Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made.

If there was one thing Emma loved about Harwood County, it was the green space. The outskirts of the city were surrounded by a beautiful forest that was home to hundreds of different species of insects and animals. Whenever she could, no matter the weather, Emma would take her bike and her camera out to the woods and take pictures of whatever creature she could find.

On this day, she had been fortunate enough to spot a mother deer with her fawn, and as they ate peacefully, Emma quietly inched herself as close as possible. Her camera had a zoom that would allow her to take beautiful pictures even from a distance, but Emma loved the chance to play with the lighting and the angles. The deer didn't seem to notice her presence so Emma was going to chance it.

She thought she was close enough and lowered herself a little closer to the ground, hiding in the bushes. She brought her camera up to her face and just as she was about to take the shot her cell phone started to ring. She cursed whoever it was who was calling her, but also herself for forgetting to turn it off. The mother deer looked up, startled by the noise, and then rushed off with her fawn for somewhere a little safer to eat.

Emma grabbed her phone from her bag and checked the number. It belonged to Jake and so she groaned as she answered it, "What now?"

"Do you think flowers will…?"

"Do you know how many guys have tried flowers?" Emma sighed, "Seriously, Jake, this is getting really annoying. Gia doesn't date. Can you stop calling me about this? Next time, there better be a monster attack."

She hung up the phone and stood up. The deer were gone now, but she was determined to find something. She walked back to her bike, strapped on her helmet, and started off in search of another spot to take a picture.

-Megaforce-

"I doubt they would ever ask someone to be a Ranger, never mind be the red Ranger, if they didn't think he, or she, was good enough to get the job done."

Troy would always remember his lessons at the Shiba's Dojo, but those words most of all. He still wasn't sure whether him being called into action as the red Megaforce Ranger was a dream come true or just a really strange coincidence but he wasn't going to let anyone down. His Senseis both believed in him and they had taught him well. Thanks to them, he could run into battle knowing he had the skills to take on any monster. However, getting used to being a leader, and getting used to having friends was a huge challenge. Troy wasn't sure he was ready for it, but he remembered Lauren's words and he had to believe she was right. Gosei wouldn't have chosen him if he didn't believe he was the perfect man to lead the team.

But it was hard fitting in. He was the new kid in school and the only Ranger who didn't have a friend. Jake and Noah were best friends, and had known each other for a very long time. In spite of being a jock and a nerd, they spent almost all their time together and knew how to put their differences aside. They had a bond that was truly unbreakable and Troy wasn't sure how he would ever learn to fit in and feel comfortable around them.

It was the same with Gia and Emma. He didn't know much about either of them, but they were also from different circles and yet they knew how to make their friendships work. They had years of history behind them. And they were girls. Troy didn't know the first thing about girls or how to befriend them. He wasn't even sure what they liked. He saw Emma walking around school with a camera and a bike helmet, but couldn't find anything that would relate those two objects together. And Gia, the only thing he knew about Gia was that Jake and every other guy (and some girls) in school had a huge crush on her.

Troy wasn't sure where he fit in, or how to make himself fit in. For now, he would help out when needed, and he would believe in Jayden and Lauren and Gosei when they assured him he had the qualities to do whatever he needed to do, but he couldn't make it work with the others. He didn't know how it was ever going to work. They were all so different.

-Megaforce-

Noah pulled out his laptop once he and Jake were settled in at a table at Ernie's. He always had his laptop with him wherever he went and had no problems pulling it out whenever he needed to. Right now he was working on a big project for the school that would help make communication easier for everyone, and would give Harwood County High a stronger sense of community.

Really, Noah just wanted his shot at earning a couple of bucks. After the success of Facebook, he knew social networking was a good business. He could do better than Zuckerberg and Harwood High was the place to get The Harwood Social Hub started.

Jake put his cell phone down on the table and sighed. He leaned against the table and looked over to Noah, "Well, that was no help."

"You don't stand a shot, dude," Noah shook his head. "Now, you're getting rejected by the best friend. When are you going to call it quits? Gia's not interested in you or anybody."

"No one accomplished anything by giving up," Jake said as he took a sip of his milkshake, "This Ranger thing might just be the perfect way to make something happen. We save lives, dude. She's bound to notice me and we're going to get close. I have an edge."

"And a very active imagination," Noah said, "You're still dreaming."

"Says the man trying to start Harwood Social Hub. You know I support you, Noah, but everyone's already connected. Why do you think this is going to work? If this turns into anything, it's just going to be another password to remember and another website spamming my inbox with message from people I barely know."

"I'm going to one up Facebook, Twitter, and all those other sites that think they've got the latest and greatest, and when I do, I won't share a dollar of my earnings with you."

"And when Gia and I get married, you're not invited to the wedding."

"Deal," Noah shrugged his shoulders and pushed his glasses up his nose, "Weddings aren't my thing anyways."

"I just need to find a way to stand out. You know, give her the chance to get to know the real me."

"What about flowers? Don't girls love flowers?"

"I have to stand out, dude," Jake shook his head, "Do you know how many guys give her flowers? I'll bet she's sick of them."

"And, with your luck, you'd get the kind she's allergic too."

"She's allergic to flowers?"

"I don't know," Noah looked up from his laptop and sighed, "I'm not watching her every minute of the school day. I'm probably the only guy at school who isn't. Why don't you try that? Why don't you leave her alone for a few years?"

"In other words, give up?" Jake asked. "No way, dude. I'm not giving up. I've just got to figure out something special. Something that'll really knock her socks off."

"Maybe she doesn't wear socks," Noah smirked and looked up to Jake. The black Ranger frowned.

"Now you're just being mean," he crossed his arms and turned away for a moment, pretending to be mad, but then he couldn't resist. He leaned over the table and tried to get a peek at Noah's screen, "By the way, did you get Gia's profile yet?"

Noah covered up his screen and gently pushed his friend back, "You're about one notch short of being a stalker, you know that, right?"

"Whatever, did you get it?"

"Yeah," Noah sighed and turned the screen around. Jake looked to it happily, rubbing his hands together as he prepared to read the details.

The profile was basically empty. All that was there was her name, her school, and a blurb in the relationship box that said: uninterested. Jake looked up to Noah and frowned, "Dude, you're killing me."

"No, she's killing me," Noah groaned and took back his laptop, "You know that if Gia shows interest then the whole school is going to follow. She could at least upload a profile picture or something…"

"You're desperate, dude," Jake teased before taking another sip of his milkshake. Noah looked up at him and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever."

-Megaforce-

After the deer incident, Emma had gone to search for new wildlife to photograph and had found a red fox sniffing around in the woods. Leaving her bike behind, Emma silently made her way to a bush, lowered herself into hiding and lifted her camera. Just as she went to take the picture, her cell phone rang again. The fox looked up, spotted her, and ran off. Emma did get a picture, but it mostly consisted of a red fox butt blur. She grumbled, lowered the camera, and reached for her phone.

"Jake, you better be at the mercy of some monster or I swear…"

"It's me."

"Gia? Hey."

"I scared off a squirrel, didn't I?"

"A fox, yeah."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. What's up?"

"Can I stay at your place tonight? The neighbour kid's having a party with his friends from school and they won't stop asking if I want to come over."

Emma shrugged her shoulders as she stepped out of the bush and walked back to her bike. She put her camera back in her bag, "Why don't you just go to the party for like five minutes? Just shut them up. I can go with you, if you want. You know, so they don't try anything."

There was a sigh on the other end, "Look, Emma, I'm really sorry about this. You know that if it weren't for the freaks and geeks I would totally go to one of the parties with you but…"

"I get it," Emma answered, "Parties aren't really my thing anyways."

"Besides, if I went to one, I'd never hear the end of it. I don't think it would shut them up. I think it would just make it worse."

"What if you showed up with a date?" Emma asked. "Is your cousin still in town? Go with him, convince everyone in school you don't date because you're taken. No one will be the wiser, and it might get a few people to back off."

"He's gone," Gia answered with a sigh. "But someone is available. Someone I trust."

"Gia…"

"C'mon, Emma. It's not like there aren't already rumours. You're the only person I'm close to."

"We're best friends! We always have been!"

"I know that. You know that. You offered to come anyways. Five minutes, I promise."

"This'll ruin my dating reputation."

"Are you kidding me? With the way some of these guys behave, you'll start getting all the phone calls. Please, please, please."

"Are you begging?"

"Yes. Please!"

"Alright, we'll show up together. But no weird touching or anything. Let's just let the theories create themselves. It'll be easier to deny them in the future that way."

"Promise. You're the best!"

"And by the way, next time, don't scare off my fox."

"Next time, turn off your phone. I'll see you soon!"