Far Behind

Chapter 9: Hey Jealousy

The ten days that Dustin had been sentenced to do in Rehab was finally over. He laid on the cot, looking up at the ceiling. This was the last day he had to stay in the dreaded room, he was free to go and do whatever he wants. Motocross, see his friends, taste the food that he had missed, and feel the fresh air brush against his skin. The last ten days made him think, the things Shane had said to him. The whole everything happens for a reason, it will get better. He figure, maybe he is right, that he should give things a chance before freaking out. He hated seeing himself doing this. The whole urge for drugs thing had drained out of his system. It was a tough and long process, but he soon began to understand it and was pretty much thank ful for it. He sat up on the bed and heard the door cracked open. He quickly bolted up and towards it as a Doctor walked in.

"Well Dustin. You are free to go."

Dustin had a huge smile on his face, he hadn't heard good news for a long time. The doctor wrote a few things down on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"I can go now?" The brunette eagerly asked.

He nodded, "Yes. You have some people waiting for you."

Dustin chuckled and dashed out the room and out the hallway. He ran down and towards the exit where Shane, Cam and Blake were standing outside. Opening the door, he felt the sun's heat shine upon him as the others turned with huge smiles on their faces. The brunette gave them high fives and began walking towards the parking lot.

"How you doing?" Shane asked, heading towards his car.

The brunette shrugged, "Better." He said, leaning on the car, "I guess whatever you said got through to me. Maybe things wont be as bad as I thought it would be."

Blake chuckled, opening the door before climbing in. He peaked his head out and at Dustin, "We never doubted you for a second man."

"I thought you guys were going to be here for a couple of days." Dustin asked.

Cam adjusted his glasses and smirked, glancing at Shane before back at his friend, "Yeah, we wanted to stick around for a few more days. We weren't going to leave you like this dude."

Hearing the words made him feel good again. He climbed into the passenger seat of the car and Shane pulled out. They drove a bit, the brunette starred off at the scenery he had not seen for such a long time. He felt the cool air and the nice smell of the plants. They have arrived onto the campus, where Shane pulled into a parking space. Dustin turned and noticed Hunter and Tori sitting at a bench laughing with each other. Sighing deeply, he climbed out and scratched his head. The golden blonde turned her head and smiled as she saw Dustin. Getting up, she dashed over and threw herself into him. The former yellow ranger spun her around before setting her back down on the ground. She backed away a bit and brushed back her hair. Hunter slowly made his way over and waved to him.

"I'm so glad your back, Dustin." She exclaimed.

He nodded, "Yeah, so am I."

"Welcome back Bro." Hunter smacked him on the side of the arm, "You've been missed."

Dustin gave him a look, forcing a smile at the friend that took the one girl he possibly had feelings for. He shifted his eyes away and looked around the campus, the place hasn't really changed. He knew he was going to have loads and loads of home work and class work to catch up if he wanted to at all pass for the year. The last thing he wanted to do was to deal with his mother's complaining.

"So who wants to go have fun?" Tori looked at everyone, "Let's go to the park!"

Everyone nodded, not able to find a reason not to go. They all climbed back into Shane's car and headed towards a small park that was near by the university. Dustin remained quite as the others chatted about a whole bunch of things. Repeating hilarious conversations that Dustin had missed. It made him a little depressed that he wasn't part of it, but he just kept on a smile on his face as he listened. Shane turned and finally made it to the park where everyone climbed out. Cam went around the back of the car and pulled out a frisbee, which he tossed to the gang. Shane and Blake dashed forward after it.

"Come on guys!" Shane yelled to him as he headed deeper in the park.

Tori grabbed Hunter's hand and the two of them dashed into the park also, leaving Dustin next to the car by himself. He chuckled a bit too himself before his smile faded into a frown. He slowly made his way to the park where the guys were playing frisbee. He sat down at the bench, trying to stay cheerful. He looked over to see Hunter and Tori sitting next to each other on the grass. He sighed, leaning back. Shane jumped in the air and threw the frisbee right at the brunette. Dustin turned and caught, smirking before standing up to toss it back. He then walked over to where Hunter and Tori were sitting and fell between them. Tori bursted out laughing as Dustin turned and sat up. Hunter moved over to give him room as the boy in yellow adjusted himself.

"Want to go for a walk?" He asked.

Tori smiled, "Sure."

Dustin stood back up and pulled her up, and wrapping his arm around Tori. Hunter sat there, smirking as the two of them walked away. The two of them walked down the park path, looking around at other people that were having fun. She stopped and looked at him, he turned and smiled.

"You look better." She ruffled his hair.

He chuckled, "I've been better."

"Good. Good."

"Hey, maybe now that things are squared away, maybe you and I could pick things up where we left off.." He hesitantly spoke.

Tori arched her eyebrows, "Pick up what Dustin? How can we pick up anything? We never even even started."

"I know, but maybe now we can. I mean, what about that date you promised me." He pointed out.

"I'm with Hunter. You can't do this to me."

"I can't? What about you? Do you even like him?"

Tori began walking away, she turned, letting the wind toy with her hair as she forced a smile. Dustin turned his body to face her, he looked at her with great angry and hurt in his eyes. She looked down at the ground and sighed.

"Dustin, we got to move on. Things changed the 10 days you were in that room. I'm with Hunter and I can't change there even if there was feelings between us."

He looked away, trying to collect his thoughts. He didn't want to get angry at her again, he had promised himself that he would look at things a bit different. It was hard, he was fighting with his mind.

"This isn't fair." He mumbled.

"Nothing is." She whispered.

He turned and walked over to her, Tori stood there as he got up close to her face. She didn't flinched but she looked up at his chestnut eyes, waiting to see what he had to say.

"The only reason things aren't fair is because people don't make it fair Tori. You cannot tell me that you just pushed your feelings aside. I think your just trying to sleep with the first person you can get your hands on."

"Excuse me!?" She snapped back.

"Good bye Tori."

Dustin brushed past her and back down the pathway they came from. Tori stood there, crossing her arms. She was really furious at what she had just heard. Dustin swiftly moved around the corner and down towards where the guys were. Hunter turned and walked over to him.

"Hey, where's Tori."

Dustin walked over to him and smirked, pushing him back. Hunter arched his eyebrow, regaining his balance. He gave a bewildered look as Dustin just glared at him. The brunette brushed past him and ninja streaked off back to campus. Shane and the others exchanged looks as Hunter sighed, seeing Tori slowly making her way over. She placed her hands on her hips and looked at Hunter as the others made there way over.

"What happened?" Hunter asked.

Tori shrugged, "He's just being his old self."

"His old self is not pushing his friends around." Shane pointed out.

"Come on. Let's just have some fun. Not make a big deal. It'll blow over."

"It's nothing serious is it?" Blake asked.

"No." She reluctantly replied, "I don't think it is."

Dustin ninja streaked into the all way of the College Campus. He walked out of it and covered his eyes from the sun. He quickly moved down the college pathway and towards his dorm. He needed a break, maybe he wasn't ready to deal with all his friends after all. He tried to remain calm. Walking up the steps of the dorm, he opened the door to his room and noticed the difference. Shane had cleaned up the whole place, the clothes were off the floor. Posters were hung neatly, he looked in amazement. For once he could walk through without stepping on anything. He made his away to the answer machine and noticed a message on it. He hit the button and sat on the bed, looking around at the room.

Hey Dustin. It's Marah, haven't heard from you for a while. The wedding is this weekend, and I really like you to come. Hope your not mad, I'll see you there. I called earlier and gave Shane all the information, I hope he told you already."

Dustin fell back on his bed and sighed. First day back in the real world, and it wasn't the way he wanted it to go. He tried to collect his thoughts, and repeated to himself that things will be fine. He knew it would, he wasn't going to let these things get to him again. He turned over and started to think about Tori again, and how there conversation went. He didn't really understand what he said to her. He was just really mad. How could Hunter and Tori be together? That just doesn't make sense, they have nothing in common. A faint knock was heard on the door and Dustin turned over, only to hear it again. He got up and noticed an envelope slipped under the door. He walked over and picked it up, ripping the top open to read it.

Dear Waldo,

We regret to inform you that the university can no long hold you as a student. After that incident 10 days ago, we are forced to take you off the list and ask you to gather your things. After much debating and a final talk the board of education, we feel this is the best actions we can do. You have one week to collect your things, I'm sorry and good luck in the future.

Dustin groaned, closing his eyes. His mother was going to kill him if she found out the news. He dropped the letter and rubbed the side of his head, sighing deeply. He tried to think of what to do, but he couldn't even concentrate on thinking. He scratched his head, he thought luck was going good on him. He just couldn't seam to win.

"I'm going riding." He mumbled to himself.

He turned to search for his moto gear, he looked under his bed. He reached in and looked around and felt a bag. He pulled it out and noticed the white powder substance. He looked at it, pulling himself up and sitting on the bed.

"No, I can't do this." He told himself as he threw it on the bed.

He got up and headed towards the door. Reaching his hands on he knob, he stopped and turned around looking at it. His mind was saying yes, his heart was saying no. He didn't know what to do. He banged his head against the door, deciding what to do.