Chapter 7: A MAGICAL DANCE

Time passed by, school was out and it was time for the teens to get back to work. Xander, Vida and Chip were there already. Xander was supervising Chip on marking records again. Vida hung up a poster next to her DJ table, which says 'A Magical Dance'.

"Hey Vida."

Vida turned around and smiled when she saw a familiar face. "Ben, how are you? I haven't seen you for a long time. Where have you been?"

"Hiding behind my books."

"Really?"

"I even had to cancel football this week to catch up with my studying."

"No way. Since when do you have to put so much effort in studying?" asked Vida all surprised. She knew Ben was one of the smartest students at Briarwood High. He could perfectly separate school and his love for football and was never behind with his schoolwork.

"I didn't realize that I still had so much studying to do. I mean now I have the time to focus on school since…you know." Ben suddenly looked disappointed. His break up with Madison was still bothering. He doesn't show it, but it did still hurt. And Vida could see the hurt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Ben. My sis never meant to hurt you."

"I always thought we would stay together forever. She was the first girl I ever loved. Everything went perfect between us…what could have separated us?"

Vida was silence for a moment when Ben asked her the question. She knew the answer, but she couldn't just tell him that her sister dumped him for another guy. No, he was still too much in love with her. It would be cruel to tell him now that Madison doesn't feel the same about him. "Well, I guess some people are just not meant to be for each other."

"I guess so. So…how is she?"

"She's…fine. You know…all focused on school, like you." Oh well, never heard of a white lie before? What did she suppose to tell him? That she's busy saving the world as a ranger and has her eyes on their leader?

"Well, I gotta go now, but it was nice to see you again. Say hi to your sister for me." Ben was about to leave, but Vida stopped him.

"Wait. Why don't you join me and the guys this Saturday?" as she pointed to the hung up poster.

"A Magical Dance? At our school? I don't know. Usually, school dances are kinda lame."

"Hey! I resent that. A party is not easy to organize, ya know."

"You're organizing it?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's a school dance is a lot of work."

"You don't have to tell me that twice. So, you're coming or what?"

"Well, since you're in charge of the whole event, I can see why not. But is it like a dating thing?"

"You can bring a date, it's not really required. But who knows, maybe you'll meet a great girl there."

"I guess you have a point."

"Great, so I'll see you Saturday then."

"Great. See ya." Ben waved at her before he left the store. Xander and Chip joined Vida after they saw Ben leaving.

"Was that Ben?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"Never thought you were interested in geeks."

"Are you jealous about the fact that he has something that you seem to be missing? Like a couple of brains."

"Oh V, you have really hurt my feelings now." Xander responded as he smiled at her. He just loved to tease her. Chip stood there trying to keep his laugh inside.

"How about I'll hurt you at some other places as well?" Vida responded upset while almost attacking Xander. Chip got in time to stop Vida from harming Xander.

"Take it easy V. You know Xander. He doesn't think clearly as usual."

"Hey! Whose side are you taking?"

Before Chip could respond, Nick entered the store putting on his working blouse while he walked over to his friends.

"Nice of you to join us, all mighty one." Xander joked.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"Where were you?" Vida asked.

"I…had to take care of something." Nick responded while looking at Xander and Chip. Hoping they haven't said a word to Vida about his kiss with LeeLee. Vida knowing about the kiss means that his chances with Madison are zero. He knows that it's not him Madison wants, but if she finds out that he kissed LeeLee, she might think that he has no interest in her at all. And he doesn't want that to happen.

"Anyway, Toby wanted to put the new records of U2 on the shelves. So, let's get to work people." Xander said to kill the silence between the friends.

"Wait, where's Maddie?" Nick asked as he noticed the beautiful blue ranger is missing.

"I don't know. I'll try to call her." Vida picked up her cell phone and tries to call her sister. When she received no responds, she hung up. "She doesn't answer. Oh, no. What if Koragg and his goons are after her?"

"Relax V. Just calm down."

"What are we gonna do now?

"I'll go look for her." Nick volunteered.

"I'll come with you."

"No, Toby needs you in here."

"So, does my sister."

"V, we don't know if something happened to her. Maybe she's fine. If we all leave Toby might get suspicious and we all know how panic Toby can be. Look, I'll call you guys if something happened, alright."

"Find her Nick."

"I will. I promise." Nick said before he run out of the store to look for Madison. Vida watched Nick running out of the store. She knows there's something up with Maddie. Not contacting her or the others doesn't sound like her. Vida really hopes Nick would find her. She also agreed to let Nick find her on his own, hoping these 2 lovebirds will finally find each other.

"What's this?" Xander asked after he saw the poster.

"It's a dance at school."

"Why it's called a Magical Dance?"

"Because it's like this dance where everyone needs to wear a costume. You could say it's a sort of costumed ball."

"A costume party? Awesome." Chip answered all excited.

"What brainless moron came up with this idea?" Xander asked all laughing, but his laughter stopped when he saw Vida looking at him with angry eyes and knew who the organizer is. "I mean…it's a great idea."

"Save it Aussie boy."

"So, can we bring a date?" Chip asked.

"You can. Why? Has our very own Chip Thorn someone on his mind?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"So, who's the lucky girl?"

"You'll see at the party."

"Great, so you're gonna be there?"

"You bet." Vida was all excited about Chip coming to the party.

"So, what about you Xander?"

"Me? Nah, dressed up parties are not for me."

Vida was disappointed when she heard it, but as always she hid that. "Or you're not able to find a date?"

Xander felt offended when he heard that. "What? It's Xander Bly you're talking to. I can get plenty of dates." At that moment, a girl entering a store caught Xander's eye. "Watch and learn." Xander walked over to the girl and threw the usual Xander Bly's charm in the conversation. Vida rolled with her eyes when she saw that. Chip noticed it.

"Jealous?"

"Me? Jealous? On him? Good one Chip." Vida answered as she looked at the records to see which one she's going to play on her DJ table. Chip looked at the poster again.

"So, you're organizing the whole event?"

"Yep."

"How did you come up to throw a dance at our school?"

"I just thought it could be fun."

"Since when do you throw parties without a reason?" Chip asked. He knew Vida wouldn't just do things voluntary, unless there's a reason. "What are you up to V?"

"Alright, you got me. I did throw this dance for a reason. Promise not to tell anyone else about this plan. It's a secret."

Chip sighs when Vida said the word 'secret'. He heard too many secrets these days and he didn't want to get more involved in the situation then he already is. However, he was too curious not to hear this one out. "Promise."

"This dance is actually to bring 2 people together. Guess who."

"You and Xander?" Vida slapped Chip on his arm with one of the records she's holding. "Ouch! I guess that means a no."

"It's for my sis."

"Maddie? Your sister is in love with someone?"

"And you'll never guess who."

"Who?"

"Vida!" Vida heard Toby calling her name before she could tell Chip who Madison's crush is. "I need you in my office! Now!"

"I'll be there!" Vida yelled and looked at Chip. "We'll talk about this later." Vida walked to the office as fast as she could. Chip was thinking about who Vida possibly could talk about. Madison is one of the prettiest girls at his school. A lot of guys like her, but the question is, with who is Madison in love with? Then suddenly he had an idea about who Vida was talking about. "Oh wow. This is…wow."

"What is wow?"

Chip turned around when he saw LeeLee. "Nothing."

"Where's Nick?"

"He's taking care of something."

"Oh," LeeLee responded disappointed. She hoped to see Nick and ask him out. "Could you tell him that I stopped by?"

"LeeLee, you're here everyday."

"Whatever." LeeLee wanted to leave, but spotted the poster hanging next to the DJ table. "What's this? A Magical Dance? At our school?"

"Yeah, are you going?"

"Why would I go to a lame party like this?"

"Hey! It could be fun and Vida organized it especially for…" Chip realized he was releasing too much info.

"For who?" LeeLee asked with sudden interest.

"Uhm…nobody." Chip answered as he walked to the box with records that was standing on the floor in front of him. LeeLee ofcourse couldn't accept that she doesn't get an answer for her question and followed Chip.

"Oh come on Chip. Why is Vida throwing this party? Better yet, for who?"

"No way. I'm not going to tell ya that. It's a secret."

"I'm good in keeping secrets." LeeLee is hitting on Chip, trying to get the information she wants. "Please Chip."

Chip ofcourse couldn't resist the seducing and sighs. "Alright, but you shouldn't tell anyone about this. I mean it's a surprise and Vida would kill me if this comes out."

"I promise."

"It's for Madison. She's in love with someone and Vida wants to help her sister to get together with this guy."

"Get together with who Chip?"

Chip looked around and moved closer, so no one else would hear it. "To get Madison and Ben back together again."

LeeLee smiled and got all excited when she heard the news. She always thought that there was something going on between Madison and Nick, because they were always hanging out together. However Madison back with Ben means for her that she could have Nick all for herself.

Meanwhile, in the park. Madison is sitting alone on a bench with tears in her eyes. She still couldn't get the image of Nick and LeeLee kissing at school out of her mind. She was so caught up in her tears that she didn't realize that someone else behind the trees saw everything and left immediately. Who could this stranger behind the tree be?

"Why did I think that he's being nice at me, because he might like me? He's nice to everyone. That's Nick Russell. Nice and helpful. That's how he got the leadership over the team at the first place. All these times, he was playing with my feelings. He gave me hope that there was something going on between the 2 of us and I felt for it. How could I have been so stupid? I need to talk to him about this. But if I tell him, it also means that I have to tell him the truth about my feelings for him. I can't do that. Yes, you can! Come on Maddie! You can do this. At least everything will be out in the open and there will be no more secrets. Wait, I still have to work with him together. If I tell him the truth then I can't face him as the Nick I knew before. However, if I keep this all bottled up inside, I still can't face him. This is driving me crazy! Why do I worry so much about this? It's just a conversation. I had so many conversations with Nick before. It's no big deal. Like Vida said, it's Nick. He would never hurt me. I'm just going to tell him. I'm just going to step up to him, look into his eyes…and…"

"Maddie? Is that you?"

Madison turned around and her mouth felt open when she saw who suddenly stood behind her. She was speechless at that moment.

End Chapter 7.

I'm so sorry I didn't update sooner. Busy with school, ya know. But I hope you liked the new chappie. I know a lot of you hate cliffhangers! So, who do you think found Madison? And who's the stranger behind the tree? I'll try to update soon.

Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad you like the story so far. I know, Nick and LeeLee kissing...what was I thinking? LOL. Anyway, you know what ya gotta do if you want more! LOL