School of Life
Tryouts
Chapter 9
Sliding his arm around Kim's slim waist, Ron gently pulled her close to his side. Purring slightly, Kim nestled her head against shoulder. Dinner had been great. It had not been long when she had slipped her right foot out of her heels and had used her foot to curl around Ron's calf. The view out the window had been astounding. Marie had gone way beyond what a normal server would do. When they got ready to leave they found out that their meal had been paid for by someone else at the restaurant. After a quick discussion, Ron made sure that Marie received a tip that she deserved, and that he noticed another young couple in the restaurant. Marie had told them that the couple had recently become engaged themselves and were celebrating. Ron made a deal with the management of the restaurant that he would pay for their meal since someone had paid for theirs. Then after talking with Kim for a moment. He arranged for each table to receive a free dessert for that evening. Kim thought at first it was a little extravagant but realized the Ron wanted to do something special for the evening. It made her love him all the more.
They entered one of the large rooms where the athletes gathered. They joined a group of athletes from a number of the countries watching a large screen television. "The Company of the Ring", one of Ron's favorite movies was on. Kim lead him over to join the group. Although she had seen the movie several times it was something they could share for the evening. They had not been watching for long when a commercial break came on. The commercial started with a group of girls shopping in a certain store. Kim rolled her eyes when she recognized the commercial. The group of girls walked up to a display where one of the store workers was working on the display. One of the girls tapped the worker on the shoulder.
"Excuse me. Could you show us where the Kim Possible collection is?"
The worker turned to the girls, it was Kim. She smiled at the girls.
"Sure! Come on they are right over here."
The girls screamed when they noticed who was waiting on them. Kim lead them to another part of the store and showed them the display. One of them asked.
"Kim do you really wear Club Banana all the time."
Just at that time her Kimmunicator went off. Kim started out the store, stopped and turned back to look at the girls.
"Oh yeah, I wear Club Banana when ever I can. On missions, at home or at school. Get it at Club Banana."
She pointed at her back pocket. The camera zoomed in of the back of her pants showing the Club Banana logo. The words "Get it at Club Banana" froze on the screen. The audience started to cheer and whistle as Kim tried to hide under Ron's arm. Ron looked down at her with a questioning look. She blushed deeply as she tried to smile.
"I thought I might take it up a notch with some of the commercials they wanted me to do. I sorta wanted to get around the little school girl image."
Ron grinned.
"Boooyah!"
Kim grinned back at him for a moment when the alarm on the Kimmunicator went off. She looked down at it and winced. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Is it what time I think it is?"
Kim nodded.
"All the athletes have their training and stuff to do. We..."
Ron finished her sentence.
"are still in school and have work to do. I am sure Dr. and are just waiting for us to come back."
Kim gave him a slight elbow.
"Now let's give them a break. Both of them have been really good working with us. They did let us go out for a little while at least."
Ron took her hand as they headed toward their room.
"I know, but it still tanks. I am sure Davidson is gonna cream me on my paper."
Kim took her seat in the stadium to wait for the closing ceremonies to start. They were packed and ready to leave as soon as the ceremonies were over. Davidson and the other professor had grilled them that night and for the next full day. Both of them actually had to skip a couple of demonstrations so they could catch up on their school work. The network was not happy, but that had been part of the deal that the two of them would have to keep up their school work. It was only later when Davidson and the other professor were heading back to school did they confide in the two. Davidson took Kim and Ron to the side as the other professor loaded their luggage.
"Kim, Ron, I know that you really wanted to do those last demonstrations but we were eating at a little out of the way restaurant when some of your crews can in. They were going to set up up again. Since it was a couple of events I knew that the two of you wanted to do I thought I would take a little preemptive action. You had gotten a little behind in your work so we decided to get you to caught up and maybe get a little ahead. Things are going to be quite busy for you when you get back to campus."
Ron felt Kim tense up when Davidson mentioned that the network was trying to set them up again. Ron placed his hand on Kim's back and she settled down. Now was not the time to vent, Davidson had done them a favor. Soon it would all be over and they would be back at school and back to their normal "as far as their normal lives went" lives. Kim smiled at Davidson.
"Thanks Dr. Davidson, we appreciate the favor that you did for us. We will see you back on campus."
A touch from Ron brought her back to the present. They watched as a clown crawled out of the hole where the arm with one of the torches did not raise up during the opening ceremony. They laughed with everyone else as the clown "fixed" the torch arm and raised it to its proper place with the others. The crowd came to it's feet as the woman who was not able to light her torch during the opening ceremony came out and lit the torch one last time. Kim nestled back into Ron's arms as they settled down to enjoy the rest of the evening. Kim was content. They had demonstrated a number of events and had a good time while being there. They had also made a number of new friends and learned to be a little more careful in the future. Also, one of the most important moments in her life occurred here. Having Ron kneel before her and propose to her on live television would be a moment she would cherish for the rest of her life. Let the doubters keep writing about how she should be with one of the hot actors or sports figures. She had made her choice. Lifting her head from it's place on Ron's shoulder she gave him a demure glance. She gave her a smile that made her heart jump a few beats. Sighing happily, she put her head back down on his shoulder to watch the rest of the ceremonies.
Ron pulled Kim's bag from the baggage conveyor belt and set it on the floor. Kim was holding onto his bad and had both of their backpacks. They were both tired and ready to get some sleep. Kim extended the handle to her bag, slid her backpack onto her back and handed Ron his backpack. He put on his backpack and grabbed the handle to his bag just as Kim had done. Turning around, they headed for the longtime parking where the Sloth was parked. Wade had arranged for the Sloth to be delivered to the long term parking the day before so they would not have to pay a large fee. Kim stopped for a moment outside of one of the ladies' rooms.
"Hey Ron, I need to take a pitstop before we get the Sloth. Wait for me?"
Ron reached for her main bag.
"Let me take care of your bag while you're gone. I'll wait right here."
Kim ducked into the nearest ladies' room, did her business and just about to walk out when she heard a shrill scream and a loud feminine voice scream out.
"Hey LOOK! It's Ron Stoppable!"
She stepped quickly out of the ladies' room to see Ron get mobbed by a bunch of young women, some wearing "Vandercraft" sweatshirts or coats. They had surrounded him before he could even think to make a break for it. They were snapping pictures and shoving papers for him to autograph faster than he could react. When they started to hang all over him and get their friends to take picture, Kim figured it was time to step into things. Ron was a little flustered.
"Ladies, ladies, there is enough Ron man to go around."
He looked up to see Kim standing there watching him with her arms crossed.
"But there's one lady that has dibs on all of the Ron man. That's my badical beautiful fiance Kim Possible."
The girls turned around to see Kim standing there watching. The clamor died down quickly when they realized that she was standing right there watching. After letting Ron stew for a few seconds, Kim unfolded her arm and walked up to him. It was like the parting of the Red Sea as the mob of girls got out of the way as she walked up. Kim snuggled up to Ron for a second, then turning to face him she pulled him down for a kiss. Several cameras flashed as they held the kiss for a few seconds. Pulling back she smiled at the other girls.
"Sorry ladies, but this one is taken."
The group of girls laughed and calmly asked if they could get some pictures with the famous pair. Kim and Ron readily agreed and after several pictures and many autographs the session broke up. The group waved to the pair as they gathered their luggage and started back toward where the Sloth was picked. As they turned the corner, two men with cameras walked up to the group of girls. They handed each of the girls some money.
"Thanks for the help girls, Possible appeared before we could get any really good pictures but you did your part."
One of the girls spoke.
"Really? I thought we did better than good, after all making something of that loser took some acting."
Another pushed her to the side.
"Speak for yourself. I was intensely enjoying myself. After all, I just transferred to Vandercraft, and I plan a lot of meetings with him."
Another girl stood on the edge of the group. She quietly watched the group and whispered under her breath with a sneer on her face.
"You can have the guy all you want. It's POSSIBLE that I want. Kim's next semester at Vandercraft will be very interesting."
Kim sighed as she pulled her bag up to the door to her dorm room. She had barely gotten her key in the door when it flew open. Janice enveloped her in a huge hug. Kim returned it as she struggled to breathe. After a few seconds she gasped out.
"Nice to see you too but air is becoming an issue."
Janice laughed as she pulled back.
"Sorry about that, it's just nice to have my roomie back. You have GOT to tell me everything! OHHHH WOW, when you two made your announcement, then Ron did what he did... I mean that was so awesome...then...then..."
Kim raised her hand and motioned for Janice to retreat into the room so she could pull her bag in. Janice backed up and helped Kim put her backpack on her bed. Janice flopped on her bed and gazed up at Kim. Kim flopped down on her own bed and zipped open her bag. Pulling a small bag out of her luggage, she tossed it to Janice. Janice caught it and pulled it open. Her mouth dropped open as she pulled an Olympic sweater from her bag. She pulled it open with a squeal. Kim smiled.
"I saw that and knew that it was you."
Janice put the sweater down and faced Kim.
"Okay, now, spill...TELL ME EVERYTHING!"
Kim sighed.
"Okay, we had not planned to make the announcement so soon but after we found out that the network was trying to set us up with other athletes we knew we had to do something. The press were really tough to deal with up there. It was like no one believe that I wanted to be with Ron and the same for him. So we went ahead and made the announcement. But I had no idea that Ron was going to do what he did, or that he had another engagement ring. That really surprised me."
Janice squealed.
"OHHHH, that was the biggest news all over campus. I mean it really rocked the campus."
Kim rolled her eyes.
"I have a feeling that I was away from campus was a good thing."
Janice laughed as she nodded.
"Oh yeah, Glenn and I really got grilled by everybody asking did we know. Of course we didn't say a thing. But now, tell me about your big date after the announcement. I know that you went to that fancy restaurant but what did you do afterward."
Kim blushed a little.
"Well, we did go for a little stroll and then made our way back to the Olympic Village. We got back just in time to see that commercial."
Janice grinned.
"Oh yeah, that one is already a fav of all the guys on campus. Now tell me about everything else."
Kim sat back on her bed.
"Okay, we got there and made our way to the Village..."
Ron was putting away his clothes when Glen came into the room. A big grin broke out on his face as he walked in.
"Dude, I heard that you were two were back on campus. How was the trip?"
Ron flopped down on his bed.
"It was pretty great! I am a little sore in places no one should be sore, but KP and I had a good time."
Glen snickered.
"I gotta deal you. That fall you took on the ski jump...that was legendary."
Ron groaned.
"Man, you have no idea how bad that hurt."
Glen took a seat in his desk chair with a smile across his face.
"Well, I am sure that Kim 'helped' you recover."
Ron blushed to the roots of his hair.
"Yeah, well, maybe she did."
Glen nodded.
"I saw the news conference and have to say that I was not surprised. I was in the Student Center snack shop when it came on the TV there. There was total pandemonium when you two made the announcement, and the guys whistled while most of the girls swooned when you knelt and asked Kim live on camera."
Ron grinned as he rolled over on the bed.
"Yeah, I wanted to surprise her."
Glen laughed.
"Oh I think you did. I know you were there, but I got a good look at her face. She was totally taken by surprise. Now tell me about the rest of the trip."
Kim finished pulling on her cheer uniform and ran a brush through her hair. This was the first practice she was able to participate in since returning from the Olympics. She had a lot of work to do to make up for the time she was gone. Filling in at most of the upcoming game would be something she would have to deal with. She stretched her arms over her head when a voice called from behind her.
"You aren't wearing your ring."
Kim spun around to see Lauren standing behind her watching. Kim nodded and looked at her hand.
"Yeah, if I am in class I wear the first one that Ron gave me. If we are out somewhere I'll wear the one he gave me in Vancouver. But, out on the floor, doing cheers, or out on missions, I don't. I'm afraid that I might lose them. Besides, it might be a distraction and I don't want that."
Kim finished stretching as she finished speaking. Leaning over she picked up her pompoms. Lauren already had hers in her hands. Kim joined up with Lauren as they headed out of the locker room and out into the gym. Glenda was talking with the rest of the squad when Kim and Lauren walked up. Kathy scowled at Kim.
"About time you decided to come back to the real world."
Kim walked right past Kathy and joined the main group of cheerleaders. Mrs. Sweeney nodded to Kim.
"Welcome back Kim and congratulations."
Kim blushed as the slight applause from the other cheerleaders as Mrs. Sweeney continued.
"Okay ladies and gentlemen settle down, we can all grill Kim after practice. Now you all know that our mascot got hurt and we have been looking for a replacement. We had a list of nominations and have narrowed the list down to two. I have given each of them a Bull Dog head and they are waiting just outside. They will come in here and perform a Bull Dog routine. After both have done a routine all of you will vote for who you think is the best."
Everyone took a seat on the bleachers and the first Bull Dog came out. His routine looked like he had been watching too many team mascots. When the music started he moved rather stiffly and seemed to have difficulty moving with the music. Just as he left he looked at Kathy and acted like he sneezed. Kim noticed that Kathy gently nudged those of her posse sitting around her.
The next Bull Dog came in running on all fours howling like a dog. He slid to a stop in front of the bleacher and went into a wild display of dance moves and antics. He pulled a few stunts with the cheerleaders that had them all laughing. All except Kathy and her posse. When the music finished the person in the Bull Dog suit picked up a basketball and made a number of moves that would have impressed one of the Harlem Globetrotters. At the end of his routine he ran to the end of the basketball court, jumped onto a springboard set on the floor under the goal and leapt into the air and dunked the ball. The rest of the cheerleaders jumped to their feet and cheered. Mrs. Sweeney looked around and called both of the candidates back to middle of the floor.
"Okay ladies and gentlemen. We have two candidates for the position of the Bull Dog. Let's vote. All for candidate number one raise your hand."
Kathy, her posse and a few of the other team members raised their hands. Kim noted that the last few hesitated at first until Kathy glared at them. But there were only a few votes. Kathy stared at a few others but they didn't move. Mrs. Sweeney nodded.
"Okay, now all for candidate number two."
Kim's hand went up along with the rest of the team. There was no doubt who the winner was. Mrs. Sweeney smiled.
"Well, it looks like candidate number two is the winner. Congratulations everyone, you have chosen someone who is very familiar with being the Bull Dog. You take you heads off gentlemen."
Both figures took the Bull Dog heads off. Kim already knew who candidate number two was but had no idea who the first one was. When the head came off the reason of Kathy's actions were clear. The first candidate was Kathy's boyfriend. Kathy scowled.
"Hey, Possible must have known who it was and got all of you to vote of him."
Mrs. Sweeney turned to face Kathy.
"Oh really Miss Jayrich? And just WHEN was she able to accomplish this? Everyone in this room knows they just got back from the Olympics yesterday after traveling all day. Miss Possible didn't know that we would be having the tryout today and Mr. Stoppable was only contacted this morning. Your friend there had time to think of his routine and prepare. Mr. Stoppable came in here with little preparation and did what he did. I also would like to suggest that your friend come up with a better signal as to who was who."
Kathy's face went red as Mrs. Sweeney turned to Ron.
"Congratulations, Mr. Stoppable. You will be the new Bull Dog. You can join us for practice. Mr. Davis, thank you for trying out. Let's hit the floor ladies and gentlemen, we have practice to do. Ron, I'll give you five minutes to get something to drink and be back on the floor."
Kim slowly massaged Ron's back as he lay groaning on his bed.
"And I thought Coach McClintock was a slave driver. He's got nothing on her."
Kim giggled.
"And you thought the cheerleaders had it easy. You'll do fine. The team was really impressed with your routine, but using your foot to scratch your ear was a little much. Although everyone was impressed with your flexibility."
Ron moaned again as Kim moved on ice pack on his shoulder. She shook her head.
"Nice move by the way. When Kathy missed her jump to the top of the tower you made a nice catch. You gonna be okay?"
Ron pushed himself up and sat up.
"Yeah, I saw her foot slip and knew which way she was going to fall."
Kim snorted.
"Oh yeah, if anyone is an expert on falling it's you."
Ron turned to glare at her for a second then bent over to give her a kiss.
"Point to you. She okay?"
Kim shrugged.
"Yeah, she was a little bruised. Her ego more than her body. She had all but demanded to get the top spot and everyone let you try just to shut her up. The fact that she could not do it hurt, but the fact that you saved her from being hurt was worse."
Ron stood up.
"Yeah, you want to get a bite to eat?"
Kim nodded.
"Maybe later. I need to head uptown to get some stuff from the Book Exchange."
Ron turned to her.
"Want some company?"
Kim shrugged her shoulders.
"You can if you want, but don't you have a test in math tomorrow."
Ron nodded.
"Yeah, I do. Tell you what. Let me hit the books for couple of hours and I'll meet you at the Dog House for a late supper."
Kim grabbed her purse and stood up.
"Sounds good to me. That will give me plenty of time to find what I need and get a little studying in myself."
She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a little peck on the nose.
"See you in a couple of hours."
Ron pulled her into a hug and gave the top of her head a kiss.
"I'll be there."
Kim turned and rubbed his chest before she headed out the door. Ron grabbed his math text book and notes and carried them to his desk. He watched from the window as Kim came into sight and disappeared across campus.
The street lights were on as Kim made her way toward the Book Exchange. Normally, she would not have gone through the trouble of going to the Exchange but they were the only one that carried some of the extra things for the cheer leading team. There was also some stuffed Bull Dog there and she wanted to get one for Ron. She also wanted to get him a special cheer leading team sweatshirt with his name on it. She was proud of him and what he had done that day. One he had made the team with the most impressive display of being a mascot she had ever seen him do and he had caught Kathy as she fell getting her from getting hurt. Even after Kathy had railed at him for every tiny mistake he had made before hand. She wanted to call her mom too.
She had made her purchases and was on the way back to the Sloth. It was a busy evening at the Exchange and the various restaurants so the parking lot was full. She had finally found a parking spot in another parking lot near where one the local bars had recently closed. The light that normally lit the area had been broken but there was still plenty of light from the others in the area. She wasn't worried. She noticed a old van parked next to the Sloth and she wondered how if the interior looked as bad as the exterior. If it did she doubted that it would be able to get out of the lot. She started to dig in her purse for her keys as she approached the door. Standing at the door digging through her purse she remembered that she had put her keys in her pants pocket. Just as she pulled her keys from her pocket she heard a pop from the open window behind her. Her body jerked as the threads of the tazer hit her. She was barely conscious as her body hit the parking lot.
The side door to the van slid open as two dark figures jumped out and picked her up. They stripped her purse and her bag from her hand and dropped them to the ground. The two pulled her into the van and dropped her to the floor. Flipping her over on her stomach, they pulled her hands behind her back and tied them. A cloth was tied over her eyes while other cloth with a large knot in the middle was forced into her mouth and tied behind her head. She felt her ankles being tied together as the engine of the van started. It accelerated smoothly out of the parking spot, through the parking lot and into the street. She was just about to get the use of her arms and legs back when she heard the hammer to a gun being pulled back. A ring of metal pressed against her head.
"Don't even think about giving us any trouble little girl. Just do as we say and nobody is gonna get hurt, not too bad that is."
She felt him pat her backside as he finished his sentence. She knew that she was at a disadvantage at this point. She didn't know if there were more than the two she remembered seeing and to start a fight now would not be a good idea. The best thing she could do is be still and do whatever they told her to do. But, she could still use her ears and her mind. Listening could be a very important trait for right now. She would wait, for now. Also, Ron was out there. He had gone into space before to find her, following her now would be easy.
Hi everyone. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. Life is looking up a little. We had to close the office we have had for 20 years and move the business to my parent's house. This helps in many ways. One, we will save about $700 per month by doing this. Two, it is a big help to my parents to have me around the house. Now they have diagnosed my dad with Alzheimer's, it helps them to have me there.
This is the Captain
Right hand salute
roger and out.