Author's Note: Hello everyone, this is my first novel for seven years. Personally, I'm more of a drawing artist than a writer, but rewatching All Grown Up fills my mind with a lot of prompts and story ideas, probably also because I believe that the series itself didn't reach its full potential. I feel like my head is going to explode if I don't write these ideas down, so here you go.
I want to apologize this early for all the errors I'm going to make as English is not my first language. I'm also just picking up my writing skills from scratch to release all the scenes I have in my head.
Full Summary
As they explore the peak of their High School Lives, one cannot imagine all the drama, twists, and romance they are about to endure and most importantly is how all these experiences will shape them to the best version of themselves.
Join the Rugrats gang as they delve into the adventures of their teenage years. Will the hinted potential relationship between Tommy and Kimi will finally come to fruition? and how will the gang respond to it?
The characters and events of this story are based on the original canon of Rugrats and All Grown Up.
Disclaimer: The author doesn't own neither Rugrats nor All Grown Up. It belongs to Nickelodeon and Klasky Csupo.
Song: We Belong Together (Mariah Carey)
A week ago, Chuckie told the gang that he is planning to throw a surprise party for Kimi's sixteenth birthday on the fifth. He explained all the plans he wanted to execute and get the gangs' help. Tommy got a request to make a mini film that features his best friend's sister over the years, including every tape they kept from their baby years. Chuckie wanted this party to be special with the rest of the gang happily agreeing to help.
Tommy is currently in his room, checking all the tapes Chuckie had sent for him to arrange and choose the ones that are appropriate for the mini film. It was kind of exhausting, but good thing he has been learning how to minimize unnecessary work when it comes to editing. His editing routine nowadays is miles better than what he used to do back in middle school.
The sound of the mouse clicks can be heard in a quiet and softly lit room as he browsed through all the tapes. He continued watching all the tapes, unable choose what to include.
Suddenly, there was a particular tape of her randomly posing and making faces on the camera, it looks very recent. He couldn't help but to stare and repeat the clip flashed on the computer screen. It has Kimi innocently staring directly at the camera with the refreshing nature atmosphere behind her. She's making all those stunning facial expressions in this clip and he can't help but to keep repeating it over and over again. He didn't even notice that he's starting to bite his lower lip until someone from the door knocked and called his name. His eyes widened at the realization that he forgot to lock it and whoever it is on the door probably knows he's drooling over this clip right now.
"You sure you just want to drool over there and not eat the delicious smelling dinner mom had prepared for tonight?" Dil laughed as he walked towards his brother's direction.
His brother became a skilled inventor over the years, he really did inherit their father's passion for inventing stuff. He would sometimes present an invention for house chores to be done easier or just random stuff that can ease daily activities or bring amusement, he's really great at that. He also mentioned just recently that he plans to build an independent space agency after he graduates from college. Tommy almost forgot that he has a passion for extraterrestrial beings which he understands, space is interesting.
"Oh, I'm just checking all the tapes Chuckie provided to select the ones for the final video." Tommy defended as he continued to look at his computer screen.
"It looks like that particular Kimi clip is the only one that's going to make it there as you've been repeating it for minutes." Dil smirked as he looked at him, then eventually sitting on his brother's bed. "But I can't blame the admiration, she looks breathtaking on those clips, makes you wonder why she doesn't have a boyfriend yet." He continued to talk. Tommy tried his best not to respond to that question.
"You're still not coming down, T? Mom sent me here to ask you to join us downstairs cause there's a big chance none of our delicious dinner will still be there if you wait to eat later." Dil laughed as he stood up from his bed.
"You should go downstairs right now and start eating with mom and dad. I don't have any plans on coming out from this room until I finish my final clip selections." Tommy answered.
"Okay, your decision. Just make sure to have a variety with those clips and not stick with this one." His little brother teased as he headed outside the room and closed the door.
He turned his attention to the screen as Dil headed downstairs. Man, he needs to get serious with this project as he's about to get busy again with a new school year just starting. He went back to scanning the tapes as he continued to edit.
The sunlight beamed in Tommy's room as he slowly opened his eyes. He didn't notice that he slept on my computer table, and quickly headed towards the bathroom to clean off all the dried saliva in his cheeks, Ew. He was currently washing his face with running water when the door opened.
"Good morning bro, did you finally finish that task you're working on last night?" Dil asked as he grabbed his toothbrush from the sink countertop.
"I made a big progress, so I guess I kinda did" Tommy responded as he wiped his face with a towel
"That's good and by the way, can I sit with you guys later in the cafeteria? My usual lunch buddies are busy doing an activity this week." Dil asked and grabbed his toothbrush to wash his teeth while looking at his big brother through the mirror
"Why would it be a problem? You can sit with us anytime!" Tommy smiled and patted his brother's back.
"Sweet! can't wait for all the topics you and your friends will be cooking up later!" He laughed as headed towards the door
"By the way Dil, please don't mention the incident you saw in my room last night. I wouldn't want to cause any awkward tension at our table" Tommy said as he narrowly looked him in the eyes.
His little brother lazily turned to his direction "Uh sure bro, it's not a big deal" He shrugs "But I can definitely use that as a blackmail if you broke one of our deals." Dil smirked and left the bathroom.
Tommy stared at the mirror looking at himself and deeply exhaled. The film isn't going to take a lot of work as he already envisioned what the final product will look like, but her attractive face on those clips will make it difficult for him to focus. As usual, He is going to spend time with her at the cafeteria table, with the rest of the gang of course, but at least he has an excuse to see her.
Stu pulled their family car near the entrance of the school to let the boys go out and go to their respective classes. Obviously, Dil is one grade level behind his big brother but they can still walk in the main hallway together before they part ways.
Tommy checked his schedule paper and got reminded that he has to go to his English class for this time period. As usual, the hallway was full of people from different grade levels of high school. He bid Dil goodbye and quickly slid the paper to his bag, then went and entered his supposed classroom. It was noisy but it did not bother him as he likes the environment being noisy too. He has a cool reputation around here which makes him kind of popular, and as he continues to walk his way, greetings are being spoken by different students passing by, with him greeting back with a nod or saying hey. He is not exactly close with everyone, but he knows how to get along with all of them. Luckily, this reputation has been saving him from being the subject of bullying pranks all these years.
The class seats are almost full, with everyone chatting and goofing off with each other. He sat on his seat and greeted some of his classmates. None of the gang are in this class, but it is easy for him to get along with them when needed. The class continued being that way until a teacher suddenly came in and everyone started to compose themselves and sat properly.
"Class, please sit down as I have an announcement to make." Mrs. Kyrst announced as the class were still in the process of composing themselves "We will have someone new in this class today." The class including him listened closely as the curiosity in the room grew on who will be this new classmate.
A gorgeous girl entered the room. She has an olive skin tone and wavy brown hair that moved smoothly as she walks into the room. Everyone is in awe of the beauty that she has but for Tommy, she's looking really familiar.
"Do you want to introduce yourself?" Mrs. Kryst asked as the new girl smiled and stared at her.
"Good morning, everyone" She looked around the room "I'm Rachel Alcroft, you can call me Rachel. I just recently moved here from New York City. Our family used to live nearby this town when I was 12 before we moved there. I'm looking forward to starting the new academic year with you all and hopefully meeting some amazing people in the process." She smiled as most of the males in the class swooned at her presence.
Oh god, it's her, he thought in awe. He looked around his environment and saw that the seat on his left was the only available one in the room. He got nervous because he did not exactly have the best conversation with her before they parted ways four years ago. He did not really anticipate what he would say to her when they met again. I guess fate really is a funny thing.
He was shocked, trying to process that fact that she is going to be present in his normal routine again. Admittedly, he is still embarrassed and terrified to have a conversation with her, knowing she would absolutely shun him because of how terrible their relationship had ended.
Our teacher looked around the room and spotted an empty seat on his left, Oh Lord. "You can sit beside Mr. Pickles" He gulped as Mrs. Kryst pointed her finger to the vacant seat on his left. She immediately abided and walked towards the seat.
He tried hard to focus his attention on the board to avoid making eye contact with her but unfortunately, her memory is too strong to forget about him "Oh hey Tommy, I didn't know we would be together in this class, I wonder how many more classes we will be sharing." She said as she stared at him. He still avoided looking into her eyes.
He was surprised by how casually she is talking to him, acting like nothing big happened between them in the past. He briefly looked at her, trying to look calm as much as possible. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see," he replied coldly.
She was about to respond but was abrupt as the teacher started to speak as the class lecture started.
Several hours later, the bell rang which signaled lunch. All the people from his recent class collectively stood up, preparing to leave the room. Tommy stored his used pen and paper in his bag and wore it on his back. He quickly went to the cafeteria and immediately saw a lot of students already gathering there with tables occupied by different groups of nerds and popular kids.
Tommy politely ordered his food and after receiving his drink, he walked to find the table that had the gang sitting on it. Luckily, he immediately spotted them because of Dil's aggressive waving and walked towards their direction.
He saw her at the table, the same woman that has been driving him crazy these past few years. She has her hair in a messy ponytail with less makeup on her face, she's really beautiful.
He placed his lunch tray on the table and sat beside his best friend, Chuckie who is seated in front of the girl he is looking at. After getting comfortable in his position, he started to speak.
"Hey guys, what's up?" He greeted enthusiastically as everyone in the table lightened up.
"Just came from a boring Gym class, doesn't the current school curriculum have a challenging activity for me to do?" Lil laughed while taking a bite of her food. These past four years have been productive for her after becoming more involved in our school's soccer team. She basically became a soccer legend as her skills continued to be better and eventually peaking at its best. He's really proud of how far she came.
"They can literally set your foot on fire and you'll still be comfortable." Phil retorted as everyone in the table laughed with him.
"Ha-ha, so hilarious Philip." She mockingly laughed and rolled her eyes, getting annoyed from his brother's usual rebuttal.
Phil nowadays had turned into a mature man who finally learned the art of physical hygiene which they are all thankful for, Thank Goodness. He actually had more girlfriends than Tommy had, can you imagine that. But he can't blame all those girls for falling into his charm as his flirting skills got better over the years, actually better than Tommy. He also has some serious cooking skills which he developed because of getting interested in it back when they were eleven. They gotta hand it to him though, he finally found something he's really good at. He occasionally contributes new and original dishes for the Java Lava's menu, good for him.
"I don't know Phil, stepping on flames will surely cause intense skin damage." Chuckie said while giggling. It is no secret here that Chuckie is a smart guy which is why he's currently enrolled in Advanced Placement classes.
"Stop right there Chuck, we don't want to hear any of your complex scientific trivia." Kimi crossed her arms and lifted one of her eyebrows. Phi, Dil, and Tommy laughed as a response. He stared at her for a minute, completely getting mesmerized by her presence.
After that remark, she gulped her lunch drink. Tommy didn't realize that he had been staring at her the whole time until Dil nudged my side rib. "You're being too obvious, bro." Dil whispered.
Thankfully the rest of the gang at the table were busy discussing with each other to notice his conversation with Dil. They all resumed eating the rest of their meals as they continued discussing different things from each other. Tommy really hoped nobody except Dil noticed what happened.
The bell rang again, signifying this time that it is time to return to the next classes. The gang bid each other goodbyes, except for Lil and Kimi who are scheduled to be in the same class after lunch.
Fortunately, Tommy didn't have any more classes with Rachel for the rest of the day. He absolutely doesn't have any romantic feelings for her but he still feels bad about how things ended for them back then. He's open to starting a platonic relationship with her if she will accept it. Romance is out of the way as it is already clear for him that it will never work out.
When the majority of all classes had ended. Savannah Shane, one of the popular girls, informed everyone that she is planning to do a high school kick-off party on Saturday. All of them are stoked as this is an opportunity to hang out and have fun a little bit after the classes opened over three weeks ago. This is going to be a big party since Savannah is now a high school senior and this will be the last year where she can hang out with her high school gals before heading to college.
Savannah walked with two other popular girls whom she always hung out with, Brianna and Paris. As the trio walked in the hallway, some students looked at them and moved to the side to give them a space to walk on. Everyone knows how terrible they are when they get mad or do not get what they want. Suddenly, the trio noticed a good looking woman who seemed to be storing some stuff in her locker. They never saw her before which made Savannah think of starting a conversation.
"Who are you? I've never seen you before." Savannah stopped and stared at her, thinking she could be a competition to her popularity. She narrowly looked at her from head to toe as if she was examining her.
The girl paused for a minute before gently flipping her hair and looked at the trio in wonder. "Hey, I'm Rachel and I'm definitely new here." she confidently answered as she offered her hand for a handshake.
Brianna and Paris looked at her from head to the extended hand then raised their one eyebrow.
"Where did you come from?" Brianna asked, crossing her arms.
"I'm from New York, which I assume you all are familiar with." Rachel calmly responded.
"Of course, we're familiar with New York, our whole family has been celebrating New Year's Day there since I was a kid." Paris retorted.
Savannah looked at the girls on her side before letting out a response.
"It's rare to see someone new who looks on par with the people I usually hang out with" Savannah fixed her hold to her fancy hand-bag, raised one of her eyebrows, and shook hands with her. She thought that she looked decent enough to be in the same circle with her. "Speaking of hanging out, I'm having a High School kick-off party this Saturday. You can come if you want to introduce yourself to everyone."
Rachel smiled "That would be delightful"
Savannah slightly tilted her head "Yeah, so see you around." she said as she cockily walked away
Rachel was left dumbfounded and composed herself. She already prepared herself for those kinds of encounters prior to enrolling in this school, but she did not expect for it to happen soon, let alone in her first week. However, being in this girl's good graces will be a step for her to become prominent in this school and she doesn't want to miss that opportunity.
Phil walked over from the school halls to their large schoolyard, looking for the gang. He saw them walking in a group, heading towards the school exit. After spotting them, he quickly ran and approached them. "Hey guys, have you heard? Savannah's having a kick-off party this Saturday. Are you all coming?" Phil asked the group as he continued to walk with them.
"It will probably be a big party as this is Savannah's last year in High School." Lil said as she sipped her beverage.
"Oh you mean another event that will trigger my social anxiety? I'm not sure about that but I'll think about it." Chuckie said, getting nervous at the thought of those party goers bullying him.
"C'mon Chuckie, it will be a good way to catch up with everyone and forget about our stressful school activities for a while." Tommy advised while having attention focused on fixing something on his video camera.
Lil composed herself and started to say something as if she was announcing it "Are you coming, Kimi? I definitely need some help picking an overall outfit for the party." Lil looked at Kimi's direction, waiting for her response.
Kimi swallowed and smiled "Sure Lil, I don't have anything to do on Saturday so I guess I'm going." she replied as Lil hugged her and she happily returned it.
"Thank goodness, you are the best'' She exclaimed and let go of her hug "I'll text you the details in the following days. I'm so excited, ah!" Lil expressed in glee.
"I do hope that the senior girls fight doesn't happen again this year, they're so fucking dramatic, ugh!" Kimi loudly sighed as she rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"Let's hope Angelica behaves well there as she is a senior now." Phil joked and most of the gang laughed except for Tommy who has his eyes glued to the Asian beauty on the table.
Kimi caught his glances and smiled gently at him before looking back at the gang who were still laughing.
He swears to himself that he has to stop staring at her at random times, especially when the gang is around. Unfortunately for him, he can't stop himself by being mesmerized by her presence.
Author's Note: I apologize if it's a little bit (entirely) boring, I want to build up the events and characters first before we get to the (even boring) exciting parts haha. If you like what you read, you're welcome to stick around.
Also, I made a carrd website so I can put all the info and behind the scenes details for this story there, including a Spotify playlist as I'll always include a song in every upcoming chapter to set the mood. It's on my bio, so please check it out if you're interested.