The next morning, Beth was up at six o' clock sharp. She walked Arda, ate breakfast, and got ready for the day, this time in black shorts and a grey t-shirt. After yoga and meditation, Beth was fully awake, and ready for anything. Quickly, she threw her leotard, a granola bar, a water bottle, a sponge and her bracelet into her backpack, and headed out the door.
She arrived at Storm Chargers five minutes early. Kelly looked up as she walked in. "Finally, a punctual employee!" she exclaimed.
"I try," Beth grinned, "Where do you want me to start?"
"Can you stock the shelves?"
"Sure," Beth replied, shrugging. She turned around and noticed a multitude of boxes. Some were already opened, as if someone had started working, and never finished. Sighing, she pulled the first one to her and began unpacking it.
When Dustin, Hunter and Blake walked in, close to an hour later, they were surprised to see their unfinished work from yesterday finished. "You're late." The boys turned around to see Kelly with her hands on her hips. "Get to work, there are bikes that need work, Blake, you help me with the customers, Beth, sweep the floors, then you can take your break."
The boys saw Beth already with a broom. She nodded then began. "What are you doing here?" asked Dustin.
"I work here. Did I forget to tell you that?"
"Yeah,"
"Oops. Oh well, It's only a couple hours in the mornings, nothing too serious." Beth replied.
Beth finished sweeping quite quickly, and headed out back. She found the old bike, and set it on the tarp. Beth took out her sponge and began to gingerly clean all the pieces she could find. She got two boxes and sorted the things into two groups usable, and unusable. Soon, everything was clean, dirt free, and sorted.
Beth reentered the store to see Tori, Shane and Cam in the TV room. She waved to them as she approached Kelly. "My breaks over, anything you need me to do?" she asked respectfully.
"Can, you take inventory of the back room? I'm sure we have lots of surplus supplies."
"Sure Kelly." Beth took the notebook she was offered and headed to the backroom. She worked diligently, and had finished in less than two hours. She walked over to Kelly and handed her the completed list.
"Wow, Beth you work fast. Though it's time for you to clock out, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Kelly."
"Okay, bye." Beth left the store and headed home. It was already noon and she was hungry. She arrived home, and changed into her normal outfit of a tunic and leggings. Then she fed Arda, ate a sandwich, grabbed her backpack and headed over to Kim's.
The two girls talked for a while. It was decided that Beth would take the one thirty class, which was during Kim's lunch break, just in case. She was scheduled to start on Wednesday. Beth would have stayed longer to chat, but she had promised Sensei some much needed help at ninja ops.
As soon as Beth was out of sight, she ninja streaked to Ninja Ops. Once inside, the girl greeted Sensei with a formal bow. "Good afternoon, Sensei."
"Good afternoon, Elizabeth. Thank you for agreeing to help clean this place."
"It is no problem Sensei; it has to get done eventually. It's better that it gets done now, than when a monster is attacking."
Beth got to work immediately. She dusted everything, and then swept the floor. Neither task took very long; and soon Beth found herself digging the mop out of the closet. She cleaned thoroughly, and put the mop away. Knowing the dangers of a wet floor, Beth used her Air ninja powers to dry the floor. She had the floor completely clean by two o' clock.
"Sensei is there anything else I can do?" she inquired, anxious to be of use.
"Well, nothing that I can think of, but if you want to, you can look through the ancient scrolls. You might find something interesting there." Beth smiled and headed over to the scrolls. She selected one on the basics of the elements, and sat down in a corner to read quietly.
Cam walked in an hour later. "Wow, I've never seen Ninja Ops this clean!" he exclaimed.
Beth looked up from her scroll. "Thanks Cam," she commented, startling the green- clad boy.
"When did you get here?" asked Cam.
"About two and a half hours ago," Beth replied nonchalantly.
"You clean fast," he noted.
"Well I should hope so. I've ended up on cleaning duty so many times; I had to be able to clean fast. And, the Command Center was much bigger. Ah, what fun it was back then."
Cam stared at the short girl in front of him. She volunteered to clean Ninja Ops, and enjoyed it! Beth was a mystery all right. Beth saw his puzzlement and chuckled. She knew he wouldn't understand her. And Cam hated not knowing things. But he would never be able to fully understand her.
He would never understand the trauma she had experienced. He didn't know how it felt to not have a father. He didn't know what it felt like to watch your mother die; he didn't know what it's like to lose three sets of adopted parents, or to be separated from your siblings. And Cam may have been smart, but he didn't know what it was like to go to school when all of the other students were at least 5 years older than her.
She only survived school because of her big brother Jason, and his friends who later became like siblings to her. The only reason she wasn't depressed was because of all the activities she took on. And the only reason she was sane is because she was a ranger first and foremost.
"Earth to Beth! Hello, anyone there?" When Beth snapped out of her trancelike state, Cam was waving his hand in front of her face.
"Sorry Cam. I got lost in thought for a moment there. It happens from time to time."
"It's okay Beth," he chuckled.
"Anyway, do you want to spar?" asked Beth.
They both took up defensive stances and began. The other rangers walked in fifteen minutes later, in time to see Cam land on his back. Beth was standing over him. She offered him her hand. Once Cam was on his feet, he had to ask a question. "I thought you were going to go easy on me."
Sensei spoke up. "She was."
"How on earth are you so good?" Cam asked.
"I've been training in various forms of martial arts since I was six years old. I became a ranger at 9 years old, and have been ever since." Beth explained, blushing.
"All of that, on top of school, and life in general. How do you manage?" asked Tori.
"I meditate every day. I also try not to procrastinate, and I learned to organize my schedule very carefully. And when things do get stressful, I often go to either the track, or the gym. Sometimes I clean; the solitude of that chore helps me think."
"You are very busy," observed Sensei.
"I have to be, otherwise I slip into depression. Being busy is my coping mechanism, I guess."
Tori wanted to know one more thing. "What time do you have left for you know, friends family, a boyfriend, a life?"
"I don't date. It makes thing easier. My friends and family are mostly involved with either Ranger business, or martial arts. I don't really know many people outside of those spheres. Besides, I don't really know what I'm missing. This," Beth gestured to all of the ranger gear, "is my life."
"That's kind of sad, isn't it?" responded Tori.
"I learned a long time ago that life isn't fair. Besides we're not seeing any of the good that comes with it. Being a ranger has brought me many friends and allies. I have experience that most never will, and I get the privilege of preventing some of the suffering of others. Sensei, I think I've had enough practice. May I be excused?"
"Of course, Elizabeth."
Beth arrived home shortly due to her still-in-tact communicator from her first team. She was able to teleport directly in to her bedroom. She crossed to her laptop and opened her email. There were two messages for her, one was from Jason. He was going to bring her books by sometime in the next few months. Beth had had some top secret, ancient books that ordinary eyes shouldn't read. Jason happened to be one of the few people she trusted enough to guard them. The other message was from Trini. It was a long newsy one full of everything going on in Angel Grove.
Beth replied to both of them, giving them every detail she could think of. She described her brother, and her new friends. She told them about running into Kim. She told them how much she missed them. After Beth finished she pulled out her silver flash drive and updated her video diary.