You and I Both…
Disclaimer : I don't own a thing, just characters that aren't power rangers related.
AN : This story is completely AU.
: Thank you for everyone who has reviewed, I appreciate them so much! Here is the fourth chapter. Enjoy: )
Chapter Four : Here we go all over again
On her way to her locker, Kim was still a bit of confused about what had happened 5 minutes ago. Ms. Monique called out for her and she stopped dead on her track. Now what'd she tell her teacher? That she backed out because a guy, a jerk, a Thomas Oliver to be précised, oh-so-not accidentally threw her works away? She had to say that? Nah... Or maybe she should? So Tommy would get a nice detention for the entire week? What must be concerned was, did Ms. Monique able to do that to him? Don't think so.
A reason hadn't popped in her mind when the young teacher stood before her, her eyes looked at her warmly. Wait. Warmly? How could she be smiling, let alone smiling warmly at her after yesterday? Kim knew she supposed to tell Ms. Monique about her backing out of the music competition, but she actually didn't. Didn't tell her, she meant. Kim was too upset at the fact that an unknown guy dumped her precious file away. And like it hadn't badly enough, Jason came from out of nowhere and said that his new friend from Texas, named Tommy Oliver, couldn't be there to hang out with them. That's good but the fact that Jason knew Tommy only meant one thing. Meeting him again was something inevitably.
Easy to predict, a jerk like Tommy probably wouldn't risk a chance of seeing her once again. Well, good thing that he'd thought better of it, because Kim wasn't sure if she could keep her fist to herself when she met him. So the conversation began. Jason asked her about the competition, she answered him she's backing out. As simple as that. A kick under the table clamped Trini's mouth shut from blurting out the hit and run thing earlier that morning. Kim wouldn't let Tommy think that she's a weak, pathetic girl who couldn't handle her own problems. So she said that the file had somehow missing. The end.
" Hi, Ms. Monique!" her voice sounded cheery enough for someone who just experienced a catastrophe the other day.
" Kimberly, I just want to say that-," Kim inhaled a deep breathe, preparing herself for whatever coming. "your song is great!"
What?
" The lyrics is so beautiful, and you made the score neatly. I bet all my money that you're going to win this one, Kim," Ms. Monique said with all excitement.
What was she talking about? What lyrics? What score? She didn't collect her file. Not even the record she'd made. The cassette sat in her drawer at home right now. Seeing it just brought back bad memory. Now from where Ms. Monique got all that?
Kim said," Excuse me, Ms. But I didn't collect my file. Maybe you're mistaken somebody's file to mine?"
" No," Ms. Monique answered in her as always gentle voice. A plus for her fragile looking appearance. "I waited for you in my office and suddenly there's a boy came up with your file," she frowned. " he said you had something to take care of so you couldn't hand in it personally. You seemed to forget to give your cassette, dear. Since I have the compilation of your songs you showed me days ago, I ripped the Down the Road myself,"
Honestly, Kim's confusion rose to a higher level. This just didn't make sense at all. A boy? Who? Then again, Tommy had made himself clear. He didn't have her file anymore. He said he had threw it away. That's his exact words. Unless…
" Ah, of course!" Kim snapped her fingers together. " yeah, my Mom wanted me to baby sit my sister so I have to go home early,"
Ms. Monique said with raised eyebrows, "I thought you're the only child,"
" My cousin," Kim quickly amended. " yes, my niece from Stone Canyon. My aunt came for a visit yesterday,"
" I see," Ms. Monique replied though she didn't look all that convinced.
" So I asked my friend to do me a favor," how was Kim going to know the identity of the boy without rising any suspiciousness? " looks like he came just in time,"
Ms. Monique nodded, folded her arms over her chest. " He's a nice guy. What's his name again?"
What? How could she know his name while she didn't even have a clue who was the guy? Kim doubtfully said, " Tommy… Oliver?"
" Ah yes! Tommy Oliver, the new kid from Texas," Ms. Monique confirmed what's on Kim's mind and it didn't make Kim felt any better, at all. " well then, let's pray for the best. Have a nice day, Kimberly,"
Kim was too shocked to say anything so she just smiled and nodded. Tommy Oliver, the new kid from Texas. As far as she knew, there's only one Tommy Oliver from Texas and that was him. The jerk, the one who admitted had thrown away her file. The hunk.
Kimberly opened her locker and pulled out some textbooks. He didn't plunk her file at the nearest trash bin then. He kept it but saying he'd dumped it. He must think he's so smart, huh? Now, should she come to him with all curtsy and told him she was sorry for calling himself a jerk? She wasn't being too nice yesterday, she realized that completely. But coming over and apologizing? No, definitely no. Just pretend like she didn't know. Like Ms. Monique didn't say anything.
Afternoon period, Biology lab.
" Where is she?" Trini whispered to Billy, her eyes locked at the blue painted closed door.
" She's late," Zack responded, shrugging casually. He got a glare from the Asian girl sat in front of him. "what? She's not here yet, so it means she's late,"
" Try to tell us something we don't know, Zack," Jason, who was seated next to the American African boy stifled his snort.
" I saw her with Suze. She probably doesn't realize that the break is over already," the genius boy answered, his hands cleaning his glasses with his shirt.
" Well then, she's dead," Zack stated matter-of-factly and receiving another round of glares from his friends. " what? It's true!"
" Okay, good afternoon class," the loud claps of Mr. Simon's hands effectively stopped the buzzing in the room. After he made sure he got everyone's attention, the thirty year old science teacher went on, " so last week we has finished the chemical reaction project. Today we'll do something light,"
The exclamation invited a loud of applause from every corner of the lab. Mr. Simon raised his hand and all the students went quiet. " What I meant is, we have made an agreement in the last semester that I could reorganize-,"
The P.A speaker rattled, catching everyone's attention.
" Good afternoon. Mr. Simon, your presence is needed in the principal office immediately. Thank you,"
The teacher made a face and growled under his breath. He didn't like if someone, anyone including the Principal disrupted his time. In the other hand, all the students secretly nudging at each other, knowing they would get an extra break.
" You heard her, so please make yourself discreet, read page 56 and don't leave the lab, in any excuses. I'll be right back," he put his coat on and got out of the class.
As expected, the class broke into yells and laughters, their textbook laying forgotten on the tables.
The laboratory had two doors, an entrance and an exit. At that time, the back door swang open and Trini sighed in relief when Suze and a shorter girl walked in. Everybody in the room was too busy with their own business that noone noticed them, except the raven haired girl.
" Look who's here," she nodded at Kimberly who quickly made her way to her desk, which was the third table from the front class. All four pair of eyes was set on the petite girl.
" Kim, you're so lucky, girl," Zack whistled.
" Hello to you too, Zack," Kim replied back. Out of the blue, she was pushed by Bulk who was being chased by his beloved partner in crime, Skull. With her light weight and the gravity, she tumbled and landed on a guy who sat one row behind her. " Bulk!"
" Sorry Kimberly," the fat boy replied, not stopping his pace.
Jason and her friends were laughing, not even asking if she was alright. Kim groaned, pushing herself up from the guy's back and…
" It's you!" she shouted bluntly. No, this must be somekind of a trick or something. This just mustn't happen to her!
" I guess sorry will do just fine," the guy, who turned out to be Tommy Oliver, said. She found his expression was infuriatingly calm, unlike Kim who felt the color of her face drain as soon as she recognized him. " right, Kimberly?"
" What are you doing here?" she asked desperately.
" I want to study Biology?" Tommy answered plainly. " how's that sound?"
" Kim, do you know Tommy?" she didn't realize that Jason had got up from his seat and now standing beside her. She looked up at him.
" What?"
" Well, you know each other already," Jason shrugged, patting Tommy's shoulder. " so no introduction needed,"
" Nice to meet you, Kim," the white T-shirt guy said harmlessly and Kim felt intimidated by his dark eyes which seemed to follow her every move. Great. This was a real nightmare. She and him in the same class? Here we go, world war III.
Kim approached Trini who watched the entire thing with delight. " Hi, Kim,"
" Don't 'hi' me, Trini. He's here! Tommy's here!" Kim hissed huffily. She could feel that Zack, Billy, Jason and Tommy were now looking at her.
Trini sighed and shook her head, moving her long black hair. " Kim,the possibility for you to be in the same class with him is so high that I don't have to tell you. Come on, you know that, don't you?"
Kim knew, but she refused to believe it. Okay, don't be such a 'girl', Kimmie. You could do this. It's just him. Just pretend you didn't see him.
" Okay, whatever,"
The door swung open and Mr. Simon walked in. All students instantaneously scrambled back to their places. Kim dragged her feet to her table, which was in front of Tommy. She returned Justin's, her lab partner, smile weakly and sat straight. Oh… she could practically feel Tommy's eyes pierced through her back. The thought made the hair on the back of her neck stood up.
" I'm sorry guys for the delay," Mr. Simon picked up the papers he abandoned from the table and put on his glasses. " so, like I said, today we won't do any experiment. Just like our agreement last semester, I have full authority to rearrange your group when the condition is necessary. And right now, the situation is necessary enough,"
Kim didn't hear all the protest that clouded the lab, she only thought about one thing.
Tommy.
No…
With her luck lately, she positively, definitely, completely, utterly sure that she would get him as her partner. Yeah, that's right.
" Silence!" Mr. Simon lifted his hand. " we talked about it last year and you all agreed. So, now listen for your name and your partner's. I won't repeat myself,"
Please, God, don't. Just don't let him be my partner. Kim silently prayed as her panic mounted.
" Cranston, Skullovitch," Kim was too anxious to register that Billy was partnered with Skull. What a pair. Mr. Simon definitely made a change here.
" Scott, Auckland," Jason and Suze.
" Taylor, Kwan," Trini and Zack! Was there any justice left in this world?
" Hart, McKenzie,"
See? Tommy. Definitely him. Why did this happen to-… wait. Kim braved herself to open her eyes. McKenzie. Aarone. Oh God! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
" ah, no, sorry. McKenzie, Bulkmeier," Mr. Simon brought the paper closer to his eyes.
What? A very sharp pin burst her bubble pitilessly. She looked at her teacher in horror.
" Hart, Oliver,"
That's it. The end. Game over. She knew this gonna happen. She knew it, she knew it!
"…, Harrison, Turner. That's all," Mr. Simon put the paper back on his desk. " is there anybody hasn't got a partner yet?" seeing that everybody has paired, he said. " okay, now I want you to sit with your new partner before I tell you your new project. Quick, quick, quick,"
Kim swallowed a lump in her throat. Her feet refused to cooperate.
" Hey, Hart. Do you want me to move or what?" the voice of Tommy Oliver asked and she reluctantly turned around.
" It's up to you," Kim said, finally finding her ability to speak. "maybe you should move here,"
Tommy got up, collecting his books and dropped them to now his and Kim's table for the rest of the semester. Kim eyed him inquisitively. He didn't seem to be as bothered as her. That or he really was a good actor.
" Your new project is a research about any disease that's caused by virus. You can choose any disease you think you can do the best. There may be two groups or more that study the same illness. The most important thing is the final result, which I'm sure would be varied. This is an easy one so I hope I can give out some A's. Collect the report two weeks from today. Now you may discuss it with your partner while we're waiting for the bell,"
Mr. Simon sat behind his desk and started flipping through a thick encyclopedia. Kim looked down at her fingernails for a while, her mind was a mile away. She still hadn't wanted to accept the cruelty of fate.
Two minutes passed and Tommy hadn't said a single word to her. Kim was never a type of person who could stand an uncomfortable silence. Fine. Truce then.
" So," she composed herself to face Tommy. " what do you want to do? Any suggestions?"
" It's up to you," he said simply, still staring at the book in front of him.
" Look, like it or not, Mister, we're partners. And don't think that you're the only one who is annoyed by this," Kim didn't care anymore. Someone between them must keep her head cold if they wanted to survive. It's still a long, long journey until the end of the semester.
" How do you know that I'm annoyed by you?" this one tempted Kim to land a hard punch on that face. Still, she inhaled a deep breath of airand said,
" Do you know something? You're being ridiculous here! I am the victim, I am the one that you, that you…violated. You have no right to act like this to me," she said right to the point.
Tommy sighed. What with this childish attitude, Oliver? He knew that Kim was supposed to be in this class. Jason and the others talked about it when she didn't show up. So he prepared himself. When she came…she bumped right into him. Fair is fair.
" Just, just let's get this over with okay?" Tommy said in a bold voice. " how do you want to do this? Your house, my house, the youth center?"
Her house? His house? Please! " The youth center will be perfect. Or how about the library? It's easier if we have to look up information that might be needed," she said casually.
For a while the world war III had been averted.
Meanwhile...
" Look," Zack elbowed Trini and she raised her head from the worksheet. " look at them,"
What Zack wanted her to see was the sight of Tommy and Kimberly. They're talking but the atmosphere between them seemed to be rather 'hot'. Kim was frowning and her fist clenched tightly. He couldn't see Tommy's face but his feet tapping the floor impatiently.
" What about them?" Trini asked carefully.
" Don't they look like they're… arguing?"
" Maybe Kim wants to go with AIDS while he prefers influenza," Trini tried to answer as natural as she could muster, but as always Zack could detect if something was off.
" Come on! It's so obvious!" Zack insisted, not tearing his eyes from the pair in table number six.
" Zack, you're imagini-,"
" Hi guys, what's up?" a third voice joined the conversation and Trini rolled her eyes. Jason and Zack combination was not something good. Especially Jason, he always knew if someone was lying and Trini wasn't the best person to do that, which made thing much worse. Kim would kill her if she told them.
" Jase, look at Tommy and Kim," Zack said, nodding at Tommy and Kim's direction.
" They look… serious," Jason murmured, exchanging glances with Trini who secretly releasing a deep breath of relief.
" They look over serious!" Zack persisted.
" You're being nosy, Zack. Like my grandmother. Whatever they do is none of our business," Trini said, hoping he would just drop the topic of the table.
It's a shame that Kim unwittingly chose the time to slam her textbook on the table. Almost instantly all activites stopped and every pair of eyes moved to her. Including Mr. Simon's.
" Ha! I knew it!" Zack looked at Trini and Jason with bravado.
Jason was taken a back. The sweet, innocent Kimberly did that was just, not right.
" Any problem, Kimberly?" Mr. Simon queried, his face was far from pleased.
" No, sir. I'm sorry. There's a fly and I just tried to kill it," Kim answered tightly and the class broke into laughters. But the teacher was not smiling, nor did Tommy and Trini.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…………………
Saved by the bell!
Mr. Simon's eyes perched at Kim for a long moment before he returned to his desk and closed his book. "That's the bell, class. Don't forget your project. Good afternoon," one by one the students began to leave the lab.
" Now it's grilling time," Zack slipped off his chair.
" She's not trying to kill a fly, wasn't she?" Jason asked Trini quietly, watching Kim collect all her stuff and storm out of the room, clearly furious at something other than a fly.
" Why don't you talk to Tommy, I'll go get Kim," Trini shot Billy, who just joined them, a smile and patted Jason's arm.
" Care to explain?" Billy asked.
Yay! The longest chapter I've ever written! Hope you like this one, and please review, review, review! They encourage me to write! But as always, NO flame! Thank you for reading and see you in the next chapter. Snapshots of Time chapter 7 will be up very, very soon.
- Yuuri
