A/N—Starting to rewrite chapters.
There are times when we don't know how much people can mean to us until we have lost them, pushed them too far.
Chapter 1
Middleton, Colorado
"Ron, hurry up!" Kim Possible's voice carried through the Stoppable household, jerking Ron from his thoughts. Bright sunlight poured into his room on this hot, sunny summer Sunday, giving the room an extremely cheerful nature. He slowly put on his red shirt, thoughts once again drifting to his best friend. God, I haven't seen KP for three months, and I've been missing her like crazy. She's always hanging out with her popular friends now. Ron sighed to himself, realizing the veracity of his thoughts. Not only that, but I have to bring up my grades if I'm going to go to the same college as her.
"Ron, we're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" Finishing dressing, Ron ran downstairs to greet Kim. As he laid eyes on her for the first time in seemingly forever, he couldn't help but realize her exquisite beauty; she had thick, red hair down to her shoulders and the athletic figure of a gymnast.
"Sorry KP; I'm not using to waking up early." She just rolled her eyes before replying.
"Ron, it's ten o clock; the early bird sale started at six."
Normally, Ron would have preferred sleep to almost anything except eating. In this case, however, he would have given up sleep just to spend time with his best friend. After all, she hadn't dropped by or even bothered to call after their last mission, and Ron could clearly see that they were drifting.
'No matter, we'll repair our relationship today.'
'Just like old times' he thought to himself, as he said goodbye to his parents and followed Kim out the door.
---
Ron's POV
"So, Ron, senior year's coming up. Aren't you excited?" Kim said cheerfully as I rode along in her car.
"You know me, KP. I'm the Ron-man; I go with the flow." I saw Kim's face get serious as she glanced over at me.
"You do know you have to bring up your grades if you want to go to college, right? I mean, we've been together since we were kids. I just can't imagine leaving you behind now."
I sighed. Kim, the paragon of perfection, was right as usual. Kind, athletic, talented…and beautiful. It took me some time to finally admit to myself that I found her attractive, and for the past few years I've kind of liked Kim more than a friend; yet, with each passing year I found it harder and harder to keep it to myself. It drives me nuts to be by her and to know that I would never be able to have her. Quite frankly, I definitely wasn't the type of guy she dated. You're a loser a voice in my head said, and she's the perfect example of perfection. Way out of your league. Basically, those were the same thoughts that had plagued me for years.
"Earth to Ron," Kim said, once again snapping me back to reality.
"Huh?" I muttered, confused.
"I asked you if you wanted to go to Bueno Nacho after we went shopping. My treat."
"Well duh! It's only the bestest place in the whole entire world," I said enthusiastically. "Besides, we haven't gone there in a while. I've really missed
spending time with you."
"Ron, we've been best friends since…well, always. I promise you we'll spend more time together, starting with Bueno Nacho tonight."
Yes! Just like old times! My troubles instantly disappeared, replaced by the happiness of being able to once again spend some quality time with Kim.
---
As we arrived at the mall, Kim sprinted off towards Club Banana, dragging me along with her. Wow, she must do this a lot I thought to myself, seeing her amazing skills at dodging people and moving objects. She broke into a frenzy of delight before picking up everything she could find and dumping them into my arms. Two hours drifted by before she left Club Banana with six completely filled bags in my arms."Ron, you've been such a sweetie. Let's get some food and then go for some afternoon shopping. That is, if you don't mind." Mind? How could I refuse?
"Come on KP, how could I mind? I get to spend time with you…I mean, we haven't been hanging out anymore, with you always hanging out with your other friends." Ditto that. The last time I saw her was a mission in Australia three months ago.
"Yea…I guess we have been drifting, haven't we?" An uncomfortable moment of silence passed between us. Since when did we, best friends, have uncomfortable silences?
"Actually, I'm not really that hungry right now. Want to do some more shopping before eating?" I asked, trying to cover up the pain at my realization.
'Why should she hang out with you? You're a loser.'
'She's my friend.'
'Loser.'
'Shut up.'
"You okay? This is the first time you've turned down food. Are you sure you aren't sick?"
"Oh come on," I said, mustering up as much 'Ron-ness' as I could. "You know me, I just like to accomplish things quickly before enjoying the finer points of life." Kim rolled her eyes before agreeing. We set off to buy more clothes for Kim, going from store to store before we bumped into the person I least wanted to see: Josh Mankey. It wasn't really much of a secret that Kim liked Josh, and why shouldn't she? He was a pure ladies man, handsome, charming, and extremely popular, the exact opposite of me. It hurts me every time to see Kim turn crimson at just the mere sight of him. It's as if Josh is slowly taking her from me, and I can't do anything to stop it. Both were oblivious to me as they looked into each other's eyes.
"Hey Kim," said Josh in his smooth voice.
"Oh, hi Josh," replied Kim, blushing. A jolt of envy washed through my body. It isn't fair.
"Kim, it's been really nice seeing you. How long has it been? A few months? Anyway, I've really missed you." More pangs of jealousy crept through me as I saw Kim turn even redder.
"Y-y-you have?" she stammered. "I've r-r-really missed you too, Josh." Wow, death doesn't get her this nervous.
"Hey, Kim, I've been thinking of you a lot over the last few months and…I was wondering if, if…" I'm not liking where this is going. "If you'd like to go to dinner with me tonight?" Don't do it KP. For the love of God, don't ditch me this time.
"Josh, I'D LOVE TO!" replied Kim in euphoria. "I mean, yea, sure." Bitterness crept through me. KP? How--why? How could she betray me, her best friend since pre-K, like that for a guy she barely knows?
'Open your eyes. She's not the same Kim you've come to know and love.'
' Love?'
' She's shallow.' Those words struck me because I had been trying to deny that thought for ages. Now, the evidence was staring me right in the face. Could Kim Possible, one of the nicest people, be shallow?
'No, she can't be. I've known her for life.'
'People change.'
'NO!'
I watched the rest of the scene play out, as Josh gave her a tight hug before leaving. I felt tears brewing within me, and I used all my energy to stave them off. Think happy thoughts.
"Oh my God! Can you believe it? Josh just asked me to go on a date with him! Oh my God!" I felt anger rush through my body. This was definitely not the first time Kim had ditched me, and I knew for a fact that it wouldn't be the last. Why KP? She strode along with a huge smile still on her face as she looked through more dresses. Completely ignoring me, she just danced in her own little world. How could you?
---
Skipping lunch altogether, I just followed Kim around the mall for the rest of the day before returning to her car. She barely noticed me more or less and was just in her dreamy state all day. As she started up the engine, I saw her give me another big smile. This one was tainted, however, because of Josh Mankey.
"Ron, you okay? You haven't talked at all after Josh left," she said, saying the word Josh like it was sacred.
"Oh, you noticed that I was still here?"
"What do you mean?" she asked in a confused voice.
"What do I mean?!" I yelled harshly, startling her. "Let's see, where should I start. How about this? I risk my life to go with you on another mission, so that you can get even more glory. After that, you don't visit or even call for three months because you're always off with some 'hot guy' doing whatever it is you do now. Out of the blue, you invite me to go to the mall with you, and of course I'd accept, because I'm Ron the loser right? It's not like I'd have any plans or anything right?" Kim opened her mouth to answer, but I cut her off. I knew what she was going to say and didn't bother to let her lie to me. "But guess what, even if I did have plans I would have canceled them because you were my best friend. I traveled halfway around the world for you damn it! You have no clue how nice it was to finally spend time with you, but I guess it only went one way." I felt hot tears build in my eyes. "Damn it KP, why can't you just spend one freaking day with me as friends? How could you just ditch me for Josh? Do you think I'm that expendable?" I was in tears now, but I didn't care.
"Ron, I'm, I'm really sorry. It's just that—" Realizing that her car had stopped at my house, I jumped out before she could finish. I don't need anymore of your pity Kim. You and I both know damn well why you ditched me.