Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or any of the show's characters (unfortunately). This fic is written solely to entertain; I do not earn anything (except reviews).

AN: This story ignores the events of StD, but includes all the episodes of the series.

My first and most delightful duty is to thank you once again for your wonderful reviews! I wouldn't be near as fast in updating (which is probably still too slow anyway) if it weren't for the extra motivation I get out of reading all that great feedback I've been getting, so thanks a lot! I'll try the reply function again these days; I just wanted to get the new chapter finished first. I'm glad that you thought Kim was ic; that was very important to me. Before we dive into the next chapter, I'll quickly answer one question by Aero Tendo I really liked: Yes, I will cover Lonnie; this will actually be pretty important soon.

And now, enjoy the new chappie, and please let me know what you think about it!

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"Boo!"

"Whoa! What…? Monique?!"

Monique grinned mischievously at Kim. "Sorry, girl, but you were jealin' so hard, I couldn't resist."

"I was so not jealin'!"

Monique raised a mocking eye-brow. "Whatever you say, Kim! But if looks could kill, Tara…"

"I'm not jealin'!" Kim interrupted her. "Why would I be?!"

The black-haired beauty grinned. "Let's see, because Tara could seriously cut into your Ron-time, because you could feel left out, because he could be happy without you, because…"

"Alright, alright, I get it, Monique! Thank you!" Kim grumbled. "Could we go to class now?"

"But of course, girlfriend."

"And I was not jealin'…" the red-head mumbled silently while walking to her next class.

Many pupils all over the world subjectively consider school lessons to pass much slower than the rest of the day. Minutes seem to turn into hours till the bell finally rings to announce the end of another school day.

To Bonnie, Kim and Tara, this day seemed to set a record in slow-passing.

Bonnie had spent a considerable amount of time in the girls' lavatory, thinking about everything that had happened. She had come to the conclusion that she really needed to talk to Tara and Ron. She knew it probably wouldn't be a pleasant conversation, but it needed to be done, so she would try to catch Ron after cheer practise and talk to Tara later. The only remaining question was: What would she say? What could she say?

Kim tried to figure out what she was feeling. Was Monique right after all? She couldn't be jealous, could she? And why would she be? Ron was her best friend, always had been! Even if he started dating Tara, that wouldn't change anything, would it? Ron had never had a girlfriend before, so she couldn't know for sure how that would affect their friendship. And then she had a nagging feeling of discomfort when she thought about him and Tara as a pair; the looks Tara was sending Ron's way didn't help matters. She decided to have a talk with him about the whole thing, but it would have to wait till after cheer practise, when she could talk to him alone.

Tara couldn't wait for this day to end; she was very much looking forward to her date with Ron. Her date with Ron! She had to giggle every time she thought about it. She'd summoned all of her courage and finally asked Ron out, and he'd said yes! She could barely contain her happiness and tried very hard not to stare openly at him all the time. She couldn't understand why no one else saw what a rare person he was, but then again, so much the better for her! If only time would pass faster…

Ron was probably the only one to who time was passing normally. As usual, he didn't pay much attention to the lectures the teachers were giving, but thought about everything that had happened on this (even by his standards) strange day. At least he had something to look forward to: the date with Tara. If he could just survive cheer practise, everything would be fine, and fortunately, he had Rufus to help him through the day.

Finally, the bell rang, and everyone packed their stuff.

Kim shot up from her seat and made a bee-line for Ron's chair, only to find Tara already standing there and talking to Ron.

"Hey, KP, I'll see you in a little bit at cheer practise, ok?" Ron asked with one of his goofy grins.

Kim forced a smile on her face. "Sure, Ron."

He looked at her with a questioning look in his eye. "Are you ok, Kim?"

The smile remained on her face. "Of course! I'll see you in a bit!"

He just nodded and left the room with Tara, who had a huge smile plastered on her face.

Kim felt like kicking something. How could he leave her behind like that? And how could she act all lovey-dovey around him? Then suddenly, after fuming silently for a few moments, it hit Kim: She realized how she had always left Ron behind whenever she'd had a crush on someone. No, not left behind, completely ignored Ron! He had always been there for her, and how had she thanked him? She'd turned her back on him whenever the newest hottie was around. And did he repay her in kind now that someone was interested in him? No, he still talked to her, even asked if she was alright! A powerful wave of shame washed over her. Some friend she'd been! But that would change now! She'd be happy for her best friend and support him! With that decision made, she left the classroom, feeling much better. After all, being supportive didn't mean she couldn't keep an eye on the sitch…

Half an hour later, Kim was about to explode. Cheer practise was a catastrophe, and that was putting it mildly. Bonnie was completely out of it, and only the fact that she knew why prevented Kim from tearing into her. Tara was very distracted, too, as she always glanced at Ron and what he was doing. When the pyramid collapsed once again, Kim finally burst.

"Alright, people, that's it! Why can't we have just one good run-through? Bonnie, concentrate!" Bonnie jumped and nodded while Kim continued. "Tara!"

The blonde, who had been looking at Ron again, started. "Yes, Kim?" she asked timidly.

"It would be just spankin' if you could keep your eyes off the mascot and your head in the game for a couple of minutes!" Kim snarled.

Tara shuddered. "I'm sorry, it's just…"

"I neither want nor need to hear excuses! Once more from the top! Now!" Kim started the music, and the girls began their cheer.

Unfortunately, Tara and Bonnie collided halfway through the number, when Bonnie stumbled and Tara stepped in the wrong direction.

Kim groaned and stopped the music. "Okay, I give up. I don't think we'll achieve anything except broken bones if we continue, so let's call it a day. Bonnie! I expect you to be in top form next time! Tara, the same goes for you!"

Both girls nodded with a very red face, while the others left for the showers, whispering about what might be going on.

Ron strolled over. "Hey girls, don't worry, everyone can have a bad day," he said in his cheery voice.

Kim rolled her eyes. "I hope that's all it is, Ron, a bad day… Walk me home?"

He smiled. "Sure thing, KP!"

She returned the smile. "'Kay, I'll just hit the shower first." Noticing that Bonnie and Tara were still standing there, too, she decided to take a long shower, as she was sure Bonnie would want to talk to Ron.

Ron, who hadn't noticed that the two girls were still there because they were standing behind him, nodded, turned to go to the boys' locker room and almost walked into them. "Whoa, sorry, ladies, didn't see you there!"

While Bonnie stared at the ground, Tara smiled at him and answered. "No problem, Ron! I hope Kim isn't too mad at me for messing up today…"

Ron waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, don't worry." With a wink, he added, "Just make sure that the next practise will go better."

Tara smiled sweetly at him, and Bonnie cleared her throat nervously.

"Err, Ron?" the brunette began rather timidly. "Could I talk to you for a second?"

Tara's eyes narrowed, but Ron answered before she could say anything. "Sure, why not?" Noticing the tension, he jokingly added. "As long as you don't dump anything on me again, cause I don't have another set of clothes here."

Bonnie actually blushed at that. "I won't."

Ron nodded. "Alright then. Tara, I'll pick you up at seven, ok?"

The platinum blonde answered in the affirmative, but it was pretty clear that she'd rather have stayed. When she'd finally left, Ron looked at Bonnie and waited for her to say something.

The brunette steeled herself. She had never been good at apologizing, but Ron more than deserved an apology for what she'd done.

"Ron… Look, I'm sorry. I… I…"

"You got into trouble because you talked to me," Ron continued for her when he saw she couldn't. He took her surprised look as his cue to elaborate. "I saw how the others were talking to you at lunch, and I heard the rumours." He sighed. "I know I'm not on that food-chain-thingy, so the rules say you can't talk to me."

Bonnie swallowed hard. Ron spoke very matter-of-factly about the unspoken rules, but somehow, they suddenly seemed harsh, cruel and stupid to her. Why did she even follow these rules?

Ron sighed again. What he was about to say had taken him all afternoon to think about and figure out. "Look, Bonnie, if you hadn't dumped your lunch on me or something like that, you would've lost your popularity, and I know that your status is very important to you. Now, I don't want you to give something up that is very important to you just because of me. I'm sure you'd miss being popular, and I don't wanna see you sad."

Bonnie couldn't believe what she was hearing. He'd saved her on so many levels already, and now he was trying to save her popularity, even if it meant complete ridicule and nasty comments for him! No one had ever done anything like that for her, not even close! Her tears were falling freely now, but she didn't notice. All she saw was Ron, who was looking at her worriedly.

He was mentally kicking himself. All he'd wanted to do was tell her that everything was okay, that she didn't have to worry about him. After all, she was having a hard enough time as it was, and he didn't want to add to her problems. He tried to calm her down. "Hey, please don't cry; it'll all be okay, I promise! I didn't wanna upset you, Bonnie!"

When Bonnie heard that, her crying turned into outright bawling. She'd never felt so cared about, so accepted, so respected and at the same time so completely undeserving of it.

Ron, not knowing what to do to stop Bonnie's tears, tentatively touched her shoulder, and the brunette immediately flung herself into his arms and cried into his chest. Ron automatically wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her hair. It was something his mother had always done when he'd cried, and it seemed to help.

"Ron, I'm so sorry," Bonnie finally managed to say. She raised her head and looked at him. "You're a great guy, no matter what others may say, and you never deserved any of the things I did to you. I… I really wanted to make it up to you, start over again… but then… people bugged me all morning, the rumours really got to me… and then, at lunch…"

"You just snapped," Ron finished for her.

"Something like that, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," he assured her. "At least the rumours stopped, and everything's back to normal."

"But I don't want things to go back to… that. I… I don't want to treat you like that."

Ron sighed. "Well, I'm afraid you don't have a choice if you want to stay popular. You see, my motto is 'never be normal', but I don't think that would work for you."

Bonnie smiled for the first time when she answered. "Don't worry about me; you do that far too much anyway."

"I'm sorry," he replied sheepishly. "I…" But he was cut off when Bonnie put her index finger on his mouth.

"On second thought, scratch that. It actually feels nice to know someone worries about me. But you won't have to this time."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked doubtingly. "I mean…" And again, he was interrupted by the brunette.

"Yes, I am." Then her confidence deflated a bit. "But I might need your help…"

Ron just smiled his goofy grin. "Hey, you need the Ronster, all you have to do is ask. And you'll also get a naked mole-rat as a bonus!"

Bonnie smiled, feeling very relieved. "Where is that little guy, anyway?"

"Asleep. He had to catch up on his sleep after helping me with the clean-up."

Bonnie felt her guilty conscience rise at that.

Ron seemed to notice that, as he immediately asked: "So, how do you plan to make that whole 'new attitude' thing work? Won't the others chew you out again?"

Bonnie just smiled a dangerous little smile. "Oh, you'll see… This time, I'll be prepared."

"Okaaaay…"

She grinned before turning serious again. "Anyway, thanks for everything, Ron…"

He scratched his neck; having Bonnie thanking him still ranked high on the weird-o-meter after all. "No problem, Bonnie."

"Well, I should be going… I have to talk to Tara…"

"What's with you and Tara? I noticed there was some tension between you… Did you have an argument?"

Bonnie nodded. "That would be an understatement."

"Was it because of the lunch thing?" he asked.

"Yes," Bonnie confirmed. "But don't worry about it. She had every right to be angry. If I apologize, things should be fine."

"Alright. I hope you two will be okay."

"We will be," Bonnie said confidently. "After all, we are best friends."

Ron nodded. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yes, see you tomorrow, Ron…" With that, she hugged him and quietly said. "Things will be different from now on, I promise."

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AN: Merry Christmas, everyone! I really managed to get this one done in time (a feat that I'm actually proud of ;))! I won't be able to post another chapter before January, however, so I wish you a Happy New Year, as well!