Ron went from three hours sleep to no sleep and the effects showed. The alarm went off at the usual time but Ron was already sitting up and dressed for school. He slapped at the clock radio to shut off the alarm, "Shut up, I'm up, I'm up." He yelled at the clock radio that had just landed in the floor.
He remembered what Wally had told him, the stuff will make you mean, and Ron knew he was feeling pretty mean and angry right now. He got up and walked over to where Rufus was sleeping, "Rufus time to get up.' He said slamming his fist on top of the dresser making everything jump.
Rufus bounced around and came up shaking a fist, "Hey" the little rodent yelled at Ron.
Ron spun around and Rufus saw a look in his eyes that he'd never seen before, "New policy effective now Rufus…You want to eat? You get your fat ass up when I get up; otherwise you starve…GOT IT!" He screamed at Rufus while sticking a finger in the little naked mole rats tummy.
Rufus cowered in the corner shaking his head that he understood. Ron turned and left the room and headed down stairs to make Rufus's food. He made the food and yelled upstairs, "Foods up Rufus."
Ron looked upstairs and saw his mom on the way down, "You wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" she asked concerned about Ron's yelling so early in the morning.
He shook his head, "Sleep, Sleep, who does that anymore?" He said angrily
His mom shook her head, "Your going to the doctor, this has gone on long enough." She told him.
Ron shook his head, "I'm not seeing anyone till the seasons over, everyone thinks I'm crazy…It ain't me that's got the problems, I'm not sleeping and I'm doing just fine…I gotta go, time for school." He said with a sneer.
She watched him stomp out the door and head to his car, "He's got problems and once this cross country madness is done, we're going to get them fixed." She thought to herself.
Lunch time arrived and Ron was relieved he wasn't feeling nearly so angry now, but a new concern had popped into his head, "They've been trying to get me to eat, I bet Wade's trying to chip me again. Slip Ron a chip in his food and he'll never know…Sorry Wade, I'm too smart for that." Ron thought with an evil smile.
Monique walked up and sat down beside Ron, she looked over at Ron and saw that he was busy pulling his food into pieces and placing them into two piles, "Ron's going to be weird for me today, I guess." She thought nervously.
Monique was watching Ron, he acted like she wasn't there, "Ron…What are you doing?" She asked in an even voice.
Ron chuckled, "You know what I'm doing." He said accusingly.
Monique shook her head, "No Ron…I don't." She told him nervously.
Monique looked at Ron's eyes and it was as if she could see a dark cloud coming over them. Ron looked at her, "I'm splitting the food in half, the half that looks like it could be hiding Wade's microchip goes here…The food that looks clean goes in the other pile…It took me a little while to figure it out…Get good ol' Ron used to eating again and then BANG, chip him when he's not looking…I know it's in here somewhere, it vexes me so…I'm just too smart for that…tell Wade he's going to have to try harder." Ron said and then he was laughing a bitter angry laugh.
Monique blinked, "I'm going to sit over there now Ron…Is that ok with you?" she asked more than a little nervous.
Ron shrugged, "Suit yourself, you know where I'll be." He told her as he continued to dissect his food.
He had picked and separated all the food on the tray and now it was time to go back to class, Ron cleaned off his hands and stood up and when he turned realized the entire cafeteria had watched him pick thru his food.
He turned and left the cafeteria as quick as he could, he was angry with himself, "I should have been able to control myself, now everyone thinks I'm a nut…especially Monique…Ohhhhhh man." He thought worriedly to himself.
Kim had been hearing it ever since lunch, all about Ron's bizarre behavior at lunch, "Something happened to Ron, but what? He ran well yesterday and we had a good date on Saturday night…Bonnie says he's become a weirdsicle and Monique flat out won't talk to him anymore…Says he was talking crazy stuff about Wade trying to chip him again." Kim's mind was turning but nothing was making any sense.
Finally school was over and she could catch up to Ron and find out what was going on with him. She found him in the parking lot with his sunglasses on just staring into space. Kim walked up and knocked on the passenger side window and Ron jumped, then he reached over and unlocked the door.
Kim slid in the passenger seat, "Hey BF, heard you had a weird day today." She asked him trying not to sound too concerned.
Ron stared straight ahead and nodded.
Kim reached over and tugged on his ear, "Want to talk about it?" she asked in a motherly voice.
Ron shook his head that he didn't and then he turned and tried to speak but just shook his head, "I…I didn't sleep at all last night." He told her sadly.
Kim had not seen him without the sunglasses, so she reached over and took them off. She let out a gasp, Ron looked hideous the black circles were starting to spread down to his cheeks, "Ron…You've got to go to doctor, come home with me and let mom look at you." She urged him.
He looked at her and shook his head, "I'm not seeing anyone until this season is over, I don't want to take a chance not be able to finish the season on Saturday." His voice left no room for doubt there was no compromise on this issue.
Kim closed her eyes as she heard Ron start the car to take them home, "I've heard about all I can stand about cross country, this is soooooo stupid, it's killing him and he doesn't seem to understand this." She thought to disgustedly to herself.
Kim looked at Ron, "The cheerleaders will be there on Saturday…In Go City." She told him flatly.
Ron smiled, "Alright then…Right on…I can't wait till this whole thing is over with…I was thinking about trying out for track…but I don't think I want to anymore." He told her sadly.
Kim nodded, "Yea…I don't think I could take you involved in any more sports." She shook her head sadly.
Ron smiled and shook his head, "Hey I almost forgot…nice turtle neck." He complimented her with a knowing chuckle.
Kim smiled and bit her lower lip and then elbowed him real hard in the ribs. Ron chuckled, "Hey now nothin' but love KP, nothin' but love." He said in a teasing voice.
She nodded her head, "Your turn's coming Ronnie, you just wait for that next trip up to Quarry Lake." She said shaking a fist in his face.
Ron pulled the car into the driveway, "Sorry about the hickeys…I'm going to go home and try to sleep…I'll get it together after Saturday…You'll see." He told her trying to sound reassuring.
Kim leaned over and gave him a kiss, "I hope so, your starting to really worry me you know." She told him truthfully.
Ron nodded and then once Kim was clear he backed out of the driveway and went home.
Saturday morning came not a moment too soon for Ron, he arrived at School a little early, he went through his gym bag and made sure he had everything that he would need, he didn't want to forget anything.
He saw Kim and waived, she waived back to him. The cheerleaders were riding on a different bus, "I guess I'll catch up to Kim once we reach Go City" Ron thought happily to himself.
He went to the back of the yellow bus, and made himself as comfortable as he could. He had started to sleep again in the night and Ron was relieved. He had thought that he would never sleep again but sleep had returned if only for a few hours.
The buses rumbled out of the parking lot, Ron closed his eyes and hoped a quick nap would come his way. Riding in a car on a road trip had always made him sleepy when he was younger and he hoped the road noise and the vibrations would do the trick.
The bus hit a big bump and Ron's head banged against the glass window hard, "Ouch…No sleep to be had here." He thought to himself.
Ron sat up in his seat, he looked forward on the bus and seen J.D. working his way to the back to where he was. Ron put his bag on the floor and made room for him to sit down. J.D. slid into the seat next to him, "You ready for this?" he asked Ron.
Ron looked at him, "I guess he wants to know if I took the pills." He thought to himself. Ron smiled, "Not yet, I will be when we get closer to Go City." He said confidently.
J.D. looked around the bus, "This is pretty cool, isn't it?" he said happily.
Ron nodded, "Yea…Pretty cool…You know you could have gave me a heads up on what was coming my way the other day." He told J.D. in a tweaked voice.
J.D. looked at him and shrugged, "Look at it like this, you won't have school tomorrow so you'll have a little time to get the stuff out of your system….Now you know what to expect, I think you can keep yourself together now." He told Ron in a reassuring voice.
Ron nodded, "He is right, no school tomorrow…and I did run pretty good the other day…I better take them today and then, I'm done with it." He thought to himself.
The bus traveled closer to Go City, Ron pulled out his water bottle found the little plastic sandwich bag with the pills and then he took two more and put the pills back inside the bag.
Ron turned and looked out the window, he was not real happy with himself. He knew what the pills would do to him later, and he took them anyway. He didn't want to let the team down, even if it meant endangering his health, "How did it come to this?" he thought to himself sadly.
The buses arrived in Go City, they were at the stadium inside the massive Go City University campus, Ron got off the bus with his gear and looked around the stadium, the seating was 70,000 plus for football games. Today however there may be two or three thousand from all the different school districts being represented from around the state.
There were all kinds of schools represented, large schools, small schools, medium size schools like Middleton and Ron was taking it all in. He had dropped his gear and walked out onto the Astroturf football field. He walked to what he imagined the 50 yard line would be at and turned in a circle looking at all the empty seats.
Kim got off the cheerleader bus and watched Ron wonder out to the center of the football field, she smiled, "He's never been inside anything like this." She thought to herself.
She then looked at the sky, looks like rain, "It's already cold, I guess we'll be in sweats today, too cold for skirts…Think I'll go wish Ron luck." She thought happily as she walked out to the field.
She walked out to midfield, Ron was still looking at all the seats, "Hey BF, you ready for today?" she asked as she slapped him on his butt.
Ron jumped, "Yea…I'm more than ready…This place is big…seen it on TV never thought I'd ever be standing here on the field though." He said in amazement.
Kim had an evil gleam in her eye, "Yea this is spankin'." She said as she slapped Ron's butt again.
Ron could feel the effects of the pills starting to work he was feeling wide awake as he reached around Kim's waist and pulled her close to him. He lifted an eyebrow and leaned into her ear so no one else could hear, "You feelin' frisky or you just one of those cheerleaders that want to get freaky on the 50 yard line." He whispered with a big grin on his face.
Kim's eyes got real big and she puffed out her cheeks, then she pushed him off her and started to chase him back towards the team bench, he was on one side and she was on the other going round and round. Ron was laughing, "Maybe you ought to run today, just stay behind me, and give me some incentive to stay up front." He said while laughing.
She was shaking her fist, "You stay there just a little longer and I'll give you some incentive." She told him with a smile.
Ron stopped running, "Ok…you got me." He told her with his hands up in a classic surrender pose.
Kim walked around the bench and came up and hugged him and gave him a big kiss, "Good luck Ron." She told him hugging him tight.
Ron hugged her back, "Thanks KP" he told her quietly.
Kim looked up at the sky, "You racing in shorts or pants today?" she asked out of curiosity.
Ron took off his sweat shirt, "Pants and t-shirt…I think for today, Hey KP can you help me find my gym bag? I need my towel." He asked her as he looked at all the different bags on the ground.
Kim found the bag and reached in to pull out Ron's towel, when she pulled it out a little plastic sandwich bag with two pills fell out on the ground. She leaned over and picked them up to get a closer look.
She turned and threw Ron the towel, "Here it is, Ron." She said as she turned her attention back to the sandwich bag.
She looked at the pills, she had never known Ron to be taking anything, and she knew he wasn't feeling good now but he hadn't seen a doctor yet. She turned and wiggled a finger at Ron, "Ron, come over here a minute please." She had a concerned tone to her voice.
Ron nodded, "What ya need, I gotta get ready for the race." He told her.
Kim opened the palm of her hand, "What's this?" she asked.
Ron shrugged, "I…I don't know for sure, J.D. gave em' to me last weekend to jump start me on race day, the only bad part was I couldn't sleep for two days after I took them." He told her honestly.
Kim could feel herself starting to get angry, "Did you take any today?" She asked not being able to conceal her temper.
Ron nodded, "I took two earlier on the bus…That's why I'm not dragging today." He told her.
J.D. Rottler came from Ron's left side and slapped at Ron's hair, "Let's get ready, we're up in two." He told Ron as he went to by to go stretch on the field.
Ron was looking down at the ground, "Look KP, I have to go get ready." He told her sadly.
Kim nodded, "We'll talk about this when we get back to Middleton." She told him flatly.
Kim watched him walk off, then she put the bag with the two remaining pills in her pocket, "That's why he was acting so weird in school…Ron you know better than this…I'll have a little heart to heart with Mr. Rottler too when we get back home…I'll show the pills to mom, maybe she'll know what to do?" she was working a plan in her head, and it was a plan Mr. J.D. Rottler would not soon forget.
Ron did his stretches but wasn't feeling too good about things, "Kim's pretty upset with me…I…I just didn't want to let anyone down, and now I've let her down." He thought sadly to himself.
They had a quick team meeting and went over the course; the coach reminded them that if it started to rain to watch your footing, he said there was no sense getting hurt in the last race of the year. Ron was listening intently; he was starting to focus on the race again.
They called Ron's group to the line, Ron walked up to the starting line. He could hear the Middleton Cheerleaders off to his left; he looked over and saw Kim give him the thumbs up sign. Kim had made him feel better as he lined up with the other runners.
Ron was still looking around when Wally punched him in the shoulder, "Head in the game Ron." He told him in a stern whisper.
That was a big red flag phrase with Ron, Kim used to tell that to him all the time when they were out on missions. It was a phrase he had come to hate, the race started and Ron was out of the box like a shot.
He was running hard and rolled in behind the first place runner, they had started to pull away from the rest of the field. Ron let other man lead, he didn't know the course and the way he was feeling now if he wanted to win the race he'd just run over the top of the guy to do it.
J.D.'s eyes were big, Ron was running way too hard, "He'll never be able to hold that pace, I better move up there and slow him down." He thought to himself as he started to push forward to catch Ron.
Ron was seeing red, the pills J.D. had given him and the unpopular catch phrase from Wally sent Ron into one steaming red hot black rage. J.D. pulled along side and was trying to say something; Ron didn't hear him. Ron was too busy trying to bury his elbow into his mouth. J.D. was knocked off stride and fell back to fourth.
Ron decided to press the leader; he pulled up along side the runner and looked at him. Then Ron pulled ahead and then dropped back behind him again. Ron smiled an evil smile, they had just passed the halfway point and he was in a trash talking mood.
Ron pulled along side the leader again, "Nice $200 shoes, shame a pair of $30 Smarty Mart shoes are going to kick your ass today." Ron was trying to break his concentration and it was working.
The leader looked over at him and flipped him the bird, Ron smiled, "Ohhhhhhh I know you didn't go there." Ron said as he dropped back into a comfortable second place.
Ron could see the stadium coming up and the entrance, and he still felt like he had more left in him, "Ok, there's the stadium, one lap round and then the finish, Wally or J.D. get near throw them a few elbows…As much hell as I'm going to catch from KP later, I'm winning this thing." He had a plan and he was going to accomplish it no matter what.
Ron entered the stadium just behind the leader; he could hear the cheerleaders from both schools cheering them on. He kicked out to take a high line around the leader to see what he would do, he moved up in the turn on him So Ron took him a little higher in the middle of the turn and the other runner moved up.
Ron fell back just a little to set up turn three, "If I can make him hold this line down the back stretch, I can cut back across and take the inside line away from him." He theorized.
The two runners were coming down to the end of the back stretch and Ron darted down to the inside and poured everything he had into the pass. The other runner could not match Ron's move, Ron had successfully screened him off from the lane.
Now Ron had the lead coming out of turn four and headed for the tape. Ron was running as hard as he'd ever ran in his life and broke the tape first just ahead of the second place runner.
Then the two runners legs became tangled up and they went rolling down the track. The only thing Ron would remember about the whole accident was seeing sky, ground, sky, ground, and finally sky as he came to rest down the track from the finish.
Ron was staring into the overcast sky, he couldn't catch his breath, his knee hurt, and he knew he was going to have cuts and scrapes from the track all over his body. That was all ok, he had won, he had accomplished something. Just what he still wasn't sure, he held his index finger to the sky, "This one's for you Lacey...this one is for you." He thought happily.
Other members of the team were and the coaches were around him now, they were putting an oxygen mask on him to help him catch his breath. They helped him to his feet; Ron could feel the little pieces of chipped stone from the track surface falling off of his back. Then he became aware that someone was sweeping his back, Ron saw Kim, and he started to walk toward her. He tried to put his weight on his right knee and then his eyes rolled up into his head and he could have sworn he heard a scream as he fell backwards into the blackness of unconsciousness.
Ron woke up on a gurney next to an ambulance; they had him hooked up to an EKG machine to read his heart rate. Coach Barken leaned over in his face, "Stoppable if you would have won State and died, you would have been a legend at Middleton High School, now you're just another guy that won State." He said in a disappointed voice.
Ron shrugged, "It wasn't from lack of trying." He said with chuckle from behind the oxygen mask.
The cross country coach leaned over him, "We thought you had a heart attack, your heart rate wouldn't slow down…Are you on any kind of prescription drugs that we should know about?" he asked Ron quietly.
Ron looked over at Kim, she looked pale, and Ron shook his head, "No" He told them as he looked over at Kim again.
Ron looked down at the rest of his body and noticed that he had ice packs strapped to his right knee. He looked up at the cross country coach, "It looks like you sprained it in the fall after the finish." The coach told him.
The EMT crew started to pull all the little sensor tabs off of Ron's body, Ron would "Yip" from time to time as they pulled the tape off of his flesh. One of the EMT's looked at Ron, "Do you wish to go in to the hospital for treatment?" he asked in a rather bored voice.
Ron shook his head, "No" he told them in a shaky voice.
The other EMT handed Ron a clipboard, "Fill out the top paper front and back saying that you refuse treatment, sign it and you can be on your way." He told him.
Kim came over to watch him fill out the papers; Ron looked up and smiled, "I'm ok…Really." He said trying to make her believe it was true.
He signed the papers and handed the clipboard back to the EMT and then tried to lift himself off the gurney. The cross country coach and Coach Barken helped him up. Ron tested the knee and it was still pretty tender.
They made their way back over to the bench and everyone started clapping and cheering for Ron. He waived sheepishly at them. They gave him a really nice first place medal, a much bigger trophy for first and a cool looking t-shirt.
He held the t-shirt up and read it, "2006 Middleton High School State Cross Country Champions." His voice was breaking and his hands started to shake.
The other runners and cheerleaders gathered round him, patting him on the back, Ron looked over at Kim, "Booyah" he said with a laugh.
Kim smiled, "Booyah" she said and then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
Ron hung the first place medal around her neck, "Number one girlfriend." He told her pointing at the medal.
Kim blushed and looked at the medal, "Number one girlfriend." She thought to herself.
Ron looked around, "Where's my gym bag?"
Kim spoke up, "I've got it over there for you." She told him.
Ron looked at her and smiled, "Coach Barken, can I ride back with the cheerleaders?"
The coaches looked at one another and shrugged, "I don't think it would be a problem." The cross country coach said.
Coach Barken nodded, "Get on board Stoppable." He told him pointing to the bus.
Kim and Bonnie helped Ron to the back of the bus, Tara carried his bag. Kim took a seat in the back and Ron plunked down next to her. Bonnie just shook her head, "Ron why did you want to ride back with us?" she asked out of curiosity.
Ron wiped his face with a towel, "Bonnie, I've ran, and traveled with them guys over there for the better part of this year. I never felt that I belonged and I don't really have any friends on the team…I guess I just want to ride home with my friends." He told her sadly.
Once the bus was on the road, Ron buried his head into Kim's shoulder and started to cry, "I wish I'd of stayed on the squad, I never should have done any of this." He said as he was crying.
Kim held him in her arms and rocked him and stroked his hair, "I wish you would have too, you scared me so bad out there today…J.D. Rottler you can run but you can't run far enough away from me…I want answers." She thought angrily to herself.
The buses arrived back in Middleton after dark, it was starting to rain. Kim held Ron in her arms for the entire trip. He was still crying saying that his skin felt like it was crawling off his body.
Kim motioned for Bonny and Tara and told them to take Ron to his car, she would be along soon. She had to have some words with someone first.
Once the buses rolled to a stop, Kim was first off of the Cheer bus and was heading to the cross country bus. She found a intercept point in the parking lot just off from J.D's car behind some trees a good spot for catching J.D. Rottler before he could get to his car.
She spotted him coming off the bus, he was talking a little with Wally Tamron and now he was headed her way, "Time for answers J.D." she thought angrily to herself.
She stepped out from behind the tree and ran silently to come up from behind J.D., ten feet from his car, she made her move. She pushed J.D. as hard as she could in the back sending him headlong over the hood of his car.
He turned and came off of the hood trying to figure out what was going on, but not before Kim slapped as hard as she could with her right hand, "WHAT DID YOU GIVE RON, J.D.?" She yelled at him.
J.D.'s eyes looked as if they had spun completely around inside his head, "Nothing…He's lying." He told her desperately.
Kim now slapped him as hard as she could with her left hand, "WRONG ANSWER, WHAT DID YOU GIVE RON, J.D.?" She yelled at him again.
J.D.'s eyes now looked as though they were spinning the other way around in his head, "I didn't give the freak anything." He told her angrily.
Kim let out a hateful chuckle, "I was hoping you were going to say something like that, looks like I'll have to break a few bones to get the answers I want from you J.D."
Kim grabbed J.D. by the arm and spun him to the ground in a wrist lock, "Ok, J.D. here's the deal, I'm going to ask you again and if I don't get the answer I want, I'm going to break your wrist…Got it?" she asked in a menacing tone.
J.D. was getting ready to cry, Kim was hurting him and hurting him badly, "METH, I gave him some meth. He needed to do better in the meets." He told her practically in tears.
Kim let him go and with her right foot pushed him down to the ground, "You ever give Ron anything ever again and we'll be back her finishing what I started…got it?" She asked not really expecting an answer as she turned and walked to the other side of the lot where Ron had his car at.
Ron was sitting in the passenger side waiting on her, "I need you to drive KP, I'm in no shape for driving right now."
Kim nodded and slid behind the steering wheel, "We're going home to see mom, she'll know what to do Ron."
Ron looked at her and nodded, Kim smiled at him, "Hey this is the first time I've ever driven your car." She said feeling good to be back beside Ron.
Ron looked over at her, "I don't think I'm in the mood for Quarry Lake, Kim." He said sadly.
Kim slapped his arm, "Hush, let me enjoy the moment." Then she started the car and drove Ron home to see her mom.