Chapter 19 - Flashing Back Part VII
"And so, the next day, I had just set up my website, Ron went to Smarty-Mart to buy Rufus, and the cheerleading tryouts for that 18th and final open spot were held. A series of events, as you know, saw me join the cheer squad after beating Bonnie's routine and I had recieved my first hit on the site. As it turned out...it wasn't a babysitting hit at all." Kim narrated.
"Nope...the dude was really in trouble!" Ron said.
Kim continued on "After I had rescused Mr. Paisley from the laser grid of his in Upperton, me and Ron hitched a ride to go back to the gym. A storm was beginning to brew."
Kim raced back to the gym, exhilarated from saving a person's life. Ron, in the meantime, was at the Bueno Nacho across the street. Dark and ominous clouds were covering the moon with thunder rumbling in the background.
She propped the doors and saw that only Bonnie was there in her blue dress. Her other girls were in the cheer dressing room.
"Bonnie..." Kim gasped, "...did you see what I...?"
Bonnie scoffed at the fact that someone interrupted her rudely, "Ugh...Kim, you should focus more on the time routine now that you're on the squad!"
"Sorry! I had to do something real serious!" Kim exclaimed as a flash of lightning illuminated the gym windows.
Bonnie replied with roll of the thunder, "You may get a pass on this round, Tin Teeth! But next time, you won't be so lucky because, remember, you are on MY squad since I am officially THE captain!"
"And whatever I say shall become law at the school!" she sneered, "So the next time you even THINK about ditching practice, you will be demoted to scrub cheerleader!"
Kim glared at her newfound rival, saying, "Which means...?"
"Which means you'll be cleaning the toilets in the football locker room!" Bonnie smirked as she laughed haughtily. Another flash of lightning illuminated the windows.
A roar of thunder followed as the brunette also added, "On a sidenote, no speaking out against me or my position on the squad!"
"Whatevs...Bonnie!" Kim muttered. She hoped that what she read from that book last night would help her out when the time was right.
Suddenly, Mr. Barkin propped open the doors, shouting excitedly, "Where is Kim Possible?! I repeat this, where is Kim Possible?!"
Kim raised her right hand, answering Barkin's question, "Right here, Mr. Barkin, sir!"
Barkin walked up to her and said, "Possible, I think you should take a look outside the gym! You may want to hurry though before it begins to storm outside."
Kim curiously propped open the doors out of the gym to see what Barkin was waking about. Bonnie followed right behind her.
She rubbed her eyes in disbelief of what she was seeing: TV news vans, the Middleton Gazette local paper, and the Lowerton Ledger were all headed towards the school.
Bonnie also rubbed her eyes as well, thinking that all this press was for her. She fluffed up her ponytail and said with pride and vainness, "People, feast your eyes on the true perfection!"
But the news crews came out of their vehicles and ran past Bonnie. It was obvious that they were not interested in her. Bonnie's hair got messed up and she walked toward where the news crews were, growling that they ignored her.
The TV crews surrounded Kim and began to ask her a series of questions.
A female news reporter asked her, "How did you feel when you rescued Benjamin Paisley from his own laser grid?"
A second male news reporter questioned, "What moves did you use to save the billionaire's life?"
And then a third female news reporter asked, "Do you think cheerleading should be a sport?"
Kim anserwed through the microphone, "Well, it's no big. My experience in cheerleading helped, really, to save the day!
Benjamin Paisley, along with Mr. McHenry, arrived in his limousine. He came out and personally thanked Kim, saying "Thanks for all your help, Miss Possible! If it weren't for you, me and Mr. McHenry would've been done for in that laser grid and who knows where my Cuddlebuddy collection would've ended up."
"More than likely the burn pile..." McHenry muttered.
Paisley continued,"If there is anything we can ever to repay the favor, monetary-wise or not, just say the word!"
"So not the drama!" Kim smiled, saying what would become her most famous catchphrase for the first time, "Well, I do need rides to and from places. Maybe some future contacts. Oh and gadgets! I gotta have the latest tech!"
"We'll make those arrangements for you, Miss Possible! We are forever in your debt!" Paisley replied, adhering to Kim's suggestions.
Emboldened by this, Kim shouted into the microphone of the third reporter, "Yes! I think cheerleading should be a sport! In fact, I think it could even help save the world!"
Frustrated by all the attention her redhaired rival was getting, Bonnie interrupted the conversation. "I think it should NOT!" There was a lightning flash between the clouds but no bolt.
The thunder roared while Bonnie continued butting into the conversation "You must be dreaming, Kim! In my eyes, and the whole student body would agree with me on this..."
Paisley was hiding behind Kim, thoroughly intimidated by the Rockwaller, but Kim wasn't moving an inch.
"...that all cheerleaders should be snobby, skinny, beautiful and have brains the size of a pea!"
"So not, Bonnie!" Kim countered the Rockwaller's degrading statement about cheerleaders, "Many cheerleaders come in all shapes and sizes and a good majority of them are not snobby! And many cheerleaders have gone on to graduate from high school and college! They all worked hard to get to where they were on their respective squads"
Kim also pointed an accusing finger at Bonnie and proclaimed "I would like to see you try all those stereotypes you just mentioned, B..."
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky as she finished her sentence "...for you'll never graduate high school with them!"
"It's only from your deluded your point of view, K! It's all a popularity contest!" Bonnie said dismissively of Kim's comments. The rest of the cheerleaders from the squad, including Tara, approached her as the thundered roared. "Hard work is only reserved for losers, and those worthless students that are at the bottom of the Kingdom!"
Ron, from Bueno Nacho, witnessed his best friend debating Bonnie from across the street. He couldn't make out the words, but was curious to see what was going on. He got his chimmerito with a new-found baby Rufus in his pants pocket and left the building.
"I shall soar to the top of the Kingdom with my hunk of a QB, while you only spend time with the lowest of the low, including Stoppable." Bonnie decreed, envisioning her own future.
"Why is it every time you open your moth, you spread grimy lies about the sport?" Kim growled, seeing through Bonnie's own words, "True popularity lies in being kind and generous to others, NOT playing pranks on your fellow students!"
"Don't you know anything, Possible? Only the strongest will get to rule the school, including me and my squad, the jocks and bullies! The weak will cower to them!"Bonnie exclaimed while lightning continued to flash in the sky.
"The students do not cower to anyone, Bonnie! No one will bully one another!" Kim shouted.
"You just don't understand the theory of revolution, do you, K?" Bonnie grinned evily.
"It's evolution, B!" Kim corrected her rival, "And it seems you're sliding down the scale of inteligence."
"That's the whole point, you moron! The cheerleaders on my squad HAVE to be dumb in order to get the good jocks!" Bonnie taunted, pointing the attractiveness of getting low grades.
"There you go!" Kim exclaimed, disproving another one of Bonnie's claims, "Another slimy about cheerleading!"
"If any of them fail a single test this school year, then the squad would be DQed from state competishes! The school district requires all athletes...including ALL cheerleaders...to maintain a C average to stay on the team!" Kim explained the need for the other cheerleaders to raise the grades.
But Bonnie wasn't having it, smirking "Now it's you that's been bitten by the lying bug! Like I said before, cheerleading is not a sport and, therefore, my cheerleaders do not have to get a C average on their report cards! They can even get F's for all I care!" Another lightning bolt streaked across the sky followed with a roar of thuder.
Kim, seeing that her words weren't getting through Bonnie's skull, decided another method of attack.
She grabbed one of the reporters' microphones, having enough of the brunette's lies! "Okay, that tears it!"
"How can you believe in such false things about cheerleaders? Are you supposed to think what occurs in TV and movies happens in real life?" she announced through the microphone.
"It's a complete D as in duh! Why do you always have to be the center of attention?" Bonnie complained, "I think you should stay in your lane!"
"Shut up, Bonnie, and let me speak!" Kim shouted at the brunette. Bonnie's jaw dropped that one of her cheerleaders was backtalkin' her, but didn't say a word.
"Cheerleading is not getting about the hottest job or about being superior to others on some stupid social scale. It's about supporting each other and supporting the community of Middleton! Something that Bonnie Rockwaller completely lacks!" Kim said through the microphone.
Bonnie just stood there, completely shocked. The other cheerleaders are flabbergasted as their captain is.
Kim continued on with her speech,"How can Bonnie captain a good cheer squad if she...and the rest of the cheerleaders...are earning bad grades and bullying the other students? The cheer captain must be dependable, cooperative, motivated, and most importantly, responsible for the rest of her squad mates! She must also posses the smarts to know some of the complex cheer moves. These vital components are nowhere to be found in someone like Bonnie! In face, she doesn't even know what being a true leader means!"
Upon hearing these words, Bonnie became angry at Kim, growlin' and grindin' her teeth.
Ron came to the crowd to hear his best friend speak.
"Both the cheer team and captain serve as a representative of the school and, by definition, the entire town! The sorry grades and bullying encouraged by the captain is one of the deepest failures for not just the school district, but by the city as a whole. Cheerleaders, in fact, should not be feared as a bunch of bullies and snobs, but they should be viewed as athletes, nice people and as regular students. They should just be held to a higher standard. The cheerleaders here at Middleton High don't grow up only to become Peepers waitresses who have to serve buffalo wings during the big game! They grow up to be district attorney, real estate agents, mayors, and, in one case, a brain surgeon."
Ron was amazed at what Kim was saying, holding the chimmerito.
Kim then turned to the cheerleaders, and to a fuming Bonnie, "It is not on the outside or personal looks that matter, but it's on the inside! It is how pure the heart is! The hard hours you put into practice, the successes, failures, service to community, and the commitments and bonds you share with the squad, even beyond high school, are all more important than submitting to overused Hollywood stereotypes! It takes someone who has a lot of grit, moxie, and determination to be cheer captain. It takes someone who likes to see good examples to her teammates and classmates! Because of all the above examples, it is my firm belief that Bonnie, the so-called 'perfect' cheerleader, should be stripped of her captainship of the squad!"
A collective gasp fell on the other cheerleaders. Bonnie was mortified, most of all. Her teal eyes were twitching.
Ron stood by her side, still with food in his hand.
"In conclusion, Bonnie...your reign of terror at Middleton Jr. High is over!" Kim smirked and then did a cheer, "And as always, gooooo Mad Dogs!"
With this, she drops the mic.