SEQUEL TO: ORDINARY WORLD
SUMMARY: After a brutal suicide mission, Trent isn't feeling like himself. Or is it just the stresses that come with being a senior in high school?
DISCLAIMER: Power Rangers is not mine. I do own the property of how this series ends and the characters of Mindshatter, Dinoshade, the Cybots and Serena Oliver.
A/N: Anyone ever thought a guilt trip was bad news? Yeah, I'm sorta feeling that way right now with the things I've failed to do in my senior year, or could have done. I just don't seem to have the ambition. So, this is semi-related to my last few months in high school. Don't worry, it's not too bad.
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"After all that has happened in these past few months, I do not know where I stand. I do not know where I should really turn to. I fell like everyone is an enemy even if I have those that really want to help me out. But how can they really understand what I am going through? My life has not been as easy as others seem to know." -Eclyptyk Neo
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Time passed slowly.
On a Friday following anoter stressful weekend, Trent knew he would have to take advantage of this time off to hang with his friends. He decided to call them up to see what they were up to. Ethan said he was already at the park nailing some new dance moves for the dance team.
"Yeah, Conner said he'd be along in awhile. He's bringing Krista with him, which could mean he'll be spending more time with her than with us," Ethan said from his end of the cell phone.
"I guess that wouldn't bother me too much. I just need some time to clear my head. I'll call up Kira and see what she's up to," Trent replied.
"All right. Cool. I'll see you in a few, man," Ethan said as he said bye and cut off the call.
Trent finished getting ready as he felt his steps falter and sway again. He caught himself before he hit the ground pondering what was going on. But, he knew. He was just stressed out about his father. He was worried about him. He wasn't sure if it was a dream, or if it was reality. But he remembered trying to rescue his father, but he refused. Mesogog didn't seem to budge, but he knew it was his father. That blue hint in the dino menace's eyes had told him enough to say it was him.
He shook away those thoughts, not wanting to worry about it. Not that he should, he just didn't want to. He refused to at this moment. He got to his feet and took a seat on his bed as he began to dial up Kira's phone number.
A few rings later, the voice of his girlfriend came over the receiver. "Hey, Trent. What's up?"
"Not much. Not much. Hey, listen. I thought we could head over to the park and hang out, ya know the crew. Do some reflecting or whatever." he suggested.
"Sure, that sounds like a plan. It beats being stuck in the house with my annoying little brother and his friends. So, will I see you in a few to pick me up?"
"Of course. I'll see you in a little bit, Kira," he said and hung up the phone.
The minutes passed slow as he raced over to pick up Kira. He knew how annoying her little brother would be, and never really liked to be over there when he was around. He would joke that the two of them were a boring pair, not exactly doing what most couples would do, and pester them about what they did do together.
He pulled up into the driveway just as Kira was getting out of the front door to greet him. She shoved her brother back into the house to avoid the interrogations as she locked the door behind him. Trent couldn't help but keep in a stifled laugh as Kira relaxed when she got into his car.
"I wish sometimes I was an only child. You don't have to worry about annoying little siblings butting in on your personal life," she sighed as she buckled up.
Trent stifled his laugh again as he reached over a laid a kiss on her lips. "Yeah, well, you can't forget about me and Serena. Lucky for me, she isn't too much of a pain."
"You wanna trade? You can have my brother for a day," she suggested as he shook his head. "I'm sure you can knock some sense into him."
"Or I could just bring him to Dr. O and he can knock some sense into him. But you know he's just doing that to look out for you."
"He's more of a pest if you ask me rather than anything else."
"Hey, at least you only have to deal with Serena on certain days that Dr. Oliver and Coach need time to themselves," she said.
The rest of the drive was left in silence except for the quiet hint of hip-hop music in the background. Not that they had much to say, it was more to avoid distracting the driver from doing something crazy.
They arrived at the park about ten minutes later and saw Ethan trying to nail a handstand, but couldn't quite get it. He came crashing to the ground wincing under the pain that shot up his arm. Trent and Kira raced over to him to see if he was okay.
"I'm fine," Ethan stated sounding a little frustrated. He jumped back to his feet as he took a drink from his water bottle. "I've been trying to nail it the entire morning, but can't seem to get it. I used to but I think after all these battles with Dinoshade, it hasn't done much for me."
"Well, it beats keeping you in front of the computer all day, right?" Kira suggested as she looked around. A few other people were seen in the park having their own set of fun in the nice sun.
"At least we haven't had to worry about it for the last few weeks. I'm kinda glad that Andros took out the invisi-portal network system," Ethan breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, has Conner made it down here, or is he still needing some private time with Krista?" Trent asked looking around hoping to see their friend in red pop up.
"Nope, haven't seen him yet," Ethan shook his head. He began to move his body in a fluid movement counting quietly to himself.
"I got to nail these moves. We got a competition going on Sunday that I need to prepare for."
"Competition as in 'You Got It Served' style, or something revolved around school?" Kira asked.
The teens have come to realize that since Ethan had joined the dance team, his time around the cyber cafe had died down. And he had even limited his use on the computer or his laptop. Yet, he still never stopped using it. He had competed in a few events, giving more recognition to Reefside High about their dance team. There were times where he a few others from school and friends out of school would compete for dance scholarships and spot in music videos, etc. Whatever it took to get them heard.
"Another money prize. $20,000 to be split among the team who does the best routine. There is talk about a big break in nailing time in the entertainment business if we do a good job."
"So, what about that acceptance to MIT? You're still going, aren't you?" Trent asked.
Ethan stopped short before planting himself into another handstand. With his time spent with the dance team, he had been wavering over what he really wanted to do with the rest of his life. He still wanted to go to MIT, it was a great honor, but he also started to love the thrill in hip-hop dancing/breakdancing. He let out a breath and shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I still do. But for awhile now, this dance thing has really pushed me places. Have you heard people at school?"
"Oh, don't tell me you're gonna get caught up in this whole popularity thing?" Kira shook her head. "That's all people are about at school. If you're popular, or if you can do a certain thing you're the talk of everything. I don't need that kind of attention."
"Well, I don't know if you know, but people have been talking about you, too, Kira." Trent began as he saw her gaze fall on him. "It's not a bad thing. At least, as far as I could tell. A lot more people have come to respect you. They like your stuff."
"I'm telling you, if nothing else works out, this record deal thing gots to. What's the deal on that anyway? Have you landed one yet?" Ethan asked with great curiosity.
Kira sighed and shook her head. "Unfortunately, a lot of record companies have been rather picky. Tanya has been looking around, sending my demos out, but still no call."
"They don't know what they're missing if they don't give you a deal," Trent shook his head as he grabbed her hand, interwining them together. "You'd be making millions."
Kira blushed slightly under his comment. She laid a kiss on his lips glad to hear his reassuring words as much as from her friend in blue. "Thanks, Trent."
"Oh, so you guys get all cute and cuddly around me, but not at school?" Ethan looked away slightly disgusted.
"Because you don't seem to mind. I thought you liked the single life?" Trent said as he punched his friend in blue on the shoulder.
Ethan looked away and shrugged. "You know, it is nice. It's great. But when there are so many people around you exchanging a kiss or holding hands or whatever, it makes you rather disgusted. I feel a little uncomfortable about it, but I've gotten used to it."
Trent and Kira exchanged a look and shook their heads. "No, you haven't," they said in unison.
"We really need to find someone for you, Ethan," Trent stated as the teen in blue shook his head.
"No way. I'm not good when it comes to talking to girls. I mean, no offense to you Kira, or Coach... or the other rangers who are girls. I'm just not what one would call a ladies man."
"Who says you need to?" Kira asked. "We're almost done with high school and you haven't really had one girlfriend at all. Are you gonna be like this when PROM is gonna come around?"
"You're going to PROM?" Ethan seemed surprised to hear those words come out of Kira's mouth. "No offense, but you just don't seem like the type who really would."
Kira shrugged as she looked over at Trent. He nudged him before smiling his way, who seemed slightly ashamed at it. "He convinced me to go. I didn't want to, but the whole concept of going through regrets senior year, he said I should go. It is after all our last school function before school ends."
"That is true," Ethan shrugged as he agreed. "But what am I supposed to say to someone? You know, I try to be a friendly guy and I start talking about the latest hard drive or the coolest computer game of the year. Conner even said that was a turn off for girls."
"Speaking of Conner, look who it is," Trent stated as he looked out in the distance. He saw the red DT ranger dribbling a soccer ball around his girlfriend, Krista, as they headed their way. Krista had waved her hand in greeting, as the others responded with their own wave.
"So, you decide to show up now?" Ethan stated sarcastically. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming at all."
Conner apologized as he kicked the soccer ball up into his hands. "Sorry. It's her fault. She was taking her time."
Krista looked at him appalled as she smacked him on the shoulder. She shook her head as she looked at her friends. "It was his bright idea to start teaching me how to drive a stick shift."
"And I told you it wasn't hard to do," he tried to defend himself, but she shook her head and pushed him back. "It's not hard, just making sure you shift gears before each interval."
"Do I look like the speed demon here?" she looked at him slightly offended.
He apologized again before pulling her into an apologetic kiss. The three other rangers exchanged a look before taking a few steps back. Every time they managed to hang out, they had to be cautious of what they said regarding being rangers, let alone had gotten used to being neglected by their leader and friend in red. He would get too pre-occupied with Krista and at times, she could melt under his charm.
"So, what's up?" Conner asked as he realized his friends had grown quiet. "Have you guys been here long?"
"No. Not really. We just got here," Kira replied.
"I've been here all morning." Ethan shrugged as Conner looked at him in confusion. "Yes, you heard me right, Conner. I actually haven't been around the computer except to check my emails."
"Yeah, we're all just here hanging out," Trent shrugged. "We're busy for the rest of the weekend. I got a competition for Science Club and I got a college visit on Sunday as well as a martial arts competition."
"I got to work the whole weekend. I might be moving up to helping out in the production studios at the tv station. They have yet to decide," Kira said.
"Yeah, I got to practice for Sunday's dance competition. And then I got to help out Hayley at the cyber cafe to upgrade the computer network," Ethan said.
"Wow. You guys are really busy," Krista commented with a look of apology in her eyes. "And Trent, you're father is still out of town?"
Trent looked away for a moment and nodded. "Um...yeah. Sorta G-14 Classified work as he puts it. I haven't been able to talk to him for weeks since they've been keeping him busy."
"I was hoping to talk to him regarding Outdoor Club and maybe set some time set aside to see what his latest research is all about. I hear it is rather revolutionary."
Trent shrugged. "Well, it's still in the experimental stages. He hasn't been able to do much, but I know it has to do with trying to grow crops in many different regions."
"Anyways," Conner cut him off before his friend could go into come scientific mode. "Is there any plans? Or we just hanging out?"
"Unless you have any ideas, I'd like to hear it. We were just gonna hang out and reminisce a little about our senior year," Ethan said.
Conner and Krista looked at each other and shrugged. It was clear they had no idea and decided to pop a squat before the other teens. Trent, Kira and Ethan followed suit and took a seat in the cool grass.
"I cannot believe that we only got a little over two months left of school left," Krista breathed as she shook her head.
"Yeah, no kidding. This year went by really fast," Conner said as he pulled her closer to him. "I swear we were just all hanging out at the cyber cafe waiting for the new year to come, and now we're almost out of here."
"Well, sorta. We still gotta go through finals, finishing school and just trying to get by in school," Trent corrected.
"So, has the valedictorian figured out what he was going to say at our graduation?" Ethan asked looking over at the teen in white.
Trent shook his head. "I'm not gonna get it. There's no way, even if I tried harder. You know everyone else up there are basically cheaters. There's only like three of us who really deserve their spots, if not better."
"But what's your rank? Aren't you like 3rd or something?" Conner asked. "You're still up there."
"Yeah, I may be 3rd, but I can't get over Megan or Erin," he shook his head. "They're at an advantage with all those AP classes their taking."
"You know, I swear some of those teachers must have something up their butts. I bet that's why you haven't kept up with those two. I've been crammed full of homework almost every night," Kira shook her head. "You know, like that superhero story we got to write in creative writing, Conner."
Conner groaned. "Yeah, don't remind me. Sometimes, I wonder why I took that class. I'm not exactly a writer."
"It beats reading in class," Ethan said. "I would rather write something that read something, or I'd fall asleep."
"Yeah, that's true. I'm not much for reading something unless it is the latest issue of Sports Illustrated."
"Yup, that sounds just like you, Conner," Krista laughed.
"I got all this math homework to do. It's hell. I am tired of math," Ethan shook his head.
Trent relaxed as he let out a breath. "I am so glad I don't have a math class anymore. If I was still in Calculus I'd be dead."
"Actually, it isn't that bad anymore," Krista said. Trent looked at her with some confusion, and almost forget that she was in his math class. "There are only like 14 of us in there now. And we're just un-learning what we've done last semester."
"Yeah, well my mind isn't just what it once was. I never really liked math anyways."
"So, what about yearbook? How has that been going?" she asked with some curiosity. "Are things squared away in there?"
Trent shrugged for a moment. They had just completed another deadline for the book, and they had only two left. The spring events and a recap of the year's events around the world, but that one was usually done by the publishing company, they had to compile the work together. "We got basically one more left and it's all done. As far as I could tell, things have settled down since the incident with the baby pictures."
"Yeah, well, Nicole was just a selfish bitch anyways who wanted attention from everyone. You know she just put up an act for everyone," Ethan shook his head. "How did she get the position of editor-in-chief again?"
"Her 'innocence', which was really a cover-up. She was a major suck up to Ms. Obie. We must have been the Jews and she was Hitler, not to be mean but it was true. She would whip us with her words if we did something wrong. I am so glad she decided to graduate at semester. But Anika is just as worse, thinking she owns everything 'cuz she is the top person. Um...no, actually that is Ms. Obie and Dr. Oliver," Trent shook his head. "I think if we didn't have Dr. Oliver there, we'd be at each other's throats or dead by now. I mean, Ms. Obie is cool, but she can only handle so much."
"Is it that bad in there?" Conner said slightly surprised to hear those words escape his mouth. "That's not what I hear from some of the other staff members."
"Because they are just saying it to hide all of it. They don't want people to know about what we manage to talk about in there, or the fact we screwed up multiple pages and had to fix it within a matter of days before the deadline. It is so chaotic in there. If we could, you can drag a line of cameras down there and we could have like Real World: Yearbook with all that goes on in there."
"But with all the chaos, I hear this is one yearbook a person would regret buying, am I right?" Ethan asked.
"Oh yeah. No doubt. On the front is a mosaic picture of our mascot with the staff and students pics making it up. It's our pics from that day we picked up our schedules in the beginning of the year," Trent informed his friends. "It is really nice because the pictures aren't extremely small so you can see everyone."
"I guess we're all waiting to see how it turns out, huh," Kira said.
"Yeah. And I'm supposed to make some last minute check-ups to the pages, but I never get a chance to do it. Anika thinks I'm gonna screw it up." Trent shook his head.
"So what about Dr. Oliver? Doesn't he allow you to do it?" Krista asked.
"He does, but he doesn't get access to the proofs. I can only do so much," Trent shrugged absently.
"Oh well. There are just too many stupid people out there anyway. Or people who think they own everything and they really don't. They just think they do and take the glory away from people like us who actually got something going for us." Ethan stated as he shook his head.
"Well, that's life. It'll always be full of people you just can't get along with. It's up to each and every one of us to know how to deal with it." Trent said as words of wisdom.
"That's true. But kinda sad," Kira said.
"If life wasn't so cruel, we wouldn't have to worry about it," Krista said.
"I hear you on that," Conner nodded. "So, rumor has it Dr. Oliver and Coach went to the doctor the other day to see the progress on their baby. Anyone got the scoop on that?"
"Well, I heard from Coach it was gonna be a boy," Kira said with a light smile.
"Coach actually told you!" Conner seemed sadden. "I'm her student assistant and she can't even give me a hint."
"But Dr. O told me they didn't want to know," Ethan protested as he looked over at his friend in yellow with curiosity.
"Dr. O is just doing that so we won't have to interrogate them. He's still getting congrats on becoming a father, but he doesn't want it to add up to the questions regarding what name they decided to choose for their kid. Or at least, that's what coach told me," Kira shrugged. As little time as she could make time to talk to her friend, known as the original pink ranger, she managed to get enough information to pass onto her friends.
"And have they decided on a name for their son?" Conner asked.
"That remains to be seen. Coach won't tell me what it is. She wants it to be a surprise," Kira replied.
"But by the time we find out we'll probably be in college," Ethan stated. He was doing the math in his head, realizing that they may not get all of the information right away. But he knew his sources and could get them by other means.
"Now, there are rumors I've heard about Dr. Oliver having another kid that wasn't conceived by Coach Oliver," Krista stated as the other teens exchanged a look.
As much as they knew about their teachers' private lives, they also knew that Dr. Oliver had kept much of it hush-hush from a lot of people. Many people only knew about his time at Angel Grove High, the short time in the racing business, his time at CalTech and his teaching career. That was all once could really say about a guy, but they knew a whole lot more than anyone else could probably grasp in a lifetime with the man of mystery. But even they didn't know the whole truth around their science teacher.
Conner looked over at his girlfriend and nodded. "It's true. Her name is Serena, and he would rather not talk about it. There were some rough times in his past and he made some really difficult choices."
"Well, you guys have probably been the only people I've seen hang out with him outside of school. And you've mentioned he is like your mentor. Martial arts, right?" Krista had to correct herself to make sure it was right. She had remembered on dates she had spent with Conner, and he had to go take care of something, it revolved around his studies in martial arts, or as he puts it.
"Yeah, that's Dr. Oliver for you. He takes it very seriously, but I guess it comes with a fifth degree black belt," Ethan said.
"Is that why he was trying to come up with a Karate Club? To teach others some discipline in the art?" she asked as the other teens nodded. "I thought that would have been nice."
Trent spoke up. "He was supposed to team up with his wife. He would teach the karate part of it, she would do the gymnastics part. But the school board refused and the idea was dropped."
"Yeah, the school board has been really hesitant about what we can and can't do with the school. I think it has to do with all those crazy monster attacks on the city. I'm just so glad the rangers are here to protect us."
The teens exchanged another uncomfortable look. At times, they would enjoy their talks and hanging out, but sometimes then
Krista was around, it really didn't work out. They wanted to talk ranger business sometimes, but couldn't. It just wouldn't work out, and if Krista knew the truth about Conner and the others, he feared he would lose what he had with her. And he didn't want that. And the other rangers knew that too.
"Yeah, they really are something," Conner replied sorta saddened. With the many times he found himself alone with his girlfriend, he never could relay thoughts of himself being a ranger. He wanted to tell her, but knew of the line of questions that would come his way about it. That's not what he needed, or the other rangers.
"I wonder who they are, ya know," Krista said slightly dreamy. She looked over at her boyfriend to see the jealous look on his face. She leaned over and laid a kiss on his lips. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean it like that. I just want to know who they are so I can thank them."
"Oh, I'm sure they'll appreciated it," Trent said rather quietly and shy. "They're just doing their job."
"But have you guys really thought about that? Who they were? Getting the chance to meet one? Or really being one?" Krista continued to ask, almost in her own time.
The other teens shifted uncomfortably as they exchanged another look. They couldn't go on like this. They felt it was unfair, but they knew they couldn't. They just had to go along with playing dumb.
"Oh, I don't think it takes that much effort to imagine it," Ethan began, but was smacked by Kira. "It would be nice. But you know, I have seen my share of heroes. I would have to put my money on Spiderman."
"Spiderman?" Conner scoffed as he realized his friend was trying to change subjects to clear up the air. "No way. Batman is better."
"A guy in black with long pointy ears?" Trent laughed as he joined in the joust. "Nope. Sorry, I'm all about Superman."
"A guy running around with his underwear on the outside who is weakened by a stupid green rock?" Ethan shook his head. "No way. Have you seen Spiderman? Spider senses, shooting webs out of his wrists. That's awesome."
"Here we go again," Kira murmured as Krista looked over at her and agreed. Kira put a finger to Trent's lips to stop him from making the conversation worse. She raised her voice to stop the other two from arguing. "Anyway, how about some ideas for pranks? Didn't you need to pas a few along to the other people in council, Trent?"
"Oh yeah. I did," Trent nodded as he leaned in closer. "But this is hush-hush..."
"No. No pranks." Krista groaned. "Why are you gonna trash the school just to get a laugh?"
"Cause we gotta leave our mark on the school," Ethan stated. "Last year was stupid. 'You've been flocked by the class of 2004.' Who puts pink flamingoes around the school lawns and calls that a prank?"
"The class of 2004," Conner shook his head, scoffing.
"And we already got a few teachers on our side, especially Dr. Oliver. He is our key man in this operation. He has all of the connections," Trent added.
"The saran wrap idea. I'm telling you, it's classic. In the halls, on doors and the bathrooms," Ethan blurted out with a chuckle.
"That is just disgusting, Ethan," Kira shuddered as Krista had to agree again.
"The oreos and the toothpaste. I did that with my youth minister a few months ago. It was hilarious," Conner laughed.
"There is also that idea aobut trying to get one of the administrators cars on the roof or in the gym," Kira suggested.
"No, super glue or duct tape the doors. Or the cow upstairs," Ethan said as a devious look came over his face. "I can contact all my friends in computer club to come up with more ideas. We got a lot."
"But that's just wrong," Krista tried to defend the idea of no pranks. But the other weren't really having it. They wanted to do this and leave their mark as much as possible.
"Ms. Obie told me that when her brother was in school, the students had salted the fields to leave the year of their graduating class for the following fall. No one expected it," Trent said. "Or the chicken idea. We let lose like four chickens, paint numbers on them, but we would be missing let's say like number two. When they capture them, they'll be freaking out about number two and there really won't be one."
"I like the salt idea," Conner said.
"No. We can't forget about Operation: Reefside," Ethan hinted with a wink toward his guy friends.
Trent and Conner nodded toward him but dropped the subject before they could say anymore. Their mascot was a Gladiator, and there was a statue just outside the entrance of the school grounds. And they had an idea about giving this particular statue his 'manhood' before they left for good. It was plotted out by most of the guys on the varsity soccer team, a few dancers, a line of advanced art students and a certain science teacher who could lose his job for sure if he got caught.
"Anyway, enough about pranks. I can see Krista here doesn't wanna hear anymore," Conner stated.
"If you guys get caught, I won't be able to help you. They may not let you walk at graduation cause of it," Krista had turned away.
"That's why we got the connections," Ethan said. "But how about the state testing for the underclassmen? Man, the next two weeks are gonna be nice."
The others had to agree. Due to state law, students in certain grades had to take a sorta aptitude test to see how efficient they are in school and how the curriculum at schools are. That would require time out from normal school work to complete the tests. It was based on English, Reading, Science, and Math. Much like ACTs and SATs for upper classmen, it was hell and stopped at the grade level of 10. So, the teachers had to monitor the tests, leaving the upperclassmen to come in late for a total of four days and to not come in at all for two days. It was a relief off of their shoulders.
"I am beginning to hate school," Conner sighed as Krista smacked him on the arm. "I mean, not that it's a bad thing. It's just all the things we have to worry about, ya know. Make sure we pass all of our classes, community service work, money expenses... I mean, you name it. It's hell."
"I think that is just senior year," Ethan said. "But I would have to agree with you. I mean, on top of that you got worry about scholarships and college visits. Man, it is hell!"
"Might as well join the army so we don't have to worry about paying for college," Conner suggested.
"But aren't all men 18 and up supposed to sign up for Selective Service?" Kira asked.
"Well, yeah. I did do that. But it doesn't guarantee you free passage to the army..." Conner nodded.
"But you do remember what Dr. O said. It was a hard life, and once you sign that contract the government owes you for at least four years no matter what branch of military you get involved with."
"So, I guess it's too late for me to say I got accepted at West Point?" Trent said quietly.
"West Point? Are you serious?" Ethan breathed. "Isn't that the highest ranking military facilities in the country?"
Trent nodded looking away slightly embarrassed. He looked over at Kira and saw the sadness there, but had remembered telling her the news just as she had told him about her own appointment elsewhere. They didn't talk too much about it, nor wanted to just because they weren't sure if they were gonna take those paths. "I haven't decided if I'm gonna go. They say I can go to any military facility I choose if I don't want to go there."
"But I don't see you as a military sorta guy. The uniform would be nice, but do you really want to go fight a war in the Middle East?" Conner asked. "I mean, you would be leaving Kira behind. That would be rough, ya know, if you're sent away..."
"Hey, a second ago you said you'd join the military," Krista stopped him short.
"Yeah, to pay for college," Conner defended himself.
"Why would you need to? You got a full-ride scholarship to UNC on soccer. You even still got that offer from the Reefside Wave," Ethan stated.
"And you got one to MIT. So, you don't have to worry about it either, Ethan," Conner said.
"Is it too late to mention I got accepted to the Air Force Academy in Colorado?" Kira had spoke above the two guys, but sorta dully as if it wasn't a big deal.
The two guys stopped and looked over at their friend in yellow. Their eyes went wide with shock and disbelief.
"Wait, did I just hear that right? Did Kira Ford just say she got accepted to the United States Air Force Academy?" Ethan breathed as he forced air back into his lungs.
"Really, well, congratulations, Kira," Krista smiled a warm congrats as she hugged the other girl in the group. "That must have been hard to get."
"Not really," she shrugged. "But I think that's because my uncle was an Air Force pilot, so I might have had that advantage."
"Congrats, Kira," Ethan said with a smile. "And I mean that. You know, you too, Trent. I just don't think I could handle that kinda life, though."
"I didn't say I was gonna go, just wasn't sure yet," Kira admitted. "It would be nice. I always thought about how it would be like to be out there in the skies."
"Well, you are kinda at an advantage," Ethan winked as Kira gave him a cautious look. "I mean, with your uncle and everything."
"Hey, Trent. Maybe you can land one over there in Colorado so you two can still be close," Conner suggested. "You know the two of you are still gonna be going strong months down the line."
"And what about us?" Krista asked him as she smacked him on the arm again. "Just because I'm staying here in California doesn't mean we can't make it work."
"Long distance relationships are always hard, though," Conner said.
Krista felt offended by his comment as she got to her feet. And he kicked himself knowing he had said something wrong. He rose to his feet, but she had pushed him away. "Are you saying we can't make it work? Is that it, Conner?"
"What! No, of course not," he tried to defend himself. "You just know how those can be sometimes. They're hard to maintain. It doesn't mean I'm not willing to give it a try."
Krista shook her head as she slowly moved away. "And I know you're keeping something from me, Conner. Why do you tend to put training with Dr. Oliver before us sometimes? Is it that important? He is a reasonable guy."
"Uh-oh," Ethan muttered as he pushed away from the arguing couple.
Trent and Kira looked at each other before shifting back a few inches. The trio watched as the two battled it out, Conner trying his best to apologize and explain himself, but someone, the last thing he had said had triggered something in Krista. She walked off as Conner caught his breath, trying to figure out what to do.
"You'd better go after her, bro," Ethan stated as he pushed his red friend forward.
"I agree. She doesn't look too happy," Trent said.
"But I can't tell her the truth. Dr. O is gonna kill me if I do," Conner groaned as he kicked himself internally.
"But if you don't go after her, it could make your relationship worse," Kira said.
Conner looked back at his friends as they urged him on. They pointed out into the distance where they saw Krista become more of a dot now. He said good-bye and raced toward his retreating girlfriend using his dino gem to cut the distance between them.
The trio looked at each other again letting out a sigh.
"Do you think she'll find out eventually?" Ethan asked.
"You know if he doesn't crack, than one of us will," Kira stated.
"That's true," Ethan nodded. "But I hope she doens't take it too personal."
"No, she seems like an understandable kinda person," Kira said.
"So, going back to your appointments..." Ethan began. "You guys can't pass it up, can you? Have you told Coach or Dr. Oliver or the others?"
"Nope. Not yet," Trent shook his head. "I don't want to mention anything until I'm sure I wanna do it."
"How do you think your father would react to it?" Ethan asked.
Trent shrugged. "I don't know. He'll be proud, but he might also be upset. He may think that by doing this I will no longer have an interest in art, and take it as an even bigger opportunity to drill the business factor down my throat."
"No. I doubt it," Kira shook his head. "He is a reasonable guy, he'll understand."
"Speaking of that, why do guys think we haven't been in battle for the past few weeks?" Ethan lowered his voice as a few people passed by them.
"I don't know. But I don't like the wait," Kira said. "Dr. O said it might be because Mindshatter could be gearing up for a huge plan that might wipe us out for good."
"That is not a good selling point," Ethan said.
"Well, that's why we got to keep our eyes open for anything suspicious and unusual. I guess we should be glad we got all these helping hands," Trent said.
"But what do you think all those new weaponry Hayley and other keep hinting about?" Kira asked.
The other two rangers had to shrug. They had no idea what was going on in that underground lab under the Oliver homestead. And every time they tried to get down there to have a look, they were either shooed away or got no answers. They were working in top secret mode, and even the older rangers had some idea of it, but they didn't tell their young successors what it was all about.
"I hate just sitting here and waiting. I feel like a sitting duck," Ethan said.
"I would have to agree," Trent nodded.
"You know, I know this would be bad to ask, but how much do you think our lives would be, if people really knew who we were?" Kira asked as if she was dying to know the answer to that question for a long time.
"I don't know. But the people of Angel Grove found out about the Space Rangers. And the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers were known by their civilian duties. Time Force sorta and then there was Lost Galaxy..." Ethan stopped a moment as he shifted.
After hearing the tragic news and seeing it replay, they could not believe that Mindshatter had taken out the rangers of the Lost Galaxy and the Silver Space Ranger. Yet, they didn't understand why it was taking so long to take them out. A moment of silence fell over the trio for their fallen comrades.
Trent broke the silence some time later. "I think we've had more than we could bargin for in an afternoon. Now, I don't know about you guys but, I'm hungry."
A silence fell over them as they heard Trent's stomach growl. Ethan and Kira laughed as they nodded in agreement, each getting to their feet.
"How about Chili's? I'm buying," Trent suggested.
"Shoot. right behind you, bro," Ethan wrapped and arm around his friend.
Kira pushed him away to lock arm with her boyfriend as the trio headed for the car. She gave Ethan an innocent look as she apologize. "Sorry, Ethan. Just need my attention." She reached over and pulled Trent into a gentle kiss.
Ethan sighed as he shook his head. "Nah, it's cool. I'll just call up Conner and see if he's up to some grub with his crime-fighting buddies." He pulled out his cell phone and began to dial his friend's number. "But I'm serious, if you guys get all touchy-feely around me, I'm gonna exploit you at school."
Trent and Kira looked back at him slightly hurt by his gesture, but knew he had a point. Yet, they kinda liked to make the computer gamer jealous just to get a kick out of him. Not that they were afraid of PDA, just didn't want to make a huge scene out of it.
Trent leaned over and laid a warm kiss on his girlfriend's lips that had Ethan gagging. But he just wanted to do it to make Ethan mad, but Kira didn't seem to object as she deepened it just a little. The times they would hang out, which was usually the three of them -- Conner was out with Krista -- Ethan would get more than he bargined for sometimes. Not he had gotten used to it, it just caught him by surprise sometimes.
"Ahh, get a room," Ethan groaned. He pushed passed the two of them, snatching Trent's keys away. He got into the back of the car and sat there patient, hoping not to partake in any more smooching he didn't want to see.
Caught in the moment, Trent had causally opened the door for Kira, but stopped her with another kiss to the lips. She giggled under his touch as she pushed him back shaking her head. "I'm hungry, too, baby. So, why don't we go get something to eat?"
"Okay," he smiled lightly as he escorted her into the car. He moved over to the driver's side, where Ethan had already inserted the key and started the engine.
Kira turned to look at him. "Are you getting hungry, Ethan?"
"You guys are doing this on purpose," he shook his head. "I'm telling you, the rumors I hear are brutal."
"Well, at least you know the truth, Ethan," Trent stated as he took his place behind the wheel. "Besides, we're not all about that right now."
"No, you aren't like that around people you don't know too well," Ethan corrected.
Trent and Kira looked at each other and shrugged.
"Sorry, would you prefer if we didn't do it?" Kira asked.
"Either way, you remind me of Dr. O and Coach," Ethan said as he got cocked eyebrows from his friends. "I'm serious. And it's not that I'm happy for the two of you, all I got to say is finally."
"Not funny," Kira said as she shook her head.
"Yeah, I remember the first time you saw Trent. 'Isn't he so wow?'" Ethan mimicked as Kira punched him on the arm. "Ow! It was just like that, too. Admit it, it was love at first sight."
"Anyway, how about some food?" Trent changed subjects.
"What! You two never mentioned that day? That was last year," Ethan said as he saw the two shift uncomfortably. "It was love at first sight."
"It was a crush. Then it grew," Kira corrected. "We began to see eye to eye."
"And you never quite hooked up until Dr. O's and Coach's wedding?" Ethan sighed a disappointment. "Sad. I thought you guys had something going right after Trent was re-converted back to the light side."
"How about we discuss the rest of this over something to eat?" Trent sighed.
"Or drop it and wait for another day. Let's go, I'm hungry, Trent," Ethan urged his friend in white on. "Don't mean I still need some more dirt on you two. It just took too long."
Trent and Kira exchanged another look. Kira leaned over a laid a quick kiss to Trent's cheek. They looked at each other, a smile passing over both of their faces.
But at the kick of his chair, Trent shot back into reality and pulled out of the parking lot and drove off, treating his friends to an early dinner.
And at that point, it didn't matter if they were rangers or not, they were also teenagers. Teenagers capturing the moments they had left in their high school career and with each other before they would embark on a new chapter in their lives.
to be continued...
A/N: Whoo. I didn't expect that to be long, or end up that way. Oh well. It was good. It had some dirt, and it was sorta one of those random chapters that needed to get in. I hope you liked it. I'm out for now, but keep an eye out for the new set of chapters. See you when I do. May the Powers Always Protect You.