Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible. Nor do I own the upcoming tv movie/extra long episode titled "So the Drama." I just read the plot summary, got pathetically excited, and decided to write my own before the actual air date. I do not own the character Eric. I stole him from what I have heard of the movie. Nor do I own the last name Ullman. I stole that from Ricky Ullman, whom I understand will be playing the voice of the real Eric.
"I'm telling you, Shego, this is going to work!" Dr. Drakken paused from his seemingly random destruction of perfect good hardware to give a rather dramatic laugh. At least he thought so.
"Uhhuh," Shego replied lazily, not even bothering to glance at her employer. Frankly, she had no idea what he had just said. She had a new magazine and a cold bottle of Coke, and for once Drakken was sort of leaving her alone.
"No, really." Sparks flew up from the mechanical concoction, just missing his eyebrows. "I know I say that all the time, but this time… we've got it."
Oh, the latest scheme. Of course. She yawned and set down the magazine. "No, really. You say THAT all the time. For crying out loud, just forget about little Kimmy and… rob a bank. Or something."
Drakken brushed away a fresh volcano of sparks and frowned at her. "But you never let me do those kind of things, Shego. You say… it's silly."
"It is. But you have no potential anyway."
"I have potential!"
She laughed and flicked an emery board off the table. If Drakken thought he was going to use her manicure supplies on another stupid machine, he had another thing coming. "No, you don't. What was that last little thing you tried to do to Kim? Oh, yeah. You tried to tie her to a sailboat."
Drakken jammed a screwdriver into the parts. "It would have worked."
"No, no. It so would not have worked. And I highly doubt this one will either."
"Then why are you letting me build it?"
She shrugged. "Boredom?"
"Fair enough." He drew back the screwdriver. "It is finished! My latest invention!"
"You stole the plans from…"
He waved her words away with that same supercilious frown he still thought he could use. "Never mind that. What do you think?"
Shego peered down at the "latest invention." And, while it wasn't worthy of smile, she supposed it did have… dare she say it… potential? If Drakken didn't screw anything up again.
"Not bad," she said. "Not bad at all."
"I hate dances!"
The cardboard poster, weighted painfully with sequins and balloons, dropped once again to the hallway floor. A purple balloon even managed to free itself and go skipping across the carpet into the path of a teacher, who screamed just as she tripped and spilt her armload of books.
Kim sighed and managed a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Mrs. Messer!"
Mrs. Messer gave a dazed wave of "It's okay."
"Uh, I'm hardly sensing a hate of the dance, KP." Ron picked up the poster, attempted to fix one of the bent corners—essentially tearing it off—and handed it back to Kim. "Unless you're actually being serious there… which I don't think you are."
Kim yanked the poster and a piece of tape from around the roll on Ron's wrist. "Do I look like I'm not being serious?"
Ron took a step back. "No… but you've never hated dances before."
"I hate dances because I hate advertising for them!" She rubbed the poster and the tape against the corduroy wall, praying it would stick.
"Wasn't Bonnie going to—"
The poster made a move to once again fall. Kim smashed her hand against the loose corner. "Bonnie. Ron, please do not bring up Bonnie. She is always acting so…" She finally gave up and pulled a forgotten thumbtack from near the ceiling. "Come on. She's always saying how much better she is than me. How much more organized she is than me. And then every once in awhile, she'll attempt to prove it. And today, when I actually need her help, she has to make up a test." The poster actually stayed. "Just because she's a cheerleader doesn't mean she can rearrange tests just like that!"
Ron's jaw dropped. "Cheerleaders can take their tests later? How come I don't get to do that? I'm the mascot! They never let me do that!"
Kim rolled her eyes and grabbed another piece of tape. "You are allowed to. You just skip your tests altogether."
"So… if I ask the teachers to let me take tests later because there's a game or something, then I can pull a Bonnie and take the test when you're trying to hang up posters from the prom?"
"Ron, you never take your tests anyway. For crying out loud, why couldn't she have taken her test during the dance or something? Not like Bonnie needs to go to the prom anyway. There." She leaned back on the stepstool to survey her work. Five seconds. The poster still hadn't crumbled to the ground.
"Isn't Bonnie going to the prom with Brick? Or did I just make that up?"
"I don't know. But if they are, I hope they have a fine time together. Poor Brick, spending a night with her."
The poster fell, dragging the lone thumbtack down with it.
"I can't believe this! Ron, could you help?" Kim searched the wall for other forgotten thumbtacks. "Maybe I should just boycott the prom."
"Hey, you're the one who volunteered us to hang up posters." He handed her the beaten poster. "Don't know why you're so mad about it."
Like Ron would know. "It's not just hanging up the posters. It's…"
A slow grin spread over his face. "Oh, I get it! Josh! You're still not over Josh! Even though you said you were and I even thought you were and he was even dating Tara… yeah, I can see why you're mad."
She stared at him. "That made no sense."
He laughed and held the poster up against the wall. "You need a date! You need a date to the prom and there is no way now you can make Josh take you!"
"I don't need a date! I just wish Bonnie was helping hang up posters! Or someone! If only Monique was on the squad so I wouldn't have to feel bad about making her do things." She reached out for two thumbtacks. Out of reach. She jumped. Once again, missing them. "Ron, can I borrow Rufus?"
"You want Rufus to take you to the prom?" He scooped the naked mole rat out of his pocket and handed him to Kim. "Sorry, but I don't think he's interested."
Rufus winked at Kim.
Somehow a laugh escaped her. "Actually, Rufus would be a fine date. Rufus, I just need those thumbtacks. And don't eat them."
Rufus gave a salute and scampered across the wall.
"Thanks, Rufus. Ron, hold the poster a little more up. If thumbtacks won't hold this thing, I don't know what will."
"The great Kim Possible. Fights villains but can't hang up a prom advertisement. Ow!" Rufus, having retrieved the thumbtacks, managed to jab one into Ron's finger. He jerked away, leaving Kim to catch the other corner.
"I still don't need a date," she continued. "It's just a prom."
"Aren't proms like supposed to be really important?"
"You care about the prom?"
"To girls?"
She gave another laugh. "If I need a date, I'll get a date. It's so not the drama you make it out to be."
"Then why are you so uptight?" She was lying, he thought. She wanted to go to that dance, and she wanted to go with a date. Too bad Josh wasn't available. Of course, Ron had never liked the Monkey anyway… Well, if Kim really wanted someone to take her, wasn't that his jurisdiction? Or something? After all, he was her best friend. There was probably some rule somewhere making him responsible for this sort of thing.
If only he could figure out what to do about it.
A scream filled the hall, followed by a crash. Kim and Ron spun around, and even Rufus barely managed to cling to corduroy.
"Apparently Mrs. Messer didn't pick up all of her books," Ron said slowly. "Dude, that's probably our fault. Sorry about that!"
The victim struggled to his feet, pushing the shock of light brown hair from his face. "Whoa. That was a ride. Hey, no problem. It was…" His voice trailed off as he saw Kim. Then his eyes dropped to his feet as he laughed. "It was completely me. What a great first impression to make at my new school."
"You're new here?" Kim hopped down from the stool.
"Yep. First day."
"Well, then." She held out a hand for him to shake. "Let me be the first to welcome you to Middleton High. I'm Kim Possible and this is my friend Ron Stoppable."
The new kid's eyes went wider. Blue, she noticed. "Oh! Kim Possible? I've heard about you! I guess I knew you went here from some article or something, but I guess I didn't really know it." He awkwardly shook her hand. "Well, I'm Eric Ullman."
"Ullman?" Ron choked back a laugh. "That's…uh… an unusual name."
Kim stepped on his foot. "Hey, unusual is good. Nice to meet you, Eric. Sorry about the book. A teacher tripped on a balloon a few minutes ago, and the damage had not been cleaned up."
Eric laughed. "Wow, you like apologizing, don't you? So what was the balloon from?"
"Prom," Ron replied. "Kim has issues with prom."
He made a face. "Ah, prom. Well, it's overrated anyway. Though I imagine you'll be breaking hearts by refusing to go."
Ron stared. What the heck was that supposed to mean?
Her hand tingled where he had touched it. "I'm not refusing to go. I never said that."
Eric nodded. "Hmm. That's neat." He gave another shy smile and scratched the back of his neck. "It's nice to meet you, Kim and Ron. But I have to talk to a teacher about some things I need to know, so… I guess I'll just let you get back to hanging up posters?"
Kim glanced back at the poster that was still somehow attached to the wall. "Oh, yeah. Posters. It's fun. They make us cheerleaders do it, so…"
"So you're a cheerleader?"
She blushed. "Well, yeah…"
"Cool. As long as you aren't one of the stupid kind." He gave a wave. "See ya around." With that, he was off down the hall.
"Seems nice," Ron said.
Her hand was still tingling. "Yeah. Very nice. He'll love Middleton."
Ron spun the tape roll around his wrist. "Uhhuh. So… where do you want the next poster? Don't we still need one in the cafeteria?"
"Posters?"
"Yes, posters. The ones you're making me hang up. The ones advertising for the dance of death."
She shook her head, feeling dizzy. "Oh, of course."
"Good." He picked up the remaining stack. "Then we shall be off. Off to prove how much better at hanging posters we are than Bonnie. Remember, we want to beat Bonnie."
"Yeah, of course. We need to get those posters hung!"
"You think he's cute, don't you?"
She blinked. "Who's cute? I don't think anyone is cute!"
Ron rolled his eyes, plucked Rufus from the wall, and stuck him in pocket. He couldn't resist a chance to tease. "Yes, you do. That new kid we just met. Derek."
"His name is Eric."
"See? You even know his name! Oh, yes. Eric Ullman, the replacement Josh. Well, at least he isn't a monkey."
She slugged him in the shoulder. "Oh, shush. He is not the replacement Josh. I don't—"
But Ron wasn't listening. "Kim and Eric, sitting in a tree—"
She slugged him again.
An hour later, Kim and Ron headed to the Bueno Nacho.
"My paper cuts hurt!" Ron whined as he slid into their usual booth. "No, they really hurt. And they're not even paper cuts! They're poster cuts!"
"'Bout time you guys showed up." Monique joined Ron and Kim, clutching a cup of soda. "This is like my third refill, waiting for you. You said you'd meet me at 3:30, and where are you at 3:30?"
"Hanging posters." Kim banged her head down on the table. "Ron, just go ahead and order for me."
Monique glanced at Kim, then at Ron. "Is she okay?"
"The posters kept falling. They just don't make thumbtacks like they used to. Or staplers."
"Please don't bring up the staplers," Kim moaned.
"Oh, but it's too fun. Except for Rufus. I don't think he liked pulling out ever accidental staple."
Monique laughed. "That's it? Prom posters?"
Kim lifted her head enough to smile at her. The nastiest she could summon. "Maybe if you had helped. Sorry you were busy."
"Busy." Monique giggled. "Yeah, I was busy."
"That's not just it," Ron said. "Kim is in love." He went to the full extent of batting his eyeslashes.
Monique laughed, almost spilling her soda. "Really? Kim, you cannot hold out on me! Not during this kind of thing! Who is he?"
Kim sighed and sat up. "Is name's Eric Ullman. He's new."
"So she admits it," Ron said with a laugh.
Monique squealed, shoving her drink to Ron. "I haven't met him yet! At least I don't think I have. But if he is cute, and I did meet him, I like to imagine I would remember him. What's he like?"
"He's…" She stopped. "No way. I am so not doing this! I'm not going to entertain you two by pretending to like some guy I just met!"
"Oh, I think you already like him, girl. He must be so…" She looked over Kim's shoulder and gasped. "That's not him, is it?"
"Who?" Kim turned around. And gasped as well.
It was Eric. Walking into the Bueno Nacho, looking very confused. Until he spotted her.
"Kim!" he called, waving. "Ron! Long time no see." He ran over. "I heard this place was good, and I was hungry. But I didn't think you'd be here."
Monique winked at Kim, then smiled at Eric. "So you must be the famous Eric."
A deer-in-the-headlights look flooded into Eric's eyes. "She… mentioned me?"
"Only that you were new at school and didn't really know anyone—"
Kim wanted to vanish into the seat. "Well, I do want you to feel welcome at school."
"Yep," said Ron. "Middleton High can be a scary place. Trust me on this one."
Eric laughed. "I'll try and remember that. So what's good here?"
"The naco."
Monique and Kim groaned. "No, please. Do not try the naco."
"It's really good," Ron urged. "I invented it."
Eric grinned, actually looking somewhat impressed. "Then I shall." He glanced at the cashier. "But before I do that…" He took a deep breath.
He looks so nervous, Kim thought. Poor guy. There was something so cute about shy guys that channeled that little lost puppy aura…
"It's about prom."
Monique gasped again, her limbs going into some pathetic seizure.
"Don't say yes if you really don't to. Or if… you've plans. But…" He took another deep breath and glanced at the exit. "It didn't seem like you had a… date yet. To the prom. So I was maybe wondering if maybe you'd…"
Kim's heart skipped a beat. "If I'd like to?"
"If you'd…" His face was bright red now. It actually looked okay with his hair.
"She'd love to," Monique interrupted.
Everyone stared at her.
"She'd love to be your date." Monique's smile deepened.
Eric looked very relieved. "Well, then. That's great. If… can I hear it from you, Kim?"
"Yes." Did her voice really sound that squeaky.
Eric looked ready to faint. "Okay! I mean, thanks! That's wonderful. You're not just doing this to be nice, are you?"
She shook her head. "Of course not. I'd love to go with you."
"Great. I guess I'll go order a… naco, then." He strolled, dizzily, up to the counter.
Monique and Kim stared at each other, trying not to girlishly shriek. Ron hated it when they did that.
Ron stared at both of them. No, all three of them. Eric was also in his line of vision. What had just happened? The new asked Kim out? Is that what had just happened?
Well, that solved the prom problem.
To Be Continued…