Scenes of The Awkward: Tranquility
Chrome Notes: This little side-chapter takes place between Chapter 5 & 6.
It had been such a long day, and then again, a long night. Even when it was a long day and night, it was going to also be a long flight home. Worse yet, he didn't even have the window seat. He looked at his watch, knowing full well that it wasn't going to tell the exact time. After all, he was on an five-hour flight from New York City. He was looking forward to heading back home in Middleton, as the lights of Middleton weren't nearly as bright. Then again, Middleton was never going to be mistaken for a bustling metropolis, whatever that was. As he remembered touring through the city, the young man couldn't go two feet without awkwardly bumping into people. All that considered he was just glad to get back to some familiarity.
Plus there was a comfortable bed, about eight hours of fatigue and extensive jet lag waiting for him as well. Ron Stoppable took a quick glance at his surroundings. It was mostly quiet aboard the first-class section of the commercial jet. It seemed as though everyone around him were sleeping, talking on cell phones, or tapping surreptitiously at their laptops. It certainly was quite the opposite of what it was hours ago, what with Dr. Drakken & Shego unearthing yet another cockamamie scheme for global conquest.
Another cockamamie scheme for global conquest - That was ably thwarted, of course.
By whom?
By the girl who was sleeping peacefully to the right of him; Kim Possible.
The young man stole a look at her sleeping form. He couldn't stop 'The Gush Factor' from reaching a high point. To call her an amazing girl was an absolute understatement. Not only was the redhead a part-time world defending crusader, but she was also a Straight-A student, and the captain of the cheerleading team. How could she do all of that and still maintain herself? How could she not totally bog down underneath the pressures of being a high school student and superhero?
And, how could he, her best friend, not be attracted to someone like her?
He tried to force himself into thinking that she was either unattractive or not his type. It didn't work.
As it turned out he came to the conclusion of: "Of course she's my type! I'm a freaking teenage boy! Every girl is my type!"
The sidekick had figured that it had begun about six months ago in the winter. He spearheaded the gradual change at around Christmas time, underneath that ill-placed sprig of Parsley... Perhaps that was time he stopped looking at his best friend as his best friend and more as a member of the opposite sex... But who the heck told him start thinking like that? He didn't ask for this kind of confusion. He wasn't asking for all these awkward happenings to occur! Heck, if it ever came out in the open about his nascent feelings toward Kim, how could he possibly attempt to explain it?
The blond sighed. The other end of the television taught him a couple of things about life...
Number One was that life wasn't fair, even if you were rich.
Number Two was that things like this simply confused things to the nth degree.
Number Three was the fact that best friends usually have less than ten percent of becoming more than that.
Number Four was the fact that the chances of a guy like him winning the heart of a girl like Kim were about as good as the New York Knicks winning 35 games in 2007.
And, of course, number five was to use lists and numbers to sort out troubled thoughts.
It was clear to the young man that this infatuation wasn't going to go away anytime soon. At first, he told himself that it was a phase that would last about three weeks... Like when he was crushing on the girl who smelled like pepperoni pizza. As the time progressed, the more nervous he became. This wasn't a phase... It was more than that.
Heck, the only reason why he wasn't staring a hole through her right now is because he was going back and forth in his mind about what had been transpiring lately.
He smiled bitterly... He knew exactly what he needed to put a stop to this awkward attraction to his auburn-haired compadre; good old-fashion American rejection. He just needed to hear her say that he wasn't her type... Or maybe for her to say to him that they were just friends and nothing beyond that... That certainly worked in the teen sitcoms, and it was the kind of thing would definitely put things in perspective... Right?
But, then again... He had noticed that ever since he slightly altered his look that she had been looking at him a bit differently, though. But the cheerleading mascot had figured that maybe it was more of the garb than the person wearing it in itself. In fact, it was probably the same reason why he had suddenly became in such good graces with Bonnie... and Monique, for that matter. Sure those girls were attractive... But they just didn't have what Kim appeared to have.
His eyelids were growing heavy... When he got home, he had to remind himself to not think so much about matters like this. The long and short of it was that Kim was the best of the best friends that he had ever had, and if he didn't want to ruin that, then it would be best for him to keep his distance. Furthermore...
"Mmm, Ron?"
The blond wearily turned to his right side to see Kim stirring.
"Yeah?" He said to his awakening friend.
"Are we home yet?"
She would know better than him, as she stole the window seat out from under him.
"Naaah, we're about two or three hours away."
The girl murmured sleepily before returning to sleep. Ron continued to try and think of his strategy when something strange occurred that immediately broke him out of his concentration; Kim rested herself against him... in full pillow... or teddy-bear fashion. Upon the slight brush of contact, the blond froze, not wanting to move a muscle. His breathing became shallow and his heartbeat increased... He didn't want to wake her... She looked so peaceful. As he shifted his eyes back and forth between the sleeping girl and toward the front of the cabin, a flight attendant walked by their isle.
"That's so sweet," she said. "Are you her boyfriend?"
The blond felt the heat literally radiate his cheeks... "Well... Not really."
The female attendant shook her head. "Either way, she's a very lucky girl." With that, she continued down the isle.
Was he was confused? Yes. Was he officially crushing on his best friend? Just about. All of those questions were answered... But a more interesting question loomed.
With his best friend sleeping serenely on his shoulder, what if he had to go to the bathroom?
Yep... it was going to be a long two or three hours.
End of Part 1/4
Welcome to 'Scenes of The Awkward'... Which is... The small (and probably fluffy) vignettes between chapters.
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S-Chrome