AN: Wow, again, sooo sorry for the long wait on the update. i promise i havnt given up on this one yet! i do have a plan to finish it! but this is the first time in a while i've been able to write anything at all, what with school being so busy and my personal life getting in the way. but i am trying to make time, so stay with me please! and leave some reviews! they make more chapters appear!
AN2:Also, I do have something I'd like to point out. Capitalizing he/she after "" is perfectly alright as long as the "" has a "." in it, or some other punctuation mark. So. Stop. Complaining. It isn't going to change. Just thought I'd mention it. Anyways, on with the story.
Jason slid into the seat of his car and closed his eyes. He could feel the sunburn setting in on his shoulders, and his eyes burned from the chlorine. He let out a long suffering sigh, wanting to turn on his car for the air conditioning but feeling too lazy to do so. He sat there for a few minutes, contemplating the day.
It wasn't necessarily an attraction, he told himself. It was normal to think you'd developed feelings for someone when you spent so much time with them. That was obvious just from observing his other friends. How many flings had Trini and Zach had over the years for just that reason? Exactly. It was probably nothing anyways. Jason nodded, feeling convinced.
He kept his eyes closed, thinking that it'd be dark enough to drive home and give his eyes a rest in a few minutes.
He jumped, however, when someone tapped on the window. He squinted to see Kat starring back at him, looking somewhat amused. He sat still for a moment before fumbling with his keys and rolling down the window.
"You okay?" Kat asked as the window rolled down. Jason blinked.
"Yeah, just resting my eyes. What's up?" He asked, looking around. Kat bit her lip.
"I was sort of wondering if you could give me a ride home. I got a ride with Adam earlier but he's got a full load and he's going in a completely different direction anyways…" She mumbled, shrugging.
Jason smiled at her. "Hop in." He was rewarded with a smile and she walked to the other side. Jason rubbed his eyes and buckled his seat belt.
"You look tired." Kat mused as she buckled up. Jason nodded, starting to pull out of the parking lot.
"Long day." He joked halfheartedly. Kat nodded appreciatively and slumped down into her seat. Jason smiled at her.
Just before they were about to pull fully out of the parking lot, Tanya waved at them frantically, flagging them down.
Jason rolled down his window. "What's up?" He echoed his remark to Kat a few minutes earlier.
"I just got a call from Rocky. He, Tommy and Kim are at the Youth Center, and its Mixer night. You guys wanna come down there with all of us for a little while?" Tanya asked enthusiastically, and Jason wondered how she could have so much energy.
Jason wasn't particularly feeling up to it himself, but if Kat felt like it…
"You up for it?" He asked her, nudging her arm. She wrinkled her nose, and then thought better of it because of her sunburn.
She shrugged. "I'm up for it if you are." To Tanya, that apparently settled it.
"Great! We'll meet you guys there!" She stood up and tapped the top of the car once, then sprinted back over to Adams jeep, yelling something incoherent.
Jason shook his head. "Never mind if I'm up for it." He mumbled half heartedly. Okay, mostly for attention.
"Oh, Jason I'm sorry. If you don't want to go--" Kat began hastily, but Jason held up his hand to silence her.
"It's fine. Sides, I'll have good company." He smirked.
Kat blushed, and Jason smiled at himself in the rear view mirror before driving off.
Upon reaching the Youth Center, Jason shut off the car and gave Kat a look. She returned it, and they both let out a long suffering sigh.
"I think I'm too tired for this." She mused, closing her eyes. Jason chuckled.
"Oh no you don't." He warned, hopping out of the car and running around to her door. "We're here, and we're going inside." He told her, grabbing her hands and pulling her up out of the car. She grumbled, but she was smiling.
Tanya and Adam pulled up a moment later, after having dropped off one of the other chaperones from the shelter at her house. They were listening to their music rather loudly, and Adam jumped out of his jeep without using the door, swinging his legs over it. Tanya jumped out after him and as he caught her they burst into giggles.
Kat sat back down in the car. "It's not worth it." She told him flatly.
Jason smiled at her reluctance. "Oh come on. It won't be that bad." He promised. Kat looked as though she was going to wrinkle her nose, but she remembered her sunburn this time and stood up instead.
"Fine." She mumbled. Jason shut the door and they began walking towards Adam and Tanya, who waited for them at the door.
Once inside, it wasn't hard to spot Tommy and Kim, who were cutting up the dance floor to a swing song. Kim was futiley attempting to correct Tommy's two left feet problem. Rocky was chatting up some pretty girl at the bar, and Billy was with him, though he looked more interested in his smooth than he did in Rocky's conversation.
Rocky spotted the four of them coming in, and he grabbed the girls hand and brought her over.
"Kara, these are my friends. Guys you remember Kara, right? From Biology last year?" He asked enthusiastically.
"What happened to Tammy?" Tanya wondered aloud, and the music was loud enough for only them to hear.
"Yeah, of course," Jason addressed Rocky and his girl. "I'm sorry but, didn't you graduate?" Jason wondered, and he could feel the other's urges to smack their heads.
"No, silly! I'm only in my 5th year of high school now!" She giggled emphatically, and Jason tried incredibly hard not to laugh.
"Isn't she great?" Rocky wanted to know. He was so happy none of them said anything for a moment, but Kat finally spoke up.
"Top notch Rocky. You go get her!" She said enthusiastically, giving him a thumbs up, and the sarcasm was lost on Rocky immediately.
Rocky nodded and he and Kara headed off to the dance floor. Kat immediately dropped the act.
"I worry about that boy. Constantly." She said flatly, and the rest of them collapsed into giggles. Kat shook her head. "And really, what happened to Tammy?" She wanted to know.
Jason stood back up from his hunched laughter and gave her a look. "You know Rocky, he's forgotten all about her by now. And he'll forget about Kara and move onto…" He searched for a name. "Shaneka!" He said, and this sent the others into laughter again.
"I can't imagine going through relationships like that." Kat said, her voice suddenly serious as she wrapped her arms around herself. Jason stood, glancing at her far away expression. "What happened to romance and passion. I mean sure flings are nice but, doesn't anyone want something more?" She looked to him for confirmation, but he had no idea what to say.
Before he could come up with anything she tossed her hands in the air.
"Ernie, I need a Banana-Ramah with a Stress Relief and fast." She told the portly store owner.
"Coming right up." He smiled at her and ducked into the kitchen.
Tanya and Adam shrugged it off and went to follow the others to the dance floor, opting for dancing before drinks. Jason was tempted to follow Kat, but Billy caught his eye with a small wave.
Jason smiled. A much needed friend he could say anything to and he would take it at face value was sitting right in front of him. There were times when he was really glad Billy was around.
"Hey man, what's going on?" He asked, pulling up a seat beside him.
"Nothing incredibly exciting," Billy said, glancing around. Jason smiled at him.
"That's just because you don't know where to look." Jason told him, though his opinion of the night was much the same.
"So I've been told." Billy smirked. "How was the shelter trip?" He asked for point of conversation.
Jason rolled his eyes. "Great, if you like boiling water, lots of kids, scorching sunshine and sticky sunscreen." He said, twisting around to thank Ernie as he put his usual drink in from of him on the counter.
Billy grinned. "Sounds like fun." He murmured. Jason gave him a look. "She doesn't look like she had a wonderful time either." Billy nodded towards Kat, and Jason took a quick look over his shoulder. She was writing something down in her notebook, which was filled with all her daily appointments and the like.
"I think she's just worn out." He said carefully. "It was a pretty long day. She's probably just irritable." He shrugged and took a generous gulp of smoothie.
"So, go cheer her up." Billy suggested. Jason swallowed and looked at him. Billy smirked again. "Don't think I don't see the way you look at her." He mused.
Jason sputtered. "What do you mean by that?" He asked, feeling his cheeks grow warm.
"You're blushing." Billy muttered. Jason glared at him.
"I am not." Jason replied stubbornly.
"You know, it might just be sunburn." Billy chuckled to himself in his own private amusement. Jason was not so thrilled.
"You're wrong you know." He murmured. Billy shrugged. He really should have known that sooner or later Billy or Kim would figure something out. After all, if there was anyone who could read him better than his mother, if was his childhood friends. All four of them could read him like a book. It really wasn't fair sometimes, but he supposed he had the same ability with them, so it was alright.
"I'm just saying…" Billy began, but Jason cut him off.
"I know what you're saying." He managed a smirk, but he didn't really feel it.
"Is the only reason you're here to make my life difficult?" He wondered aloud.
"My presence has many purposes, but I've learned that the main ones revolve around my best friends and their homework that they can not do on their own." Billy gave him a pointed look, and Jason chuckled.
It was true, Billy had leverage over all of them. If there was one rule among the rangers that everyone followed, it was this: don't piss off Billy.
AN3: Sorry to leave you with such a cliffie, because the mixer does pick up in next chapter. so review if you want it and you might get it sooner than next saturday!