Where Did the Time Go? : Part VIII
Ron leaned on his steering wheel, careful not to hit the horn button in the center. He wasn't wearing the French shirt and tie any more. Instead he was wearing his dark green and white sweatshirt, the only thing besides his cheer uniform he had with him at school.
This was one of those days he regretted talking Kim into taking Home Economics II with him. The course was meant to branch out into other disciplines besides just cooking, but that's where they started and of course, for safety's sake, he had been paired off with Kim in the hopes he could keep her from completely destroying the classroom and the building that housed it.
That plan worked, to a degree. At least Linda Platt offered to dry-clean his nice tie at her father's cleaners. The shirt was in a nice baggie in Kim's backpack. The slacks were still very slightly damp but wearable and he would have to get at his shoes with a toothbrush before the stains set. Mister Barkin, who was teaching the class once more, applauded him for 'falling on the grenade' as it were.
His sacrifice turned out to be in vain, as Kim slipped and landed on her rump in the mess. She wasn't hurt but she was covered with the sticky glop, somehow not only getting her backside in it but her jeans, her favorite teal top and even got it in her hair.
That's what was taking her so long after practice. She normally hated taking a shower at school, only doing so when they weren't going straight home or if she was especially nasty after practice. Considering how her hair was matted from her accident, that qualified.
"What's taking her so long." Bonnie griped from the back seat, a textbook open on her lap.
"She takes a while getting dressed." He said.
"I'm here, aren't I." She said, shutting the book.
He turned around and looked her up and down, his eyes finally meeting hers. In defiance of the fact it had dropped below freezing and snow flurries had begun, she was still wearing her cheer outfit and even though it was the long-sleeved mostly yellow set, it was still one of the most revealing in the state, with one of the shortest skirts and the barest midriff of them all.
Ron 'checked her out' to make a point about her outfit but instead of scowling at him she just smiled sweetly once their eyes met, as if she enjoyed being looked at that way. He blinked a couple times to make sure he was seeing correctly, then turned forward again, completely perplexed. Bonnie was nice to look at. Not at nice as Kim, but still nice. Well, to be honest she was just as hot in her own way, just different. Her hips were narrower and her legs were a bit thinner but her upper half made up for that. Granted, he was the type of guy who actually preferred the way his girlfriend was built but presentation was everything.
Bonnie's presentation, just as it had been that afternoon, was more than nice.
The passenger door opened and Kim got in. She was wearing an old mission shirt and slightly damp jeans. She threw her backpack into the back seat beside Bonnie and climbed in.
"Where's your coat, K?" Bonnie asked in as neutral a tone as she could manage.
"Still hanging in the Home Ec room drying. Ron, please get this thing running and crank up the heater." She shivered noticeably, rubbing her arms over her bare belly.
As quick as he got the car started, Ron pulled his sweatshirt over his head, leaving him in just a t-shirt. Kim wasted little time pulling it over her still-damp hair, balling her arms around her middle while she waited for the car to heat up.
Ron tried explaining to her how the car was heated using the heat of the engine itself and the cabin would heat up as the coolant did. To Kim that didn't matter. "We are so going to add extra jackets to our supplies."
"If you'd just let Ron do all the work you wouldn't have this problem." Bonnie quipped. "He is so good in the kitchen. He even talked the Master Lunch Lady into letting him cook a meal while we were in Japan. That was the best meal we had while we were over there, and that's saying a lot since I like sushi."
"Bonnie, please, can you just keep your mouth shut until we can drop you off?" Kim asked through shiver-clenched teeth.
"I was just trying to pay your boyfriend a compliment." Bonnie said, slumping back as much as she could in the tiny back seat.
Kim held her hands under the dash where warm air was just beginning to blow. "How did it get so ferociously cold so fast? I thought the cold front wasn't going to get here until tonight."
"At least I came prepared." Bonnie said haughtily. She uncrossed then re-crossed her legs to show off her leg-warmers and thermal hose. She pulled her hands out of the pockets of her faux fur jacket and checked her nails. Despite being in the skin-baring cheer uniform, she looked the picture of warm comfort.
She started making a show of sniffing at the air. "What is that smell? It's like…wet cat." She leaned toward the front of the car, looking over the back of Kim's seat. "Ew, tell me your sweatshirt wasn't that dirty, Ron. I thought you were being a gentleman there."
"It was clean." He said in his defense. "I brought it from home, I was planning to change out of my dress clothes when I got to school."
Kim growled slightly. "It's my shirt, okay. It's been hanging in my locker since summer when Principal Director shut us down. It's all I had that was halfway clean, okay."
"Whatever." Bonnie said, sitting back again with a strange smile. "Just hope you take another shower before you go out with Ron tonight. He deserves better."
"Bonnie." Kim growled.
"What, Kim. Is it 'go time' just because I noticed your shirt smells like it's been hanging in the boy's locker room for the last five months? You going to kick my biscuit now because I suggested you needed to smell better for your date tonight? Or are you just going to sit up there and fume because he's told you I might be able to hold my own against you after all?"
They pulled up in front of Bonnie's house. She eyed the place like a deathtrap, her gaze falling on the Lexus and Discovery parked in the drive, sure signs her sisters were home. "Look, Ron, I appreciate the ride. You're a sweet guy." She turned her eyes toward Kim. "A sweet guy who deserves to have his girlfriend grow up a little bit." She leaned up between the seats and gave Ron a light kiss on his cheek before she got out.
He turned to look at Kim as he put the car back into gear. Later he would swear he saw flames in those blazing green eyes. Shaking his head, he let out the clutch and started towards her house.
A hundred yards later she finally opened her mouth. "I don't care if the snow is three feet deep tomorrow, a freezing rain is starting to fall and she forgot her shoes, we are not taking her home, you got that, Ron?"
"Kim, come on, she was trying to be nice. Well, nice for Bonnie." He shrugged.
"Nice? She knew I was having a clothing emergency, she could have foregone pointing out my shirt was musty." Kim said angrily. "Oh, and what was that with the kiss? Did something happen in Japan you haven't been telling me about?"
"No!" He said, risking a quick glare at her. "You don't get all huffy when Tara kisses my cheek."
"That's because Tara does that to everyone, including me. A kiss from Tara and a kiss from Bonnie are two completely different things."
"Well, she did have a point." Ron said as he turned the corner into their subdivision.
"Oh, what's that?" Kim said petulantly, crossing her arms.
"You could stand to grow up a little. Every time the two of you are together you go into this little girl mode and act like the two of you are going to start clawing each other's eyes out. You don't even get this worked up over Shego."
"That's because I can haul off and hit Shego whenever I want to." She said angrily.
"That sounds really mature." He said, glancing over at her again.
"This from a guy who has to be home every day at five to see some cartoon? Puh-lease."
They pulled in front of Kim's house. "Look, I'm going to go home and get cleaned up myself. Pick you up in an hour?"
She shrugged into her backpack. "Yeah." She said almost disinterestedly. "You know, it is a little too cold. Don't bother getting dressed back up, I think I'm going to wear a sweater and some jeans tonight. Okay."
"Alright." He said, a little disappointed. "You do still want to go to dinner?"
"Yeah. I'll be ready in an hour." She waved at him halfheartedly after shutting the door.
Kim stood there for a few minutes, her mind oddly blank as she tried to puzzle out what she was feeling at that moment. Up until the moment she had gotten in the car with Ron and Bonnie she had been looking forward to their date that night. Even getting into that tiny dress. It didn't matter the winter storm was rolling in about six hours earlier than predicted. She wanted to wear it just as much as Ron wanted her to. She wanted the opportunity to let him keep her warm, to snuggle under the blanket she suggested he bring. To let him see and touch her legs.
Now she just felt angry. Angry with him for allowing that…witch to ride with them. Angry with Bonnie for being, pretty much for being Bonnie. On top of all that she was angry with herself for letting the heavily tanned brunette get to her. Something was up, she knew it. Word on the grapevine was that Bonnie hadn't been going on dates so much and it was very likely she didn't have one tonight. That just meant something was brewing. Kim learned a hard lesson about listening to her gut and that gut was screaming at her now.
What really had gone on in Japan? Certainly the notion that Ron might have fooled around with Bonnie while they were there was ludicrous. For one thing that would be so out of character for Ron. He had been so up-front about the kiss Yori had given him when she finally accepted Ron's relationship.
Then too, about the only thing Ron had in common with Bonnie's preferred type was blonde hair.
After a few minutes she realized she was standing outside in the freezing weather with slightly damp hair, damp pants and only a sweatshirt and a musty crop-top on. The snow was getting steadier and she was starting to shiver worse. If she was going to stew, at least she could do it in a warm house.
Her mother took one look at her as she stomped into the house and put down her laundry basket, following her girl upstairs.
Dumping her stuff out in the hall, Kim went straight into the bathroom under her loft. She was already stripping out of her damp clothes as the water heated up when her mother came in.
"Let me guess, you and Ron had a fight?" She asked, leaning on the counter.
"Not so much a fight." She replied, getting into the shower and letting the hot water run all over her chilled body.
"But you're angry at him, aren't you?"
"Well, yeah. He gave Bonnie a ride home in our car." She winced, realizing how whiney her voice was sounding.
"So, I'm sure he was just being nice. The snow storm is getting worse."
"Mom, of course he was being nice, but we're talking Bonnie here. She's so... arrrgh!"
Anne crossed her arms, looking directly at the curtain. "I noticed you called it 'our' car. Is your name on the title too? Do I need to tell your Father to amend the insurance?"
"Grrr. It's his car, but I helped him pick it out. Mom, he didn't even ask me before he let her ride in it."
"So he needs your permission to drive one of his friends home in a car he paid for, he puts gas in and he has to pay the insurance for. Scratch telling your Dad to fix the insurance, now I've got to tell him the two of you ran off and eloped."
"Mom!"
"Don't Mom me. Part of the reason you feel the way you do about Ron is because he's a great guy. That extends to more people than just you. There's nothing wrong with him letting his friends ride with him some times."
"Bonnie is not his friend. She's a mean, manipulative, horrible…"
"…and just because you feel that way about her, Ron automatically has to too?" Her mother said.
Kim shut of the water and wrapped a towel around her head. A little bit of meanness flared in her. "It seems to me the last time I took your advice I ended up with a slightly broken ankle, Mother." She half growled.
Anne's eyes narrowed dangerously. "This is not the same thing. We're talking about Ron here."
"Yeah, and if he'd grow up a little bit he'd see just what Bonnie is playing at."
"What is she playing at? Every time I've seen her she struck me as incredibly bitter. I don't know what's up with that, but maybe she's trying to reach out to somebody and who better to do that than Ron. If there's anyone in this world who could unconditionally be somebody's friend, it's him."
Kim shook her head. "That's part of the problem, Mom. He's so naïve. Bonnie's just playing him for some reason."
"Kimmie, I'm surprised at you. I thought you had more faith in him than that. Maybe that girl is playing him, but I don't think he's so naïve that he's going to let something bad happen. Unless you actually believe that girl is trying to steal him or something."
"I wouldn't put it past her." Kim said as she slipped into a bath robe.
"Then if she is, let her try her darnedest. You need to have faith in Ron. He loves you every bit as much as your Father loved me when we were your age. Maybe even more if that's possible. Have faith in him and maybe, just maybe a little Ron-shine will do that girl some good." She said, fixing her daughter's green eyes with her blues.
"I thought the Ron-shine was all for me now." Kim said softly as she passed her mother, turning up the black stairs leading to her loft.
Anne was close behind her.
Kim opened her blinds, looking outside at the growing snow storm. She sighed, sitting heavily on the end of her bed.
"Maybe this would be a good night just to stay in." her mother said, surveying the rapidly whitening landscape outside. "After all, his car is rear-wheel drive. Maybe we should just light a nice big fire in the den and make smores. Then the two of you would have an excuse to snuggle on the couch, maybe all night.
"I don't know, Mom. I've been looking forward to our date all day. I was even going to dress up for him, until I ruined his outfit."
"Ruined his outfit? What out…oh, that's right, today was the interview. You really must be upset."
"It's been a ferociously long day. I already forgot about it myself once."
"So, what did he find out?"
Kim let out a long breath. The day had been long and it was finally catching up to her. "If he keeps his grades up and pulls up his SAT score, he's got a good chance of getting in. That's all he's told me so far, I haven't had a really good chance to pump him for details about the whole interview."
"That still sounds really encouraging. So how was this such a long day? You seemed so happy when you left for his house this morning."
"Well, we got a new English teacher this morning who seems to think we're the only class we have all day, then in Home Ec, well, let's say I had to cook."
"Is that why you came home wearing Ron's shirt? Oh, and where exactly is your jacket? Ron paid a lot of money for that, even if you ended up exchanging for the black one."
"That's all because of the cooking. There kinda was this little teensy explosion." She said, her voice getting smaller as she went.
"Uh huh. Kimmie, if you want my advice, and let me remind you, my track record is still pretty good, then I think you need to get your hair dry, get into that little tiny dress of yours, put on that underwear you think I don't know about and go out and have a good time with Ron."
"But…the snow?"
Anne shook her head. "Take the mini-van. It will handle a lot better in the snow than his little car. Just, if you go, uh, parking, just don't go out on that bluff with it."
"I don't know, Mom. Maybe your idea about snuggling on the couch is better, though if he was going to spend the night, I'd much rather…"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Anne said, smiling at her.
"But we've shared a bed on missions and nothing happened."
"That's beside the point. On a mission, your father can tell himself that's just business. The two of you sharing a bed here in his home…let's just say that's not going to happen and I don't mean just while you're still seventeen either. Get your dress on. Wear thermal pantyhose if you have to, wear a sweater over it. Make Ron keep you warm, but go out and dance and have fun with him. Let him prove to you that you're the one for him, not this Bonnie girl."
"I guess, but it is awfully cold."
"Like I said, make Ron warm you up. I bet he's good at that."
Kim got up and pulled the dress out of her closet. "Yeah. He is, isn't he?" She held the thin black fabric against her front, smoothing it over her.
All the while imagining Ron's hands doing the same thing.
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