Selfish
Disclaimer: I do not own anything power ranger related.
A/N: this is my first SPD fic. I haven't actually seen the show, but I was inspired by other SPD fanfiction I read. I was intrigued by Sydney's character, b/c she was perceived as having a perfect life. This story is slightly related to my other story Flaws, which was about Ashley's not so perfect life. Enjoy!
"Where's the princess?" Z asked with a roll of her eyes as she joined the male rangers in the common room.
"Doing her nails?" Jack suggested with a smile. Even Bridge took a break from his toast to add his own remark, "Washing her hair." Jack laughed at the green ranger's statement. "Good One." He agreed with a high five.
"She should be in the gym or training, not doing her hair or nails." Sky Tate commented without taking his eyes out of his handbook. "She needs to stop being so selfish and think about the team. We're only as strong as our weakest link." He reminded them curtly.
The object of their conversation was doing none of the things her teammates expected. She was sitting in her room trying to get the courage to go find the other rangers. She knew she was still on the outside of the group and was determined to find a way to be friends with them. Problem was she never really had friends her age before, so she didn't know what to do.
The laughter carried down the hall and found her. She desperately wanted to be a part of that laughter. Until she reached the doorway and realized they were all laughing at her. She stood there unmoving until the humiliation reached her brain and forced herself to move. Betrayed and extremely hurt at their insensitivity, she backed away from the door and fled to her room.
They didn't notice the figure standing outside the door. If they had they would have seen how much their comments had affected her. They didn't understand the consequences that would be brought by their own selfish attitudes.
By the time she reached her room, the hurt gave way to anger. "Selfish." She stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her. "How would they know I'm selfish? They don't even know me!" She shouted at the four walls surrounding her. The enclosed space did little to keep flashbacks of her past from rushing to flood her memory.
"Hey princess." Her dad called to her. "Listen, I won't be able to make it to your recital tonight, but here's the credit card buy something nice as a present from me." Jonathan Drew told his daughter as he was packing his briefcase for work. "I'll be home in a week, Mom is in DC for a conference. Maria is here if you need anything." Sydney accepted the card and a quick kiss as her father rushed out the door. "What could I possibly need?" She complained. Every time her parents left her alone, they always gave her free license to go shopping. But after fourteen years of shopping and being raised by her housekeeper Maria, it was starting to get old.
That night Sydney had been "discovered" by one of her friend's dads. He offered her a chance to make a record at his studio. Honored, she accepted and quickly moved away from her parents and to New York. She knew her parents were relieved, though they never said it. It wasn't that they didn't love her; they just didn't know what to do with a child. Both of them had been only children, and they had never planned on having kids themselves, they were both too wrapped up in their own careers to worry about raising one of their own. Sure she had heard all the whispers of boarding school, and was hoping that this music would give her the opportunity to start over.
No one at school would figure her for a lonely girl. She was Sydney Drew. Her father was the District Attorney and her mom was running for Senate. She didn't have time for friends, between her piano and dance classes and the mandatory etiquette classes that helped her maintain the certain expectations of a child of political parents.
"Hey princess!" Her father's voice rang through her head, only to be replaced by her voice teacher's. "Sydney, you need to practice." Or Isabella's "Sydney, wear this."
Their voices mixed with the numerous voices that had influenced her life. "Sydney, do this." Sydney sing this." She was so trained that she would have jumped through a hoop had they insisted. Finally at the age of sixteen she had simply walked away.
She had found the Academy purely by accident. She had no official training in martial arts, but she was disciplined and knew she had to live somewhere, do something with her life. She couldn't, wouldn't go back to the life she used to live. For the third time in her short life, Sydney was starting over.
And now two years later, it looked like she would be starting over again. "Who am I?" She screamed, looking around at all the accolades and things she had accomplished and accumulated from her short career. Distraught and desperate Sydney began pulling things off her shelf. Wanting to throw them across the room, she refrained only so that no one would hear her. She spotted the window and ripped it open. Just as quickly she began depositing worthless achievements onto the grass below; small amounts of relief flooding her as they broke from their three-story descent, landing in small insignificant pieces.
"Just like I feel." She thought miserably. Feeling bolder, she continued ripping things from her closet and drawers and hurling them out the window until little remained of her life in the room. Designer dresses, her platinum record achievements, pictures, everything that had meant anything to her was gone.
Sydney had had enough. She packed up a few necessary items and stuffed them in her bag, and strapping it on her back. She emptied her wallet of all her cash and left the rest behind. She placed her cell phone on her dresser. "Like they'd call anyway." She muttered sadly. They wouldn't care that she had left. With that thought she suddenly wondered why it was so hard for people to love her. 'What is wrong with me?' she wondered as tears filled her eyes. But her stubborn pride refused to let them fall, instead she wiped them away, more determined than ever to leave.
With a glance at her wrist, she reluctantly removed her SPD wristband and gently placed it next to her phone. Despite everything, Sydney was sad to leave. She had enjoyed being a ranger despite the indifference of her teammates. She finally felt like she could do something with her life; instead of being the princess everyone thought she was, and expected her to be.
"They don't need me." She decided angrily, scrawling a quick note on the mirror in farewell. "I'll find someone who does." With a flick of the switch, the room went black as Sydney let the door slide close behind her. She strolled purposefully towards the back exit of the Academy. The cool air hit her as she pushed the door open and left without a second glance.