TP13

Ron met Kim at the fundraiser bright and early Saturday morning, 7:30 AM. Ron was tired but presentable. Kim, on the other hand, was tired and looked like warmed over death. She wouldn't be spreading much sunshine today.

"Wow KP you look pretty ragged this morning." Ron said as he looked her up and down.

'Ragged but still hot.' The little voice told him.
'Shut up.'

"I overslept, barely had time to get dressed before mom drug me out the door." Kim said as she tried applying eyeliner without the aid of a mirror.

"So how'd your date with Andy go?" Ron asked as he set out yet another stack of informational packets.

"It was an absolute blast. Bobby's party rocked hard." She told him, her face breaking into an energetic smile.

"I'll bet." Ron said in a defeated tone. He had never been, and most likely never would be, invited to a Bobby Johnson party.

"The only downside of the night happened when I got home. I was, like, five minutes late and my dad grounded me for a week. Can you believe it?"

"That's whack. I was out an hour past curfew and my dad let it slide." Ron said, playing it cool.

"You went out last night?" Kim asked surprisedly.

"Yeah. I hung out at Bueno Nacho with Monique and Tara... pretty much all night." Ron allowed himself a slight smile as the memory of last night's events came back to him.

"You, Monique and Tara? Hung out all night?" Kim heard, but did not believe.

"Well, it was really only about 4 hours." Ron said rather nonchalantly.

"You, Monique and Tara?" Kim asked again.

"I believe we already established that fact, Kim."

"Tara went out with you last night?" Kim asked a third time.

"We weren't out," he made the little finger quotes on the word out, "we were just hanging." Adding, almost as an aside. "Tara's got a great sense of humor…she laughed at my jokes."

Kim was about to ask a fourth time when Ron interrupted her, something had caught his eye. "Ooh. Car raffle KP! Loan me five bucks for a ticket." He gave her his very poor version of her puppy dog pout, "please?"

"Fine." Her pout certainly got around, and all the way back to be used against her. She dug in her purse and pulled out a fiver. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Ron said, before he ran to buy his ticket. When he got back he gave her the good news. "If I win you can be my first passenger."

"A ride with 'Crash Stoppable'?" She said in a very mocking tone, placing her hand on her chest. "I must be the luckiest girl in the world."

Ron was about to say something when Mrs. Dr. Possible walked up, she had seen them goofing off. "Get back to work you two."

"Yes, mom." Kim said unenthusiastically.

"Sure thing, Mrs. Dr. Possible." Ron answered cheerily.

Club Banana: Lunch

Tara walked into Club Banana looking for Monique, who was leaning against a display case chatting with Stacy. "Hey Monique." She called out as she waved at her. "You ready for lunch?"

Monique stood away from her resting spot and responded, "I thought maybe you weren't going to show. I asked you to call me if you were going to stop by."

"You did?" Tara asked, she certainly should have remembered Monique telling her that.

"Yeah," Monique said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "But, it's no big."

"Sorry. I must have had something else on my mind."

"I'll bet." Monique smiled a sly smile. "Probably a certain blond, about yea high," she held up her hand, "that's a 'funny, nice, guy'."

Tara blushed furiously, "NO."

"Mm-hmm." Monique hummed out rather smugly. "If you say so." She turned to Stacy, "I'll be back in 45 minutes or so," and then back to Tara, who was still blushing a bit. "Salad ok with you?"

"Sure." She said as they headed to lunch.

Lunch

Kim and Ron sat back against the wall relaxing, eating their lunch, in the thin sliver of shade the building offered. Kim decided that this was a good time for her to have that 'sit down' talk with Ron.

"Ron?"

"Yes KP?" Ron asked before he took a sizable bite off his footlong.

"Monique and I were talking and…"

Ron began almost choking on his bowwow before he forced a swallow. "Talking about what?" He asked as he took a drink of soda.

"You." She said flatly, before her voice filled with concern. "You seem really distracted lately. Is there something going on with you that I should know about?"

"Kim…I." He began. Had Monique broken her promise to him? Did she sell him out to Kim? There was only one way for him to find out. He had to lie to Kim.

"Ron? I just want to help. If I can."

"It's school," He lied. "I don't think they're going to let me be mascot next semester, because of my grades." He stuffed what was left of his first beenie into his mouth. "I guess it's got me bummed out more than I thought."

"I didn't think your grades were that bad." She said before smiling a big smile and faux-punching his shoulder. "It'll take some work on your part, but we should be able to get your grades up so you can still be mascot next semester."

"Work? Oh man!" Ron whined outwardly, all the while celebrating on the inside, before starting in on his second bun pup.

x.

Tara had been unusually quiet during lunch. Her salad sat almost untouched, only having been picked at around the edges. Something, or rather someone, was on her mind. "Monique?" She asked quietly not looking up from her plate.

"Yes?"

The beautiful blonde glanced up, "What's Ron like?"

"Besides funny and nice?" Monique asked before continuing after a nod from Tara. "Well he can be a bit stubborn, even annoying sometimes. But, if he likes you. If he trusts you. There is nothing he wouldn't do for you."

x.

"First off Ron it's your hotdog, not your wiener!" Kim said holding Ron's frankfurter in her hand. "And, if you're going to get another soda, grab me one too."

"Will do KP." Ron said, headed for the refreshment table. 'KP…Will you hold my wiener?' he chuckled as he snagged another pair of cups.