked inside. Ron hung back and looked around for a second, like he was standing guard or something, before a hand of his best friend reached out and pulled him inside with her. The door closed behind them, semi-gently, not hard enough to set the lock.
O
Tara flinched; she had just rounded a corner when she caught Mankey in the act of doing the same thing, just up ahead. She found herself entertaining uncharitable thoughts for the person who came up with the saying 'the thrill of the hunt'. Well, Washington and Churchill had found something musical in the sound of bullets firing in battle, early in their military careers. The platinum blonde decided that Washington and Churchill and that guy could have those thrills; she just wanted to get through the rest of the period without being discovered.
Taking a deep though silent breath, she peeked around the corner, and then continued tailing the artist.
O
Meanwhile, back in the closet…
Ron Stoppable peeked through the shutter blinds that formed the upper part of the inside of the door of the local repository for mops and brooms and buckets and things. The strangeness of the 'window' being lined with a blind on the inside and a grill on the outside idly passed through his mind before being chased by a more pressing matter: that of his best friend freaking out. He didn't like it when she was like that, and he tried to talk some sense into her. Still peeking through the blind…
"Okay, I think you've crossed a line here." He looked back at her, accusingly.
It was very seldom that she felt like this, but for one of the few times that she could remember, Kim Possible was at her end. "I, can't do it." Her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Wade on the Kimmunicator didn't exactly help things with his play-by-play.
"Target is on the move, closing in."
O
Josh rounded another corner, and there was his locker, just a few feet away from that janitor's closet. Some yards behind him, Tara was about to lose it, trying to simultaneously keep up with him and not be noticed. Knowing from previous recons with Bonnie that the artist kept his locker around this last corner, she leaned against the bank of lockers on the nearest wall and took another breath.
O
"...4, 3, 2, he's on top of you!"
Wade, you are so not helping! went through Ron's mind; even Rufus was being frightened, and the naked mole rat was never frightened! Well, except for maybe Ron's cousin Shawn's iguana. That little bully; he was just five- er, six, the folks kept saying; but he was an EVIL six!
Head in the game, Stoppable. Kim needs you. That much was obvious, as he saw her do a freak-out to rival some of his not-so-finest moments. Again she was gasping, again her eyes were darting about wildly in one direction and another, with much of the rest of her body following suit.
Looking about, Ron found providence smiling on him as he saw the bullhorn, right where he'd left it the previous day.
One hand went to the trigger and fingered it idly.
O
Josh approached his locker, opened it, and proceeded to stow his books inside. Just around the corner, Tara leaned her head on the lockers she was up against as she tried to plot her next move.
O
She replaced the Kimmunicator in her cargo pocket. For once, she got nuttin'.
"Maybe I just give up." she eked out as she walked past her best friend, resigning herself to letting golden hotness get away from her.
Ron couldn't believe it; yet again, she was doing the impossible - well, impossible for her. Kim Possible, defeated? By some pretty boy? What would this do to her confidence? Her reputation? What if Drakken and the others got word of this? And what would happen to him once Barkin found out that he'd failed the silent command from the office? Well, forget that! Not on my watch!
As he again placed one hand on her shoulder with a smile in comfort and support, the other hand raised the bullhorn. "I repeat," he said as he placed the bullhorn to his lips, "YOU CAN HANDLE THIS!"
O
"YOU CAN HANDLE THIS!" reverberated through the surrounding walls, eventually filtering through to the lockers against which Tara was resting her pretty little head.
"RON!" she whispered to herself. The message might not have been directed at her, but as far as she was concerned it might as well have been. That was her Ronnie-poo, taking care of business, making sure that Kim closed the deal.
She stopped short. Her Ronnie-poo. Where had that come from? Well, wherever it did, she found that she liked it. Not even one date between them yet, and already she had a pet name for him. She'd have to remember to try it out tonight, when they were alone.
Standing, she headed toward the corner, galvanized into action. Now if only she could figure out what action…
O
The redhead psyched herself up, closing her eyes tight and biting her bottom lip - not enough to draw blood. Then, deep breath, and she took the plunge, plunging outside that door, to where her destiny stood, at his locker.
He looked at her, and his smile broadened. "Hey."
She weakly raised a hand. "Hey."
O
As the blonde rounded the corner she saw the young artist standing there, his back to her. And facing him, in full view of her, was Kim. Panicking, Tara realized that if she could see Kim full-on, Kim could see her! She ducked back behind the corner. She needn't have bothered; Kim was focused on Josh and her insecurities, not necessarily in that order.
O
Her eyes went down, then up, then to the side, then,… "Um, oh, uh," Then she thought of something to talk about, the best she could do on such short notice. "I'm sorry about the banner," she gesticulated with one thumb and the other forefinger. "you know, the one I tore down." she finished, head down, hands clasped behind her back in the classic apologetic position.
His frostiness never ebbed; he was so cool. "Eh, it was kind of weak anyway."
And she was back up. "Oh, great!" then down. "I mean, too bad." then back up. "New one's better?"
"Much. Uh, don't tear it down." he responded, shaking his head.
"Definitely not." She responded, looking anywhere but at him.
O
Inside the closet, Ron was tempted to look for any stray nails lying about so he could chew on them. The tension his best friend had been going through seemed to have transferred to him with that pat on the shoulder, and it was doing a number on his head, his abdomen, and everywhere in between.
He wasn't the only one.
O
Peeking around the corner, Tara was practically having kittens.
Come on, Kim, gut it up already! What are you waiting for?
O
She was waiting for the latest flock of butterflies to land on whatever point of her guts they chose to. She was still nervous, but she was getting used to it; this was an adrenaline rush unlike in any of the parachute jumps she'd done. Still looking away, she continued. "I guess I'll see it at the dance, huh? Maybe, I'll see, YOU, there." she finished, briefly making eye contact with him before becoming fascinated at her shoes, and inadvertently wondering when or if she'd ever fill out on top like Bonnie or Tara or...
If Josh was having fun at her expense, he was doing a poor job of hiding it; his eyes were laughing so hard they should have been a mouth. "At the dance?"
She just kept looking away from him, still with her hands clasped behind her back. "Sure! Maybe you'll be there, maybe, with me?" She again looked back at him.
"Are you what, asking me to the dance?"
"I know, I know! I sound so random," - and she looked random too, she was physically all over the place. "but, yes, yes, I am."
"Cool!"
"Very." Finally relieved of her nervousness now that he'd said 'yes' - kind of - she pulled herself out of her apology stance and got comfortable, preparing herself to walk with him, which she did, heading back to the gym, taking the scenic route this time.
"So I'll come by around seven." The artist ventured, falling into step with her.
O
Tara couldn't tear herself away from the scene, even risking being seen, not that there was any real danger of that with Kim now concentrating solely on Josh. Her hands tightened into fists, she reversed-pumped while silently chanting, "Yes! Yes! YES!!" Josh was taken. Kim was taken! Her date with Ron was safe!!
Speaking of Ron, she noticed that now Kim & Josh were walking away, about to pass the closet where Ron must still be. It occurred to her that now Ron was alone in the closet, and might not his date - who just happened to be passing by - stop in and say hello?
She spun around the corner for the last time, prepared to do just that, when she noticed movement up ahead.
O
Ron was so proud of her. He was proud of himself too, for never giving up on her. He noticed Rufus was now on his shoulder, and joyously slapped him a high one - a finger, not the whole hand.
"YEAH!" the two of them chorused.
Then, as snatches of the conversation of the two passing by drifted through the doorway, Ron overheard Josh mentioning picking Kim up at seven, probably in that red convertible he'd heard about the artist getting for his birthday; apparently Mankey's 'rents liked to spoil him.
It occurred to Ron that he needed a ride as well, and why would he not tag along with Kim and her date? Well, why not he and his date; he'd need to check with Tara. With no further thought, the bullhorn swung back to his lips.
"I NEED A RIDE TOO!"
o
Tara saw the bullhorn rise to head level. She heard the voice of her crush. Then she saw something she didn't believe. She saw Kim's foot rising.
O
"I NEED A RIDE TOO!"
Kim heard it, but she couldn't believe it. Ron was actually trying to horn in on her date? Now that she'd finally hooked up with Josh, Ron was back to being his usual charming self? No way! She'd wasted enough time stressing over Josh; not one more minute!
Almost on instinct, her foot came up…
o
As the foot made contact with the door, and the door slammed shut, Tara stopped her forward progress, poleaxed.
She was in shock. Did Kim really just slam the door on Ron? Her best friend? And every student knew that if you slammed that door hard enough, it locked and couldn't be opened from the inside. Kim had locked her best friend up where he couldn't get out and would have to count on the kindness of a stranger if he saw the outside of that closet, for the whole weekend? What was that girl thinking?! She might think she's perfect, but she's not really all that.
Tara was shocked at what sounded like Bonnie's voice. She quickly looked around her and didn't see her BFF anywhere; apparently it was just in her head. But it was a good point, and it led to another one. Would Bonnie lock her in a closet over a date? No, she would not! Bonnie might have her faults - Tara would know that better than anyone else - but she was loyal to her friends, much less to her best friend. In that area, Bonnie clearly had it over Kim.
And she was still walking! She was walking away from her best friend! Tara had enough; she stalked over to that door to let Ron out, intending to have words with her captain later.
She could hear his apparently unfazed voice emanating from the door. "You could swing by around 7:15." Well, at least he'd put the bullhorn down.
As her hand went to the door, she could hear him still talking. "Actually, you know, my Mom's going to be hemming my pants, so maybe like 7:30..."
o
Ron continued, blithely unaware - for the moment - of the treachery of his best friend. No sooner had he said "7:30" than the door opened, and standing in the hall, her hand on the doorknob, was a certain smiling blue-eyed platinum blonde cheerleader with whom he just happened to have a date that very night.
"7:30 is doable."
"Tara?"
"I could definitely work with 7:30."
A slow smile spread over his face as he realized that his date was trying to finalize plans for their date. Well, she wasn't the only one who could definitely work with that!
It was then that he noticed she had her hand out to him. He took it and stepped out into the hall.
As they started to walk in step with each other, something occurred to Ron.
"RUFUS!"
In a sudden Ron Stoppable-style panic, he dashed back to the closet - with Tara hot on his heels. They divided the closet between them and started to tear through it in search of the naked mole rat.
It was Tara who had found the little guy. 'Here he is!"
Ron rounded and got within sound of his little buddy just in time to miss Rufus talking a blue streak. The only words Tara could understand were "Kim-Kim!", "Ow!", and maybe "Not cool!" She wasn't sure about that last one.
"Rufus! Buddy, are you all right?"
Rufus was about to repeat himself when he felt the soft touch of Tara's index finger stroking his back. And he heard her soft shushing voice.
"It's all right, Rufus. I'll have a talk with Kim about this. There's no need to get Ron mad at her, all right?"
Rufus had limited experience with the platinum blonde, but he knew that his human had a date with her and geniunely liked her, and that she was a really nice lady. Put that together with her gentle voice and gentle touch, and she carried the day. So he gave her a chance with a thumbs-up and squeaking out an "Okay." At least that's what she thought she heard him say.
As she handed him over, Tara found herself saying, "Maybe he should rest right now, Ronnie. He's just been through a bit of a shock."
As Ron gently laid his suddenly-sleepy pocket pal in his usual place, he nodded agreement.
"Yeah, that's a good idea, Tara. People don't appreciate just how much sleep the naked mole rat needs to get, you know."
Her eyebrows arched. "Really?"
"Yeah. He does a lot on the missions - I don't think even both of us can save the world without him - but he's really high-maintenance. It's tough being a single parent to a little guy like him."
Her smile took a compassionate bent. "Aw, poor baby."
That sweet nothing went over Ron's head because something else occurred to him.
"Wait, Tara, won't you get in trouble for being out of class?"
"Not with this." She said as she held her bathroom pass in front of him.
"Ah. Gotcha."
Her smile was serene. His smile was goofy, as was his wont.
"So I'll pick you up at 7:30?"
"Great… wait, what? You'll pick me up?"
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Oh, no, no, of course not! Heh, certainly not."
She giggled.
He continued. "I don't have my license yet anyway."
"Me neither. I hope you don't mind, my brother will be driving."
"O-kay, I guess that means we'll be taking the back seat. Wait! What I meant was, um…"
She giggled again; she tended to do that when she was around him.
It apparently took his mind off of whatever he was trying to say, or not say. Then he remembered what else she'd said.
"Wait, you- your brother? Um, have I ever met him?"
She shrugged her shoulders. " I don't know. He's never mentioned you to me, but we don't talk much."
"Oh. Uh, why? Why not? You don't get along with your brother?"
"It's not that, it's just, he's in his own little world."
"You mean, like Mankey?"
"Not exactly. You'll see when you meet him."
O
Tara exulted in her sitch. Kim and Josh had hooked up, and she hadn't had to betray her friend; she hadn't had to do anything! She should have trusted in Team Possible. Even though the media hadn't paid attention to Ron, she had; and she knew that on the rare occasion that Kim couldn't get the job done, Ron could always be counted on to step up and have her back.
And now she was hours away from her first date with her Ronnie-poo, and there would be other dates; of that, she had no doubt.
As the two of them continued down the hall, arm-in-arm, to… um, well, she'd figure out where they were supposed to be going in a minute. Anyway, as they went, she basked in just being there, next to him.
There was one fly in the ointment, of course, and that fly flitted around the outer reaches of her mind. Before the night was out, she was going to have to have a talk with her cheer captain over her actions of the day.
o
A/N: And there we are, a happy non-ending. We'll have the dance, and what will happen then, and maybe afterward. Any guess on Tara's brother? Or what she'll say to Kim? You'll see soon; I try to get this up ASAP. Maybe the guys who write the whole story in advance have an idea there… Naahh!
Until then, and afterward, online, on e-mail (AOL), and on AIM I'm Nftnat. Good evening, y'all.
