Thanks everyone for reviewing, I'm sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and related are the property of Disney which, contrary to common belief, I do not own.
Thanks to Slipgate for beta-reading this chapter.
Chapter 5: Preparing for College
"Well, it took some time, but we can finally move in again," James Possible proudly said as he, his wife and their children stood in front of their recently completely repaired home.
Mrs. Dr. Possible smirked. "It's not as if we didn't come in yesterday to place the furniture in the living room."
"Let me have this moment," Mr. Dr. Possible replied, having a smile on his face as well. "Today we're really moving back in."
"It took long enough," Kim remarked. At first, reconstruction had gone really fast, but things slowed down quite a bit when several construction crews refused to work on the house anymore. Eventually, the Possibles didn't want to abuse the hospitably of the Stoppable family anymore and had moved to a reasonable motel for the time being, although Kim had successfully fled living in the relatively small motel in the same room as her brothers by using GJ's barracks. But with Dr. Director returning and Kim feeling used by Global Justice, she hadn't been feeling too well about that anymore either.
"I still can't believe they thought the house had eaten their truck," Jim said.
"It was just standing in the garage," Tim added.
Although one wheel and both bumpers were missing," Mr. Dr. Possible pointed out. "And apparently another truck has never been seen again."
His wife shrugged. "Just some practical joke getting out of hand." She then glared at her sons. "Or did you have any experiments hidden in the basement?"
"Of course not," Jim objected.
"All our experiments were destroyed when that Lowardian walker busted in." Tim explained.
"We didn't have anything in the basement, and you wouldn't let us do experiments at the Stoppables, or at the motel."
Kim chuckled. "Well, I'm glad I took the GJ barracks."
"Okay, okay. Come on, let's put away the last boxes, and then we can go out for dinner," Mrs. Dr. Possible said.
"Thank you so much for this dinner," Mrs. Stoppable said as the Possibles and the Stoppables were celebrating the reconstruction of the Possible home during a nice dinner at Chez Couteaux.
"It was the least we could do after you let us stay with you after the invasion," Mrs. Dr. Possible replied with a smile.
"Not a problem at all," Mr. Stoppable said. "Or should I say 'no big?'" he added, smiling at Kim. "We had enough spare rooms, and we surely couldn't let you stay in the crummy motels that survived the Lowardian attack."
"Well, we might as well enjoy this dinner, because it might be quite a while before we can do this again," Anne said, "with Kim and Ron going off to college soon."
Immediately, Kim's easy smile faltered a bit.
Ron, sitting next to his girlfriend, noticed her mood change. "Are you still afraid of that meeting next week?"
"A little bit," the redhead admitted. "I kinda wish you, or mom or dad could come with."
Her parents smiled apologetically. "Sorry Kimmie, but with the restart of the space program I can't be missed at the space station."
"And I've got an operation to separate Siamese twins coming up," Kim's mother added. "If this meeting had been two weeks sooner…"
"I'll be fine… I hope," Kim replied with a somewhat convincing smile. "It's just too bad that Ron has to attend his college introduction on the same day."
"At least I don't have to prove myself for the college application," Ron said jokingly. "…Maybe I should cook them something…" he then added after some thought.
Kim smirked. "You'll be attending a massive meeting, and receive a talk from the dean of the University. I've seen such a thing when Felix and I went there for our advanced placement classes; you have nothing to worry about… You could make some friends though if you bring those delicious sugar puff crackers."
"You'll have a one-on-one talk, right?" Ron's mother asked.
Kim nodded. "It's because my application ran through the foreign student section, but apparently they're pretty strict to British students as well."
Ron squeezed Kim's shoulder. "Just be yourself, and you'll breeze through."
"I hope so." Kim picked Ron's hand from her shoulder and briefly laced her fingers through his. "Yeah… I will be fine." Her smiled slowly returned. "So, still no babysitter for Hana?" she then asked Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable as they took turns trying to feed the energetic toddler.
"Not one who's not sitting at this table," Ron replied with a grin.
"We tried to find a babysitter," Ron's mother explained. "But most of them ran when they saw Hana running on the ceiling."
"And it was a good thing we waited some time to see if Hana liked the only one who stayed," Mr. Stoppable added. "Because I don't think she would have made it through the night."
Kim chuckled. "Suddenly, my problems don't seem like so much anymore."
"Have a good flight Kimmie," Kim's father said as Kim's parents saw her off to the airport. "And we'll see you in three days."
"With a university admittance," Kim's mother added.
Kim smiled, but it was clear she was becoming nervous again. "Thanks mom and dad. I'll be fine." She then turned to Ron. "Now, if you'll excuse us for a moment."
Ron was taken a bit by surprise. "KP, this is a pretty public place, you know?"
Kim smirked. "I need to load up on Ronshine, and I want to wish you good luck too on your first day in college."
"Pshh, it's just a speech," Ron said. "It will take almost another month before college really starts."
"Flight 5921 to Birmingham, UK will depart from Gate 7. Boarding will start in 30 minutes." was announced over the airport intercom.
"That's my flight," Kim said as she picked up her carry-on bag. "See you guys in a few days."
Although Wade could probably have provided her with a private plane, Kim had decided to go at this as regular as possible; she refused to use her hero status to gain favors outside of her hero business. The few times she (or Ron) had tried that, she had felt terrible about it, and it almost always came back to her anyway.
Of course, when she went through security, she was immediately reminded of her status. The additions GJ – amongst others – had made to her and Ron's passports would get her past security with a running chainsaw if she wanted to.
"Have a nice flight," the security officer said. Then he looked around and tried to ask casually, "Mission?"
Kim smiled. "Biggest one yet, college."
The officer grinned. "Best of luck then."
The flight to England went well, even though Kim had to get used again to the relatively slow commercial travel. It did give her the chance to catch up with some reading though.
When she arrived in Birmingham, it was early morning in England, but the meeting was planned for the next day, giving Kim plenty of time to take the train to Aberystwyth and check in to the hotel. She even had some time left to walk around a bit.
Sightseeing Aberystwyth turned out to be a good idea; the town was fairly active and a walk over the beach was quite refreshing after the flight.
Kim quickly noticed that not many students were around at the moment. She did hear several locals commenting that it wouldn't take long before the students would return for the school year.
Even though the redhead was slightly disappointed that she wouldn't meet many students in the next couple of days, she was a bit relieved as well; finding your way through a horde of students was not easy, as she had learned from the classes she had taken at Upperton University.
The next morning, after taking a shower and finding out she had forgotten her own shampoo, Kim quickly learned that hotel shampoo did not agree with her hair.
"Come on…" she muttered as her usual mane of red hair refused to do anything else other than stand out in every direction, no matter what she tried.
Of course, similar things had happened on or after missions, and Kim knew that the only solution was tying her hair in a ponytail. That was the only way it looked somewhat reasonable.
Normally, during missions this was not a problem, as no one had any problem with the occasional hairs jumping out of the scrunchy. But during an interview it wasn't the best option.
Kim sighed. "Oh well, as long as it stays put." Usually, it took some time before the first hairs popped out, and since she had let her hair grow out a bit she should be good. "Just a quick check right before the interview, and I should be fine."
As she walked across the campus, Kim spotted a couple of students who appeared to be arguing about something. She walked over to ask them directions to the office of her contact person.
"I'm telling you, it's not a fake," a blond-haired student said as he held up a magazine. "She is really going to attend Aberystwyth."
His friend, sporting shoulder-length dark hair and a small goatee, looked skeptical. "A popular magazine that is telling the truth? Well, forgive me for having doubts… of course, I wouldn't mind trying to get a date with the Kim Possible."
Kim looked up when she heard her name, and then she recognized the magazine the student was holding; it was one of the series of magazines with her face on the cover, speculating how her career would continue after High School, apparently, they had gotten wind about her preference to go to Aberystwyth.
Before she could say anything though, the third person of the group, a girl who looked to be a little younger than the other two, huffed. "Do you really think Kim Possible would even want to go on a date with either of you? Anyway, don't you know she's seeing someone?"
The dark-haired student smirked. "Also from the magazine?"
The girl looked down for a moment. "Well… Yes…"
Then she noticed Kim approaching. "Can I help you?"
Kim managed to withhold a grin. "Yes, I'm looking for the office of Professor…" she looked at the paper she was holding, "Wati Dita."
"Ah, you must be a foreign student then," the girl replied. "I'm Gwen, and these are Matt," she pointed at the blond student, "and Jason." she finished while pointing at the dark-haired one.
"Pleasure meeting you," Matt said with a gentleman's smile. Jason nodded but said nothing.
"Let me show you to Professor Wati Dita's office," Gwen offered. "It's a bit tricky because his department's wing is in between two other buildings."
"Thanks," Kim replied. "I'm Kim, by the way."
"Don't mind Matt and Jason," Gwen said as they walked across the campus. "They're nice guys, but they can get a bit too obsessed with what's in popular magazines."
Kim smirked. "As opposed to you?"
Gwen chuckled. "So you heard that last part, huh? Well, we're usually not that bad, but it is pretty cool that someone like Kim Possible is going to attend Aberystwyth."
This time, Kim had to look away to hide her grin.
"So, you're from the USA?" Gwen then asked.
Kim nodded. "Yes, I'm going to study International Law and Politics."
"Ah, then you will probably run into Jason a lot more," Gwen said. "He's studying Diplomacy, and those tracks have a lot of classes in common."
"Really? Matt looked more like the diplomatic type to me," Kim replied.
Gwen chuckled. "Jason doesn't open up too quickly to others. He is really good at diplomacy though. When he was fifteen he was chosen to organize and host the ten-year anniversary of our High School's exchange program."
She then shook her head. "Matt is a really nice guy, but diplomacy is not for him. He and I both study Biology."
"So, you seem to know Jason pretty well?" Kim asked, curious, but trying not to probe.
Gwen grinned. "We're cousins, and we grew up in the same town. I know him better than I know my little brother."
Kim looked Gwen over; she didn't spot much family resemblance between her and Jason. Then she shrugged. "Well, don't worry. Jason can be as diplomatic as he wants, but I've got my own guy back at home. At least that magazine got that one right."
"Oh, you heard that as well," Gwen replied with an embarrassed smile, but then Kim's last sentence settled in. Her smile faltered and her eyes grew wide. "But… but… you…"
Kim chuckled. "I guess my hair really is my trademark."
Gwen still stared dumbfounded at the young woman. "You… you're Kim Possible. Oh my… And I didn't even see it at first… wait until I tell Matt and Jason about this."
Kim smirked. "I hope that doesn't happen every time I meet someone new here."
Gwen looked back at the redhead with another embarrassed smile. "Sorry, you just caught me by surprise. I'm usually not this silly. But still, it is nice to meet a celebrity."
"And I'm sorry I didn't tell you immediately," Kim replied. "But when I saw the three of you with that magazine, I was almost afraid you were going to recognize me. And when you didn't, I just went with it."
Gwen frowned. "Why didn't you want to be recognized?"
"I'd like to be a normal student here," Kim explained. "Back in the US I received a lot of college acceptance letters from universities that only wanted to have me as their student because of my celebrity status. That, and I was already a bit nervous about meeting Dr. Wati Dita," she added self-consciously.
Gwen looked at her questioningly. "Why? He's a really nice guy, and a good teacher too. I took a course of General Linguistics from him."
"I thought you studied biology?" Kim asked.
"I do," Gwen explained. "I want to study the history and evolution of language in humans, but also in other animals."
Kim smirked. "You should have a talk with Ron and Rufus."
Gwen chuckled, slightly confused. "Anyway, Professor Wati Dita is a very nice man. You don't have to worry one bit. Oh, we're here." She pointed at the office with the name 'Prof. Dr. C. Wati Dita' on the door.
"Thank you very much," Kim said. "I hope we'll meet again when I start my study here."
As the girl smiled and walked off, Kim turned to the secretary. "Hi, I have an appointment with Professor Wati Dita at ten. My name is Kim Possible."
The secretary nodded and briefly looked at her computer screen to verify. "Ah yes, Miss Possible. Chahel is currently in a meeting, but he can arrive back any minute now."
"Shego, is everything okay?" Drakken asked when he walked in on Shego as she was setting up breakfast.
For the past couple of days, the ex-villainess had been acting a bit strange. Drakken figured she was trying to re-evaluate her life during the transition from villain to… well, Drakken wasn't sure what they were right now either, but he had given Shego her space and had tried not to stick his nose in her business.
But this morning, the green-skinned woman had a strange spark in her eyes that spelled mischief.
"Better than ever," Shego replied, her grin never leaving her face.
"You're not going to rob a bank, are you?" Drakken asked nervously. "I have this big speech at the end of the week and I'd like it if my… our reputation still looks good by then."
Shego smirked; after Drakken had finally received the recognition he had always been after – by helping saving the world – he had started making plans to use his mad genius energy for a good purpose – good for the general community this time.
Still being somewhat of a megalomaniac, he had decided to start big and set up a program "Bad to a Better Cause" in which villains could try their skills on something other than world domination.
Currently, he had only managed to snare his cousin Ed – after offering the motor maniac a chance to do something with one of the biggest scrap heaps in the US –and Frugal Lucre. Actually, Lucre had snared Drakken into taking him along – he'd pretended to be another villain by wearing his fake moustache and goatee, something that still cracked Shego up when she heard it again.
But even with only three ex-villains the plot had some promise, and after approval from Global Justice, Drakken was allowed to explain his proposal about BtBC (unfortunately for him, the brand name 'BBC' was already claimed).
"Don't worry Dr. D," Shego said. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to use some time after your speech, during question and answer for the press."
Drakken shrugged. "Sure, they'll ask you questions anyway… especially that annoying big guy who keeps insisting you claimed to return to Team Go."
"I know," Shego replied with a predatory grin. "I think it's time to give a definitive answer to that one."
"Welcome to Aberystwyth," said Professor Wati Dita as he offered Kim a seat. He was an Indian man who reminded Kim vaguely of her father's friend and colleague Dr. Ramesh. "Did you have a good flight?"
"Thank you, I did," Kim replied. She was still a bit nervous, but the professor was clearly experienced at setting new students at ease.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"Coffee please, black."
He nodded and turned to his secretary, who sat in the adjoining room. "A coffee for Miss Possible and a tea for me please."
As the secretary walked off to get the drinks, Chahel took a seat as well. "Could you tell me what made you chose Aberystwyth University?"
Kim took a breath and tried to remember what she wanted to say; she had prepared a series of possible answers for that particular question, but none of them seemed really genuine.
She decided to just start and see where it took her. "Well, for some time I've been wanting to study abroad and actually see some of the world instead of just passing by and only getting glimpses. And the foreign student program for International Law and Politics at Aberystwyth really appealed to me."
"I'm happy to hear that," the professor replied. "But universities like Harvard have a similar, if not equal, program. I'm not trying to downplay our university, but what made you chose Aberwystwyth? Given your resume and extracurricular classes, you would be accepted pretty much everywhere."
Kim smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. However, many big universities that accepted me didn't do it because of my student results… They wanted a share in the fame too. Several even included a clause to have me attend press conferences for them."
Professor Dita grinned. "Well, you don't have to worry about that here. The only thing we would like is that you wear an Aberystwyth student or alumnus vest during your missions."
"I'm sorry," he laughed after seeing Kim's stunned expression. "I've been planning that joke for days. My apologies if I offended you."
"No, it's just…" Kim was interrupted when the drinks were brought in.
The professor took a sip from his tea. "I have been in contact with several of the references you put in your application form, and I am aware that you want to be as normal a student as possible."
Kim nodded.
"And that is what we would like too." He turned serious. "However, I also understand that you will want to continue your missions?"
Kim nodded. "Yes, I have been thinking about this a lot, and I don't want to ruin my study over it, but I don't think I can just leave the missions. I will try to pick only the ones that really need Team Possible though."
"That would be best," the professor agreed. "But you will still have to clear it with your teachers. Some of them might not be too happy about you leaving or not showing up for classes. This isn't High School anymore… they won't fail you for not showing up on some classes, but they can refuse entrance to classes when you're late."
Kim gulped, but nodded. "I understand, and I will do my best not to have any classes interrupted."
"That sounds fair. By the way, do you fancy a tour around some of the campus? It is lovely weather at the moment, and I doubt it will matter if we talk here or on the way."
The redhead smiled. "That sounds great… if it doesn't take too much of your time."
He chuckled. "Not at all. A walk will be good for me anyway."
"Shego?" Hego's voice was one of complete surprise over the phone, and then one of worry. "Is everything all right?"
"Of course," Shego replied in a casual voice. "You know, I have been thinking a lot recently about your proposal for letting me back on the team, and I think you've got a point."
"Really?" It was clear Hego was trying – and failing – to hide his excitement. "I mean, you really want to come back to Team Go?"
"Yes," the green-skinned woman said. "Is it really that hard to believe? I used to be a hero, you know. And now that the villainy is pretty much over for me and Dr. D… I need to see some action."
"That's so great," Hego replied happily. "When are you coming over?"
"Well… I was thinking we'd make it a bit more official," Shego said. "You know, Dr. D is having that 'Bad to a Good Cause' speech going on next Friday. Could you do that reporter act one more time? That way we don't have to keep on telling everyone that I'm back on the team."
"Sure, no problem," the Go City superhero quickly promised.
"Oh, and one more thing," Shego then said. "I may not live all the time in the Go Tower, but I'd really like to rebuild the attic into my new room. Can you live with that?"
"Of course! Anything for my sister!" Hego replied.
"I mean, it will probably take some cleaning up, as you have probably forgotten for all those years, but I think I can make something of it."
Hego chuckled. "You're right about that one. We're pretty much useless without you in that regard. You are the girl for the job."
"Okay, see you Friday."
As Shego hung up the phone, she looked at Drakken, who stared back at her with his jaw wide open.
"What?" she asked with an amused grin.
"He just insulted you in a way no one ever insulted you… not without severe injury at least…" the ex-villain frowned in thought for a moment. "Who are you and what did you do with my girlfriend?"
"Relax, you'll understand Friday…" Shego frowned. "So, I'm your girlfriend now, huh?"
Drakken's eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. "Uhm…"
But Shego approached him with a mischievous grin. "Well, boyfriend… how about a little sugar for your girl?"
Drakken's eyes widened in realization when Shego knocked the offered sugar pot from his hands. "Oh…" he managed before he was silenced by Shego's lips pressing down on his.
"Thank you very much for the tour," Kim said. "I would def… initely have gotten lost on my own in those buildings," she added with a grin.
Professor Wati Dita chuckled. "The older buildings on the campus do have a reputation of having strange architecture. But don't worry; you will be able to find your way in no time. We've never had to rescue lost students."
He looked at his watch. "I believe you have a lunch meeting with one of our students and a tour over at the dorms later?"
"Yes," Kim said. "Alex I believe her name was. She's a senior student in International Law and Diplomacy, right?"
"Yes, next year she's going to start her Ph.D. at the University of Delhi, where I have a co-chair in the Linguistics Department."
"Wow… and here I thought I went far abroad for study."
The professor chuckled. "I'm sure you two will get along. Tell Alex I said hello."
"Thanks for taking out time from your graduation schedule," Kim said as she and Alex were having lunch in the main cafeteria of the campus.
"I'm glad to do it," Alex replied with a smile. "And it's good to be away from my final project for an afternoon. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the research, but sometimes my supervisor can be really obnoxious about how I write my report."
Kim grinned. "I know people who can be like that. So, what's your project about?"
"It's a study about how the English language was formed through diplomatic interaction between the Europeans and the natives on the British Islands," Alex explained. "I'm mainly focusing on the development of then recently invented words compared to that of already established words."
"Wow… sounds difficult."
"Well, once you get into it, it's really interesting," Alex said. "Speaking about interesting, shall we visit the dorms?"
Kim grinned. "Sure."
"This is my dorm," Alex said as she opened the door and led Kim into a fairly small hallway that ended in a set of stairs. A door to the side led to the common room. "I live here with two other students. There is room for one more, but she left about a month ago when she graduated."
The building looked like it used to be a regular house, but had been adapted to fit several students; the living room and kitchen area were standard for a family home, and also the upstairs bathroom looked normal, if relatively spacious.
"That's pretty much everything we share and have to keep clean together," Alex explained as she unlocked the door to her own room. "Our own rooms have separate keys, and we're pretty much free to do with it as we please, within reason of course."
Kim looked through the room; it seemed fairly well cleaned, if a bit messy with clothes discarded on the bed, papers laying around everywhere, and books piles up on the desk and on the floor.
The redhead smirked. "Almost like my own room just before my mom orders me to clean up."
Alex chuckled. "That's the advantage of living on your own. Although I should have cleaned up a bit, but with a project like mine it's handy to have everything within reach."
"I bet," Kim replied. "So, does every student have their own sink in their room?"
"Yes… we also have television and Internet connection, although we share the cable," Alex said. "But you'll get even better. They're finishing the new student dorms this month, and all the freshmen will be located there."
"I did read something about that in the acceptance letter," Kim mused. "But doesn't that interfere with mingling with the existing students?"
Alex shrugged. "Students who wanted to move to the new dorms were ensured a room if they agreed to becoming a student counselor for the freshmen. It will be something like a dorm parent where you can go to for questions or who can give you advice or locations for cool parties." The latter she added with a grin. I can show you the new dorms. Construction is still underway, but I think we can walk into some of the buildings."
"Sounds great."
"By the way, since I have the afternoon off, I switched the cooking schedule so I can cook today. Would you like to have dinner with us?" Alex offered.
"I'd love to," Kim replied. "I can help if you like… although I'm not such a good cook."
Alex laughed. "Neither was I when I got here. You'll learn in the process."
"Wow, this looks really nice," Kim commented as she and Alex walked around the construction site. Most of the construction had been finished, so students were allowed to walk around the buildings as long as they didn't bother the workers who were installing the windows, plumbing, and cables.
"I'd say," Alex agreed. "I haven't been here often, but this is starting to look really good. Almost makes me wish I had a couple more years here."
"You two getting a room here?" one of the workers who was on break asked.
"I am," Kim said.
"Looks like I have to make take extra care with installing the windows then," the young man, about Alex's age, replied with a grin.
"Hey Richard!" another worker shouted. "Quit hitting on students and help me place this window."
"Sorry ladies," Richard said, his smile never faltering. "Got to get back to work."
Kim and Alex giggled as the man walked off to help his colleague. "Building a student dorm… must be a dream come true for some of those construction workers."
"I'll say," Alex agreed. "Although he did look cute…"
Kim grinned. "I have my own man back home. No cutie can beat him."
"I hope a long distance relationship will work out for you," Alex said. "My boyfriend and I tried that when he moved to Australia for a year for an internship. We lasted three months before it fell apart. I went over there two months later for a vacation, but it was really over by then."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Kim replied.
Alex smiled. "Thanks, but it wasn't really a bad breakup. It was just, when we hugged at the airport when I arrived, there was nothing. We decided to officially break up a day later. Still had a great vacation after that though, we just cancelled all our 'couple' plans and went on a sailing trip with his friends instead."
Even though it was clear that telling about the breakup hadn't affected Alex, it took Kim a moment to find her smile. "Well, Ron and I go way back. And hopefully he'll be able to come over here in two years as well."
"I'm certain it will work out for you," Alex said. "So, want to see if we can get into one of the buildings and see how it looks on the inside?"
"Great spaghetti," Alex's roommate Cameron commented. "Too bad for Christa that she has to work tonight."
"I'll save her a plate," Alex responded and began filling an empty plate with spaghetti.
"So you went to see the new dorms?" Cameron then asked. "Did you like them?"
"Like them? It's making me jealous," Alex said with a grin. "Larger rooms, only having to share the shared rooms with one other student, and a big community room in every building for activities. They're really going out of their way for the new students."
Cameron shrugged. "I can remember our dorms being a big step up from what there was before. The grass is always greener on the other side."
"I guess…"Alex turned to Kim. "So, what do you think of Aberystwyth so far?"
After looking at the new dorms, Alex had taken Kim a bit more across the campus and had shown her the bookstore, the student supermarket, and a couple of the relaxation spots. The last actually included the library, which was designed such that students had a lot of privacy and all information close on hand.
"I'm really looking forward to attending here after the summer," Kim said. "But I haven't really lived on my own before, so that will be somewhat of a big step."
"You'll get used to that pretty quickly," Cameron replied.
"Just drop into the student life immediately, or you'll feel very lonely in the evenings," Alex added. "I fell for that one, and my parents don't even live too far from here."
"Don't worry about it too much though. A little homesickness is bound to happen. If you don't dwell on it, you'll be okay."
"Thanks," Kim replied. "Besides, I can always call or chat with home."
Both other girls immediately shook their heads.
"You really don't want to fall for that trap," Alex explained as Kim frowned confused. "If you call your parents because you feel homesick, you'll quickly get addicted to doing that."
"It's no problem calling home occasionally," Cameron added. "But sometimes you have to know to let go… You have to accept that you're becoming your own person."
"It's only difficult for the first week, and then it mainly gets hard for your parents to let go," Alex said with a grin.
Kim grinned half-heartedly. "Yeah… I can imagine mom and dad having some letting go issues…"
However, when she walked back to the hotel later that night, for the first time the implications of her college decision really hit home for Kim.
"Is my tie good? Isn't this suit too baggy?"
"Dr. D., relax. You look like a charm."
Shego wasn't joking; the tailor-made suit looked splendid on the former villain. The hue of blue complemented his skin color very well and the matte black tie gave him a very professional look.
Even more, as long as he stood straight – something Shego had to remind him of every now and then – the suit really showed off his physique. Drakken might not be ripped, but his upper body was actually pretty nicely toned, something that rarely showed when he was wearing his lab coat and was hunched over a bit.
"Got your plants under control?"
"As long as I don't look at you for too long I'll be fine."
Shego smirked; she was wearing a similar dress as the one she had worn when Drakken had received his medal, and she knew what effect it had on him.
During the past couple of weeks, Drakken had gained considerable control over his plants… at least, the ones that he shared a symbiotic link with. The plants that had grown from his mutagenic formula had all died within days after the Lowardian invasion, and he had forgotten the formula.
However, Drakken and Shego had quickly found out that his plants reacted with his body, and a few teasing moves from Shego were often enough to pop up his petals.
"Just focus on your speech and you'll be fine," the ex-villainess said. "Oh, you did ask Kimmie's computer nerd to make sure she would watch the live show, right? I know she's due to get home from college spotting today."
"I did, although I still don't know why. I mean, I'm flattered, but I don't really get it."
"You'll understand later tonight," was all Shego was willing to let go. "Come on, let's turn some heads."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, let me know. I really hope I can speed up in the posting department for the next chapter.