Going Under
Chapter Two: Growing Problems
'Where is she?' Sky pondered. He was looking for Syd so they could discuss what had happened the day before at the beach. Sky still didn't have any idea what he'd done to make her so angry with him.
She wasn't in her room, nor the common room. She hadn't been spotted near any of the simulators, either.
"I guess I should try the training fields," he murmured to himself.
Sky left the main building of the SPD academy and found his way to the training fields and obstacle courses. Syd's golden curls were nowhere to be found.
"Sir?" a D-squad level cadet squeaked from behind him. "Cadet Drew asked me to tell anyone who came looking for her she's on the twenty mile run."
Sky nodded. "Thank you Cadet," he replied graciously. The cadet giggled at the prospect of talking to the red ranger, saluted and ran off to her fellow D-squad friends.
Why was Syd doing the twenty mile agony course? She hated it. And then there was the fact that it was barely seven in the morning. Something was definitely wrong with the pink ranger.
Sky and Syd Sky and Syd Sky and Syd
He was waiting for her at the end of the course, as Syd suspected he would be. She knew she looked awful, covered in sweat, her face and neck bright red, her hair coming out of its ponytail. But frankly, at the moment, she didn't care one little bit.
"Sky," she greeted coolly. Syd continued walking past him to an ice chest. She selected a bottle of water and drank from it thirstily.
"What's wrong, Syd?" he questioned gently. Syd stared at him.
"Why does something have to be wrong? Can't I just take a run without there being a problem?" Sydney snapped.
"You hate this course," Sky reminded her.
Sydney shrugged. "No pain, no gain."
Sky's steely blue gaze narrowed. "Look, what happened at the beach yesterday was a little awkward. I didn't mean to offend you or anything."
Syd wanted to cry. Of course she was offended. And angry, and hurt, to tell the truth. 'How can he practically call me a pig and then tell me he didn't want to insult me?'
"Syd," he coaxed gently. Sky placed a hand on her shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Come on. Talk to me."
Syd brushed his hand away, scowling. "Talk to this," she replied. Syd splashed the rest of the water onto his chest, turned on her heel and returned to the academy.
Sky and Syd Sky and Syd Sky and Syd
"I take it Syd didn't want to talk," Bridge remarked when Sky came into the common room, still dripping wet.
"You think? What's her problem anyway?" Sky muttered.
Bridge tapped his temple thoughtfully, peeking into the pink ranger's mind. "She's angry, hurt, confused and…hungry? I wonder why she's hungry. If she's so hungry why doesn't she just eat something?" He turned to Sky for his thoughts on this revelation of Syd's feelings, but the red ranger had already left.
Sky and Syd Sky and Syd Sky and Syd
Syd wandered into the Rec room, looking for something to eat. She chose a bowl of cereal from the replicator, ambled over to a couch, and made herself comfortable.
'That's better,' she thought after swallowing a few bites.
Her growling stomach soothed, Syd got another bowl of cereal, a glass of juice, and a plate of graham crackers.
As Syd finished up her meal, Z walked in. "Hey Syd," she greeted amiably. "Did Sly apologize for whatever he did?"
"He told me it was awkward, what happened at the beach yesterday," Syd spat bitterly.
"What happened?"
"We were messing around and then I was kinda in top of him and he was all, 'Syd.' He practically called me fat to my face."
"Syd, Sky wouldn't call you fat because you're not fat," Z replied.
"Apparently I am," Syd insisted. 'He'll never love me, not the way I love him,' she added mentally.
Z selected a mug of hot chocolate. "Come on Syd, you're beautiful and you know it."
"Thanks, Z. At least you care." Syd bit into another graham cracker.
Z regarded her fellow ranger thoughtfully. "Sky did apologize, right?"
"He tried to, but I'm not talking to him," Syd answered primly. She suddenly felt very full from her repast.
'Moron,' she thought. 'You shouldn't be eating like that when Sky just called you a cow to your face.'
Syd raced from the Rec room back to her room. She went straight into the tiny restroom off the dorm. Trembling, Syd poked a finger down her throat and vomited into the toilet.