Break a Leg, Not an Ankle!
XX
The Middleton gym was filled to the brim with excited students and their families. Upbeat music pumped through the gym speakers as the audience sat on the bleachers, eating snacks and taking pictures of the weekend contest. The Teen Cheer 'Best Cheerleader in the Midwestern United States Area' contest had been going on for at least a couple hours already, as various cheerleaders from both Middleton and nearby schools entered the gym floor individually and performed their routine in front of their excited families, a set of judges watching from a card table set up to the side of the room. A Teen Cheer journalist was also on hand, looking a little bored and waiting for a winner to be picked when the contest ended.
Ron Stoppable sat towards the center of the bleachers with his friend Monique, watching his arch administrative foe – at least, that is how he had viewed the man until recently – sitting at the judge's table. There was a break between contestants, so Steve Barkin looked up and noticed his troublesome student watching him. He gave his student a subtle wink; however, Ron returned it with a wild wave and thumbs up. Barkin cringed and shook his head emphatically at Ron. Nobody could ever find out what had happened on that Friday evening if his reputation was going to survive.
"So I guess Kim thought it'd be a little too weird to come watch the contest, huh?" Monique asked.
"Yeah, I just wanted to be here for Bonnie."
"I'm gonna have to take your word for it, Ron. I still can't believe you were going out with her. It's probably a good thing Kim ain't here, seeing as the two of them would be duking it out."
Ron shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. I think Bonnie is really going to try to change. Kim didn't believe me at first either, but I think I convinced her to give Bonnie the benefit of the doubt for a while."
"By the way, you think our girl Kim is upset about not being in the contest?"
"Maybe a little, but I think she's mostly cool with it. She said the contest was kind of a vanity thing anyway, since you get a big cover article and an interview about yourself if you win. She felt like she got enough press as it was, and that Bonnie would probably be happier winning the contest."
"Sounds fair to me."
The two of them were interrupted by an announcer as the current performing cheerleader's routine ended. "Next up," the announcer shouted, "Tara King!"
The bubbly platinum blond cheerleader bounced out onto the gym floor and began her routine as the music track shifted to a driving dance mix. Ron was impressed by her moves; Tara definitely would have given Kim a run for her money. He watched the performance with rapt attention until Monique tapped him on the shoulder.
"You guys are going to ask me on your next date, right? I could give you pointers! Ron, I know you gotta be needing some romance tips from the pros!"
Ron sputtered. "What? The Ron Man's got it going on, Monique! How could you say that! Besides, how long was your last relationship? Like two weeks?"
"That's low, boy." Monique leaned back with her arms crossed petulantly before her eyes suddenly widened. "Hey, wait a minute. What about you and Kim? How long did your last relationships last?"
Ron looked sheepish. "Touché."
"Uh huh. That's what I thought!"
Tara's routine ended and the blond cheerleader skipped away from the gym floor. Her brilliant blue eyes were shining as her family let out a particularly loud cheer from the bleachers. The judges wrote notes down on their pads of paper, nodding to each other as if impressed by the performance.
XX
"Up next, Bonnie Rockwaller!"
Bonnie walked out into the brightly lit gym floor, passing by Tara as she walked towards the locker rooms after having just completed her own routine. "That was a great job, Tara," she said to her friend.
Tara looked taken aback – they had not talked in a while – but she gave a hesitant smile. "Thanks."
Bonnie surveyed the large audience crowded onto the gym bleachers. She was nervous, more nervous than she knew was manageable; her breakup with Ron was still very recent, and she was definitely not over it yet. She had even considered dropping out of the contest, but it wasn't her style. That, and her sisters would never let her hear the end of it. She saw her sisters in the bleachers amongst the audience members, watching her intently. They weren't attending the contest to support her, but rather in hopes that they would see her choke up or fail. Bonnie had wanted the two of them to see her earlier, because she knew she could win, but now she wasn't so sure.
Despite her sisters' attendance at the contest, Bonnie's family was actually the one bright spot of the last few days. They were not being nice to her, but something in their behavior had changed after the dinner, after the way Ron had spoke to Lonnie and the way he and Bonnie had stormed out. It was almost as if her family was giving her a wide berth, not trying to walk on her anymore. Maybe some kind of dynamic had changed; Bonnie hoped it would stay that way.
The fact that Kim Possible was not competing due to a broken ankle had only reached her earlier that day. She had mixed feelings towards the news. On the one hand, Kim was her greatest competition, but on the other hand it was unfortunate that she wouldn't get an opportunity to defeat her cheerleading rival. Bonnie looked over the audience sitting in the bleachers, wondering who else was there, and noticed a familiar face that caught her breath.
Ron Stoppable was watching the competition. Bonnie hadn't talked to him since their breakup and hadn't really expected him to attend the cheer contest, but here he was. Ron noticed her, waved, and gave her an encouraging thumbs up, mouthing you can do it! above the din of the audience. Perhaps, she thought, Ron wasn't just saying things when he told her he still wanted to be friends. She felt her nervousness melt away as her song choice began to play over the gym loudspeakers. She walked into place, steeling herself up for her routine.
1... 2... 3... 4...
Bonnie kept the beat in the back of her mind as she began to twirl and gyrate, shaking her pom-pons in spirals. The audience watched in rapt attention as her routine began to pick up steam, the music pulsing through the room, driving her on. Ron watched her performance and noticed several moves that he had helped her practice. They weren't exact enough to have been stolen from Kim, but if Kim had been watching, she would gotten a vague idea that maybe somebody in particular gave Bonnie a little help on the side. Monique glanced over at Ron with amusement and noticed that he was trying to pretend he wasn't too interested in the hypnotic movements of Bonnie's performance. What a thoughtful boyfriend.
Bonnie performed several flips that made the audience gasp. As she vaulted back to the center of the mat on the gym floor and spiraled flawlessly into the finale of her routine, the judges watched with looks of approval. Finally, the music grew to a crescendo as Bonnie moved her pom-pons over her waist and shook her lower body – way too seductively, if you asked some of the parents in the audience – and performed a final flip, landing in a split on the mat with her chest heaving and arms triumphantly in the air.
The audience burst into applause. The gym filled with flashing lights and clicking sounds as audience members took pictures of the stunning performer. Bonnie flipped her hair back and struck a glamorous pose, lips pouted and hands on her hips. "Thank you, thank you! You're all too kind!" Her words could not even be heard through the din of the applause. Bonnie was in her element.
XX
The girl's locker room had been unbearably crowded after the contest ended, but it was emptying out as cheer squads from other schools finished gathering their things and walked out into the gym to get to their buses and families. The only girls remaining were a few members of the Middleton Mad Dogs cheer squad who sat around on the changing benches, listening with interest – and a little envy - to the ongoing conversation between Bonnie Rockwaller and the Teen Cheer journalist. The Middleton cheerleaders had performed last in the competition since it was hosted at their school, and Bonnie was one of the last ones to perform her routine, so it hadn't taken long for the judges to announce the contest winner.
The journalist stuck a tape recorder under Bonnie's nose. "Now that you've won the contest and been voted the best cheerleader in the area of the Midwestern United States, you'll have a chance to compete in Teen Cheer's national contest. How do you feel about that?"
Bonnie leaned in close to the tape recorder being held at her. "Well Donna," she said with a flutter of her eyelashes, "I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to share my skill with the rest of the world!"
"Is there anyone you'd like to thank for your success?"
Bonnie thought for a moment. She had no interest in thanking her family. Ron was a possibility, however. She was about to speak when she noticed a familiar blond Middleton cheerleader listening to the conversation in a corner of the locker room while she pretended to shift through the contents of her locker.
"Yes, I would like to thank someone, Donna. My friend, Tara King. She's on the cheer squad with me and we've been tight for a long time. Sometimes I take her for granted, but she's always had my back, even when I'm being a little heinous towards her."
The journalist clicked off the tape recorder and packed it in her bag. "Alright, that was good. I'll be sure to get it in the magazine. Thanks for the interview, and nice job winning the contest. Now I'm off to drink for the rest of the night." Donna slung her bag over her back and left the girl's locker room, wondering how her degree in journalism had led her to the job of interviewing shallow teen drama queens.
The other cheerleaders left, leaving the locker room empty except for Tara and Bonnie. Tara closed her locker and turned to her friend.
"Thanks for saying that, Bonnie."
"Oh, it's no big." She realized that was something she had heard Ron say. Maybe he had rubbed off on her a little. "Tara, I'm sorry about going out with Ron. I was doing it to rile Kim up, at least at first, and that was childish of me. I know you had a bit of a crush on Ron for a while there, so I can see why it bothered you. That's all over now though, and I think things are going to be a little different from now on. Are we going to be okay?"
Tara smiled. "Sure, Bonnie. Even though I totally should have beaten you in the contest!"
Bonnie laughed as she walked out into the gym with her friend. The audience had gotten off of the bleachers and were milling around on the gym floor; many of the out-of-towners were leaving to take the trip back home, but a lot of the Middleton students and their families were chatting with each other and enjoying the refreshments that had been provided for the event. Connie and Lonnie had long since left, crushed by their little sister achieving something they had never come close to doing while in high school.
Bonnie jumped in surprise as Brick Flagg appeared out of nowhere, walking towards her through the crowd of people. Tara squeezed her friend's arm and departed, sensing what was about to happen.
"Hey Bonbon," said Brick. "Nice job winning the contest. You know, I was thinking, maybe breaking up with you was a bad idea. You want to give it another chance?"
Bonnie snorted. Perhaps if the last couple of weeks had gone differently, she would be agreeing with him and getting back together; that had happened before, after all. But something was different now. She remembered what Ron had told her in the park after they had dinner with her family. She remembered Lonnie's fiancée, Chad Post, who had certainly been as dumb as one. Bonnie realized that Chad and Lonnie were a vague image of where she might be in the future if she took a certain path.
"Brick, I broke up with you. Thanks for the offer sweetie, but get lost."
Brick Flagg was taken aback. He coughed several times and scratched the back of his head in mock indifference, sauntering off into the crowd before further embarrassment could occur, even though several students had noticed the exchanged and tittered in amusement to each other. Bonnie was about to go for some punch at a nearby refreshments table when another figure made his way through the audience, almost before Brick had disappeared: Josh Mankey.
"Hey Bonnie!"
"Hey Josh."
"Nice job in the contest. This might be a bit sudden, but I was wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat with me sometime."
This time, Bonnie was taken aback. Two guys asking her out in the space of a minute? Even for Bonnie, this was some kind of record. Winning this cheer contest was paying dividends already. Josh's offer was tempting. He had the hot artist thing going on, he seemed a little friendlier and more intelligent than Brick, and it would certainly enrage Kim, especially after she had just gone out with Ron. But after a moment of thought, Bonnie decided she was not in the mood to cause any more trouble. What was more, she did not mind being single. In the past, she often felt like a boyfriend was a necessary accessory for any successful teen girl, but now she was having second thoughts. Perhaps she could enjoy some time to herself.
"You know, I'm flattered by the offer Josh, but I'm gonna say no." She noticed Josh's crestfallen look, and then watched Tara chatting with a nearby group of students. Gears began to churn in Bonnie's mind. A devious plan rose up from the depths of her thoughts and took shape as she grabbed Josh by the arm. "While you're here though Josh, you know my friend Tara, right? She's single and so ready to mingle!"
Bonnie pulled Josh towards Tara's group of students and was pleased to see the two of them begin to engage in conversation. Once again, she was about to make a beeline for the punch bowl set up near the bleachers when two more people approached her.
"Hey Bonnie," said Monique in an unusually friendly tone. "That performance was seriously T.C.F.S., girl!. Congrats!"
"Um, thanks Monique." Bonnie had not really expected the compliment. She was also having a hard time deciphering it.
Ron nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that was totally badical, Bonnie. I knew you'd win. Me and Monique are going to get out of here before the traffic gets too bad in the parking lot, but we'll see you at school on Monday, right?"
Bonnie nodded. "Sure Ron. And thank you." She wasn't exactly sure if she was thanking him for the compliment or for something else, but he seemed to understand what she meant. The two of them walked towards the gym doors as Ron turned around one final time, giving Bonnie a wave on their way out.
Bonnie sighed in relief as she finally got to the refreshments table without further interruption and filled a cup with punch. The intense performance had worn her out, and drinking from the locker room water fountain did not quite hit the spot. She downed the punch in one gulp, waving and posing for various people who congratulated her as they passed.
Seeing Ron still stung, but strangely enough, there was a good feeling inside her. Bonnie always pretended to be on top of things, in control, but that feeling seemed to be more genuine now than it had been in a while. She looked forward to school on Monday. Her relationship with Ron had started off badly, never getting a chance to bloom. It had burned away before it could grow into what it could have been. Bonnie accepted this. It would take some time, but she knew she could deal with it, because from its ashes, a new friendship was being born.
XX
Notes - That's it. Reviews are welcome, I try to respond to all of them.
For some reason this story has easily been my most popular so far. I am happy with how it turned out, but I dunno if I see it as that much better than my other stories, so who knows what makes things popular. I'm glad people liked it though. If you liked this story, check out my others!