Chapter Ten

Tommy was gone again, leaving Melissa alone in his house. And that made her very happy, at this point. She wondered if he had placed the gem down in the lab, because she knew that he didn't yet suspect that she was the one who'd opened the panel. She was good at making things up, it seemed. But, she didn't care if he suspected her or not. She just had to get a closer look at it.

She opened the panel and walked down the stairs that led into the lair. She was surprised when she saw the gem sitting out in the open. It had to be a trick that Tommy had set, but she didn't care. She felt as though the gem was calling to her, so she had to pick it up and hold it in her hands.

She slowly approached it, her eyes never leaving the precious jewel.

Tommy sat at a table in the courtyard of the school, during his lunch break. He sat there grading tests and keeping a close eye on Conner, Ethan, and Kira. He was making sure that they were close by just in case he needed them. Melissa had been right. He had set a trap for whoever had broken into the lab. He wanted to know who had been able to know about it being in his house. So, the teens being near him would be a good thing, just incase the alarm went off.

"Dr. Oliver!" He heard a female voice call to him.

He looked up from his papers to see who was calling him. He let out an exasperated sigh as he saw who it was. "Hello, Principal Randall." He said, smiling as kindly as he could.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" She asked as she looked up at the clear, blue sky.

"Yeah, it is… Um, if you don't mind, I have tests to grade." He didn't want to talk to her any longer than he had to. She disturbed him, but he didn't exactly know why. There was just something about her that didn't seem right.

"Of course. We'll talk later, then?" He nodded. "Perfect. Ta-ta!" She said as she walked away from him.

He shuddered slightly as he felt the relief of her departure. But, his relief left as the alarm on his bracelet went off. "Excellent." He said. "Conner… Kira… Ethan!" He called to them. They each obliged and quickly ran over to their teacher.

"What's up?" Ethan asked.

"Someone's entered the lair. They're going after the gem. We've got to stop them."

"What'll happen if they get it?" Kira asked.

"As far as I can tell, the gem can go either way. If it's someone good, then the gem will be good. If they're evil…" He trailed off, slightly. "Well, I'd rather not think about that."

"Well, why are we standing here, then? Let's go!" Conner said.

Melissa held the gem in her hand. Her eyes were wide in amazement as it started to shake. She was surprised when it turned into a sheet of metal that was laying flat in her opened hand. She was even more surprised when it wrapped itself around her wrist. "Huh?" She asked as she felt herself begin to change. She watched as a force of energy formed around her and formed itself into a green and white ranger suit with a gold chest plate, like her former uniform had, and a green gem in the center of it. "Not again!" She said as she was quickly changed back to normal when she heard the front door open and four pairs of footsteps running down the stairs.

She felt like she was going to panic as she realized how Tommy was going to react when he saw that the gem was gone. She quickly stood in front of the table that the gem had been sitting on to hide the fact that it was gone. She also hid her left wrist behind her back to hide the new piece of jewelry she'd received, but for some reason, she didn't believe that this was going to work.

She saw Tommy reach the bottom of the stairs first and the surprised expression on his face.

"Mel?" He asked, that being all he could say as his students reached the bottom of the stairs. "How?" He asked.

She wanted to lie to him, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it, again. She didn't like doing it in the first place. Why she did it before, she didn't know. It just felt right at that moment.

Then, she knew what she should do. She took a deep breath and put on a cocky expression. She wanted to prove a point. "Did you really think you could hide this from me?" She asked. "I mean, it's pretty obvious, Tommy. The colors… the teenagers… the personalities… What does it all remind you of?"

"You were the one who broke in here the last time, weren't you?" He asked. She just nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to… believe me, but something inside of me told me that I shouldn't." She pulled her arm from behind her back and began to "talk" with it, like she usually did, before she realized that she was doing it.

Tommy noticed that she had the bracelet on her hand and looked at her in shock. "You?" He asked. "The gem chose you?"

She gave him a puzzled look as she lightly touched the gem. "You act as though I wanted this. Believe me, once is enough for me… I can't help it that I was chosen for something like this… again."

"Why does it seem like you've done this before?" Kira asked, with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Because we have." Tommy said.

Melissa looked at the confused looks the teenagers were giving their teacher. "You didn't tell them, did you?" She asked.

"They didn't need to know." He said, walking away from her and back up the stairs. He didn't want to look at her in the eye. Infact, he didn't want to look at her at all.

She realized what this was all about. Why she was cut out of the video diary, why he didn't tell her about this in the first place, why he was being so protective of her. "I don't believe you, Tommy." She said as she followed him up the stairs and stopped him in the living room. "That was a long time ago. I was a different person, then. I've changed, just as you have… You have to stop being so protective of me." The sun from the beautiful afternoon quickly vanished and a thunderclap was heard overhead.

"It wasn't supposed to rain today, was it?" Ethan asked. Conner and Kira just shrugged as they tried to listen to the conversation.

"I don't want that to happen to you, again." He said. "These powers are dangerous, Mel. I don't want you to go through something like that again. I just felt terrible when it happened." Another thunderclap shook the area. Tommy gave a puzzled look as he thought that this was very eerie.

"How do you know that something like that will happen again?" She asked, her voice now softened as she spoke to him.

"I don't, but I don't want to lose you. You were the closest thing to a sister that I've ever had and I don't want to have to do something that I might, one day, regret… Please don't do this." He begged.

"Are you guys just as confused as I am?" Conner asked.

"Actually, I think more so than usual." Kira said.

Melissa placed a caring hand on his cheek. "Tommy, please don't ask me to do something that I know is wrong. You need me… and I am willing to help. There aren't too many who are… I'll be fine… I promise." She said, smiling sweetly at him.

The teens smiled slightly at the two before them. They were like family and they thought that was very unusual for two people like them. That and the thunder had stopped and the sun was coming back out.

Tommy looked at her with a stone-faced expression. He wasn't even paying attention to the weather anymore. "Let me think about it." He said, before he walked out of the house and back to his jeep.

The teens each gave Melissa caring looks. "Don't worry. He'll soften up." Kira said.

"Yeah, why's he so worried about you, anyway?" Conner asked.

"It's a long story that I'm going to have to tell you guys later… You should get back to school." Melissa said, softly as she watched Tommy sitting in his jeep, waiting for his students.

"Okay." Ethan said. "We'll be waiting for it. How about you tell us at Hayley's after school?"

"I'll think about it, but I'm not making any promises." She said as the teens nodded and left the house. Melissa waved goodbye to Tommy, but he didn't say or do anything to acknowledge that he saw her. She just nodded and closed the door.