Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Breaking up can be easy

Most of the school was blocky, filled with right angles, but this part, rebuilt after a doubting Mr. Barkin had pushed a button he shouldn't have and unleashed a genetically engineered giant monster on the science labs, had its fair share of curves.

What made it become their place were the large circular windows.  The windows were built around a light well and didn't even pretend to have a view, but their recesses did provide a nice place to lay down if you didn't mind being somewhat curled.

Coming here after school and talking while looking up at the featureless white ceiling had become a mainstay of their relationship.

"Hey,” Bonnie said as she climbed in and laid down next to her girlfriend, facing the opposite direction (feet to head and head to feet.)

“Hey.”

“How was your day?”

“Jellyfish free.”

“Always a good thing.”

Silence took over.  Bonnie sighed and then said, “We need to talk.”

“I thought we were.”

“About us.”

“Yeah...” the word trailed off gradually, and was replaced by a moment's pause.  “It's not working out,” was said at a more normal pace, “is it?”

“Nope.”

“It started out so good, though,” no hint of protest, just an acknowledgement that things had been better.

Bonnie nodded, not that the gesture would be seen.  “It was good, but then...”

“We drifted apart.”

“Yup.”

“I kept hoping it'd turn around.”

“Me too." For a moment she thought she was finished, but then she decided to add, "It's not happening though.”

“We seemed perfect for each other; where did we go wrong?”

“I'm not sure that we did; we had a good run.”

Bonnie heard movement, she guessed it was probably a shrug.  “I have to take your word for it.  I don't have much experience.”

“Best relationship I've ever been in, before the spark died.”

“How could it just go away?”

“Donno.  Maybe some things aren't meant to last.”

“I guess.  I can't feel it anymore.” Another pause.  “If you hadn't beaten me to it, I was going to bring it up.  I just wasn't sure how to start.”

“What made you realize it was over?”

“I almost kissed Tara.  We both realized what we were doing before it actually happened but ... yeah”

“Wake up call?”

“Pretty much.  What about you?”

“I think I'm falling in love with Monique.”

A long silence.

“So what do we do?”

“Well, we stop dating.”

“Obviously.”

“Then we hope that Tara and Monique feel the same way about you and me as you and I feel about them.” Pause.  “'Cause otherwise we'll be single for prom.”

“I don't really care about prom.”

“You wouldn't.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing bad,” Bonnie said. “Indifference about those sorts of things suits you.”

“If we do get the girls, I hope we can keep any sparks with them alive.”

“Me too, but...” she trailed off into silence.

“'But' what?”

“Even though it didn't work out in the end, I don't think our time together was wasted.”

“Me neither.” A pause. “You're right: we had a good run.”

-

Random fiction brought to you, basically, as a result of reading too many stories where the only way for someone to switch partners is with angst, animosity, and other bad words starting with the letter “a”.

Which is kind of weird because in the show itself there's no aversion to, “We broke up without any friction or bad feelings.”

It's quasi-original in that it could stand alone perfectly well but it was thought up within a specific context and so I threw in details from that context (the names Bonnie, Tara, and Monique, the destruction of the science wing of Middleton High School as a result of giant monster, unfortunate unspecified encounters with jellyfish) and if I ever get around to writing a comparatively pedestrian Kim Possible universe that I've had in my head for a while, this would take place within that.

If anyone cares, Bonnie's interlocutor here is MTF Ron.  The Possible-verse needs more diversity, and I feel like Ron fits.

5 comments:

  1. This is nice. I know what you mean, and this is a good aversion of the trope.

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  2. This seems somewhat relevant:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdJ6aUB2K4g

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  3. No awfulness, acrimony, awkwardness, agression.

    Also no weapons or implements of torture that start with a, which I started to think of but decided not to share.

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  4. Nicely done. It seems that the real things are hard to get into fiction precisely because they aren't overly dramatic. You did well with making it real and engaging without the excess drama.

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