Authors Note: Thanks again to everyone who has taken an interest in this story. I'm having fun writing it, and I hope all of you are having fun reading it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.
XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
"All warfare is based on deception."
~Sun Tzu
XXXXXXXXXX
Ron was feeling pretty down. They had failed their mission last night. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk about it with Kim yet. They hadn't spoken when he had gotten home the previous night. And so far today during school they hadn't had a chance to discuss it. There was simply no socializing in one of Mr. Barkin's classes. But lunch would be the perfect time to get an update from her and Wade. He just had to get to lunch first.
Right now he was getting his history textbook out of his locker for the upcoming class. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a hulking form coming down the hall toward him. He turned to see that it was Big Mike. Ron bit his lower lip nervously. He knew exactly what was coming next.
Big Mike stopped next to Ron's locker and looked at him for a few seconds. Ron turned and looked up at the giant.
"Hey Big Mike," he said. "Great weather we're having, right?"
The large boy apparently wasn't in the mood for casual chit-chat.
"Job's done," he said.
Ron swallowed hard and nodded.
"But, I told you not to."
Big Mike ignored him.
"That means you owe me."
The blond took a deep breath.
"Look Big Mike, I… uh… I kinda don't have any money for you," he told the brute.
"End of the day."
"What?"
"You have until the end of the day," Mike said flatly.
Ron lowered his gaze to the floor. It was hard to look into the eyes of such an intimidating figure in a situation like this. Finally he regained some measure of courage and looked back up.
"What happens if I don't pay you?" he asked.
For the first time Ron could remember, Big Mike's facial expression changed. Where it was normally a stoic, emotionless mask, it had turned into a slight grin. Quite honestly it disturbed Ron more than a bit.
"Then we discuss new arrangements after school," Big Mike said cryptically.
"Oh…" Ron said uneasily.
"So pay by the end of the day."
Ron didn't answer. How could he? He absolutely was not going to pay Mike for a service that he didn't request. But he wasn't about to tell him that he wasn't going to pay. Though it pained him to admit it, he knew that he would have to call Kim for help.
"Later," Mike said as he walked off to one of the men's rooms.
Ron shut his locker door and took a deep breath as he leaned against it. He looked up at the ceiling and stood motionless for a few seconds. The silence was broken when he heard quiet laughter.
He turned to see the source of the laugh. To say that he was surprised at who he saw standing there would be an understatement. Camille was a few feet away from him holding a few of her own books in her arms.
Ron panicked. This was no ordinary female student of Middleton High School. This was Camille Leon. She was rich, famous, beautiful, and a whole lot of other adjectives Ron was too nervous to think of. In his moment of hysteria he blurted out the only thing he could think of.
"I used to have $99 Million!" he said quickly.
Camille gave him a strange look.
"What?" he asked.
"Not sure what that has to do with anything."
"Oh, right…" he said uneasily. "So, um, what's so funny?"
"What's funny is what I just saw," she told him. "You're going to let him treat you like that?"
"Um… I don't know," he said honestly.
She walked to stand right next to him. Ron felt a bit intimidated being this close to someone as famous and popular as Camille Leon.
"The name's Camille," she told him.
"I know who you are. Everyone does. You're pretty much famous worldwide."
"Yeah… good times. And who are you?"
"Ron. Ron Stoppable."
"Look Ron, you can't go through life being pushed around like that by people," she told him.
"Well what am I supposed to do?"
"Stand up for yourself maybe?"
"But how? He's huge."
"He's not going to do anything here at school."
"Right," he agreed. "But after school is a different story."
"What's his name?"
"We call him Big Mike."
"Okay, well Big Mike is a very bad person. He'll get what's coming to him."
Ron stood there dumbfounded. What she said didn't make any sense.
"I don't understand…" he admitted.
A tiny laugh escaped the lips of the heiress.
"It's like, so simple," she smirked. "The guy's got bad karma."
"Bad what now?"
"Karma. All of his bad actions are going to come back and bite him in the ass."
Ron couldn't hide the confused look on his face.
"So what you're telling me is that because he's a jerk that bad things will happen to him?"
"Absolutely," she nodded.
It was Ron's turn to laugh now. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Sorry, I don't really believe you."
"Go stand up for yourself. Fight him."
"Wait, fight him?"
"Yeah," she reassured him. "You know Ron, I've never seen a fight up close and stuff…"
Ron felt chills run through his body as Camille's fingers graced his shoulder.
"B-b-but… he'll kick my butt…" he stuttered.
"Maybe, maybe not," she said as she continued to make physical contact with his shoulder. "But what do you have to lose if he does?"
Ron thought about the question. In reality he had nothing to lose. He wasn't going to pay Mike. If he did nothing, he would get his ass kicked after school. If he took Camille's advice and stood up for himself now, he would still get his ass kicked. But at least if he stood up for himself he might gain some street credit. That was something he had been craving for a long time. And what better way to get it than to stand up to Big Mike?
Camille removed her hand from his shoulder. When she did, Ron's cloudy thoughts once more became clear. But it didn't last for long as he looked up into the icy blue eyes of the senior girl. His heart thumped wildly as he felt the urge to do something stupid and reckless to impress the beauty. And what was more foolish than to pick a fight with the biggest guy in the school?
"Okay, we'll… we'll try things your way," he managed to say. Right now his emotions and thoughts were in complete disarray. "You're right, it's not like I have anything to lose."
"Good boy. Now hurry, I'm sure he will be out soon."
Ron nodded hesitantly and made his way over to the bathroom. He paused for a moment before he went inside. He saw Mike near one of the sinks drying off his hands. Ron took a deep breath and walked over to him.
"Um, Big Mike?" he said cautiously.
"What."
"I'm not paying you."
Mike crumpled up the brown paper towel and put it in the garbage can. Then he turned to face the teen hero.
"What?" he asked.
"I said…" Ron said as he tried to find more courage. "I said I'm not paying you anything."
Ron could have sworn that he heard the enormous young man snarl as he took a step toward him.
"I don't like people who skip out on their payments."
Ron's feet wanted to move so badly. He wanted to turn around and run. He had gotten good at it after a few years of helping Kim on missions. But for some reason his feet were firmly planted to the floor. He didn't budge as Mike stepped closer to him.
"I'm not paying you," he repeated a bit more confidently.
Despite Ron's new show of confidence, he knew that he was still terrified. His heart was beating as rapidly as it had been just a couple of minutes earlier when he was talking to Camille. His palms were sweaty and his face was hot. He may have been able to hide his fear from Mike, but he couldn't hide it from himself.
This time Ron was sure of it. The imposing giant's teeth were bared as he growled in anger. Ron knew that he would suffer for this decision. But since it was going to happen anyway, he decided that it was best to go out like this. He couldn't ask Kim for her help. He knew that now. That would just decimate his social standing even more. This was the only way.
Mike grabbed Ron by the front of his shirt and lifted him against the wall of the bathroom with one arm. He clenched his free hand into massive fist that was no doubt intended to teach Ron a lesson. Ron closed his eyes. The blow never came.
"Big Mike!" a harsh voice shouted.
Ron opened his eyes to see a familiar face standing in the bathroom. It was none other than the bane of his existence, Mr. Barkin.
By this point Mike had lowered both his fist and Ron to the floor. The colossal young man put his arms behind his back as if nothing had happened.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mr. Barkin roared.
"Uh… nothing." Mike lied.
"Wrong Michael. I know exactly what I saw," the assistant principal told him. "You just earned yourself a month of detention."
Mike simply lowered his eyes to the floor to avoid looking into the stern gaze of the man.
"And if I ever hear from Ron that you're messing with him again, you can be sure that I'll expel you on the spot. Are we clear?"
Mike nodded.
"Answer me."
"Yes Mr. Barkin."
"Good. Now get to class."
Big Mike did what he was told and left the bathroom. Mr. Barkin looked at Ron for a moment before turning and walking off to the American history class he was teaching next. Ron on the other hand just stood there in complete shock for a few seconds before coming to his senses. What had just happened? Mr. Barkin saved him? Not only that, but he had essentially made it so that Big Mike could never lay a hand on him again. He couldn't believe that it had actually worked.
He walked out of the bathroom to go find Camille. But she wasn't where she was standing before. Walking down the hall a bit more, he found her at her locker getting some books out for her next few classes. She turned when she saw him approaching her.
"So how'd it go?" she wondered.
"It worked," Ron said. "I don't know how, I don't know why, but it worked. It actually worked."
"See? Told ya."
"Yeah, you did. I don't understand why though."
"Karma, silly."
"Yeah… that stuff is still kinda out there for me."
She smiled and shook her head gently.
"You're a nice guy Ron, and you have good karma because of it. Good things are going to come your way. I'll be seeing you," she added with a suggestive smirk.
Camille turned and began walking down the hall. Ron watched her leave as she flipped her hair over her shoulder with her free hand. He stood there in disbelief as she disappeared into the crowd of students in the hall. Something wasn't right about what had just taken place.
"What the heck just happened there?" he asked himself.
XXXXXXXXXX
Ron's mood had completely changed. He was feeling pretty happy when it came time to eat lunch. It was a time to socialize with friends, and sometimes even enjoy a decent meal. A decent meal of course was one you either brought from home or bought from a vending machine. Since he was in such a good mood, he had decided to reward his bravery with a bag of chips and a candy bar from the vending machine. It sure beat mystery meat. It also didn't cost a whole lot. He went over to the familiar table to take a seat beside Kim. She along with the other usual members of their table were already seated. They greeted him warmly.
"Hey Ron," Kim said.
"What's up KP," he smiled back.
"You seem pretty upbeat today. Care to share?"
"Sharing is caring."
"It is. So spill."
"It's not big, just something weird that happened before history," he explained.
"How weird are we talking? Pan-dimensional TV universe weird, or Bonnie acting nice weird?"
"I'd say a bit above the nice Bonnie scenario."
"Sounds juicy," Monique commented.
"Well, you know Camille?"
"Who doesn't?" Felix asked.
"Yeah, well, I think she was kind of flirting with me."
Kim and Monique, who were both in the middle of eating their food, choked a bit when they heard this.
"What? Camille? You? Seriously?" Kim said in shock.
Felix began laughing.
"Nice one Ron. You made it so Kim can only say one-word sentences."
Monique began to laugh as well, and both of them earned a dirty look from Kim.
"Yeah, I thought it was kind of weird too…" Ron trailed off.
"Okay, so what kind of stuff did she say?" Monique wondered.
"Uh, well she started the conversation. That's a first."
"Sad but true," Felix laughed again.
"Not helping dude!" Ron grinned.
By now everyone had a smile plastered on their face except for Kim.
"So wait, what did she do? What did she say?" Kim wondered.
"Well first she started talking to me about how I should stand up for myself. And when I did it actually worked."
"That doesn't sound too flirtish."
"No, but how about this…" he said as he gathered himself and prepared to imitate Camille. "She was all like, 'Good things are going to happen to you. I'll be seeing you'. And then she did this little wave thing."
"Wave thing?"
"Yeah. I guess you had to be there to see it. But it was all little and she was waving her fingers at me."
"Something's up," Monique said.
"Definitely," Felix added.
"You guys are crazy," Kim told them.
"Well either way it was weird," Ron said before he decided to change the subject. "Oh and by the way Kim, major props on the positivity after the whole Senior incident."
"Lousy Seniors…" Kim grumbled. "Wait, why am I mad at the Seniors?"
"The diamond."
"What diamond?"
"You don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
Looking into Kim's eyes, Ron could see that she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Now he was really worried. Despite how many times she had told him that she was fine the previous night, he had still gone to sleep worrying about his best friend. And now that she couldn't remember what had happened, his worry only grew.
"Oh man, you must have taken a worse hit to the head than I thought."
"Ron, scaring me," Kim said as she looked at him weirdly.
"You seriously don't remember last night's museum mission?" he asked.
"There wasn't a mission last night. I was home the whole night."
"No… that's not right. Call Wade."
"Seriously Ron, what's going on?"
"Kim, get Wade on the kimmunicator."
"Okay…" Kim said hesitantly.
She reached into her pocket and fished out the kimmunicator. Wade's face appeared on the screen when she turned it on.
"What's up Kim?" the young genius asked.
"Question Wade."
"Sure."
"Ron keeps talking about some museum mission from last night. Any idea what he's talking about?"
Wade began typing away rapidly on his keyboard as he searched for what Kim was talking about.
"Actually I do."
"Boo yah!" Ron shouted.
"Apparently there was a break-in at the Museum of Upperton last night. The Seniors stole the Tiffany Yellow Diamond only minutes after it arrived. And…" Wade suddenly stopped.
"And what Wade?" Kim wondered.
"Uh…" he trailed off. "Apparently you and Ron were there."
Kim blinked a few times as she looked at the kimmunicator in shock. Something wasn't right.
"Wade, like I told Ron, I was home last night."
"That's not what the official police report says."
"And what does the official police report say?"
"It says that you and Ron helped escort the diamond into the museum. After it was safely in its display case, the Seniors came and stole it, and you were injured."
"Injured?"
"Yeah Kim," Ron confirmed. "I found you in pretty bad shape on the museum floor. The Seniors fought you, got the diamond, and did some major poofage."
"I'm telling you, I wasn't there."
"Okay, then who was? There was a Kim with me last night."
"Think it was a Drakken clone?" she wondered. "I mean, he's done it before."
"This one actually spoke English. And had a personality."
"Freaky."
"I don't think it was a clone guys," Wade commented. "Unless the Seniors suddenly got into the cloning business. And if what Ron says is true, these clones would be a hundred times better than the ones Drakken made a couple years ago."
"So then, you think someone went all Clark Kent on us?"
"No way KP," Ron told her. "This was way too good to be a disguise. Whoever this girl was, I know she was real. I mean, I knew she was you, but now I know she's not you. Ya know?"
"I know."
"I think you guys should go check out the museum after school," Wade suggested.
"Couldn't agree more," Kim agreed. "And then after that we're checking out the Seniors island."
"By the way Wade, how's the satellite going?" Ron asked.
"What satellite?"
Kim moved the kimmunicator so only she could see Wade's face.
"You know Wade… the satellite," she said carefully.
Wade was silent for a few moments as he stared at Kim. But soon enough he knew what she was talking about.
"Oh, right. The satellite. Yeah, it's going, uh, well."
"Nice. I can't wait to see all it can do," Ron said.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Alright. I'll keep looking into the details of the heist. I'll contact you after school."
"Thanks Wade," Kim smiled.
The screen went blank as Wade ended the transmission. Kim put the device back in her pocket with a sigh.
"I've got to say, this is one of the weirder sitches we've encountered."
"For sure," Ron agreed. "So who or what do you think that Kim twin was?"
"One mystery at a time. First we see if the Seniors really do have the diamond, then we deal with me. Her. It. You know what I mean."
"I know," he smiled back.
"And by the way Ron, the Seniors? Seriously?" she asked.
"What?"
"You think that the Seniors could beat me?"
"I wasn't thinking about that when I saw you on the floor all unmovey."
"Oh… yeah. I guess that makes sense." She conceded. "But for future reference, the only person who could remotely stand a chance against me is Shego. Okay?"
"Noted."
"Well I gotta say, this has been one of the more interesting lunch periods we've had," Monique commented.
The four continued talking until lunch ended. Ron and Felix had delved into their own conversation about Zombie Mayhem, while Kim and Monique began talking about the upcoming sale at Club Banana. But neither of the two teen heroes had their minds fully devoted to their respective conversations. For Kim there were questions that needed to be answered. What had happened last night? Where did that diamond go, and who was the fake Kim? And then there was the question that hit closer to home. What exactly were Camille's intentions with Ron?
Ron's thought process was much simpler than Kim's. A lot of worry and stress had been relieved today. First there was the fact that Big Mike would no longer be messing with him. That definitely gave him a reason to smile. He also now knew that Kim wasn't injured at all. But the bigger thought on his mind was Camille. The very idea that a girl wasn't just making small talk with him, and her name wasn't Kim or Monique, excited him. He had never had a girlfriend before. Of course he wasn't about to jump to any conclusions and assume that Camille had such thoughts about him. But the fact that a beautiful girl had actually talked to him made him feel suddenly optimistic about life.
XXXXXXXXXX
Her peach yogurt was gone. Why did they have to put it in such small cups? It was like they wanted to tease you with something delicious, and then take it all away once you began to enjoy it.
Camille looked down into the empty cup, save a plastic spoon that was resting inside it. All around her there were cheerleaders chatting and gossiping about a bunch of trivial crap. Trivial in her mind at least. The fact that they all put so much stock into who was popular and who wasn't annoyed her. She could make or break any student at this school with little effort. Then they would either shower this new person with their attention, or shun them. It made no difference who they once were. With her influence, anyone could rise to the top of this stupid little "food chain". She was Camille Leon, if she wanted to bring back pink poof and call it retro, then tomorrow every girl would be clad in hot pink. And if she wanted to turn the food chain upside down, then it would be done. It would certainly upset a few people at this particular table.
Tara turned to the blond and noticed the expression on her face.
"What's wrong Camille?" she wondered.
Camille cast the thoughts out of her head and looked up.
"Being trapped in this school all day is like, so lame," she lamented.
"I know. But a lot of fun stuff goes on after school," Tara reassured her. An idea suddenly formed in the blond cheerleader's mind. "Camille, you should totally try out for the cheer squad!" she said excitedly.
The other girls immediately agreed and showed their approval for the idea.
"Don't cheerleaders like, sweat?" she asked.
"Well yeah, it's physical stuff."
"Sweating is so gross."
For a moment the table was silent. But sure enough, the other girls nodded in agreement with the opinion of the new girl.
"Well, I did do some gymnastics when I was younger…" Camille said as she thought back to her childhood.
"Great!" Tara smiled. "I know you have detention today, but we can set up a tryout for tomorrow after school. Bonnie is like, way influential in the squad."
Camille turned to face the brunette.
"Are you the captain?"
"No… that's Possible," she said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"So she's like, better than you or something?"
"No!" Bonnie shouted. "I don't know how little miss perfect got to be the captain again. She made me the captain back in freshman year. I really don't remember how she got it back."
The other girls cast their gazes down to the table. No one wanted to make eye contact with Bonnie when she was angry like this. Whenever Kim was brought up, and especially when it involved the cheer squad, Bonnie became a very unpleasant person to be around. Camille however was not intimidated by the infuriated brunette. It was actually quite the opposite.
"So if you're better than her why don't you prove it?"
"I did prove it!" Bonnie retorted. "We had a talent show last year that showed I was better."
"So you must have won, right?"
"No, I didn't win," she growled. "Stupid Stoppable won it with a bunch of crap he made up on the spot."
No one said a word as Camille continued to goad on the upset cheerleader.
"So… how exactly are you better than her?"
By this point Bonnie was ready to scream at the heiress. But instead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was absolutely no way she was about to make a scene. There was no way she would let the memories of Kim and Ron get to her like this.
"I'll prove it tomorrow," she said as calmly as she could. "After your tryout, I'll challenge Kim to a little competition. And I'll prove once and for all that I should be the captain."
"Can't wait," Camille smiled.
The situation had by now cooled off, and the other cheerleaders felt comfortable enough to look into the eyes of their queen. The remainder of the period went by without incident. The girls simply went back to talking about hotties and losers. Camille stayed silent for the majority of this conversation. One could learn much when they listened a little.
XXXXXXXXXX
English class meant that the day was nearly over. It was the final class of the day, a class that many friends shared. Kim and Ron of course had the class together, as the only one they didn't have together this year was study hall. Bonnie sat surrounded by the familiar faces of cheerleaders, as well as Camille. The brunette sat there with a look of pure boredom on her face. Nothing was more boring to her than English literature. And Shakespeare was the worst of it. She couldn't understand why they didn't just translate it to words that normal people could understand. As far as she was concerned, no one wanted to read this stuff in old English.
The teacher, Ms. Gilmore, was busy lecturing the class on Othello, the play they were studying at the moment. Many of the students either had their heads lying on folded arms, or supported by a hand. Only a handful of students were actually paying attention. Kim happened to be one of them.
"So class, the end of the second scene of act two reveals more of Iago's plan," Ms. Gilmore said as she looked up from her book. "Does anyone have any thoughts on his motives and goals?"
She scanned the room looking for the slightest hint of interest in the question. Luckily for her, Kim was quick to raise her hand.
"I think he's despicable," she said. "All of this because he's so paranoid about Othello and Cassio sleeping with his wife? The guy has some major issues."
"That's right Kim. Almost everything he's done is based purely on his own paranoia. But we also can't forget about Iago being jealous that Othello promoted Cassio instead of himself."
Camille decided to raise her hand in order to share her opinion.
"Yes Camille?" the teacher asked.
"Personally, I think Iago is a genius," she stated.
"You what?" Kim asked in disbelief.
"Sure the guy might have 'some issues'," she said with air quotations. "But you can't say that it isn't a brilliant plan. The way he turns friends and even loved ones against each other is just so beautifully done. And of course the whole handkerchief-"
"I'm going to have to stop you there, Camille," Ms. Gilmore said. "While I think it's great you've decided to read ahead, let's not spoil it for the rest of the class."
"Sure."
"Um, you seriously enjoy all of the stuff that Iago is doing?" Kim asked.
"Well, yeah. How can't you?"
"Because he's a liar!" she said angrily. "He's a horrible person hiding under the guise of someone who's honest, someone who's true to his best friend."
"So you think that it's a horrible thing to lie to the people who trust you? To lie to your friends?"
"Yes!"
"Hmm… yeah. I guess it is. Friends should never lie to each other," she said as she smiled at the redheaded teen. "But you know what they say, 'Knavery's plain face is never seen till used'," she added with a quote from Othello.
Camille turned back to her book as Kim sat there looking at her. Camille couldn't read minds, but she knew exactly what the teen hero was thinking. It took a few moments, but Kim eventually turned and looked back at her own book.
"Well personally I'm just thrilled we're finally having a discussion," Ms. Gilmore said happily. "There's definitely been a different atmosphere in here the past couple of days."
Bonnie didn't know what had just happened, but something was off. No one won an academic debate with Kim. Well unless your name was Justine Flanner and it was a science class. But for someone to be able to shut Kim up in a discussion about Shakespeare was unheard of. And it was Camille of all people. Bonnie's admiration for the new girl had just greatly increased. But she simply had to know more about how Camille had done it. After tearing out about a quarter of a sheet of notebook paper, she began to hastily write a message on it.
She reached over to hand the note to the heiress, but Camille didn't accept it. She was still looking down at her copy of Othello. Bonnie had to get her attention. She made a quick whispering noise to try to get Camille to face her. But apparently the blond wasn't the only one who had heard it.
"Bonnie?" Ms. Gilmore asked.
"Uh…" the brunette said uneasily as she retracted her arm. "Yeah?"
"Passing notes in my class?"
"No Ms. Gilmore."
"I loved to pass notes when I was in high school too. So I'm curious about what yours says."
"It's nothing," Bonnie assured her.
"Oh no, please, I would really like to know. You can either read it aloud, or bring it up to me to read in private."
Bonnie exhaled deeply before standing and walking to the front of the class. She handed the folded piece of paper to Ms. Gilmore. As she went to sit back down at her desk, the teacher opened up the note and read its contents. When she was finished she looked back up at the class.
"Bonnie, please see me after class," she told the cheerleader.
"Yes Ms. Gilmore," Bonnie sighed.
Camille turned and looked at her friend.
"That sucks," she said.
Bonnie didn't answer immediately as she kept looking down at her desk.
"Yeah. It does," she eventually said.
XXXXXXXXXX
Camille glided into room twelve for another day of detention. Despite the circumstances, she had a cheerful smile on her face. It would be her final day of detention unless she did something to anger Mr. Barkin and get more. The regular detention duo of Vinny and Junior looked at her with bewilderment. How could someone possibly be so peppy about being in detention?
She sat down in the empty desk between the two boys. After shaking her hair out of her face, she turned to greet them.
"How are my boys?" she asked happily.
"Uh…" was all Vinny could think of to say.
"Why are you so happy?" Junior asked.
"No reason other than today has been a great day."
"Yeah but, you have detention and stuff," Vinny pointed out.
"Gotta look on the bright side," she told him.
"What bright side?"
The three turned to see the massive form of Big Mike enter the classroom. Mr. Barkin looked up from the papers on his desk to see the giant come in.
"Big Mike, why are you in here today?" the assistant principal wondered.
"Uh… you gave me a month of detention," Mike explained. "I was playing too rough with others."
Mr. Barkin thought for a few seconds about what Mike said. After a moment he nodded his head.
"Yes, that sounds like something I would do," he reasoned. "And you're in here all the time for that kind of thing. Some days it all just blurs together. Okay, take a seat."
The brute walked to the desks and took a seat next to Junior. He had arrived with about a minute to spare. The moment the clock hit 3:00, you were officially late. That was also when the room was to go silent. Camille looked at the second hand of the clock. Thirty seconds, twenty five, twenty. Her gaze was drawn to the door when she saw another person enter.
"Ms. Rockwaller, is detention the new 'in thing' for cheerleaders?" Mr. Barkin asked.
"No Mr. Barkin," she said as she moved to take a seat next to Camille.
She had arrived with fifteen seconds to spare. Mr. Barkin stood to close the door as he did every day. But instead of doing so, he stood at the doorway and looked to the class.
"Ms. Leon, could I please speak with you in my office?"
The denizens of room twelve let out a shared "ooohh" when they learned of Camille's fate.
"Whatever," the blond said nonchalantly.
She stood and walked toward the door. Mr. Barkin once more turned his attention to the class.
"This won't take long. I expect all of you to behave while I'm gone."
He waited for Camille to exit the room before he followed and closed the door.
The two walked silently down the hall toward his office. Once there Mr. Barkin went behind his desk and sat down. Camille took a seat across from the desk, and sat there twirling her hair around her finger with a rather annoyed look on her face. It didn't go unnoticed by the man.
"Ms. Leon, I suggest you show me some respect while you're on school property," he told her.
"So like, that means I can disrespect you once school is over or something?"
Mr. Barkin closed his eyes took a deep breath. When he opened them he cast a stern look into the blond teen's eyes.
"Ms. Leon, do you think that just because you have money that you can screw the rules?" he asked.
Camille stopped playing with her hair and returned the look to the assistant principal.
"Uh, yeah?" she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well I hate to tell you, but that's not how things work around here. You had better get your act together, or else you'll find yourself suspended in no time. And I don't care how much money you have. You will follow the rules of this school, and you will show me respect. Are we clear?"
"Yah," she said vapidly.
Normally Mr. Barkin would demand a better response from his students. But he knew Camille's reputation. He knew that she wasn't the brightest bulb in the room. As long as she looked him in the eye and answered his question, that was good enough for him in this case. He stood and walked to his office door.
"Good. I won't expect to see you in detention after today," he said as he opened the door.
"Totally," she agreed.
The two walked back toward room twelve. Mr. Barkin took the lead, with Camille following a few steps behind. Her eyes were focused on the back of his head the entire way.