Chapter Fourteen
Clothes flew across the room as Shadow searched through her closet for something to wear. It was the night of her date with Jack, and Shadow had no clue what to wear.
"Whoa," Bridge glanced around the room, his eyes wide as he took in the clothing laying scattered across the floor. "What happened in here?"
"What?" Shadow turned from her closet, "Oh hey Bridge, I didn't hear you come in." Bridge dodged the piles of clothing as he moved towards Shadow.
"What are you doing?" He asked, "It looks like a bomb went off in here."
"I'm just trying to find something to wear," Shadow said, "I have a date with Jack in like an hour and I still haven't found anything to wear."
"You're going out with Jack?" There was a strange tone in Bridge's voice. Shadow glanced at him and nodded.
"Yeah, is there something wrong with that?"
"No," Bridge shook his head, an odd smile spreading across his face, "nothing at all wrong with that."
"Okay." Shadow said slowly, wondering what the heck was going on in Bridge's head. She turned back towards her closet, hands on her hips. "Maybe I should get Syd to help me." She said, more to herself than Bridge, "I'm sure she can find something in this mess."
"Why don't I go get her for you," Bridge said, making his way towards the door.
"Thanks," Shadow called as the green Ranger raced out of her room.
He's acting awfully strange, she thought, wonder what's up with him.
"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it." Bridge shook his head, laughing as he rounded the corner heading towards Syd's room.
"What did you know?" Bridge stopped short, narrowly missing bumping into the pink Ranger. Her head was tilted to the side curiously as she looked at Bridge.
"I knew Sky liked her." The green Ranger grinned to himself, happy about his unusual perception.
"Who does Sky like?" Syd asked, suddenly interested.
"Promise you won't tell anyone, especially not Sky. If he knew that I told you what I know, he would kill me." Bridge said.
"Yeah, sure, I promise." Syd said hurriedly, wanting to know what Bridge knew. He leaned close to her, making sure that nobody was nearby to hear.
"Sky likes Shadow." He whispered.
"No way!" Syd cried, "That's impossible, they're always at each others throats." Bridge shrugged.
"I don't know why, I just know that he does."
"Does she like him back?" Bridge shrugged again.
"No clue."
"Well I'm going to ask her," Syd started past Bridge, but he quickly caught her arm.
"You promised Syd, not a word to anybody, not even Shadow." He looked at her sternly.
"You ruin all my fun." Syd pouted, then sighed. "Fine, I won't tell Shadow." Bridge slowly released her arm from his grip.
"Good." He continued down the hall, but quickly turned back around. "Oh hey, I forgot, Shadow's looking for you. She needs help getting ready for her date with Jack."
"What?" Syd cried, but Bridge was already gone. A slow, scheming smile, spread across her face.
Things just keep getting more and more interesting around here, she thought as she headed towards Shadow's room.
Shadow turned around in front of the mirror, taking in her reflection from every angle.
"You're sure this looks alright?" She asked Syd, nervously running her hands over the silky fabric.
"It looks amazing," Syd reassured her, pushing Shadow's hands away from the dress and straightening the wrinkles out of the back. "Jack is going to go crazy when he sees you."
"Really?" Shadow blushed.
"Really." Syd nodded.
And he's not going to be the only one, she thought as she thought the recent discovery of Sky's feelings for the black Ranger.
"Oh gosh," Shadow shook her head as she sat down on the bed and pulled on her strappy heels, "I don't know why I'm so nervous. I mean it's just Jack, right? Yeah, it's just Jack. I'm getting myself worked up over nothing. It's going to be fine. It's just Jack." Content with her little pep talk, Shadow smiled and stood up, surveying herself once more in the mirror.
Syd had chosen a black dress for Shadow, one that was both simple and elegant at the same time. It was cut just right, molding to every curve of her body. The slight V in the neck dipped low enough as to show just the smallest bit of the top of her breasts. There was another V in the back, reaching all the way down to the middle of Shadow's back. A white flower was embroidered in the bottom left hand corner of the dress, delicate pink stitches weaving in and out of the flower to give it just a hint of color.
Never one to wear much make-up, Shadow had on only the lightest touch of lipstick and just a hint of blush. It wasn't much, but the affect was amazing.
Syd had forced Shadow to let the blond do her hair so that her 'head looks as magnificent as the rest of you does.' Now, Shadow's hair was pulled back away from her face. Syd had taken a handful of Shadow's chestnut hair and placed it up in a bun, allowing the rest of her hair to glide down her back in thick curls. In the bun, Syd had twisted a few little diamonds to add elegance to the ensemble.
"Jack is not going to know what hit him." Syd said, coming to stand behind Shadow. The two girls locked eyes in the mirror and grinned wickedly.
He fiddled with the tie around his neck, trying to loosen it. Z hit his hands away gently and readjusted the tie.
"Remind me why I have to wear this thing again." He said, looking down at the tie with disdain.
"Because you're taking Shadow to a nice dinner at a nice restaurant and you want to look nice." Z replied.
"Uh," Jack grunted as he tried once more to loosen the tie, "I hate getting dressed up."
"You're hardly dressed up." Z said, "You're just dressed nicely." Jack looked at his black pants and dark red button-up shirt before casting a look at Z.
"I'm dressed up." He said.
"Stop complaining," his friend scolded, "besides, you don't have time to change, you have to go pick up your date."
"Crap," Jack looked hurriedly at his watch, "I told Shadow I'd meet her ten minutes ago." Quickly, he grabbed his jacket and headed for the rec room, Z right behind him.
He rushed into the room, shrugging his jacket on. Bridge, Sky, and various other cadets were there, but no Shadow. Jack checked his watch once more, he was definitely there at the right time.
"Hey," he said, joining his fellow Rangers on the couch where they sat, "have you guys seen Shadow?" Bridge shook his head while Sky glared at him. The glare in itself was not anything new, but the added hostility in it was.
"Looking for me?" Jack stood quickly as Shadow entered the room. His eyes widened as he took her in. Never had he seen a woman so amazingly beautiful.
"Wow," he breathed, his eyes finally reaching hers, "Shadow you look…" he trailed off, not knowing what word could accurately capture how she looked.
A blush crept up her cheeks and she smiled shyly, her eyes downcast so that her long lashes brushed against her skin.
"Thanks," she replied, looking back up at him, "you look pretty great yourself." Jack straightened his tie, causing Z to laugh lightly, and walked over to Shadow. He offered her his arm.
"Shall we go?" He asked, using his best gentlemanly voice.
"We shall." Shadow smiled, looping her arm with his.
Well, I think I'm going to leave you there. I was going to put the date in this chapter, but I decided to give that a chapter all its own. Please review and tell me what you thought. Also, don't forget to vote for who you want Shadow to end up with. Right now the vote is tied at:
Sky- 42
Jack- 42
PS. I know a lot of you are wondering how much longer the poll is going to run. I plan on having it run until nearly the end of the story. We won't know who Shadow ultimately chooses until the final chapter. I'll alert everybody to when the poll is shutting down, so don't worry.
