"Lips Are Sealed"
Meanwhile, the three made themselves comfortable in the livingroom of Tori's apartment as they discuss further details on how they'll be able to cope with the situation. Dustin listens to Hunter intently as Tori places her legs on the table and leans back against the couch in relaxation. "We cannot tell anyone about this." Hunter stated seriously while kicking Tori's legs off the table.
"Dude!" She snaps while grunting in annoyance. "What was that for?!"
Hunter glares at her. "This is my apartment and you do not put your filthy self on my furniture." He retorts.
"You mean your filthy body that I'm in?" Tori replies, sticking her tongue out.
Hunter ignores the comment as he faces Dustin. "As I was saying, no one should know about this, especially Shane. He'll start making jokes about it, not to mention what Cam would think or say for that matter..."
Dustin nods. "Totally, dude. I won't say anything." Hunter turns his gaze back over to Tori and waits for her agreement on the deal.
"What, man? Stop staring." She groans uncomfortably.
"Hunter, promise you won't say anything!" The dirty blonde demanded in a sharp tone. "It's between us three."
She sighs. "Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. So what's the plan?"
"Well first, you're gonna have to teach class at the Wind Ninja Academy in a few hours--"
"Whoa." Tori interrupted him before he could finish. "But I have Regionals to go to after completing the qualifying match last week! I can't miss the race. I've been waiting for this!"
Hunter sighs. "I'll try my best."
"You?" She snorted all of a sudden. "Okay, I give you props for knowing how to actually ride back in those ranger days, but not on a 250, dude."
He folds his arms. "Does it even matter? I can handle it." Tori and Dustin exchange looks as they begin laughing hysterically. Hunter looks at them and sighs. "What? You guys don't' believe me?"
"Obviously not, Tor." The blonde chuckles.
He shrugs. "Fine. I'll just forfeit."
"NO!" She gasps desperately, creating tension in the room as all eyes turn to her. "You can't! I mean I can't! Come on, you have to do this for me! It's the only way!"
Hunter grins. He definitely has her wrapped around his finger. "Alright, but only if you take over my class."
Tori nods reluctantly. "Fine, but how? I mean...I don't know crap about water besides drinking it and the fact that it covers about 75% of Earth."
Dustin wrinkles his forehead at the given information. "Really, dude? I didn't even know that."
Hunter avoided the comment. "Just volunteer someone to take over the class and you'll do fine!" He reassures her. "Now please take a shower and get dress while I'll go inside my room and find myself--I mean find something for you to wear. While you're at it, I'll go back to your apartment and get ready." Tori groans grudgingly. 'Great, now she's dressing me up.' She thought. "But first, we have to make a deal."
"A deal?" She questions with her brow raised. "There's another one?!"
Hunter nods in reply. "Duh, you actually think I'll let you off the hook and live MY life the way you want it to be? I have a reputation to protect." He states as Tori rolls her eyes from behind. "Anyway, rule number one: Try to use sophisticated vocabulary, which does not include 'DUDE' and 'BRO' all the time, do not pick your nose or scratch your behind, no slurping while drinking, avoid checking out girls--that would be way too awkward," Hunter adds while the blonde sighs in disappointment, "if one of the surfer guys come up to you, don't say anything stupid like you would do, try to stay away from fatty foods and stick with fruits and veggies, definitely no snoring or drooling over my bed, don't even think about going through my personal belongings, and then there's more but those are just some of the basics. You got that?"
Tori nods weakly at the thought of being on a healthy diet. "Alright. Well, I happen to have a few of my own."
Hunter folds his arms to listen. "Go for it."
She smirks. "Okay. There will be absolutely no, I repeat, NO dancing around in public areas where people can see and laugh." Tori blurts out as Hunter gives her the evil eye. "If you're gonna order pizza, make sure there's pineapples, umm...shave every day, never watch any more of those ridiculous surf movies, don't even dare touch my things without permission, absolutely no listening to that pop garbage you purposively proclaimed 'not your type of music', I prohibit you from putting anything that would make ME spell fruity, and none of that girly stuff please. Do we have a deal?"
He sighs as the two shook hands. "Deal."
"Cool. So did I sound sophisticated enough?" She asks.
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The rest of the day seem to go pretty well as Tori manage to finish the class with no problems due to her experience teaching over at the Thunder Wind Ninja Academy as head teacher. All she had to do was watch one of Tori's best students take over and do their daily exercises and demonstrate their abilities on water. Tori looks on amazed with how much they learned over the past few months in a short amount of time. Once she dismissed the class, Tori met up with Shane outside the school's main building where he waits. "Hey, Tor!" He greets warmly.
"Shane, my man! What's up?!" The blonde lifts her arm up for a little handshake as Shane stares at her weirdly. Embarrassed for being hung over, she looks down and brushes her hair back to cover it up. 'I forgot I'm not me.' She thought stupidly. "Forget that." Tori chuckles. "So you ready to go meet up with Dustin and Tori--I mean...Hunter at the track?"
Shane smiles as he rubs his hands together excitedly. "Oh yah! Let's go."
It was a shame there had to be heavy traffic on the way, or else they wouldn't have missed the big race. Shane and Tori began running from the parking lot towards the crowd where they struggle to get through. Once they made it safely towards the track, Tori scanned around the area--hoping to find Hunter when suddenly her eyes were drawn to the people surrounding the guy in navy. She looks on closely with a glare. "Is that Blake?"
"What was that?" Shane asks after overhearing the blonde mumbled something.
Tori turns to him with a deep sigh. "Oh nothing. God, I hope I didn't get disqualified."
He wrinkles his forehead. "Huh?"
"Oh nothing." She forces a smile. "I just hope umm...Hunter didn't screw up this race. It would be totally brutal if he didn't make it to Nationals, yah know?"
Shane gives her a weird look. "Uh yeah...right. Since when did you care?" He asks with his arms crossed.
Tori shrugs. "Dude, just because I hate his guts doesn't mean I don't care k?"
"Uh huh...And when do you start saying dude?"
The blonde looks away, pursing her lips as she tries to think of the right words Tori would say. "It's not entirely my fault you guys corrupted my vocabulary." She answers back in an offensive tone. 'Oh, I am so good.' She thought with a smile.
After a few moments of sparing, Shane suddenly spotted Hunter and Dustin walking up the hill as they push on their bikes towards their direction. The skater stud informed Tori with a tap on the back as she turns around with anxious nerves. "Please tell me I'm qualified." Tori pleads as she walks over to them worriedly. Dustin and Hunter exchange quick glances. "Oh no..." She whispers breathlessly. "I'm out huh? it's because of you! Well, that doesn't surprise me!"
"Relax...dude." Hunter responds in a mocking tone as soon as Shane caught up to join them. "I came in 3rd, right after Dustin." Tori stares at him in surprise. "I told yah I could do it."
"Well who said you couldn't?" Shane adds as he places his arm around him. "So you finally lost to Dustin." He chuckles. "It kills you doesn't it?" The blonde glares at him.
"He just got lucky." Tori sneers bitterly as she caught Dustin making faces at her.
Hunter shrugs. "Whatever. The important thing is that I finished on the top 3 and eligible to compete at Nationals. What more can I want?"
"Well, congratulations." Tori smiles. "I didn't think you had it in you."
Hunter returns the smile. "Thank you."
As the four of them begin to celebrate on the side of the track, a familiar figure stood behind them. Hunter was the first one to notice a shadow cast on the dirt below them as he slowly turns around and gasps at his appearance. "Blake!" He squeals, throwing his arms around him. "Oh my God! What are you doing here?!" Shane wrinkles his forehead due to Hunter's perky behavior.
Blake grins overwhelmingly. "Bro, how can you not notice? I finished first place."
His eyes grew wider. "No, I didn't even recognize you." Hunter smiles in disbelief as his face continue to glow. Dustin noticed as he covers his mouth tightly from laughing.
"Yeah. That figures." He nods. "So third place eh?" Blake plasters an amused smirk. "I'm surprise you gave second place away to Dustin."
"Why does everyone say that?" Tori scolded defensively. "He got lucky."
Blake arches his brow while turning his gaze over to Tori. He almost forgot how beautiful and feisty she was as he steps in front of the blonde, mesmerize by her appearance. "Long time no see, huh?" He heaves a contented sigh.
Tori smiles. "Yeah. It's nice seeing you again, bro." Dustin snickers from behind as Hunter nudges his stomach to shut him up.
"Ow." He winces in pain.
Tori shuts her eyes in mere humiliation after accidentally saying the word 'BRO' once again when she was told not to. She averts from his gaze for a brief moment before looking back at him. "So...umm...how are you, Blake?" Tori stammers on the question.
He smiles charmingly. "I'm doing great."
"And what brings you here?" Hunter asks, very curious to know.
"Factor Blue is sponsoring me to compete in this event and I thought it was a great idea once I found out the Regionals was going to take place in Blue Bay Harbor. I couldn't pass that up and miss the opportunity to see you guys again, so here I am." Blake responds with a wink as it made Hunter feel weak in the knees. Tori become aware of his actions as she rolls her eyes from behind.
"It's great to have you here, dude." Dustin pats him on the back.
"Thanks." Blake's eyes eventually shift back on the former Blue Wind Ranger. Tori was so gorgeous, he couldn't take his eyes off her.
"Dude, I gotta do some fine tuning on this bike." Dustin growled as he examines his pride and joy.
Shane bents down to check out the bike that needed a bit of work. "The van is parked out back. Come on." The two left the scene--leaving Tori, Hunter, and Blake behind.
"Well, Tori." The younger Bradley starts off in a nervous tone without recognizing Hunter standing behind them. "Are you umm busy tonight?" He asks while scratching his arm.
Tori stares at him skeptically. "Why?"
He looks down and begins playing with the dirt on the ground with his foot. "I was wondering if you want to have dinner with me later on tonight." Hunter gasps excitedly at the question as Tori's eyes open wide in shock.
Tori stops dead in her tracks. "Are you asking me out on a date?" She questions curiously.
He presses his lips together. "Umm...well, it doesn't have to be...but yeah. Sure. Why not?"
The blonde couldn't believe what she was hearing as she turns to Hunter who was giving her a pleading look. "You're kidding?!"
Blake chuckles. "No, I'm not."
Tori could feel a knot forming in her stomach. She felt like throwing up at that very moment. "Well...gee...I would, B-But...I c-can't today, err...t-tonight." The blonde answers hesitantly. "It's just not--Hey!"
Hunter abruptly pushes her to the side and stands in front of Blake. "Bro, she would love to go!"
Tori chokes on her words. "What?!" Blake could feel his heart ache due to her aloof tone. Once the blonde spotted the hurt in his eyes, she couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. "I mean...why would you all of a sudden care?" She questions with her arms crossed.
"Excuse us for a minute." Hunter says as he takes her off to the side. Tori pulls away from his grasp and beams callously at him. "You have to go out with Blake."
"Are you serious?!" She hissed with a sarcastic laugh. "There is no way I'm going on a date with my own brother! There's no freaking way, man!"
Hunter pouts. "Oh come on!!! I really like Blake! You have to do this for me! Please?"
"Why?! I didn't want you two to go out the first place. Well, no offense or anything."
The dirty blonde groans. "Hunter...please? Pretty please?" Hunter begs, plastering his puppy dog look.
"Oh no." Tori nods her head. "You can't fool me with my own look. It just won't work."
He grimaces. "Please."
"No."
"Please."
She chuckles in annoyance. "No way, Tori. Going out with my own brother is suicide!"
"Please?"
"Nope."
Hunter groans. "Oh come on! Don't make me forfeit Nationals."
She gasps exaggeratedly. "You wouldn't! I mean, you can't!"
"Oh I can and I will if you don't do this for me." The dirty blonde adds, maliciously grinning at her.
Tori whines. "This is brutal! You're blackmailing me! Not cool."
Hunter smirks, using this as an advantage. It was perfect. "Oh yeah…that would totally suck for you, huh? After all, you've been waiting for this moment…"
"Okay. Okay. Fine!" She grunted halfheartedly with her arms crossed. "I'll do it."
"You'll what?"
"Ugh." Tori gives him the evil eye for making her repeat it again. "I'll do it! Geez!"
The dirty blonde opens his eyes wide and begins jumping up in joy. "Yay! Thank you so much!"
"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever." She sighs in disappointment. "I can't believe I'm making you do this to me."
He smiles. "Well, hurry up and tell him. We have to go somewhere." Hunter tells her anxiously.
Tori arches her brow. "Where?"
"Shopping. I have nothing else to wear for the occasion."
She grunted. "You got to be kidding me, dude."
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A/N: Hopefully that wasn't too bad. Please review!