The following day, Jake walked into school and was greeted by several dirty looks from the other students. At first he thought there as something on his face and tried to wipe it off with his sleeve. Then he got to his locker and saw all the notes that had been left on the door for him. Some were mean and rude, but harmless, and others were unmistakably threats. All of them were related to the championship game he had run away from. Apparently, he was being blamed for the team's loss.
He cleared away all the notes and opened his locker. A deflated soccer ball with a badly drawn picture of his face fell out. He groaned as he kicked it away and focused on getting his books for class.
"Way to go, loser!" someone shouted and he was shoved against the lockers. "Because of you, we lost the game."
"Something important came up," Jake answered but the person who shoved him was already gone. He figured they didn't want to hear his excuses. To them it didn't matter. Jake was supposed to be the star of the team. He was supposed to be the man who would lead the Harwood Tornadoes to victory. His teammates, the team's fans, and the fans he had gained throughout the season had all been counting on him. If he was fair, he had disappointed all of them. He had made a commitment and he blew them all off. He would have hated himself too if he were them.
"You ever show your face on a soccer field again and I'll rip your legs off."
"Look, I'm sorry, I just… Ms. Chesterfield?" Jake frowned when he saw the voice belonged to his vice-principal. "Hey, that's not very nice."
Ms. Chesterfield showed him she had been reading off one of the notes from his locker, "Who wrote this?"
"I don't know," Jake shrugged. "Look, they have every right to be angry. I blew it at that game."
"This is taking things a little far, don't you think?"
"Ms. Chesterfield, over the last couple of days I defeated a shadow-stealing monster, Vrak, and rescued Gia from a lifetime of being his pet. Some high school kid threatening to rip my legs off really doesn't scare me. I'm the one who can summon an axe."
"Yes, but Jake, this behaviour…"
"I'm fine, Ms. Chesterfield."
"Well, I'm keeping this note. If I find out who's leaving these they're going to be in for a world of trouble."
Jake shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his books. For once he was eager to get to class. He closed his locker and hurried down the hall to his room.
Around the corner, Troy was helping Rebecca with her books. Her ankle was feeling better from the sprain she had suffered the day her suspicions about the Rangers' identities were confirmed, but she was still better off letting it recover. She didn't mind. She was new to the school and still having a little trouble finding all her classes. With Troy promising to help her between classes, she didn't have to worry about getting lost.
"Can I at least look at the card for Ultra Mode?" she begged him as he put her books in her bag. Since Troy had explained to her why he had been out of the house so much in the last few days, she had been bugging him to see the Ultra Mode. Just as he had guessed, she was very jealous. While she knew how important it was to stay out of Ranger business she did like sticking her nose in wherever she could. She wanted to get a peek at the Ultra Mode. She wanted to see it in action. She had already asked if he could take her up to where the Rangers trained so she could see it, but Troy said no.
"Are you meeting with Ms. Chesterfield today for that project with Gia?"
"You're dodging the question, and yes. By the way, you need to tell Gia that. She hasn't been at school either."
Troy nodded his head and made a note to remember when he saw Gia.
"Can I see the Power Card?"
"No. You'll have to wait to see it on the news like everyone else."
"Aw, fine. Then you won't be allowed to read the script."
"What script?"
"The project," Rebecca said. "Ms. Chesterfield gave the pictures and the stories to the drama club and they have a first draft of the script for their play ready. Gia and I need to read it over to make sure everything about it is right, believable, but not too personal. You're just going to have to wait to see it like everyone else."
"Fine by me," Troy shrugged his shoulders and helped Rebecca get her bag on. Rebecca frowned.
"You're supposed to be jealous or something."
"Will it make you feel better?"
"Seeing the Power Card would make me feel better, but I guess it'll be close enough."
"Aw, man. Now I'm going to have to beg Gia for her copy," Troy whined for Rebecca's sake. She frowned again.
"Hey, no. I'm telling Gia not to let you read anything."
"Ready for class?" Troy chuckled. Rebecca rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Whatever, stupid head."
"Name calling isn't nice."
"Sorry, poop face."
Troy chuckled again and walked with his sister to make sure she got to class on time. On their way, they walked by Gia's and Emma's lockers both girls were there so Rebecca passed her message along to Gia.
"Ms. Chesterfield wants to see us at lunch. Drama kids have their script and Troy's not allowed to read it no matter how much he begs you."
"Thanks, Rebecca," Gia said and then let her go off. Emma looked over and chuckled.
"What was that about?"
"I don't know, but apparently I have to meet Ms. Chesterfield at lunch."
"You know, if you don't want to be here, you don't have to. I think having a shock collar around your neck from an evil alien is a good reason to stay home."
"Just don't draw attention to it," Gia whispered. The bell rang and students started to make their way to class. Gia stood by her locker, hiding as much as possible. "You know the comments people make when they see it."
"That one kid was seriously weird," Emma muttered. She leaned against the lockers and waited for the hallways to be mostly cleared before gently nudging Gia, "We're safe to go now."
Gia nodded her head, grabbed her bag from her locker, and followed Emma down to their classroom. When they were inside they closed the door. Gia took a seat at her desk and then noticed Dr. Oliver staring at her neck.
"What? Is this really the weirdest thing you've ever seen?"
"It's still on?" Noah asked her from his desk. "I was hoping maybe it would have unlocked itself by now."
"Nope."
"Interesting fashion choice, Gia," Dr. Oliver said as he walked over to inspect the collar, "You really need to tell me where you got it."
"Vrak's got a great eye for fashion, doesn't he?" Gia muttered. Dr. Oliver pulled on the collar which in turned pulled her neck. She frowned and pushed him away, "It doesn't come off."
"Is it dangerous?"
"I haven't felt a shock in the last day," Gia shook her head. "Either it's just broken and stuck, or Vrak's decided he's playing head games again. I'm trying to pretend it's not there. I really wish everyone else would do the same."
"Alright, but tell someone if it starts… acting up, I guess," Dr. Oliver said. He turned to walk back to his desk when he saw Emma with her cell phone. He cleared his throat, "You know the bell's rung, right?"
"Sorry," Emma whispered and tucked her phone in her pocket, "I told Jordan about my biological dad. He's got a thousand questions now."
"Questions that can be answered later," Dr. Oliver said. Emma nodded her head and pulled out her books. At that moment, Troy came into class. Dr. Oliver was about to say something but Troy cut him off.
"Walking my sister to class."
"Well, now that we're all here, what if we start our lesson? We've got a couple of days to catch up on. So, pull out your homework and… what?" Dr. Oliver asked when he heard a bunch of groaned and looked around the classroom to see the Rangers pulling out the blank worksheets he had given them a few days back. "Seriously? All that time and no one filled out…"
"I got my homework done," Noah said and showed off his completed worksheet. Jake grumbled.
"Nerd."
"Is finding out my father is an abusive dead guy a good enough excuse to not have my homework done?" Emma raised her hand and asked.
"I guess…"
"What about kidnapped by a maniac and nearly shocked to death?" Gia asked.
"Well, yeah, sure, but… you know what, just take a few minutes now to answer the questions and then we'll take it up together."
Dr. Oliver took a seat at his desk, "I've got to figure out what a good and bad excuse is for Ranger students not getting their homework done."
