Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter ten of "Don't Run Away." I'm glad it took just four days to get out. I can't believe I've already gotten over one hundred reivews. I didn't think it'd happen that fast, but I am very happy it did. I want to give SpecialK92 a shoutout for being the one hundredth reviewer. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. A special shoutout goes to Tasha Hill, Alex B Goode, SpecialK92, Ghostwriter, brankel1, Boris Yeltsin, ToxicWednesday, black-ladyToronado-power, and Ms. Catherine Willmon 2018 for being continuous reviewers. Your support means the world to me. As for other readers, please don't hesitate to review. I'd love to hear what you'd like to see in this fic. I don't mind that at all. If you really like it, put it in your author alert and favorites lists. You'll be able to keep track of it better. Anyway, this chapter has Tommy/Kim. Stay tuned for chapter eleven.

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Chapter 10: Sweet Interaction and Troublemakers

Steady morning rain fell on Angel Grove High School the next day. The strong wind blew it a little sideways. Kim made her way through the front doors wielding her umbrella. She opened and closed it four times to rid it of excess water. She closed it all the way. She made her way toward her locker. A student bumped into her without excusing herself. She became irritated as she stopped in her tracks.

"Hey, witch!" she called angrily and clenched her teeth. "You're supposed to say, 'Excuse me!'"

Kim went to her locker and opened it. She looked in the mirror and saw her hair was a little messy due to the wind. She grabbed a brush she kept in there on a hook and brushed it. She managed to get it straight. She returned the brush to its hook. She slipped a lock of hair behind her ear. She grabbed her algebra book before placing her umbrella inside. She clicked her tongue and mumbled inaudible words.

She sighed happily, as she thought about the kiss she and Tommy shared. She never thought she would become attracted to a boy so quickly. She was glad it happened with him. She believed he was the cutest boy she had ever met. She was looking forward to their meeting tonight. She hoped it would be even better than the last one was.

Her thoughts drifted to Skull. She wished he would stop pestering her for dates, but there was little chance of that happening because he had been doing that since they were young children. At least she could take comfort in the fact that he never followed her around, called her constantly, or left gifts on her doorstep. She considered him just a big pest.

Tommy came out of the men's restroom, which happened to be the first of two doors on the right in the hallway leading left. He straightened the strap on his duffel bag. He spotted Kim as she opened her notebook and came to a stop. Smiling mischievously, he sneaked toward her and squeezed her neck. She jumped in fright. She closed her notebook and spun around. She gave him a mock-annoyed look.

"Tommy, how dare you sneak up on me like that!" she yelled and smacked him on the arm.

"I couldn't resist," he answered with a smirk. He leaned close to her ear. "Besides, you looked really cute when you jumped."

Tommy pulled back and winked at Kim, who punched him in the shoulder. They shared a laugh.

"Anyway, good morning, Kim," Tommy greeted.

"Good morning yourself, Tommy," Kim commented sweetly. A flash of lightning lid up the window at the stairs. Thunder came a second later. The falling rain became louder. They looked toward it. "It is getting bad out there."

"It might be, but the rain will be gone by noon," Tommy pointed out.

"Yeah," Kim agreed. They shifted their attention back to each other. She closed her locker and turned around. She leaned her back against it. She huffed quietly. "We Californians are lucky if it rains once a year."

"The lack of rain sucks," Tommy commented regretfully. He smiled warmly. "At least there is beach weather year round."

She giggled. "My friends and I go the beach a lot in the dead of winter. While most of the country freezes its butt off, we enjoy the warm weather and sunshine."

He leaned toward her ear. "I'm sure you look really cute in a bikini."

Kim blushed somewhat while biting her lip. Tommy pulled away from her and exhaled slowly. They looked around before leaning close to each other.

"I can't help thinking about our kiss," Tommy admitted softly and tried to suppress a yawn, but he couldn't help himself.

"Me too," Kim whispered, smiling lightly. "It was everything I dreamed my first kiss would be."

"The same goes for mine," Tommy agreed and pressed his lips together. "I know it sounds silly, but I've been attracted to you since the second I saw you."

"It's not silly. I've been attracted to you since I laid eyes on you Sunday afternoon," Kim responded, winking at him. "The more I look at you, the more I want to be near you."

"I feel the same way with you. I can't wait for our next meeting in the park," Tommy commented eagerly and tapped her nose with his finger. "It's going to be great."

"How about we bring blankets to this meeting?" Kim suggested.

"That's a good idea," Tommy murmured and emitted a loud snort. "We don't want to get dirt on our clothes, especially sand." He became disgusted. "Sand gets everywhere."

"I don't want to say what places it gets in," Kim grumbled and rolled her eyes. "Nope, nope, nope."

"Sure, Ducky," Tommy teased.

"I do like imitating her," Kim said with a giggle. She blew a raspberry. "Yep, yep, yep."

Tommy and Kim pulled away from each other. They watched three students pass them. She moved her hand to the bottom of her notebook.

"Many girls look at me with a lot of jealousy because I am the daughter of a lawyer and a dentist," Kim admitted.

Tommy scoffed. "Who cares if they are jealous? Your parents work hard for their money. At least you don't look down on those who are less fortunate."

"My parents told me having a bunch of money didn't make me better than anyone else was," Kim said truthfully. "Unfortunately, some wealthy students never learned that. Veronica Lloyd is the perfect example. She loves putting down people who are less fortunate than she is. Her parents are very successful real estate agents. Her father makes a little more than her mother does, but they spoil her all the same. She brags about new possessions she gets." She stuck her finger down her throat and made a gagging sound.

"Whoa," Tommy whispered in amazement.

Kim put her hand at her side. "She is the biggest snob in all of Angel Grove."

"And proud of it," a female voice said snobbishly.

Tommy and Kim cringed and looked toward Veronica, who stood in front of the stairs. She made her way toward them, pushing a student back as he attempted to pass her. He went around her. She stopped before the duo. She had an arrogant look on her face, almost as if she were expecting a parade for her arrival.

"Hey there, Kimberly. It's nice to see you," Veronica said, her voice laced with much sarcasm.

"What do you want, Veronica?" Kim demanded.

"Can't I say hi to a friend of mine?" Veronica sneered.

"I wouldn't be your friend if my life depended on it," Kim snapped.

"Wow. You are being very snippy today," Veronica taunted and laughed raucously. "How about another snippy comment?"

"No, thank you," Kim retorted and narrowed her eyes at the snob.

"Whatever," Veronica said and looked at Tommy. She put her hands on her sides. "You're hanging out with the new kid."

"Why do you care if she is hanging out with me?" Tommy growled and gritted his teeth. "By the way, the name is Tommy Oliver. I moved here from Moore. Kim told me a little bit about you."

"I overheard every word she said," Veronica replied, giving Kim an ugly look. She turned back to him. "You shouldn't hang out with her. She hangs out with losers. Their names are Jason, Zack, Trini, and Billy. They aren't rich like she and I are."

"Her friends aren't losers. Just because you are rich doesn't make you better than other people are," Tommy said, his eyes showing some anger. "Money doesn't buy you happiness or friends."

"You're such a snob that it's no wonder you're always sitting by yourself at lunch," a female voice added bluntly.

Veronica turned to see Jason, Zack, Trini, and Billy standing a short distance away. Tommy and Kim saw them as well. They walked up to her. She gave Trini a dirty look.

"Those are strong words coming from an Asian, Trini," Veronica leered while narrowing her eyes at the Yellow Ranger. "I heard Asians don't have sharp tongues."

"We have just as sharp tongues as other people do in this world," Trini retorted defiantly.

"Still, it doesn't make you less of a loser. Kim is the biggest loser of all because she chose to hang out with all of you instead of someone like me," Veronica commented.

"Give me a break, Veronica," Tommy hissed in irritation. "The only loser I see here is you. Having material possessions makes you happy only temporarily. To regain that happiness, you have to get more."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "So?"

Billy huffed. "There is no so about it. You should be grateful that you have a roof over your head and food in your belly. Some people don't have anything. Unfortunately, you are unable to understand that."

"Poor people deserve their fates, Billy. They are leeches on society. The world would be better off without them," Veronica leered, turning her nose upward.

Trini crossed her arms. "Don't hold that nose so high, Veronica."

"You'll drown because it is pouring down rain outside," Zack added.

"You don't want your makeup and hair ruined, do you?" Jason quipped with a snicker.

Zack, Trini, Billy, Kim, and Tommy tried to stifle snickers, but they couldn't help themselves. Veronica became a little angry. They and Jason turned quiet very quickly.

"Many people became poor through no fault of their own, Veronica. They shouldn't be treated like garbage. They should have any help we can give them," Tommy said.

"Who cares? They won't amount to a thing. Neither will any of you. You are all destined for dead-end jobs," Veronica growled.

"Keep saying that, Veronica. It will never make it true," Kim retorted.

"If you think looking down on others will make you happy, you're dreaming big time," Tommy added.

"That's what you think," Veronica said and rolled her eyes. "I'll see you later, losers."

Veronica started walking down the hallway in front of the stairs. She held her nose high. Suddenly, she bumped into Mr. Kaplan, who held a small coffee-filled cup in his hand. He accidentally spilled it all over her blue-and-black tie-dye blouse that was covered in sparkly gems. She screamed in frustration as he expressed guilt.

"My blouse!" Veronica screeched.

"I'm sorry, Veronica," Mr. Kaplan apologized. "I didn't see you there."

"Well, you should've watched where you are going, Mr. Kaplan," Veronica snapped in anger. "You ruined my blouse. I will have to spend three hundred dollars to replace it."

"Hey, I didn't mean to," Mr. Kaplan retorted and shook his head in disbelief. "Besides, you shouldn't wear such an expensive blouse to school on a messy day."

"There is no way that I will ever wear cheap clothing like those losers do," Veronica said, eyeing the group.

"Veronica Lloyd, don't call those students losers," Mr. Kaplan yelled disapprovingly.

"Why do you care?" Veronica wondered. "Besides, it's true. They are losers."

"I care because I want to see my students become fine people," Mr. Kaplan said, sighing heavily. "I am warning you. If I hear you call them losers again, you are going to detention during first period."

"I don't care. They are big time losers," Veronica said defiantly and looked at the principal.

"All right. You asked for it," Mr. Kaplan said and clenched his teeth. "You are going to detention." He grabbed a pen and a pink slip from his pocket. He started writing. "I will let Ms. Applebee know you won't be attending her economics class."

"Please, Mr. Kaplan. Don't send me to detention," Veronica begged.

"You should've thought about that before you called Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, Tommy, and Kim losers in front of me," Mr. Kaplan commented seriously and looked at her. He finished writing and gave her the slip. He returned his pen to his pocket. "If you have an assignment in that class, you will do it for homework. Now, go to detention."

Veronica mumbled inaudible words while walking right. She glared over her shoulder at Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, Tommy, and Kim, who waved at her with big smirks on their faces. She looked ahead. The teens turned to Mr. Kaplan as he approached them. They lowered their arms.

"Nice work, Mr. Kaplan," Zack cheered and clapped twice.

Trini squeaked in delight. "You really showed Veronica who was boss."

"I hope that will teach her a lesson about calling students losers in front of me," Mr. Kaplan responded and gazed at Tommy. "How do you like Angel Grove High so far, Tommy?"

"I really like it, sir," Tommy admitted joyfully. "All of my teachers are nice. So are many students."

Mr. Kaplan smiled. "Good. An Oklahoma boy like you had to deal with tornadoes a lot. Now, you get to experience earthquakes."

Tommy held up his hand. "Hey, my family is already preparing for earthquakes."

"Great," Mr. Kaplan answered in a warm voice. "Jason, Trini, Kim, you will be happy to know that Ms. Teasdale will be in class today. She is much better. I'll see you kids later."

The group observed Mr. Kaplan turning on his heel and walking away. Zack looked toward Tommy, shock registering on his face. The others turned to the boy.

"You're from Oklahoma, Tommy?" Zack blurted out.

"Yeah. I'm from Moore, the tornado capital of America," Tommy admitted, giving a shrug.

Zack laughed. "I have an older brother named Robbie who lives with my grandparents in Newcastle, Oklahoma. He helps them run their horse farm and works at a dairy farm. He's been living there since he was eighteen."

"That's really cool, Zack," Tommy answered.

"Zack is lucky to have such a great role model in his older brother. My older sister was never a good role model for me. Her name is Leah. She stole from my parents and me for years. She lives an apartment and works at Bank of America. She has been fired from several jobs because she wouldn't do her assigned work," Trini muttered sadly.

Tommy showed sympathy for her. "I'm sorry, Trini."

"I remember one incident that Leah stole from me. I was saving my allowance to buy my mother something nice for her fortieth birthday. I was nine years old. I got four dollars a week for an allowance. After fourteen weeks of saving, I had fifty-six dollars. I wanted to go to Wal-Mart to find a forty-dollar necklace there. I went to my nightstand and opened the first drawer, where my money was stashed. It was gone. I looked everywhere for it. Leah walked in wearing a necklace. I asked her where she got it. She said she got it at Wal-Mart for forty dollars," Trini explained.

"Let me guess. Leah took the money," Tommy suggested.

"She did," Trini answered, a little anger showing in her voice. "She admitted it and showed no remorse. I told Mom when she came home from work. She was infuriated. She took the necklace from Leah and claimed it as her birthday present from me. Leah threw such a huge tantrum that she made the brattiest kids in the neighborhood look like angels. She was eighteen. She knew better."

"I hate to say it, Trini, but your sister is a bitch," Tommy said in a blunt voice.

Trini clicked her tongue. "Oh, I agree. I'm glad Dad banned her from our house after stealing from us so much. I want nothing to do with her."

Trini tightened her ponytail before rubbing the back of her neck with both hands. She placed them at her sides.

"At least Leah doesn't sleep around like my mom does," Jason mumbled with a heavy sigh. "She and my dad went through a bitter divorce when I was ten. She has a my-way-or-the-highway attitude. She hated he got custody of me and received visitation only every other weekend. She has used it to harass him, my stepmother, my stepsister, and me. Elisa and Annie are like my real mother and sister respectively. Mom has canceled visitation due to some 'emergency' many times. That is code she is screwing a guy she picked up."

"Your mom sounds a lot like my birth mom, Jason," Tommy said and frowned. "She started treating me like crap after she was a devoted mother to me for the first three years of my life. My birth dad abandoned her three months before I was born. She abandoned me at Kroger when I was seven. Josh and Kerri Oliver took me in. They adopted me after I had lived with them for eight months."

"It sucks your birth parents failed you, Tommy, but at least you got adopted by a loving family," Jason pointed out.

"Thank God," Tommy whispered in relief. "By the way, I know about Kim's parents' divorce. She told me about it yesterday."

"She's the lucky one. I wish Mom handled her divorce with Dad in a mature way," Jason muttered in sadness.

"Look on the bright side. You have a stepmother and a stepsister who love you," Tommy replied comfortingly.

"That's true," Jason agreed.

"My mother died from breast cancer when I was thirteen years old. She battled it for a year before it took her life. She loved my inventions, especially the ones that made the housework easier to do. She encouraged me to enter science fairs. I entered five and won first place in three of them," Billy announced with pride.

"I'm sorry about your mom, Billy," Tommy whispered with much sympathy. "It's great she supported your inventions, though."

"How about the dweeb invents a remote to turn all of you off?" a male voice asked rudely.

Tommy, Kim, Jason, Zack, Trini, and Billy looked ahead to see Bulk and Skull standing a short distance away. The bullies approached the group. Skull chewed gum.

"Well, well, if it isn't the new kid hanging out with the dweebs, Skull," Bulk taunted.

"Yeah!" Skull answered and smacked his gum. "I guess that makes him a dweeb too, Bulk." He laughed raucously.

"The name's Tommy, guys. You don't need to call me the new kid," Tommy retorted and became annoyed at Skull's resuming his gum smacking. "Stop smacking your gum, Skull. It's rude."

"It may be rude, but I love chewing gum," Skull commented with defiance. He blew a big bubble in his gum. He popped it and used his tongue to pull it back in his mouth. "That was a big bubble, wasn't it?"

Bulk patted his best friend's shoulder. "It was a great big one, Skull."

"If Skull blew a big enough bubble, he could've floated away—" Jason started.

Zack smirked. "And taken Bulk for a ride!"

The entire group broke into a fit of laughter. Bulk and Skull didn't look the least bit amused. Tommy, Kim, Jason, Zack, Trini, and Billy grew quiet after twenty seconds. Bulk focused his attention on Tommy while Skull gazed at Kim dreamily.

"Hey, Kim. What do you say we catch a movie Saturday night since your parents will be out of town?" Skull suggested.

"I'd rather watch a really bad movie at home than see one with you, Skull," Kim retorted.

Skull showed disappointment and snapped his fingers. "Aw, nuts!"

"As for you, Tommy, you insulted me two days ago and need to apologize for it," Bulk insisted.

"You're not getting an apology from me, Bulk. You don't deserve it," Tommy responded with much defiance. "You deserved to be insulted for the way you treated Kim. You're supposed to treat people with respect, especially ladies." He snorted.

"Then I will have to force an apology out of you," Bulk growled in anger.

"How will you do that?" Zack wondered.

Bulk smirked. "By doing this!"

Bulk leapt at Tommy, who moved out of the way along with Kim. He ended up colliding with her locker. He pulled away and shook his head. He babbled loudly. He looked toward Tommy and made another leap at him. Tommy jumped aside. This caused the bully to hit the floor on his stomach and slide across it. Bulk slammed his head on the wall underneath the bench at the end of the hallway. He struggled to his feet as the group gathered around Tommy. Skull rushed to him to help him up.

"I hope you had a nice trip, Bulk," Tommy joked.

Trini smirked. "We hope to see you next fall."

The entire group laughed. Bulk and Skull shot them dirty looks before stomping off. They mumbled inaudible words. Jason gazed at Tommy, appearing very impressed.

"You handled Bulk quite well, Tommy," Jason complimented.

"Thanks, Jason. I defended a lot of kids from bullies back in Moore," Tommy pointed out and chuckled. "Some of them were as bad as Bulk and Skull."

"Cool," Zack said and looked at his watch. He let out a long whistle before turning to the others. "We better get to our classes. It won't be much longer before the bell rings."

"I agree," Tommy said, nodding slowly. "It was nice talking to you guys."

"You too, Tommy," Kim answered. "We'll see you later."

Tommy rushed upstairs while singing a scat. Jason, Trini, and Kim went right and started a conservation about snakes. Zack and Billy headed left and snapped their fingers.