Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing. Your support means a lot to me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kim Possible.
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"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
~Romeo and Juliet, i, 5
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Saturday night in Middleton. Spring had banished the harsh, cold winter nights by this time of year, so to be out at this time would be marvelous. Marvelous if you were old enough to be out this late, that was. Ron was lying in his bed with a video game controller in his hands. He couldn't help but feel disappointed by how he and Felix had done the prior evening. Out of 128 pairs which had entered the tournament, they had come in 99th place. The only solace they took out of the experience was that they at least broke into the top one hundred. Oh well, there was always next time.
Right now he was just incredibly bored. He was playing Zombie Mayhem and just casually slaying every zombie he could find. He wasn't playing online, so he could be as slow and casual as he wanted. But earlier his day had been a lot of fun. He had hung out with Kim, Monique, and Felix like he always did on the weekends. A trip to Bueno Nacho, movie, and just going up and down the downtown area of Middleton was always a blast with them. But when it came to the middle of the night, he had nothing to do other than either play video games or chat with his friends either over the phone or online.
He yawned as he just slew another of the living dead. Looking to the clock, he saw that it was a little past midnight. He wasn't tired at all, and figured that now was probably a good time to go over to his computer and see what people were up to. Maybe he would do some gaming there as well.
As he sat down at his desk, he heard something bounce off his window. He looked over at it, and brushed it off as some random act of nature that hit his window. A few seconds later he heard another noise. It couldn't have been a coincidence. He stood up and walked over to his window and opened up the miniblinds. Someone was standing outside below his second story window, but he couldn't make them out in the dark. He opened it up and stuck his head out a bit.
"Hello?" he asked.
"What's up Ron?" a female voice said.
"Who's there?"
"It's Camille, duh."
"Camille? What the- what are you doing here?"
"You said we should hang out some time."
"Wait, you were the one who said that."
"And you agreed. So here I am."
"Yeah but it's like midnight. I can't go out now."
"Why not?"
"If my parents found out I would be in so much trouble."
"Then they won't find out."
With a slight shake of his head, Ron mouthed the word "what?" to himself in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I can't go out now anyway. It's past curfew and I'm only seventeen," he explained.
"And I'm eighteen. Looks like I'm your guardian for tonight."
"This isn't right. I can't just hang out with you in the middle of the night like this."
"So you don't want to spend any time with me?" she asked. The tone of her voice was filled with hurt and disappointment.
"No no no! It's not that!" he told her. "It's just, um… it's just kinda late, isn't it?"
"Come on Ron. Break the rules just this once. Be a bad boy for me."
The way her voice sounded when she had asked for him to be a bad boy for her sent a strange feeling coursing through his body. The suggestiveness in her tone was something he couldn't ignore. Or was he just imagining things again? He hadn't forgotten what he and Kim had talked about the previous day. But what if she was wrong? What if Camille was somehow interested in him like that? He couldn't say no to her like this. She was standing down below his window waiting for him. He had to take a chance and see if there was something more there. He relented.
"Okay, I'll be down in a couple minutes."
"That's my boy. I'll be waiting by your back door."
Her boy.
"O-okay," he said absentmindedly.
He shut his window and moved back into the middle of his room. After putting on some deodorant he changed into his khaki cargo pants and red jersey. Never bothering to comb his hair, he quietly stepped out of his room and made his way downstairs. He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his keys before moving through his house and exiting through the back door. After locking the door he turned to see the blonde girl leaning against his house with folded arms. She turned to greet him.
"Hey," she smirked.
"Hey Camille," he said uneasily. "So, um… what are we doing?"
"We're going out."
"Okay, but where?"
"Party."
"Party? What?" he said as sudden terror ran through his body.
He had never been to a party like this. He didn't even know if he wanted to go to one.
"Yeah. Party at Bonnie's house. Her parents are out of town or something. I don't pay attention to all the details."
"I don't know if-"
She cut him off as she grabbed his arm and dragged him after her.
"Come on. My car's out front."
Moving around his house, Ron saw that there was a bright red sports car parked in front. He was by no means a car guy, and had no clue what kind it was. All he knew was that it was an expensive looking convertible.
He opened the door and sat down inside. The cold leather interior touching his hands wasn't the only thing sending chills through his body. He was genuinely nervous about going to a party at Bonnie's house in the middle of the night. A moment later the heiress sat down beside him, and couldn't seem calmer.
Wanting to break this uncomfortable silence, Ron attempted to start a conversation.
"So… party at Bonnie's house."
"Yup," she confirmed. "We're going to have some fun tonight."
"Does she know I'm coming?"
"She doesn't know either of us is coming. I doubt she knew most of the people there were coming. You know how it goes."
He did not. But he decided to play along anyway.
"Yeah. These things can get pretty, uh, wild."
"Totally."
As she drove off towards Bonnie's house she turned on the radio. It was a song Ron didn't recognize, but he wasn't about to ask her to change the station. Instead he just decided to ask about the car.
"So what kind of car is this anyway?"
"Porsche Boxster. It's my baby."
"Oh. It's very nice."
"Yeah… they all tend to be."
"You mean you have more than one?" he asked in disbelief.
"Well, not this exact model. But you know, a girl has to have options."
"Options. Right."
He didn't know why he was so surprised by this. She was rich. Her family was worth hundreds of millions, if not more. Of course she could have as many cars as she wanted.
It only took a few minutes to reach the Rockwaller residence. He stepped out of the car slowly, still not sure why he was actually here. He would be much happier in his room playing video games. But one look at the beautiful blonde walking around the car gave him his answer. He was here for one reason and one reason only. To be with her.
He followed her lead as they walked up the steps and to the front door. As soon as she opened up the door a wave of sensations hit him. He heard the heavy bass of a song playing through huge speakers, as well as the many indistinguishable voices talking and laughing. He smelled a great variety of things, tobacco smoke, spilled alcohol, and another smell he couldn't identify. And then he saw the many people who inhabited the house at the moment. Many faces he recognized from school, though was unfamiliar with some of the names. They were definitely people from outside of his own small social circle. He wondered if they even knew who he was.
So far so good. No one had insulted him or told him to leave yet. Right now he was just trying to maintain as low of a profile as he could as he and Camille waded through the sea of bodies that were packed in every area of the house. They had finally reached what he saw was the kitchen and he saw someone hand Camille a plastic cup filled with something. She offered it to him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Beer. What did you expect, lemonade?"
"Oh. Uh no, no thanks."
She casually shrugged at his decision and took a sip for herself.
"Whatever. More for me."
"So what now?"
"What do you mean? Now we just hang out and have some fun."
"Oh. Okay then."
It was definitely something new to him. He had no idea what he should be doing at the moment. It wasn't as if this place was filled with his friends. It wasn't as if he was even wanted here. He decided his best course of action would be to move to the living room and sit down on the couch. Maybe there would be something to eat out there.
He turned to Camille to say something, but she was no where to be found. He looked around for a few seconds trying to catch a glimpse of her long, blonde hair, but had no luck. A slight frown crossed his face as he decided to just stick with his plan. He found an empty spot on the couch between two other guys. One of them just happened to be Ron Reiger.
The redheaded young man turned and looked at Ron with glazed eyes and a bemused smile on his face. He brought up his hand, and in it was what Ron assumed was a cigarette.
"Bud?" Reiger said to him.
"Oh, hi. Yeah I guess we're buddies. Sort of."
Reiger squinted his eyes in confusion and was silent for a few seconds before speaking again.
"Want some bud?" he asked.
"Want some what?"
"Some weed, man."
Alarms went off in Ron's head as he suddenly realized what Reiger was holding in his hand. He came to a decision quickly as he slowly shook his head.
"Um… no thanks. I'm good."
A smile broke out on Reiger's face as he nodded understandingly.
"That's cool," he said casually.
"Yeah. I'm going to go over there for a little while," Ron said as he stood up and went to walk to the other side of the room.
"Dude, where's your little mole rat thing?" Reiger called after him.
"He's not here."
"Aw. Bummer dude."
Ron ignored the comment and stood around as people continued to talk and drink all around him. He had never felt so out of place before. He jumped a little in surprise as he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned he was thankful to see a familiar face.
"What's up?" Camille asked him.
"Nothing. Just talked to Ron Reiger over there."
"Oh. I didn't know you were friends with the stoner types."
"I didn't know either."
"Yeah. This party is kinda lame. Where's the good liquor?"
Ron wanted to laugh. Was she actually asking him? Or was it rhetorical?
"I dunno."
"Whatever," she sighed as she scanned the room. The sight of Brick Flagg caught her eye. "He's Bonnie's boyfriend, right?"
"Yeah. They've been going out on and off since freshman year."
"I wonder if he knows where her parents keep it."
"Maybe. He's spent a lot of time in this house, if you know what I mean," he said.
Camille chuckled at this before turning to look at him.
"Ron Stoppable, did you just make a suggestive and insulting joke?"
"Yeah, I guess I did," he smiled.
"So unlike you. But I like it."
"Oh. You do?"
"Yeah. Tell me something else funny about them."
She thought he was funny and wanted to hear more. He couldn't disappoint her. He scrambled to think of something else to say about Bonnie and Brick.
"You know the weird thing is that he's actually old enough to drink legally. The guy is in his seventh year of high school."
Camille laughed out loud when she heard this.
"I don't know if I should be laughing or feeling sorry for him."
"I know. That's exactly how I feel about it."
"Well then, I'm sure he knows where we can find something besides beer."
She walked over to where Brick was sitting and took a seat next to him. The young man turned to greet her.
"Hey Camille. What's up?"
"Nothing. Just wondering where we can find some hard stuff."
"Oh yeah, I know where Bonnie's parents liquor cabinet is. But she said it's off limits or something."
Camille let out a disappointed sigh upon hearing this.
"That's too bad. Some guy said that you couldn't out-drink a cheerleader. And since I'm a cheerleader, I thought you might want to prove him wrong."
"What! Who said that?" he roared.
"I dunno who he was. But he seemed pretty sure that you would pass out after three shots."
"That little… come on. We'll go get something and have a little contest."
"Can't wait."
Ron saw Brick and Camille walk off to another area of the house. He hadn't heard what they were talking about because of the noise all around him, but he was sure that Brick had looked angry about something. Had she told him what he had said? No, that wouldn't make sense. She wouldn't try to hurt him. Plus Brick hadn't come and punched him in the face. He figured that she must have told him something else. He assumed that they were probably going off to find more alcohol.
He took a seat in a chair and decided to just look around and observe people until Camille got back. He saw a few of the cheerleaders pass by. He wasn't surprised that Kim and Tara were not among them. He didn't know Tara like he knew his other friends, but he was pretty sure this wasn't her kind of scene. As for Kim, well, of course Kim wouldn't be here. He once again asked himself why he was here. This wasn't his kind of place either. And as before, the answer came when Camille once more came into view. She and Brick were carrying a couple of bottles and a few shot glasses. They sat down at the kitchen table and began filling up the glasses.
"Okay, so where's the guy?" Brick asked.
"I dunno. But who cares. We're here now. Might as well not waste the stuff."
"Alright. Let's go."
Brick and Camille began pouring back shots. Soon enough a small crowd had gathered around cheering them both on. After only two shots Camille admitted her defeat.
"Okay, you win," she conceded.
Brick stood up victoriously with his arms above his head.
"I am the champion!" he yelled.
The teens roared in approval as he played to the crowd some more. After a few seconds he sat back down and looked at Camille.
"See, no cheerleader can drink more than me."
"You were right. But you know what I wanna know?"
"What?"
"How much can you drink before you're completely wasted?"
"It will take a lot more than this. I know that much."
"Let's find out. It's a party, isn't it?" she said before turning to the people gathered around the table. "Who wants to see Brick's limit?"
They cheered once again and began chanting his name as he poured himself more shots. After his fifth, Camille stood up from the table and turned to leave.
"You have fun with that," she said before walking back to Ron.
Ron had been watching the entire time and didn't know what to think. Did she actually believe that she could drink more than Brick? If so, why had she given up after only two shots? She took a seat next to him.
"Well that was fun," she said.
"I guess."
"What's wrong Ron? Not having fun?"
"I don't know. This just wasn't what I was expecting when you said we should hang out."
"Oh. Not much of a partier I guess?"
"Nope. This is my first."
"Aw, that's so cute. Okay, we'll leave soon. I just wanna stay for a bit longer. Do it for me?"
He didn't know what hit him when he saw her doing her own puppy dog pout. If he was Superman, it would be his kryptonite. He couldn't say no whenever Kim did it. And tonight with Camille was no different.
"Okay… We'll stay a little longer."
"Yay!" she said as she stood and gave him a hug. "I'll be back soon, kay?"
"Sure…" he said without even thinking about it.
There it was, another hug. And even more verbal signs. There was no way it could all be a misunderstanding. There was no way this was merely about friendship. He knew what it was like to be around a girl who was just a friend. Kim never acted like this with him. So while he didn't know exactly what Camille's intentions were, he knew there was more to this than Kim said there was.
Minutes continued to pass by since Camille had left. Looking at a clock in the house he figured it had been around twenty. He decided to get up to look for his ride home. He went in the kitchen to see Brick making out with a brunette girl. Normally this would be nothing new. There was just one problem. It wasn't Bonnie.
Ron stopped in his tracks as soon as he made this realization. Brick turned to see who had entered the room and squinted hard to try to tell who it was. A few moments later he began to laugh a bit.
"Wow, I must be totally wasted. I'm seeing Ron Stoppable!" he laughed.
Shrugging it off, he went back to making out with the girl. Ron took a step back before turning and leaving. A few seconds later he heard a loud voice pierce the noise of the music and people. It came from the kitchen. As quickly as he had left the kitchen, he turned and went back in.
He saw Bonnie standing there with her hands on her hips. The other girl Brick had been with had gotten up and fled into another section of the house. Bonnie didn't pursue her, but rather walked over next to Brick. A swift slap soon followed.
"Ow! Hey, what are you doing!" he asked.
"What am I doing? What the fuck were you doing?" Bonnie screamed.
"Uh… what?" he asked drunkenly.
"I saw you making out with Slut-O-Rama! And at my own party?"
"Hey calm down, Bonnie…" he slurred. "How about the three of us fix everything by, you know…"
A look of disgust spread over Bonnie's face at what Brick had just suggested.
"Look, I don't care how drunk you are. How dare you do this to me! And how dare you ask me to do that with you and that little whore!"
"Chill Bonnie…"
"No! Get out of my house! We're over!"
Ron wasn't the only person who was watching this unfold. Another crowd had gathered around the kitchen listening to the conversation of Bonnie and Brick. When she had declared that they were broken up, the people let out a loud reaction which supported neither of the two teens. All they knew is that there was drama and they loved it. Eventually Brick stood up and left the house with a few of his football teammates. He needed a couple of them to help him walk and drive him home.
Bonnie stormed out of the kitchen walking straight past Ron. He didn't know if she hadn't seen him or just didn't care enough about him at the moment. He decided that he wasn't about to ask her. Then he felt another body close to his.
"What's with her?" Camille asked.
"She just found Brick cheating on her."
"Ouch. Poor Bonnie."
"Maybe," he said cryptically.
"Maybe?"
"You know, karma and all," he told her. "She's pretty mean. She had it coming."
"I thought you didn't believe in karma."
"I don't know. Lately I've been having reasons to change my mind."
"Such as?"
Ron bit his bottom lip trying to think of an answer. He wasn't about to tell Camille that he thought that she liked him. No, he had to play it cool. He needed an excuse.
Too bad he couldn't think of one.
"I don't know," was all he could think of to say.
"Well that's okay. As long as you're keeping an open mind about it," she said before switching back to Bonnie. "Think we should check up on Bonnie?"
"Check up on her?"
"Yeah. Just a few minutes before we leave."
"I guess…"
"Come on."
Camille led Ron to where Bonnie was sitting. She was alone with her head leaning on the back of the chair. She didn't hear them coming with all the noise of the party.
"Bonnie?"
The brunette looked up to see Camille and Ron standing before her. A look of confusion mixed with hatred quickly appeared on her face.
"What the… what are you two doing here? Especially you, Stoppable?"
"I heard about what happened with you and Brick. I'm so sorry," Camille said genuinely.
"Whatever. I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay. Because you know, that must have been like, so embarrassing for you. I mean he cheated on you in your own house, at your own party, with another brunette. That has to hurt."
The sadness and anger flowing through Bonnie could not be contained or redirected at anything now. All of her feelings for Camille had reached the surface. Once she had looked up to the blonde for being rich and famous. But it only took a couple of days for that to change. She was the new girl who was rivaling her popularity. Now she was a cheerleader as well. The brunette's clique was already beginning to look to Camille as their leader instead of her. And she had had to serve two days of detention because of the blonde. She couldn't take it anymore.
"Look, will you just shut up, Camille?" she snarled. "I don't need your dumb blonde ass here telling me things I already know! Just get out of my house and hope I don't find a way to kick you off of my cheer squad!"
"Kim's squad," Camille corrected.
"Just get out!"
Ron didn't like hearing the way she was talking to Camille. He didn't know what had made him do it, but he stepped in to intervene.
"Hey Bonnie, don't talk to her like that," he said nicely.
"And who even let you in here!" she yelled. "Seriously, shouldn't you be playing some loser video game with all your loser friends?"
"This coming from the girl that got cheated on in her own house…" Camille said softly.
"What did you just say?"
The yelling got the attention of many of the teens in the house, and they had gathered around to see what all the drama was about. The tension in the room was reaching a critical level, and it was only a matter of seconds until it erupted.
"Just being honest…" the blonde said innocently.
Bonnie leapt from her chair and lunged at Camille. The two girls were only in contact with each other for a couple of seconds before Ron was able to pull the brunette away from Camille. Neither of the girls was injured in any way, other than Bonnie's pride. It took a few moments for her to calm down.
"Let go of me Stoppable. I won't go after her again."
He did as she asked, and Bonnie stood there as Ron went back to stand at Camille's side. The blonde had an amused smile on her face.
"I guess this makes me the second blonde you've gotten physical with in this house," she joked. "Too bad this will be the last time with me. Just like Brick."
Bonnie did not attack this time, but rather stared at the heiress with hate-filled eyes.
"Leave."
"Sure. Let's go Ron."
Camille turned and walked toward the exit with Ron following close behind. As Ron watched her movements, it almost seemed as if she was dancing as she walked toward her car. He definitely noticed a happy spring in her step before opening the door and sitting down. He took his seat next to her without saying a word. She spoke as soon as he had shut the door.
"Wasn't that just like, so beautiful?" she asked.
"What? Beautiful?" he asked in disbelief. "She attacked you!"
"She tried anyway. But you were there to stop her, Ron. I knew you were my hero."
There was that word again.
"I just did what anyone else would have done…" he said modestly.
"Nope. No one else tried to stop her. They were all just standing around watching us. If there was a pool of mud they would have made us wrestle in it. But not you. You were there to save me."
Ron couldn't suppress his smile when she said that last statement.
"Well… I do like helping people. That's what Kim and me do all the time."
"Do you ever get anything for helping them?"
"Nah. I tried to get Kim to start charging for our missions. But she wouldn't have any part of it. She didn't want to be like Team Impossible."
"Oh. So you guys get nothing?"
"Well, we do get favors from them. But those are just rides during other missions. You know, a plane to The Congo here, a boat to Sicily there. It all works out in the end."
Camille nodded in understanding.
"So what favor do I owe you?"
Ron felt his throat go dry at the question.
"Um, I don't know. I didn't do it for any favors."
"I think I know how to repay you."
"No, that's really not-"
He didn't finish his sentence as Camille leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. His mind went blank at the sensation on his flesh. For a few moments he just stared through the windshield. But when he finally regained his senses and looked at her, he saw her smiling gently at him.
"Thank you for saving me."
"Y-you're welcome."
"So what do you wanna do now?" she asked.
"I don't know. What time is it?"
"Around one."
"Oh. Um, usually I'm not out this late. What's even open at this time of night?"
She sighed before answering.
"Probably nothing. Just fast food drive-thrus."
"Want to go get some Bueno Nacho?"
"Nope. I can't stand the stuff."
"What?" he asked in disbelief. "How could you not like Bueno Nacho?"
"It's so fatty and gross. How can you eat the stuff?"
"Because it's delicious. And because I invented the naco."
This perked her interest.
"You invented the naco?"
"Yup. I got $99 million for it in royalties."
"Really…" she said thoughtfully. "I do remember you saying you had $99 million before."
"Yeah… I kinda blurted that out when I was too nervous to think of anything else."
Camille let out a soft laugh at the memory.
"So what ever happened to it?"
Ron's expression changed to a frown as he thought back to what had happened to his fortune.
"This super villain named Dr. Drakken stole it from me when I was on a mission with Kim."
A look of genuine surprise spread on her face when she heard this. It was new information to her.
"This dragon guy stole it all from you?"
"Drakken, but yeah," he confirmed. "I did buy some pretty expensive jewelry that I still have at home before he stole the rest of my money. He got pretty much all of it for his stupid little evil plans."
"That sucks."
"Yeah…"
She frowned and looked at the steering wheel for a few seconds before speaking again.
"On a happier note, I'm glad we went out tonight."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I had a lot of fun."
Ron thought about everything that had happened in the past hour or so. He couldn't deny that he had at least somewhat enjoyed himself.
"I guess I did too. Weird fun, but still fun."
"Glad to hear it," she smiled. "And I'm glad we got to know each other a little more."
Ron nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. You know, you're not nearly as stupid as a lot of people say you are."
His eyes immediately widened and he covered his mouth when he realized what he had just said. He couldn't believe he had blurted out something like that to her. He didn't want to look at her to see how mad she was. He had blown it. He had blown his one shot with a girl like Camille. But her reaction was the last one he would have expected.
The bleach-blonde girl burst out laughing at his statement. He slowly turned to face her and saw that it was indeed real laughter. But it did nothing to ease the nervousness that was filling his body.
"Wow. You should have seen the look on your face after you said that," she said when she was finished laughing.
He couldn't believe it. Did she really not even care about what he had said?
"You mean you're not mad?"
"Mad? Of course not. Why would I be mad?"
"Because I just called you stupid."
"Do you think I'm stupid?"
"No way. I just meant that other people do."
"I know they do. I think it's hilarious."
"Why's that?"
"Because I'm rich," she explained. "I've had the best education money can buy."
"Then why do you… you know… act the way you do at school and on TV?"
"Because when people think you're stupid they don't expect anything from you. It really relieves a lot of stress when you know people won't bother you."
"So it's all just an act?"
She nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah. Sometimes it really is hard being me. I just need to escape it all."
Ron thought about this for a few seconds before he asked her another question.
"Okay. Tell me something about you that's real."
She looked down and pondered this for a few seconds. She let out a sigh before turning and looking into his eyes once more.
"Well… I'm just so bored with life. Being rich and spoiled doesn't leave much to be desired. You can buy almost anything you want. You're lucky you don't have that $99 million anymore, Ron."
"You're seriously telling me I'm lucky that I'm not rich?"
Her expression told him she was very serious.
"When you're rich and famous like me, nothing in your life is real. All your friends are fake because they just like you for your money. All you have is your money and the things you buy with it. And…"
She stopped as she bit her lower lip. She looked as if she was about to cry.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's just really lonely. Do you know what it's like to not have any true friends? To be so alone all the time?"
Ron considered her words. He didn't know where he would be without his friends. Then he realized she was right. He remembered how Bonnie clung to him once he had his millions of dollars. He remembered his posse that abandoned him once Dr. Drakken has taken his money. It was depressing to think that this was Camille's life.
"Wow. You're right," he admitted.
"But that's not true anymore," she smiled. "You're my real friend, aren't you?"
"Of course I am."
"You don't know how good it is to hear that, Ron."
"You don't have to worry when it comes to that. I stand by all my friends, and they stand by me."
"I hope so. It would mean so much for me to be able to fit in with you and Kim."
"Oh don't worry about that. Kim is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. I know she'll welcome you into our little group with open arms."
"Thanks, Ron," she said before checking her watch. "We should probably get going now. Don't want to be out too late."
"Yeah," he agreed. "But I'm really happy we did this. I'm glad I got to know more about you."
"Same here. We should hang out more."
"Definitely."
Camille started the car and drove off back toward Ron's house. They chatted about the upcoming cheerleading sectionals and how he thought she should be more than just a reserve. After she had dropped him off she started driving back to her own house with a smirk on her face. He had fallen for everything.
Hook. Line. And sinker.