As they left the school for the day, Ron and Kim walked hand-in-hand. It was the Monday after Team Possible's mission in the Amazon.
"Are you all right?" asked Kim, "You've been kind of on edge all day."
"I know. I don't know what it is, but the Mystical Monkey Power has been acting up since we got to school. Kept me on alert all day," answered Ron.
"Anything happen?" asked Kim.
"No, that's the strange thing. Just... a strong feeling something isn't right," he said.
Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator. "Wade?"
"Hi, Kim, Ron, what's up?" asked the pudgy supergenious.
"Do you have a location for Monkey Fist?" she asked.
Wade typed, then looked at another monitor. "As far as I can tell, he's still in his castle in England. Why?"
"Ron's Monkey Power has been acting up all day, and I was just wondering, that's all," she answered.
Wade did some more typing, then looked at Kim and shrugged. "The magical radiation frequencies are outside my sensor's abilities to detect, but nothing of note seems to be going on in town."
"Thanks, Wade, you continue to rock," said Kim, and keyed off.
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Tara sat on the bottom row of bleachers, her school books beside her, watching the gym team practice. She couldn't get over the natural ability Jenny had, and thought she would have made a great addition to the cheer squad.
Suddenly a shadow loomed over her, and Tara looked up to see the scowling face of Bonnie Rockwaller.
"Where've you been?" asked Bonnie, "You were supposed to meet me in the library like,
twenty minutes ago."
"Sorry, I got caught up watching Jenny practice," she answered.
Bonnie glanced at the gym squad, then back at Tara. "Who cares what that freak does? Let's go."
Tara frowned, but grabbed her books and followed Bonnie out of the gym. When they were alone,
Tara stopped Bonnie with a hand on her shoulder.
"What's your problem with Jenny, anyway?" she asked, "She's nice, friendly, talented, and smart. She also saved me from a nasty fall. I happen to like her."
"She's a freak. In case you hadn't noticed, she's got gray skin, pink hair, and those weird pink cat eyes," Bonnie answered.
"Bonnie, I'm shocked at you," said Tara, with surprise on her face, "In all the years I've known you, that's the first time you've ever used someone's skin color as a reason not to like them."
Bonnie opened her mouth in shock.
"What's next?" asked Tara, getting angry, "Are you gonna throw Hope out of your circle just because she's Filipina? Or Marcella because she's Hispanic? Is the only reason you're my friend because I'm blue eyed and blonde?"
Bonnie got angry in her turn. "You. Know. Better. Than. That."
"Do I? That's the way you're acting," said Tara.
"Look, all I'm saying is that she hangs around with Kim and the loser, and you're going to lose your spot high on the food chain if you keep hanging around with them," said Bonnie.
"Okay, that's it," said Tara, in a louder voice, "The only reason I EVER cared about your 'food chain' is because it's important to you. It never was to me. I will NOT let the opinion of others dictate who I like, or who I associate with. And if you're smart, you won't either."
Bonnie made no response, still shocked at Tara's behavior. It seemed so unlike the gentle girl to get mad and yell.
"Go home, Bonnie," said Tara, turning back to the gym, "I'm going to go hang with people who like me for who I am, not for my place in the 'food chain'." And she walked away.
Bonnie watched her go, numb with shock. That freak of nature just cost her Tara. That was an insult not to be borne. Bonnie's mind started working with ideas to get her revenge.
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On Tuesday, Ron and Jenny were walking to the second-period class they shared. The school custodian was on a ladder, replacing burned-out bulbs in the corridors, so everyone had to move around him, like a rock in a stream.
The corridor was nearly clear before the tardy bell rang, and suddenly there was a loud crash. Ron and Jenny, about to go into the room, turned to see the ladder had collapsed, and the custodian was on the floor, unconscious. They ran back to see if they could help.
"He has a nasty bump on the back of his head," said Ron, as others gathered around.
Jenny pulled out her Jennunicator, and keyed the "phone" button. "911," she said, and the unit dialed it. "Yes, send an ambulance to Middleton High School, the custodian has taken a fall off a ladder, and is out. That's right. He's in the "A" Hall. Yes, people are with him. Thanks." She keyed off.
"Good work, Wheeler," said Mr. Barkin, making his way through the crowd of students, "Did they give you an ETA?"
"No sir, but since the hospital is just about five blocks away, it shouldn't be long," she replied.
Barkin nodded, and went to inspect the collapsed ladder. "Hmm..." he said, "Looks like the bolts holding the sections came loose." Ron and Jenny came over to look.
Just then the tardy bell rang.
"There are the nuts that should hold it together," said Jenny, pointing to where they had rolled to a corner. She went over and picked them up. Barkin held out a hand, and she gave them to him.
"Okay, people, show's over. Get to class," Barkin said in a loud voice, and the crowd broke up. "That includes you, Wheeler and Stoppable. I'll handle things from here."
They turned to go to class. "Good work, both of you," said Barkin, "Especially thinking to call 911."
Jenny turned and flashed him a grin. "Thanks, sir."
Bonnie was going to a different classroom and had seen the accident. She smirked to herself.
"Perfect," she thought, "Now to get the rumor mill started."
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On Wednesday, just as Kim, Monique and Jenny left chemistry class, a beaker left in an unstable spot tipped over, dropping its contents into another container. There was a loud hissing, and an explosion. Fortunately, no one was in the room at the time. But the damage was extensive enough to put the room off-limits until repairs could be made.
This made Bonnie even happier, and the rumor mill went into higher gear.
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On Thursday, just as Jenny, Kim, Ron, Tara, Monique, and Felix sat down to lunch, a grease fire started in the cafeteria, causing smoke damage, and destroying one of the stoves. Kim and the others immediately went to help. It was generally agreed, however, that this wasn't a bad thing. Except that the Lunch Lady had been injured helping to put the fire out, and would be in the hospital for several weeks. So it was a mixed blessing.
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On Friday, an exceptionally powerful thunderstorm rumbled through the Middleton area,
spawning a small tornado that touched down on the high school campus, destroying an outbuilding where sports equipment was kept. As it happened, this was just after Jenny and Tara's PE class.
The balls, nets, powdered chalk, extra bases, and everything else was scattered around several blocks, but nothing else was damaged, and nobody was hurt. Most of the equipment was recovered, but some was damaged beyond repair.
The rumor mill was in high gear as school let out for the weekend.
"Man, what a week," said Ron, as he and Kim walked hand in hand. Jenny was riding the back of Felix's wheelchair with them.
"Yeah," said Felix, "I've never seen such a run of bad luck at the school." He glanced at Jenny behind him. "Say, you wouldn't know anything about it, would you?" He grinned to show he was kidding.
Jenny grinned back, showing she understood. "Me? Just because I'm a bad-luck, hex-throwing witch? Why would I know anything about it?"
"Yeah, it's good luck, anyway," said Ron, and the other three looked at him. "Well," he explained, "If the school gets damaged enough, we won't have to go to it any more."
"SO not funny, Ron," said Kim. "It does seem to be weird, though, all these things happening at nearly the same time."
"I agree," said Jenny, "And you know if I knew anything, I'd tell you."
"I'm not accusing you of anything, Jenny," said Kim.
"I know, Kim. It's strange to me, too. Things like this usually don't happen around me unless I make them happen, and I haven't used my powers once since we got home," she said.
"Could you be doing them without knowing it?" asked Kim, and Jenny looked at her.
"Just trying to cover all the bases," said Kim.
Jenny sighed. "It's possible, but I don't think so. I couldn't control my powers when I was young, and I still don't have perfect control, but I'd know if they activated."
Just then Kim's Kimmunicator went off. "What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked.
"One more piece of bad luck, just to make your week," he said. "Shego and Drakken have just escaped. And Shego left a message for Jenny."
Jenny looked at the boy super genius on the screen. "I'm coming for a rematch."
"Great. Just what I needed to hear," said Jenny. She gave a huge sigh, and her shoulders slumped.