- SHORTLY AFTER THE BREAKUP -
"Kim, sweetie, I know it's not my place to say this, but seeing as nobody else appears to be saying it, I'm invoking my right as your roommate and I'm going to lay it out there for you."
"Great ..." Kim moaned into her textbook as she felt another heart-to-heart talk coming on.
Her roommate, Haley Skomet had finally put the finishing touches on her painted toenails, leaned back and rolled her office chair across the room to Kim's bed. "K, what are you doing?"
"Physics homework?" an annoyed Kim replied as she stated the obvious.
"No, that's not what I meant. What are you doing with yourself? Me and a couple of the girls on the floor are getting worried about you."
"Worried? What for?"
"Well for starters, remember our first semester together when you were out every other night 'saving the world' or whatever it is you were doing with your high school boyfriend and it began taking its toll on you both physically and academically?"
"Yeah, and you convinced me that I needed to let all of it go so I could focus on school and college life? How could I forget that one?"
"Hey now, I did you a favor with that one Kimbo. I know it was painful but sometimes the right course of action isn't always an easy one."
"Well, my grades have been improving," Kim conceded as she tried to glance back at her reading.
"True, but ..." her roommate asked in rhetoric.
"But ... what?"
"But you, what?" her roommate coached on.
"But I didn't get out more like I thought I would?"
"YES!" the Haley exclaimed as if Kim had cracked an important riddle. "You freed yourself from all of the dead weight from high school, but you haven't capitalized on it."
"I wouldn't call Ron dead weight," she shot back in defense of her old friend. "He has some maturity issues, but all in all he's a good guy. And I never capitalized on the whole college life because I had these things called 'grades' that needed improving. I already lost two scholarships because of my GPA and was teetering on academic probation. So, I'm sorry, but Jello shots and keg stands are not on the top of my to-do list. Plus, I joined that honor society in the science department a few months back...I get out and do things with people."
"I can see your point there, however that was a while ago. Since then, you've got your grades up, Dean's List in fact, and yet here ... you ... are ... cooped up in our dorm room like a physics major while your entire college life passes you by."
"It's not passing me by, I came here to learn," Kim shot back as she started highlighting pages.
"Heh ... hah ha, ha ha ha, BWAH HA HA HA!" her roommate laughed so hard she nearly fell out of her chair. "You are here to learn. That's a good one Kimbo!"
"I'm sorry, if I wanted to spend my time getting drunk and laid, I could have stayed back in Middleton and saved my money. This stuff is important to me. Not to mention the pressure to succeed when your father is a world-renowned rocket scientist, your mother's a neurosurgeon and your younger brothers are child prodigies. Did I mention our home was destroyed the night of our graduation?"
"Yeah, well, I've got news for you, college is more than a learning experience, it's a life experience. You're supposed to spend your time here making friends, getting active, doing things you've always wanted to do, and I wouldn't call that 'club' whose claim to fame is a trash pick-up every other month you're a member of as being a social outlet.
As for partying, the closest thing to alcohol I've seen you drink is expired orange juice, and in terms of you getting any ... Well, outside of that funny looking blonde guy you used to be with, I haven't seen you with anyone equipped with a Y-chromosome that isn't giving a lecture or serving you food in the food court."
"Hey!" Kim responded offended about her getting so personal.
"No heys," Haley shot back. "You know what I say is true. You are all work and no play. And I get the whole pressure to succeed with your family being full of professionals and egg heads, but you're not the only one who deals with that ... or did you forget who came to visit during Family Week?" she said referring to her own family.
"True but …"
"But what? Are you starting to regret retiring?"
"I dunno ... sometimes I think …"
"Has the world ended since you retired?"
"It did if you're a stockbroker."
"Yeah, yeah, as if you had anything to do or not to do with that. Is that Kraken guy you were always fighting ruling the world with an iron fist now?"
"It was Drakken, and no ... he's kinda settled down now. But still ..."
"So the world didn't end, the bad guys didn't take over, your grades are improving, you are no longer burned out, and yet here you are, the Red-Headed Hermit of Hamilton Hall all alone with your books."
"Yep. That's me," Kim replied as she stretched herself out across her mattress in spite before going back to note taking. "The dull, unexcited Red-Headed Hermit trying to not spend the rest of her life working as a waitress at a Waffle World."
"Pfft, Waffle World ... you and I both know that isn't going to happen," she shot back as she leaned back into her chair and gave Kim a look of unamusement.
"What?" Kim said after several seconds of a silent stare began to wear on her.
"You need to get out of this room for a while K, and you know I'm right.
"Haley, don't do this to me now. You know I'm not a partier."
"I also know you're not a recluse," she shot back. "I understand you're worried about your studies but you know as well as I do that being buried inside a textbook all day long isn't good for you. Besides, you're too pretty and fun to be cooped up and not amongst the living."
"Fine," Kim resigned closing her book. "What do you suggest, Oh Great Social Butterfly?"
"Kappa Iota is throwing a get together tomorrow night. A little mid-term retreat by invitation only, and I just happen to have an invite plus one."
"A 'get together' you say? Is that what they're calling keggers these days?"
"It's what they call getting out of their dorm room for a few hours and engaging in social behavior," Haley shot back. "Quit making excuses, go out for a few hours and live a little. Have a few drinks, eat some snacks, meet a few warm bodies, you know something that doesn't involve you and angular velocity."
"Fine, I'll go!" she resigned, visibly annoyed with the nagging. "Now if you would excuse me, me and angular velocity have unfinished business to attend to."
"Absolutely Kimbo!" the roomie exclaimed victoriously. "You'll thank me later."
"Yeah we'll see about that," Kim grumbled under her breath as she opened back her text book and began squinting at the contents.
-THE NEXT EVENING -
"I can't believe you talked me into this Haley," Kim growled as the two girls walked across the moonlit campus.
"Oh, come on Kim, quit acting like I'm dragging you to a Comicon."
"I could at least relate to the people at Comicon, these people are ... are ..."
"Your peers?" Haley replied. "I'm sure Susan from your English class is more relatable than a 34 year old Smarty Mart clerk who moonlights as a Saltarian Death Lord."
"Okay, maybe not, still this sort of thing has never been my cup of tea."
"Well, you've never really given it a chance Kim," she replied. "We did that one party after you dumped your boyfriend and have never been to one since."
"And I still regret going to that one," she admitted as she stopped to tie her shoelace. "It didn't seem right to go off and try to have a good night on the town while Ron was probably locked in his bedroom crying his eyes out."
"And that was how long ago? You can't go back in time and I'm sure he's gotten over it as should you."
"That doesn't change the fact that it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. Crushing your childhood friend's heart isn't something you forget easily."
"Well, lucky for you this party has plenty of opportunities to help you forget then!"
"Oh yeah, grinding your butt with a total stranger, getting hit on by a bunch of Neolithic fraternity guys, and underage drinking, so not my definition of a good time."
"And what exactly is your definition of a good time Kim? Pulling an Isaac Newton and locking yourself away until you've invented a new form of math?"
"No ... it's more like ... like … uh …"
"Exactly," Haley interrupted an obviously stumped Kim as they reached the Kappa Iota house. "You haven't done anything remotely fun or exciting since you retired from your adventuring. And that's all going to change tonight."
"I'm sure it will," Kim replied with a smirk as she rolled up her sleeve. "Where do I go to get an 'X' put on my hand?"
"An X? What do you think this is, a bar?"
"Well I just a-"
"Jeez, you're such a square," her roommate said grabbing her exposed wrist. "Come on Kimbo, where we're going we don't need Xs."
"No, but we're going to need attorneys if we get caught," Kim mumbled under her breath as they passed through the gate and showed their invitations to the "bouncer" at the front of the house.
Inside Kim was overwhelmed with the atmosphere in front of her. Between the loud thumping music provided by a professional DJ, the dark house illuminated only with various blinking techno lights and neon, and the slew of party guests dancing wildly through the house and adjacent backyard she quickly was becoming overwhelmed and uncomfortable with the situation.
"So, Hale how's this work? We do like the buddy system so we don't get …"
"Haley?" she said as she turned to her side expecting to see her roommate who had suddenly disappeared.
"Haley? Where did you," she paused as she found her, hastily making her way to the dance floor to begin busting a move, "go?"
Kim now found herself alone amongst a sea of strangers at a party she didn't even want to be at. To make things worse, the constant thumping of the speakers was beginning to trigger a headache. Her first instinct was to turn around and head out, but she stopped herself. She knew that if she were to abandon Haley at the party something could happen to her, and she would live with the guilt if that happened. So, instead she went to the bar area, grabbed a can of soda, and creeped her way to a wall where it was a little calmer. She found an empty spot next to an open window which she saw as a bonus, not only could she get out of the dance crowd, but she was also able to breathe among the stuffy atmosphere of body heat, cigarette smoke, and who knew what else. She propped herself up against the window pane and cracked open her can of soda and started to sip as she watched her roommate grind up against a member of the rugby team, rolling her eyes in disapproval.
"Well, well, looks like we have a celebrity within our midst tonight," a familiar voice said near Kim.
Somewhat startled she turned her head and saw an old, familiar face leaning next to her along the wall. It was Amelia, a fellow alumni of Middleton High School who was a couple of years ahead of her who Kim hadn't seen since she graduated her sophomore year. She hadn't changed much since high school. She still appeared preppy and dressed in a satin party dress and heels, a far contrast to Kim's choice of evening apparel which consisted of a long sleeve shirt, khaki shorts, and a pair of flip flops.
"Hey Amelia, long time no see."
"That it has," Amelia concurred as she took a sip out of her Solo cup. "Although it's hard to forget the face of the hometown redhead who saved the world from an alien invasion. I'm surprised you don't have a line of people begging you for autographs."
"Yeah, well, that sort of thing stopped after I retired. I guess when you're no longer gracing the covers of magazines nobody seems to care anymore."
"Yeah, I heard about that. Must've been hard to walk away from that seeing you did it for so many years with your boyfriend."
"That would be exboyfriend."
"Really?!" Amelia replied in shock. "I'm so sorry, you two seemed so great together. At least, from a stranger's baseless observation I suppose."
"It's alright. I was the one who broke it off," Kim replied reluctantly feeling the wound of a sensitive subject beginning to be torn open. "It just wasn't working out, especially when we left for college."
"I see ... I've been down the whole 'I'm Here, You're There' road," Amelia answered as she took another sip. "Not to be nosy, but how long ago did it happen?"
"A couple of months." Kim shrugged, visibly uncomfortable talking about it.
"Hmmm, so let me guess. You've been cooped up in your room buried in books since you two broke up and someone on your floor decided that you needed to live a little and brought you out to this place right?"
"Bingo. My roommate put me up to this. She's the one over there twerking with the punch bowl attendant and completely looking out for my interests," Kim replied sarcastically as she pointed to Haley who had obviously had a few drinks already."
"Well, I'm glad to see that you're in good hands while you are in such a fragile state," Amelia replied rolling her eyes and taking another sip from her drink."Look, I know what you're going through. My boyfriend dumped me my freshman year and it took me a while to find my footing. I tried the party scene, did a couple of blind dates, did some extracurricular activities with the outdoors program, but in the end I just wanted to be left alone."
"Exactly," Kim replied after finally finding someone who understood her. "I mean her intentions are good but this scene just isn't me."
"Time heals all things Kim. You don't like this sort of atmosphere because you're being forced into it. Maybe you'd like it if it were on your own terms, but obviously you are here not of your own free will and your 'chaperone' over there has kind of left you high and dry."
"Yeah," Kim replied slightly annoyed in thinking of her abandonment. "So how did you finally get over it?"
"Me? Well, booze seemed to calm my nerves," she answered tipping up her blue Solo cup in affirmation. "I've got some rum if you want it," she said pointing to her purse. "Mixes nicely with that soda you've got there."
"Thanks, but I'm not really of drinking age yet," she politely declined.
"Suit yourself," Amelia said before knocking back another sip. "Neither was I when I first started. Then again my philosophy is that if you're old enough to die for your country then you should be old enough to handle your drink. But hey, that's just me. All I know is that I'm responsible about it and it mellows me out."
Kim raised her eyebrows in understanding as she crossed her arms and went back to watching her roommate while discretely toe-tapping to the dance music. She started to look around at all of the people having a good time and pursed her lips in deep thought.
"I'm not really a bump on a log am I?" she asked Amelia rhetorically. "I mean, yeah, I worked hard to get my grades up so maybe that took away from a college social life but we're here to learn right? And my roommate, she's just being a typical freshman 'trying to find herself' and attempting to take me along for the ride right? And dating, I've been with someone for almost two years, it's not like I'm desperate to be in a committed relationship, I mean, sometimes you just need 'me time' to unwind."
Amelia shrugged her shoulders in acknowledgement, not necessarily agreeing with Kim but knowing enough that she was in the process of trying to talk herself into partying a bit.
"And then there's Gina," Kim pointed to a short brunette on the dance floor. "She has one of the highest averages in our physics class. I think she could one day actually win a Nobel prize with the concepts and formulas she's developed in labs, and she's out there busting a move."
"That she is," Amelia replied.
"And then there is Jason, who's in my math class. He works nights in the IT department and he's here. I thought he never left the server rooms seeing how he's always talking about gigabytes, bandwidth and tech gizmos whenever we were partnered up ..."
"And yet he's here enjoying himself too, and apparently he's not alone," the junior continued pointing out a female Jason seemed to be socializing with in a romantic way.
"He's got a girlfriend!?" Kim replied shocked as she looked on at the couple.
"Kim, don't take this personally, but it sounds like to me like your problem isn't keeping up your grades or having a social life but more about managing your time. As you can see from your dorky friend and his lady over there it is possible to have your cake and eat it too," Amelia shot back as she continued nursing her cup.
"Maybe you're right," Kim admitted. "I mean, if she can do it, and if he can do it, then surely I can handle my study workload and have fun at the same time."
"What was that line you were always saying in high school?" Amelia asked "Anything is possible for a Possible?"
"Damn right it was! Hit me up Amelia," she shouted as she held out her soda to the upper classmen.
"Really?" the older girl replied, somewhat surprised that she took her up on her offer.
"I've been tied to the side of a missile, transformed into a monkey, and fought war faring aliens. I think I can handle something tame like a spiked cola."
"Well then aren't you just full of 180," Amelia remarked as she took Kim's can and began mixing an airplane bottle of rum into it that she pulled discretely from her purse. "Having cans for this sort of thing is well played in my opinion. It conceals the contents better than an open cup and it's a little easier to prevent people from slipping things into it. Just be sure not to put this down any place that's out of your site."
"Hey now, you're talking to the girl who's thwarted how many top secret plots over the years?" Kim responded confidently.
"Just be smart about it ok?" the junior admonished as she handed Kim her can back. "I don't care how brave and tough you think you are, a ruffie would still knock you out just as hard as it would anybody else. I'd hate to see someone with your semi-celebrity status end up on a scandalous website or worse."
"Got it, I'll be careful..bottoms up!" Kim said with a wink of confidence as she began to sip her drink. She was pleasantly surprised over the initial gulp which resulted in a flavor reminiscent of vanilla cola, only much smoother. "Hmmm, this isn't bad."
"Welcome to the wild side, Kim," Amelia joked as she slowly grooved back and forth. "Give it a little time and you should start feeling a little more rela- Whoa! Did you just finish that already?!"
Kim's can was completely vertical as she was trying to get the last few drops out of the opening. "Whoops," Kim chuckled while wiping her mouth. "I guess it really was smooth."
"Well, be careful next time with that, drinking that fast can give you a major bellyache."
Kim agreed and reeled herself back in before she got too carried away. She pulled herself off the wall and talked with Amelia about the days of Middleton High School, it's teachers, and how it had changed since she was longer they talked, the chattier Kim became. She could tell that the rum was already having an effect on her as a warm relaxing sensation traveled across her body and the tension she experienced earlier began to wane. She started to laugh and joke and before she knew it, she was enjoying herself and having fun.
About a half hour later Kim asked Amelia to give her a second round. Shortly after this Jason's eyes caught Kim and he waved her down from across the room to come over and socialize with him and his girlfriend. Amelia gave Kim the nod to go socialize and they exchanged hugs and thanks before Kim rushed across the room.
Amelia couldn't help but feel a bit of pride as she watched the freshman who barely moved within a 3 foot space for most of the night break down her fronts and start to have fun. She loaded up her cup with another shot and looked on as Kim ran across the dance floor to meet Jason, who was busy introducing her to his girlfriend. They struck up another conversation full of smiles and laughter. Amelia couldn't make out the conversation, but it looked as if Jason's girlfriend was attempting to get him to dance with her, but the techie introvert was not having any of it. After several tries, she watched as Kim motioned that she would dance with his girlfriend and soon the duo had their hands raised high in the air as they bounced around to the music. Minutes later, they were joined by Haley who was excited to see that her roommate had finally broken out of her funk and was enjoying herself. The three continued dancing together as Jason broke away to tend contently to something on his mobile device.
"Welcome to the wild side Kimberly Possible. Welcome to the wild side," Amelia said as she saluted the trio with her cup before finishing off her drink and heading out.