Chapter 31: Aftermath of Defeat

He's hurt and depressed, Kim thought. He's putting on a smile and he's trying not to limp, but I know that he's sad and hurting. "Do me a favor Mon, help me keep an eye on him after he leaves the mat. I really need a word with him."

Ron forced himself to smile and congratulate his opponent. Then, as per tournament etiquette, he shook hands with the opposing coach. He then returned to his corner to face Coach Winters. Would he get chewed out or worse, get ignored?

"Good job Ron, I mean it," said Coach Winters, with a hand on Ron's shoulder. "You would have won that match if you hadn't injured your hip. Let me say this right now, I expect you back next year. You and Oscar are the core that I'm building next year's team around."

Ron felt just a little bit better but his galloping disappointment damped it back down. He excused himself from his coach as soon as he could and looked for a little privacy. He grabbed his sweats and headed for an exit near the Locker Rooms. He slipped outside and looked around. He spotted a loading dock nearby with a stack of packing pallets. He limped to the other side of the stack and looked around, nobody to be seen.

With that, Ron released the tears that had been building. Here, with nobody around, he could let it out. Nobody else would have to see how much the goof was hurting inside. Ron leaned back against the stack then slid down. Eventually he wound up sitting on something that felt like a board but he really didn't care what it was. He had come so close! Was this some kind of torture? Was someone, something allowing him to almost make it just to tear success away from him at the last moment?

Sobbing, Ron looked up. Someone was approaching!

Kim and Monique had been hard pressed to keep up with Ron after his loss, despite his limp. Trailing Ron, the two girls turned a corner and found themselves in a hallway leading to the Locker Room. Not someplace a girl should be going, Kim thought, will I need to get Oscar to fetch him? Wait, he wasn't that far ahead of us. He couldn't have gone inside yet. An exit door swung shut off to the side. He went outside! He's looking to be alone right now. Should I just let…NO! Ron Stoppable will never be hurt and alone when I can help it."

She led Monique out the door. The two girls looked around and didn't see Ron. The only place to hide, nearby, was behind a stack of pallets. Kim led Monique in that direction. As they approached, they heard what sounded like a sob coming from behind the stack. Kim and Monique hurried around the pile and stopped cold, their eyes and mouths gapping wide. There before them sat Ron Stoppable with tears pouring out of his eyes.

Kim had seen Ron sad many times. He had been bullied and tormented at school. Mad scientist type villains routinely insulted him and reporters never remembered his name. She herself had treated him badly on many occasions. Yes, Kim had seen Ron sad many, many times, but she rarely saw him cry. Those few times she had seen him crying it was just a tear or two, quickly wiped away. This was the first time she had ever seen him crying hard.

How many times, Kim thought. How many times has he just vanished after some big disappointment? How many times has he done just this? Not without me, not anymore!

"Ron, what is it?" She asked as gently as she could.

"N-N-Nothing," Ron struggled to force the words out between his sobs. "N-N-Nothing important."

Kim snapped, "what are you going to do, wait until this summer and tell Yori?" Monique's eyes flew wide. "No more secrets, Ron Stoppable! It's me here, KP. You know, your best friend? The one you can always talk to? Talk to me!"

"I-I-I'm just so sorry KP, you too Monique."

"What are you sorry about?"

"The two of you, you came all this way and I really appreciate it. You came all this way just to watch me lose. I'm sorry I…God I'm such a loser! I can't place in a tournament. I let old Monty get away. I can't keep a girlfriend. When a girl is interested in me I don't even realize it. My 'rents won't even show up to watch me. Just as well, why drag more people out here just to see me fail?" Ron buried his head in his hands and wept.

The tears of a clown, Monique mused. He doesn't let many people see just how much anything gets to him. He really wanted to place, breaking up with Sue still bothers him and I can't understand why his parents can't make an appearance. "Snap out of it Blondie," She jumped in. "We saw you out there putting up one heck of a match. You would have won it if you hadn't been injured!"

"Yeah," Kim agreed. "You were injured while helping Yori and me." She thought about what she was going to say. It wouldn't do to let out one of the secrets Ron was determined to keep. "Remember, you drove Monty away. No, you didn't capture him but you sent him running! You know why he ran away?"

Ron lifted his red face up and stared at her.

"Because he knew you were better than him. He cleared out so you wouldn't finish him. As far as I'm concerned that makes you the winner. As far as Sue is concerned, it's her loss. And as for your 'rents, well, I don't know. I know my folks are going to be waiting for a full report tomorrow morning." She giggled a little. "And the tweebs will want to reenact it as soon as you're up to it."

Ron's answering smile was weak and short-lived. He dropped his face back into his hands, still trembling and sobbing. Kim had never seen him this shook up. Not knowing exactly what she was doing, she sat down next to him, pulled his head down to her shoulder and rested her cheek on the top of his head while sobs wracked his body. He resisted a little at first, but then just relaxed at let the tears out.

Keep that pose you two, Monique thought. Just stay like that. Both of you are going to be sooooo much happier if you just get together. Then she spoke up."Ron, if I ever hear anybody call you a loser again they're going to have to answer to me. That includes you, mister."

After a few minutes, Ron had regained his composure enough to go back inside. Before doing so, he thanked the girls for looking out for him and apologized for his outburst. Monique set him to blushing, again, by telling him she was disappointed that he would changing out of his wrestling tights and into street clothes. Shaking his head, he limped to the Locker Room, showered, changed then rejoined Kim and Monique. They found a spot low on the bleachers so that they could stay close to Felix and so that Ron could reach his teammates without climbing too many stairs. Then the four friends enjoyed the rest of the tournament.

Dave finished in fifth place at 126. At 132 the boy who handed Ron his first defeat of this tournament took third, while the boy who eliminated Ron took fourth. Bruce took fourth place in the heavyweight division. The four friends stayed for the championship round that evening. At 132 the Block City wrestler, who had beaten Ron at both the Regional and Sectional Tournaments, took first place honors. A short time later, in the 167-pound division, Oscar pinned his opponent to become the first ever Middleton High State Champion. Felix reviewed his statistics and pointed out that Oscar had gone undefeated for the entire season and had only failed to pin his opponent three times. It was one of the most dominant performances in the state. When Cindy presented him with his awards, she broke tradition and kissed him on the mouth rather than the cheek. Oscar was decidedly red-faced for his pictures.

Ron congratulated the two boys who had beaten him at this tournament, as well as the Block City boy who had defeated him earlier. He was surprised and very touched when they not only remembered him, but they all demanded that he tell them he would be back next year. They were all seniors and wanted to make sure that the future of the sport would be in capable hands, even if those hands weren't from their own teams.

With the matches over, Ron reluctantly said goodbye to Kim and Monique. They would drive back home while he and Felix would take the team bus. Once away from Kim and Monique, Ron started to feel down again. Kim and Monique had helped him deal with his breakup and the fact that his 'rents hadn't made it, but he was still the only Middleton wrestler to have made the trip and not earn a place. Being with the rest of the team drove that home to him. The bus had just gotten out of Pinnacle Village and onto the highway when Dave got right into his face.

"How DARE you be down, Stoppable?" The older boy challenged.

"Wha…?" Ron was at a loss.

"I asked you why you were down. Are you going to answer us?"

Ron looked around and saw that, in addition to Dave, Oscar, Bruce and the cheerleaders were all staring at him. "Guys, I'm sorry, I'm the only one who didn't place…"

"You have NOTHING to apologize for," the older boy interrupted. "This was your first year on the mat! You're bummed that you didn't place at State? My first year I didn't even make varsity! I was two and ten as a B-team wrestler. Last year, my THIRD year wrestling, I didn't even make it to State! Do you know what that means?"

Ron shook his head.

"It means that you're good, damned good. If you just quit getting down on yourself because you're not the absolute best you're going to be a lot happier. You're going to go out again next year, aren't you?"

"Of course." Ron whispered.

"YOU BETTER! Before Coach Winters showed up, the Middleton Wrestling Team was a joke. We've worked our butts off to make it respectable and now it is. Now it's up to guys like you and Oscar to keep it going. You're good Stoppable, a lot better than I was at your age even though I had a lot more experience. Don't you dare get down about yourself."

For some reason Dave's butt chewing made Ron feel even better about himself than Kim and Monique's consoling. He was able to congratulate Dave, Oscar and Bruce. He was also able to thank all the cheerleaders and Coach Winters. He promised the coach that he would be back on the team next year. The coach made him promise to have a doctor look at his hip.

Ron looked back at Pinnacle Village. I don't know where the State Tournament will be held next year, but it doesn't really matter. I will make it back and I will place. My goal stays the same, its just been pushed back a year. With that, Ron settled in and slept almost all of the way home.