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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, Mark and Bob do. Nor do I own Out Of The Blue, Alison and Amanda Michalka do. All I own is this story.
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Okay, I must first thank Ace Ian Combat, his mention of Tara and Josh on his forum inspired me to write something about them (congratulations, Ace Ian, you have just inspired someone's story). Yes, this is a Tara/Josh fic (Ace Ian proceeds to dance around the room), I think they make a great couple, and I haven't seen many (almost any) stories about this couple either. So, I'm gonna put my foot down, and write a new kind of story. I swear I am new to the romantic one-shot, but this should be good. Yes, this is just a little romantic one-shot, no time traveling rebellion leaders, no power-hungry madwoman, no magical lands, no OCs, none of that! So, without further ado, Out Of The Blue!
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The prom had been ruined.
That's what everyone thought as they huddled around the janitor, the janitor that had replaced Ludwig after he went back to Bavaria so suddenly the year before. When the Middleton High principal had hired the new janitor, he made him swear he wouldn't leave the country after a week of work. Now he was standing in the middle of the school auditorium, fifty-one teenagers dressed in their finest crowding around him, trying to get a glimpse at the small TV video device he had in his hands. Ever since the Little Diablo killer robot had attacked, the prom had come to a screeching halt. The music had stopped playing, the lights turned off. Everything. According to the janitor, the Diablobots had caused some sort of power outage. So that little battery powered TV was the only hope if they wanted to find out what happened to Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable after they left.
Tara Richards held onto her date, Jason Morgan, as they pushed through the crowd together, trying to find out what became of their classmates, Kim, Ron, and Erik, who had been kidnapped by a mysterious green and black woman sometime after the robot attack. Poor guy. Tara bumped shoulders with someone. Her eyes drifted to the side and she came face to face with Josh Mankey.
When something's pure
How can people just say
We're not meant to be
For a second they just stood there, eyes interlocked. Tara smiled quickly. Josh blinked twice before looking away, grabbing his date's hand and pushing further through the crowd. Tara watched, opened-mouthed. She sighed and hung her head. He was still upset about their break up. Tara and Jason pushed through the crowd some more.
And when something's true
How can people just
Keep me away from you
They were a little behind the janitor when they stopped. Tara spotted Monique, Jessica, Brick, and Bonnie in the front; three of them were trying to watch the small television. Bonnie just stood there, rolling her eyes, irritated that her junior prom had turned into a disaster.
"Just days ago, the Little Diablos had taken the world by storm, and tonight we watched as the Little Diablos turned into Big Diablos and tried to destroy the world," Tara listened to the news reporter carefully.
"But thankfully, Kim Possible was able to stop the Diablos, which had been created by her arch enemy, Dr. Drakken. He, his notorious right-hand woman and his henchmen were hauled off to prison after the Diablo's control tower was destroyed. The Diablos have shrunk down and will, hopefully, stay that way. And so, thanks to teen hero Kim Possible, the worldwide Diablo destruction is itself disabled." Tara heard sighs of relief, but the most noticeable reaction was Brick Flagg's.
"Possible shoots, she scores!" he shouted. He lifted up his hand, expecting Bonnie to high-five him, but she just rolled her eyes again. Brick thought he'd be left hanging, but Monique high-fived him instead. Both teenagers' arms arched over Bonnie.
"Straight up!" Monique said, both she and Brick smiled. Bonnie closed her eyes and gritted her teeth out of annoyance. She pushed through the high five quickly.
"Excuse me," she said.
"Oh, you're excused," Brick said. "Hey, while you're gone, I'll hang with Monique." Bonnie stood there, looking even more irritated then before.
"Me like," Monique said. Bonnie glared at her. Every eye moved to the auditorium doors as they opened. In stepped two familiar friends. One was dressed in the blue dress she'd worn for her boyfriend, Erik, but this time it had a charcoal colored fringe at the hem of the skirt. The other clad a hideous powder blue tuxedo. Everyone stood in awe as Kim and Ron entered the room, hands clasped together. Together. Not just friends, but something more. Tara watched quietly, holding Jason's hand tightly. Bonnie was the first to break the silence.
"It finally happened. She's dating that loser," Bonnie said with disbelief and amusement, "Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable are dating!" Tara heard Bonnie laugh, but this time, no one laughed with her. Instead there was cheering, cheering for Kim and Ron. The electricity came back on suddenly, and the lights and music began going again. Ron's little pet pushed his owner and Kim next to each other. Ron offered Kim his hand, she accepted. And he led her to the dance floor. Jason and Tara went to the dance floor as well. Tara wrapped her arms around his neck and they slowly danced together. Tara opened her eyes, her head resting on Jason's shoulder. She caught sight of Josh, he watched her for a second, then hung his head. His date, Penny, put her hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it away and ran out of the auditorium doors. Tara frowned.
Suddenly I'm all alone
Pushed away from nothing wrong
Don't you have the guts to say
How you feel about me
Out of the blue
They said we couldn't be together
The blonde lifted her head and looked Jason in the eye.
"Something wrong, Tara?" he asked, still holding her tightly. Tara bit her lip before answering.
I have to get over you
We've been given no choice,
We have no voice
Out of the blue
"Yeah, something is wrong. I've gotta go fix it." Tara removed herself from Jason's arms and walked off the dance floor, making her way to the doors.
Can't even call on the telephone
Don't even know if you're at home
But to control just how we feel
Between you and I
Not for one to steal
She opened one door and slipped outside. Her eyes searched the parking lot for Josh. Nothing. She walked the parking lot once and found no sign of the boy. She sighed, perhaps he had left. She began making her way back to the prom. She was about to open the doors when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Tara turned around. It was Josh, he was walking up the street, hands in his pockets, head lowered.
Suddenly I'm all alone
Pushed away from nothing wrong
Don't you have the guts to say
How you feel about me
Tara put her hand to her lips. He looked heartbroken, torn even. Perhaps seeing Kim with Ron was too much for him. He and Kim had dated for a while. But something told Tara he was leaving for another reason. Her. She began running after him, despite her high heels.
"Josh! Wait up!"
Josh turned around at the sound of her voice. Tara's voice. Why was she following him? Wow, she really looked pretty tonight. With her hair all done up and that dress. He shook his head. Stop yourself before you lose it! He had no more feelings for Tara, right? The blonde girl finally made it up the street. She stood in front of Josh, wheezing for air.
Out of the blue
They said we couldn't be together
I have to get over you
We've been given no choice,
We have no voice
"Josh, wait," Tara wheezed some more. "Oh. Oy." she panted, trying keep her balance in her heels.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be enjoying the prom with your beloved boyfriend?" Josh said coldly. Tara had regained her breath by now and stood up straight.
"I saw you run off and I wanted to make sure you were okay." Tara said defensively.
Just wanna hear what you've got to sayAre you feeling the same
Cause I'm not okay
Thought when we met there was something more
But the others said no - they shut the door
"Yeah, you didn't care if I was okay when you told me you wanted to break up." Josh said angrily, his back turned to her, arms crossed as if to protect himself from any more hurt then he felt. Tara sighed. He was right; she had been somewhat heartless when they'd broken up, but had she never wanted to break up. It was Bonnie that had made her break up with Josh. When Bonnie started up about remotely acceptable guys and the prom, of course, she had to control everyone's choice of date, everyone in the cheer squad, anyway. She made Tara break up with Josh, giving the shy blonde girl the exact same speech she given Kim.
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"But Josh is my-" Bonnie interrupted Tara before she could finish.
"Yeah, I know he's your boyfriend, but this is the prom, who you go with is, like, crucial. All the remotely acceptable guys are taken. You're looking at captain of the chess team." Josh burst through the gym doors with a smile as Bonnie finished saying this.
"Hey Tara!"
"Or worse." Bonnie whispered in Tara's ear. Bonnie was well aware at how much of a hottie Josh was, but Josh had snubbed her for many a dance and anybody who snubbed Bonnie Rockwaller was not on her acceptable guy list.
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Why'd she have to be so shy? Why'd she have to listen to everything Bonnie said? Just to stay in Bonnie's stupid inner circle, that's why. She had hurt someone she loved dearly because of Bonnie's stupid clique. Stupid Bonnie. Stupid Tara. Stupid for ever listening to Bonnie. What could she say to make Josh forgive her? Tara lifted up her head. But look who Kim ended up with despite what Bonnie said. The one person who really cared for her, that's who. If Kim could fix things with Ron after she hurt him, then Tara could fix things with Josh. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, making him face her.
Out of the blue
They said we couldn't be together
I have to get over youWe've been given no choice,
We have no voice
"Listen, Josh. I never meant to hurt you and there are no words to tell you how sorry I am. It was just Bonnie started talking about boys and the prom and the stupid food chain and, and-" Josh stared at her. She sighed. "I'm just really sorry, and I understand if you totally hate me, but I want you to know that I really do care about you." Josh said nothing in reply. Tara sighed again.
"Bye, then." Tara began walked back toward the school, trying to conceal tears. "You tried, Richards, you tried," she thought, making her way back into the parking lot. She was almost to the auditorium doors when someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned around the face Joshua Mankey. A smile larger then life plastered on his face, Tara smiled back. They embraced quickly. Josh held Tara close for a minute before they both looked at each other. Their blue eyes met and they both smiled.
"Josh, I, I-" but Tara never got to finish. Both leaned a bit closer to each other. Josh tilted his head slightly as their lips met. Both held each other for a few minutes, lips locked. Nothing existed, nothing but the two of them, the kiss, and romantic song playing inside the auditorium. When they broke the kiss, Josh smiled, still holding Tara.
"I love you too." Tara smiled brightly as he spoke. Josh smiled back. He offered Tara his hand. She accepted. He took her hand into his and they began to dance to the music from inside the prom. Tara swung her arms around his neck, just as she had done with Jason, but this time it was more then just dance with some boy she never loved. Tara thought about what Bonnie had said, and she had been right, who you go with is important. And going with the right person is even more important. And in the end everyone ended up with the right person. Kim was with Ron; Josh was with Tara, even Jason, who was offering Penny some fruit punch at that moment. Ironically, Bonnie, the one who'd been right in a way, was the only person at the prom dateless after Brick went off with Monique. Tara lifted her head and looked at Josh again, they smiled and kissed once more.
Out of the blue
We knew should have been together
Don't wanna get over you
When love makes a choice, it has a voice
Out of the blue
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Well, I hope you liked it. It was awfully fun to write. As I said, my first time at writing fluff, so be brutal if necessary.