Our Place in the Food Chain: Part XI

Kim was lying on her bed, wrapped in a towel, thinking about getting ready for her date but really just lying there feeling good about herself. Thursday had come and gone with a minimum of fuss, cheer practice time spent at the mall shopping with Monique. Ron had the foresight to take his video camera so she had a good idea of what went on at the actual tryouts. With Ron and Tara forming a solid voting block Bonnie was forced to vote on mostly the best candidates, not those she wanted to nudge into her new posse. If they sensed she was going to insist on a girl she would either lose when Hope sided with them or face a tie-breaker. In the end, Bonnie left the gym in a huff after the four girls and one alternate were selected. Come Monday they would start practicing for real and after a week they would vote on a new captain.

She was so proud of how Ron handled Bonnie. He never let her snarky behavior and put-downs get to him. He knew how to 'consider the source' and it all just washed over him like a gentle breeze. He had always been that way. He didn't even flinch when the girl told him people would laugh loudly and cruelly. It wasn't until Kim told him she agreed with Bonnie that he had left deflated. What Bonnie said didn't mean anything to him, what she said meant everything in the world.

There had been a moment afterwards as Kim was waiting for Ron at the food court. Her eyes narrowed and a low growl escaped her lips when she noticed him entering with Tara on his arm. Actually, it was the platinum blonde clutching his arm in much the same way she did with any guy she was friendly with. Only, Kim knew that she once had a crush on him, though she never did anything about it. Hopefully it was just Tara being her usual friendly self.

She raised an eyebrow when she realized Hope was trailing close behind. It started to dawn on her then…Tara had broken ranks with Bonnie to stick up for her. That meant a shift in the power structure of the squad, and possibly the social hierarchy…the so-called "Food Chain." Tara broke away from Ron who actually was escorting her in like a gentleman and ran up giving Kim a hug.

Maybe I should have smacked Bon-bon a long time ago?

No, Ron was right, she was just too dangerous to be doing that. It would make her not only just like her rival, but worse, far worse. With Bonnie it had always been about words. Spiteful remarks, cutting criticism, now outright lies were her weapons. With the right timing she could decimate your reputation.

Against an untrained opponent, Kim could put somebody in the hospital…or worse.

It still puzzled her how Bonnie had been able to roll with her punch, even just a little. There was, or course, the explanation that she had deliberately been baiting her and expected it to happen but that meant skills she didn't think the girl possessed. That meant watching for visual cues; eye movements, muscles tensing, body weight shifting. That was something Kim could do and to a lesser degree Ron but not Bonnie.

Unless…just what exactly had the tanned beauty been doing over the summer?

A tiny spark of snarkiness wondered who she had been doing over the summer until she remembered Brick telling Monique that the other cheerleader was a frigid tease. She wondered about that. It just didn't sit right with the mental image she had of her. The thought of Bonnie Rockwaller still being a virgin? That didn't compute. Especially the way she assumed that Kim was already going all the way with Ron.

Kim brushed her hair out and closed the hatch to her room, locking the side door as well. She pulled a large Club Banana bag out and dumped the contents on the bed. Stuffed between a new pair of olive cargos (oh how she wished they would hit the clearance rack again like they had after 'Kim Style' had faded) and a pair of black denim hip huggers was a little pink bag from Alexandria's Confession. What it contained she definitely did not want her brothers or especially her father to see.

The last time she bought anything from that lady's lingerie store it hadn't gone too well. Then it was a pair of lacy see-thru panties that Monique insisted she wear on her first full date with Ron. It didn't matter there was no way in the world he was going to see her in them, it was supposed to make her feel sexy, like it was a dirty little secret in the back of her mind, helping set the tone for the date.

First of all, dinner and dancing with scratchy lace riding up into your backside wasn't sexy, not at all. Then, the next day she completely forgot about throwing them away and they somehow accidentally ended up in Ron's hands, where, through no fault of his except for his usual luck, they ended up being seen by most of the worst people.

This time she went in and had a long, professional conversation with one of the sales-ladies. She described what she wanted and what had happened the last time. Turned out what she had bought before was for one thing and one thing only and she wasn't about to do that then, nor was she now.

Monique had been onto something, though. There was something to be said for wearing something just a teensy bit naughty. She knew Ron had a thing for the simple cotton she normally wore, but with just the right touch of lace…

Then too, there were her new jeans. If she wore her old underwear it would actually show, so that meant going without or getting the type made to be worn with them. Wednesday morning she found that out the hard way and ended up going to school with another kind of dirty little secret, the kind that made her glad it was her lover who always lost his pants and not her. She wasn't quite used to them being that tight or that low cut, but her boyfriend seemed to like them. As in he couldn't take his eyes off her butt liked them and if Ron was appreciating her butt…

No, she didn't want to go there. Anything she did to look better was done for him and him alone. It was about pleasing her man, not attracting another. She actually felt proud of herself the way she had handled the crisis earlier in the week. It scared her that a pretty face could still give her the flutters but when you came right down to it, it was Ron she wanted at the end of the day. It was Ron, the whole man she was in love with, not just his face. Plus his face was good…no, great! That was the face she saw in her dreams.

In delicious, steamy, sweaty dreams she had been having, especially after Wednesday's festivities.

Kim took one more look at the dress draped over the back of her student chair. If the original plans for the evening had remained she would have already put it on. At first she was a little disappointed Ron wanted to go to some house party rather than the dance club, but he insisted. Somehow he had the impression they would have a good time. Dancing and food were promised, so it seemed alright. Then too, even if they didn't get as much 'alone' time as they first planned, they had gotten plenty of that two days earlier. Originally they had planned Friday night as their only alone time.

Kim slipped into her new acquisitions. Black silky 'cheeky low-rider' panties and a matching strapless bra, new black denim hip-hugger jeans and a satin black camisole top. It hung a little lower than her usual crop tops, but still stopped about an inch above her navel. Basically the band of bare skin had moved lower with the ensemble. She topped it all off with a gold metallic belt draped around her hips, and the red shoes and bangles she usually wore with the dress. It didn't matter her emerald earrings didn't quite go with the outfit, but she wore them anyway. Ever since Ron had gotten them for her birthday she had worn them on every date. Quite by accident she found out they cost just over a thousand dollars, money he had gotten by selling his childhood collection of action figures. That meant a lot to her and she would wear them every chance she got. She even planned to wear them on her wedding day…

…which of course would come many years from now (but not soon enough!)

Timing was everything. Ron's bike wasn't loud like the American versions, but it did have a distinctive sound. He pulled up into the drive just as she was putting on some dark red lipstick.

"Kimmie, Ron's here!" Her mother called from downstairs.

"I'll be down in a minute, Mom!" She looked in her full-length mirror one more time. I'm such a smokin' hottie! She blew her own self a kiss and headed down the stairs.

Ron was waiting at the bottom of the stairway. Somehow she suspected he had some kind of notion he could see something when she was wearing a short dress but in reality it had become his custom to wait there. Woe onto him if he ever decided to just pull up and honk for her. James Possible may have been very fond of him, but that was one thing he couldn't abide. If a young man was picking his daughter up for a date, he better be willing to walk up and ring the bell. Even as solid as she was with Ron that particular rule still applied.

He mouthed the word 'whoa' as she descended the stairs. It was clear he appreciated the new outfit as much as he did the black dress. Well, almost. There was something special about it now that gave it a little oomph past anything else she could put on. It was also another reason to have black underwear, especially if he was going to squire her around town on a motorcycle.

The thought gave her pause. What if her parents watched her ride away crouched on the back of the bike in these pants. Her father might apply a new definition to 'Just say no to crack!'

She needn't have worried. He mother had gone back to the kitchen and her father never once looked up from his paper. Dates with Ron had become as routine as the two of them going out to hang out. She could have left the house in a thong bikini and they wouldn't have noticed…at least until word got back to them.

"We're going out, Dad." She called.

"Okay, Kimmie-cub. Remember tomorrow you're going to Temple with Ron so don't be out late."

"Sure thing."

"Wow oh wow you look…so hot, KP." Ron said as they walked out to his bike.

"You like?" She twirled around, wiggling her backside slightly.

Ron was almost ready to pass out. "Man, I've only got one complaint."

"What's that?" She asked as she swung her leg over the back of the bike and put on her helmet.

"Those jeans are so tight you don't have that little gap."

"So?"

"Well, I've always kinda looked down it when you weren't watching, trying to get a peek at what you were wearing under there."

"Ron! You mean to tell me you did that when we were just friends too?"

"Uh, hello. You're a badical babe and I'm a normal healthy male? Of course I did."

Kim grinned from ear to ear, then leaned over and whispered a detailed description of what she had on before he could put his helmet on."

"Uh, Ron? Earth to Ron? Hello, we've got a party to go to."

"Sorry, KP, kinda zoned out there. Had to think of other things for a bit so it would be safe riding this bike, if you know what I mean. Do I get a peek?"

"Not until it's time to give me the appropriate jewelry." She said, waving her left hand at him before wrapping her arms around his waist. He kick started the bike and headed off.

With only two high schools serving the city, Middleton and Eastside, the student population was fairly spread out, so it would take just a little while to get to the party itself. The subdivision wasn't quite as affluent as Kim's, but the houses were large and neat, though a little more closely packed. It kind of reminded them of the fictional street those…anxious…women inhabited on that Sunday night show.

Just as advertised the party itself was hard to miss. Maybe a dozen cars were already parked on the lawn, with many more lining the winding street, wrapping around the corner lot. They found a clear spot and parked the bike.

"Listen, Ron, I know you're stoked about this party, but if things are getting out of hand, like too many people drinking or worse, we're leaving, 'kay?"

"Sure thing, KP." He reached for the doorbell. "Cary said there'd be music and stuff to eat, you know, normal party stuff."

"Well, that's what I'm afraid of. We haven't really gone to these things but I do hear about them. Just be…wait a minute. Just who invited you?"

"It's a new guy. I didn't' get his last name, but he actually recognized me. It was so cool."

Cary? He recognized Ron? This is his house!

She was about to hit Ron with a whole battery of questions as the door opened. Standing there with a grin that would make a toothpaste commercial proud was Cary Allen On.

"Hey, guys, glad you could make it. Come on in, let me get you something to drink."

The door closed behind them and for some reason Kim could feel icy talons gripping her chest.

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