That Monday afternoon, Kim briefly stopped at Middleton High cheer practice to say goodbye to the squad. She explained that she would be transferring to Upperton, and that she would miss them greatly (well, except Bonnie). There were plenty of tears and hugs all around, and naturally Bonnie had to make a snarky comment about how she would be running the school now. Kim didn't care. This was the last time she'd ever have to deal with her old rival, and anyway her level of evil was nothing compared to Mr. Gray's. Kim frankly didn't think she had known what "evil" truly meant until all of this happened.

As she came home wiping her tears, she noted that the house was quiet. That wasn't surprising. Ever since coming home, the normal chaos the tweebs had always generated was completely non-existent. They had mostly been staying in their room, keeping to themselves. Once upon a time Kim would have loved the thought of her brothers not bothering her, but now she really missed their antics. It simply wasn't normal to have them behaving this way, and it served as a constant reminder of the torture they had suffered. She hoped that they'd be able to work through this one day, but she just didn't know.

As she stood in the living room lost in her thoughts, she was interrupted by a knock on the door. She answered to find a very excited Ron—wearing an Upperton Panthers shirt!

"Ron, I—are you coming to Upperton with me?"

"BOO-YAH!" Ron declared happily. "When Barkin found out you were leaving, he pulled a few strings to get me transferred over to Upperton, too! I think he just wanted to get rid of me, but WHO CARES? We're going to still be classmates!"

Kim was ecstatic! She'd still have her best friend with her in her new school, and that would make the transfer SO much easier. "That's wonderful!" she said excitedly as she gave Ron a bear hug that he returned. As they embraced, though, they heard a small voice saying "hey, Ron."

Kim turned around to notice the tweebs standing in the living room. They had heard Ron's cheer and had come down to investigate. Instantly, Kim's happiness disappeared as the awful reason she and Ron were transferring came back to her. Ron also quickly noticed that the boys looked really downcast and nothing like themselves.

"Oh, um, hey," Ron waved at them a little nervously, not really sure what to say. Kim, understanding Ron's feelings, took over the conversation. "Ron's transferred to Upperton, too," she told her brothers. "So he and I are still going to be together for senior year."

"That's great!" they agreed. "You guys really do belong together." They perked up a little bit at the news, but still looked droopy. Kim was used to this demeanor by now, but it was Ron's first time seeing the boys after they were attacked. The contrast between the Jim and Tim he knew and what he was seeing now was stark, and it left him really upset. After the boys went back upstairs, he sadly turned to Kim. "KP, I don't think I've ever seen them so—so—"

"I know. It's awful, isn't it?" With a sigh, Kim sat down on the couch. "That's how they've been ever since this happened. They spend most of their time in their room, and one weird thing is they're spending a lot of time in the bathroom, too. The detective we're working with said that's common with molested kids. They wash themselves a lot to try and cleanse themselves." Kim bit her lip and hot tears began to sting her eyes. "It just breaks my heart thinking about what they went through."

"Oh, Kim." Ron hated seeing his best friend, and now girlfriend, this upset. He sat down next to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders as she quietly cried. Rufus, who had been listening to the conversation from Ron's pocket, hopped out and hugged Kim's neck, trying his best to comfort her as well. "Thanks, Rufus," Kim said gratefully to the naked mole rat as she felt his touch. "And thank you, Ron. You're really the best friend a girl could ask for." Taking a deep breath, she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "You can probably tell that I've been an emotional wreck myself."

"That's nothing to be embarrassed about, KP. You love your brothers a lot, and they're hurting. Of course you're going to hurt for them."

"But I still can't get over what happened." Kim turned to look at Ron. "If the tweebs had been hurt in a car wreck or something, I'd still be worried sick about them, but at least then it would have been an accident. That's just something that happens sometimes. But to think that someone they trusted would deliberately hurt them, especially in such a sick way—" She shook her head. "I'm never going to understand how anyone could do such a thing."

"Me, neither," Ron agreed. "What's going to happen to that guy? They go to prison for a long time, right?"

Kim nodded. "He's facing a lot of prison time, but the trial's not until June. Right before my birthday, actually." Kim's birthday was June 28. "We're dreading it. Jim and Tim are scared to death of testifying in court, and the rest of us are going to have to listen to all the ugly details getting shared with a jury." She sighed. "Ron, the guy actually made child porn of them, and all those images have to be presented as evidence. I don't know if I can handle that."

"Oh, man." Ron hadn't realized there was child pornography of Jim and Tim. "That really sucks. Well, if you're okay with it, I'd be more than willing to come to court with you for emotional support. Maybe that'll help."

Kim smiled at Ron's offer. "Yes, absolutely. That would mean a lot. I can definitely use a support person, even if that's supposed to be my job."

"Huh?"

"I'm designated as Jim and Tim's support person for the trial," Kim explained to him. "Since they're so young and went through something so traumatic, the court's going to let me sit with them when they testify. That way they'll be more comfortable and not as scared."

At that moment, Kim heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and turned to see Jim and Tim carrying a box. "We—we were wondering if you would be interested in playing Monopoly with us," Tim said.

A big smile came over Kim's face. She was thrilled to see her brothers finally starting to come out of their self-imposed isolation. "You guys, there is nothing I would rather do than play Monopoly with you," she told them without an ounce of exaggeration. "Ron, you interested?"

"Absolutely," he agreed. The four of them sat down and spent the next several hours playing a game of Monopoly. Kim wouldn't remember the course of the game or its outcome past tonight, but she would never forget playing the game itself. That was the moment she first saw her brothers, slowly but surely, beginning to enjoy life again. And that meant the world to her.