I don't own these characters. Disney does.
26: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
The Rockwaller sisters had dinner at their aunt Sonni's house. Dinner was pretty simple — takeout Chinese food. It was the best Chinese food Bonnie had ever had. It was just nice to have a meal with her family and not have to listen to her father complaining about everything under the sun. It was nice to sit down with people who would not confuse her with her sisters.
"Lonnie, do you want me to drive you home?" Sonni offered after the meal.
"No, no, no. I've got a friend who's going to come and get me. I don't think… I'm just not comfortable at home right now," Lonnie admitted, squirming in her seat. They sat around the countertop that sectioned the kitchen off from the rest of the house.
Connie put a hand on Lonnie's shoulder, supporting her. This was something Bonnie always missed out on. Connie and Lonnie went at each other, but they also supported each other. They were there for each other, but she always stood alone. It always bothered her because she did not understand why. She shook it away, though. This was not something she should or needed to worry about right now.
"Connie?" Sonni asked.
Connie glanced at Bonnie and then refocused on Sonni. "I'll find some place to stay."
That was weird, but Bonnie did not ask about it. Instead, she ate, went to her room, and called Kim again. She just wanted to assure Kim everything was still all right. They spoke for about an hour about nothing and then Bonnie went to shower. She then collapsed on what would now be her bed. There was a knock at her door.
"Come in," Bonnie said.
"Hey, kid," Sonni said as she entered and sat down at the foot of the bed. "You okay? I know this is a big change for you and everything, but I want this to be okay for you."
Bonnie nodded. "Does Connie usually stay here?" she blurted out.
"Sometimes. Your sisters have become quite adept at wandering, but generally when Connie isn't home, she's here."
"So, am I displacing her?" This bothered her for some reason she could not figure out. She did not want to put anyone out.
Sonni scoffed. "You've never wondered why I have five bedrooms? She's got her own room, made up with all of her things. Where do you think she goes when she had to actually do school work? Can you get anything done at home?"
Bonnie scoffed. "I can barely think at home."
"You're not the only one. Bonnie, I don't mind having any of you guys around. I know you and your sisters have problems with each other, but I seem to be able to get along with all of you, so my house is always open to all of you."
Sighing, Bonnie nodded. "So, what are the house rules?"
"Well, for you, since you're still a minor, I'd like you to be in the house by ten or at the very least call and let me know where you are if you're going to be late."
"Kim's parents are like that…"
Sonni smiled. "They're good people. You've got an amazing girlfriend, too."
"She is. Is she allowed over?"
"Oh, yeah. You can have friends over. Just no parties. I will kill people if my carpet is stained. Kill!" Sonni declared with high drama, making Bonnie chuckle.
"I don't think I'll be having any parties any time soon. My school is full of popular morons. So, the people who used to be my 'friends' aren't quite so friendly now that I'm out, but whatever. I don't think I should have friends like that anyway."
Another smile settled on Sonni's face. "Connie told me you've gotten wise."
Bonnie arched an eyebrow. "Really?"
"You might not know it, but you actually fascinate Connie. She worries about you. I guess she just doesn't know how to show it, which doesn't surprise me. You guys haven't had the best example on being emotionally supportive and open with each other."
Snorting, Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Lonnie and Connie seem to have no problem with each other."
"I think it might just be because they're closer in age and they don't have to compete with each other. They're both in their own little lane and they stay there. You, not so much."
"So, it's my fault?" Bonnie snapped and then flinched. "Sorry."
Sonni smiled. "It's all right. I know this is a lot."
"Yeah, it is."
"Take your time and get used to it. I know you don't mean it and I think Connie wants to try with you, but she's feeling her way through it. Give her a chance and just pick her brain. But, that's neither here nor there, you're doing a brave thing by being out in school. I didn't come out until after college and my parents weren't impressed."
"Is that why Grandma calls you the spinster?" Bonnie asked.
Sonni nodded. "In her mind, I've essentially decided to be celibate my whole life. She thinks my girlfriends are just friends. It's her way to deal with it. Your mother will probably adapt the same attitude for you since that's the example she had with our parents and she doesn't really acknowledge my girlfriends as anything more than friends either. She doesn't want to lose you, but I doubt she'll approve of your sexuality."
Bonnie sighed, but that was good news. "Have you spoke to Mom?"
Sonni nodded. "Only briefly. She just wanted to make sure you were okay and she swore your idiot father didn't mean to hurt you."
This burned Bonnie up inside. Her mother, who always fussed over her like she was so helpless, could not be bothered to help her when she actually needed it. "So, she's forgiving him?"
Sighing, Sonni rubbed her forehead for a moment and then looked Bonnie in the eye again. "She's excusing him, which is the story of her life. I don't know what black magic that guy has, but she's enthralled, which is why he gets away with some much stuff. I tell you right now, if he had married your aunt Sandi, she'd have checked the hell out of him long ago. Your aunt Sandi doesn't play. It's her way or the highway."
Bonnie snickered. She did not know this part of her aunt. Sandi was usually calm and laid back when they saw her. But, then again, there was typically no reason for her to do anything. Her kids were well behaved for the most part and her husband did not bother anyone. And maybe that was not an accident. Her aunt Sandi had her family trained.
"Just know you have people, Bonnie. You're not alone in the world and you're not an island. You have people you can lean on and as long as you respect me, my house, and yourself, you're welcomed here. Not just now, but always," Sonni said.
Bonnie nodded. "I just don't want to take advantage or get on your nerves or anything like that."
"Again, if you respect me, my house, and yourself, we'll be fine. You're not going to get on my nerves. I want you here. I want you to know you can be yourself. I'm not your dad, Bonnie, and I'm not going to stand by while someone bullies you either."
Bonnie sniffled a little. Sonni smiled at her and rubbed her head. "Thank you, Aunt Sonni."
"You thank me for when you borrow my car. You don't need to thank me for this. It'll be okay, Bonnie."
"I hope so."
"It will. You'll be all right."
Bonnie nodded. Sonni let her go to sleep on that note. In the morning, Sonni, clearly not used to having to make breakfast, served Bonnie coffee and a bagel. Bonnie turned down the coffee, but enjoyed the bagel. It was a little funny to see how different Sonni was from her mother. Were she and her sisters so different? She shook the thought away as Sonni drove her to school.
At school, Bonnie sought out Kim immediately. They hugged and kissed and ignored any idiots that had anything to say about it. Kim walked her to class and Bonnie soldiered on. After school, she decided to devote her energy to the GSA. Cheerleading now came second.
-8-8-8-8-
"So, these are the schools you want to pick from?" Kim said to Bonnie. They were in Sonni's living room with college brochures and applications in front of them.
"These are the ones I have a good chance of getting into. Where are yours?" Bonnie asked. Things had cooled down a little, so the couple decided to start on their college applications before anything else came up.
Sometimes, they sat with Ron and Monique at Kim's house to look at schools. Kim and Monique were a little better now since Bonnie and Kim were out and it was clear Bonnie was not planning something sinister. Of course, Monique had not offered Bonnie any sort of apology and Bonnie would not hold her breath for it. As far as schools went, Ron wanted to go to Japan for his girlfriend and culinary school. Monique seemed to be interested in the fashion industry, which could have been something to bond over if she and Bonnie ever decided to be friends.
"Everything's in my book bag," Kim answered and she pulled out her stuff.
They got to work. Bonnie knew Kim's parents would go over things with her after they sorted everything out and Sonni had offered to do the same with Bonnie. It was a nice change. Sure, they could not really sneak scandalous kisses, but they could kiss and not feel like they were doing something wrong. They could also work in the living room (at Sonni's house anyway) and not worry about being ambushed. Kim seemed to like that.
"What about these schools?" Kim held up three different flyers.
Bonnie shook her head. "Those are all in different cities and out of my league. Baby, what are we doing here? You're trying to pick a school for me or a city we can both be in?" They had agreed on looking in the same cities and towns, not the same schools.
"I think you could go to one of these." Kim smiled, like that made it true.
Bonnie snorted. "Yeah, if the whole administration's office suffers severe head trauma. Be realistic."
Pouting, Kim dived back into her pile and pulled out a few more schools. Bonnie looked at all of them and shook her head. Then, olive eyes ventured into Bonnie's pile.
"No, you don't, Possible. You're not looking at any of these schools." While Bonnie's pile was not horrible by normal standards, they definitely were beneath Kim. And the pout had the nerve to deepen. Bonnie just glared at Kim. "No, okay, just no. Focus on us being in the same city, not the same school. It's not happening."
Kim huffed, but went back to her own pile. They continued on with the business of sorting through the schools they were really interested in, and also in the same area. They got more done than Bonnie expected, especially since they had done homework first.
"We should work here again tomorrow," Kim said after they lined up all of their schools and everything.
"I guess Ron has all of his schools lined up then," Bonnie said. While Ron was not unwelcomed company here, he did not seem interested in coming to her aunt's house. He might have been trying to give them space, which was sweet… not that she would ever tell him that.
"Yeah, he knows what he wants to do, so we should work here tomorrow."
"If you don't mind junk food, then yeah," Bonnie agreed. Just as she said that, Sonni called them for pizza. Sonni could not cook to save her life.
"I don't mind," Kim answered as they sat around the kitchen counter, feasting on pizza.
"Yeah, sorry, I'm the not-cook out of my sisters. I can throw a mean barbecue, but I never touch the stove," Sonni remarked.
"It's fine. Thanks," Kim said.
"So, how's it going with the schools?" Sonni inquired.
"It's a lot of work," Bonnie admitted, more than she expected, but she would stick to it. She wanted a great college experience and not in the way most kids did. She wanted some place with great classes, but also some place that would help her figure out who she was and hopefully some kind of outreach for gay kids.
"All good things in life are," Sonni replied, smiling at both of them.
Bonnie and Kim both blushed and looked at each other. Bonnie definitely could not call her aunt a liar on that one. They turned their attention back to the pizza. The three of them could not finish it, even though they came close. Kim ate three slices on her own, which Bonnie expected because that girl's metabolism was insane. Bonnie had two slices herself.
After food, Sonni drove Kim home. Bonnie rode along and walked Kim to the door. They smiled at each other.
"You seem really happy staying with your aunt," Kim commented.
"I am. She's really cool. She's… encouraging," Bonnie said. This was not something she was used to. Sonni wanted to know what was going on with her in school, asked about her classes, asked about Kim, asked about dates, and everything in between. Never once did she have a bad thing to say.
Kim smiled. "That's good." Reaching up, she caressed Bonnie's cheek.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Of course."
They had stalled enough and leaned in for their goodbye kiss. It was nice to be able to do this and not worry about someone seeing. It was freeing. As they pulled away, Kim stroked her cheek again and she smiled.
"I really want to go to the same college as you," Kim said.
"We've talked about this," Bonnie sighed. It was virtually impossible for them to go to the same school unless Kim lowered her standards and Bonnie would never allow that.
Kim sighed. "I know, but you could get into some of the schools I want to go to."
Bonnie laughed. "I wish my grades knew that. Kim, you've had a 4.0 GPA your whole life and more extra-curriculars than anyone else on Earth. We're not going to the same school unless you take a step down and I'm not going to let that happen. Let's focus on the same city. Okay?"
Kim gave her a sad nod. Bonnie pressed a soft kiss to her lips. This lifted Kim's spirits enough for her to go into the house. Bonnie returned to her aunt's car. Sonni smiled at her.
"You're both so cute!" Sonni cooed.
Bonnie did not have a response… well, one that was not rude and out of order anyway. So, she just let Sonni tease her. It only lasted a couple of minutes and even the good-natured teasing felt nice, normal.
"You ever going to tell me how you landed a girl like that?" Sonni asked.
"It's a long story, but I think luck had a lot to do with it," Bonnie answered.
Sonni grinned. "It usually does. It's good you're trying to keep your relationship going once school is over."
"Well, I love her, so…"
Sonni glanced at her, like she had not expected that. "That's good. I hope you two make it happen. Of course, looking at you both go, I have no doubt you will."
Bonnie nodded because she had no doubt about it either. When they got back to the house, Connie was in the living room, going through Bonnie's college materials. Bonnie frowned, but Sonni put a hand on her shoulder.
"Go talk to her. She's been respectful of giving you space, but she worries and she wants to get to know you now," Sonni assured her.
Bonnie sighed, but nodded. Sonni had yet to lead her wrong, so she would sit down with Connie. Besides, she was trying to be a better person and she knew to heal she would have to learn to accept and move on. She could not hold onto the anger and hatred. So, she sat down on the living room floor across from Connie.
"These are the schools you want to go to?" Connie asked.
"Yeah," Bonnie answered.
"I would've thought better schools. I mean, you have good grades, right?"
"Now. Freshman and sophomore year weren't the best, straight C's. But, the jump in junior year should look good and I've been holding steady despite everything," Bonnie explained.
Connie nodded. "That's good. You never told us your SAT score."
"It was a sixteen hundred."
"Not bad." It seemed like Connie actually expected more of her. "And you took the ACT, right?"
"Yeah." Like her SAT score, her ACT score was about the national average. Good enough to get her into some schools, at least.
Connie's attention went back to the college material. "Have you started on your essays?"
"Not yet."
"I could… I could help. I know you have Kim, and Aunt Sonni, and everything, but I could help. I've gone through the process," Connie replied.
Bonnie was about to call "bullshit," but thought against it. Sonni had faith in Connie and Sonni had yet to steer her wrong, so she would give Connie this chance. She had to take a breath before saying anything, though.
"You can help. Sonni was going to look at the essay stuff for me, though," Bonnie said.
"We can both do it. Have you looked at scholarships, grants, and things like that?" Connie asked.
"I started, but I'm not too sure where to look. Kim thinks I should go to the college office, which makes sense. They know me pretty well there, which is funny since this time last year I didn't even know there was a college office," Bonnie remarked with a weak laugh.
Sighing, Connie shook her head and rubbed her forehead for a moment. "I should've been there for you."
Bonnie scoffed. "Trust me, I didn't expect you to be."
Connie swallowed, glancing away. "I know, which makes it so much worse."
Bonnie snorted. "Let's be serious, if I didn't get knocked around by Dad and thrown out, you wouldn't care. I don't know why this makes you care all of a sudden either."
Connie stared at her for a long moment. "You think we hate you, don't you?"
Bonnie stared right back. "Don't you?"
"Did you hate Kim when you were snapping at her?" Connie countered.
Bonnie opened her mouth, ready to bite, but Connie had a point. She was not even sure what the hell that was with Kim now. There were a combination of reasons why she had picked on Kim, but underneath it all, she always liked Kim, always wanted to be close to her. Sighing, Bonnie turned her mouth up as she stared at her sister.
"It's hard to turn off," Connie said.
Bonnie nodded. "It is."
"But, then, something inside you breaks and makes you want to turn it off. It's just that once you want to turn it off, now you have to hope the person you want to turn it off for is will to accept that."
"What was it?" Bonnie asked curiously. What the hell made Connie want to be close all of a sudden?
"There were a lot of little things recently. Seeing the change in you, seeing you striving to be something other than… well, a whore."
Bonnie winced at the word. "I wanted to be popular, to show you two jackasses I was worth something."
"I know." Connie held up her hands in surrender. "I know, but I was able to write it off. I just figured you'd end up closer to Lonnie, whatever. But, then there were these little things were I realized you were more than someone who would basically sleep with anything."
"Do you think of Lonnie as a whore?" Bonnie asked curiously. The thought never crossed her mind. She always just thought of it as Lonnie being popular, having a lot of boyfriends, and enjoying the party life. There was nothing wrong with that if that was how Lonnie wanted to live her life.
Connie ran her hand through her hair. "No, I never thought of her like that. I just accepted her for who she is. I just wish she'd make better choices and maybe this will be the thing to help. You shocked us all standing up to Dad like that. It never really occurred to us. I mean, yeah, we might argue with him and everything, but you stood your ground and you called him out for what he was. You decided you wouldn't change. It's incredible."
Bonnie gave her a skeptical look. "Seriously?"
"Seriously. Bonnie, I know we've put you down your whole life, but you've grown into this incredible person who I want to know. I mean, you're feisty and brave. Dad didn't see you coming. Speaking of our parents, call Mom at some point."
"Missing the baby she couldn't bother to back when Dad was smacking her around?" Bonnie asked bitterly.
Connie shook her head. "She froze, Bonnie. It happens. She worries about you."
"And she tells you? A lot of people seem to talk to you about me," Bonnie hissed. Why the hell did people think Connie gave a damn or meant a damn to her? Her mother should just come to her.
"Well, you're not talking to anyone and I get it, okay? Mom might not get it, Lonnie might not get it, and Dad might not give a damn, but I do. I don't get why you're so pissed at Mom anyway. When you were little, she was the one you always went to."
Bonnie blinked. "What?"
"Yeah. That's why she babies you. Hell, you know how me and Lonnie would say you got the rest once the brain and beauty was gone? You don't even realize how much shit was left over do you? You got the compassion. You got the sensitivity. You got the bravery. You got the goddamn balls. When Dad would yell at Mom, you were the one who would go and cuddle her, make sure she was okay, and try to make her feel better. Of course, we made fun of you and eventually you stopped, but you did it for a long time. I think she's been trying to get that back."
Bonnie sighed. She did not remember much of cuddling her mother, but her damaged psyche would never forget her sisters' taunts. And echoing through her mind were insults of being a baby and a "momma's girl." Dammit. She had allowed them to ruin her relationship with her mother.
"Is there any aspect of my life you two didn't poison?" Bonnie grumbled and then locked eyes with Connie. "Any!" she demanded.
Before Connie could answer, Bonnie stormed off and went to her room, slamming the door. Maybe one day she and Connie would have something that looked like a relationship, but for now, Bonnie detested her sister with a passion. She would allow Connie to try to make amends… maybe. Sometime in the future, though. For now, she had other things in her life to get in order.
-8-8-8-8-
"Thank you for coming with me," Bonnie said to Kim, as they entered a small cafe. They held hands, as they tended to always do now. In fact, it was so common that Tara joked about it when they were not doing it, especially during cheer practice.
Kim smiled. "No big. I'm glad you wanted me to come."
"Of course I wanted you to come." Bonnie scanned the place and spotted her mother, the reason they were there. She led Kim to the table that held her mother, who smiled as soon as they sat down.
"Hi, Bon-Bon," her mother said rather cheerfully.
Bonnie groaned, but smiled. "Hi, Mom. Please, don't call me that."
"You're always going to be my Bon-Bon," her mother replied, her voice a little lower and her eyes on the table.
Bonnie rolled her eyes and then looked at Kim. "Mom, meet my girlfriend Kim Possible. Kim, this is my mother, Staci Rockwaller."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Kim said politely and reached over to shake Bonnie's mother's hand. Her mother wasted no time shaking hands, which Bonnie took as a good sign.
"A pleasure to meet you, too," her mother stammered out.
They sat there awkwardly for a few seconds before a waiter saved them. He took their orders, drinks and food, and then rushed off. They were back in that blanket of awkwardness and Bonnie was surprised her mother was the one to break it.
"Your report card came in the mail. I looked at it before I gave it to Sonni. You're doing very well," her mother said, looking at Bonnie, then at the table, then at Bonnie again. Her mother seemed shy, which Bonnie was not used to.
Bonnie nodded. "I'm trying."
"It's good. Sonni and Connie were telling me about how you applied to college." A wistful smile settled on her mother's face. "I can't believe you'll be going to college. It seems like just yesterday you were running between my legs, trying to cook with me."
Bonnie smiled a little. "I wasn't a good student then. I don't know a thing about cooking."
"No, it wasn't something your sisters were interested in, so eventually you lost interest, too."
A knot formed in Bonnie's stomach and she felt guilty, even though she could not recall running around in her mother's kitchen. She wondered how many things she dropped with her mother over the years because her sisters were not interested or because they made fun of her. Never again.
Bonnie licked her lips. "Maybe… maybe you could come to Sonni's house and show us all a few things. We're on the first name basis with the takeout places around Sonni's house."
Her mother smiled. "I'd like that…"
"Dad won't mind?" Of course he would. He probably minded the sun rising and setting, the clouds being too white and fluffy, and the stars beings too far. And, he probably blamed all of those things on her mother.
"He's pushed everyone away and I love the big lug, but I love you girls, too. You're my babies and the reason I wake up in the morning. I don't want to lose you just because he's having one of his usual temper tantrums."
Bonnie frowned. Was that how her mother saw her father's temper flares? Just as "tantrums"? Love really was blind.
Bonnie steered the conversation away from her father. She did not want to think about him. She just wanted to reconnect with her mother. Her mother seemed to want the same, sitting there for the entire time, conversing with them. She did not show any signs of discomfort with Kim, just being a little shy, which was funny considering her mother was usually lively and social. Still, it went well. Bonnie was actually a little sad when it ended.
"This was nice," her mother said as they exited the cafe. Bonnie paid for everything, still having money from her summer job. It felt good to be able to do that for her mother and for Kim.
"It was. Whenever you want to do it again, Mom, just call me. You can call me," Bonnie wanted to make sure her mother understood that.
"Okay. I'll call you so we can set up those cooking lessons," her mother said.
"Please and thank you," Bonnie replied before she realized. As soon as the words left her mouth, her eyes went wide. Kim smiled, but held in any laughter.
Her mother seemed a little surprised by the politeness, but just accepted it. They walked her mother to her car and then watched her go. They then made their way to Kim's car.
"Your mom seems okay," Kim commented as she drove Bonnie to Sonni's house.
"You mean better than the nights you heard her screaming with my dad?" Bonnie asked with a smile.
"Honestly? Yeah. I really worried about you in that house and I worried about your mom. Yeah, she argued, but your dad did the bulk of the screaming. I'm glad you're out of there. I'm also glad your aunt took you in."
Bonnie nodded. Everything had worked out. Even having to share Sonni's house with Connie several days a week was not as troublesome as Bonnie thought. They were helping her with college stuff that Kim could not help with and they also gave her ideas to take to the GSA, which she was silently, but most assuredly taking over. They needed to do more and she did not have a lot of time to get them headed in that direction.
"Do you think it's weird that Connie's so interested in what I'm doing with the GSA?" Bonnie asked.
"You think Connie's gay?" Kim countered.
"I dunno. She doesn't really seem to date from what I can tell. Maybe she's just trying to do stuff with me. Never mind." Bonnie shook it off.
"Either way, she's coming up with great stuff at GSA."
Bonnie snorted. "Like you know. You're always off saving the world when we have club meetings. Looks bad that my girlfriend isn't in meetings."
Kim laughed. "I think it looks bad when you start running the meetings and you're not president or vice president, but you call it what you want."
Bonnie scoffed, but did not argue. They made it to Sonni's house, but Kim did not go inside because she had to get home. They exchanged a kiss.
"I'll come get you in the morning," Kim said.
"I know. Have I told you how awesome it is that you have a car now?" Bonnie commented. This car would one day see a lot of action and it had nothing to do with Kim's missions.
"Yeah, it is pretty spanking." Kim grinned.
They kissed again and then Bonnie got out of the car. Sonni and Connie were in the living room, as if waiting for her. They had college stuff for her. She would show Kim tomorrow. But, this definitely worked out.
-8-8-8-8-
Bonus Kim: The Dreams that You Dreamed
The urge to go pummel Bonnie's father never left Kim, but watching Bonnie since she had been kicked out made the urge diminish each time. Bonnie was blossoming now and Kim knew it was because she went home to a good place rather than to her father. He had done her the greatest kindness in the cruelest fashion. Still, Kim could not let the injustice stand.
Eventually, Kim felt like she would get to Mr. Rockwaller, but for now, she just wanted to enjoy watching Bonnie work. Her favorite place to see it happen was the GSA. She tended to sit by the door, in case she had to leave, and did not get too much into the mix. Bonnie had already taken off, so it would do not well for her to jump in too. They might get kicked out.
"Look, all I'm saying is if we want to normalize our relationships and also raise awareness, we need to be out there. We have to do stuff," Bonnie said. "Let's throw some events. A movie night, a carnival, a talent show. Something. We can't just sit here all day looking at each other."
Alex, the boy, stared at Bonnie. "How does that raise awareness?"
"It puts us out there. We don't have to do something 'gay.' Just something that reminds people we're here," Bonnie argued.
For the past couple of meetings, Bonnie had been urging the club to put together an event. Most of the popular clubs always did things to include other students and get new members. The GSA did not, mostly because they were not sure what they could do. Kim would have made suggestions, but Bonnie had this.
What Kim had done was mention to Tara they could use the support, so Tara popped up at meetings every now and then. She even dragged Josh with her on occasion. Ron and Monique showed up. Felix had even come in a couple of times. If Bonnie could get the club to do more, all of those people had also promised to help, not that Monique said that to Bonnie. While Monique had no problem apologizing to Kim, she still seemed determined to be at odds with Bonnie for some reason.
"Look, let's do something simple. We could have a poetry slam or something. In between readings, we could have someone go up and read a poem from an LGBTQ artist or a theme from the community. Something. It's better than nothing," Bonnie insisted.
There were less than dozen members of the club and they agreed with Bonnie… if the murmuring meant anything. They were a shy bunch, but had gotten a little more vocal with Bonnie's big mouth around. Once they agreed, Bonnie was the one who took charge of setting it all up. Kim, Ron, and Tara helped, of course. Josh made posters and Kim had to ask Monique to do things behind the scenes.
"Hey, what are you fags putting up posters for?" a girl asked as she and her group paused to harass Kim, Ron, and Tara.
"We're trying to get all the jackasses thrown out of school, but it doesn't seem to be working if you're still here," Tara replied, showing why she and Bonnie were still such good friends beyond Tara not caring that Bonnie was a lesbian.
"If I were you, I wouldn't call anybody a fag again, though," Kim said, making a show of cracking her knuckles. While she had yet to fight anyone over stupid comments, she was always ready for the first time. She had scared plenty of people with the thought of her fighting them, though, for slurs and harassment.
The girls ran off. Things like this reminded her that she needed to go chat with Mr. Rockwaller. She decided to do that while Bonnie had things to take care of with the poetry slam. It was time to confront the man who made Bonnie what she was, in spite of trying to destroy her.
"Staci, get the goddamn door!" She heard Bonnie's father bellow.
She wished Mrs. Rockwaller was not there, but she would still go through with this. She did not have time to worry about how this would play out with Bonnie's mother. Then, the door opened and Bonnie's mother smiled.
"Hello, Kim." Mrs. Rockwaller glanced into the house. "You do know Bonnie's not here, right?"
"I know. I was hoping to speak to your husband," Kim explained.
Mrs. Rockwaller flinched. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"I need to do this, Mrs. Rockwaller. I know this is tough for you, but I have to talk to him." She needed him to know understand he had not broken Bonnie, no matter how hard he tried. He had not broken any of these women.
"Kim, I don't want him to…" Mrs. Rockwaller trailed off.
"He's not going to hurt me."
"Staci, what the hell? Why is the door still open?" Mr. Rockwaller barked and then he stormed over to the door.
And just like that, there he was in the flesh. She never expected a monster, despite the fact that she knew he was hateful and evil as far as she was concerned. But, she was still unimpressed with who stood before her. He was an average, middle-aged man. His hair was thin, bald in the front, and something of a potbelly.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, glaring at Kim.
"I'm Kim Possible, your daughter's girlfriend." She felt pride when he flinched. "Yeah, and I'm here to tell you that you tried your damnedest to hurt her, but she's fine. You didn't win."
"Listen here, you get off my damn porch before I slap you the way I slapped her," he declared.
Kim inclined her chin. "I wish you'd try. I'd love to have a good excuse for why I'm wearing you as a shoe. I'm not someone you can just push over and I don't take kind to bullies." She pointed at him. "I'm never letting you hurt her again and if you think to threaten her or anyone she cares about, I'll make sure you regret it."
He squared his shoulders. "You think I'm afraid of you, girl?"
"Rick," Mrs. Rockwaller pled.
"If you're smart, you would be, but I doubt you're smart. Your behavior and actions have proven that. Like I said, I just want you to know you didn't win. One day, Bonnie's going to come back here and you're going to wish you treated her better," Kim declared.
"Your little carpet-licker isn't going to amount to anything, just like you," he countered.
Kim laughed. "You really are stupid, huh? You don't even know." She shook her head and then decided to leave. If he did not even know who she was, then what was the point? "Just know, if you hurt her again, you'll regret it."
Turning her back, she walked away. Mr. Rockwaller yelled a bunch of threats at her, but she ignored him. He was not worth any more time or energy. Bonnie would show him.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: an epilogue.