It was Labor Day weekend I was seventeen
I bought a Coke and some gasoline
And I drove out to the County Fair
Tommy Oliver was having the time of his life. Between school, chores and fighting monsters, he had been downright depressed ever since Kimberly had broken up with him several weeks ago. But right now, it was Labor Day weekend and he was sipping a Coke next to his full tank red Mustang in front of the Angel Grove county fair.
And when I saw her for the first time
She was standing there in the ticket line
And it all started right then and there
Tommy was just going over to the ticket line to join his friends and get his ticket when he saw-
Her.
A girl a year or two younger than him was standing in the ticket line and was she pretty...
She had thick reddish-purple hair that went down to her waist and the most caring brown eyes Tommy had ever seen.
Forgetting finding his friends, Tommy went over to the girl to introduce himself.
Oh a sailor's sky made a perfect sunset
And that's a day I'll never forget
"Hi, my name's Tommy, Tommy Oliver." He said to the girl, who turned around to look up at him as he offered out his hand. She smiled (in Tommy's mind, it was beautiful) and shook the hand "Hayley, Hayley Ziktor."
"Nice to meet you, Hayley. Wanna get a hot dog and play some games?"
I had a barbecue stain on my white t-shirt
She was killing me in that mini-skirt
Skippin' rocks on the river by the railroad tracks
"So where you from? Cause' you are definitely not from Angel Grove." He had to ask much alter (after an accident with a hot dog that left a giant stain on his front) as the sun was setting on the horizon, throwing a rock as Hayley laughed next to him. The day had seriously been almost as perfect as when he was with Kim and it had been hard to be a gentleman and keep his hands away from her as her legs in her mini-skirt were killing him. "I originally grew up in Blue Bay, but I've lived all around California. I'm hoping to attend CSU next year."
"What area are you thinking about going into to want to go to a university like that?"
"Journalism, but not completely in front of the camera, I'm more of a behind the scenes kinda girl, love me some tech more than most. What about you? Got any future plans?"
"Uh, not really." Tommy grinned, shaking his head. "I thought maybe teaching or opening my own place of some kind, but it's more like a toss-up for now. Not sure where I'm going to go yet, been working for my uncle trying to figure all of it out."
"Rad, at least you are thinking about it. Most guys I know just think they'll trip and fall into it."
"Any guy who thinks that needs a serious talking to." He couldn't help but smile seeing her laugh.
She had a suntan line and red lipstick
I worked so hard for that first kiss
A heart don't forget something like that
It gutted Tommy to have to say goodbye to Hayley once she left, watching as she waved from the back of her friend's sedan before he trudged off back to his pickup sadly, hands in his pockets and lips still tingling from the kiss he shared with her before she had to go.
He wished he could see her one more time, but sadly, neither had proper addresses to write to, not phones at the moment, plus Ranger powers can't exactly be used to go freebase and visit some random girl you'd met and fallen in love with on the same day.
Kicking himself that he just had to trip and fall in love again so shortly after Kim, he just muttered a string of curses to himself before silently wishing Hayley well and clambering in his truck to return home. College applications didn't write themselves after all.
It was five years later on a south-bound plane
I was headed down to New Orleans
To meet some friends of mine for the Mardi Gras
Five years after that sun had set on his perfect afternoon, the memory was a whisper among others as a now 22-year-old Tommy sat in an aisle seat on an outbound plane from Angel Grove to New Orleans, on spring break from college in Massachusetts where he was studying to become...something. He wasn't quite sure just yet. He would figure it out, however.
It had been Jason's idea (after grabbing and bagging Kat as his girlfriend of 2 years) to get all the former Ranger boys together and head down to Mardi Gras before things got hectic again.
Honestly, Tommy felt like he could use the break, given he'd not stopped working pretty much since he moved out of his parent's home. If he wasn't on the track with his uncle to make ends meet, he was at school trying to fill his head and writing papers.
He'd barely had any time to relax and he was going to take full advantage of not needing to write a single word in the English language for about 3 days. A long weekend of good ol' nothing.
When I heard a voice from the past
Coming from a few rows back
When I looked I couldn't believe just what I saw
He was just about to fall asleep (hopefully for at least the next 10 minutes) when he suddenly bolted upright, his ears hearing a familiar voice coming from a few rows behind him close by.
He didn't know just why he reacted so swiftly, it wasn't like knowing someone wasn't important or anything, but it just seemed...strange. Different in a way. The voice was female, melodic and it soothed the inner dragon he'd been wrestling since he was a teenager.
Curious now, he plucked up the courage to quickly look back behind him, but then suddenly look forward in case he was caught and people thought he was that totally weird guy on the plane that no one should sit near.
However, he found himself stunned as he had to turn back to see what he saw again and blinked, seeing the same reddish-purple hair that caught his attention years ago and those same brown eyes that were suddenly looking at him, confusion in them before realization and suddenly that smile he'd remembered came back to haunt him, as the person with it excused herself before getting up and walking in his direction.
She said I bet you don't remember me
And I said only every other memory
Tommy quickly turned back and pretended to be reading some magazine a person had left on the seat next to him, not believing for a second that what his eyes had seen was real, but then a lightly manicured hand touched his arm and he had to look up. "...Hi?"
"Tommy, oh my god, it is you. I barely recognized you. I bet you don't even remember me."
He couldn't help but grin playfully at her, heart going a hundred miles an hour. "Only every other memory, Hayley Ziktor."
I had a barbecue stain on my white t-shirt
You were killing me in that mini-skirt
Skippin' rocks on the river by the railroad tracks
The plane ride was only an hour in, so Tommy was pretty sure the only reason why his throat was even sore was that he'd spent the last 2 hours non-stop talking and laughing with Hayley as they spoke, catching up with one another.
You had a suntan line and red lipstick
I worked so hard for that first kiss
A heart don't forget something like that
He learned that not only was she going to be in New Orleans for the same weekend, but that she was also staying in the same hotel as he was, quickly inviting her on a date that was 5 years overdue. He was thankful when she said yes, her smile still the same up close as it had been both from afar and for the first time.
Like an old photograph, time can make a feeling fade
But the memory of your first love never fades away
It was almost like a clock winding all the way back to that first day they met, the plane around them disappearing and returning them back to Angel Grove and that river they'd stood nearby.
I had a barbecue stain on my white t-shirt
She was killing me in that mini-skirt
Skippin' rocks on the river by the railroad tracks
4 years later, Tommy and Hayley had gotten off that plane and then, surprisingly, never hopped back on another unless it was together. After a new Ranger team, the opening of her cafe, their graduation, Hayley transferring to Massachusetts...they wouldn't change a thing. Ever.
She had a suntan line and red lipstick
I worked so hard for that first kiss
A heart don't forget, no a heart don't forget
There was also more things to celebrate with him and Hayley, Tommy knew, but couldn't be bothered to list them all off in his forgetful head while he chased his toddler son JJ around the living room of 1992 Valencia Road gleefully while Hayley cooked dinner in the kitchen.
I said a heart don't forget something like that
Oh, not something like that
Catching her eye from the kitchen's peephole over the counter, both of them locked eyes and smiled at eachother, brown on brown, before leaving once again, but they knew neither of them would be too far apart for long.
That they could never forget.