a/n-the stuff that happened in the dino thunder series obviously isn't going to stay exactly the same, 'specially cuz i can't remember like anything that happened and i'm too lazy to look it up.
Chapter Two Five and A Half Years Later
"Oh come on Tommy!" A now ten-year-old Charlie Oliver begged her older brother. "Do we have to move? Why can't we just stay at the University, and go on more digs?"
Tommy sighed. "Charlie, I've already explained this to you like a thousand times. I was offered a great position at the high school in Reefside, and the University is the last place I want to be right now. Besides, Hayley lives in Reefside. And she has this café there. You'll love Reefside, I promise."
"Do I get to keep taking gymnastics?" Charlie questioned. "Because if I don't, then I'm gonna run away and go live with Uncle David."
"Charlie, you can't do that now, because you just told me exactly where you are going to go." Tommy paused for a moment. "And I called Hayley, she said a new gymnastics place just opened."
"Yes!"
"Now, lets get everything packed up." Tommy ordered. "We have to get to our new house."
The Next Day
Charlie fell backwards onto the bed, it was the only piece of furniture in her new room so far. Yet the day had already been deemed a tiring one. And it was barely even lunchtime.
"Charlie!" Tommy called up the stairs.
"What?" Charlie called back.
"Lunch is here."
With that, Charlie got up from her bed, no longer tired, and sprinted out of the room and back downstairs. When she got to the kitchen, she was rather surprised by what she saw. But pleasantly surprised at that.
"Jason! What are you doing here?" Charlie asked. Before he could answer, she rounded on her brother. "And I bet you knew about this, didn't you? Why didn't you tell me?"
Tommy mock sighed. "Those are the duties of an older brother. Besides," He continued, "Aren't you glad to see Jason?"
"Of course I'm happy to see Jason." Charlie said. "I'm always happy to see Jason. He's way more interesting than you are, Tommy. So, where's lunch?"
As Charlie attacked the food Jason had brought over for them all to eat, Jason turned to Tommy. Who, was looking at Charlie with a rather strange expression on his face. Almost exactly like the one on Jason's, really. An expression that said this girl reminded them both of someone they had both known and, in their own ways, loved.
Charlie reminded both men so much…of Kim.
"And I'm sure you'll be very comfortable with this place Ms. Hart." The real estate agent said for about the thousandth time that day. "Since you have all of your stuff set up now, and all the paperwork has been finalized, I think my job is done."
Kim smiled tightly. "Yes, it was a pleasure meeting you. Have a nice day."
"You as well Ms. Hart." The real estate agent said, as she exited the building, which now bore the plain, and very boring, name of: Gymnastics Studio.
Kim turned around and walked back into the main area of the studio. There, she found her best friend, Trini Kwan, busily going around to all of the newly bought equipment, examining it, and then making notes on her clipboard. Trini looked up when she heard the sound of Kim's footsteps.
"She finally leave?" Trini asked. Kim nodded. "Thank goodness. If she said one more thing about being comfortable, or anything else at all, I think I might have been forced to take drastic action and kill myself."
"Now Trini," Kim began with a slight smile in her eyes. "How would it look to prospective students if they came to sign up for classes and heard you talking like that?"
"Well, to me it would look like you just made a really bad investment." Trini offered. "Not really sure about them. And speaking about them, I think I just heard the door slam shut."
"Reminds me of Jason when he used to come over to my house all the time, back in high school." Kim said. "It kills me how that boy doesn't know how to shut a door properly."
"You know what would be really creepy?" Trini asked, as they heard voices and footsteps approaching the main gym.
"What?" Kim asked.
"If that really was Jason." Trini said.
"Yeah, cuz Jason is really gonna come sign up for gymnastics lessons." Kim said sarcastically.
"I always wanted to give life as a gymnast a try." A very familiar sounding voice said from the doorway.
The two life-long friends turned around to find none other than Jason Scott, the man they had just been discussing, standing in the door.
"JASON!" Kim exclaimed. She ran over and nearly tackled him with a bone-crushing hug.
"I haven't seen you in ages. I've missed you so much!"
"Me too." Trini cut in. Then she gave him a weird look. "Why are you here? There is no possible way that you could know this way Kim's place."
"Not even on the inside." Jason agreed. "Not a single dot of pink."
"I aim to change that." Kim said quickly. "As fast as possible. But seriously, why are you here?"
"I'm psychic." Jason said.
"You mean you knew we were here?" Trini questioned. "Not possible."
"No." Jason said. "I mean I know a girl who loves gymnastics with all her heart, but was just forced by her annoying and rather tardy-prone older brother to move to Reefside. Oh yeah, and I knew that she wanted to come sign up for gymnastics lessons. So here we are. Charlie, come here."
Out of nowhere, it seemed, a young girl of about ten stepped into the gym as well. Trini gasped when she saw the girl. Except for those familiar-looking chocolate brown eyes, the girl was an exact replica of Kim at that age. And judging from Kim's uncharacteristic silence, apparently she had noticed this as well. Finally, Trini seemed to find her voice.
"Well Kim, it would appear that you have your first student." Trini said. She turned back to the girl. "So, what's your name?"
The girl smiled at her shyly. Yet another Kim characteristic. Who was this girl?
"Charlize Oliver. But you can call me Charlie." She answered.
So that's where those eyes seemed familiar from. She was the little girl Trini used to baby-sit for when Tommy was running late, as usual.
Jason turned to his two friends. "You know Charlie, Trini. She's Tommy's little sister. They just moved to Reefside."
Kim paled visibly. Jason and Trini didn't seem to notice, but Charlie did. However, she didn't say anything. About that.
"Trini?" Charlie asked, after looking away from the now silent Kim. "As in the Trini who Tommy always talks about in all of his rather horribly-told stories about high school?"
Trini smiled wistfully. "We went to high school together, and I used to babysit for you when you were little. But back in high school, me and Tommy were constantly together because we were both-"
"Best friends…with Kim here." Jason cut in.
Trini bit her lip. How could she have almost just let their biggest secret slip? It was this girl. She just reminded Trini so much of Kim. She had felt like she was actually talking to Kim.
Charlie smiled at this. "He talks about his high school friends all the time. It gets a bit annoying really, 'cuz he never talks about anything else. Seriously, Tommy needs a life."
Trini nodded. "That sounds just like Tommy. Man, I haven't seen him for ages. What's your brother up to these days, Charlie?"
"He's a paleontologist." Charlie answered. "We go on tons of digs, it's so much fun. But he got a job teaching high school science, so the two of us had to move here."
"Which reminds me," Trini continued, "how have the two of you been holding up together?"
Charlie smiled. "We're just great. He lets me do lots of stuff mom would have never let me do. But we still miss them, of course."
Meanwhile, while they had all been talking, Kim had slipped away unnoticed. The appearance of this girl in Reefside had brought some memories back to the surface.
Memories that Kim had tried so hard to forget. They were of the past she had tried so hard never to think about. And it wasn't good to dwell on the past. But there was always a chance…
A chance that this girl, who resembled Kim so much, wasn't the baby she had given up ten years ago.
A chance that that Kim would never have to see Tommy here, and have to explain to him about the baby.
A chance that no one would ever find out about the baby at all. After all, she had been keeping it a secret for the past ten years. More than ten, really. But no one would find out.
No one.
Kim went to her office and grabbed a medical form that Charlie would need to have filled out before she could start lessons and brought it back to where everyone else was still standing, before she could be missed. After Kim had explained everything on the form to Jason, he and Charlie left. Kim closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. When she opened them again, Trini was gazing at her with a concerned look in her eyes.
"Are you alright?" Trini questioned.
Kim nodded. "Just tired, you know? All that hard work getting everything set up today."
Trini nodded as well. "What about Charlie? You know, I used to baby-sit for her a bit when she was a lot younger, but she's really changed. She looks...well, she looks a lot like...you."
"Yeah, kind of." Kim agreed half-heartedly. There's still a chance that no one will ever find out though...There's always a chance...