I'm Not Jealous
As part of the secret base under the mansion, Andrew Hartford had equipped a room with the type of machines you might find in a gym. And in this gym is where this particular story begins.
Rose and Ronny were spotting each other on a balance beam and Dax did curls next to them. In the center of the room lay a mat emblazoned with the Overdrive symbol on it, and on the mat stood red ranger Mack and black ranger Will.
"You are so going down," Will stated to Mack. "You don't have anything on me, Hartford."
And what had happened two days earlier came flooding back to the red ranger. He'd almost complete blocked it out, too. But now it was back, fresh in his mind.
Will had been leaning on Rose, his hands on her shoulders. Mack may have been a lot of things, but he couldn't recall ever being jealous before. And for what? Because Will had been touching Rose? It was hardly a big deal.
But it was. Mack found himself being resentful towards Will, and the feeling of confusion and anger and the desire to be the one making contact with the pink ranger almost scared him. He barely knew Rose, and it wasn't even like she had expressed any interest in him. Just because he'd made her smile and just because she'd stuck up for him didn't mean anything.
And Will was still standing on the mat, now in a fighting stance. Before either ranger knew what was really going on, Mack had punched Will in the face.
The other three looked up as Will went reeling.
"God Mack," said Ronny as she went to Will's side. "What was that about?"
the red ranger blinked. "I'm sorry Will. I don't know what happened. I really don't know."
Will shook his head, wincing slightly. "It's cool. Really. I just need some ice and I'll be fine. Guess I know better than to taunt you, huh?"
Dax and Ronny helped Will out of the room, the yellow ranger glancing back at Mack and giving him a nasty glare. Mack looked over at Rose and found that she was looking right back at him.
"Everything alright, Mack?" she questioned softly, moving closer to him. "That seemed pretty out of the blue. Did Will say or do something to make you mad aside from saying you don't have anything on him?"
"I'm not jealous," he insisted to her. "I'm not jealous of Will because the two of you have a…thing."
It was Rose's turn to blink. "Wha?" was all she could manage to say.
"I know. It's alright, really. I understand, Rosie. Will and you have a bit of a thing going on. I have no reason to feel this way. I should really go apologize to Will again," Mack mumbled.
"You're not going anywhere, Hartford," she commanded, her hands on her hips. "We need to get a few things straight. First of all, I do not have a thing for Will. I don't. You've confused me for Ronny."
"But-" protested Mack, but Rose held up a hand and continued.
"Even if I did have a 'thing' for Will, it wouldn't give you the right to punch him in the face. Is that clear?"
Mack nodded, but wouldn't look her in the eyes. "Yeah," he mumbled, staring at his shoes.
"Good." She moved closer still. "You never struck me as the jealous type."
"Funny you should mention that. I never thought of myself that way either. But I don't think I ever had a reason to be."
