Snippets of Forever:
So Not... Wasting a Minute: Part I
-x-
Despite the late-autumn chill in the air, the sun was still poking through the graying clouds in the sky and shining fiercely. From her place on top of the pyramid, Kim felt the orange rays warm her to her core. She continued to count out loud, timing the rest of the squad's moves, while keeping one eager eye on the group of young men just standing off to one side.
Thursday afternoon, eighth period. The weekly time in which Kim and Ron would each have their respective cheer and football practice to end the school day. The Middleton Mad Dogs were just winding down from their final lap of the oval, and were now watching on as the girls went through their last routine for the day, as well.
Ron's beaming smile on Kim could be spotted from a mile away.
Kim's heart skipped a beat as she winked at her guy and went to blow him a kiss. But suddenly, her heart rate was racing for an entirely different reason when the unmistakable sensation of falling totally overcame her.
"Whoa!" Kim exclaimed, her cries barely audible over the sound of Bonnie's cell phone ringing as she stepped away from the base of the pyramid.
The redhead braced herself, but before she made contact with the ground, the other girls were quick to her rescue. Hope and Tara easily caught Kim in their arms, and Ron was suddenly by her side, as well. They all shot their collective glare over to Bonnie as Kim growled under her breath.
"Oh, perfect!" Bonnie squealed into her phone, "I mean, yes, like, yeah, I'm sure you and Dad will have a great weekend away. Okay, okay, yes! Okay, thanks, Mom."
A second excited screech left Bonnie's lips as she jumped up and down on the spot before turning back around to face Kim and the rest of the squad.
"It's official!" she sing-songed happily.
Kim frowned at her rival, "What, that you're actually out to purposely drop me on my head?"
"Says the girl that can do anything? You shouldn't be so clumsy on your feet, K," Bonnie sniped back, carrying right on before Kim could retort, "And, no! What I'm talking about is the next annual, totally exclusive Mad Dog house party hosted by moi!"
Immediately, Kim bristled.
"My parents will be away so that means we will be free to, like, completely indulge in loud music, good food and even better drinks all night long."
There was some excited chatter beginning to rumble between both footballers and cheerleaders at the thought of Bonnie hosting what would be another of the many non-chaperoned team parties at her house over the last three years. But Kim's brow remained furrowed.
"A party? At your house? I'm sure your sisters will be so welcoming."
"Away at college," Bonnie snapped back with a roll of her eyes, "You think I wouldn't know by now to work around their schedule?" With a flick of her hair, the brunette turned her attention back to the broader group, "Straight after tomorrow night's game, everyone is hereby invited to Casa de Rockwaller to celebrate the end to another fabulous semester."
The anticipation had grown a lot more vocal as some of the guys swapped high-fives and the girls started giggling and gossiping about how they were going to do their hair. The smug expression on Bonnie's face was unmistakable. Nothing made her quite as happy as being the centre of attention. And when she spun back around to stare directly at Kim and Ron, Bonnie's eyes narrowed with a wily smirk.
"Well, everyone except for mascot-boy, obviously."
As Kim crossed her arms over her chest, Ron simply scoffed with a wave of his hand. This wasn't exactly a surprise.
For as long as they had all been in high school, the girls on Kim's cheer squad had always gathered to commemorate the end of every semester. In fact, the very first party in the middle of their freshman year had actually been hosted by Kim. That was until Ron had found his eventual calling as the Middleton Mad Dog, and Bonnie had convinced the majority of the squad to join her in banning him from ever being apart of one of their celebrations. He was so beyond lame, she had argued - what would including him possibly do to their image as a team?
And so, Kim had stood in solidarity with her best friend. Obviously. Since then, the two of them had sat out any future parties which were quickly taken over by Bonnie. Even more so from the start of their junior year when the girls had first invited the boys on the football team to join them for the regular affairs.
The parties has certainly taken a steep turn away from the innocent sleepover Kim had once hosted from that point.
"Uh, not so fast."
The sudden sound of another male voice from the pack of footballers brought any more taunting words from Bonnie to a screeching stop. Kim raised an eyebrow of her own when Ron's friend and teammate, Henry, spoke again.
"Stoppable is a part of this team, he's not some lame mascot."
Ron frowned, "Wait, lame - ?"
" - He's scored more touchdowns this season than any of us, and broken more records than the Mad Dogs have even seen in the past five years," the wide receiver went on, looking to the rest of their team, "Right guys?"
Some sounds of agreement were certainly more enthusiastic than others, but there was no doubt that every young man in purple was nodding their head. Henry turned back to Bonnie with a shrug of his shoulders.
"If Ron's not invited, I'm not coming, either."
Ron almost couldn't believe it when three, four, five other guys were quick to echo Henry's loyal stance. Kim glanced up at him, her chest fluttering at the sense of pride glistening in his brown eyes.
It was all very much the opposite to how Bonnie was suddenly feeling.
"Ugh," she grunted with a snort, "Everyone's so quick to support the charity case."
"It sure sounds like he has more supporters than you do right now," Kim snapped back just as smugly.
"Okay, okay, finnne," Bonnie finally conceded. Her tone was awfully reluctant, but her decision couldn't be helped. There was no way Middleton's Queen B was ever going to let an opportunity to assert her social dominance slide - even if it meant including two of her least favourite people.
With an evil glisten in her teal coloured eyes, Bonnie shot a defeated glare at Ron and Kim, "But if you're going to weasel your way into my party, you'd better be prepared for the full, wild, Mad Dog experience."
Kim sensed her own vision narrow, sharply. What the heck was that supposed to mean?
"Dude, you are welcome in advance," Henry cut back in with a brotherly slap on Ron's shoulder. He and Bonnie and the rest of both teams then began to disperse back to the locker rooms, leaving Kim and Ron in the middle of the football field.
She guessed they would have to wait and see exactly what Bonnie had in store for them. The thought made Kim huff out loud as she blew the longer of her red locks out of her face. As if she would even consider going to the party in the first place.
Though as it turned out, Ron had other ideas.
"This... is... going to be awesome!"
Kim whirled around on the spot, frowning at her boyfriend. Rufus was quick to join him as the little, pink mole rat jumped up on his human's shoulder with an excited squeak.
"Don't tell me you actually want to be a part of her trash excuse for team bonding?"
Ron had an innocent expression in his face as he glanced from Rufus to Kim, "Why not? It's, like, totally a final rite of passage."
"Ron," Kim droned sympathetically.
"Plus, don't you want to get one back on Bonnie? For snatching your parties away from you in the first place?"
"You mean the parties I stopped having when she refused to include you?"
"And did I ever tell you how much I appreciate you for that?"
Kim resisted an adoring shiver up her spine when Ron reached out to take her by the arm, "Do not even think about trying to suck up to me on this."
Ron matched his girlfriend's teasing smile. He squeezed her arm just once, before crawling his hand downwards to meet hers instead. His smirk turned up into something a little more genuine then.
"I mean, it is kinda' cool the guys want me there, though."
"Well, duh," Kim agreed, "I told you they see you as part of the team."
"So, with only one semester left after this one, shouldn't we, like... try to squeeze in as much fun as possible?"
"Fun?"
"Well, fun with most people there, anyways."
Kim swallowed back another sigh. His enthusiasm was always so, adorably infectious. She swore he did it to her on purpose.
"Okay," Kim spoke, albeit still a little uncertain, "Okay, we can go."
"You sure?"
"So sure."
"Boo-yah!"
The expression left him so quickly that Kim barely had the chance to blink when Ron leaned in and pecked her on the lips.
"Full Mad Dog party experience, here we come!"
She reciprocated by means of impulse, obviously, kissing him back just as sweetly. But still, Kim found herself cringing.
It was one thing to have Bonnie taunting them so openly about what may or may not go down once both teams let completely loose at her party... but to have Ron seemingly on board with it all now, as well?
To say that Kim was still unsure was the world's largest understatement.
"So, hit the showers and then Bueno Nacho?" Ron asked, starting to stroll backwards towards the locker room.
Kim rolled her eyes, taking a step to follow him, "Like I have a choice?"
"You're the best!" Ron called back, spinning around to launch into an excited jog, "I'll cya' in ten!"
She couldn't help but feel her heart beat lightly in her chest.
Kim watched as Ron and Rufus continued to make their way down to join the rest of the Mad Dog team. His keen sense of eagerness was so endearing. She couldn't help but glow in the rays of his own happiness.
She only hoped they would still be floating on cloud nine together by the end of tomorrow night.
It was now Friday afternoon - an hour or two before the big game, and an hour or two longer before Bonnie's party later that night.
Ron was gliding down the halls of Middleton High with a rather confident skip in his step. His purple jersey was sitting loose over his pad-less frame, and his helmet was tucked securely under one arm. Rufus was sitting comfortably in Ron's pocket, too, chirping happily about the evening to come.
The past five months or so had certainly been one bizarre whirlwind. If anyone had told Ron at the end of his junior year that not only would he soon be dating the girl of his dreams, but he would also be a valued member of his school's football team, he would have instantly accused them of being an evil robot or monkey ninja in disguise. And yet, no matter how much he may have still questioned it sometimes - Ron really wasn't dreaming.
To top it all off, the running back was set to truly seal his spot on the team later that night. Not that Ron didn't understand Kim's reservations - after all it was Bonnie - but the fact that he felt so wanted and included by the rest of his teammates sort of trumped all of that.
Everything would be totally fine.
"Seriously, girl? A party? At Bonnie Rockwaller's house?"
At the familiar sound of Kim's other best friend, Ron came skidding to a stop. He pulled up short of the final row of lockers before rounding the corner to meet his girlfriend at her own. With a subtle peak around to the next hallway, Ron's eyes widened slightly at the sight of Kim and Monique.
"You so don't need to remind me," Kim responded.
"Then why are you going?"
"Because it's important to Ron."
Rufus murmured with a squeak of curiosity as he glanced up at Ron. The teenage boy stated right back, feeling the smallest slither of guilt pinch at his core.
Ron found himself frozen at the multiple options that suddenly appeared before him. God only knew how much trouble he got himself in the last time he had misinterpreted a conversation of Kim and Monique's he had been eavesdropping on.
Should he really be listening in? Should he just turn and run the other way? Should he bravely puff out his chest and simply confront them? Each plan certainly had their own unique pros and cons, but before he had the chance to make up his mind - Kim opened her mouth to speak again.
"He finally feels like he's been accepted as one of the guys, ya' know? I don't want to take that away from him."
"Even if that means having Bonnie torture you both all night?"
Kim closed her locker, blowing out a long, loud sigh, "It's not even her that I'm overly worried about. It's the vibe of the whole party in general," she confessed, "I mean, I know what Bonnie and the girls get up to at these things. And the guys. They drink, some of them smoke, and they spend the whole night hooking up with one another. And Ron said he wants 'the full Mad Dog experience', I just... wonder what he means by all that."
"So, what? You're thinking the little dog is gonna' go too mad and embarrass you?"
Ron felt his heart sink. But Kim's answer was immediate.
"No. No, it's nothing like that. If we were fourteen again and I still cared way too much about what Bonnie thought of me, then maybe," she explained, "But not now. His essential Ron-ness is the whole reason I'm dating him. It's not like I want him to change, I want him to stay his same dorky, sweet self forever."
A faint blush filled Ron's cheeks. Maybe this wasn't the worst conversation for him to be listening in on.
"I just don't know want he thinks is going to happen in terms of drinking, and anything else Bonnie might try to pressure us into, and... ugh."
"You're over-thinking it," Monique shot back, "You know that boy cares too much to do anything to stress you out."
Kim slowly nodded her head, flattening out one of the pleats in her cheer skirt. At the end of the day, all she wanted was for Ron to be happy and enjoy himself. It would just be nice if that didn't have to come at the expense of her own sanity. Or either of their dignities.
"I guess you're right," Kim conceded. The two girls took a first step away from her locker as Kim flicked a stray strand of red hair out of her face, "I kinda' do just hope he brings along some level of maturity..."
At the sound of them coming closer, Ron's expression shifted to one of sudden panic. Grabbing on tight to the belt loop of the teen's brown cargo pants, Rufus let out a tiny 'whoa' when Ron took a couple of quick steps backwards, before he regained a regular pace as calmly as possible.
He pretended to not be paying any attention when he almost walked into Kim and glanced straight at her, "Oh! KP! Sorry, didn't see you there."
Kim shook her head with a laugh. She had reached her hand out to balance herself against Ron, and gave his waist a gentle squeeze when she looked back at him, "You'd better have your head on much more of a swivel once kick-off rolls around tonight," she teased.
"Heh, you know it."
Ron couldn't resist the spark of electricity that zapped in his tummy where Kim was holding onto him. No matter how often he saw her in her cheer uniform, he swore she only looked more and more beautiful every time.
"Good luck tonight. To both of y'all," Monique cut back him, narrowing her eyes with a subtle stare at Kim, "Talk to you tomorrow for the 4-1-1 on the party?"
Kim nodded her head, "I'll text you."
The concern in both their voices was unmistakable, and it made Ron sort of gulp. He hoped he wasn't making the wrong decision by being so excited.
"Everything good?" he asked once Monique was gone.
Without even stopping to think, Kim leaned up on her toes and kissed Ron on the cheek, "Totally. Now, come on - we've got a game to get ready for."
And with that, as Rufus let out a hearty cheer, Kim took Ron's hand in hers and began to lead the both of them to their respective locker rooms.
Keeping quiet, Ron simply glimpsed down at Kim where she walked by his side. He smiled softly, but soon found another hidden frown slump into his features.
He thought about the last thing he had heard his girlfriend mumble to Monique. About how Kim hoped he would show how mature he was at Bonnie's party. It was certainly no issue for Kim - she had maturity in spades, and everyone knew it.
Maybe he did need to find some fine line between cutting loose through his final initiation onto the team, while still not losing sight of who he really was.
Heck, if it meant keeping Kim happy and proud of him, then anything else truly was out of the question...
Well, hello, HELLLO :) It seems I might owe a few well wishes and 'Happy New Years' seeing as I haven't uploaded since November..! But I'm super happy to be back with this super short, super sweet little filler snippet.
I also come with happy news - now that I'm back four days in the office and on my three hour round commute where I get the majority of my writing done each day, I'm hoping to take many less longer stints between chapters. Secondly, my original plan was to roll this chapter straight into Bonnie's party, until the total word count started getting faaaar too large for a single instalment. Which does mean that more than half of the party has already been written... :) So hopefully I'll be back with that really soon!
What kind of stunt, if any, will Bonnie try and pull? Will Ron behave himself? How will Kim react to it all? Boyyyy, it is about to get juicy ;)
I hope you all enjoyed for now!
Till next time,
Reneyyyyyyy x