Why Did I Do It?

Kim

Mrs. Possible was waiting when Kim walked in the house, she was late getting back. "You're late young lady."

Kim didn't stop to explain, she just headed upstairs to her room. Her mom came up after her, "What happened to Ron, didn't he bring you home?"

"We had a fight."

"A fight?" That's when she saw the welt on Kim's cheek. "I'm calling his parents right now for an explanation."

Kim rushed across the room and took the phone from her mom. "No mom…don't."

"But he hit you."

"He didn't mean to…I know he didn't"

"Don't make excuses for him Kim." Her mom grabbed the phone and started dialing.

Kim grabbed it back and shut it off. "Mom please, let me handle the Ron sitch."

"Tell me what happened. Why did he hit you?"

"He didn't hit me, he slapped me." Hearing this did little to assuage the anger Mrs. Possible felt toward Ron. "We were having a good time…until we were in the park."

"What happened in the park?"

"I sort of mentioned Josh," her voice dropped, "…twice."

Mrs. Possible rolled her eyes, 'bringing up the other guy'. "You know how Ron feels about Monkey."

"Mankey, Josh Mankey mother. Not Monkey." Kim was annoyed, how could her mother not know Josh's name wasn't Monkey? Had Ron turned her against him too?

Mrs. P realized her faux pas. "Oh, sorry."

"After that Ron wanted to know why I decided to go on a date with him - and I couldn't give him an answer."

"Why did you go?"

"I thought if I went this one time…" She knew just how pathetic her answer sounded.

"That he wouldn't ask again?"

"No…maybe…I don't know." Kim picked up a photo of Ron off her desk and looked at it.

"Why did he think you went?"

"He thought it was a pity date." It was of their first outing to Bueno Nacho.

"Was it?"

"…I only wanted to do something nice for him." She had insisted on giving him a ride on her bike.

"And then he slapped you?"

"No. He asked if I would have gone if we weren't friends." 'You can't ride a Tricycle to a restaurant opening Ron, only a froob would do that.'

"Would you?"

"…no…he's a los…he's just too…different." Ron asked her 'Just because I can't ride a bike that doesn't make me a froob does it?'

"But he is your friend."

"…yes…" 'You're no froob Ron, you're my best friend.'

"Did you tell him that?"

"What?" He had been her best friend since before either of them knew what a 'loser' was.

"That he is your friend no matter what anyone thinks of him."

"Sort of…no, not really. He was just so crushed, I don't think anything I said even registered with him." Kim started to cry, she felt bad for herself, and just as bad for Ron.

"Maybe you should try talking with him tomorrow, after he's had a chance to sort things out for himself."

"What am I going to do mom? What if he doesn't want to listen?" Kim began to realize that maybe Ron wouldn't be coming back this time, maybe she had pushed him too far.

Mrs. Possible took her daughter into her arms and hugged her tight. Trying to reassure her that everything would be okay. "Then you'll just have to wait until he is ready to listen, when he is he'll let you know."

Ron

"How was your date with Kim?" Ron's dad was sitting enjoying a 'Bud Light' while watching TV.

Ron plopped down on the couch next to him. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" For someone that didn't want to talk he certainly sat down quick enough.

"We had a fight and I…I hit Kim." Ron reached out and took a long drag off his dad's beer, emptying the bottle.

"What? Why?" He couldn't believe that his son had hit anyone, especially not his best friend.

"I don't know why…It just happened."

Mr. Stoppable went to the kitchen and poured himself a good stiff drink, and got Ron one as well. "Things like that don't just happen. Why don't you tell me about it?"

Ron downed his drink like it was a shot. "We were having a good time, she even said so. Then she brought up Mankey."

"Mankey?"

Ron reached over and took his dad's drink, slamming it like his first. "Josh Mankey - the guy she's been crushing on since forever ago."

Mr. Stoppable looked sort of confused. "I thought his last name was Monkey."

Ron looked at him and rolled his eyes. "After that…it all happened so fast…I wanted to know why she decided to go out with me."

"What did she say?"

"That she was my friend and…" Ron's voice trailed off and he just sat silent.

"And?" His father prodded him for an answer.

"That she…that she…I never let her answer. I just got so angry."

"Why do you think she went?"

Ron reached out and picked up his empty glass, trying to get the last few drops out of it."…felt sorry for me."

"Did you ever consider that maybe she thought she was doing something nice, for her friend?."

Ron just chuckled. "Yeah right. She thinks I'm a loser."

"Did she say that?"

"…no…I did…"

Saturday

Kim had finally put enough makeup on to satisfy herself that the mark on her face was hidden. She went to see if Ron was home, she had to talk with him, to understand what happened. She got to his house and rang the bell.

Mr. Stoppable answered, trying not to look like he was looking for the welt. "Hello Kim."

"Is Ron here?"

"No he isn't. He left earlier, said he had to go looking for something. I don't know where he went for sure."

"Thanks Mr. Stoppable." Kim turned to leave.

"Kim…I'm sorry. Ron…he didn't mean to."

Kim turned back and answered him, "I know," before heading off to find Ron.

Kim had an idea of what it was Ron was looking for, but he wouldn't find it where he was looking. By the time she got to the park Ron had already resigned himself to the fact that what he needed to find was gone. Forever. He was sitting on the bench in front of the amphitheatre, staring blankly at the mural that mocked his very existence. Why had he brought Kim here of all places, didn't he know that Josh brought Kim to this very spot on their first date? Of course he did, he just forgot. He was mumbling to himself when Kim approached, "…i could do that…"

"I know you could." Only an angel of heaven could sound so sweet, but Ron wasn't in heaven, this was his own personal hell. When Kim sat down next to him, he didn't make any acknowledgement of her presence. She reached out and picked his hand off the bench, that's when he noticed her.

"Leave me alone. I don't want to see you."

"Ron. We need to talk, about last night."

Ron stood up, took a few steps and turned back to Kim. "What about it?"

"I wanted to tell you why." Kim stood up and walked to Ron. "Why I wanted to go with you on a date. You're my friend. It started out as just doing something nice for my best friend, but I really did have a good time with you Ron. I just wanted you to know that."

"Yeah you had such a great time with me that you only mentioned Mankey twice on our supposed date."

"I'm sorry about that Ron, I should have known better…knowing how much you don't like him. I hope that you can accept my apology, as my friend." She tried to grasp hold of his arm, but he pulled away from her.

"No."

She stepped around in front of him again, he would have to face this sooner or later. "What do you mean, No?" she asked.

"I mean No, as in 'its not going to happen'. You think that saying sorry makes everything ok?"

"It always has before." Kim was confused, why was Ron acting like this? "Why does this time have to be any different?"

"It just does." Ron turned away from her, seemingly ashamed to face her.

"If this is about you slapping me. I forgive you. I know you didn't mean to." Ron didn't say anything but the look he gave her told Kim much more than she ever wanted to know. "…why…"

TBC…