Chapter 3

Kim groped for the telephone and answered in a daze. "Hello? Who is this? No, I don't want… oh, Ron?"

"Hey, KP," Ron's voice came through the phone. "Were you sleeping?"

"No. Yes. What?"

Ron laughed a little. "Silly Kimbo! Sorry for waking you, babe. I just miss you! I haven't seen you all day. Are you up for some BN snackage?"

Kim smiled at the sound of her sweet boyfriend. "Sure, Ron. Let me change into something I haven't been sleeping in and comb my hair. Meet you there in half an hour?"

"Actually, I was hoping I could pick it up and bring it to you. Tree house dinch sound okay to you?"

"Dinch? Did I hear you correctly? Is that a new term?"

"Well… it's too early for dinner, but too late for lunch… I figure it's like brunch. Only… dinner-lunch."

Kim smiled at the goofy term. "Yeah, the tree house sounds great. We haven't been up there in a while. Don't bring too many nacos, or Rufus will put us over the weight limit on that thing! Love you. Drive safely on that old bike of yours."

"As always, anything for my lady. Love you too, KP."

Kim put down the phone and sighed, thinking about her earlier tirade. "I still don't know what I'm feeling… but I guess the best thing for now is just to ignore it and hope it goes away. I still know somewhere inside me that Ron is the guy for me. I just have to realize it fully. I won't tell him though; no reason for him to worry over nothing. And I couldn't hurt him like that. Not without reason. I can deal with it myself. Yeah, no problem!"

Kim yawned and shambled to the bathroom that adjoined her loft bedroom. "Yikes!" After sleeping away the afternoon, her hair was shaggy and frizzy, and her clothes were wrinkled. Her eyeliner, the only makeup she wore regularly, was smeared all down her cheeks, making her look like a zombie. She enjoyed the peace while dunking her face in the sink and dragging a comb through her hair. When she looked more like her normal, energetic, teenager self, she headed out to the tree house.

When she poked her head up through the old trap door, standing on the rope ladder, she felt a wave of memories wash over her. "Wow… Ron and I have gone through so much together. And so much of our bonding has taken place right here. I think I'll clean it up a little before he gets here."

"Perfect! Don't move! Yup, right there." Kim's little boat on the sea of memories was capsized before she could finish pulling herself through the door in the floor of their little house. She looked down to see her best friend-boyfriend staring up at her. "Kim, you have the most bon-diggity butt in all of Middleton! No, Colorado! No… oh, forget it; we'll just play it safe and say the entire world."

"Ron Stoppable! You are in trouble, mister! Who gave you permission to be looking at my personal booty?"

"Well… I did bring you nacos."

"Okay… I guess I can forgive you this one time." Kim sent the little pulley system down to Ron and hauled up their 'dinch' as he climbed up the ladder.

"And… one, two, three!" Kim turned around to see Ron pulling a dozen lilies out of his sleeve.

"Ron! Where did those come from?"

"I had them up my sleeve, of course!"

"You goofball! I love you. Thanks for being so caring."

Ron grabbed a water bottle, poured the contents into a nearby vase, and plopped the flowers into it. Then he captured his girlfriend around the waist and swung her down, kissing her on the lips. "Ready for some dinch, beautiful?"

"For sure."

He kissed her again, but started tickling her at the same time. She squirmed, with her lips still on his, but her tiny cheerleader body couldn't escape his big, muscular, football-player one. She giggled through the kiss, still twisting, swelling his heart until he thought it would burst with love. Finally he threw himself on the couch, carrying her with him, and released her. Soft brown eyes met fiery emerald and he smiled.

"Okay. I'm hungry now. Ronnie, go get the basket?" He complied and they ate in silence, enjoying each other's company. But with the silence, Kim's thoughts began to wander. Ron saw her face change, along with her mood, but refrained from asking. To keep from turning moody, she started some animated small talk and tried to focus on Ron. However, she felt her spirits dropping and she started to become restless and irritable.

"Hey, Ron, what do you think about Middleton Mall for a little bit?"

"Sounds good to me, KP! Let's hit the scooter!"

Kim and Ron zoomed (well, 'zoomed' by Ron's definition; 'puttered' by Kim's) to the mall. They grabbed some slushies and lazily wandered into Club Banana.

Five bags, three clothing shops, and one shoe store later, Ron groaned and begged Kim for a reprieve. "Kim! Can't we go somewhere else? My feet are hurting!"

"Buy some inserts for your shoes. Look how convenient."

"Kim…"

"Okay then. What do you want to do?"

"Well… there was this sale at the video game store on all Zombie Mayhem…"

"All right. I guess you deserve a break. Wuss."

The pair headed toward the nerdy side of the mall, with Kim only stopping once… or twice… to check out a few store windows.

Kim stepped inside Game City with Ron and surveyed the store. "Hey, Ron, how about you go check out those games. I'm gonna go chat with Monique for a minute."

"Sure thing, KP," Ron answered vaguely. He was soon lost among the aisles.

Kim stepped back outside, found a bench near the store and dialed Monique.

"Yo, Monique here!"

"Hey Mon, it's Kim."

"What up, girl?"

"I'm at the mall with Ron. He's in Video Game World. I'm just kinda lost, and I felt like talking. I wish I could figure out my feelings. You're not busy, are you?"

"Nope. I'm all ears, Kim. Talk away!"

"I don't know what to do! I either say nothing and stay with him and deal with it, or I could try talking to him. But I know that ill just lead to him being stupid like he always is during those conversations where I'm trying to tell him something important, and then I'll probably break up with him in my anger! And I know I'd regret that. And to hurt him like that… I couldn't. It's such a lose-lose situation!" Kim wailed.

"Kim! What? Was there a prelude to this?"

"Remember our conversation in Club Banana the other day? Well, I lied when I told you I was over Josh. I'm sorry, but I'm just so confused."

"I guess I don't really know what to tell you. Right now you have two different guys after you; I'm not really in that sort of sitch. But I guess I'd suggest talking. You have to tell him absolutely everything – even the part about how annoying it is when he breaks out with wisecracks."

"I can't do that!"

"If somebody asked me my opinion on the most important elements in a relationship, I'd say honesty and communication. You gotta talk to your boy. They're not mind readers, Kim."

"Okay. I've got to do some serious thinking this weekend. Oh, here he comes. See you later. Thanks for listening, Mon." Kim flipped her cell phone closed and stood up. She walked towards her boyfriend. "Ron, we've been here for almost 3 hours. I think it's dinnertime. We should go home."

"Sure. I just finished checking out. Look, KP! Isn't this badical? A double deal on Zombie Mayhem 2 and 3! Just released!"

"Yup. Great. Come on, Ron! Let's go."

Ron babbled on while walking to the counter and all the way out of the mall. Kim just focused on getting some ibuprofen and coffee to avoid listening. The scooter was too loud for talking, so Kim drifted off into thought. I wonder why this always happens? I start out perfectly happy. I'm excited, cheerful, and so totally in love. And then I hang out with him for just a little while and I think we should have just stayed friends. Maybe that would have been better; I never had any sort of emotional problems when Ron and I were just friends. What happens while I'm with him that makes me so unhappy? Maybe I'm just building him up so much in my head while we're not together that when I see him again, I remember how he actually is. And it's not living up to my expectations. I guess there are only two solutions: either accept him the way he is and deal with it, or find somebody better.

Ron stopped at Kim's door. "Here we are, gorgeous."

"Thanks for the ride. I'll see you later." Kim gave Ron a half-hearted hug and walked through the door, leaving him standing there.