Chapter Thirteen
Laughing, Shadow stumbled into the cadets' rec room, Sky not far behind her. After the initial uneasiness, the two had fallen into a companionable pace, talking and laughing and joking with each other until they both realized that it was getting late and they had patrols that night. She wiped the tears from her eyes and narrowly missed running into Jack.
"Hey Jack," she smiled.
"Hey," he said, his gaze shifting around the room, as if he were afraid to look at Shadow. He was nervous about something, that much was clear from the way his hands were stuffed inside his pockets and his feet scuffed at the floor.
"What's up?" Shadow asked, suddenly serious.
"Nothing," Jack said quickly, shaking his head, "I was just um…" he looked over his shoulder. Shadow followed his gaze and smiled at Z. She didn't notice as she was too busy giving Jack a pointed look. Now Shadow was confused.
"What's going on?" She asked. Jack turned back to look at her, this time meeting her eye.
"I was just wondering if you would like to…" He looked over at Sky, who stood at Shadow's side. "Can I talk to you, alone?" He asked her.
"Yeah, sure." Shadow followed him out into the hall, shrugging when Sky shot her a confused look.
"Okay," she said when they were alone, "are you gonna tell me what's going on now?"
"Yeah, um…" Jack looked around the hall nervously before drawing in a deep breath, "I was wondering if you would like to…to…go out with me." He said in a rush.
Shadow was stunned to say the least. Sure she'd known that Jack might be attracted to her, but she had no idea that he would actually want to go out with her.
"Oh," her eyes widened in surprise, "well, uh…"
"I understand if you don't want to," Jack said, the hurt in his voice somewhat evident, "I just thought I'd ask." He turned to go back into the rec room.
"No, Jack wait," she said quickly, "I want to."
"You do?" Jack turned back around. It was his turn to be surprised.
"Yeah," Shadow smiled at him, "I do." And she really did.
Through the weeks she'd spent with the Rangers, Shadow had come to see Jack as a friend she could lean on. He was always there when she was in trouble and she could count on him to help her. It wasn't until just that moment that she saw him in a different light. From friend to potentially something more.
"Cool," he grinned, "so tomorrow night then?"
"Definitely." Shadow nodded.
"It's a date then."
"What's that about?" Sky asked, falling onto the couch beside Z. The yellow Ranger grinned at him.
"Jack's asking Shadow out." She replied. Sky fought to keep the surprise from showing on his face.
"Oh?" He said.
"Yeah," Z said, seemingly unaware of Sky's unhappiness with the situation, "he was so nervous, but I talked him into it. He thought she would say no, but I told him that she would have to be stupid to turn him down."
Just then Jack walked back into the room, a goofy grin on his face. Z squealed, jumping up and hugging her friend.
Sky's felt his heart drop. Shadow had said yes, she had agreed to go out with Jack. But what about the kiss she had given Sky? Was that nothing more than a kiss between friends?
Quickly and quietly, Sky exited the room. He needed to think.
Bridge looked up from the computer he was working on as Sky entered the room. The blue Power Ranger didn't even seem to notice that Bridge was there as he fell onto his bed with a heavy sigh.
"What's wrong with you?" Bridge asked, setting aside his work and sitting on his own bed. Sky looked at him, slightly startled.
"You wouldn't understand." He sighed, staring up at the ceiling.
"I don't know about that," Bridge shrugged, "won't really know until you tell me."
"I'm having some…difficulty with a girl." Sky said after a few moments. He shook his head, "You wouldn't understand that though."
"Actually," Bridge said, "I understand more than you think." Sky sat up and looked at his friend.
"Really?" He asked, one eyebrow arched.
"Yeah," the green Ranger nodded, "but we're not talking about me here. What's your problem?"
"This girl that I kinda, well I kind of like her, she's interested in somebody else." It was difficult for Sky to talk about such personal issues with someone else. He'd never really been one for open discussions about his life and personal issues. But yet, there he was, telling Bridge the one secret that he was keeping from everybody else.
"Ouch." Bridge winced, feeling Sky's pain. "How do you know she's interested in someone else?"
"She's going out on a date with him." Sky sighed.
"Yeah, so?" Bridge shrugged.
"She's going out with him, Bridge. That means she obviously likes him."
"Not necessarily," the green Ranger shook his head, "she could just feel sorry for him or maybe she doesn't know that it was a date, date that she's going on."
"How could she not know?" Sky shook his head, "Never mind, just forget it. I don't even want to talk about this anymore."
"Okay." Bridge turned back to his computer. Sky stood and left the room. He wasn't going to find his answers there. Bridge had had some good ideas about why Shadow would go out with Jack, but none of them seemed plausible. Shadow was a smart girl, she would definitely know if she had accepted a date with someone.
The door slid shut behind him, and Sky went in search of some other place where he could clear his head.
I think I'll just leave you all right here, lol. It's a short chapter, but the next one will be considerably longer (I hope) since it will contain the…drum roll please…date. Lol. Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter and the rest of the story so far and don't forget, you still have a say in who Shadow ends up with. Right now the count is at:
Sky- 34
Jack- 35
