Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Ninja Steel.
The next couple of weeks passed without issue. There were a few attacks from Galvanax, including a monster that turned the Rangers intro trophies and made Brody and Levi extremely – and dangerously – competitive. However, the Rangers could handle it all with ease, especially since they had their team back at full force, exactly how it was meant to be.
This morning, things were a little different. Since the school had been destroyed in a monster's earthquake, the Rangers had been able to enjoy an extended summer. And while it hadn't been filled with beach trips and parties like any of them had hoped, it had still been exciting. What the Rangers really enjoyed most was not having to worry about fitting school work between Ranger battles and training.
Sarah was generally excited for the start of school. She loved learning, she liked seeing her friends and the homework didn't bother her much. However, on this first day of school, Sarah was not excited. It was her senior year. It was supposed to be the time where she finalized her college resume and learned where she would be getting into college.
This was supposed to be the year Sarah started her life. Now, she couldn't even spell life.
"You're going to do fine," Jenny said as she placed breakfast down in front of her daughter. "You'll get an IEP, you'll show all the colleges that it's going to take more than a head trauma to shake you and they'll be lining up waiting on you to accept them."
Sarah shook her head, "Who wants an engineer who can't write down her calculation, or read others?"
"That hasn't stopped you working in the garage," Jenny said.
"Well, yeah, but…"
"Look," Jenny sat down and smiled, "It's not going to be easy at first. Maybe never. But the Sarah I know never backs down from a challenge. Besides, didn't you find school a bit too easy anyway?"
"A little."
"Now, you're just giving the other kids a chance to keep up," Jenny chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you're still winning the race. You're just not running laps around anyone anymore. It's more… competitive."
"I'll give it a try," Sarah said. She took a bite of toast, then pushed her plate away. She wasn't hungry. Fortunately, Jenny had packed extra snacks in her lunch, just so she wouldn't be hungry if her appetite returned. Jenny gave Sarah her lunch box, then gestured to the hallway.
"You know, I think you're medically cleared for a ride," she said. "Why don't you take the hoverboard to school. As long as you remember…"
"Red means stop, green means go. I can't read, Jenny, but I do know street signs."
"I'm just checking," Jenny chuckled at herself. She would admit being a little overprotective right now, though she couldn't think of any reason why that was bad. It had barely been two weeks since she learned her daughter had technically been dead and that an alien from a distant galaxy had saved her. Sarah's brain injury was no longer as severe as it had been, which meant the seizures had slowed and Sarah's stutter and confusion were gone. Sarah could no longer read or spell, and there were some inexplicable mood swings, but they were no longer violent. Jenny was told it was to be expected with any form of brain damage.
All things considered, Sarah was thriving, but Jenny didn't want to risk that at all. She had told Sarah to take a couple of weeks off her hoverboard to give her head a little more time to heal, and asked that Sarah check in with her every couple of hours when she was out. She also asked that, when Sarah was working in the garage, she leave the door to the kitchen wide open so Jenny could hear if something went wrong.
It was a lot of rules for Sarah, who had already worked to earn her parents trust and so was used to minimal rules. Fortunately, Sarah had done well to follow them to ease Jenny's fears, and so she was deserving of having her hoverboard back.
Sarah gave a smile, took her hoverboard and geared up on her driveway. She turned it on then glided to school. At least she had this.
She stopped at the front of the building. While parts of it were still under construction, the bulk of the building was ready. The city had placed a rush order so the kids could get back to school when classes started. Summer Cove High was the biggest High School in the city, and offered program that other schools in the area couldn't. The school, the school board and the city were worried that if they didn't meet their deadline, parents would pull their kids and enrollment would drop.
"But… but…" she heard Victor stammer as she walked into the main foyer. He was speaking with Principal Hastings and standing in front of the now empty trophy case. Sarah could assume that all of Victor's trophies were lost or damaged in the earthquake. "I worked hard for those."
"I'm sorry Victor," Principal Hastings said with a shrug. "But this is a new year. Perhaps you can win them all back."
"All back? In one year?"
"You can do it, Victor," Monty, Victor's biggest, and only cheerleader said. Victor didn't seem to agree.
"It took me three years to get all the other ones."
"I'll help you," Monty promised. "By the end of the school year, we'll have all your trophies back and more!"
"That's the spirit," Principal Hastings smiled, then caught a glimpse of Sarah in the corner of her eye. She rushed over to the pink Ranger and tapped her on the shoulder. "Um, Sarah, I believe you have some paperwork for me?"
"Right," Sarah nodded her head and reached into her bag. Because of no longer being able to read and write, Sarah would need to end high school with an IEP for all her classes. All it meant was that she would need some accommodations for her school work, such as having someone read out instructions and tests to her and having her answer verbally and having someone scribe her reports for her when they needed to be written down. Unfortunately, before those could be put into place, the school required Sarah to jump through a few hopes, and a medical record of her new disability was only the start.
Since Sarah hadn't seen a real doctor for her diagnosis, she didn't have real paperwork. Mick had to forge some for her last minute. Principal Hastings either didn't notice, or didn't care that the doctor's name was signed: Dr. Mick Kanic and that it was the very same name of the shop teacher she happened to hire the year before.
"I will make this a priority," Principal Hastings assured her. "Until then, all your teachers are aware of your condition and have agreed to do what they can to help. You'll have Mrs. Finch this year for math, science and English and… who's that bushy haired shop teacher?"
"Mick?"
"He'll be your shop teacher. Hopefully, that makes this all a little easier for you."
"Thank you, Principal Hastings," Sarah said, then made her way to the office to pick up her schedule. That was where she bumped into Levi on his way out. She grabbed his arm, "Are you teaching much again?"
"Not this year," Levi shook his head. "I don't think I was very good and there were too many students enrolling in class because they were fans, not because they cared for music theory or production. I'm just going to volunteer wherever and whenever the school needs me."
"Kelly's going to be disappointed," Sarah said. "She loved your class."
"I can still offer private lessons," Levi said, then noticed a few eyes turn to him. While most of the students and staff at Sumemr Cove were used to seeing him around, some were still star-struck. Levi could always expect someone to ask for a picture, for his autograph, or for him to sing at least once a day.
"The price of fame," Sarah chuckled and Levi nodded his head.
"I'll see you later," Levi said and hurried out before he was surrounded.
Sarah made her way to the front of the line and picked up her schedule. Principal Hastings had already told her her classes for the semester, but Sarah needed to know when and where they were. After, she made her way to her locker and started to unpack her bag. There, Kelly found her and bounced over with a smile. She took the schedule from Sarah's hand and read it with a smile.
"We have the same schedule."
"Mom requested it," Sarah said. "You know, since you offered to be my scribe and all. Speaking off, you get some volunteer hours for that, in case you still needed some."
"Does being the pink Ranger count?"
"What do you think?" Sarah asked.
"I guess not. Need help organizing your locker?"
"I've got it," Sarah said. She unpacked her bag, sure to put her books on the top and her hoverboard on the bottom. Then she shut it and pointed to the cafeteria. "Wanna find the others?"
Kelly nodded and followed Sarah to the cafeteria, where students were gathering before the start of the day. They could easily pick the freshmen apart from the older students, as they appeared completely lost and nervous. Sarah had never been able to relate with them. In her freshman year, she had been excited and ready for the challenge ahead. Even when she transferred into Summer Cove, she was looking forward to a fun new year.
While her teachers were the same, while she already knew she had Kelly in her class, and while she was already familiar with the school, everything about her senior year felt strange, and it had everything to do with all the posters, flyers and sign-up sheets located around the cafeteria, inviting students to register for extra curriculars. Sarah could make out what some of the posters and flyers were for based on their pictures, but couldn't read any of the details.
"Hey, there's Preston," Kelly smiled and pointed to the front of the room, where Preston was wowing the crowd with some new tricks he had been practicing over the summer. Now that he wasn't at home with his parents, he found he had a lot of free time. When he wasn't with his friends or training, he was able to practice magic in his room. Brody and Levi had admitted they were growing a little tired of being his audience, but they were clearly still giving him the pointers he needed to improve, as students were stopping to watch him. "I wonder what his schedule is like?"
"We have all the same classes," Hayley announced as she arrived behind Sarah and Kelly. "Math, English, Science and Shop."
"Same!"
"Perfect," Hayley smiled. "Calvin's with us too. Now we just have to hope Brody's in all our classes too and we should have no trouble."
"Where is Calvin?" Kelly asked as she noticed the yellow Ranger wasn't anywhere in the cafeteria, which was odd, considering he and Hayley were glued to the hip. Calvin had been by the house to pick the girls up.
"Where do you think?" Hayley asked then pointed down the hall. "You remember that clunking sound Nitro was making?"
"Yeah."
"Guess who just has to fix it before school," Hayley rolled her eyes. "Calvin made me line up for his schedule too. He's going to smell like oil all day, now."
"Glad I don't sit next to him," Kelly said with a little chuckle as she turned to Sarah.
Finally, the bell rang. The freshmen all rushed out of the cafeteria, hurrying to get to their first class, afraid they would be late. The rest of the students casually made their way to their lockers to grab their pencils and notebooks and wandered down to class. Sarah felt she was lucky her friends were in the same class as her. Without then, she never would have been able to find her classes. While the building had been rebuilt so it was the same as before, some of the room numbers had been moved around and Sarah couldn't read the signs.
She followed her friends into math, with Mrs. Finch, who she had last year for most of her classes as well. Mrs. Finch had already written down some instructions on the board to keep the students busy. Sarah saw everyone getting to work, but she couldn't figure out on what. Before Kelly could mutter the equation to Sarah, Mrs. Finch came over and asked Sarah if they could speak. Sarah nodded and followed her out to the hallway, which had mostly cleared out.
"So I've heard about your condition," she said. "Principal Hastings let me know that some accommodations may be necessary. Is that true?"
"I can't read," Sarah nodded. "I had an accident over the summer."
To explain Sarah's injury, the Rangers and Jenny were all claiming she had been in a car accident. Since Sarah had been struck by a car, it was partly true, but as far as anyone was concerned, Sarah had been in the car for the accident and as a result suffered a terrible blow to the head.
"Is there anything I can do?" Mrs. Finch asked.
"Read instructions out loud," Sarah nodded. "I don't know what you write on the board. Letters, numbers, none of it makes sense anymore."
"Principal Hastings mentioned Kelly would be a scribe. Is that enough?"
"I don't know," Sarah shrugged. "This is new to me too."
"Well, we'll figure it out together," Mrs. Finch said. "For now, work with your friends on the equation on the board and just do what you can. After some testing, we'll know better."
"Testing?" Sarah groaned. She had already been through a lot of testing, from the initial diagnosis after her revival, to some follow-ups to confirm her condition wasn't improving. She knew the school would require its own tests to determine her limitations and how they could help, but that didn't stop her feeling frustrated.
"I know, it's not ideal," Mrs. Finch said. "But, and you can't tell anyone you heard this, you are expected to be our top student this year."
"I am?"
"Of course. So the school is willing to put all it's resources into helping you. Whether it's the use of a personal computer, having audio books, scribes, illustrations to explain ideas, whatever you need, we will provide it."
"Why?"
"The school believes in you," Mrs. Finch smiled. "And, while she doesn't always show it, Principal Hastings does care about all her students. She's not going to let something like a brain injury stop her students from achieving their best."
Sarah smiled back at Mrs. Finch and nodded her head, "That's good to know."
"But remember, you didn't hear any of that. Especially from me."
"Mom's the word," Sarah promised then headed back to class.