Chapter 135: Kim Possible
On Sundays, Gwen slept in.
Instead of waking up at 4:30 AM, she woke up at 5.
So, instead of meeting Jak before dawn, she met him at the break.
Oddly, Jak's jeep was already parked at the beach access point. He was leaning against the hood, fully dressed in his marine corps uniform.
"No lesson today." he said. "Oogie Boogie was mentioned during the Tinkertell interview last night. King Arthur has ordered all pertinent personnel to review the video content with his analytics team. Judging by the message I got from Melody this morning, pertinent personnel also includes my mother."
Irritably, he sighed. "Sorry to cancel."
Gwen trotted to halt. She was almost relieved Jak couldn't stay. Learning that they were cousins had added another upheaval to their developing relationship, and Gwen was ready to get off the roller coaster for a while.
Moreover, she honestly wanted to be alone.
Last night had been weird. Having Jak in her bedroom had felt way too intrusive.
At the time, Gwen had initially welcomed his company: Jak buffered her from her family and distracted her from the Tinkertell Talk Show.
But the benefits had ended there.
Had they been alone, they would have vented about their parents, but Gwen wouldn't allow any bad-mouthing in front of Michaleen. She also didn't want Michaleen to know about their secret boxing rendezvous, (and clearly Jak felt similarly because he didn't bring it up), so they couldn't talk about that either.
So, there was nothing to do...other than pack.
And when Jak was given a task, boy did he deliver.
"Where do you want your Emergency Medicine Study Guide? Is this box okay?"
"These tea bags look used. Should I throw them out?"
"Do all these sneakers go with you? Even the ones without laces?"
"I see one cocktail dress in the closet; do you have a garment bag? No, no that's a laundry bag. A garment bag is something you zip around the dress to prevent wrinkling."
Lots and lots of questions.
Jak hadn't been inappropriate, (as a matter of fact, he'd been a perfect gentleman) but Gwen still felt vulnerable. Her bedroom was her sanctuary, the one place she could break down, dream big, and snuggle hard.
Jak only had to look to see her secrets. And for some reason, Gwen feared he would share his discoveries with Titania.
"Don't worry about canceling. I understand." Gwen tucked stray hairs behind her ears. The ocean breeze was being particularly rambunctious. "You can't ignore an order from the king."
"Duty calls." Jak remote-started his jeep. His phone instantly lit on the mount. "Quite literally."
Through the window, Gwen saw dozens of new messages, several with all-caps government alerts, likely the summons from King Arthur.
"You know..." she nodded at his phone. "We didn't have to meet. You must be in a terrible rush. I would have been fine had you just texted."
Jak opened the back door.
"We said we'd meet every morning, correct?"
"Yes."
"Did you think I would abandon you by the ocean?"
"Um...no?"
"Okay then." Jak reached into the back seat. "I didn't have time to cancel, so here we are. I'd expect the same from you. King Arthur's team can wait. Besides, there are other matters we need to discuss. First..."
Jak reemerged with a heavy garment bag. Gwen noticed his initials embroidered under a Marine Corps emblem.
He dropped it in her arms.
"For your cocktail dress." he explained before she could ask. "The move is today, right? You can store the dress in here and get it back to me whenever you're – "
"It's not a cocktail dress!"
Gwen shoved the bag back much more aggressively than she intended. Jak staggered, but caught himself on the side-view mirror. The mirror bent as Gwen stumbled through an explanation.
"Really this is very nice but very unnecessary. That dress is so ratty, and pink really isn't my color. Ping got it for me a thrift shop and I honestly only wore it once after surfing with my Aunt Lilo. So it's probably stiff with sand and salt water – "
Gwen wished she could stop talking. Everything she said sounded feeble and pathetic, but it seemed the only way to distract him from her blush.
"Plus – " she rambled. "Garment bags are meant for suits and evening gowns. I mean – my sundress would look so silly with a pair of opera gloves, wouldn't it? So there's really no point in keeping it in a garment bag, just to wear it to the beach with sneakers. You know?"
Whatever Jak was thinking, he kept it to himself. Readjusting the side-view mirror, he firmly placed the garment bag in Gwen's hands.
"Just say thank you."
Gwen gave in. She didn't know why she was embarrassed, but she just wanted the moment to pass.
She got her wish.
"There's something else I wanted to tell you." Jak shut the jeep door. "Tinkerbell televised your fight with Rufio. It – "
Gwen's mind fell over.
"She what!?"
Since the fight, Gwen had reflected, and fully realized how lucky she was. Her punishment had been extraordinarily lenient.
Yes, the military had issued a warning, but the rebuke was confidential. A slap on the wrist. No one had to know. Not Chien Po. Not Dr. Sweet. Not her parents. Not the medical universities she'd applied to. And most importantly, not Michaleen.
But if Tinkerbell exposed her crime, the ramifications would far supersede a mere public condemnation.
Her only hope was that Jak was mistaken.
"How do you know? You didn't watch the interview last night. How do you know Tinkerbell televised the fight?"
Jak's thumb curled indecisively over his fist. "I saw it...on your Facebook page."
"My -- what?"
Gwen took out her phone. Shifting the garment bag, she opened her Facebook app to three hundred dislikes and dozens of hate comments. The comments were attached to a video-clip of Tinkerbell displaying her fight on a huge studio screen.
Gwen unmuted the audio.
"Chien Po's Noodle Bar!" Tinkerbell screeched. "Gwendolyn Pan – Wendy Darling's daughter - viciously attacked this poor Ferngullian boy! She single handedly destroyed the noodle bar! This is what happens when shadow workers have children!"
Gwen's heart sank.
The video was bad.
But the hate comments were absolutely gutting.
People Gwen didn't even know were saying she was violent for starting the fight. They accused her of being racist against Ferngullians for punching Rufio, and racist against Chinese-Fantasians for ransacking the Noodle Bar. They said she should be thrown in jail so inmates could slit her throat, break her neck, and rape her in her sleep –
It was repulsive. But she couldn't stop reading. You're a bully. You're a bitch. You should be expelled. You should be shot. You are too skinny. Are you anorexic? Eat a cheeseburger for God sake.
Who would post this to her page? Nauseated, Gwen scrolled to the original notification linked to the video: You've been tagged in a post by –
"Titania."
The wind pulled tendrils from Gwen's braids. She let them float around her face, hiding her anger. "Titania Bell."
Jak spoke with soft reassurance. "Don't let the comments consume you. These are just stupid people acting on misinformation."
When Gwen didn't answer, he added, "I told Titania to delete the post. You can remove the tag, but if she doesn't take it down, we can both send a notification to Facebook to have it removed – "
"Let it stay." Gwen snarled. "I like having all my enemies in one place."
Temper barely held, she rushed to say goodbye. All she wanted was to run away and pound her frustrations into the pavement.
"Thank you for meeting and thank you for the bag. Good luck with King Arthur's analytics team and – "
"Hold on, this is not how this works." Jak caught her shoulder. "You don't get to suddenly leave, even if you are upset – "
"I'm not upset. Do I look like I'm crying?
"No but when you smile that's not real either."
Gwen didn't know how to respond, but try as she might, she couldn't meet Jak's stare. Defeated, she glared at the initials on his garment bag.
Jak released her shoulder. "You've got a rough day ahead. I know you're afraid to move in with your parents. And now with Tinkerbell – "
"I'm not afraid of my parents and I'm not afraid of Tinker – "
"Just – oh my god - can you please stop talking for a - " Jak smoothed a hand over his mouth. Once composed, he continued.
"Gwen. You are a very independent person. I've never met anyone so willing to punch above their weight. But – "
He nodded at her phone. "The game has changed. Now you're being targeted because of your mother. And I'm trying to help. Do you understand?"
Gwen fingered the garment bag. Scowling, she shook her head.
"What?" said Jak.
"You can't possibly take sides. Not fairly." She lifted her phone. "Titania is basically your girlfriend."
Jak conceded. "It puts me in the middle of tender situation, yes. Titania was a much needed friend when I arrived in Fantasia, and she needed me through her parents' divorce. We've supported each other since. However, inexcusable behavior is inexcusable behavior. I'll call her out the same as I do you."
Gwen scoffed. "I don't think you'd call anyone out more than you do me."
"Well..." Jak twinkled. "Stop giving me so many opportunities."
"Ugh." Gwen smiled. "Rot off."
Lightly, Jak swung. Gwen pretended to kick, and they mimed several blows before Jak's phone rang.
Jak apologized that he had to leave, to which Gwen said he should actually apologize for the country-pop ringtone.
"Well what's your ringtone?" Jak asked, slowly driving in reverse as Gwen jogged alongside. "My Little Pony?"
"No." Gwen grinned, a little embarrassed by her actual ringtone. "I don't have a – "
Her heart jumped as her phone suddenly rang.
Beep beep beep-beep! went the ringtone. Ooooh yeahhh yeah! I'm your basic average girl. And I'm here to save the world. You can't stop me cause I'm –
"Kim Pos-si-ble." Jak held up his phone so Gwen could see that he had called. Lightly amused, he backed into the road.
"Good luck with the move. Take today in stride, no matter what happens. See you tomorrow morning." Shifting out of reverse, Jak drove away. "Have a good run, Matey."
As he departed, Gwen felt odd. It was like Jak was driving away with her armor, leaving her in a hand-to-hand combat against the future.
There was so much she was dreading: Moving into a new home. Living with her parents. Falling into fitful sleeps. Finding the courage to look for shadows under her bed.
And then, there was the Rufio-fight-video debacle. Gwen didn't know which made her angrier, Tinkerbell publicizing the fight or Titania posting it to her Facebook page.
It was curious. This morning she had been craving solitude. Now, the thought of tackling every challenge alone was overwhelming.
The ocean breeze swung her pigtails, arousing the memory of the undead mermaid. Gwen could almost feel the mermaid's fingernails digging into her scalp. She could almost see flashes of orange as the mermaid spun her braids.
She had survived that. So she could survive this.
"Post all you want, Titania." Gwen clenched Jak's garment bag. "No one is on Facebook anymore anyway."
Spirit rekindled, she ran to Ohana Homes. With every stride she told herself she was ready to confront the day.
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sultal's note:
1. I had written a "scene change" after this, but decided not to include it. I had already written 5 pages and wasn't near completion, so I decided to make this "first scene" between Gwen and Jak it's own chapter.
Ideally, that means the next chapter will be posted soon (since half of it is already written). Pray that the work week treats me nice.
2. LOTS of questions in a previous chapter about "WHY DO GWEN AND JAK CONNECT OVER FACEBOOK?" Facebook is old schoo.
My Reasons: I'm trying to make Gwen and Jak appear "older" than their siblings, both physically (due to their age) but also symbolically. Melody, for instance, uses Insta, TikTok etc.
There is a considerable age gap betweeen Gwen/Jak vs Melody/Michaleen. Social media is a good way to demonstrate that. So for those who asked "WHY FACEBOOK" this is why :)
3. JAK'S RINGTONE: I think Jak would totally be into country pop. Symbolically, I believe country pop is a music genre Ariel and Jim would agree upon. So, the country pop ringtone represents of "blend" of his parents.
4. GWEN'S RINGTONE: Kim Possible. Another indication of Gwen's age. Also Kim Possible may have been a female role-model for Gwen as a little girl in Fantasia, influencing her "I can do anything" "perfectionist" spirit.
Plus - sultal may or may not have the Kim Possible beep beep beeep beeeep as her text tone.
It's outrageously irritating and awesome at the same time.
keep writing -