Our Place in the Food Chain: Part XX
September slipped away as the young couple settled into a comfortable but busy routine of school work, minor missions and dates. The Spirit Week dance was a pleasant interlude, though both of them admitted later that it was more than a little boring, having moved onto much more exciting dancing and dating venues. Then again maybe there was something about sharing a dance with the Freshmen and Sophomores, making it seem so much more like a kid's dance. There was just something quaint and almost innocent about it, like taking out a toy that had been put away for years and trying to play with it again, finding that most of the joy was now in memories rather than the moment. Still, they stayed for the entire event, especially since both of them were on the planning committee. That meant the cleanup fell partially to them as well though they didn't mind. It was as much fun being together taking down decorations and picking up trash as it was with their more usual date activities.
Kim did suggest they sneak off to the janitor's closet early during the dance but a wary eyed Wilma Director put the kibosh on that idea, standing sentry in the hallway door leading there, perhaps knowing what sometimes went on in there during the dances.
Ron certainly wouldn't have minded being locked in it again, as long as he was trapped in there with Kim.
Cary was relegated to the status of minor friend, at least as far as Kim was concerned. She didn't speak of him much around Ron, sensing her boyfriends growing dislike and distrust. He wouldn't say it out loud, but she knew what he was thinking. He was free to like or dislike who he pleased, though it did bother her that his opinion seemed to center on her visual attraction to him and his apparent attraction to her. Oh well, Ron wasn't perfect, she'd take him anyway.
His dinner invitation never materialized after all. Kim didn't pry but she assumed that perhaps his mother didn't care much for the idea after all. Ron suggested she might be nervous about celebrities, but that didn't seem to jibe with Cary's comment that his mother liked to show off her house.
The Zita issue seemed to take care of itself. By the next day all she did was pleasantly wave to Ron as he entered the class. That became almost a routine and she didn't seem to pursue him like she had the first day back. He didn't have any other classes with her and actually saw her very little in the day, so he had to assume she had gotten the message about Kim and backed off. Sometime later he actually heard she had a boyfriend, so he was able to breath a sigh of relief. No confrontation, no potential misunderstandings, no alienation, no awkward explanations.
It also allowed him to once again bask in the feeling that there actually were girls who desired him.
The subject of Cary came up again in October as they investigated another series of break-ins at a chain of high-tech gadgets called Keener Vision (Wade consistently rolled his eyes at the notion of retail level 'high-tech'.) Somebody apparently had it in for the company, especially the franchises owned by Cary's mother. Every time, however, the thefts seemed rather mundane so they turned it over to the police.
It was Ron who finally noticed the one oddity. "How come we keep getting called specifically to these things but we never see Mrs. On? Have we even met her?" He said as they cruised home on his motorcycle, speaking over a helmet-mike system Wade had installed for them.
"Good question. Why don't we drop by there and see what's up."
He didn't much like the thought of going back to that house, but this was business, so he wound his way back to Cherry Grove Road and parked the bike out front. The place looked so different without being surrounded by cars and bunches of kids standing outside, either waiting to get in or overflowing from the party itself.
Cary answered the door. He looked somehow different than they were used to seeing him. His shirt was unbuttoned and he was wearing shorts even though the fall had already turned cool. There was a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead and his hair was downright messy.
"Hi Kim, Ron, what's up?" he said genially, though he seemed a little nervous about something.
"We need to see your Mom, Cary." Kim said.
He looked at them both for a moment, perhaps noting for the first time they were wearing mission clothes and leather jackets instead of their more usual street clothes. Kim couldn't think of a time other than on TV where he would have seen them dressed like that.
"Uh, she's not home right now. She went to a meeting in Denver. Something to do with the break-ins at her stores. Is that what this is about?"
"Yes. Somebody with the company keeps requesting us when it happens so we're just following up. Don't you work in the Middleton Mall store?"
"Well, sort of. I'm technically the assistant manager but I only work a couple nights a week during the school year. Mom doesn't like my work getting in the way of my studying. Like it matters, I've already been accepted at GCU."
"Oh, that's cool. Should feel just like home for you." Kim said, thinking how nice it was going to be to live at home when she went to Middleton College the next year.
"You have no idea." He said, almost growling, his face darkening just a tad before he caught himself and recovered. "Uh, I'm kinda busy right now. I've got Mr. Markham's paper due this Friday and it's giving me fits."
"Oh sure, no big."
"Cool. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Word has we're getting hit with a pop-quiz in the morning."
"Thanks. I'm ready anyway."
"Oh, I'm pulling a shift at the mall tomorrow night. If you two want to hang out drop by."
"Sure, we'll think about it." Kim said as she waved goodbye and they started back toward the bike.
"That's funny." Ron said as he picked up his helmet.
"What?"
"Well, I may be wrong, but if he's studying it looks like he's doing it the way we do on Tuesdays."
"Huh? We spend more time with each other on Tuesdays than actually studying." She purred at him. They actually did more making out on those afternoons than they did on their actual dates.
"That's what I mean. I think he just threw on some clothes when we rang the bell."
"Uh, yeah, I kind of noticed that. Maybe he's just one of those guys who sits around in his underwear at home. You'd do the same thing if your mother would let you." She teased, knowing that was another habit she was going to have to break him of in the future. Much as she liked the view of his chest and his light fuzz of belly hair, there was a time and a place for that kind of lounging. "Even if he is in there with someone, wouldn't that make you happy?"
"Happy? Oh, yeah, I guess." He kick-started the bike and they headed off.
Cary watched them speed away, holding the curtains barely open.
"Who was that?" a feminine voice asked.
"Oh, just the 'Stoppables'."
"Huh?"
"Kim and Ron. The 'old-marrieds' of Middleton High."
"What did they want?"
"They were here to see Mom. Now, where were we?" He said, slipping back out of his clothes.
Cary sat at his table, nibbling on his sandwich, watching people as they entered the caf. The crowd was thicker than usual, considering the cold rain falling outside. He noted when a particular quartet entered.
"So, an Irish, a Jew, a cripple and a black walk into the room." He said before taking a big bite of his turkey and mayo sandwich.
"Is that supposed to be some sick joke?" His companion asked.
"Maybe, just maybe." He answered after swallowing.
She looked past him, noting the couple holding hands as they made their way to the senior table. There was a moment of wistfulness as she watched them. The blonde boy squeezed the redhead's hand before they sat down, the two of them waiting as the others went through the line. Absently she put her hand on Cary's thigh under the table.
He swatted it away. "Not here. Not in public." He hissed.
"Why not? You still wanting to get in her pants?"
"Might. All depends. Right now she's too wrapped up in that loser boyfriend of hers. Still don't get what she sees in that little weakling."
"Cary, he's not a weakling and he's not a loser." She said defensively.
"You still just want to get in his pants yourself." He quietly snarled. "I not good enough for you?"
"Yes, but I just wish you would show it more." She pouted.
"I've already told you. That stuff is for private. Do I need to explain it to you again."
"No. Private. I understand." She said quietly. "I just want people to know you're my boyfriend. You weren't like this in Go City."
"It's different here." He said, chewing on the last of his sandwich. "I'm having lunch with you, aren't I?"
"Yes." She picked at her rice sadly, thinking how things would be different if she had told a certain someone how she felt long ago. She looked across the room at the Senior table, seeing the four there chatting, smiling. The redhead would touch the blondes arm and leg every so often and they even shared bits of each other's lunch. They were the textbook definition of a cute couple, something she once thought she had until she moved here. She had been so happy when she was transferred to the city where her boyfriend had moved after his parents got divorced, but he had changed so much in the short month and a half they were apart.
"Look, I've got some things to do." He said, picking up his book bag.
"'Kay. See you tonight after work?"
"Maybe. Mom's going to be at the Lowerton store, so I've got to handle the store by myself. I'm probably going to be pretty worn out as it is." He walked away.
She followed him with her eyes, then turned back to the remains of her lunch, muttering under her breath in Spanish. It would be so good to end things with him. Their relationship had turned purely physical and that was starting to hurt her and he was acting like he was almost ashamed to be seen with her. Ending it wouldn't happen, though. She tried before and it hadn't gone well. He was capable of such anger sometimes, especially when it came to her.
Even more so when it came to the loving couple across the room.
"So, what's it going to be this year? Horse costume? The ballerina and the cowboy?" Monique asked.
"I think we're getting just a little too old for Trick-or-Treats this year." Ron said as he licked the last orange sauce from his container. It had been his turn to bring lunch and he'd made Chicken a la'range the night before. It lost something being re-heated but it was still twenty times better than anything the caf staff could come up with.
"Aw, come on, Stoppable. You can't break up the Middleton Halloween tradition like that. We've already got Tara and Jason lined up. We can triple date!"
"Triple?" Kim asked, seriously considering following Ron's example of getting the last bits of her lunch. It was that good.
"Uh huh." Monique said. "You and Ron, Jason and Tara and me and Felix." She reached out and took the latter's hand.
Ron dropped his container and Kim's eyes went wide as saucers.
"When did…how…huh?" She stammered, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh, this had been in the works for a while." Monique cooed.
"And you didn't tell me?" Kim was shocked.
"No, not until things got a little more official." Felix said, squeezing his girlfriend's hand back.
"How official is 'official'?" Kim asked.
"Official as in Rondo here isn't the only one who can kiss like a champion at Middleton High." Monique grinned back at them.
"Oh, and how do you know how well he kisses?" Kim looked from her girlfriend, to her boyfriend, who suddenly looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"I just had to get me a little sample of the Ron-shine girl. You can't have all that good stuff just to yourself all the time, you know."
"What? Ron, what is she talking about?" A tiny bit of anger crept into her eyes.
"Uh, I, uh, er…"
"You mean you didn't tell her? Ron is the make-out bandit. He's been laying it on me and Tara and Hope and I even think he's laid one on Bon-bon, but that's just talk."
Ron looked like he was about to crawl under the table.
"Ron?" Kim growled.
"Girl, I'm just playin' ya. You're the one who can't shut up about how good he kisses…and does back rubs and snuggling and how deft he is with those big fingers."
"I think I'm going to crawl away and die." Ron said sheepishly.
Kim just turned crimson, embarrassed that now not only Ron, but Felix knew the depth of what she talked about with her girlfriend in private.
"Oh, like you wanted to crawl away and die when Kim saw that 'artistically enhanced' to-do list?" Monique actually leered at him.
"Monique!" Kim hissed. "That did NOT happen! Period!"
"Uh huh, and you didn't make him shred it. Then burn it."
"Um, what exactly was on this list?" Felix asked.
"Nothing!" Kim and Ron said in unison.
"Nothing you need to think about at this point in our relationship." Monique said, rubbing her new boyfriend's shoulder. "Maybe I'll eventually explain it to you."
"It didn't happen." Kim growled.
"Girl, you're digging the your hole deeper and deeper. Let's just say that making out isn't the only hidden talent our boy has."
"Can we please change the subject?" Ron asked from behind his hand, hiding the redness in his cheeks, something that rarely happened.
"Okay. So, who's got their college applications off yet? I just sent them off to UCLA, GCU, Duke and Carolina."
"Well, I've already been accepted at MC, so we're just waiting to hear on Ron's applications."
"Oh, where're you gonna go, Stoppable?" Felix asked.
"I've applied at some of the culinary schools. There's a Johnson and Wales program here at MC which I hope I'll get into, but I've also applied to the ones in Denver and Charlotte."
"Cool. That'd be radical if you could get into MC and stay here with Possible. Maybe the two of you could get an apartment together and work on that list?" He wagged his eyebrows, causing both of them to blush again.
"I don't think we're going to be giving our parents any heart attacks like that just yet." Kim said. "Though that's a nice thought."
"Well, I'm pretty confident about MIT. Mom's got an me an in since she went there, but I think I can get in on my own."
"Sure you can. Say, if Mon's going to school on the East Coast maybe that'll work out."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Not everybody is already picking out china patterns and kid's room colors." Monique said, grabbing Felix's hand just so he wouldn't misconstrue her comment on their relationship.
"Well, I do hope Ron gets into MC. Much as I know we could handle being apart for an extended time, I wouldn't want to do it if I didn't have to."
"I like being right here with you." He said, squeezing her knee under the table. "But that's a long time off yet, so we've got all the time in the world right here and now."
"Don't be so sure, Honey. Ten months can go by a lot faster than you can imagine. Especially if we're having fun."
"I like the fun."
A shadow crossed the table, causing all four of them to look up.
"If the four of you are through testing the limits of the PDA policy, I need to speak to Stoppable." Mr. Barkin said, glowering at them with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Uh, sure." Kim said, packing away the empty containers. "Ron, I'll catch you at class, 'kay?"
"Sure, KP." He gave her hand a quick squeeze despite the glare he received from the assistant principal. He walked out into the hall with him, finding it interesting he was nowhere near as intimidated by the big man as he once was.
"I don't know how it happened, but we just got the lists for this year's student exchange program."
"Uh, yeah. So what has that got to do with me? I thought since I went two years ago I was disqualified from the program."
"That's what I thought, but you're on the list. Pack your bags, Stoppable…"
"…you're going back to Japan."
A/N - the "Artistically enhanced To Do list" Monique was referring to is a work by ivymae457 at DevArt titled "Ron's To Do List." You can get to that site through the link in my profile and you'll find it in my favorites.
Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney