Where Did the Time Go? : Part VII
"See, Rufus, this is why I get here early when I'm driving." Ron said as he circled the parking lot one more time. It was looking more and more like he was going to have to park in the distant Gym parking lot. The Senior spaces were long filled up, as was the rest of the main student lot. His 'new' car may have been small, but there was no way he was going to squeeze it into a small spot like he had his late motorcycle.
"Hrk, dunno." Squeaked the little guy. How he managed to sleep through the entire interview, Ron didn't have a clue.
"Oh cool." He said as he watched an older man with white hair put his briefcase in an unusual open top car and climb in. He waited patiently while the car pulled out and headed away. As the car headed out of sight, he pulled into the space, right at the near corner of the senior lot.
"Huh, maybe he misunderstood what senior lot means, Rufus."
His little pink friend just shrugged.
Ron started to undo his tie, then thought the better of it, looking at himself in the mirror clipped to his sun visor, noticing for the first time the visors were dark brown instead of blood red like the rest of the interior. "So Rufus, old buddy, think I should stay dressed up for Kim tonight? Think she'll pull out that hot little black number for us?"
He shook his tiny bald head. "Hrk, Mush" he squeaked.
"Heh, well let's see what you say when we find you a girlfriend." Ron chided, grinning at Rufus trying to imagine him in a little toy car making out with a female naked mole rat.
He just raised a tiny, almost non-existent eyebrow, pretty much guessing what his human was thinking about. It wasn't exactly kissing he had in mind if he ever found a female Mole Rat and he was still utterly perplexed at why his human and his mate were so fascinated with mashing their lips together instead of getting right down to the business at hand. It had gotten to the point he preferred staying at home, holed up in his habitrail tubes.
Ron licked his hand and slicked his hair back. That held for all of two seconds as his ragged bangs fell back down across his face. It took a lot of hair gel to control his thick, heavy hair, to the point he was even considering a buzz-cut when the weather started getting warm in spring. He said as much to Rufus, who responded by pointing his 'thumb' downwards, making Ron wonder again exactly how a rodent had opposable digits.
He was still primping in the mirror when he was startled by a light tapping on his window. He grabbed the crank and started turning. There was another thing he needed to address about the old car. The window crank needed lubricating in the worst way. Getting the window down even a few inches turned into quite the workout.
"Ron, can you do me a big favor this afternoon?" Bonnie asked as the window stopped about halfway down. She leaned on the edge of the glass. Not enough to worry about it snapping, but just enough to give him a view that made him avert his gaze. Cleavage was not an issue he had to deal with where Kim was concerned.
"Um, sure, what is it?" He asked, deliberately looking her straight in the eyes. That didn't help, since the angle she was leaning made his eyes keep drifting down there.
If she noticed, she didn't seem to care. "I need a ride home this afternoon, I was hoping you could give me a little lift."
"Uh, I'd be glad to, Bonnie, but Kim and I are going home together and, well, would that be wise? I mean, the two of you in a car together?" He said, hoping she would take the hint. There was no way he would refuse a simple favor like that since he drove right past her house anyway, but he didn't relish being in a confined space with those particular females.
"Ron, I'm an adult, I can behave myself for fifteen minutes, but I guess if you can't, you can't." She did her best to look like she was pouting. It wasn't the "puppy-dog-pout" but it still had some power behind it.
"Okay, Bonnie, but if Kim doesn't want to…"
"Fine, like I said, no big deal. I just wanted to get home a little quicker after practice this afternoon. I've got a date tonight and I don't want to go with swollen ankles."
"Bonnie, I said you can, if you can stand sitting in the back." He said, a little perturbed by the thought of the two women bickering.
During their week together at Yamanuchi, for some reason Bonnie started opening up to him a little. By the time they returned they had begun what might be considered the beginnings of a friendship, or at least a bit more of an understanding. Then the moment they were home, she reverted right back to her old self. She didn't call him a loser to his face any more, but she still ignored him unless it suited her.
Just like it seemed to suit her now.
Ron wasn't like that, though. The only thing he really held against the curvy brunette was her constant bickering with Kim. The problem wasn't just with Bonnie either. Kim was capable of giving just as much as she got and when the two of them started really going at it things could get really ugly very quickly.
"Just to let you know, we are going home. We're not stopping at Bueno Nacho or anything."
"Yeah, I got you, Ron. Big dates tonight all around, I understand. Like I said, I want to get on home anyway. Right after practice then?"
"'K, B." he said, rolling the window back up.
"Kim's not going to like this." He said to a skeptical Rufus.
"Uh, uh." He replied, shaking his small head.
"You did what?" Kim growled as she swapped out some books from her locker.
"KP, it's just fifteen minutes and we drop her off. She asked me nicely and I couldn't think of a good reason to say no."
"How about six years of ridicule at her hands, Ron. She's been just as mean to you as she has been to me." Kim said, opening a container and handing him a sandwich. Most of the lunch period had passed so they would have to eat quickly before fourth period.
Ron picked a bit of cheese off his sandwich and handed it to Rufus, who greedily munched on it. "Kim, that's in the past. Maybe she's trying to grow up a little bit." He shot her a look that suggested maybe she should do the same.
"Okay, okay. It's your car after all. Though if she starts anything I'm kicking her biscuit to the curb." She slammed the door and gave the lock a spin. "Plus I don't want her to make a habit of this. It is your car, not Middleton Public Transportation." Kim took a big bite of her sandwich, pausing to wipe a little mayo off her chin.
Ron sat down on the floor, his back to his locker as he polished off his lunch. "So…" munch, swallow, "How did your day go, KP?"
She followed his lead, sitting beside him so their hips were touching. "Ferociously weird. Without so much as a warning we got a new teacher in English and he'd already on the warpath." She reached into her bag and pulled out the new syllabus. "I don't know when I'm going to have time to breath the next few months, let alone have time to do all my volunteer work and have time to spend with you."
He looked at it, turning it sideways, then straight. "Uh, okay. Never heard of half of these, but isn't that class supposed to be hard?"
"Yeah, it was hard to begin with. Ron, those books are all at least two inches thick and I'm talking paperback. That's one book a week. I may even have to bring some of my work up to Mount Middleton next week."
"We are still on tonight, aren't we?" he asked plaintively.
Kim wrapped her arms around her knees and looked at her boyfriend, noticing for the first time he was still wearing his tie. "Oh God." She rubbed her temples. "I'm such an idiot. How did it go?"
It was Ron's turn to hug his knees. "Okay, I guess. This guy Reynolds kept going on and on about my 'raw talent' but he didn't say much about the program."
"So, do you think you're in? Is he going to recommend you to the acceptance board, or did he tell you."
Ron sighed. "Yes and no. He came right out and said that because of my grades I don't really make the cut."
"O…kay. What else?"
He hung his head slightly. "I've got to keep my grades where they are now or better and I've got to take the SAT again."
Kim shrugged. "Okay, so what? You could stand to do it again, maybe raise your score a few points." She reached over and gave his knee a squeeze.
"I don't know, Kim. I felt so good when I came out of there, but while I was driving…I don't know if I can do this. It almost feels wrong if I'm going to take a more qualified student's spot."
"Ron, listen to me. You're not trying to get into a regular program. You're trying to get into one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the country. They aren't looking so much for the regular run-of-the-mill student. You've got a talent very few people possess. Look at me, I can do anything but cook. There's nothing I'd love more in the world than to sit you down and serve you a good meal, but I've tried that. Lord knows, Ronnie, I've tried."
Grinning, Ron shuddered slightly, earning him a light pop on the same knee she'd just squeezed.
"Anyway, it sounds like they want you, but you've got to give them a little something extra. Taking that test isn't going to kill you. We'll get you ready for it just like we did finals last year."
"Me like." He smiled broadly, remembering how the 'study prep' involved a string bikini and a lot of intense 'reward' based studying.
"Uh huh. Me like too." She cooed at him. "Plus we can work on my English together. I do need a nice pillow when I'm reading those overgrown stuffy novels."
"Oh, so I'm your pillow now? Why is it that I always end up being the pillow and get the stiff neck. Maybe for once I'd like to be the one lying down and use you as a pillow." He poked her gently in the tummy.
She poked him right back. "Because your tummy is softer than mine." She giggled.
"You've got your soft spots." He poked her at the base of her ribs, right where her crop-top ended, if it had been warm enough to wear one. Five degrees warmer and he was sure she would have worn one.
"Oh I do? What makes you think I'm going to let you use my 'soft spots' as a pillow?" She asked with a semi-wicked grin.
"Turnabout's fair play." He said, poking her ever so slightly higher.
"Poke me any higher and I guarantee Principal Director is going to walk around that corner and we'll both be sitting in detention instead of breaking in your car tonight." She craned her neck and glanced around the corner, then leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Reaching out, she picked up his tie, smoothing it between her fingers. "So, you thinking of dressing up a little bit more tonight?" She smiled warmly at him, still playing with his neckwear.
"The thought crossed my mind." He smiled back at her.
She put on a mock frown. "And I was going to wear those really low-cut jeans for you tonight."
"Nah, you wore those last Friday. I was thinking maybe a dress." He wagged his eyebrows at her.
"Ron, it's going to be below freezing tonight and it's likely to snow again. It's little bit too cold for that dress.'
"But I'll keep you warm."
She pondered that a moment, resting her head on her knees as she looked at him. She could see the shape of his chest in the French collar shirt, thinking how good he looked that way. A though of how he would look come summer in just a pair of board shorts crossed her mind too.
"Okay, baby. I'll wear the dress, but I want you to put a blanket in the car in case my legs get cold." She touched the tip of his nose. "Damn you look so good. You should dress up like that more often."
"If it gets you to wear that dress…" He said, letting his foot tap against hers.
"Only on special occasions." She purred at him.
"I like special occasions. What's this one?"
"An I Love Ron Stoppable occasion." She said.
"Is that anything like an 'I Love Kim Possible' Occasion?"
"It better be." She said as the warning bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period.
"Three more hours and we're outta here." He said.
Kim Frowned slightly as she got up. "Yeah, as quick as we can get rid of Broom-Hilda." She growled.
Ron shook his head. What was it going to take to make these two bury the hatchet?
…and not in each other?
Kim Possible and all related characters © Disney