The cute redhead or the incompetent mad scientist?
Kim walked through the hallways of Middleton High, trying, willing to stop that sentence from being replayed over and over again in her mind. She hadn't meant to overhear. After dealing with Drakken's goons, she'd simply gone after Shego to see if she needed help. It was the perfectly heroic thing to do.
She really had not meant to hear all that.
But she'd heard it all the same.
The cute redhead
It didn't mean anything, of course. Not really. It had been said be Shego, after all, who liked to say stuff like that. It was probably part of some kind of taunting or anything. And anyway, looked at from an objective viewpoint, Kim was cute, so Shego had simply been stating a fact rather than voicing an opinion.
Uh-huh. Yeah. Right.
Kim stopped dead in her tracks. There she was, standing in front of her locker, taking out a few books. Kim wasn't sure if she'd seen her yet. Not that it really mattered. She'd have to talk to her sooner or later. Sure, she'd prefer it to be later, but… Heck, she was Kim Possible. She could do anything.
Kim took a deep breath and then took the few paces to reach Shego.
“Hi Shego.”
Shego looked at her and smiled slightly. “Hey there, Princess.”
Kim brushed a strand of hair out of her face, even though it wasn't really there. “Look, I… I kind of heard you talking to Drakken the other day.”
Shego closed her locker. “Oh, hey, look, I never actually considered going bad.” She paused. “Well, OK, I have considered going bad, but that was before… Yeah, anyway, Drakken didn't tempt me in the least.”
“It's not about that,” said Kim. She looked at the floor and felt silly. Then she tried looking Shego in the eye again. “You really think I'm cute?”
Shego looked surprised for a moment, but then a slow grin spread over her face. “You know you are, Princess.”
Kim blushed and looked away. “Well, I'm… flattered, I guess But I think you should know that, uhm…”
“Yeah?”
“I'm not into girls.”
Shego blinked. “Well, it must have taken a lot of courage for you to say that.” She leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “And I don't believe a single word of it.”
“Shego!”
Shego leaned back. “Well, I gotta be going. Don't wanna be late for class and everything. We'll talk later, Princess.”
“Shego, I really mean it.”
Shego just turned around. “Bye now.”
Kim stared at the number on the paper in front of her. It was a 2. Somewhere on the same line there was also a ‘y', several ‘x's, two 3s, a 9, a 7 and a couple of abstract symbols signifying multiplication and equality. Kim knew all of this in a distant sort of way and she also knew that it really wasn't that hard for her to make sense of it all.
But right now, all she could do was stare at the 2.
Kim looked away from the paper and at the phone lying on her bed. Her thoughts shifting away from mathematics, she bit her lower lip.
After fighting a battle with herself which she wasn't actually sure she won, she reached over and grabbed it. Again she sat frozen for a moment, staring at numbers and then dialed. It took a few moments, but eventually a female voice answered.
“Hey, Kim here.”
“Oh hey, girl. What up?”
“I'm not sure,” said Kim. “Shego.”
Even over phone, Monique heard the worry in Kim's voice. “Something wrong?”
“Yes. No. I don't know, maybe.”
“I see.”
“It's just…” Kim gave an exasperated sigh. “I think she's into me.”
There was silence coming from the other end.
“Monique?” Kim said, once she felt the silence was going on for far too long.
“Into you. As in…?”
“Yeah, as in.”
“Girl.”
“I know.”
“You think she's gonna be trouble?”
“What? No! Why would you think that?”
“Well, I don't know her as well as you do.”
“I don't know her,” said Kim. “But…”
“But…?”
“I don't know, Monique,” said Kim. “I think I might be into her as well.”
“For real?”
“I'm not sure,” said Kim. “But… maybe. What do you think?”
“I think I am not the right person to ask for advice.”
“I guess. But I don't really know who else to talk to.”
“I think I do.”
“Aw, godsdammit!”
There were few things Shego hated more than a ringing telephone just as she was about to take a bath. One of them, of course, was Hego. Another one was having the doorbell ring just as she was really getting into punching the crap out of a punching bag.
She gave the helpless, swinging bag one last glare, turned on her heel and strode to the front door with the angry stride of someone about to give someone a well-deserved yelling at. Reaching the door, she glanced through the peephole to prepare an appropriate greeting. Then again, if it was Mrs. Henderson of number 14 again inviting her to some kind inane ‘let's get to know the neighbourhood’ meeting again a simple scream of ‘go away!’ would suffice, possibly with a few ‘fuck's thrown in for good measure.
But when she saw Kim's face at the other end of the glass, all anger instantly drained away.
“Kim, what a pleasant surprise,” said Shego, opening the door. “Is it mission time again?”
“Uhm… no,” said Kim, awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “Can I come in?”
“Any time, Princess,” said Shego, opening the door further. “Make yourself at home.”
Kim followed Shego into the living and looked around. The walls were a sterile white, though most of the furniture was either black, green or both. She quickly sat down on the large black leather couch and instantly realised her mistake. If she had sat down in the chair at the other end of the small, glass coffee table Shego would not be able to sit down next to her.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Shego asked.
“Tea, please.”
Shego raised an eyebrow. “Alright. I'll see what I can do.”
Shego disappeared through a door that presumably led to the kitchen. Kim let out a long breath and looked up at the ceiling.
What was she going to say?
She'd intended to be honest and admit that there was a remote possibility that, perhaps, she may actually be kind of attracted to Shego in a way. But it was easy to say that kind of thing in your head. Here and now in real life with the real Shego so nearby, she wasn't sure she could do it. She'd be crossing a bridge and she wasn't at all certain it wasn't flammable.
“OK, the water's up,” said Shego, sauntering back into the room. “So what's up?”
Kim pushed away the rush of disappointment she felt when Shego sat down in the chair and tried to focus. “Oh, I just, you know, came for a friendly visit. I mean, you just moved in here, maybe I could help somehow.”
“And this would be the part where I mentioned that I could really use your help in the bedroom,” said Shego. “But come on, what are you really here for?”
Kim looked down at her fidgetting hands. “Don't you know?”
“I think I can make an educated guess,” said Shego. “But I want to hear you say it.”
Kim sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “OK, here's the sitch. Earlier today, when I said I wasn't into girls… well, it was true, I'm not into girls. But I think I might be into you.”
Shego smiled. “Figured as much.”
“I don't have a crush on you or anything, OK?” said Kim. “But…”
“But…?”
“I kind of like it when you're near, you know? A lot.”
“I'd gathered,” said Shego.
“You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?”
“Princess, what do you want me to do?” said Shego.
“Go… go out on a date with me?”
“I'd be happy to,” said Shego. “How about Saturday, say eight o’ clock? I'll pick you up.”
“Alright,” said Kim. “But I'll pick you up, if you don't mind.”
“Don't want the ‘rents to find out, do you?”
“Sorry.”
“Don't worry, it's totally understandable.”
Kim nodded. “OK then. I should be going now.”
“You didn't even have your tea yet,” said Shego.
“Yeah, but, I really can't stay.”
“If you say so.”
Shego stood up and walked Kim back to the door. Kim was kind of happy with that, in a dreadfull kind of way.
“Well… bye then,” said Kim.
“See ya Saturday,” said Shego.
“See you tomorrow at school, actually,” said Kim.
“Yeah, but that won't be seeing you, you know?” Shego grinned.
Kim blushed. “OK then. I guess, I guess I'll just…”
It wasn't much of a kiss. Kim just pressed her lips against Shego's, not really knowing what she was doing and without Shego expecting anything like it. It didn't last long either, a few seconds at the very best. But in the ways that mattered, it was still a kiss.
“Right,” said Kim. “Bye.”
Shego was too stunned to reply. She just watched Kim go and then slowly closed the door. As in a daze, she reached up and touched her lips.
And smiled.