Ron rolled his scooter into the parking lot on Monday; he looked at the school building and took a deep breath. He was not looking forward to this day, but he had to get through it to make it to Smarty Mart in the afternoon. He had a gym bag of nice cloths to change into after detention and had brought his lunch so he could sit outside at lunch time. His mission today was to try to avoid Kim as much as he could and lay low so he wouldn't get harassed all day. Both objectives were going to be tough considering he had all his classes with Kim.
Ron arrived early in order to get to his locker quickly and get situated. Ron strode up to his locker and worked the combination lock and it opened right up. Ron shook his head, "Now I remember the combination" he thought bitterly.
Ron put his bag and his lunch in the locker and took out what he would need for the next two classes. Ron walked to his first hour class he nodded and waved to a few folks, he didn't stop to talk; he didn't want to draw any attention to himself.
He made it to his first hour class, sat in his traditional seat next to Kim. He thought about taking the seat closest to the door for quicker a get away at the end of class but figured that would draw too much attention to him. He was going to try and act as normal as he could under the circumstances.
His fellow students started arriving and took their seats, Eric Phelps got Ron's day off to a rolling start. He was two rows away but that didn't discourage him from picking on Ron, "So Stoppable, I hear you couldn't keep your woman happy, mind if I give her a try?" he said sneering at Ron.
Ron stared straight ahead, told himself to be calm. He thought of Yori, thought of detachment, thought of Japan. He gave a half smile, "Don't want to break my left hand today." He winced at that thought.
Kim arrived at school and noticed Ron's scooter already parked in the lot, she went to her locker and was disappointed not to see her friend there waiting on her. She hadn't really expected to see him, but hoped he would be there all the same.
She walked into the first period class just in time to see a paper ball go bouncing off of Ron's head; Ron looked as though he were in a trance. She felt a large lump rising in her throat, "Ron's going to have a long dark week." She thought sadly.
She took her seat next to Ron, "Hi Ron, missed you last week." She said trying to draw him out of his shell. Kim barley heard him say hello and then his eyes were all over the room but he never looked directly at her.
Kim thought to herself "he's probably trying to lay low so he'll get left alone." she made a mental note to talk to him at his locker later.
They went through first period together, Ron was like a robot. He only did what he had to do and no more. He never made eye contact with Kim; Kim however kept a close watch on Ron. She was hoping for an opportunity to wave at him or smile.
At the end of class the bell went off and Ron was to the front of the room and halfway to the door before it quit ringing. Kim was stunned, she had never seen him move that fast before in school. Kim sat in her seat, "He is not ok." She thought to herself.
Kim knew Ron's schedule enough to know when he would be going to his locker and she would be there to meet him.
Once Ron cleared the class room, he went directly to the restroom and took a seat in one of the stalls. He took a deep breath, "That wasn't so bad, I can do this, I can do this." He repeated in his mind over and over again to give him resolve.
Once Ron was collected, he walked out of the stall and right into Stan Dauber, "Hey Ron, too bad about last week, I was hoping the numbers were wrong, but as you know, they're never wrong." He told Ron.
Ron looked around the bathroom, "Yea…well…yea." He said not quite sure where all this was leading.
Stan shrugged, "Look at it like this, there is an eighteen percent chance the two of you will get back together and a twenty-five percent chance that you guys will be able to stay friends." Stan advised sympathetically.
Ron looked at the floor, "Well at least it's not 368,239,203 to 1." He said smiling.
Stan laughed and shook his head, "No not that bad, Ron." Stan wished Ron luck; then Ron left the restroom and headed to his second hour class.
He entered class before the bell, waived hello to Kim. This seemed to make Kim happy, at least he thought it did, he wasn't sure. Ron got himself situated and brought his stuff out for class. There were two pats on his back from behind him and something appeared over his right shoulder.
It was a picture of him and Kim kissing from the prom, except there was written in red marker ink the word "Loser" with an arrow drawn directly towards him. Ron's head dipped and his eyes closed, he agreed with who ever sent it. Loser was a good description of him.
He should have known that he was nowhere in Kim's league…he was a fool for believing otherwise. Ron focused, "I have to stop this, can't show weakness here." He thought bitterly.
Ron looked at the picture again, "Well, it is a good picture, might as well save it." He thought as he pulled out his binder and carefully placed the picture in it.
Kim saw Ron coming into the room, and Ron waived to her. Kim was happy, "Maybe he'll be ok?" she said to herself.
Then she saw the paper being passed from the back, then she saw it wasn't a paper it was a picture. The picture of Ron and her kissing from the prom, that picture had made it all over the internet and it embarrassed Kim to no end. The Kim realized that Ron had never seen the picture before.
She leaned over to look at the picture, and then she froze. She saw the red letters, "Loser" with the arrow pointed right at Ron. She saw Ron's left hand twitch, then she saw his head dip and eyes close. "No, no, this isn't right; they shouldn't have done this to him. What have I done? Hang in there Ron." She thought as she watched Ron helplessly.
Then Ron did something that surprised her, he brought out a binder and placed it inside. "I wonder why he did that?" She thought to herself.
Kim was out the door, just behind Ron once the bell rang, she knew where he was headed and she was right, he was going to his locker. Ron made the trip looking at the floor, once Ron stopped to open the locker Kim made her move. She walked up to Ron, "Hey Ron" she said in a pleasant voice.
Ron nodded, "Hi Kim" he said quietly.
Kim glanced around, "Good to have you back…at school that is." Then she kicked herself, thinking of how that sounded.
Ron caught the meaning too, he looked at her and smiled nervously. Then he glanced around nervously, "Yea…yea, ummmmmm…ok, I gotcha…yea" he stammered.
Ron made an excuse of needing to use the restroom and took off like a shot. Kim watched her friend take off down the hall, "That didn't go very well at all, there's always lunch, more time to talk then." She thought to herself.
Ron disappeared into the stall and put his elbow on the toilet tissue dispenser and propped his head up. He took several deep breaths to relax himself, "Second hour went ok, Kim's weirding me out though. Have to stay focused, if I can survive this day a job interview will be a cinch. Only 3 weeks of school left, I can do this." He thought as he left the restroom.
Ron thought of the "Good to have you back…at school that is." Statement that Kim had made, "what was she saying to me? " Ron was puzzled, and Ron hated puzzles, he was never very good with them, didn't have the patience, thousands of little pieces that you work on them for years to reveal a pretty house or some rural scene.
The whole object of the puzzle was a waste of time to him. If you want a pretty rustic scene on your wall paint a picture or take a photo. You don't have to rack your brain trying to figure it out. Kim is starting to become a puzzle, "What am I supposed to do?" he thought sadly.
Ron turned his attention to the numbers, "What did Stan say twenty-five percent to remain friends?" Ron was losing focus and he knew it. He gathered himself back up and figured lunch time he could run it all through his mind. There will be time to think then.
Lunch time finally arrived; Ron had his little meal and sat on the bench in front of the school. Rufus finally woke up and helped Ron eat what was in the bag. Ron watched the traffic go by the school, "Oh yea, gonna have wheels by the end of the summer." Ron thought happily to himself.
Ron was certain he had made it through the worst of the day. "The beginning is the hardest part; everything from Lunch on is easy." He thought happily to himself.
Ron was getting grief for last Saturday night but for the most part it was hit or miss, nothing too major that a guy with mystical monkey powers couldn't handle. Ron leaned his head back and basked in the spring sunshine, He looked at his broken hand and seen that the color was starting to return to normal. It made him feel better, he was starting to heal. Kim's high weirdness and being dumped and all was ok, Ron figured.
He knew if they'd been together a long time it would have really been painful, "Enjoy it while it lasts, I guess?" Ron thought to himself philosophically.
Ron frowned, "I just wish it would have lasted longer. I know she would have dumped me eventually, I just wish she'd of given her old friend a few more dates than Josh Mankey. That would have been the nice thing to do, love is a cruel business. Who am I kidding? I'm lucky I got a dance and kiss much less a date." Ron's thoughts were starting to get depressing again; he cleared his mind, collected Rufus and got ready for the rest of the school day.
Kim went to lunch with Monique and waited for Ron, no Ron ever showed up. Kim looked at Monique, "This isn't like Ron, and he's always here at this time. Where do you think he is?" She asked Monique.
Monique looked up from her food, "He's drifting." She said.
Kim gave Monique a bewildered look, "What's drifting?" she asked.
Monique nodded her head, "He had a hard week last week, from what you told me about that picture, he's having a hard week this week. He isn't sure anymore about you, he feels alone, he's hurting and he's going to drift around and either he'll figure things out or he'll drift away." Monique said sadly.
Kim didn't like the "drift away" part. Monique was looking at her friend, "I seen robot boy in the halls, he's drifting." She told Kim.
Kim looked away from her friend and then back again, "I thought I knew him so well, thought I knew how he would react. Now…I don't know…He's not going to call me or come by tonight is he?" she asked Monique.
Monique shook her head, "Nope"
Kim shook her head, "I didn't see this happening, I think I'll try and talk to Ron again." She said absently.
Monique shrugged, "If you talk to him, make sure you listen to him. You have a bit of a habit Kim Possible of doing all the talking and none of the listening." She said with a smile.
Kim looked shocked, "No I don't…do I?" she asked.
Monique just smiled and nodded her head.
Ron had made it through the normal school day; it wasn't as bad as he thought. Now he was in detention and he was using his time wisely. He finished his homework and was planning the next phase of the day, "Get cloths out of locker, ride up to Smarty Mart, change cloths, ace interview, get job, sounds like a plan." He thought happily.
Ron stared at the clock, it was moving slow but he didn't mind. Ron thought about Jarrod Masters in the back of the room, he still looked like a raccoon. Ron didn't know he'd broken Jarrod's nose. Ron nodded, "That'll teach him to mess with Ron Man." He thought happily to himself.
Mr. Barkin's voice brought Ron back to reality, "Stoppable, quit starring at me your giving me the creeps?" Mr. Barkin roared.
Ron looked at Barkin like he was crazy. Mr. Barkin was on a roll now, "There you go with those funny looks again, Stoppable I thought you learned your lesson the last time?" Barkin roared at Ron.
Ron thought it would be best to diffuse the rather eccentric teacher, "Coach, I got a question I been meaning to ask ya." Ron said trying to break the mood.
Mr. Barkin stopped looked at Ron, "Shoot Stoppable, I'm all ears." He said leaning forward.
Ron cleared his voice, "Uh, Coach, next year I'll be a senior and all, I'd really like to play a sport. Is there any sport that I can work on during the summer and make the team next year?" Ron asked.
There were snickers from around the room, Ron ignored them. Mr. Barkin looked at Stoppable, this was the last question he expected to hear out of his mouth, "Didn't you try out for all the teams last year?" Mr. Barkin said getting into Ron's face.
Ron told him he had, but he didn't take it serious enough or put any real effort into it. Mr. Barkin thought about it, "Tell you what Stoppable, I'll give it some thought and get back with you tomorrow. How's that sound?" he asked.
Ron told him that would work, after all he'd be there for the rest of the year. Barkin nodded, "Detention over, everyone get out." Barkin roared. Ron hit the door first and was gone.
Ron made the interview in good time, changed his cloths and he was now sitting in Angela True's Human Resources office, "I've been going over your application, It says here that you worked at Bueno Nacho for six months and then you have been saving the world with Kim Possible for two and a half years. Is this right?" she asked.
Ron had fibbed about the Bueno Nacho job but he knew that Ned would cover for him, "Yes ma'am, it's all there." Ron told her confidently.
Ms. True nodded, "So why are you giving up the saving the world job, it must be a pretty exciting job?" she asked.
Ron nodded, "It can be, but we usually always help people for free and it makes it hard to live a normal life. You're on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It's a tough lifestyle for being in high school." He told her.
Ms. True then lowered her eyes and asked, "Why do you want to work at Smarty Mart, Mr. Stoppable." She asked.
Ron shifted his weight, "Well, I enjoy working with people, I hope to earn enough money to buy a car and continue my education after high school, and I think that my knowledge of Smarty Mart practices and Smarty Mart policies would make me a most efficient Smarty Mart, Smart Associate." Ron said trying to sound as if he hadn't been rehearsing that all day in his head.
Ms. True nodded, "You can pass a drug screen?" she asked.
Ron nodded, "Yep, clean as a whistle." He told her confidently.
She nodded, "and you get your cast off your hand in about a month, is that right?" Ron nodded that it was.
Ms. True scribbled some notes to herself, "Mr. Stoppable, do you have your drivers license and social security card with you?" she asked.
Ron pulled them out of his wallet; he was ready for this interview. Ms. True took them, "Welcome aboard, Mr. Stoppable, I'll just make a copy of this for our files and then we'll get you your Smarty Martvest and we'll make you an ID card, that will also serve as your time card so do not lose it." She said in a well practiced HR tone.
Ron was doing bouncing on the seat, "Sweet" he thought to himself.
Ms. True came back in the office, "Can you start on Wednesday or is that too soon?" she asked.
Ron told her that he could. Ms. True then gave an address for Ron to go to after he left Smarty Mart to take the drug screen and then informed him that he would be earning a very generous nickel over minimum wage and be issued his ten percent discount card in a week or so.
Ron thanked Ms. True for her time, left the store and once out at his scooter pumped his hand in the air and gave a mighty, "BOOYAH!"
Ron left Smarty Mart, he was excited, he rode to the address that he was given, dropped for the drug screen and then went to tell Ned at Bueno Nacho that his plans were coming together nicely. Oh and he'd have to tell him to fib a little if Andrea True should call. Then he and Rufus feasted on Bueno Nacho food until they couldn't see straight.
It was well after eight when Ron nosed the little scooter into the driveway. He went inside the house and excitedly told his parents of his new job. They were pleased. Ron then hit the stairs, he realized he'd been going at it all day and it was finally catching up to him.
He sat on his bed staring at himself in the mirror, "Wow, it's been nearly five hours and I haven't thought about Kim once. I think working is going to be good for forgetting." He thought to himself.
Ron was basking in his own glow, he returned to school, faced detention, and got a job all in one day and no telling what he was going to do tomorrow. Ron got ready for bed and turned off the lights, "Man, it don't get any better than this." He thought to himself.