Off The Hook

"You'd think it stop raining eventually… or at least let up a little." Ron complained, hanging his jacket on its hook.

"Isn't it supposed to rain all night too?" Tara asked as she dabbed a napkin across her wet forehead.

"That's what they say." Ron leaned against the hall table and began to write out a short note for his parents. 'At the mall, back for dinner- R'. "You can wait for me in the living room, and there's pop in the fridge if you want one." Ron said as he ascended the stairs, going to his room to change his clothes.

"Ok, thanks Ron." Tara admired the view he offered until he was out of sight. Feeling suddenly thirsty, she headed for the kitchen. 'A pop does sound good.'

She was impressed at how neat and orderly the house was; nothing like what she had expected, judging from how Kim said Ron kept his locker. 'He's either a closet neat-freak or his parents do a lot of picking up behind him.' She mused.

x.

"Rufus have you seen my Leafs jersey?" Ron asked, digging through one of the piles of clean and semi clean clothes on the floor of his room.

Rufus shrugged and shook his head, "no."

"Well don't just stand there." Ron chided. "Help me look… I don't want to keep Tara waiting."

Rufus dove into one of the piles and began his own search. A few seconds of looking later and he had, "Found it."

Ron reached down and took it, "Thanks buddy." He gave the shirt a quick sniff, 'smells clean enough,' before pulling it on.

x.

Tara cracked open the cool can of Citra and took a long slow drink. 'I didn't think they made this anymore. It's sooo good though.' Two years ago Ron had picked up 50 cases of it for 100 dollars on close out at Smarty Mart, Aisle 14. His mom was still complaining about how it took up all the room in the garage.

Tara was standing in the living room looking at family photos on the wall. 'There are so many pictures with Kim in them. It's almost like she's part of the family… How am I supposed to ever compare to her in his eyes?' The phone rang and, not thinking, she picked up. "Hello?"

"Kimberly?" A perplexed older male voice asked.

'People even call for her here?' She shook her head lightly. "No, this is Tara."

"Oh, sorry. I must have the wrong number." He apologized and hung up. Tara switched the phone off and set it back onto the tabletop.

"Did I hear the phone ring?" Ron asked as he stepped into the room from the stairs.

"Yeah, but it was a wrong number."

"You answered it?" Ron asked, worried that it could have been his dad or worse yet, his mom. 'She'd definitely freak the most.'

"Sorry… " Tara paled a touch, concerned that Ron might be angry with her, he wasn't.

"It was a wrong number anyway… nothing to worry about." Giving her a whisper thin smile as he dismissively waved his hand.

Her color returning Tara asked. "Ready to go?"

x.

Mr. Stoppable checked his speed dialer, wondering if it had malfunctioned. "No, that's the right number 448-3678. I wonder…" Did Ron actually have a girl over? And a beautiful blonde cheerleader nonetheless? "My son the man…" He smiled, pumping his fist. "…doing something."

Boy Interrupted

"They're not at his house anymore. It looks like they're heading for the mall now." The boy genius looked up from his computer screen. "Do you want me to keep tracking them - him - or……?"

Kim didn't say yes, but she didn't say no either, she just rolled the corner of her lower lip between her teeth and looked away.

"I'll take that as - No."

"Thanks Wade." She said sheepishly, clicking off the Kimmunicator. 'I should be happy for him… He gets to spend some time with a pretty girl.' She sat down at her desk, turning on her computer, and opened her diary. 'So why aren't I happy?' She began to type in her entry for the day. 'Tara and Ron…'

A Change

Tara had safely merged into traffic on Lexington Parkway when she flipped open her cell phone to make a call. "Hi, it's me." Stealing a sidelong glance at Ron, trying her best to sound disappointed. "Something came up so I have to cancel, sorry."

Bonnie was, to say the least, let down. "But I thought we were going shopping… like old times?"

Tara quickly suggested, "How about tomorrow?" That would work… except, her dad was coming home tomorrow. "Oh wait. How about Thursday? Let's do it then. Does that work for you?"

"Sure, Thursday's great Tara." Bonnie could tolerate waiting another two days for Tara to get what she deserved.

"Ok, talk to you later. Bye." Tara flipped the phone shut and turned the stereo back up, drumming her fingers on the wheel to the beat of the music. Driving straight past the exit they needed to take.

"Uh, Tara? Middleton Mall was that exit." Ron said, looking back over his shoulder. "If you take the next one we can double back."

"Or we can just go to the Woodsfield Mall in Upperton instead…" Tara suggested.

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't make any difference to me. A mall is a mall." He shifted slightly in his seat, adjusting his seatbelt. "As long as they have a Club Banana."

"I thought you only shopped at Smarty Mart." She asked.

"When I'm buying something for me, I do." He said. "But I'm buying something for Kim, so I have to do Club Banana."

"Oh… Ok." Tara put her eyes back on the road, concentrating on the task at hand… driving.

In Plans

Bonnie flipped shut her phone and turned to Chris. "She cancelled… Are you free Thursday?"

"I'm never free Bonnie." He cracked, opening the driver's side door of his truck. "So I'll take my reason for being here today… now."

Bonnie sighed, lightly licking her lips before climbing into the truck. "This had better be worth it."

"It will be..." He smiled, '...for me' as he closed the door behind him.