Chapter Two

A gentle breeze came off the ocean. Jasmine closed her eyes and reveled in the warm air and the soft sound of the swells rising and falling. She breathed deeply, inhaling the salty scent of the ocean. For a second she forgot all about having been sucked through the television, and a soft sigh escaped through her lips.

"This is my favorite place too." Tori's voice sounded behind her, and Jasmine came back to reality.

"It seems so mystical." She whispered, "like if I speak too loudly, it will all disappear."

"Hey are you two finished over there?" Hunter called out; "We still have to show Jasmine the race track."

"And she still needs to see the skate-park and Storm Chargers." Shane cried as well. Tori shot Jasmine a smile.

"Boys will be boys." She laughed; Jasmine laughed along with her. It was the first time she had been able to laugh in a long time.

"Let's go already." Dustin yelled as the two girls made their way slowly up the beach to where the four male Rangers were waiting beside Tori's van. Jasmine climbed up front with Tori, and the guys all piled in the back seat.

~*~*~

Cam sat staring at the computer screen. His brow was furrowed in deep concentration, and he was oblivious to everything around him.

"What is it Cameron?" his father's voice broke through Cam's thoughts.

"Something's not right dad." He said, "I'm picking up traces of an alien life force, but there's no alien anywhere."

"Is it possible son, that the alien has taken human form."

"No, the censors would have picked that up, it's something else."

"I will leave you to your work then. I only hope that this puzzle is solved soon."

"You and me both dad."

~*~*~

Laughing, the Rangers and Jasmine entered Storm Chargers.

"What is so funny." A woman walked up to the group.

"Shane totally wiped out." Blake choked out as a limping Shane walked over to the couch in front of the television and propped his leg up.

"Oh Kelly, this is Jasmine," Dustin introduced the teen and the older woman, "Jasmine this is Kelly, she owns the place."

"It's nice to meet you." Jasmine said with a smile. Kelly smiled back and the two shook hands.

"So what have you all been up to?" Kelly asked as the group all fell down on the couch laughing.

"We were showing Jasmine around town." Hunter said shooting the pink haired girl a smirk, "She's new here so we thought we'd give her the grand tour."

"What do you think of Blue Bay Harbor so far Jasmine?" Kelly asked.

"Please call me Jazz, all my friends do, and the place is great." Jasmine replied.

"That's great." Kelly said, "I hate to break up your party though, but these boys have to work, and Shane you need to go home and put some ice on that ankle."

"Oh come on Kels." Dustin whined, "We're having so much fun."

"Too bad." Kelly said not sounding the least bit sorry, "but if you guys want to keep your jobs you gotta do some work."
With exaggerated pouts on their faces, Dustin, Blake, and Hunter stood up and went into the storeroom to unload boxes. Shane sat back with a smug expression.

"Ah, this is the life." He said placing his hands behind his head.

"Have your fun now Shane," Kelly said, "as soon as that ankle's better you're coming back to work." The three women shared a laugh over Shane's stricken face.

"Come on Jazz," Tori said standing up, "Let's go shopping. I have a feeling you're gonna need some more stuff."

"Me too." Jasmine replied. The two said their good-byes and walked out the door.

~*~*~

Cam studied the radar on the screen of the main computer terminal. He shook his head in frustration and a sigh echoed throughout the hidden lair.

"Do not give up Cam, the answer may not be as hidden as it seems." His father said coming to stand next to his arm.

"I know dad, but this is just so confusing." Cam said.

"What's confusing?" Cam looked up as Jasmine walked in followed by Tori.

"Nothing," Cam said, "you wouldn't understand it."

"Try Me." Jasmine said.

"Okay. The computer is picking up traces of alien activity, but there are no aliens showing on the radar." Jasmine's eyes got a far away look in them, and her brow furrowed in thought.

"Maybe," she said after a long silence, "just maybe, there isn't an actual alien, but more of an alien's influence that you're picking up."

"Explain." Cam said suddenly interested.

"Say that you preformed an experiment somewhere okay."

"I'm following you."

"Well if you left the experiment set, and you left, well your influence would still be there would it not?"

"So what you're saying is that perhaps an alien came down and did something to alter the environment where he landed."

"Yeah."

"It's possible, I'm gonna call the others." Cam turned to Tori who had stood silent during the whole exchange, "Tor I want you guys to check out the south side of the park, around where you were earlier today."

"Gottcha." Tori said, "We'll tell you what we find."

~*~*~

Jasmine watched Tori jog out of Ninja Ops, she suddenly felt out of place and self-conscious. She could feel Cam's eyes on her and felt nervous.

"So how do you know so much about science?" he asked.

"I may not seem like it, but I am a total geek." Jasmine replied with a laugh. Cam smiled, and Jasmine felt herself falling into his eyes. With a mental slap she forced herself to look anywhere but at the tech geek.

"I never would have guessed you were a nerd." The young man said.

"I prefer dweeb." Jasmine replied. Cam laughed. The teen marveled at how musical his laugh was. Cam put Jasmine at ease just by laughing and asking simple questions about her life. It wasn't long before Jasmine told him all about how her parents had spilt up when she was fifteen and all about the custody battle raging over her and her sister. Each parent tried to gain the upper hand over the other by buying the girls everything they wanted, and by letting them do what they wanted when they wanted. Jasmine expressed her concerns over how her sister took full advantage over their parents and how she played them against each other to get what she wanted. She expressed her longing for them to act like real parents instead of like parents who were trying to be her best-friend.
Jasmine told Cam all about how she and her boyfriend of two years had split earlier that year because he was cheating on her with her ex-best friend. Tears slowly rolled from her eyes as she recounted how she had seen them making out at a party and how they had tried to cover it up.
She told him how she worked hard to get good grades so that she could be accepted to a good college and be able to get away from all the pain that surrounded her at home.

~*~*~

Cam listened with a sympathetic ear as Jasmine talked about her life. He could not believe that one person could suffer so much. He handed her a tissue to wipe her eyes, and Jasmine excepted it with a grateful smile.

"Thanks." She said, "I never knew how pathetic my life sounded till I said it all out loud." She gave a weak laugh.

"It could be worse." Cam said, "Your uncle could be an evil space ninja intent on taking over the world." A hearty laugh escaped Jasmine.

"Yeah that does sound worse."

"Cam we found something that might be of interest to you." Shane's voice interrupted them.

"What is it?" Cam asked.

"Dude you're gonna have to come and see this yourself, 'cause I doubt you'll believe Me." Shane replied.

"We'll be there in a minute." Cam looked at Jasmine.

"Let's go." He said.

~*~*~

AN: I hope that y'all enjoyed this chapter. Please don't forget to cast your votes for who you would like to see Jasmine hook up with. Also, I know that whole little thing about the alien's influence still being there was kinda confusing, I just didn't know how else to write it. Forgive me for any confusing moments in this chapter and all the chapters to come.
Count stands at- Dustin 1, Cam 0, Hunter 0, and Shane 0.

What did the Rangers find? Who is Jasmine gonna end up with? What is Lothor up to? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the upcoming chapters of A World Apart.