Ron Stoppable was not a brave young man. He knew this very well. The issue wasn't with the second adjective, as he was, indeed, young. The issue was with being brave...he knew that he wasn't. Plenty of things scared him; angry teachers, super-villains, mechanical horses, blitzing linebackers, blitzing safeties, small bugs, garden gnomes, angry coaches, happy coaches...in fact it was easier to count the things that didn't scare him than those that did. However, he was now facing one of the things that scared him more than most; a pretty girl who was showing interest in him.

Despite the fact that he was scared most of the time, he usually managed to face what scared him. He dealt with angry teachers and coaches, he fought super-villains and he reluctantly blocked oncoming linebackers and safeties. Now, despite the fact that he was honestly flattered that Michelle wanted to go on a date with him and he was looking forward to it, it scared him. Still, it was time to rise to the occasion; he squared his shoulders and strode forward to face the cheerleader.

"Good game," she congratulated him, when he was close enough for casual conversation.

"Thanks," he nodded, glad that the automatic response gave him something...anything...to do. What was he supposed to do now? It was rough enough going on a date when you really hadn't done much dating...but when you fully expected the date to go nowhere it was even more difficult. Fortunately for him, Michelle seemed more amused than offended.

"You don't know what to do, do you?" She smiled at him a surprisingly pretty and friendly smile. "I get that a lot; guys ask me out, then they don't know how they're supposed to act. With all the hero work you do, I thought you wouldn't be quite so scared."

"I've only really been on one date," he admitted. "At least, the sort of date that normal teens go on."

"What did you do?"

"Well, me and the girl wound up with our minds sucked into a virtual reality video game and spent most of the evening dealing with a guy...other than me...who had a crush on her."

Michelle offered a polite laugh, which stopped after a few moments. "You're being serious, aren't you?" She managed to ask.

"Only me," he admitted.

"Well, I've been on a few dates," she told him. "So why don't you just get in and follow my lead?"

It seemed like a good enough idea, so he took his place in the passenger seat. To his immense relief, she drove to Browns.

While a casual observer towards his life would assume that he spent all of his 'dining out' time at Bueno Nacho, this wasn't the truth. The fact was, he simply spent the vast majority of his dining out time at his favorite haunt. During his teenage years, he had sampled most of the dining establishments...that were within the price range of a teenager...in the greater, Middleton Area. Therefore, it was a relief, and a surprise, when Michelle pulled into this particular restaurant. Browns was just one step above fast food...the sort of place that you went when your funds were limited but you didn't want to actually go to a fast food restaurant.

He spotted her offering him a small grin and realized that his look of relief must have shown. As much as Michelle had a reputation of being a status-seeker, she seemed to know the situation. The fact that she didn't insist on someplace expensive helped him relax a little, which prompted another smile from her. She understood, and he understood that she understood, and she understood that he understood that she understood...on into infinity.

He held the door for her, trying his best to be a gentleman. Inside, it was busy, but Browns was all about speed of service rather than formal dining. The staff was mostly teenagers, with quite a few classmates that had probably been sitting in the stands or playing in the band just a short time ago. Several other players were already there, either with dates or just hanging out with each other, and he exchanged greetings with them during the short wait for a table.

Soon, they were seated and looking over the menu. It didn't take long, as the selection was limited, so he was able to make up his mind fairly quickly, then try to surreptitiously observe his date while trying to not look like he was doing so. He caught her looking at him and quickly returned his attention to the menu, realizing that she had also made her selection and was checking him out, as well. Instead of pretending to to read a menu he had memorized within thirty seconds of picking up, he put it down, leaned back and just looked around the place. This was the sort of thing he was supposed to be doing, hanging out with his classmates on a Friday night. Sure, he wasn't with anyone but Michelle, but at least he was out of the house, socializing. He was coming to the conclusion that as much as he had enjoyed his 'never be normal' life, there was quite a bit he had missed along the way because of it.

"So, do we move on with the next step?" Michelle's question yanked his attention back to his own table.

"Next step?" He was a little confused.

"We've pretty much decided what we want," she told him. "And we really don't know each other very well. This is the time for us to check each other out, so to speak. I'll go first; I know that you play football and you go on missions with Kim Possible. What else do you enjoy?"

"There's not much to say," he shrugged. "At least, nothing that's interesting. I like playing video games with a guy called Felix Renton. When we don't get together in reality, we do it in cyberspace. I also have a little sister that I like to spoil whenever I can."

"Anything school related?" She asked.

"Not really," he told her. "I think you already know that after football season's over, I'm going to try out to be the mascot on the cheer squad. Other than that, I'm not on any clubs or teams."

"Hmm," she considered this. "What are your plans for after high school?"

"Well, Coach Roughman isn't letting any scouts talk to his players until after the season is over," he told her. "I'm hoping that I'll be able to swing a scholarship and trade a few more years of carrying the pigskin into an education."

"What do you hope to study?"

"I don't have the science or math brains to go into medicine," he told her. "But I've been thinking of physical therapy. Between football and doing the sidekick thing, I've gotten pretty good at recovering from a beating." He paused a moment. "You're up now."

"Okay, that's fair," she shrugged in her turn. "For outside of school, I'm into hanging with friends and I'm in the Middleton Optimists Club. In school, I'm in the choir, the student government and the school paper. I like to know what's going on and who's doing it. As for future plans, I'm hoping to get into UCLA and study either journalism or communication."

"What's your dream for the future?" He asked her.

"I'd like to be a reporter," she answered. "I'd like to work my way up a network and be an anchorwoman on one of the major news programs."

"You'd like to be famous?"

"Why not?" She asked, in return. "Someone has to be in front of the camera, someone has to be the person people listen to, why not me?"

The server, a girl from the band, showed up to take their orders, giving both of them a knowing smile as she did so. She congratulated Ron on a good game and Michelle on good routines. Ron thanked the girl for the compliment and, contrary to what he had heard about his date, Michelle thanked the girl, as well.

"I see we just got a few other things to talk about," she noted, when the server left.

"I don't understand," Ron admitted.

"Okay, you looked shocked when I thanked Lisa," Michelle noted. "Ron, I'm fully aware of the reputation I have. I'm hot and I know it. When it comes to dating, I know who I want and I don't settle for anyone less. But, have you ever seen me be impolite to someone who simply came up an offered me a compliment?"

Ron thought about it for a moment. "No," he answered, choosing to not mention that he really hadn't paid that much attention to her.

"I even knew Lisa's name, and I can see that you didn't," Michelle pointed out. "Granted, I've been in Eastside longer than you, but would the stereotypical, stuck-up cheerleader know a band-nerd's name?"

"I guess not," he admitted.

"Well, part of it is that the choir and the band often work together," she admitted. "Anyway, back to the point I was making; I know my reputation and I know where it doesn't fit with reality. I think you've bought into the reputation rather than the real me."

"So, what's the real you?" Ron asked her.

"Like I said, I know that I'm hot," she answered, with no embarrassment and no arrogance. "Plenty of guys want to date me, so I have choice. I choose guys who have status; mainly the athletes."

Ron didn't have a response to that.

"I see you're a little judgmental about it," she shrugged. "But let me turn the tables on you a little; you said that you're into video games."

He nodded his acknowledgment.

"Say you had a number of girls who wanted to date you; all were equally pretty but a couple of them were into gaming, wouldn't you prefer to date the girls who did something you were interested in?"

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "But what about Brian?"

"I don't understand," she looked at him with a curious expression.

"I wasn't here last year," he pointed out. "But I hear that the two of you were dating. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I can see that there's a little tension between the two of you. He's a popular athlete and even though my bread isn't buttered on that side, I know that he's good looking. Why aren't the two of you still together?"

"So, you assume that I dropped him?" She fixed him with a piercing gaze.

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "I guess I'm jumping to conclusions, aren't I?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "But let me level with you. He never pushed me to...do things...I didn't want to do. The problem was that he wasn't into much of anything once the football season was over. Feel free to think that I'm vain, but I want to date a guy that's active in the school. I talked to him about it, but he had no interest in Winter sports or anything else. I even tried to get him to try out for the mascot, but he wasn't interested."

"I didn't know the old eagle," Ron pointed out. "But he was pretty good. I don't think that someone who had never done it before could have beat him out."

"But Brian wouldn't try anything," Michelle told him. "No sports, no clubs or activities, nothing to make him stand out. He just worked out in preparation for track and field, studied and worked a part time job. He still wanted to date me, but that's not the guy I want to be with."

Again, Ron just looked at her.

"Okay, you're getting judgmental again," she told him. "Let's flip the script again. Let's go back to you dating a girl who's into gaming. The two of you get together a couple of times a week to game, it's part of your dates. What happens when she suddenly stops gaming and doesn't like to do anything you like doing anymore?"

There was something wrong with this example, but Ron couldn't quite put his finger on it. "I guess we lose what brought us together in the first place," he answered.

"Exactly," she answered. "Brian and I broke up because what brought us together in the first place was gone."

Any answer Ron could have had to that was interrupted by their food being delivered. He smiled and thanked...Lisa...and Michelle did to. Then, Ron was reminded that he hadn't eaten dinner and his lunch hadn't been enough to sustain a growing, active boy. The food was reasonable...not like he or his mother could make...but reasonable. Seasoned with his hunger, it was very, very good. He had to concentrate on minding his manners and not simply inhaling it.

He must have been successful, because he finished at roughly the same time that Michelle. He offered to pay for her meal and, due to her selection of a reasonable place to eat, Ron had plenty to cover the bill and the tip. With the meal finished, he asked her what she would like to do next.

"There's a party going tonight," she answered, with a smile. "Nothing wild, just a get together up at the lake with music that's too loud and teenagers that have too much energy. We won't be out too late, mainly because it's getting cold. There will even be some parents there to keep things from getting out of hand. Still, it will be fun."

"Okay, sounds nice," Ron said, feeling a little nervous.

"I see that you're trying to be polite," she noted, as he held her coat for her to put on. "How have you enjoyed the date so far?"

"It's been nice," he answered, truthfully.

"But you're wondering if there's going to be another one," she added.

"Well, I don't think that the two of us are exactly on the same wavelength, so to speak," he admitted.

"Why?"

"You said that you broke up with Brian because he wasn't into Winter sports or other activities," he pointed out. "Neither am I. Once the football season is over, I'm back to being plain old Ron."

"But, you're going to try out for the mascot," she countered. "I saw you as the Mad Dog, you're a shoe-in and not only is that status in and of itself, it means we'll be associating with each other. Beyond that, you still go on the missions with Kim Possible, so that gives you even more status, if you'd just make use of it."

"I don't do the missions for the attention," he grumbled, as they walked out of the restaurant.

"Of course not," she rolled her eyes. "And you're all about the team when it comes to football. But what's wrong with getting a little bit of recognition for it? Yes, you play hard every play and help the team win, but it's getting college scouts to look at you. There's nothing wrong with taking a reward in the form of a scholarship, is there?"

"Well, no..." he admitted.

"So what's wrong with accepting some recognition for helping Possible on her missions?" She asked him. "You give your time and effort, you risk your life, so what's wrong with getting a little appreciation for it?"

"Well, I am getting mentioned more," he told her. Ever since he demanded recognition from Wade and Kim, his name had been mentioned more often and a few colleges had expressed interest. He honestly wondered what would pan out when the season was over and any college scouts would be free to interview him.

"You're getting a few mentions now and then," she shook her head. "All you're worried about is college, but what about more? With a little effort, you could be in the papers, in the magazines and all over social media. You could be famous if you wanted to, so why not? Why not get some more recognition for the risk and hard work?"

"Because it would cheapen it," he answered her, after thinking about it for a moment. "I started doing it because Kim was my friend and I didn't want her going out alone. After awhile, I realized that someone had to do it and if I wouldn't, who would?"

"There's nothing wrong with becoming famous for doing it," she pointed out. "Maybe it would encourage other people to do it."

"That's probably not a good idea," he answered. "I kind of lucked into it but there were plenty of times that my screw-ups could have meant...well, you get the idea."

She nodded at that.

"Not to mention, what happens when some fame-hungry parents decide that their kid could be the next, famous teen hero? It's bad enough when one of them pushes their kid to be a performer...but a hero? That wouldn't end well."

"That...could be bad," she admitted. "But you said that you're getting a few mentions and you didn't sound upset about it. Why not a little more? Why not real recognition?"

He thought about that as he climbed into the passenger seat. A few minutes into the drive, he had organized his thoughts.

"There's a difference between being compensated for my time and being rewarded," he finally told her. "If a college admissions officer were to wonder why I wasn't in my high-school's German Club, or the Debate Team, then realize that a lot of my free time was spent running around the world to fight bad guys and recover lost things, and decide that's enough of an extracurricular, that's fine. On the other hand, if that officer was to let me in because I'm that guy on TV or the internet, it's not doing anyone any favors."

"But what if you being there adds something for everyone else?" She countered. "You've got a perspective on the world that very few people have, you've seen more of it at your age than most will see in a lifetime. Wouldn't having someone like that, who's willing to share his experiences, be worth it to a college...or even a company?"

"There's really not all that much to tell," he shrugged his shoulders. "Most missions, at least the ones that take me overseas, go like this: First, we get a call, grab our ready bags and any special equipment that Wade has ready for us. We catch a local ride that takes us to an airport or military base and there, we climb into a cargo hold. After an hours' long flight, without windows, we wind up in the country in question. If the international flight goes over our goal, we parachute. If it doesn't, we catch a local ride to where we need to go. If it's a fight the bad guy sort of thing, Kim would fight whatever muscle was present while I got to the doomsday machine and made it blow up, or recovered what was stolen, or whatever else the mission was. Usually, we wound up running our butts off out of a lair before the whole thing blew up. Then, we might be able to catch a quick bite to eat before the rides took us back. I spent more time napping or doing homework on these missions than I did learning about the local customs or cultures."

"But you managed a little bit of sightseeing?" She asked him.

"Once in a great while, yeah," he shrugged again, then frowned. "Okay, we actually saw quite a bit. The local rides were usually small-scale...in someone's car or the back of their truck sort of thing. We didn't get the tourist spiel, but we learned a fair amount. Come to think of it, the food we got wasn't the touristy stuff...we got the real local cuisine."

"There you go," she smiled at him. "You've experienced things that most of us never will."

"Why is that important to you?" He asked.

"It should be important to you," she corrected him. "This is the sort of things that people notice; the person who's been around the world and seen things other than what even most travelers do. There's nothing wrong with getting some use out of it."

"But who would be interested in hearing about me talking about hanging out in a Cambodian Village, talking to the locals?" He asked.

"You'd be surprised," she told him, with a satisfied smile. Before he could wonder if he should be happy, or disturbed, about this smile, she pulled off of the road.

While Ron had been to very few...as in no...teenage parties, he decided that this must be fairly standard in a non-standard sort of way. Someone must have gotten permission from a park authority, as it was at a recreation area on Lake Middleton. This late in the year, and this late at night, crowding out picnic-goers wasn't an issue. Several of the grills had charcoal fires going, fighting off the late autumn chill. He guessed that there had to be at least a hundred teens milling about, but it was hard to make a guess with them slipping into and out of the faint light of the fires and the headlights. Michelle parked the car, one in a very long line of vehicles, took him by the hand and led him towards what seemed to be the center of teen activity.

He wound up chiding himself a little as they weaved through loose knots of teens; other guys on the team had asked him if he wanted to hit parties now and then and he had always declined. Why? While he was friendly enough with most of his teammates on the field and at school, he really didn't have any close friends. Even the very friendly Rick was only an "at-school" friend.

Maybe his 'never be normal' motto had cost him. He should have some closer friends.

These thoughts were swept away when Michelle pulled him through the rest of the loose crowd and into an open space. This space was in front of a stage and lit with some floodlights. On the stage a band...more fellow students that Ron couldn't put names to...were just getting ready for their first number. In true, alpha-female fashion, Michelle had put them on the dance floor right on time for the first number.

There wasn't really any reason to NOT dance with Michelle; she was his date, she was pretty and they were on the dance floor. The band wasn't as good as a professional group, or even as good as Josh's band back in Middleton, but it wasn't exactly bad, either. There was a lot of energy in this group and Ron found himself completely enjoying being there. It didn't hurt that Michelle, as well as being very pretty, really knew how to move to enhance it. The two danced three songs before making their way off of the floor.

Michelle led him to a pickup, where some parents were distributing drinks from the back. Ron understood; the parents were giving out soft drinks and other such "safe" beverages, hoping that the teens wouldn't drink anything stronger...or would at least limit the amount that they did. Grabbing a cola, and thanking the parents for the compliments on a good game as well as the drink, he let Michelle lead him among the burning charcoal grills until she found a group of her friends.

There were three other girls, each with a boy in tow. Two of the other boys were on the team, so Ron was familiar enough with them to be friendly. The third guy looked familiar, but Ron couldn't put a name to him. The boy didn't take offense, simply provided his name and shook hands. For the next few minutes, Ron remained mostly quiet, enjoying the conversation that the other teens were having. However, when the conversation went to the mountains above Lake Middleton, Michelle looked to him and asked him if he had ever climbed the high peaks. When he admitted that he had, she prompted him to explain and that wound up with him telling about the fake rescue mission that had resulted in Team Possible taking on the extreme sports bunch that Adrena Lynn had put together to get revenge on Kim. The tale ended with the fly fishermen restraining the fake stunt-woman, which left the other teens both raptly interested and laughing.

"Is that how most of your missions end?" Michelle asked. "Kind of dangerous and funny at the same time?"

"Well, yeah," Ron hadn't really thought about it before, but despite all of the danger he found himself in during these missions, they usually had a very bizarre element to them.

"What's another one?" She asked.

At first, he was afraid that he would bore his audience but when he saw that they were all waiting for him to tell another story, he told about the mission to prevent Junior from stealing the Tower of London from New Zealand.

"In the end, Jimmy decided to not make the movie," he concluded. "He wanted to do something called 'Monkey Ninja's in Space', but we had been there and done that."

"You've been to space?" One of the boys asked him.

"That's a story for another time," Michelle interrupted. "We haven't been on the dance floor in too long."

The other girls agreed with her and pulled their dates, who didn't exactly resist, back towards the band. Ron had to admit that he didn't mind dancing with Michelle. They danced energetically for two songs, then a slow tune came up and he had to admit that it felt nice to have her arms around his neck and his arms around her waist. When the song ended, he told her that he could use a little break.

"Getting a little tired?" She asked him, without any judgment that he could detect.

"Yeah," he agreed, leading the way to the truck with the drinks. "And I'm used to seeing my sister before she goes to bed."

"You still owe us your story about monkey ninjas in space," Michelle told him, as he grabbed another cola. "But after that, I'll get us out of here gracefully."

Ron didn't know if he should be grateful or nervous about that last statement, but he soon found himself puzzling out how he could tell about Fiske's efforts to kidnap Frederick without mentioning the Mystical Monkey Power. In the end, and with a slightly larger group converging around him, he decided to just say that Fiske had a weird thing for monkeys. The teens...and a couple of adults...around him accepted the explanation. They were all a little skeptical when he told them about Fiske and his monkey ninjas...at least until someone did a search on a phone and learned that they were real. Then, they were all suitably offended when he told them about Fiske threatening the kids in order to get on the rocket. After that, everyone seemed amazed with the trip to the space station, the fight against Fiske and the return. Then, there was a healthy dose of skepticism when the told them about the monkeys following him around for a few days. Again, it was a phone and the internet to the rescue, as someone managed to find a picture of him and Kim, in their usual booth at Bueno Nacho, with a swarm of monkeys surrounding them.

With the story concluded, Michelle announced that she was ready to call it a night and that she was Ron's ride back home. The small crowd broke up, some to remain at the party and others to go home, or do other things. Michelle kept a hold of his hand for the walk back to her car and he had to admit that he was reluctant to let it go when they reached the vehicle.

"If you want, you can let me off at the school," he offered, once they were inside and back on the road.

"Are you embarrassed by me?" She asked.

"No," he denied. "It's just..."

"It's awkward," she supplied for him. "You don't know what this date means. If I drop you off at home, it makes it seem more official and you don't know if it's proper to invite me in to meet your parents."

"Well..." he answered, a little surprised by her insight and honesty. "Yeah."

"Don't worry," she gave him a dazzling smile. "I don't want to make this any rougher than it has to be. "It's a chilly night, so I have no problem driving you home. It's only a casual date, so there's no need to introduce me to your parents and because of that, I'm not going to expect you to try to kiss me."

"I shouldn't be as relieved as I am," he admitted. "This has to be the first time that a pretty girl has said no kissing and I thought it was a good thing."

"Like I said, this was just getting to know each other," she reminded him. "If you had a good time, you're free to ask me out, next week at school."

He directed her to his house and thought about what she had just said. Apparently, she was kind of hoping that he would ask her out again and to be honest, he had no reason not to. She was also putting this off until next week so he wouldn't feel rushed. Either she was putting on an act, or there was a lot more to her than he had thought. All too soon, she pulled up in front of his house.

"I really had a good time," he told her, which was honest enough. "If you don't mind, I would like to talk to you more come next week."

"I look forward to it," she unleashed another dazzling smile on him as he closed the door.

For several minutes, he could only stand there, looking off down the street as her taillights vanished around a corner. Then, it occurred to him that somehow, he had managed something he had never thought that he would.

He had managed to have a good date.

A/N: As I am posting this chapter on the first day of 2023, let me take this opportunity to wish each and all a prosperous, healthy and happy new year.

As always, big thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for beta reading.