First Day of School after the closet—Monday morning, Possible residence
"Wonder what's keeping Ron." Kim Possible exclaimed as she paced the floor. "He's late."
"Maybe he went to school on his own." Anne Possible conjectured.
"It would have been nice for him to have given me a call and let me know." Kim grumbled as she turned on her Kimmunicator. "Shego's still loose. I wouldn't put it past her to grab Ron and use him as a hostage."
"You really think she'd do that, Kimmie-cub?" Dr. James Possible remarked.
"I wouldn't put anything past her." Kim replied as the face of her African-American techie friend appeared on the screen of the communications device. "Wade? Can you give me a location for Ron? Please and thank you."
"Gimme a moment, Kim." Wade responded as he made some entries on his keyboard. A few seconds later, he reported, displaying a map on the screen. "Looks like he's in a car headed for school."
"Thanks, Wade." Kim replied with a frown. "Wonder why he didn't let me know he was getting a ride and I wonder who he's riding with."
"Wait one." Wade answered back. "I might have something for you. All right! He shoots and he scores. Got a satellite image of the car and license plate. Give me a moment to hack into the DMV and I can get you some info on the owner." Another image appeared on the screen. "It's a Ford Fiesta Sedan owned by Zoe Chen. That must be her driving the car." He commented as the image zoomed to reveal an attractive Asian woman with Ron in the backseat and a tawny skinned brown-haired cheerleader that Kim immediately recognized.
"That's Crystal. What's Ron doing in the car with her and that other woman?" Kim fretted as she gazed at the image on her device.
"I can't say." Wade answered sympathetically, "Maybe you should ask him?"
"Maybe I should." Kim replied, shaking her head as she forced a smile to her face, "Thanks, Wade. Talk to you later."
"Is everything okay between you and Ron?" Anne asked, her face etched with concern.
"Yeah." Kim replied positively, "At least I think so. We didn't have a fight or anything—at least I don't think we had a fight if that's what you're wanting to know. The last time I saw him was at school." Her face reddening in embarrassment, she explained, "I couldn't work up the nerve to ask Josh Mankey to the dance and when I saw him coming towards me, I ducked into the closet. Ron followed me and gave me a pep talk. He helped me work up the courage to go up to Josh and ask him out. I couldn't have done it without his help."
"And that was the last time you saw him." Anne commented, prompting her daughter to continue.
Kim nodded her head, "Yeah. I was expecting him to show up at the dance, but he never came. I guess it was because he couldn't get a date." Shaking her head, the redheaded teen sighed, "Every girl he asked turned him down. He must have gone straight home."
"But you don't know for sure?" James probed.
"No." Kim confessed, "Not for sure. I mean he could have stopped off at Bueno Nacho first before going home. I can't think of anywhere else he would have gone."
"I see…" Anne motioned for her daughter to continue.
"Like I told Wade, I tried calling him all weekend, left messages with his parents and on his answering machine, but he never returned my calls. Then on Saturday, I went to the mall—You remember?"
"Yes." Anne nodded. "I think you said something about doing some clothes shopping?"
"Right." Kim nodded, "I wanted to cruise by and see if Club Banana had anything new. I was hoping I might run into him there. You know that he likes going to the arcade to play the games. I thought I'd meet up with him there and we could hang out and talk for a while."
"I take it he wasn't there." James surmised.
Kim shook her head. "I didn't see him, but I did see Crystal, her gal pals Courtney and Maria, and that Asian girl who was driving the car in the photo Wade downloaded hanging out together at the coffee shop." Kim took a deep breath before continuing, "You should have seen the looks Crystal and those other girls gave me."
"What sort of looks?" James asked, the protective father impulse in him coming to the fore.
"You gotta understand…" Kim explained, "Crystal and I aren't very close. She keeps her distance from most of the team other than Jessica and Liz. I mean she gets along okay with everyone and all, but…we don't hang out together or anything like that."
"Okay…" Anne queried, "The two of you have what amounts to a casual acquaintanceship. So…what happened next?"
"You've heard the old saying that if looks could kill? Well…" Kim cracked an ironic smile, "If those looks I got from her and her friends really could have killed, I'd have been dead a thousand times over. Then, when I went to ask them what the problem was, they ignored me and acted like I wasn't even there."
"What else happened?" James asked.
"After leaving the mall, I figured I'd go by Bueno Nacho." Kim explained, "Saturday's Taco Twosome day there—buy two tacos, get another two for half price. Ron likes to stuff his face on the diablo tacos there." She chuckled at a recent memory before returning to her story. "But when I got there, no Ron. I asked the dweeb behind the counter whether he'd seen him, but he said that he never came by. He just murmured something about Edna and her blueberry pies."
"I've stopped off at Edna's for a cup of coffee and a Danish when I don't have time for breakfast here." James grinned, "Edna brews a mean cup of coffee."
"Go on Kim." Anne encouraged.
"I tried calling him on Sunday." Kim replied with a frown, "But, just like before, he never returned my calls. I decided enough was enough and walked over and knocked on his door. No answer and no sign anyone was home. I couldn't hear the TV or stereo or anything. I thought for a moment about breaking in but changed my mind. It would have been embarrassing if I caught him in the shower or something like that."
"Good thing you didn't bust down the door or try to get in through a window, Kimmie-cub." James declared, "A passerby might have thought you were a burglar and called the police."
"You're right, Dad." Kim conceded. "I just don't know what's going on here and I'm worried about him. What if something's happened to him?"
Anne smiled warmly as she tried to console her daughter, "We know he's okay and he's on his way to school, and there's probably a perfectly good reason why he wasn't able to return your calls this weekend. So…why don't you get your stuff together and I'll drop you off on my way to work and you can talk to him there."
"Okay." Kim smiled, "Thanks, Mom. I'm going to have a talk with Ron first time we get the chance."
"That's good, Kim." Anne replied with a grin of her own, "Go ahead and get your stuff. We don't want to be late now—do we?"
As Kim disappeared up the stairs into her room, James turned to his wife, "What do you think's going on, honey?"
"I'm not sure." Anne replied, shaking her head, "But I have a feeling that it has something to do with that dance."
"Crossed wires?" James ventured.
Nodding her head, Anne responded, "Maybe. I think so. I just hope those two can work it out. They've been friends for a long time. I'd hate to see it ended because of a communications breakdown."
Middleton High—Monday
"Thanks, Zoe." Crystal smiled at her girlfriend as she touched her on the back of her hand and whispered, "I wish I could give you a kiss."
"I do too." Zoe whispered back as she gave her lover a flirtatious wink, "Don't worry. We'll make up for it later. Have a good day and don't get detention."
"I won't." Crystal laughed as Ron exited the car. "Come on, Ron." The pretty cheerleader urged, "I see Courtney and Maria over there. Let's go say hi to them."
"Okay." Ron smiled as he gave his driver a friendly wave, "Thanks, Zoe." Smiling again at his two new friends, the blond youth greeted them, "Hey Courtney…Maria…how goes?" Lowering his voice, he murmured to the brown-haired Courtney, "Thanks again for going out to the movie with me. I had a good time."
"I did too." Courtney replied with a grin, "And you were a perfect gentleman. If you want to go out again, give me a call."
"I gotta meet up with Jess and Liz and then get on to class." Crystal declared, smiling at Ron and her friends, "See you all at lunch?'
"Yeah, Crys." Ron smiled back.
"We gotta get going too, Ron." Courtney and Maria echoed, "See you at lunch."
"Take it easy, Ron and stay clear of D-Wing." The tawny-skinned cheerleader exclaimed. "If we get to lunch before you do, we'll save you a spot at our table."
"Have a good day, sweetie." Anne said as she dropped her daughter off at the school entrance.
"Thanks, Mom." Kim replied with a sigh, "I'll try." Squaring her shoulders, she entered the building. Seeing Josh Mankey, her legs began to wobble as he approached..
"Hey, Kim."
"Hi, Josh." Kim smiled back.
"I had a great time at the dance."
"I did too." Kim responded.
"Are we still on for this Friday?" He asked.
"Unless something big happens." Kim answered back, "Yeah. I'm looking forward to it."
"Great!" Josh grinned, "See you for lunch?"
"Yeah." Kim replied, "Lunch."
"Cool. See you later."
Glancing about, Kim looked for Ron, but without success. However, she did see Courtney and Maria walking to class and whispering to each other in between glares at her. "What's going on here? What did I do to them?" Kim thought to herself, a worried look on her face as she strode towards the two girls. "Time to find out what's going on here." Approaching the duo, Kim cleared her throat.
"What is it, Possible?" Courtney scoffed, "Lose something…or someone…again?"
"What are you talking about?" Kim demanded, raising her voice.
"Pfft." The two girls sneered over their shoulders as they walked away, Maria exclaiming, "You're supposed to the one who knows everything…figure it out for yourself."
"You're joking!" Jessica gasped as Crystal filled her in on what happened at the end of the dance last night.
"She locked him in the closet and he was stuck there until you pulled him out?" Liz shook her head in disbelief. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone—not even Stoppable."
"He's actually pretty fun to hang out with once you get him away from the school and Kim." Crystal replied, coming to the defense of her new friend. "He was a big help cleaning up."
"Yeah." Jessica frowned apologetically, "I'm sorry I couldn't help but Mom and Dad put an early curfew on me because I stayed out a little late a few nights ago—remember?"
Crystal replied with a crooked grin, "Yeah. We shouldn't have kept you out so late—but it was fun doing the minigolf thing wasn't it?"
"Yeah…" Jessica snickered, "There was plenty of eye candy there."
"I wouldn't know about that." Crystal giggled, "But I did notice you eyeing a certain boy trying out for the baseball team in a few weeks. So…when are you going to go up and say hi to him or are you going to do your Kim imitation and go into a catatonic freeze and start slobbering whenever you see him?"
"Okay! Okay!" The freckle-faced blonde exclaimed, "I'll say hi to him at lunch. Satisfied?"
Her lips turning up in a smirk, the tawny-skinned cheerleader replied, "My work here is done."
"I'm sorry too." Liz echoed, asking for forgiveness. "I had to get home early because I had babysitting duty the next morning."
"Hey." Crystal grinned, "No big. We got it done and like I said, Ron was a big help. Anyway…we all went to Edna's after and Zoe came by after she got off work and we all talked. We kinda laid it out there what he was doing wrong and believe it or not, he listened. We also told him that Kim needs to get called out on what she did."
"Damned right she does." Jessica quickly agreed.
"I agree with Ron in that she didn't do it to be mean." Crystal qualified, "It was more thoughtless than anything else, but still…"
"She can't get away with doing stuff like that—especially not to someone who's supposed to be her best friend." Liz finished, "So…how do you wanna play this?"
"Freeze out." Crystal replied in a low tone. "The only time we talk to her or have anything to do with her is when we're in practice and even then only when necessary. We can't let it get in the way of the squad winning State, but other than that—we have nothing to do with her until her and Ron settle things. "
"Better to keep it just the three of us." Jessica pointed out. "If we pull in Bonnie and the others, they'll do it more to stick it to Kim than help Ron and I don't think that's what you're wanting—is it?"
"No. Definitely not." Crystal shook her head, "I just want her to understand that she can't get away with pulling shit like that. She does it once—she'll do it again—maybe to one of us. We keep it just between ourselves and leave the other cheerleaders out of it and then once her and Ron settle things, we try to go back to normal."
"Okay. That we can do." Jessica and Liz both replied, glaring at Kim as she approached them, retaining their icy stares until the redhead reluctantly turned away.
"Thought for a moment she wasn't going to get the message." Crystal remarked in an acid tone as Kim turned away.
"Yeah." Jessica replied with a shake of her head, "You're right about one thing. She can be awful thick at times."
Crystal nodded in agreement. "Hopefully she'll get the message and get things ironed out with Ron."
Shaking her head in confusion at the harsh looks her fellow cheerleaders had given her , Kim walked to her locker. Dialing the combination, she opened the door to reveal the PC inside and activated the computer. "Wade? Are you there?"
"Yeah, Kim. What's up?"
"Do you have a location on Ron? I can't find him anywhere and the bell's going to ring in just a couple of minutes."
Wade replied with a grin, "He's in the boys room. I don't think you wanna go in there. What's wrong? You seem upset. Did Ron say or do something stupid?"
"I don't know what's going on, Wade." Kim sobbed, "And no—Ron didn't say or do anything bad or stupid. It's more like he's avoiding me. And not only that, Crystal and her friends are giving me the stink-eye, and no one's telling me why! I just want to know what I did to deserve all this so that I can make it right. Please Wade…it's like you're the only person talking to me. Help me." She moaned as her eyes teared up.
His heart going out to his friend, Wade answered back in a soft, gentle voice, "I'll see what I can do, Kim. If I find out anything, I'll let you know at once."
"Thanks, Wade." Kim replied in a whisper, "You're the best." Glancing at the clock, she gasped, "I better get to class!"
Entering Mr. Barkin's classroom, Kim glanced about the room. Her eyes fell on Ron sitting, instead of at his normal desk next to hers, at another desk surrounded by other students. Her gaze falling on her old friend, she raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders receiving in return a slight shake of the head.
"Waiting for an invitation, Possible? Take your seat…now."
"Mr Barkin?" Kim, startled, responded. Exhaling, her eyes remain fixed on Ron as she made her way to her seat and sat down all alone, her best friend no longer at her side.
"Definitely worth the price of admission." Bonnie muttered to her clique as her lips turned up in an evil grin at the discomfiture of her rival.
Making his way down the corridor towards his locker after class had ended, Ron heard a familiar voice call out to him.
"Ron?"
Turning about, his heart melted as he saw a doe-eyed Kim slowly approach. "Yeah, Kim?"
"Ron? I think we need to talk."
"Yeah." Ron nodded his head as the pair made their way towards his locker, "I guess we do."
"What's wrong?" She asked as she looked up at her friend. "What did I do? You didn't return any of my calls and when I went to your house, you wouldn't answer the door and today went to school with Crystal and that Zoe girl instead of us going to school together like we always do. Did I do something to make you mad at me?"
"How did you know Zoe drove me and Crystal to school?" Ron demanded, his eyes flashing with fury. "I didn't tell you and I know you haven't met Zoe yet and I know for a fact that Crys and the girls haven't said anything." His eyes narrowed, "Did you have Wade spy on me?"
"When you didn't answer any of my calls this weekend and then didn't show up this morning, I feared the worst—that Shego might have took you." Kim tried to explain only to be cut off by her increasingly angry friend
"If it was just me…" Ron said, his wrath growing, "I might understand. You were worried about me. Okay. I appreciate that. But that did not give you the right to violate Crystal and Zoe's privacy."
"Kim Possible! You did what?" Crystal demanded in an exclamation of outrage.
"She had Wade track us while Zoe drove us to school, Crystal." Ron replied, glaring at his childhood friend.
"You had your friend snoop on us!" Crystal exclaimed in a loud voice, immediately drawing the attention of the other students in the hall. "What gives you the right to do that, Possible?"
"I was worried about Ron!" Kim sobbed, tears welling up in her eyes. "I called and called, but you never returned my calls so, like I said, I got scared that something might have happened to you."
"There's a good reason why I didn't return your calls." Ron answered, "But I don't want to talk about it now—not in the middle of the hallway where everyone can listen in. I don't think you want me to do that either."
"Ron's right, Kim." Crystal declared, coming to the support of her new friend. "You don't want this to get out to everyone. Trust me on that."
"But you know." Kim countered. "How? Did Ron tell you what I'm supposed to have done?"
"He didn't have to." Crystal replied, her lips pursed, "I was there. I saw it for myself. Courtney and Maria were there too. The only reason we've kept quiet about it is because Ron asked us to."
"We will talk about what you did later, Kim. When it's just the two of us." Ron emphasized. "But what you did with the tracking isn't just about me. It involves Crystal…and Zoe too." Turning to his new friend, Ron asked, "Do you want to bring her into this, Crys?"
"Let me give her a call." Hitting the speed dial on her phone, Crystal's lips turned up in a momentary smile as she heard her girlfriend's voice, "Hey, Zee. I'm at school right now. Yeah. Uhhh…look…I just found out about something you should know about." As she explained the situation to her lover, Crystal nodded her head and muttered her agreement, "Yeah. You're right. Yeah. She does deserve one. All the way to Upperton and back. So…how do you wanna play it? After practice today? I'll ask her. Okay…" Crystal nodded her head in agreement, "I'll tell her. Give me just a sec." Turning to Kim, the brunette cheerleader glared, "Zoe's coming over after practice. That's when we're both going to give you a piece of our minds."
"Fair enough." Kim nodded in resignation, "You're right. I've got a butt chewing coming to me."
"You bet your ass you do." Crystal muttered to her redheaded team captain before speaking to her girlfriend on the phone. "Hey, Zee. She'll be there. Yeah. You know I do too. Bye."
"I'll be there too." Ron declared with unusual firmness. "Then, after that, Kim, when we're alone. We'll talk about the other matter."
"Okay, Ron." Kim nodded her head, "We'll talk after practice."
Giving her captain a final glare, Crystal announced as she walked away, "Later, Kim."
After Practice
"Great practice, everyone!" Kim announced to her fellow cheerleaders, clapping her hands to get their attention, "Go ahead and hit the showers."
Turning her attention to the brown haired, tawny-skinned cheerleader standing close by with the team mascot, Kim sighed, "Okay, Crystal, let me have it."
"We're waiting on one more person." Crystal declared as an attractive bronze-skinned Asian woman with long dark hair entered the gym, "And there she is." Waving her hand, she called out, "Over here, Zoe!"
On her way to the showers, Bonnie paused for a moment at the sight of the strange woman striding angrily towards her rival. She was even more surprised at what happened next.
Approaching the redheaded snoop, Zoe, shoving her backwards, growled in an angry voice, "Hey, Red! I don't care if you know a hundred forms of kung-fu. Pry into my life again and I'll kick your ass. Got that, bitch?"
"Glad I stuck around." Bonnie snickered as the scene continued to unfold.
"How did Wade track us?" Ron demanded, immediately interposing himself between the irate Asian woman and his estranged friend.
"Yeah." Crystal echoed. "I'd like to know that too."
"So would I, Ms. Possible." "Just how did your friend get that information?"
"Mr. Barkin?" Kim exclaimed in surprise as the substitute-everything made his appearance known.
"I had a feeling something was going down when I saw Ms. Chen tramping down the hallway with a head full of steam." Barkin replied as he turned his attention to the bronze-skinned woman staring angrily at Kim. "You're a long way from Middleton Community or the restaurant or Old Town, Ms. Chen. Wanna explain why?"
"Sure, Mr. Barkin." Zoe replied, her eyes not moving an inch from Kim. "This little…"
"Zoe…" Barkin cautioned, "Don't say it. We're on school grounds. I know you're not a student, but you are a guest and as such have agreed to follow our rules and regulations during your stay here."
"Sorry, Mr. B." The Asian woman apologized, "I just found out that Red was tracking me, Crys, and Ron without us knowing about it."
"Is that true, Ms. Possible?" Barkin asked, his eyes narrowed into a stern expression.
"Yes, Sir." Kim admitted in a rueful tone of voice, her head lowered.
Turning to Ron and Crystal, the substitute-everything teacher questioned, "Do either of you have cell phones, Mr. Stoppable…Ms. Edwards."
"Yes, Sir." Crystal replied, showing the educator her phone.
"My mother got me one this weekend." Ron answered, showing his phone as well. "But I haven't gotten around to giving Kim the number yet. We haven't talked all weekend."
"Is that true, Ms. Possible?" The substitute teacher inquired as he continued his relentless interrogation.
"Yes, Sir." Kim nodded. "I tried to call him all weekend and he didn't answer and when I went to his house, his parents told me he was either not at home or couldn't come to the door. Then, when he didn't show up to walk me to school I…" the teen hero confessed, head lowered, "I panicked. I asked Wade to track him."
"How did he track me, Kim?" Ron asked, his eyes narrowing, "Like I said, I just got my phone. He couldn't have known the number unless he did a search, and the only way he could have found out about Zoe was by running her tags which meant that what…did he use a satellite? Track her by cell phone?"
"I'd like to know what gave Red and her friend the right to break into my records." Zoe growled, balling her fists.
"I was worried about Ron, Mr. Barkin!" Kim sobbed. "When I called his home on Saturday, his mother told me he wasn't home."
"Saturday night I was at the movie with Courtney." Ron explained, an expression of astonishment appearing on his estranged friend's face on hearing her old sidekick was out on a date.
"What's wrong, Kim?" Crystal sneered, "Surprised someone would actually want to go out on a date with Ron?"
"No." Kim shook her head, "I'm happy for him. Why would I be upset?" Turning to Ron, she frowned, "I just wish you'd have told me."
"Right now you're not very high on the list of people I want to talk to." Ron answered back with a grunt.
"Why?" Kim pleaded, "What did I do?"
"That's between the two of us, Kim." Ron declared, repeating his warning, "Like I told you earlier, you really don't want this to get out to the general public."
"I'm sorry, Ron…" Crystal interjected apologetically, "I know you wanted to keep this private, but it's already too late. Her dragging me and Zoe into this forced it out."
Sighing, Ron reluctantly agreed with his new friends, "Yeah, you're right Crys. I'm sorry you and Zoe got yanked into this."
"Hey." Zoe responded, "Not your fault, Ron. This is all on Red."
"I'll take full responsibility for anything I did wrong." Kim declared, staring back at the Asian woman glaring at her.
"You bet your sweet a…"
"Ms. Chen…" Mr. Barkin intervened warningly, "Remember. This isn't Old Town or the College."
"Right, Mr. B." Zoe replied, amending her last statement, "Like I was saying, Red. You bet your sweet little rear end, you're gonna take the heat on this."
"So…what did I do, Ron?" Kim pleaded, tears coming to her eyes.
Heaving a sigh, Ron, shaking his head in a gesture of disappointment, asked his old friend, "Do you remember what happened on Friday after school?"
Recalling the events of that day, Kim nodded her head, "Yeah. We were talking about Drakken and Shego…"
"After that, Kim." Ron prompted.
"I remember Wade was tracking Josh coming towards us…"
"Ron told us you were tracking Josh. I told him it was creepy." Crystal exclaimed in a loud voice that immediately attracted not only Bonnie's attention, but also the attention of the other cheerleaders returning to the gym from their showers. "This just keeps getting worse. Are you keeping tabs on us in our homes? Our bathrooms? Bedrooms?"
"I'd like to know the answer to that too." Bonnie remarked to the other cheerleaders now gathering around her.
"How long has she been doing this?" Jessica added with a scowl.
Vehemently shaking her head, Kim pleaded her case, "I didn't know Wade was doing that until he came on the Kimmunicator and told us. Believe me, I didn't tell him to do it!'
"You told him to do it with me." Ron countered, speaking in a soft, mournful voice. "I hate to say this Kim, but I think Crys, Zoe, and everyone else has good reason to be concerned."
"Maybe." Kim admitted, lowering her head, "I was wrong to ask Wade to do that, Ron. I'm sorry." Looking straight at Zoe and Crystal, she apologized, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked him to do that. It's all my fault."
"You bet your butt it is." Zoe growled as her lover subtly placed a gentle hand on her wrist.
"Easy, Zee." Crystal whispered, "Let Ron take care of this."
"Girlfriend?" Jessica whispered in a very low voice to the redheaded cheerleader standing next to her.
"Girlfriend." Liz responded in an equally low murmur as the pair with their fellow cheerleaders continued to watch the growing confrontation.
Mr. Barkin glowered, "We will talk about the unauthorized surveillance of your fellow students and other civilians later, Possible. For now though, I think you should address the original topic. You stated that you were talking with Stoppable in the corridor when your friend conducting the unapproved tracking of Mr. Mankey interrupted your conversation. Continue."
"Yes, Sir." The young redhead sheepishly responded. "Wade said that Josh was approaching us and I panicked and then Ron dragged me into the utility closet and gave me the pep-talk I needed to talk to Josh. But when Josh got to where we were at, I panicked again and froze and Ron gave me that final push to go up to him and ask him out. One of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you, Ron…" Kim said, her eyes moist with tears, "…was to say thank you. I couldn't have done it without you."
"What happened next, Kim?" Ron asked in a soft, yet firm and unyielding, voice.
As the next series of events slowly, painfully, played out in her mind, Kim's eyes opened wide in shock as it dawned on her exactly what she did. The expression on her face now one of guilt and remorse, the young redhead confessed in a low, sorrowful tone of voice as she spoke, "Josh said yes and then I heard you say something about us picking you up from your home and I…"
"Go on, Kim." Ron pressed accusatorially.
"Kim lowered her head, "I got mad and I…I…I…slammed the door shut on you."
"You knew I had the locks on the utility closets changed, Ms. Possible." The stern teacher declared accusingly. "It was on the morning announcements."
"Yes, Sir." Kim admitted, murmuring her response. "I wasn't thinking. I was just so happy that Josh wanted to go to the dance with me that when I heard Ron make that crack about go with us…"
"You took him seriously." Crystal interrupted, finishing the redhead's sentence before pointing her finger at her challengingly, "You and him are supposed to be best friends! Couldn't you tell he was just making a joke!"
"Like I said!" Kim cried out, "I wasn't thinking!"
"You sure as hell weren't." Crystal bit back, refusing to let up on the tormented redhead.
"Ron." Kim, tears flowing from her eyes, looked up at her old friend, "I'm sorry. Can you please forgive me?"
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Ron answered back in a low and somber tone, "Yeah. One day I will. But not right now." He said shaking his head, "I'll always have your back on missions, Kim. You know that. All you have to do is call, and I'll be there. But I think I need some time to sort things out."
"What sort of things?" Kim asked, fearing her childhood friend's next words.
Looking Kim in the eyes, Ron replied in a mournful voice, "How close a friendship we can have with each other. And…" he finished with a note of agony and regret, "…maybe whether we should even be friends." Turning away, the blond youth said his parting words, "Tell Wade he doesn't have to worry about tracking me anymore. Zoe and Crys are taking me home and they'll be picking me up for school tomorrow."
"How does Bueno Nacho sound Ron?" Crystal asked as she, Ron, and Zoe walked to the gym exit, the two girls on either side of their new friend. "I'll call Maria and Courtney and they can meet us there."
"You don't have to on my account, Crys." Ron smiled as he caught a glimpse at his estranged friend from the corner of his eyes. "I know you girls don't like going there."
"I think we can make an exception this time, Stoppable." Zoe smiled.
"Yeah." Crystal grinned, "You look like you're in dire need of a naco fix. C'mon. We're buying."
Staring down at the redheaded girl in front of him, Mr. Barkin shook his head in disappointment. "My office, Possible. Tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Sir." Kim mumbled as the substitute educator turned about and made his way to the exit just as Bonnie, much to the teen hero's chagrin, approached.
"Damn, K." Bonnie remarked, her expression a stony mask, "Even though I think Stoppable's still a loser…" the teal-eyed cheerleader shook her head in disbelief as she sniffed, "I mean, I could see where I might have done something like that to him. But you—you're supposed to be his friend! I guess that old saying's true—with friends like you, who needs enemies? Ta!"
Standing now alone in the gym, her fellow cheerleaders departing in silence, Kim lowered her head at the looks of disappointment on the faces of Tara, Jessica, and Liz as her Kimmunicator beeped. Answering the phone, Kim took a tissue to her eyes as she regarded the young genius on the screen.
"That bad, Kim?" Wade asked, his voice edged with concern for his friend.
"Worse." The teen hero sobbed, "Now I have to figure out how to make things right again."
"You will, Kim I know it." Wade declared confidently, "I have faith in you."
"Thanks, Wade. I'm glad someone does." Kim replied, the barest traces of a smile appearing on her face.
A/N: I was going to go with the title "Paved with Good Intentions" for this movement in Etude 2 but decided to go instead with "Confrontation" as that's what's happening here and "Confrontation" fits in better sequence-wise with the title for the third movement—"Reconciliation". Yes, I was pretty rough on Kim here, but I do want to emphasize that her actions were not prompted out of any sense of malice. Rather, her actions, while well-intended, were thoughtless. We've all made similar mistakes.