Chapter 3: Announcements and Passenger Jets

His first two classes took the news pretty well, but the rangers probably wouldn't take it as well. He watched his third period class walk into the room and take their seats. He stood as the bell rang.

"Class, before we even begin I have bad news for you" he paused to let them get some of their groans out.

"What is it, Dr. O?" Kira asked

"I will be out of state for the next week or so" he said "I'm leaving after class to catch the first flight to Florida, I have a friend over there with a big crisis on her hands"

There were some whispers about whether the word Tommy should have used was "girlfriend" and not just "friend"

"What happened to her?" a voice asked

"I believe that should remain confidential" he paused "and for those of you who think that's too big of a word it means I'm not going to tell anyone"

They got started with the lesson and after the room cleared a bit, Kira walked over to Tommy.

"Dr. Oliver, what happened to her?" Kira asked "And who was she?"

"She was my girlfriend in high school, Kira, her name was Kimberly, and she was raped the other day"

"Oh, now I understand why you're in such a hurry to get to Florida and why you were so upset yesterday, tell her that I said 'I'm sorry'" Kira paused "that's bad"

"Kira ..." Tommy started

"Don't worry, Dr. Oliver, what was just said won't be repeated, I promise" Kira said and left for class, also concerned about Kimberly

"Thanks" Tommy replied

He packed his briefcase ande headed out of the school, he shook his head as he reached his jeep. A note was placed under the windshield wiper, he pulled it out and was calmed by the contents.

"Dr. Oliver,

We're sorry to hear that you are having to leave for this emergency, we hope it can be resolved quickly , with little stress, you already have enough of that in you're life as it stands... you defiantly don't need anymore, with Mesogog showing no signs of giving up, so we wish you all the best as you head off to Florida.

You're teammates

Conner McKnight, Ethan James, Kira Ford, & Trent Mercer"

There was no mistaking the fact that this was all in Trent's handwriting, of the entire team, Trent had some of the best penmanship, the signatures were by the corresponding person, and it was also obvious that Hayley had nothing to do with it, for one her name wasn't on it.

"You guys are not the only ones" he murmured as he looked over the note and then noticed an addition in Kira's handwriting.

"Ps. The others left the note, but there was one thing I wanted to add, I wanted to again say that I'm sorry about what happened to Kimberly, and you might notice something in the glove compartment, it was a note from me to her that I wrote after you told me what had happened, I know I should have been in class, but I did have permission.- Good Luck, Kira"

Tommy went and checked, and sure enough there was a note addressed to Kimberly there. He didn't read it he just placed it where he'd remember to carry it to Florida with him.

He got home and got his suitcase and went to the airport and was able to get a good seat to get to Florida, he had reserved the spot the night before so he knew he'd have it when the time came to leave. He still wondered what was in that note from Kira to Kimberly, but he kept strong and didn't read it, he'd let Kimberly be the judge of the contents of that letter.

On of his fellow passengers noticed he was moving rather uncomfortably in his seat.

"You're not too keen on flying are you?" the person asked

"It's not so much that, but the reason I'm going"

"Oh, family issues"

"No, but something just as important" Tommy shook his head, there was no way this random person could understand the weight that he now carried on his shoulders.

"Oh, you mean it's someone you care about a lot" the stranger said "your girlfriend, I assume"

"She was my high school sweetheart, I still love her"

"No surprise there" the older woman paused "my name is Jessica"

"Tommy"

"Well, Tommy, I know you'll be able to help her..."

"I hope so..." he murmured

"Why do you sound so doubtful?" Jessica gave him a quizzical look.

"She was raped afew days ago"

"Oh, that is a very different matter, I send my apologies to the poor young woman, no one deserves that kind of treatment"

"No, especially not her" he paused "I have a picture of her, but it was from high school" he pulled the photo out of his wallet and showed Jessica

"Oh, she's very lovely, I suppose an active young lady, am I right"

"She's a gymnast" he paused "won the Pan Globals a few years back"

"Oh, I take it this is her under normal circumstances, I always thought Kimberly deserved to win that prize, I watched those, I thought she did great"

"I wish I had, but I thoughtthat I had more important things to do"

"Remember that there is nothing more important than the person you love" Jessica paused "and at this time your love is probably all she really needs."

After a talk with Jessica, Tommy had really come to realize that all Kimberly really needed was love, and he hoped that his love would set her free from the prison she had placed herself in to protect her heart from the pain she was suffering from.

To Be Continued...

A/n: If you are wondering, Jessica is actually Jessica Fletcher, I needed someone to give him a bit of advice and I thought she'd be the best person for the job.

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