"So, Mom is just about to set the table for breakfast and in walks Ron, all dressed up in a nice white shirt, a tie, his black Temple shoes. I mean, he couldn't have had more than five hours of sleep before getting up that early, yet he looked like a million bucks. You would have sworn my parents were racing each other to hug him."
"You mean to tell me that Dude-Boy not only blows you away with the perfect date, he shows up to go to church with the fam the next morning? Girlfriend I am so gelling I am about to turn the same color as your top! I need to scoot on back home and squeeze myself into something so I can steal him from you."
"You're welcome to try." Kim said in a half-joking, half-serious voice, grinning at her girlfriend.
"So he's going to church with you now, bringing you home long before your parents say to even though both of them adore him anyway. Girl, you have struck gold."
"Is that my ears burning?" Ron asked, grinning as he approached the two girls dishing in the caf.
"No, we're talking about you're evil twin who's trying to worm his way into Kim's heart" She said, leaning over the table and making exaggerated puppy-dog eyes at him. "What do you think Kim and I would be talking about today, Dream Boy?"
Monique giggled uncontrollably as Kim turned bright red, rivaling the minidress she almost always wore. What surprised her was Ron turning crimson himself. Certainly Kim hadn't shared that particular dream with him, at least as she was fond of saying 'yet.'
"See ya later, Kim. I've got a library book due and I don't even want to think of being late with it." All three teens shuddered at the thought, Kim especially, having suffered through "Library Lock-up" on one occasion.
Kim figured her friend wasn't really on her way to the library, she was only making way for Ron. That was something she was going to have to put to rest pretty quickly. Them being together was so not the drama, at least where their friends were concerned. All that should have changed as far as everyone else was concerned was the couple were now aware they were making googly eyes at each other. It wasn't like they were going to be smacking lips here in the hallways of Middleton High School, especially considering the extra attention they were getting from Mr. Barkin, who seemed to be eager to catch the two breaking the school's ferociously strict PDA policy. They had been extraordinarily careful that all he would see them doing was holding hands and even that brought his baleful glare.
"I missed you at the start of lunch period, sweetie." Kim said, honey dripping from her voice.
"Sweetie?"
"Honey?"
"Uh uh."
"Baby?"
"Only in private."
"Okay, then what? You already have a special nickname for me, what am I supposed to do? R S doesn't really roll off the tongue."
"I dunno. I kind of like when you call me Ronnie."
"Isn't that what your cousin Shawn calls you?" She tilted her head slightly, perplexed at him.
"Uh, wow, never noticed that. I guess I only notice when you say it, you know, like when you were crushing on me."
"I thought that just brought back bad memories."
"Bad? Why would it be bad? The only thing bad was the fact I was willing to screw something like that up so easily. I should have been digging the attention."
"I think your weirdar was going off and you knew somehow it wasn't real, so you weren't throwing anything away." She slid her tray, with its half-eaten mystery meal toward him. "Here, want any, I know you're a growing boy, my sweet Ronnie-poo." She hooked her index finger around his and gave his hand a little wiggle.
At the mention of food, a tiny, pink head popped out of his cargo pocket and made a bee-line straight for the tray. Rufus didn't have to be asked twice as he plowed into something that might have once meant to be macaroni and cheese.
"Uh, no, I just needed to ask if I could borrow the Kimmunicator for a bit."
"What for?"
"Oh, I just needed to get Wade's help with some stuff, you know, helping me get ready for finals and all."
"Okay, it's in my backpack."
"Thanks, KP."
He squatted down behind her seat, rummaging through the bag, his hand closing on the familiar shape. Without looking he plopped it into the opposite cargo pocket and called for Rufus.
"Not done" the little mole rat squeaked back at his human.
"No time, Rufus, come on, lets go."
"Burger Prince with Mon and Felix this afternoon?" Kim asked.
"Maybe. Gotta go, love ya." He waited until Barkin's back was to them and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, giving her hand a squeeze, a move couples in the school called a 'hand hug' as a sort of substitute for a real public display of affection.
Ron walked confidently down D-hall, his mind focused like a laser on the text message Ned sent him on his cell-phone. He was grinning from ear to ear about the proposal his favorite eating establishment and one-time employer had for him. It meant not only some real spotlight for him without riding on Kim's coattails and the return of all the spicy, crunchy, cheesy foods his body and soul craved. Combining all that with the fact he would be able to share it with the most bon-diggity girlfriend ever (okay, first real one any way, but why not start with the best. Heck, start and end with the best!) All he had to do was have Wade patch in a video conference with some of the new BN brass.
The D-hall bullies gave him a smile and a wave as he strode past them. The look of fear they once had after Kim gave them some 'sensitivity training' while wearing his body had long faded, replaced with admiration and not a little envy. So not the loser he thought as he rounded the corner into the student commons.
Rufus was dozing in his pocket, so he left the little guy alone unless the honchos needed to speak to him as well. Visions of "Naco Boy" were swirling around in his head as he pulled the Kim's all purpose communication device from his other pocket.
For the first time he realized something was wrapped partially around the blue plastic casing. At first he thought it might be a handkerchief of some sort. It was pink, bright pink. Not the kind of pink you found on a rose petal but bright, blinding pink that said 'look at me!' He pulled it loose from the Kimmunicator, not quite realizing what it was until is was fully unfolded in his hands.
His mind froze, taking his whole body with it. The Kimmunicator clattered to the floor, utterly forgotten as the image of see-thru lace panties burned into his hormonally charged male brain. His overloaded synapses barely registered the approach of three students until he was covered in their shadow, cornered out in the commons. Recognition and comprehension surged through his mind. Seniors…Male…
…Brick Flagg, Josh Mankey and… Walter Nelson?
Suddenly it clicked. He was sitting there, alone, holding a pair of seriously naughty women's panties stretched between his hands as the three looked down at him. Before he could do anything, Brick snatched them right up into his paws.
"Stoppable, I didn't think you had it in you!" He clapped a big paw on his shoulder, passing the tiny bit of pink to Josh.
"Ron-man, you did us proud." Josh said. Walter just stood there grinning, displaying his perfect teeth.
"Uh, guys, it's not what you think…"
"It's cool, man" Brick said. "Real gentlemen never kiss and tell." His emphasis on kiss set all three of them off in raucous laughter.
"See, I knew when she kissed me she was holding something back." Walter said, still grinning.
"Must be something to remember her by before she 'drifts away' from you, huh, Ron." Josh added.
Anger flared in Ron's eyes, a rage seething from the pit of his stomach. Brick he could take saying things like that, even about Kim. But Josh, who, up to this point had always seemed so cool, so mellow about his not-quite relationship with Kim, that just re-ignited an ember of dislike, bordering on hatred he had kept at bay over the last two years. Walter didn't even require any new flames. He always held a special dislike for the over-groomed preppie pretty boy. He didn't even qualify as a real crush for Kim. That kiss had been purely a dare, something middle-school peer pressure had seemingly forced on her.
"Give me that." Ron snarled, snatching the underwear from Josh's hands.
At about that moment someone else rounded the corner. There was a sharp intake of breath.
Ron could only gape at the sight of Kim standing there, seeing him holding her panties up in front of the three boys, as if showing them off like a trophy.