Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.
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"This isn't a democracy, it's a cheerocracy."
~Torrance Shipman
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School had ended, and Kim was determined to get to the bottom of this latest situation. This was personal. It was more than just a super villain, more than just a missing diamond. They had used her very image to do it. Her reputation would no doubt be tarnished if this couldn't be cleared up. That was not something she was comfortable with. She had to figure out what had happened, and bring the thieves to justice.
Their first stop would be the Museum of Upperton. Luckily, Wade was able to hook them up with a ride that picked them up as soon as they got out of class. Mrs. Mahoney had once again been available to drive them to their mission. She found it hard to believe that it had been so many years since the kind woman had given her a ride to her first mission. She also had a very strange feeling when she thought back to that mission to save Mr. Paisley and his Cuddle Buddies.
Right now they were sitting in the back seat of Mrs. Mahoney's car. The trip had been enjoyable so far as the three chatted about the many adventures Kim and Ron had been on. But now the topic had switched to the upcoming mission.
"So this is about the diamond I heard about on the news?" Mrs. Mahoney asked.
"Yeah. Something's not right at all about this sitch," Kim replied.
"Yeah. There are clones," Ron pointed out.
"We don't know if they're clones yet."
"What else could it be?"
"That's what we're going to find out."
"Clones… why is it always clones…" he grumbled.
"Clones are actually pretty uncommon for us," Kim pointed out.
"You'd think that these super villains could come up with something new. You know like, things with personality that aren't clones."
"Like Drakken's Bebes?"
"I don't know. You think it was a robot? A Kimbot?"
"I would hope not…" she said with a frown. "Imagine the damage Drakken or the Seniors could do with something that looked and talked like me."
"Getting some definite bad thoughts there, KP," Ron agreed.
"Well you two just be careful," Mrs. Mahoney told them. "I would hate to see the two of you getting injured on one of these dangerous missions of yours."
"So not the drama," Kim said casually. "These super villains are so easy. This one is just a bit different than the others."
The car slowed to a halt outside of the museum. Before getting out, Kim turned to her driver.
"Thanks again for the ride, Mrs. Mahoney," she smiled.
"It's no problem, Kim. Good luck on getting that diamond back."
"Thanks."
The two teens exited the car and began walking up the steps to the front doors. As they neared it they saw a police officer standing guard at the door. They slowed down as they neared the entrance and looked at the officer to see what they should do. The man stepped aside with a smile.
"It's good to see you here, Ms. Possible," he said.
"Thank you sir. We're going to get to the bottom of this theft."
"I have no doubts."
Kim opened the door and the two went inside to find Dr. Burton. Of course, Kim had never met the man before, but she had learned about him earlier from Ron. She also had no idea where the exhibit was located, and was relying on Ron to lead the way. He did so with great pride, and went straight for the exhibit. When they arrived they saw the doctor along with a number of police personnel around the shattered display case. When the old man caught sight of them he smiled and made his way over to the teen heroes.
"Ms. Possible, Mr. Stoppable, it's wonderful to see you again," he greeted warmly. "Though I only wish it were under different circumstances."
"Dr. Burton, there's something you should know," Kim said.
"Have you discovered any new information as to the whereabouts of the Seniors?"
"Not exactly… you see, it's about me."
"Oh? I'm all ears."
Kim stood there uneasily. She didn't know how he would react to the news. But she had to tell him. It wasn't like she had done anything wrong.
"You see, um, I wasn't here last night. It was an imposter."
The man gave her quizzical look. Kim bit her bottom lip as she knew that she had to go into more detail.
"The girl you saw here last night… that wasn't me. I was home all night. Whoever it was, whatever it was, it was an imposter. And she was probably the one who stole the diamond."
The look remained on Dr. Burton's face as he gently shook his head a few times before speaking once more.
"That just isn't possible. For one, there's no way anyone could have made a duplicate of you."
"Actually, I have been cloned before. It wasn't pretty."
"Regardless, we have spoken to the security guards who were on duty last night. Both of them said that they were attacked by Junior."
"That may be true, but whatever was with him was a clone, or a robot, or something that wasn't me," she repeated.
"I see…" the man said thoughtfully. "This news is most disturbing."
"Yeah…"
A light went off in Ron's head. He slowly turned to face Kim as she and the old man continued chatting. In a flash, he lashed out with a hand and grabbed Kim's arm and spun her to face him. The look of surprise on the redhead's face did nothing to make Ron loosen his grip.
"How do we know you're not a freaky robot cyborg clone twin!" he said accusingly.
Once Kim had recovered from the shock of Ron's outburst, she smiled and placed her free hand on his shoulder.
"Ron, I'm definitely the real Kim. Ask me anything that only I would know."
He let go of her arm and took a step back as he thought about a question to ask. After a few seconds he looked back up at his best friend.
"Okay Kim, if that is your real name," he said. "What was the name of your pet hamster that you got in second grade!"
A look of confusion spread on her face for a moment before she answered.
"Ron, I never had a pet hamster in second grade. I've never had a hamster at all. In fact, I've never even had a pet in my life."
Ron looked into her eyes searching for any signs that she could indeed be an imposter. After a few moments he nodded a few times and accepted her answer.
"Okay, so you're right. But this proves nothing!"
"Amp down the drama," she told her best friend. "How about this? I got jealous of you when we worked at Bueno Nacho because you were so good at it. And then after we saved Wisconsin, you bought me the green jacket I wanted so much."
He thought about this for a few moments before a smile appeared on his face. Apparently this was good enough.
"Good to have you back, Kim," he said warmly.
"Good to be back. Or rather, be here for the first time."
"Excuse me, but could we get back to the missing diamond?" Dr. Burton interjected.
"Oh, right. Sorry, Dr. Burton," Kim said.
"With this new information it is even more imperative that we find out who is responsible for last night's theft. Every jewel or piece of art in the world could potentially be at risk now."
"You're right. And now that we know that the security guards saw Junior, we had better get to their island and check it out."
"Wait, you know the location of their island?"
"Well yeah. Doesn't everyone?"
"No. If we did we would have gone there by now."
"Oh… wow," was all Kim could think to say.
"You would think people would know this stuff," Ron said. "I always thought it was kind of weird they relied on us."
"We'll worry about that later. Right now we have to go see the Seniors."
"Right."
Kim whipped out her kimmunicator and activated it to see Wade's face on the screen.
"How's it going?" the young genius asked.
"We have a conformation about the Seniors. Now we need a ride to their island."
"Okay. I'll set you up with a G.J. hoverjet to pick you up outside the museum."
"Negative on the museum, Wade," Kim said.
"Why's that?"
"We need to go home and change into something a bit more break and enterish," the young heroine said as she pointed out her street clothes.
"Oh, right. I'll set it up so the ride gets to your house in a half hour. That should give you enough time to get home and change."
"Sounds good Wade. Talk to you later."
The screen went blank, and she put the device back in her pocket.
"It was nice to meet you," Kim said as she shook Dr. Burton's hand. "And don't worry, we'll get this all straightened out."
"Thank you, Ms. Possible."
The two teens turned and began walking back towards the entrance. Ron turned to look at Kim to see that she had a look of concern on her face. He had a big smile on his own as he put an arm around her. She turned to see him looking at her.
"See, that wasn't so bad," he said happily.
"I guess…"
"You guess? He wasn't mad at all. He was unmad."
"You're right. It could have been a lot worse."
"That's the Kim I know. Look on the bright side, the glass is half full. Puppies and rainbows and unicorns, and all that good stuff."
This got a small laugh out of Kim as the two exited the building and started down the steps.
"Thanks Ron. You always know how to cheer me up."
"All part of the job description, KP."
She smiled as she nodded. She didn't know where she would be without him. He was always so cheerful, so optimistic. And he helped her out on missions more than he could know. He was always there with her on the long flights to remote jungles and snowy mountains. He didn't only help her on missions, he made them bearable for her. When he was with her, the missions were fun. They were like a game. Without him, they would probably feel like a job. She didn't want to think about that.
As they neared Mrs. Mahoney's car she turned to him once more.
"Okay, so we go back to my place and change. We'll have about ten minutes before the G.J. jet gets to my house. We can strategize with Wade on the way there."
"Sounds good."
She opened the door and the two climbed in the car. As it drove back toward Middleton, she continued to think about what the Seniors could possibly have up their sleeves.
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Getting to the Seniors island had been the easy part. Wade had set them up with another ride which would take them to the distant location which wasn't on any map. Luckily Kim knew how to get there from her previous encounters with the villainous duo. The plan was simple. They would fly to the island and parachute down to the rocky beaches which surrounded the private estate. Then the true work would begin.
Thanks to Ron's words of wisdom from a couple of years earlier, the Seniors island was nothing less than a fortress. There had always been high walls covered with barbed wire. But now thanks to him there was so much more. Lasers, missiles, piranhas, and of course, spinning tops of doom. Kim hadn't liked her previous encounter with the destructive devices. She was sure that she would see them again if they encountered trouble.
The pair of teen heroes crept alongside the wall trying to evade the bright search lights that were scanning the perimeter. They had to make sudden stops and starts on numerous occasions to avoid being detected. When they had reached a point she deemed worthy, they took out their hairdryer grappling guns and pointed them toward the top of the wall. After making sure the lines were secure, the two scaled the wall and were careful not to get caught up in the barbed wire atop it. Once they were down they made their way to the residence of the super villains.
It never ceased to amaze her how the villains used ventilation systems large enough to fit a grown person inside. Did they not realize that the air didn't care how large or small the shafts were? All this did was make them more vulnerable to her sneaking inside. Of course she would never tell them this, as it would only make her job harder. The two teens crawled through the shaft and dropped down into the lair of the Seniors.
As soon as they landed Kim looked around to see if anyone was there to try to stop her. She saw no one in the room with her except Ron. So far so good. She motioned for Ron to come with her as they crept down the halls of the lair to what she remembered was his main control room. If he was plotting something, surely this would be where he was. She wasn't disappointed.
The two peered around a corner to see the two villains. Senior Sr. was pacing back and forth talking about something involving world domination. At least this time he didn't have a book in his hands telling him how to do it. Junior on the other hand was sitting at a table reading a magazine of some kind. If Kim didn't know any better, she would have said that this was just Dr. Drakken and Shego in disguise. But since it wasn't, she would have no problem stepping forward and confronting the villains for their crime.
"Senor Senior Sr. and Jr.," she said as she stepped into view of the two villains. "You two are under arrest for your little diamond heist at the Museum of Upperton."
The elderly man calmly turned to face the new arrival. Junior on the other hand wasn't so composed, as he yelped when he heard Kim's voice.
"Ah, Kim Possible, and her friend Ron Stoppable," Senior Sr. said serenely. "To what do I owe this visit?"
"You know what you did. Hand it over and it will save a lot of pain on your part."
"But my dear, I have no idea what you're talking about. What is it that you said I stole?"
"I believe she said something about a diamond, father," Junior said with disinterest.
"Ah yes, a diamond. Which particular diamond are we discussing?"
Kim blinked a couple of times. Normally a villain would be gloating about their theft or telling her how she wasn't going to stop him this time. Something seemed off here. But she continued anyway.
"You stole the Tiffany Yellow Diamond from the Museum of Upperton."
Senior tilted his head down and rubbed his chin in deep thought. After a few moments he returned his gaze to the redheaded teen.
"I must apologize Ms. Possible, I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about. I did not steal any such diamond. And even if I did want to, I would not steal such a small stone."
"Small stone?" Ron asked with amazement.
"Of course. While the Tiffany Yellow Diamond is a marvelous gem, it pales in comparison to the Golden Jubilee Diamond."
"Don't play dumb with me," Kim said. "The guards specifically said they saw Junior break into their security room and knock them out."
"They said that my son was responsible for knocking them unconscious?"
Kim, Ron, and Senior all turned to look at Junior sitting at the table. He had an index finger in his ear trying to accomplish something that none of them wished to learn more about. After a few moments he noticed that they were all staring at him. He took his finger out of his ear and looked back at them.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"Yeah… they said it was him…" Kim said uneasily.
"May I ask when this supposed robbery took place?" Senior wondered.
"Last night."
"Ms. Possible, I can assure you that we were not in Upperton last night. The two of us in fact have alibis. We were both attending a formal meeting of the Billionaire's Club in Vienna."
"Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that."
"I am being very serious. I do not joke or lie when it comes to my villainous activities. I know that statement might sound strange, but I take pride in everything I do. If I were to steal this diamond, you would be sure to know that I did it."
"Let's say I do believe you. Can you prove this alibi?"
"If you will not take my word for it, contact your computer specialist. He can access the guest list and security footage of the banquet hall in Vienna to prove that we were in fact there."
Kim reached down into her pocket and brought out her kimmunicator. Wade appeared on the screen with a drink in his hand.
"What's up Kim?" he asked.
"Wade, weird request here. But if anyone can do it you can."
"Try me."
"Senior Sr. said that he and Junior were at some Billionaire's Club meeting in Vienna last night during the diamond theft. Can you access the guest list and security footage to see if they're there?"
"Well Kim, a search that specific to find the exact footage we're looking for would take- got it."
Wade uploaded the footage to the screen of the kimmunicator. Ron stood behind her looking at video, while Senior Sr. stood a few feet in front of her. On the screen they saw a beautifully decorated and ornate room filled with all kinds of expensive looking sculptures and paintings. Everything else seemed to be trimmed in gold. There was no doubt in her mind that it was all real. Tables of gourmet food and waiters stood around the large, round central table. There were approximately a dozen people seated at it, and each looked as wealthy as Senior Sr. did. And sure enough, there he was sitting next to Junior. There was no sound on the footage, but it was clear that Senior Sr. was talking at the moment. Junior on the other hand just had a bored look on his face as he propped his head up with one of his hands. After watching it for a few seconds, Kim shut off the video. She looked back up at the elderly billionaire.
"Did the video footage satisfy you?" he wondered.
Kim let out a disappointed sigh before she answered.
"Yeah… that's good enough for me."
A beaming smile appeared on the old man's face.
"Wonderful! Well now that this is settled, would you two be interested in a beverage or snack of any kind?"
"Snacks? Seriously? We can get something to eat?" Ron wondered.
"Of course. You two are my guests. Although you are trespassing and broke in illegally, you are still guests."
"This is… beyond weird," Kim said.
"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Why aren't you trying to capture us? Shouldn't you be releasing the hounds, or the spinning tops of doom or something?"
"My friend, we are 'off the clock' so to speak," Senior explained. "We are not currently performing any kinds of illegal deeds. Therefore you have no reason to stop us, and we have no reason to fight. It would be poor super villain form to engage you without the fate of the world at stake."
"So, you're just going to let us go?"
"Of course. The book made it very clear that we should only attempt to dispatch you when there is an evil plot in motion. Right now I am just your average multi-billionaire."
"Nothing average about you…" Kim said under her breath.
"Father, I do believe this Ron person wants a snack," Junior said. "Do we have any more of the snickerdoodles?"
Kim and Senior Sr. turned to see Ron shifting his feet a bit uneasily. Apparently the mention of food had caused him to become visually hungry. He gazed into Kim's eyes with a look of longing on his face. It wasn't a full-blown puppy dog pout yet, but they were bordering on dangerous levels.
"Sorry Senior Sr., but we don't have time for snacks. We have to get back on the trail of whoever stole this diamond."
"Ah, what a pity," Senior said genuinely. "I do hope we can meet once again outside the context of this whole hero and villain game. Maybe then we can discuss more about low flow toilets and the like."
"Toilets, right," Kim said as she apparently didn't remember their discussion about saving energy and resources. "Well, we had better get going."
The two teens turned and began walking to the exit before Kim stopped and turned. She knew that she already knew the answer, but it didn't hurt to ask anyway.
"By the way, have you been experimenting with any kind of humanoid robotic technology lately?" she asked. "You know, since you said you take pride in all of your villainous schemes and stuff."
Senior shook his head at the question.
"No, I am afraid that robots are not my area of expertise. After the whole pizza party robot debacle that Junior came up with, I have decided to stay away from the whole field."
A tiny smile formed on Kim's face and she let out a quiet laugh as she remembered the incident with the robotic animals and disco ball.
"Yeah, that's what I figured. Well, thanks for your time. Sorry for the whole breaking in thing."
"Think nothing of it my dear. I do look forward to meeting you again under more normal circumstances. Until then, Junior and I have evil plans to create. Take care of yourselves."
The two teens smiled and waved at the man before turning once more and walking away. As they exited, a smile formed on Ron's face as he shook his head gently. Only in this line of work would travelling around the world stopping super villains be considered "normal circumstances". What was even more amazing was how seriously the Seniors took the whole world domination game. They really did play by the book, which was ironic for people who were super criminals. Someone like Monkey Fist or Dr. Drakken would have tried to capture and eliminate them without a second thought. But the Seniors were true gentlemen. They not only didn't attack Kim and him, but actually offered them food. He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
The laughter didn't go unnoticed by Kim. She turned to him with a look of curiosity on her face.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Nothing, everything," he replied. "Just them. It's funny how they're so evil, yet so good at the same time. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I do. And it wouldn't have happened had you not mentioned that their mansion looked like a lair."
"Well it did. You can't deny that it did."
"Yeah, but you don't go around saying that kind of thing to bored old billionaires."
"How was I supposed to know he would go all evil and stuff?"
"You didn't," she sighed. "And I shouldn't be getting on you for them turning into villains. Sorry about that."
"No worries KP," he said before deciding to change the subject. "So what now? What's the next lead for the Kimbot?"
"If it even is a robot. I'm really having my doubts that it is."
"Okay, Kim clone, whatever. The question's still the same though, what's next?"
"Right now I have no clue. We can talk to Wade on the way home about any possible leads."
"Good enough for me."
The teens walked to the coast and sat there while they waited for their ride. It wouldn't be there for probably a half hour, so they had lots of time to talk and speculate about just what had happened in Upperton. But it only took a couple of minutes for the conversation to shift to school and the people who attended it. Two people in particular were the main topics of discussion.
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There were no other leads. After getting back from the Seniors island, Kim and Wade talked for almost a half hour about what they had learned by talking to Dr. Burton and the Seniors. It made no sense. The guards said that they saw Junior, but Junior clearly had an alibi. Wade had checked into the video footage himself. There was no forgery, no tampering. Everything about it was legit. But if the Seniors had nothing to do with it, then who was behind it all?
These were the things which were on Kim's mind as she sat in American history class the following day. Normally she would be paying attention to Mr. Barkin's lecture and taking notes regardless of how boring it all was. History was definitely not her favorite subject. The fact that Mr. Barkin was teaching it didn't help either. But today rather than paying attention, she let her mind wander as she pondered one of the weirdest situations that she had yet encountered. And considering all of the strange missions she had been on over the years, that was saying something.
They were wrapping up the chapter on the Great Depression. Mr. Barkin announced that tomorrow they would be having a test on it. Next week they would be beginning World War Two. She heard these announcements but didn't even bother writing them down anywhere to remind herself of them. All she could think about was the thing that had not only stolen her image, but had tarnished it as well. The worst part about it was that she, Ron and Wade had absolutely no idea where to go next. All they could do is sit back and wait for the next heist, if there even was a next heist.
She was stirred from her daydreaming when she heard her name being called on.
"Ms. Possible?"
She looked up at her instructor and blinked her eyes a couple of times as the thoughts were cleared from her mind.
"Yes Mr. Barkin?" she asked.
"I said, what is the term for the acronyms and abbreviations for the agencies which were created as a part of the New Deal?"
"Oh, um…" Kim said as she thought for a moment. "Alphabet soup."
Mr. Barkin locked eyes with the teen for a second before responding.
"That's correct," he said as he turned his head to find another target for his questions.
Ron turned and gave her a curious look. It wasn't like her to be caught by surprise by one of Mr. Barkin's questions. She understood the look he was giving her. They both knew that they couldn't talk at the moment. She mouthed the word "later" to him before turning back to the front of the classroom where Mr. Barkin was writing something on the white board.
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Later came during lunch. Not only was it the ideal time to socialize, but it was also the next period that Kim and Ron shared after American history. After sitting down with a tray full of mystery meat, Kim turned to Ron who was already half finished with his own meal.
"Someone's hungry," she commented.
Ron put down his sandwich and swallowed what was in his mouth. He had again decided to forsake the mystery meat, and instead had brought food from home. He decided that it was better this way. There was no point in eating the slop this school called food. Most of the time he didn't even eat it, but instead poked at it with his fork. At least this way he got to enjoy a meal while he was stuck in school.
"Oh yeah, starving," he agreed.
"I can't say the same for myself," she said looking down dejectedly at her mystery meat.
"Brown paper bag, Kimbo," he said pointing to the bag which had once contained his lunch.
"I probably should start…"
"Yeah. So what was up with you in history class?"
"The mission."
"Don't let the Seniors get to you. I know they seem nice and all, but we know better."
"Not that mission. The other one."
"Oh…" Ron said thoughtfully. "Yeah, still no leads I take it?"
"Nothing. It's really throwing me off my game."
"That's why you were distracted in Mr. B's class?"
"I guess."
"You can't let it get to you outside the mission, Kim," he told her. "Maybe the Seniors have the right idea about all this. Only go into mission mode when there's a mission. You're off the clock right now, as he said."
Kim emitted a small growl in response.
"I know this is personal and all, but right now there's nothing you can do about it. Until we hear from Wade or find a new clue, just try not to think about it."
"Spoken like a true Stoic," Kim smiled.
"A true what now?"
Monique spoke up before Kim could explain.
"So Kim, have you heard the latest news about Bonnie?" she asked.
"Can't say that I have."
"She's holding a cheer squad tryout for Camille after school."
"What? Since when?" she said as a puzzled look spread on her face.
"Apparently the squad decided yesterday."
"And they didn't even bother running it by me? What's the point of having a captain then?"
"Don't know. But it's happening today during practice."
"This should be hilarious," Kim smirked.
"Why's that?"
"We get to watch that talentless bimbo make a fool of herself trying to be a cheerleader."
"What's with the Camille hate?" Ron wondered.
"You've seen her on TV, Ron," Kim said. "You remember her on 'The Plain Life', right?"
"Oh yeah, her and her friend. What about it?"
"She could barely survive without all her money and clothes. Do you think she can do anything for herself? Or that she has any skills, especially athletic skills?"
"I don't know, but maybe we shouldn't be judging her so fast. I mean we barely know her."
"Still thinking about the supposed flirting, aren't you?" Felix asked.
"No!" Ron said a bit too forcefully. "I mean, no. It's just that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover and all that stuff."
"She's all cover, Ron," Monique pointed out. "No book to read."
The comment earned laughter from both Kim and Felix. A small frown crept onto Ron's face.
"Oh lighten up, we're just having some fun," Felix said. "It's not like we hate the girl or anything."
"I know," Ron said. "But still, she was nice to me. Until she proves otherwise, I'll stick to saying she's alright."
"That's fair I guess."
"That won't stop me from laughing when she epically fails during the tryout," Monique grinned.
"Half the school will probably be in the bleachers watching,"
"One way or another it's going to be an interesting experience."
As Felix and Monique continued to speculate on what would happen after school, Ron remained silent for the most part. He would be there for sure, as it was his duty as the mascot to take part in the cheer practices. And of course Kim would be there to lead the practice. He couldn't help but root for Camille though. Yesterday she had reached out to help him. He would try to do the same for her.
XXXXXXXXXX
The final class of Thursday. That meant there was only one day left before the weekend. For Ron that meant things couldn't get any better. Well, unless it was the last class of Friday. But he didn't want to bother himself with the insignificant details. He decided that he was just going to be happy about it.
He took his seat upon entering the classroom. After he sat down he grabbed his copy of Othello and began skimming through it. He had done his homework this time. Where he normally hated anything that had to do with English and reading, he was surprised that he was actually sort of enjoying the play. It wasn't some boring novel like he had been forced to read in his previous years of high school. The fact that it was much shorter than a novel helped. So distracted was he while he was going back and brushing up on the details that he didn't notice the person who sat down to his left.
"Hey Ron," the female voice said.
Ron turned to greet the newcomer, expecting it to be Tara or another of the cheerleaders. He knew by the voice that it wasn't Kim or Monique. But it wasn't until he actually looked at who had spoken that he realized who it was. Who he saw surprised him.
Bleached blonde hair framed the face of Camille as she looked into his eyes. He couldn't help but notice the slightest hint of a smirk on her face. He didn't know if she was doing it intentionally. He didn't know if she knew that he noticed. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he realized that he was rambling in his mind. He hadn't even said anything back yet.
"Oh, um, hi Camille," he finally said.
"How have you been?"
"Pretty good I guess."
"No more Big Mike trouble I take it?"
"Yeah, it's been pretty quiet," he explained. "He hasn't even looked me in the eye all day. I still can't believe what happened in the bathroom yesterday."
"Why not?"
"Because, well, it was all just so perfect. Like it was meant to be or something."
"Meant to be?"
"Yeah. First Big Mike beats up a couple of jocks who were giving me a hard time. Then he gets in trouble and can't touch me without getting expelled. Everything is just working out for me, and Kim didn't have to get involved at all."
"You do that world saving thingy right?" she wondered.
"Yeah, Kim and me do that all the time."
"See, this is just the universe repaying you for all of the good works you've done. Don't be so surprised to see things going your way. You've earned it."
Ron tried to hide his smile as he looked down at his desk. But with Camille still looking at him there was no way she didn't notice. Giving up on the effort, he looked back up into her eyes.
"Wow, thanks Camille," he said genuinely.
She reached over and placed a hand on top of one of his own resting on his desk. His heart suddenly began thumping and his eyes widened at the physical contact. She just gave him another gentle smile.
"You're welcome Ron," she replied just as sincerely. "Remember that it's what's on the inside that counts. A lot of people might pick on you because of what they see, but they don't know the real you."
"Yeah," he said absentmindedly. He still couldn't get over the fact that her hand was touching his.
As quickly as her touch had come it had gone. Without warning Camille pulled her arm back to herself. Ron was still in his daze and didn't see that his best friend had taken a seat to his right.
Kim looked over to him and waited a few seconds. He hadn't moved.
"Ron?"
There was no answer.
The redhead waved her arm in front of his eyes for a couple of seconds before he snapped out of it. He blinked a few times and turned to look at her. A bemused smile was spread on her face as she stared at him.
"You okay Ron?" she asked.
Ron let out a soft chuckle as a smile of his own formed on his face.
"KP, I can honestly say that I'm doing great."
"Glad to hear it. So did you do the homework?"
"I did. I actually did. Can you believe it?"
"I can. I didn't call you 'potential boy' for nothing."
"Hah, yeah. Good times…" he said as he thought back to having a super-intelligent naked mole rat as a pet. "I wonder if they're going to make another one of those things…"
"Why, didn't learn your lesson from last time?" she joked.
"You can't say that Rufus being the smartest creature in the world wasn't cool."
"Okay, in retrospect it was kind of cool," she admitted.
As they continued chatting, Ms. Gilmore stepped into the room and closed the door. The bell rang a few seconds later. After grabbing her teacher's edition book off of her desk, she stepped to the front of the classroom and greeted the students.
"Okay class, your assignment for today was to read scene three of act two and do the worksheet for it. Please send your papers to the front of the class, and remember to put your names on them."
The students did as they were told, and soon enough the front desks of each row had collected all of the worksheets. After putting them in a pile on her desk, Ms. Gilmore turned back to the class and opened her book.
"Okay. So, who would like to share any thoughts or opinions on the latest phase of Iago's plan…"
XXXXXXXXXX
The gymnasium was unusually crowded. Normally after school was over the building was desolate and barren. But not today. Dozens of students had gathered on the bleachers in the gym to watch what they had heard from the latest gossip. If it was true the Camille Leon was trying out for the cheer squad, then there were a number of reasons people wanted to show up and watch. Her admirers wanted to cheer her on and see her succeed. Her haters wanted to laugh at her failure and humiliation. And others were required to be there because they were actually on the squad. Kim was one of them.
She peeked outside the door of the girl's locker room and saw the mass of students on the bleachers. A frown spread across her face upon seeing them. She didn't have a problem performing in front of a crowd. On the contrary she thrived in the spotlight. But she didn't want it to be like this. She wanted people to be there to cheer for the squad, not for some celebrity whose only claim to fame was being wealthy. She turned and walked back into the middle of the room where the rest of her squad waited for the word to go out there. Camille was among them.
"So like, can we go yet?" Hope asked her captain.
"Not yet," Kim told her.
"Why not? We're all ready," Jessica wondered. "I wanna see what she can do."
"Leave it to Kim to be a dictator," Bonnie spat.
"Oh, hi Bonnie, I didn't see you there," Kim said. "I thought you would be in detention. Seemed like it was your new thing."
The rest of the squad members began snickering at the barbed comment. A moment later they were silenced when Bonnie turned and glared at them. But as soon as she had turned her back to them, they all looked at each other with smirks on their faces.
"Whatever," she said brushing off the insult the best she could. "I still can't believe you're making Camille dress up in her P.E. uniform instead of giving her one of our spare outfits."
"She's not a cheerleader, Bee."
"The squad unanimously voted on her being able to wear it, Kay."
"And as the captain I overruled that vote. She has to earn the cheer outfit."
"See, dictator."
"That's enough, Bonnie," she said before turning her attention back to the rest of the girls. "Okay, here's what's going to happen. We're going to go out there, and test her on a few of the basic moves. If she does well, we'll see if she has the spirit to cheer with the rest of us. If she can do both, she can join the squad."
"Piece of cake," Camille said nonchalantly.
"You should be taking this a bit more seriously, Camille."
The heiress merely smirked as she gazed into Kim's eyes. The teen hero sighed with a slight shake of her head when she realized that her advice had fallen upon deaf ears.
"Alright then, let's go," Kim decided.
The group of girls exited their locker room and walked into the gymnasium. When they appeared, the students seated in the bleachers slowly began to stop talking as they turned their attention to the cheerleaders. A number of mats were placed in the center of the large room. Normally they were there to be used by the whole squad during their practice. But today they were going to be used primarily by one girl.
Ron was sitting in the front row with his own uniform on and his Mad Dog head at his side. He wasn't used to there being this many people here to watch during practice. While he wasn't nervous at the prospect of performing in front of them, he took some relief in knowing that he didn't have to. Today wasn't about him, it was about Camille.
The wealthy young woman stepped onto the mats and began stretching herself out in preparation for her upcoming trials. Every so often she would look up at her audience, and smiled on both the outside and inside knowing how many people here adored her. But she was no fool, and she knew that a number of them hated her as well. She already knew that Kim was probably one of them. She along with some of the people seated on the bleachers wanted her to fail.
Camille's smile grew. She was so sorry that she would have to disappoint all the haters.
After she was finished stretching she walked over to where Kim and the rest of the squad were standing to get her instructions.
"Okay so like, what's first?" she asked.
Kim hesitated for a moment. Despite how much she wanted to see this airheaded girl fail, part of her felt bad at the same time. Kim wasn't a mean person. She didn't want to hurt others. But she reasoned that this was for Camille's own good. She had to know her limits, and not be so arrogant. She had to learn that the world didn't exist to serve her. She had to learn a little humility.
"Okay Camille, let's start off with something simple," she said. "How about just a cartwheel?"
"Sure."
Camille took a few steps onto the mats and stopped. Taking a breath, she raised her arms into the air. A moment later she was in motion, and had performed a flawless cartwheel. Most of her audience, as well as the cheerleaders applauded her for it. She walked back over to Kim for her next test.
"What's next?"
"Wow, I have to say Camille, I'm impressed," Kim admitted. "Okay, next you'll do a standing handspring back-tuck."
"Works for me."
Kim was surprised that she even knew what that was. The blond girl once more walked to the mats. She proceeded to do a back handspring before performing a clean back-flip, and once again landed on her feet.
The crowd once more roared with approval. The loudest of the cheers came from the cheerleaders, but two of them were quieter than the others. Camille again walked back to her friends and awaited her next assignment.
"Okay, that was really good," Kim told her. "Front handspring, step out, round off, back handspring, step out, round off, back handspring, layout."
Kim suspected there was no way she could pull this off.
Camille didn't answer this time, but rather gave Kim another smile. This one was a bit more chilling to the redhead. As she had done two times before, she walked to the mats to show her moves.
Taking a small bouncing step forward, Camille raised her arms and performed the numerous handsprings and cartwheels necessary to complete her task. When she was finished, she landed gracefully on her feet.
The students were at their loudest after this action, and Camille took a slight bow before walking happily to where Kim was standing. The squad members, save Kim and Bonnie, came out and gave her congratulatory hugs.
"That was amazing!" Tara gushed.
"I had no idea you could do that!" Marcella raved.
Kim walked over to her with a genuine smile on her face. How could she be upset at this? It turned out that Camille was more than just a pretty face with money. She had some real talent.
"Okay, I was totally wrong about you," she told the blond. "If you can do moves like that, you're totally on the squad."
The girls continued celebrating as Bonnie walked over and stood next to Kim. Everything was happening so fast that she forgot about issuing her challenge to Kim. She had bigger concerns now.
"Um, Kim? You said she would have to do a cheer too. You know, to show her school spirit?"
"Who cares about the cheer Bonnie, did you see that?" Tara told her friend.
"Yeah but-"
"As the captain of the squad, I'm saying it's official. She's in," Kim told the brunette.
"Fine. But you know there's no room, right?" Bonnie pointed out. "She'll have to be a backup."
Kim nodded thoughtfully as she realized that Bonnie was right. There were no vacant starting spots on the squad. While she would be on the squad and take part in the practices, she would have to be a reserve.
"You're right," she said as she turned back to Camille. "I hope you're okay with that, Camille. You won't be able to perform at games and competitions unless a spot opens up for you. But I'm so thrilled that we have you as an option."
Camille looked at Kim once more, her icy blue eyes looking into Kim's emerald green ones.
"Me too Kim," she said with a grin. "Me too."