Disclaimer: I don't own "Kim Possible". STOP. It belongs to Mark McCorkle, Bob Schooley and Disney. STOP. That red sign on street corners reads...STOP.
(...a classroom...many years ago...)
"Class, I'd like you to meet a new student. She's a little shy, but I know you'll do your best to help her out."
The little girl stood behind the teacher, peeking to see her pre-school classmates from behind the woman's legs.
"This is Sheila."
The woman looked down at her left, then her right. She jerked behind her and saw the girl tugging at her dress. She stepped to the side and gently brought the girl around in front of her.
The girl wore a black dress with green trimming. Her long, dark hair was tied in a bright green bow and her eyes were a rich green, but that wasn't what the other kids were focused on.
"Why are you so pale?", one boy shouted.
A brown-haired girl pointed at her. "Maybe she's a ghost!"
The room erupted in laughter. Tears quickly formed in Sheila's eyes. Things hadn't changed very much. She hoped that the kids in Middleton would've been nicer. It wasn't her fault she was so pale. People like her can't help the way they were born.
The teacher watched as the sad girl took an empty seat. Every eye was on her, including those of a girl sitting a few rows over. She wore a turquoise dress, and her red hair was done in pigtails.
(...an hour later...)
"Okay, class. It's time for finger painting."
The kids set about painting little pictures. Things like ducks, the sky and family portraits. With digits covered in blue and red, Sheila creates what looks like a flag. A couple of boys behind her whisper and snicker. The girl does her best to ignore them.
"Hey, new girl."
Sheila turns around.
"What do you--?" She wouldn't get to finish her question. The two boys ran streaks of green and white paint across her face.
"You could use some color", one of them shouted.
The tears began afresh for Sheila. The teacher heard the comment and ran over to the desk.
"Harold, Edwin, what are you doing?"
"Nothing, Mrs. Yancy. We were just playing around", said Edwin, the pudgier of the two.
"Well, I hope you two had fun 'playing around', because you get to stay inside during recess."
The two boys groaned. The woman takes Sheila's hand.
"The rest of you, keep going. I can't wait to see what you've done."
(...a bathroom...moments later...)
Sheila sits in a chair. Mrs. Yancy dabs at her face with a damp rag.
"It's a good thing this is only finger paint."
A doleful expression crosses the girl's face.
"I'm sorry, Sheila. I know that it can be tough at a new school. When I was a girl, I had to start at a new school. I'd just gotten braces. Ultimately, I made some friends and we've been close ever since."
Sheila still looks sad.
"Come on. You're a pretty girl. Let's see a smile."
The girl obliges. "Looks like you'll never need braces." The woman helps her out of the chair.
"I'm sure you'll make lots of friends."
The girl hugs her teacher.
(...the playground...a couple of hours later...)
All of the kids (minus Harold and Edwin) are outside enjoying the sunny day. They utilize the swings, the slide and the jungle gym.
Sheila, however, sits all alone under a curved tree. Her arms are wrapped around her legs and her head is buried in her lap. Her day had only slightly improved; no one smeared paint on her, but no one had wanted anything to do with her, either. They were still put off by her paleness.
A few of the kids toss around a ball. One of the kids, the pig-tailed red-head, looks at the new girl under the tree.
"Kim, look out!", shouted a brown-eyed blonde boy.
The girl wasn't quick enough. The ball hits her in the stomach. Kim simply dusts herself off and picks up the ball.
"Hmmm..."
She stares at the brunette intently. The red-head walks over to the tree.
"We need that ball, Kim!"
The comments of Kim's fellow players mean nothing to her.
"Hi."
With that word, Sheila looks up, tears in her eyes. She pouts a little.
"What do you want?"
"Well, it's recess."
"I know that. What do you want?"
Kim takes a breath. "I want you to have fun."
"How can I have fun by myself?"
"You can have fun with me."
"Kim, we need the ball!"
The statements register in Kim's head. She looks down and sees that she still holds the ball she was playing with. She smiles as she extends it to the pouting brunette.
"Wanna play?"
Sheila sniffles and wipes the tears from her eyes.
"Yes, I do."
Sheila wraps Kim in a hug. The red-head drops the ball and returns the hug. Kim picks up the ball. The two friends rejoin the game of tossing the ball.
(...the classroom...)
Mrs. Yancy watches as Sheila smiles and tosses the ball around. A cough from behind her.
"Are you done with those erasers?"
Harold and Edwin finish clapping the erasers.
"Yes, Mrs. Yancy", the boys state dejectedly.
The End
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A/N: To be honest, I had no real aim for this story other than to give people cavities. I saw Richard Sirois' picture "Come and Play" at DeviantArt and I got inspired. The set-up is that, somehow or another, through the machinations of a time monkey, a flux capacitor or my unusual imagination, Kim and Shego went to the same pre-school and became friends. This was the second story submitted for FaZhou's contest at DeviantArt.
BTW, the tagline/summary comes from a behind-the-scenes bit on the show. The line was said by Will Friedle.
Review and have a nice day.
