Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Jungle Fury. I am not making a profit by writing this.

A/N: This takes place after Friends (Chapter 9). It (gasps) does not contain any spoilers whatsoever as it is not based on any episode.

The Tiger and the Cheetah

Green-Eyed Monster

(Lily's POV)

Theo was wiping down the tables, and I was mopping the floor. Casey was behind the counter tossing pizza dough into the air. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to see a girl with shoulder length, curly brown hair and green eyes. She was wearing a yellow tank top and tight fitting blue jeans. Her outfit was completed with a pair of black Stilettos.

"How may I help you?" I asked politely.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could tell me whether or not that guy over there is single because I think he is really cute," the female customer replied.

I followed her gaze to see which guy she was talking about, and as luck would have it, she was talking about Casey. I was pretty sure my heart just skipped a beat.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, but he's seeing someone," I answered quite pleased with myself.

"That's too bad," she said.

I turned around to see Theo give me a knowing look, but I simply ignored it and resumed mopping the floor.

"Apparently, she's not taking 'no' for an answer," Theo remarked.

I looked over and saw that she was standing by Casey now. My grip on the mop tightened so much that my knuckles started to turn white.

"Why did you tell her that Casey was taken anyways?" Theo asked.

"Will you be quiet Theo? I'm trying to hear what they're saying!" I exclaimed.

"Hello," the female customer said.

"Hi. If you're here to order, I'm not in charge of taking orders; just making pizzas," Casey stated.

"Oh, I didn't come over here to order. In fact…" she said before pulling a pen out of her front right jean pocket and writing on a napkin. "I'm here to give you my number just in case you break up with whomever you are seeing."

"Lily, are you okay?" Theo questioned.

"Peachy," I replied unconvincingly.

"All right. It's just that you've been mopping that same spot for awhile now, and if you mop it any harder, you'll put a hole in the floor."

"Can you believe the nerve of that girl?! I told her he was unavailable!"

"Why, might I ask, did—"

"Shh! Casey's about to answer!"

"I'm not seeing anyone. Who told you that I was?" Casey asked.

"That girl," the female customer responded pointing in my direction. Uh-oh. Not good! Not good at all!

"Will you excuse me?" Casey said.

As Casey was approaching, I heard Theo say, "I gotta go. I see a table over there that needs wiped down."

"Hey Case. What's up?" I said trying to disguise the nervousness in my voice.

"Can I talk to you in the back?" he answered.

As I followed Casey to the back, my mind was racing trying to think of ways to dig myself out of this hole that I had made for myself. Once we were in the back, Casey made sure the door was closed.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked innocently.

"Why are you going around telling people that I'm not single?" Casey demanded. I've never heard Casey sound so mad before!

"I'm not telling people, just that one girl!"

"You shouldn't be telling anybody that when you and I both know that's not true!"

"She's not right for you."

"Oh really? Well, who is?"

"I don't know! Just not her!"

"Who then? You?"

It was at that moment that I realized I was jealous. Why would I be jealous though? It's not like Casey and I are dating!

"I didn't say that!" I replied.

"You didn't have to!" Casey exclaimed.

I looked down and saw the sink—the same sink that sparked a water fight between me and Casey not too long ago.

"What do you want from me, Lily? There's nothing between you and me. You said so yourself. I'm just a little brother to you, remember?" Casey said his voice visibly softening.

I felt my eyes start to well up with tears. As much as I didn't want to cry in front of Casey, I couldn't stop a few stray tears from rolling down my cheeks.

"You have no right to tell me who I can and can't date. I know I said that I would wait for you—hold on to a fleeting chance that you might change your mind about me someday, but I can't do that anymore. I won't do that anymore. You know something else? I'm going to call Lacey back, and she and I are going to go out on a date whether you like it or not, so you better get used to it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have pizzas to make." Casey said before brushing past me and heading back out.

Once Casey left, the flood gates burst open and I cried like I've never cried before. I mourned the fact that I had lost Casey. I mourned the fact that he was never mine to begin with.

To Be Continued…

A/N: So, in terms of length, I've been shooting for around 500 words per chapter, but this chapter was way off the mark. That being said, I couldn't pull the plug when there was more I wanted to do with the chapter, and I didn't want to make it into two chapters either. I had this idea for awhile now, but was just waiting for the right opportunity to flesh it out. Don't worry Casey/Lily fans this is a romance theme challenge for Casey and Lily. Anyways, feel free to leave a review. No flames please. I really appreciate everyone who has supported me along the way; it is because of you that I'm as far as I am into the theme challenge.