A thousand things were running through Kim's mind as she made her way down to breakfast, but foremost in her mind was how to get the proof she needed. After all, it could just be a coincidence. But if it was, it was an awful lot of coincidences. Bonnie's change in attitude at the same time Ron had to do a lot of chores for his dad. Bonnie being upset after a fight with her boyfriend at the same time Ron was upset. Bonnie missing school two days before when Ron handled the mission, only to come down with the same illness they had at the same time Ron got it. Tie that in with the mysterious brunette that Shego mentioned. Then there was the way she was treating Ron in school, yet neglecting to act the same way to everyone else like she usually did, and the strange looks between them, and it added up to a lot of coincidences if it wasn't true. But she had to have proof, and find out why Bonnie was trying to play her best friend.
"Kimmie-cub, did you hear a word I said?"
Kim looked up, meeting her father's eyes. "What... or sorry dad."
James Possible paused in doing up his tie. "Are you feeling all right Kim, you're still not sick, are you?"
Kim smiled, grabbing some juice. "Sorry Dad, I just have a lot on my mind today."
James smiled, and then frowned as he couldn't quite get his tie right, opting instead to move over to the coffee machine. "As I was saying, I'm having the entire board of directors from the lab over for dinner, remember?"
"Don't worry Dad, it has top priority on my skedge."
Andrea Possible gave her husband a thoughtful look. "Honey, are these the same board members you're always complaining about?"
James was busy fussing with tie, getting more and more aggravated. "I don't always complain about them." Finally finishing with the tie, he moved right to getting himself a coffee. "I mean, sure, Dr. Cook is a bit of a know-it-all, and Dr. Harris' toupee looks like roadkill, and if Dr. Kramer tells one more pointless story about the old country, so help help me I'll..."
Kim rushed to the counter with a cloth in hand, cutting off her father as she ducked past him to start mopping up the coffee that was now running off the counter and onto the floor. "Maybe you should just skip the coffee today Dad."
James looked sheepish, still holding the coffee pot in one hand. "Heh, sorry Kimmie, I'm as nervous as a porcupine in a balloon factory."
Andrea moved next to her husband, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hon, you're a shoe-in for promotion."
"But we've never had the big bosses over to the house before."
"Don't worry, we'll be on our best behaviour." Andrea turned, smiling over at her children. "Right kids?"
Kim just looked offended. "Hey, talk to the Tweebs, not me."
Jim and Tim looked up, their mouths full. "Hey, we heard that!"
Just then, Kim heard the front door open, and her smile fell a bit. Kim quickly replaced it with a smile, as Ron stuck his head through the door. "Umm... hola Possible clan. Umm..."
Kim smiled, rising from her seat. "Hey Ron, you ready to go? And how are you feeling, you get over that bug yesterday?"
Ron's mouth was open, but he was not responding. Considering how chipperly Kim had let her voice sound, contrasting with the fact she had refused to talk to him at all the day before, his brain had to be in overload mode right now. Rufus too was confused, his eyes glancing back and forth between the two teens.
Kim smiled wryly, glad to keep him on his toes. "Come on Ron, let's jet. I can tell you all about the call I got last night."
Ron was speechless as Kim dragged him out of the house and down the street. They got two blocks before Ron suddenly pulled up short, stopping Kim in her tracks. "KP, what about..."
Kim just shook her head, and started walking, making sure Ron stayed with her. "I'm sorry I got so upset. I understand there are some things you can't talk to me about, and I'm sorry I blew up at you. Just know, that if you ever want to talk about this, I'm willing to listen."
Ron's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment, unsure how to respond. "KP... I just..."
"Oh, did I tell you? They want me to be on the cover of Spirit Squad Weekly. It's THE cheerleading magazine. I am so freaking!"
Ron moved up beside her, still uncertain, but feeling better that they were talking like they always do. "You'll be fine. My advice, just be completely and totally sincere."
Kim paused, giving Ron a look, and the young blond realized what he had just said to her. Considering what he was keeping from her, his words of advice might not have been the best thing he could have said. He winced, shutting his eyes from the expected outburst but there wasn't one coming. Kim gave him one last look, before sighing. "You know Ron, that's good advice for anyone to follow."
Ron wondered if he should say anything to that, but was grateful when the Kimmunicator sounded. Kim gave him one last look, before pulling out the device. "Hey Wade, what's the sitch?"
"Kim, think you can squeeze in a rescue before home room?"
"You got transportation?" Wade gave a little smile, and then Kim heard the jets overhead. "Never mind."
Kim was glad for the break the mission had provided. It had allowed her and Ron to be together like they normally would without all the baggage that had suddenly accumulated between them. It gave her a chance to forget her best friend was lying to her. She paused at her locker, smiling brightly at him. "So Ron, you did good today. I think you've really stepped it up this week. I'm proud of you."
Ron smiled, shifting his schoolbag on his shoulder. "Thanks KP, that means a lot."
Kim stuffed her books into her locker. "Well, you better get to English class. I have to go to the gym for the meeting with the person from Spirit Squad Weekly. Catch you at lunch?"
Ron nodded, his smile brightening. "You got it KP."
Kim watched Ron walk off, maintaining her smile until he rounded the corner. In a flash, the smile was gone, and she turned quickly to the computer in her locker. Wade's image popped up, but before the young man could speak, Kim beat him to it. "Wade, I want twenty-four hour surveillance on Ron. Microphones, tracking systems, satellite scans if you've got them. I want to know where Ron goes, who he's talking to, everything!"
Wade's eyes widened in shock, and he coughed for a moment. "Kim, what you're..."
"Wade, if what I believe is true, Ron is going to get seriously hurt. I need you to do this for me."
Wade gulped deeply, before slowly nodding. "All right Kim, but I don't like this."
Kim nodded, not even paying attention now. "I don't either Wade, but I'm not going to let that brown haired hussy hurt my best friend."
Wade froze for a moment, catching what Kim said. "Kim, I don't...
But Wade was cut off as Kim shut the locker door.
Kim smiled as she finished the routine with a full split, holding her pom poms in front of her. The routine had been perfect, and she couldn't help feeling a sense of pride. The biggest cheerleading magazine in the country was here to do an article on her, and she couldn't be happier.
The reporter was smiling as well, as she readied herself for the interview. "Great cover shot Kim. Now, I just need to ask you a couple of questions for the article." Kim was on her feet, smiling as she lead the woman over to the bleachers, where the rest of the cheerleaders were gathering to listen in. "Now, I understand, in addition to cheering and being on the honour roll, somebody also saves the world from time to time, hmm?"
Kim just smiled shyly at that. "Oh you know, no big."
"Oh, our reader's are going to want to know this. Do you have time for a personal life?"
"Oh, I make time."
The reporter leaned in attentively. "I'll bet you're crushing on someone right now, give us a hint."
Kim just smiled eagerly back. "Well, I do like Josh Mankey, but I also think Bobby Johnson is cute. He just moved here from Upperton."
Kim frowned for a moment, wondering why she had said that, but the reporter didn't notice. "Well, that's quite interesting. Any cool hobbies?"
"Oh nothing special, I collect Cuddle buddies. I love them! I can't get to sleep without my Pandaroo." Kim's eyes widened in shock as she realized what she said, with the rest of the squad right behind her. She leapt to her feet, looking for some way to conclude the interview, as she heard the girls above chattering and laughing.
"Cuddle buddies?" The reporter was frowning now. "Yeeaahhh, Kim, I have to be honest with you. We like our cover girls to be... oh, how shall I put this... umm... more trend-forward. The must be some other activity that you do regularly?
"I pick my nose when nobody's looking." Kim slapped her hands over her mouth, but it was far too late. Her face bright red, Kim bolted from the gym, making sure to keep her mouth covered.
The reporter just turned to look over at the rest of the squad. "Anyone else want to be on the cover?"
Tara raised her hand emphatically, looking over to see just how eager Bonnie was responding. She figured her friend would have gotten a lot of joy out of Kim's behaviour a moment ago, and would never pass up an opportunity like this. Instead, Bonnie just looked pale, and before Tara could say anything, she bolted from her seat, heading out of the gym. This was more than enough to concern Tara, who moved to follow her.
Ron couldn't believe how bored he was, sitting in Mr. Barkin's English class. With both Kim and Bonnie at the cheerleading interview, there was no one to talk to. It didn't help that Mr. Barkin was going on and on about that book he had assigned the week before. For the hundredth time, he wished he had the guts to tell Barkin how he felt about it.
"All right people, I assume you've all read and are prepared to discuss the classic novella, Lo the Plow Shall Till the Soil of Redemption?"
"I did not, and I am not." Ron, his arms crossed, wondered for a moment who had had the guts to actually say something like that, when he realized it had come from him. His eyes widened sharply when he realized that, and wondered what he could say to cover for himself, as he saw Mr. Barkin and the entire class looking at him. "Wait, no, what I meant to say was..." Ron clamped his hands over his mouth, but it didn't help, "...only the first three pages!" His hands shot up again, but it couldn't stop him, his mouth seemed to have a mind of it's own. "I almost dislocated my jaw from yawning."
Mr. Barkin was not the least bit amused. "Stoppable, explain yourself."
Ron rose from his seat, holding the book in his hand. It was almost like he was in a daze. "This book was snobby, pompous, overwritten, a-and the pictures were all in black and white."
Ron wanted nothing more than to whither under Barkin's harsh glare, and was prepared to do just that when a quiet voice sounded off to the left. "Umm... excuse me, Mr. Barkin." Ron had never been more relieved than he was at this moment, as Mr. Barkin turned his attentions over to Janet. "I agree with Ron's criticism."
Dan, sitting right beside her, spoke up next. "Yeah, me too. Umm... I just didn't have the guts to slam your favourite book."
Murmurs of agreed spread throughout the room, and Ron breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and actually letting slip a smile.
"Okay, that's it!" All eyes turned back to Mr. Barkin, as he bellowed from the front of the class. "I've had it... with this book." Many eyes widened as he picked the book up from the desk, as his words penetrated. "I've despised Lo the Plow Shall Till the Soil of Redemption... ever since I had to suffer through it in military school."
The entire class cheered, as Mr. Barkin tossed the book into the garbage, and when the entire class began chanting his name, Ron was elated. But then the understanding of how he had said what he said came to him, and the smile became one of concern. "Uhh... Mr. Barkin, I have to go."
Barkin's smile faded. "Go where Stoppable?"
"I have to warn my secret girlfriend Bonnie that I can only tell the truth before Kim interrogates me and discovers the truth the wrong way."
The entire class fell silent, and Ron could only kick himself for saying the very thing he was trying to protect. Finally, Barkin nodded, waving to the door. "If you have to use the bathroom Stoppable, you ask. I don't need any crazy stories."
Ron thanked his lucky stars, and left before he could say anything further. He didn't even get three feet out the door before he was pulled to the side by Bonnie, a very concerned look on her face.
"Ron, Kim is acting very strange and..."
"Bonnie, I can only tell the truth... and your legs look amazing in that cheerleading outfit."
Bonnie froze, smiling. "Really, you really... that's not important." She grabbed him by the front of his shirt, dragging him down the hall. "We have to get you out of here, before you start spilling everything about our relationship."
Ron didn't fight it, but he did try to keep talking as she pulled him out of the school. "But this would be the perfect time to tell Kim and Tara. They'll know I'm not lying, and we can get everything in the open. I know we were planning on telling them together tomorrow, when we had the whole day to work everything out with them, but this could be perfect!"
Bonnie paused only a moment, looking into Ron's eyes. "And I completely agree. Which is why I'm going to take you to my place right now, so that when we are ready to tell them today, we can call them and ask them to come over. This is just to keep it from getting around until we are ready. Do you understand?"
Ron nodded, and after looking around to make sure the coast is clear, she gave him a quick kiss. "Now come on, let's get out of here." Bonnie got him into the car she had borrowed from her parents, and then hopped into the driver's seat, pulling away.
Neither noticed Tara as she came running out of the building behind them. She hadn't managed to catch up, but she had seen Bonnie pull away with someone in the passenger seat. She debated for a moment, wondering whether it was worth skipping class, and decided she had to find out what was going on. With a groan, Tara set off at a fast jog, hoping that, from the direction she had taken off, that her friend was heading home.
Kim rushed into the change room, heading straight for the mirror. She took a breath, struggling with her thoughts, and looked deep into her reflection. "All right Kim, just tell yourself a big, fat lie. You can do it." She took a deep breath, focusing her thoughts. "The colour of my hair is grrreeeee... red." She felt her hands trembling as she forced herself to lie, and began pacing the room. "My name is Possible. The sky is blue. Pro wrestling is fake. Arrgghh! Nooo!"
Kim grabbed her Kimmunicator quickly, very eager to to talk to Wade again. "Wade, something's wrong with me. I can only tell the truth, and... and ... you spend too much time in your room, it's just not healthy." Kim gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry."
Wade's look of shock faded to one of concern. "Okay, Kim, I'll disregard that till we know what's up." Wade paused, taking a sip from his drink. "Hold the Kimmunicator up at arm's length. Scanning for weirdness."
A pale green light shot forth, running down the length of Kim's body, and when it was done, Kim was anxious for answers. "Well?"
Wade ran over the information twice before printing off his findings. "Way weird. It looks like all your brain inhibitors are shut down."
Kim was concerned at what that could mean. "Meaning?"
"Meaning you can't lie, you can only blurt out the truth. Now let's look back on the last twenty-four hours."
Kim sank into the change room bench. "The usual. Got up, went to school, fought Shego, Drakken zapped me with a funky ray thing..."
"Whoa whoa, what kind of ray thing?"
"Don't know, it was yellow I think."
Wade's face hardened, as realization set in. "Truth ray."
"That's gotta be it." Kim paused, as understanding came to her. "Huhhh, if I was hit, I bet Ron was hit too. There's..." further understanding kicked in, and Kim smiled almost deviously, "Ron was hit too... that means..."
Wade immediately grasped what Kim had realized. "Kim, I..."
Kim was on her feet, already heading out the door. "Wade, where is Ron now?"
It only took a second for Wade to respond. "It looks like he's heading out of the building right now, going north. Kim, don't you..."
"Thanks Wade, I gotta go. Just patch it through to the tracking system on the Kimmunicator. It's time to get to the bottom of this!"
Kim was making good time as she trotted down the street. After the first few minutes though, she didn't really need the tracking systems, she knew where Ron was going.
Bonnie's house.
It didn't take long to get there, and when she got within sight of the house, she could see Bonnie's car parked in the driveway. She marched up to the house, intent on ending this farce of Bonnie's, when she saw Tara leap over a fence in a nearby property, just a couple yards away from Bonnie's house.
Kim dashed into the neighboring yard, startling the young blond. "Kim, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to get the answers to a lot of questions that have been bugging me, and I think the answers you're looking for are here as well."
Tara looked at her curiously, glancing over at Bonnie's house. "Wha..."
Kim silenced her quickly, not wanting to say anything she didn't know to be the absolute truth, and with the current effects of the truth ray on her, she knew she'd just blurt out all her thoughts. Instead, she indicated that they should go into the next property. Tara nodded, and the pair of them leapt over the fence.
Kim was about to check the position of Ron on the Kimmunicator when she saw movement through the patio door on the back. Motioning to Tara, they made there way over, moving quietly at Kim's direction. As they got closer, they could see Ron clearly, sitting on the couch, while Bonnie paced the room, her arms motioning wildly every so often. Considering they couldn't hear them, Kim assumed there was some pretty effective sound baffling in place, and signaled Wade on the Kimmunicator.
"Wade, I need you to set the Kimmunicator up to amplify the sounds so we can hear what they are saying."
Wade didn't look all that happy with the directive. "Kim, don't you think..."
Kim just glared at her friend. "Wade, please, just do this."
Wade sighed deeply, then pressed a button. All of a sudden, their conversation was quite audible.
"... not the way I wanted to do this."
"I know, I know." Ron's voice came through clearly, as did the sense of remorse in his tone. "But you have to admit, this might be the best way to do this. We've been hiding it from them for too long as it is. We'll call them up and they'll come over and we'll explain everything."
Kim could see Bonnie slump, her arms hanging down by her sides. "But what if they don't understand... what if... Tara..."
Ron took Bonnie's hand, and pulled her down onto the couch with him. "Bonnie, it will be all right. She'll understand." His hand came up to stroke her cheek gently.
Kim heard Tara mumbling beside her, not quite making out what she was saying. She could see her friend shaking her head, her eyes wide and damp.
Bonnie smiled faintly. "Ron Stoppable, have I told you how much I love you?"
Ron leaned in closer, his eyes alit with love. "About as many times as I've told you."
Kim couldn't help but watch as the two leaned in, and their lips met in what she could only call a very tender kiss, the kind reserved for lovers on the big screen. Even seeing it with her own two eyes, Kim could not believe what she was seeing.
Neither could Tara apparently, as the blond launched herself at the door, screaming in fury, and yelling imprecations that Kim wasn't even aware her gentle and kind friend would ever assume she knew.
Ron and Bonnie could only stare in shock as they saw Kim and an enraged Tara through the door. Only one thing went through both their minds at that moment.
"Oh shi..."
Author's Notes – Well... this sitch does not seem to be too good, now does it? Let's just say, things are going to get very interesting with the next chapter, so stay tuned!