The Sun, The Moon, and Their Stars

21 : Flash

December 2004

Benjamin

I talked to her about this yesterday at school. I said I'd rather drop by her house, but she insisted that I'd do no such thing. She said it doesn't bother her.

I see her feet from the gap under the gate, and I open it before she can press the doorbell.

"Right about time."

Kim is surprised that I beat her on the timing. She's wearing—as usual—a black t-shirt, green cargo pants, black flip-flops, and her black-and-white bag. And she reminds me of someone familiar.

"Kim Possible."

She parts her lips to say something, while I hold on to the gate with a silly smile on my face. She rolls her eyes instead. "It wasn't intentional," she says. Then I step aside and let her inside.

"Whatever you say, KP."

She opens her bag and gives me the camera that I asked her to bring. I lead her to one of the lawn chairs, and I go inside the house to load the film.

When I get back, Althea is already there talking to her. I have no idea how that kid walked past me in the living room.

I raise the camera at them and take a candid shot. Kim turns to me, blinking from the sudden flash.

"Sorry, test shot."

I hand it back to her and tell Althea to go inside. My sister pouts, but Kim promises to see her later. And I smile to myself at the idea that there's going to be a later.

Kim stands up and straightens her shirt that I just notice is tightly hugging her figure, revealing curves in the right places.

"Where are we going?" she asks.

I look down for a second before I direct my eyes back to hers.

"It will lose the element of surprise if I tell you."

She rolls her eyes again, turns away, and starts walking toward the gate. She looks cute when she does that, and even cuter when she's oblivious.

But we're not going on foot. "Wait!" I call after her. So, she stops and turns to me. "We're not going to walk," I say. I point to the side of the garage. "We're taking the scooter," I add.

She looks bewildered all of a sudden. Then she shakes her head. "No way," she says.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Kim Possible?" I try my best to sound encouraging and even smile a little, but she doesn't say a word. "It's a Yamaha, and it's perfectly safe," I assure her. "We won't be taking the highway, anyway." I take a step closer, so I'm more or less half a meter in front of her. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

She's no longer unsteady, but she's still quite unsure.

She's looking intently at me now. And the irrational side of me wants her to keep doing that, while the rational one is saying, not now you idiot.

She breathes in and out. "Fine," she says.

I take the scooter out and close the gate. I let her settle first on the seat. Then I give her Jessy's helmet, but she frowns before taking it from me.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"It's pink."

"I'm sorry," I say with a laugh. "My sister's the Pink Ranger."

Kim wears it anyway. "Please don't look at me like that," she says while adjusting the helmet on her head.

"Like what?"