Tales of The Awkward: Chapter 3.01 (Popular Stoppable)
His message to her replayed back and forth, over and over and she tried to believe in his words. It was probably the most reassuring words that she had heard from him that week.
'I'm the same old Ron.'
It was almost endearing the way his slacks fell down on cue when he said that. She was almost convinced that he was the same goofy blond that she knew no less than two weeks ago.
Now if only the girls of Middleton High realized that.
Back in the 'same old Ron' days, the boy was a little better than an extra-strength girl repellant. These days, however, Monique and herself weren't the only ones that began to take notice of the former bumbling sidekick, but a handful of girls began to turn their heads at the sight of his as well. Not just the Tara's and the Penny's of the world that had liked him long before he decided to make a 'small change,' as he described it, but the more established ones, the more popular, the ones on the upside of the Food Chain began to turn an interested eye toward the blond.
For instance, a girl with long blonde hair and fairly nice features gave the sidekick a nice hello the other day. Thing was, Ron didn't even know the girl. Out of just being shocked at the greeting, the sidekick still gave her a wave. The redhead had to smile in spite of the strange happenings. He certainly was attracting more girls, but darned if he could understand them, or talk to them for that matter.
'I'll get used to it,' Kim thought as she turned out the light. It had been a long weekend... Why make it longer staying up thinking about changes that she couldn't control?
Of course, not everyone was impressed or believing that the sidekick had turned over a new leaf. The spearhead of these nonbelievers was none other than...
...OK, Take a wild guess.
"The tags say 'name brand', but he still says 'I'm a loser'," were the discouraging words of one Bonnie Rockwaller, the perennial discord distributor of Middleton High. Her entourage exchanged giggles and murmurs throughout the circle. Perhaps it was coincidence that Ron was overhearing this conversation on his way to Math Class. His first inclination was to simply ignore this blatant assassination of his character. Then again, that was what he had used to do... He really didn't feel like doing it again. What he really wanted to do was tell her off. That would have given him a thrill, but at what cost?
Strangely enough, his third impulse was to bash her face in with a skillet, but since he didn't have said skillet on his person, that was out of the question.
He followed his defeatist first motion and ignore this. Besides, karma always came back to haunt people. Didn't it?
"What do you know? If it isn't the textbook definition of the term loser!"
loser (loo·zer) n.
1. One that fails to win
2. One who takes loss in a specified way
3. One that is bad in quality
4. The Boston Red Sox
5. The Buffalo Bills of the Early 1990's
6. Ned
7. Ron Stoppable
Of course, this incited more annoyance from the blond. Why couldn't she just let him be? How could someone so pretty be such a pain in the... rear? The laughs of the hangers-on tweaked him even more. Forget about ignoring her... It was time for the Ron-dawg to stick up for himself.
Shooing away the pangs of doubt that stuck itself to the pit of the boy's stomach, Ron cleared his throat loudly enough for people to hear and let it rip.
"Oh yeah, Bonnie?" He challenged. "Well you are the textbook definition of a prissy, stuck-up, self-centered, gold-digging, snooty, conniving Ho-Bag!"
The shockwaves! The consternation! The sheer unpredictability of it all! If only the students of were prepared for such an outburst from the outcast. If they had only knew the frustration that lay dormant in the now active Ron Stoppable! If only Bonnie had known about trying to put out fires with gasoline.
If only Ron had actually said what he was thinking.
(Reeeeeewind)
The laughs of the hangers-on tweaked him even more. Forget about ignoring her... It was time for the Ron-dawg to stick up for himself.
"Oh yeah, Bonnie?" He challenged. "Well you are the textbook definition of..."
Why did everyone stop what they were doing to look at him? The sidekick gulped. They all stared daggers at him as if to say "What's he doing sticking up for himself?"
"...The textbook definition of what?" Asked Bonnie. One hand cocked on hip.
Now the boy was getting hot under the collar. Was he going to rise to the challenge and say what he had always wanted to say to this prissy, stuck-up, self-centered, gold-digging, snooty, conniving Ho-Bag? Or would he simply shrink away?"
"Eh... The textbook definition of... a strikingly beautiful young woman that has no business acknowledging losers like me," He said in full retreat mode.
Whoever didn't think the latter was going to have a bad time with his or her bookie...
Amidst heckles and the catcalls of 'coward' and 'loser' that he received from the mindless sheep, Ron continued to Italian class. The strange thing was that he did manage to silence the brunette... Maybe she finally decided to lay off of him.
It had been a long, long, long weekend for Kim Possible, from the eye-catching exploits of her best friend to two (Count 'em), two solo missions on the day before. She knew she was going to have a tough time this Monday. It had already begun when she woke up about forty-five minutes late to class.
She was reprimanded on the spot by Mr. Barkin and was let off with a warning. You would think a globetrotting super-heroine would catch a break every once in a while, but no. Not in high school.
Second period was right around the corner, so she waited for the bell to ring... and indeed it did. The herd of students passed by as the bell continued to sound off. She was waiting for Ron. Strangely enough, he never came. So, with a shrug, she went forward to her next class... Being late once was enough for one day. As she got to the stairway corridor, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Hi," The person who tapped her, a girl greeted.
"Uh, Hey," Kim said uneasily.
"...Aren't you Kim Possible, the..."
"...teen Superhero? Yeah that's me," Kim said. It was kind of unlike her... But a good ego stroke could do wonders for your day.
"Oh... yeah, that too. But... Aren't you Ron Stoppable's best friend?"
"Yeeeah," She said, not exactly liking where this was going.
"Have you seen him?"
"No. Not yet."
"Oh," The girl said in a disappointed tone.
OK... This was definitely not something she would expect from the 'Same Old Ron.'
"Well, when you see him can you tell him that Alexis said 'Hi?'"
"Sure," She said with ever-narrowing eyebrows.
The black-haired girl went about her business leaving the auburn-haired girl about as confused as a blonde in a Chemistry class. Alexis? Who the heck was Alexis? Where did she come from? And why in the world did she want Ron to know that she said 'Hi'? These probing questions swirled around like hurricanes in the Atlantic. This might have been the beginning of what she almost feared... Ron was an extra-strength girl repellant no more.
Not because she was jealous, mind you. But think of what the advances of these girls would do to Ron's ego... That alone could make his ego rise to unbelievable and gargantuan proportions... He may even start calling himself something gregariously stupid like "The Playa President" or "The Ron" or something along those lines.
She shuddered. This week could potentially be even more strange than the last two.
Oh yeah... and she was late to class again.
The redhead kept her emerald green eyes locked on her best friend in their third period class. In the past, they used to have almost every class together. This semester, however, they only had two. She never would have thought in ten-thousand years that she would be keeping tabs on the blond throughout the day. What made Ron the flavor of the month? It couldn't been just a simple change of threads, could it? Nah... Girls couldn't possibly be that shallow.
(Stop laughing, S-Chrome!)
It was Creative Writing class too... which meant that there was very little instruction, and a whole lot of socializing.
A couple of rows away a blond was simply trying to mind his own business... trying to keep a firm handle on the assignment, even though it was ridiculously commonplace.
'Write about something that you will do over the summer'... Boy... It was about to be April and the teachers were already mailing it in.
With pen in hand, he wrote down the things he would do... or at least hoped to do.
1. Not go to Summer School: I've been down that road before... and it tanks.
He wasn't going to go into detail, but this very same English teacher was the reason that had him in the Prison with No Air Conditioning in the first place.
2. See the fireworks on the fourth of July: It's almost like tradition. Every year on the fourth, me and...
His concentration was broken by a paper ball of some kind, hitting him square in the back of the head. Of course it didn't hurt or make him wonder who the heck threw it because it happened in every class, every time. Thus, he ignored it. Minutes later, however, he was pelted with yet another paper ball. Oy... Why couldn't he ever be left to his own devices... Why?
He picked up the piece of paper. How great would it be if he was to partake in the throwing of the paper... It was so juvenile, and yet... high-schoolers still did it. And... wait... was there writing on that paper? He let his curiosity get the better of him as he un-crumpled the piece of paper.
From a fair distance away in the back of the classroom, Kim saw that Bonnie was throwing paper balls at Ron. Why couldn't she ever get off of his case? Did her bubbling, boiling hatred toward her have to spill over to her best friend? She was just about to let the brunette have it...
...'Did you mean what you said earlier today?'
The blond was confused... which was a frequent occurrence. He had no idea who this was. That is, of course, until he saw the bottom of the sheet.
-Bonnie.
Bonnie? Bonnie Rockwaller? His chocolate brown eyes went about as wide as they could go upon reading that very name. He hadn't been this surprised since Three Six Mafia won an Oscar.
...Well, it was hard out here for a pimp... But that wasn't the point right now.
Was the blond going to be given a reprieve for what meant to be harsh words earlier today?
Boo-Yah.
With a quick scribble of 'Yes', Ron crumpled the piece of paper and airmailed it back. Within about a minute, another paper ball hit him in the back of the head. Apparently, people like Bonnie enjoyed pelting him with objects. Shrugging off the pelting, he unwrapped the new ball.
'That's sooo sweet. Maybe I was wrong about you. Come over to my table at lunch.'
What a turn of events this was... He stared for what seemed to be an eternity at that piece of paper. Did this mean that he was no longer the hated outcast of the school? Could it be?
This had to be some kind of dream or something... He pinched himself repeatedly... Yep... It was reality indeed.
'Bonnie's table... Wow...,' Ron thought. The place where all the popular people sat at, the pretty girls, good portion of the cheerleaders were there too... and… the guys who played for the teams, and things of that nature.
...Things of that nature!
On the other side of the classroom, Kim was confused. What exactly was Ron doing picking up rubbish that was just thrown at him? She guessed that she would find that out later at lunch.
Where the heck was Kim? The blond searched far and wide... He pondered what he was going to do with this rendezvous with the cool table... He had no clue how to act around these individuals. Well, they weren't individuals. They were kinda like all the same people with differing faces, bodies, and the like...
...Then he remembered, Monday was the day that Kim went to Chemistry Lab instead of Lunch. It looked as if Ron was on his own on this one.
He never thought much of being popular, because he knew that he was never going to be accepted by those elitist pigs... But, now... Things were different!
The blond pushed the door open to the cafeteria. He had never been so nervous to go into the lunchroom since that fateful day the lunch lady served both Mystery Meat and Mystery Salad in the same afternoon, though this time his stomach was doing a bit more belly-flips. Slowly, he made his way across to get lunch... Certainly, he could stand on his head and cook something better than this 'prison food' as he liked to describe it, but it was the only thing there at the moment as his pockets were about as light as a feather... Maybe lighter. As he grabbed the tray, which was Spaghetti & Meatballs (or so it seemed), and went on his way to his usual table. That's when he heard that sound...
"Ron... Over here."
That was indeed the voice of Bonnie... And... She sounded inviting... and she actually acknowledged him by his first name! Were the words that he said that eloquent and profound? And... what did those words mean? Taking a deep breath, and using newly found balance to keep his tray falling on the onset of the brunette's voice, the sidekick ambled to her table.
Indeed, even teen heroines didn't get a break in High School.
Kim didn't even know that there was fifth period detention... until now, of course. The redhead shook her head... What was even weirder than the blond turning over a new leaf was the fact that had been slacking off in her classes. She also didn't know that one could get detention for excessive latenesses... Of course, she knew that now also.
She was definitely distracted by Ron, but why? He had never caught her attention like this before, not even when he had that new hairstyle a year or so back. Was this one of the ills of puberty? Was this reason why she got so red in the face when she was around "The New Ron?" Was that the reason she suddenly got so warm when he gave her that impromptu peck on the cheek a couple of weeks back?
It had to be... It couldn't be anything like attraction... That would be so, sooo very sickening.
She made her way into the cafeteria, and saw that Ron wasn't at their usual place. That was weird... Where could he possibly be? Ron would never miss an opportunity to eat... even if the food was god-awful, as he described it.
The auburn-haired girl surveyed from left to right and right-to-left once again. She was about to give up on her search when she spotted him.
He was at Bonnie's table, actually conversing with the people at that table.
She almost felt faint... This was getting even weirder by the millisecond...
To Be Continued
