Ch.41

In the kitchen, Ron was in his element, his nervousness dissipating, replaced with confidence.

After grabbing an apron, Ron got to work. Ron finished most of the prep work in the morning, Mr. Barkin giving him the okay to miss first period as long as he made up the work. The school administrator accommodating him since he knew Ron had a shot at a scholarship.

His prep work finishing quickly, Ron moved around the kitchen with precision as he looked at the things that were about to boil, in the oven and other such things as he went by them, his internal cooking time not missing a beat.

As the bell rung for lunch, Ron hadn't had time to finish his dish as it still needed a few minutes. During his prep work in first period Ron had thought of this and had made other meals with the help of the lunch ladies, they being in charge that the food didn't burn while he was in class.

A few minutes later, when Ron finished his dish he noticed the seniors at the head of the line. Spotting Amelia, Ron couldn't help but smile at the antics he'd use to get her attention. Now that he was a junior and she a senior Ron accepted that ship had sailed and had backed off. Still, she was going to be one of the first to try his new dish and he hoped for a great review.

As Ron took a break from the kitchen to see how his new dish was doing, he felt Rufus climb out of his pocket. Having made the little guy his own meal Ron wasn't concerned that he would mess with anyone else's. Walking around the cafeteria Ron asked everyone lucky enough to try his new dish their opinions, suggesting they try the sauces separately at first to those who were reluctant to try them.

As he got to the senior table where Amelia sat, Ron didn't notice the middle aged man walking into the cafeteria with the principal in tow. It wasn't till a minute later as Ron asked Amelia her thoughts that he was interrupted by a long whistle.

"Stooooop!" The health inspector screamed. "Stop eating this instant, this school has a pest problem. I'm a health inspector for the Middleton area and I'm going to have to close the school till this has been taken care of."

Ron paled at a visible rate as he rushed to the kitchen to look for Rufus. After picking up the little guy, Ron was relieved he was okay and went to the health inspector.

"Sir, this is Rufus, my pet." Ron explained while adding. "The food is absolutely safe, he was just eating his meal off to the side."

"Hi." Rufus greeted.

"I don't care whose pet it is, it was in the kitchen instead of a cage." The health inspector thundered his voice still loud enough for everyone in the cafeteria to hear.

To Ron's relief, none of the students cared once they understood it was Rufus, but the health inspector was pulling his phone out and dialing the police seeing as none of the students had bothered to stop eating. After the call was made Ron knew his chances at the scholarship were ruined, seeing as the school was likely to be closed for the foreseeable future.

He debated bringing Team Possible's name into it but remembered Kim being adamant about using the team's image for personal gain and stuffed the idea. Yori, Tara, Bonnie, Monique and even Mr. Barkin tried convincing the health inspector that Rufus was safe, had above average intelligence and would not mess with the food. When the police arrived Ron looked for officer Hobble to ask for his help but the only person Ron knew on the force turned out to be off duty.

Ron let himself be escorted out of school just like the rest of the students and sat across the street from the school as his day fell to pieces around him. As Kim made her way over, Ron saw Barkin off to the side frantically making some calls.

"Hey Ron, sorry about your restaurant." Kim comforted.

"It's okay, once he saw a rodent in the kitchen the die was cast." Ron stated as Kim wrapped her arm around him.

"Sorry." Apologized Rufus.

"It's not your fault Rufus, you're awesome." Ron comforted.

"Want to go to Bueno Nacho for some food, that always makes you feel better." Kim suggested.

"No, not today." Ron said standing and turning around, ready to go home.

"Stoppable!" Mr. Barkin called out.

"Yeah, Mr. Barkin?" Ron asked expecting detention for what was going on.

"Come with me, Stoppable." Mr. Barkin ordered.

"Yes sir." Ron agreed, adding. "Yori can you go ahead of me, I'll catch up."

"Yes, Ron-san." Yori agreed.

As they walked around the school, Ron couldn't help but ask. "Am I getting detention, sir?"

"Detention? Why would you get detention?" Mr. Barkin asked.

"Because of this whole incident with Rufus sir." Ron explained.

"Had this happened at a different time I might have considered it, but not this time, I know you had a lot riding on this. We are going to Chez Couteaux." Mr. Barkin annouced.

"Why are we going to the best restuarant in town?" Ron asked.

"You're going to use their kitchen and make your dish for the gourmet schools." Mr. Barkin declared.

"But how?" Was all Ron could ask.

"I explained the situation to chef Andre and he agreed to let you use his kitchen as long as her gets to watch you cook." Mr. Barkin explained.

"What about the scholarship people?" Ron asked again.

"I called them and they are meeting us at the restaurant, but this time they also said they wanted to watch you cook." Mr. Barkin explained.

"Thanks, Mr. Barkin." Ran said quietly.

~~~~~

Wade had been monitoring police chatter as he tended to do when everything was quiet worldwide to make sure nothing was going on in town. When the call came in from a health inspector at the high school, Wade knew something was up. They weren't scheduled till next month, Wade confirmed after pulling up the records.

"What's going on?" Wade wondered. "Is it a villain trying to infiltrate the school?"

With that Wade did what he did best, he looked into it. Not twenty minutes later he found the source of the impromptu inspection and couldn't believe it. If it wasn't for the voice recording and number on record Wade would have doubted the facts.

Still, Wade couldn't accept it and called Kim to ask why.

"What's the sitch Wade?" Kim asked answering the Kimmunicator.

"No sitch, just a question. Why would you call a health inspector on Ron?" Wade asked.

There were nearly thirty seconds of silence before Kim spoke. "Becuase Ron's been to busy to hang with me lately, so I figured if he didn't have to cook for the whole school he'd have more time for me. How did you know?"

"Their scheduled visit wasn't for another month so I looked into it." Wade explained, adding. "Kim, he had people coming today, from various schools, that were interested in giving him a scholarship."

"But he hadn't said anything." Kim explained.

"Knowing Ron, he probably wanted to be sure before he said anything." Wade declared knowing Ron would want to surprise her with the news.

"Wade, you can't tell him." Kim began explaining. "I did this to close the distance between us, if he finds out that I'm at fault for ruining his scholarship, it'll ruin our friendship."

"Kim, Ron has a right to know." Wade said adamant about this.

"I'll tell him Wade, just give me some time so I can talk to him." Kim said after thinking a moment.

"Okay, Kim." Wade agreed believing in Kim.

~~~~~

Tara got home conflicted, on the one hand there was the sleepover at Ron's. On the other, his shot at a scholarship got ruined by the health inspector. She had wanted to celebrate with him tonight, now she might have to cheer him up.

'Cheer him up, of course.' Tara thought getting an idea that both excited and embarrassed her to no end. Her face flushed red to her ears, Tara went about selecting her sleepwear. She settled on gray loose fitting shorts and a matching top.

Afterwards she called Bonnie and went over to her place so they could go over together. It still surprises Tara when she arrives at Bonnie's house. Bonnie's place was a mansion by all definitions and Tara was still getting used to it. Spotting Bonnie driving down the driveway in her convertible, Tara was relieved that she didn't have to risks meeting her sisters.

Putting her gym bag with her clothes next to Bonnie's in the backseat, Tara got in. Giving Bonnie a kiss, Tara was going to ask if she needed directions but Bonnie was moving in the right direction. Choosing to wait for now, Tara explained how she wanted to cheer Ron up and started a conversation.

As they made it to Ron's, Tara was surprised Bonnie knew where he lived but didn't pay it much attention, eager to see Ron again.

~~~~~

Ron had kept his performance simple as he cooked. He did exactly what he did as he cooked at home, focusing on no unnecessary movements. After he finished making the dishes, enough for everyone, even Mr. Barkin, Ron's confidence started deflating.

Ron watched quietly as the various men and women sampled his food, listening to various moans and sounds of satisfaction, hoping it met their standards.

After they finished eating there was a moment of silence in which Ron was sure everyone could hear his heartbeat. 'Come on, speak already!' Ron thought to himself.

One of the women spoke first. "Quite frankly Mr. Stoppable, I don't think our school has much to offer but we're glad to welcome you if you choose to join us."

"I was thinking the same thing." A man announced this time before adding. "Since when have you been cooking?"

"Since I was eight or nine years old." Ron answered.

"Amazing." They exclaimed together.

"Who was your teacher?" Someone else asked.

"Self taught, actually." Ron answered explaining. "I had begged my mom for a subscription to a couple of chef magazines a couple months after she got me a Granny Crocket cookie backing set. Since then I've been trying all kinds of things."

After every school present extended their invitation and moved to talk with Mr. Barkin about it, Chef Andre pulled Ron to the side and offered him a job, explaining that experience in a restaurant might help him improve further in the time he had left in high school. Ron thanked him and offered his recipe as a thank you for letting him use his kitchen. Chef Andre declined at first but Ron convinced him that it was okay, as long as he gave credit where it was due.

Once everyone of his guests had taken Mr. Barkin's information to contact him about Ron's scholarships, Ron and Barkin excused themselves, hearing Chef Andre invite everyone to eat.

On the way back Ron couldn't hide his smile, his mood doing a complete 180 from a two hours ago. Ron proceeded to thank Mr. Barkin enough times where the man had probably gotten annoyed but he couldn't help it, the man had gone above and beyond for him, so Ron showed his appreciation.

When Mr. Barkin dropped him off at home, Ron thanked him again before he said goodbye. Ron saw Bonnie's convertible with the top up in his driveway, noting his father's car still missing.

Letting himself inside Ron called out. "Yori I'm back, I noticed Bonnie's convertible outside did anyone else arrive?"

As he spoke Ron went to the livingroom and stopped dead in his tracks upon entering. 'All the ladies are here.' Ron thought as an afterthought looking from one to another. The ladies were scrambling to get dressed, some calmer then others, around a spinning bottle on the floor. 'They were playing spin the bottle and I missed it!' Ron lamented.

Yori, who seemed to have been loosing, only had her panties left, Ron taking in the sight of her putting on her bra. Bonnie had wore a skirt and still had it on, only having removed her top, her blush making the allure almost complete. Monique suffered from her choice of clothing as she put on her orange one piece dress. Tara was strangely calm for the situation as she slowly pulled on her skinny jeans, causing Ron to stare at her perfect ass, when she grabbed her shirt, Ron could have sworn she winked at him.

Although all the ladies where blushing none had the sense of mind or desire to ask him to at least turn around, so Ron simply stood there drinking the sight in. Their blushing expressions adding to the beauty in front of Ron. After they dressed Ron sighed not noticing the bulging erection he was sporting and spoke. "Who won?"

When no one answered Ron noticed their lines of sight and looked down, noticing his problem he turned around and as he headed to the kitchen declaring. "I'll get started on dinner, I have great news to tell everyone."