Chapter Sixteen

The next morning, Melissa and Chloe entered the kitchen and sat next to each other at the table. They couldn't help but smile at one another. It was just so unbelievable that they were in the same room again. It felt as though it had been ages since they last saw each other. It made Melissa feel like she was back home in New York. She liked that feeling.

"Breakfast?" Mrs. Baker asked.

"Sure." Chloe said.

"None for me." Melissa answered.

"Honey, you should eat something."

"I know… Maybe later, though. I'm still a little nervous about today."

"What's today?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, that's right. I almost forgot that the tournament was today." Mrs. Baker said.

"What tournament?" Chloe asked, feeling as though she was being ignored.

"Yeah, it's going to be great. We're sure to make a lot of money with Tommy and Rocky competing. Not to mention Adam… You and daddy are coming, right?"

"Of course. You know we wouldn't miss this for the world. You're making us so proud by doing this."

"I know." Melissa blushed.

"Hello?" Chloe asked. "Would someone please inform me of what is going on?"

"Sorry, Chloe. There's a karate tournament at the local hangout. It's for charity and the guys and I entered." Mel said.

"The guys?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend. Meanwhile, she really wanted to say: "Charity?", because for as long as she knew Melissa, she would never do anything for charity. It just wasn't in her nature.

"Yeah, wait until you meet them… they're great."

Chloe gave her friend a nod as an answer. She wasn't sure what was going on with her friend. She didn't seem as though she was the same person as she was when she left. She was different... and it wasn't a good kind of different.

The two girls entered the Youth Center early, so Melissa could stretch and get ready to fight. Chloe looked around the room, skeptically. This place was cheery and bright; it wasn't her kind of place to hangout.

"So, when did you get into karate and all that?"

"You can say that I just picked it up. Plus, Tommy's been teaching me a bit… I'm getting really good. I'm only a green belt, right now."

That was the second time she had mentioned Tommy's name. "So, who is this guy Tommy?"

"He's a friend…" Melissa trailed off as her eyes set on her friend who was stretching on the mats. "In fact, there he is… Hey, Tommy!" She called to him.

Chloe saw a teen dressed in a white gi with long brown hair look up at Melissa and smile. "Cute." She muttered, not expecting her friend to hear.

"That's what I said, but close your mouth. He's taken." She said, waving him over to them.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked, slightly embarrassed.

Melissa laughed slightly. "I want him to meet you… are you nervous?"

"No! No, I'm fine… Why'd he have to be so cute?"

"I dunno. Why don't you ask him, yourself?" The Green Ranger joked as her friend slapped her on the arm as Tommy walked up to Melissa.

"You ready for today?" He asked.

"I'm ready. The question is, are you ready?" The blond girl asked.

"What are you implying?" He smiled as he realized what she was getting at.

"The teacher is about to learn from the student… and don't go easy on me, either. I wanna see what I got."

"I never do."

"Yeah, sure." She said rolling her eyes as Chloe cleared her throat more loudly than necessary.

"Hi. I'm Tommy." He held out his hand for her to take.

She took it and smiled. "Chloe."

"She's my best friend from New York. She came all this way to visit me. Cool, right?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah." Tommy said, unenthusiastically.

"You okay?" The blond girl asked.

"Mel, can we talk for a second?" Melissa nodded as Tommy pulled her off to the side. "Listen, I know that you haven't seen her in a while, but I just want you to be careful. There's no telling whether or not Zedd would go after her."

"Why would he do that? She's of no importance to him."

"To make you give up your powers to him. I just want you to be careful around her."

"Well, I guess telling her my secret is out of the question." He gave her a serious, stern stare. "I was just kidding. Don't worry, Tommy. I won't tell her anything... This is something that she wouldn't understand, anyway."

Chloe sat to the side of the mats near Melissa's other friends: Kim, Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Billy. She had been introduced to all of them, but they just weren't her kind of people. She could hardly believe that they were Melissa's kind of people.

Rocky was a jock; not really the kind of person she would hand out with. Adam seemed as though he was a dork; that was the last kind of person she wanted to talk to. Aisha wasn't that bad. She was chipper, but Chloe could at least stand her. Billy was smart... too smart. She didn't think that Melissa would want anything to do with him; she knew that she wouldn't. And lastly, there was Kimberly. Well, Kimberly was just one of those people that Chloe couldn't stand. She was the cheerleader type; the kind of girl who could make you feel stupider when she entered the room. Why Melissa was hanging out with her, she didn't want to know.

"Next up: Tommy Oliver and Melissa Baker!" Ernie said, into a microphone, being the announcer for the day. "Melissa has been Tommy's student for almost a year, now and has already earned her green belt… Let's see if Tommy's teaching has paid off!"

The crowd that had gathered cheered loudly for both sides. But, the really interesting thing was the way Kim, Billy, Adam, Aisha, and Rocky were cheering for their friends.

"Go Tommy!" They would cheer. Then, "Go, Mel!" Would be heard from them.

"God, who's side are you on?" Chloe muttered as she sat, uninterested with her arms and legs crossed. She wanted this to end quickly, so she wouldn't have to sit there any longer.

She watched though, as Tommy and Mel bowed to each other and got into their fighting stances. She watched as they kicked and punched at each other. She saw Melissa being sent to the floor, only to jump up into a crouch and trip Tommy with a sweeping kick. Tommy fell flat on his back, but quickly rolled to his feet. Chloe had to admit that they were both really good. But, deep inside, she was really hoping that Melissa would win. She'd never seen her friend this interested in anything, besides music. It was strange to see her actually doing something this active… and for the good of others. It made her smile and also sick at the same time. Charity? Why charity?

Then, it happened. As she saw that Melissa had overtaken Tommy and proceeded to sit on him, the ground began to shake. People began screaming as they ran for a doorway.

"Head for a doorway! Stay calm and head for a doorway!" Ernie said.

Melissa let go of Tommy as she saw how terrified that Chloe was as she stood in a doorway. She quickly stood up, helping Tommy up in the process and heading over to her friend who was quickly heading for the front door.

"Chloe, don't!" She called to her. But, Chloe didn't hear her. Melissa quickly ran after her, being closely followed by Tommy.

As soon as Melissa stepped foot outside, the shaking had stopped. She let out a sigh of relief when she could walk without the threat of tumbling over. But, her relief soon disappeared when she heard a familiar laugh.

She looked up to see Chloe being help captive by Goldar and a horde of putties. Her eyes narrowed into slits as anger overcame her. A few seconds later, Tommy had exited the building as he found Melissa, but quickly got into his fighting stance when he saw the gold-armored monster.

"Let her go, Goldar!" He said.

"I don't think so! Lord Zedd has plans for this one."

"What if we trade, Goldar?" Melissa asked.

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked.

"Trying to save my best friend."

"No trade! Putties, attack!" He ordered as he grabbed a hold of Chloe and teleported back to Zedd.

Tommy and Melissa quickly fought off the putties, leaving Melissa to swear to herself. "I can't believe this."

"I warned you." Tommy said, but she gave him an evil look which made him shut his mouth.

"Don't pin this on me! I didn't tell her anything! Zedd knew who she was. He knows that I'll do anything to save her."

"What are friends for, right?" He asked.

Please read and review. Even if you don't like the way I portrayed Chloe. I'd like to hear your thoughts on that.