Author's Note - I'm on Danny Phantom and Kim Possible highs right now, but I figured I should probably continue this anyway. So, uh, yay to my reviewers… Mainly, SoL, who reviews almost every chapter. You're every author's dream. Hehe. As for the R/P fic… You WILL rewrite and post it! Lora STILL commands it so. (No preferences, BTW. Just make it floofeh~)

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Initiation

Part Five

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It was put rather bluntly. "I don't trust her."

"Wha-? Trust who?"

The news of the destructive chalk-lizard had certainly put a huge cramp on the beginning of the duo's day. An aura of negative energy seemed to emanate from them (or the male of the pair, at least) as they headed towards class.

"You know who I'm talking about. Your new best friend?"

His counterpart sighed. "Rudy, you're still my best friend. Kiki's my closest… normal, girl friend. There's a difference."

The exchange ended on that note, for the two were nearing homeroom's door. Mr. Wilter was leaning in the doorway, and gave the pair a suspicious look before they headed inside.

Rudy's eyes immediately traveled to the desk in the middle, where the blonde-haired Kiki sat. She was turned around in her seat to face him, and in the moment their gazes locked, Rudy had just enough time to catch the instantaneous look of contempt that crossed her face.

His suspicions were practically confirmed.

But the poisonous look she had given him lasted only a second. She visibly brightened upon seeing Penny, for that rare smile flashed again. Rudy felt himself grumble as his best friend made her way to Kiki's desk, leaving him in the dust.

"Class starts in less'n thirty seconds. I thought you wouldn't show. What were you and Rudy doing that required me to leave?"

Great - I guess she looked into the whole 'mom' excuse Rudy and I pulled on her. "Kiki, I am so sorry! See, Rudy and I had to… finish a very important extra credit paper that the two of us started on. It was due today. I shouldn't have lied to you." The instant it was said, a voice in the back of her head began to nag her. Then why am I doing it again?

"Hey, it's… not a problem," The expression on the girl's face was beyond recognition; it looked to be somewhat of a bizarre mix between devilishly crafty and tragically hurt. "We don't have to talk about it."  She took out her binder and laid it atop her desk, keeping a protective arm draped around it. "So, any… interesting news lately?"

"Not since this morning." Trying to be subtle, Penny took a very cautious glance towards Rudy, who was giving the blonde girl shifty, suspicious looks every time he glanced up from his drawing. Penny immediately decided it'd be best if Kiki didn't know. 

"So, Kiki… uh… tell me about your…" The Hispanic desperately tried to think of something to say. "…Your comics. You never told me much about them, and…"

But Kiki was looking past her, raising a brow at the boy behind them. "Why's Rudy glaring at us?"

Penny waved both hands in front of her in a defensive gesture, as if miming an invisible wall. "Uh… he's not glaring at us. He's…"

Kiki sighed. "No, you're right. He's glaring at me."

Rudy was well aware that he had been caught, but he continued the evil eye nonetheless. It had only taken him a day and a half to decide one thing for sure: He didn't like her. At all.

Penny searched for another distraction. "So, uh, about your comics…"

"Right." The blonde girl decided to tune Rudy out, and humor her genius friend instead. She didn't want to appear too fascinated with the whole glaring thing. Casually, she reached into her binder and took out a few loose pieces of printer paper. The designs on them were sketchy but distinctive and exquisitely drawn. "The comic. It's a plot I've been working on since my eighth birthday."

"Oh? What's it about?"

"It's the story of my character, Blasphemy. He's the main character, but not the good guy. In broad daylight, he stalks the city, where he selects a few victims and consumes their energy… Don't worry, it's a lot more violent than it sounds."

Penny stared back at the girl through widened eyes. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"I'm kidding! Sheesh." Kiki used one forefinger to point to a particular panel. Depicted in it, Blasphemy (who, so far, had appeared as nothing more than a five-foot shadowy figure) was holding an unfortunate civilian down under his claws. Both captor and captive were surrounded in a ghostly aura, which, as Kiki was sure to explain, represented the concentration of psychic energy. "He's telekinetic. He can read minds, and do amazing things just by thinking."

"Fascinating." Penny glanced back at Rudy for a moment, hoping he had stopped glaring and returned to his work. But he was still staring menacingly in their direction, his eyebrows slanted downwards over his squinted green eyes. It was rare to see him mad at all, let alone how upset he appeared at the moment.

The genius girl grimaced. "'Scuse me for a moment."

Leaving Kiki by her lonesome, Penny marched over to Rudy's desk. He said nothing to acknowledge her presence, but only kept sending heated glares in the blonde's direction.

"Rudy!?" His friend poked him on the arm. "Come on, stop that!"

"Stop what?" He asked immediately, without giving his response a thought.

"You know what you're doing. Cut it out!"

He huffed in irritation. "I just wanna give her the idea that not everyone appreciates what she does."

"Oh, Rudy…" She groaned, exasperated, and took a seat beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I understand what you're thinking - her drawings do seem to resemble the evil beings in ChalkZone. But Kiki would never do anything to hurt us intentionally. If we just tell her about ChalkZone, I'm certain she'd keep the secret. And as such, she'd never erase anything so harmful again. She's our friend."

Rudy's gaze only hardened again. He slung her arm off his shoulder again, making her gasp. "Actually, she's your friend. And we're NOT telling her about ChalkZone. If you want the truth, I think we'd just be telling her something she already knew."

Penny shook her head in disbelief. "That's crazy!" She seethed, unable to believe his stubbornness. What right did he have to make such reckless assumptions? The anger spread over her like a storm. "Why can't you just trust me on this one?!"

Suddenly, the room fell silent. Penny hadn't realized she'd elevated her voice so much. Her cheeks flushed lightly as she noticed all eyes on her.

But after a few seconds, the room was buzzing with chatter again. After the girl's outburst, Rudy looked a little hurt. He scooted a little closer to her, just to make sure she knew that he wasn't angry.

"I do trust you, Penny." He looked to make sure no one was listening in. "I trust you more than anyone else I know. Yes, Snap included." She giggled a little at this comment. "…The thing is… I just don't trust her." He jabbed a finger at Kiki, who was tapping her foot impatiently while she awaited Penny's return.

"Oh, please. If I can learn to get along with Snap, you can certainly get used to Kiki. Can't you give her a chance?" Penny planted her hands on her hips, bent on staying put until she changed his opinion. "You said you trusted me. Well, then, you can trust me when I say that nothing bad will come out of this. ChalkZone could use another guardian."

"Whether or not she'll do good is what I'm concerned about."

Great - back to square one. She lightly whapped him on the head with the palm of her hand. "You're hopeless."

"Come on, Penny. I'm being careful."

"And careful is reasonable, to a certain extent. But once in a while you have to go with your intuition. If given White Lightning, Kiki would do nothing to harm us. I know it."

"That's not what my intuition is telling me."

"Ugh - Rudy!"

Penny shook her head with a sigh. "OK, I won't tell her. But I still think she's trustworthy. You have to promise me that we give her a try if nothing goes wrong for a week or two."

He grunted his disapproval. "I can't promise that-"

"Please?"

The boy flinched, trying not to cave in as his friend pulled the irresistible puppy pout. He tried not to look - Come on, don't look - but in the end, all efforts were futile. She had struck his weakness.

His final decision was hesitant, but he knew had no other option. "Oh… Fine."

She smiled in satisfaction. "I knew you'd see things my way."

As Penny headed back over to Kiki, Rudy felt himself start to quiver in disbelief. What had he just agreed to?

Then again, maybe she was right. Maybe his overcautious behavior was unnecessary, and maybe the golden-haired girl was worth trusting.

But he seriously doubted it.

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The rest of school was a blur to the three of them. At lunch, Penny and Kiki sat side-by-side, while Rudy cast jealous looks in their direction. During recess, while the two girls played a friendly round of hopscotch, the third wheel watched them from afar, too absorbed in their affairs for a trip to ChalkZone to interest him. For the remainder of the school day, Penny enjoyed the company of her new friend, but only to a certain extent, because she knew he was always watching them. She also knew he refused to stray anywhere near Kiki, so a group setup was impossible.

Before they knew it, the two of them (meaning, everyone in previous paragraph minus Rudy) were walking home on that Thursday afternoon. They were tired under the glaze of the setting sun, and decided to stop and rest on a public street-side bench. Kiki pulled out her binder and began to discretely dig through its contents, careful to make sure Penny couldn't see it, before taking out a clean sheet of paper and a pencil.

"Why can't I see your drawings?"

"I'm just nervous about people looking at my work. Privacy. Don't tell me you never get that from Rudy."

"Well…" Penny's thoughts flashed to their daily adventures in ChalkZone, where Rudy was never shy about himself or his art. That's a definite no. "Yeah. But I didn't know it was the same for all artists."

"Same deal."

"Ok."

Rocking back and forth awkwardly, Penny pulled both her legs to arch in front of her, resting her elbows on her knees. The bench wasn't particularly comfortable, but it was a welcome change on the long walk home. "Rudy's mom usually drives me home. Now I realize it's a very long way to walk. At least it's a nice day, right?"

Kiki raised a brow, but commented not on the weather. "It seems like Rudy comes up a lot in our conversations. While he's still on our minds, can I take the op to ask you why he seems to hate me so much?"

"He doesn't hate you, not at all! I don't know what you're talking about." Penny bit her lip. "Why would you think that?"

But Penny's innocence had taken an inverse toll. Kiki looked… disgusted. Absolutely repulsed.  "OK, Penny… I like being your friend. But I don't think you feel comfortable around me. You're keeping secrets. A lot of them."

"Well… I…" The Hispanic looked alarmed, panicked. "Well, you know, we all must have our secrets, you know -"

"I understand that one, believe me. But… it seems to me like you're always lying to me. I won't be subtle. I don't like it." Kiki set down her drawing to look her friend in the eyes. "Is there something here I absolutely cannot ever know? In that case, I guess I would understand…"

The reply was little more than a whisper. "…Yes."

And no more was said. Kiki returned to her drawings, and, as Penny noted, her facial expression had remained indifferent throughout the entire exchange. Was she really concerned, and just good at hiding it? The Hispanic shot her a questioning gaze, a silent plea for forgiveness. The look was returned, accompanied by a simple nod of the head. Kiki wasn't angry. Probably still a little irked, though.

Penny turned to leave. "We're still friends?"

"Yeah - just the kind that keeps secrets from each other."

The young genius couldn't tell whether or not Kiki was being sarcastic. In any case, she felt terrible about it.

Because of Rudy, she had to keep secrets from Kiki. And because of Kiki, Rudy wouldn't hang around like he used to. It seemed like a lose-lose situation. Like a tangled friendship web with no apparent solution. Who was she supposed to side with? She obviously couldn't keep up with both of them.

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A/N: OMG… I get to write R/P in later chapters! Which are coming up SOON! *does freakish victory dance*