“Oh, Ron – look at me!” Kim whined. “I’m a nervous wreck about meeting this girl!” Kim had been informed that the new girl would not be arriving until the last class of the day – which also happened to be Barkin’s. For the whole day, she’d been anything but calm about the whole deal.
“Relax, KP, I’m sure you two will have a lot in common!” Ron patted her hand, reassuring her. With her or broken up with her, Kim was still his friend, and he wasn’t about to go and let any friend of his down.
His gesture worked. Kim stopped shaking. “Thanks, Ron.”
“No prob, KP.”
“Here comes Barkin!” Josh Mankey warned – at which the entire class went silent.
“Okay, class, we have a new student today…” Mr. Barkin stared down his students as he walked into the room. “She just came here from Go City High School, where she didn’t exactly have the best track record. That, and she looks familiar to someone we’re not all fond of here in the city of Middleton – but as this is Middleton High School, we’re going to forget I ever told you that and welcome her with the respect she deserves, okay?”
Brick Flagg raised his hand. “Uh, what if we don’t?” he asked.
Mr. Barkin was at his desk in a flash. “Then I suppose you’d like to join your girlfriend Miss Rockwaller in her year-long suspension from the school, Flagg…I haven’t been able to brag about a Super Senior for a long time, let alone - two…”
Brick sunk low in his seat. “Right – the respect she deserves! Got it, Mr. Barkin.”
“Thank you, Flagg. Now, I’d like you all to meet: Shennon G. O’Reilly.” He motioned the new student into the class.
But when the student entered the room, the response was as far from respectful as everyone but Barkin, Kim, and Ron hid under their desks. Kim and Ron just sat and gasped, wide-eyed.
Shennon G. O’Reilly was just taller than Kim, had black hair, and wearing glasses. But it wasn’t that part that was the problem.
It was the pale skin.
And the clothes: the girl was wearing a dark green top that bared her midriff, and her pants had a half-green, half-black pattern – one that was wayyy too similar to…
Shego.
Whom everyone in Middleton knew about, thanks to the constant articles in the paper, and all the TV coverage of the trial - though, nothing about her past before the rainbow-coloured comet turned her and her brothers into superheroes could be found - even Wade had turned up squat in his search.
The undercover Shego grinned. Now that was a reputation, if she could do that! Her gaze turned to the three people not cowering at her. “Well, at least the people here who’ve seen battle aren’t afraid of me.”
Mr. Barkin looked disappointed and thrilled at his class at the same time. “Well, I’m glad to see some people have respect. Now, for all of you who think this is the Shego woman that Miss Possible here has fought so many times before, you’re wrong. However, she is a very distant relative of that woman.”
“Huh?” Ron asked.
“What?” Kim asked.
“Oi…” Shego scoffed. “We’re related, but in a very, very, very distantly related kind of way. A branch of the Go family moved out west to what became Go City a long time ago, before my family moved there about 20 or so years ago. Apparently, Shego and her brothers lived only a few blocks away from us and no one even knew about it - it took that giant robots deal before the connection was made.”
About this time, all the students had returned to sitting in their desks. “Can you do that firey hands thing that Shego could do, too?” Mankey asked. “Brick says that comet story is a cover-up for something.”
Kim watched her new roommate bristle. Clearly, she could do the green fire – but if she was Shego, that bristle wouldn’t have been there. She would’ve ignited the flames already, she loved herself so much. This is way too freaky…I better play it safe and ask Wade to run a full background check after class.
Shego had expected Mankey’s question – but it still didn’t make answering it any less easy. “Yeah, she said, igniting her hands for a brief moment, then extinguishing them. “But the comet story? Not fake.”
“So, were you, like, hiding in Team Go’s treehouse near Shego when the comet hit it or something?” Brick asked from the back of the room.
“No – but that treehouse wasn’t the only thing the comet hit,” Shego snapped. “Ya’ ever think of that? And we’re going to stopping with all questions about that comet starting…now.”
“Why? You got a grudge against comets or something?” Malcolm asked from the back of the class.
“In a sense…YES!” The anger of the response topped even Barkin’s worst eruption.
“Well, she’s definitely a relative of Shego – that is, if all this is true…” Ron muttered to himself.
“Um – Mr. Barkin?” Tara surprisingly raised her hand. “Where’s Shennon gonna live? My mom’s a real-estate agent, and she just complained at dinner last night how no one’s bought a house in forever.”
Barkin and Kim both cringed, though everybody only saw Barkin’s cringe. “I might as well get this over with: Mrs. Possible’s family here agreed to let Shennen stay with them,” he answered.
Shego was half shell-shocked, and half-relieved. Kim Possible? She was going to be staying with Kim Possible? Thank you, Dr. Drakken, for not telling me that part… Living with her mortal enemy… that was a big-ass con. But then again, it was perfect “dumb luck” for her being undercover. Oh, what a day this is turning out to be…
“Stay with them?” Tara asked.
“Yeah,” Shego growled, “instead of being shuttled into another Foster Home where everyone’s lousy and no one actually cares for you – but that’s another story I’ll not tell you all any more about.”
“Miss O’Reilly, you may take an open seat right now,” Barkin notified.
Shego chose the desk furthest away from both Kim and Ron.
Kim watched the new girl take her seat, and sighed. Great - what a day this is turning out to be…
“Mom! I’m home!” Kim called as she entered the house.
Shego came in after her. The two had barely acknowledged each other for the rest of the class, and their conversation on the way to Kim’s home had been nothing but Kim trying to start up polite conversation while Shego sat there giving her one-word answers. She’d even been woken up by Kim after cheerleading practice had ended, Shego had grown so bored by it she’d fallen asleep.
“We’re in the kitchen, honey! Dinner’s about done!” Mrs. Possible called out.
“Oh, goody. Is the food edible?” Shego asked.
“Ha ha,” Kim deapanned. “Here, just set your stuff down in the hallway. We can take it up to the guest room after we eat.”
Shego slung her bag off her shoulders, then stretched her back.
Mr. and Mrs. Possible and the twins were already in the middle of dinner when Kim walked in the kitchen, Shego behind her. “Shennen, you’re gonna love my mom’s cook-”
CRASH!
Kim looked up. A plate was on the floor, shattered. And her mother was staring wide-eyed at the figure standing next to her daughter. Mr. Possible’s gaze was also suddenly fixed on the guest.
“-ing.”
Shego crossed her arms. “Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do,” she snarled.
Tim Possible, recognizing the voice, finally paid attention to the situation. “Hey! That’s Sh-”
“No – it’s not, Tim. If it was, you’d think I’d let her in the house?” Kim snapped.
“You did when she was with those other superhero guys,” Jim Possible added.
Kim ignored her brother. “Mom, Dad, please! Stop staring. It’s NOT Shego. This is Shennen, the girl from Go City.”
“Huh?” Mrs, Possible snapped to. “Oh! Oh, Kimmie, I’m sorry – Shennen, I’m-”
Shego raised a hand. “’S’okay, Mrs. Possible. I get that a lot. I’m used to it.”
“Well, now that we’ve successfully embarrassed ourselves, I believe it’s time for introductions:” Mr. Possible ran up to Shego, hand outstretched. “It’s a pleasure to meet, you, Shannon.”
“Shennen,” Shego corrected, not biting on the handshake. “With an “e,” not an “a.”
“Shennen. Right. Well, Shennen, it’s very nice to meet you.”
“Kimmie, why don’t you show her where she’ll be staying while I clean this mess up and get you two your dinners?” Mrs. Possible asked, picking up the larger pieces of the shattered plate.
“Alright, Mom. Here, this way, Shennen,” Kim said, taking Shego’s arm and leading her down the hallway. “Sorry about this, but the guest room is, like, on the way other side of the 2nd floor.”
“Dude, CAN YOU KEEP IT DOWN BACK THERE? Seriously, man, I’m on the phone here! Yo, Drew? You still there, man? Yeah, sorry ‘bout that, but someone can’t change a spark plug without makin’ a major racket, seriously. What? Dude, after that stunt you pulled with the giant robots and gettin’ off like that? I’ll so work with you on anything you wanna do – seriously. Whuzzat? You wanna WHAT? Dude! Are you kidding me? That is, like, one of the most rocked-out plans EVER! WAYAYEAH! Seriously! Like, I’m so on board with this thing, it’s not even funny anymore! Seriously, count me in.”
“A branch of the Go family moved out west a long time ago before my family moved to Go City,” Shego said, repeating what she’d told Barkin’s class earlier at the high school. “Doesn’t surprise me that Shego and her brothers lived only a few blocks away from my family and we never even knew about it. The same thing goes with my Dad’s side of the family – that Bill O’Reilly idiot on Fox News is, sadly, a very, very distantly far removed relative of mine.” Shego cringed. She really, truly hated saying that name – it was the only name that she hated to say more than she hated saying the name “Kim Possible.” “And they say I’m the bad seed in the family…hah!” she chortled.
“That’s what Barkin meant by saying I’ve dealt with someone with her condition before many times,” Kim explained to her parents. “ He meant the fact that the comet that hit Team Go also hit her – and she happened to get the same powers as Shego from it.”
Shego bristled. “Yeah, can we not talk about the comet anymore?” she sniped.
“Whoah!” Jim exclaimed. “The comet?”
Tim looked at Shego. “The comet gave you powers, too, Shennen?”
“Did you not just hear her question, Tweebs?” Kim asked her brother harshly.
“Apparently not,” Shego observed with a snarled lip and a much colder tone of voice than just before.
“That must have been really cool when you found out what the comet did - huh, Shennen?” asked Tim.
“Tim!” Mrs. Possible hissed - but it was too late.
“Oh, yeah, tw – whaddya’ call them again?”
“Tweebs,” Kim replied.
“Tweebs?”
“Twins, dweebs…”
“Yeah, ‘kay, got it. And Tweebs, y’know what? It is pretty cool when a comet comes down, smashes your childhood home to tiny pieces, and KILLS YOUR PARENTS AND YOUR GRANDMOTHER!”
Shego got up, turned around, and stormed out of the room, heading upstairs, leaving all the Possibles speechless. Jim and Tim hung their heads in guilt.
“Shennen!” Kim ran up the stairs after her. “You-”
“-lost my appetite,” Shego spat scathingly, shoving away the hand Kim had put on her shoulder and disappearing into the guest room behind a slammed door.
Kim took that as her cue to just shut up. She turned back down the hallway, feeling a little dejected.
When she slunk back to her spot at the dinner table, her mother was putting plastic wrap over their guest’s dinner plate. “Kimmie, make sure to tell Shennen after dinner that if she’s still hungry, her meal’s waiting in the fridge and she can get it any time she wants - as long as she doesn’t wake us up if she decides she’s hungry at three o’clock in the morning.”
“Will do, Mom,” Kim sighed as Mrs. Possible returned to the dinner table, and soon the teen hero found herself becoming entertained by rolling her peas around her plate with her fork.
Mr. Possible looked at her with concern. “It’s not your fault, Kimmie-Cub,” he said, patting her on the back reassuringly.
“Yeah,” chimed in Tim. “We all made an honest mistake or two there…Shennen’s had a busy day…”
“Don’t let it get you down, Sis,” Jim finished.
That helped. Kim smiled at her younger brothers – and promptly drew them into a hug. “Thanks, guys. You may be Tweebs, but you’re not total idiots.”
“Aw, man! Did you have to give us cooties while we’re eating?” Jim whined. The remark only made Kim hug the two tighter.
“That’s the spirit, Kimmie!” Mr. Possible praised. “Shennen just needs some time to get used to Middleton. She’ll find herself – eventually. Just you wait.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Kim smiled, and finished eating her peas.
END CHAPTER FOUR