Hack-N-Sack 3923

Ron and Rufus had been playing for the better part of two hours, Ron was actually winning more games than he lost. "The Ron-meister is hot tonight Rufus." Ron boasted.

Rufus squeaked out a one word reply, "cheating."

"Not me little buddy. Its called practice, lots and lots of practice." After all what else did he have to do with his free time besides playing video games? He couldn't expect to spend all day with Kim, she had her own life to live. They were about to start another game when his mom yelled up the stairs. "Ron you have a phone call, it's Monica."

Ron looked at Rufus, confused. "Do we know a Monica?" Rufus shrugged his shoulders and Ron picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Ron, what's going on with you tonight?" It wasn't Monica, it was Monique.

"Not much Monique, just hanging out with Rufus playing some video games." Ron told her.

"You wanna hit Bueno Nacho with me? Say in about 20 minutes?" Monique was actually inviting Ron to hang out with her? On a Friday night?

"I'll be there in 15." Ron said as he quickly hung up the phone. He got up and changed into a cleaner shirt, "gotta look good for the ladies," and then put Rufus into his habitat and headed downstairs to tell his folks. "I'm heading to Bueno Nacho for a while."

"We just ate two hours ago," his father reminded him before asking, "you can't possibly be hungry again already?"

"There's always room for Bueno Nacho." Was Ron's answer to him as he headed out the door.

Sulk

Tara flipped the cover of her 'Cheer Squad Routines' book closed and sat back into the couch. "This is so boring." She said to the empty room. "Maybe something good is on TV." She picked up the remote and started surfing, eventually landing on what was once one of her favorite shows. 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'. A single word escaped her lips as she hit the power-off button, "Brick." She shuddered at the mere sound of his name.

Why did it have to be her? Why didn't Brick come out when he was dating Bonnie? Why didn't Bonnie tell her about him? About his weird obsession? Why was she sitting here thinking about him? That was the real question.

"Andy was right, the right guy for me is out there somewhere. I just have to find him." She told herself, "and that won't happen if I just sit here sulking."

A renewed Tara stood up and headed up to her room to get changed. She was going out to look for her Mr. Right.

Monique

"About time you got here Monique." Ron chided, "I've been waiting 10 minutes."

"Next time I won't stop for red lights…or pedestrians." Monique said jokingly as she slipped into the booth across from Ron.

"I never do." Ron told her.

"That's because you walk Ron, I happen to have driven here." It was true Monique had her drivers license, and a car.

Ron had his license too, but no car. And there was no way he was going to seen riding his moped anywhere. "Hey I'll be getting a car too…someday." His parents weren't going to buy him a car until next year. The excuse was money, its always about money when your dad is an actuary.

Monique took a drink of her Diet Coke and asked. "So, Ron, how do you like your lotion?"

Ron's face paled as he stammered out his response, tiny flecks of tortilla following the words out of his mouth. "H-How do you know about that?"

"Doy. I work at Club Banana, remember? Stacy told me that some guy had bought a bunch of Club Banana Exclusive: Strawberry Sensation. She said that he was about your height, had blond hair, and was a really nice guy."

"That could have been anyone." Ron said defensively.

"I saw the video of you buying it." Monique said, "now tell me how and why you bought it."

"Kim let me use some on a flight back from Phoenix. It did a good job and I liked it. So I bought my self a couple of bottles of it." Ron was actually telling the truth, for the most part. "Is that a crime?"

"How did you afford five bottles of it?" She asked, knowing that Ron could barely afford to grande size most days. How could he ever afford Club Banana Exclusive label?

"I got a 200 dollar Club Banana gift card in the mail the other day." He told her before he started devouring his second Naco.

"Why would someone send you something like that?" Sure, Kim had told her how, recently, Ron had been getting gifts from people they helped. Sometimes as a genuine thank you, but mostly as an apology for not noticing his contribution. But why on earth would anyone send Ron a gift card from Club Banana? A specialty retailer that catered to girls. In her eyes he was more of a Smarty Mart shopper, and his choice in clothing style could attest to that. 'So very discount.'

"That lab that Kim and I went to out in Phoenix last week sent it to me as thanks for my invaluable assistance." Ron told her in between bites of food. She could hear the inflection he used on 'invaluable assistance' and a Mona Lisa smile found its way onto her lips.