Chapter Two
It was a bright and beautiful Monday morning and the students of Angel Grove High were just entering the school to begin one of the last weeks before Spring Break. The halls filled slowly like every Monday morning and Vice Principal Caplan couldn't help but shake his head at their dreary faces.
This morning, our heroes were no different as they entered the school and dragged their feet to their lockers. Neither noticing the Vice Principle's presence or the colorful sheets of papers he carried as they walked by.
"Man, I hate Mondays," Kimberly Hart, the Pink Power Ranger groaned as she reached her locker.
She leaned against the green painted metal and held her pink binder to her chest. Her best friend, Trini Kwan, the Yellow Power Ranger lined up next to her.
"I know how you feel," the girl said. "I don't even think Billy likes coming to school on Mondays."
"Affirmative," the Blue Power Ranger said hearing Trini's statement and decided to join the girls while they waited for the others.
He took the spot beside the girls. It wasn't long until Jason joined them. The Red Power Ranger's usual confident posture slouched as he stood next to Kimberly. It was obvious he was not having a very good morning.
"Good morning all," came an overly cheery voice and most of the students groaned their response as the always upbeat Black Power Ranger walked down the hall and to his friends.
"What's up with the gloomy faces," he greeted them. "It's a beautiful new day."
Kimberly and Trini rolled their eyes and Jason grunted.
"Good morning, Zack," Billy said.
"That's more like it," Zack said.
"How can you be so chipper in the morning," Trini asked.
"Because, I love every new day," Zack answered. "We're not given a guarantee we will wake up to see the next day."
"How wise of you to literate such a belief," Billy said.
The Blue Ranger was now waking now and so was his brain.
"Huh," Zack asked automatically looking at Trini.
"He said he likes the way you think," the Yellow Ranger translated.
"Oh," the Black Ranger nodded his understanding.
Just then, Kimberly absently looked at her watch.
"Hey, guys. Do you think Tommy's going to be late," she asked.
"Tommy's always late," Zack said.
"He can't help it, he's so forgetful," Kimberly defended the newest member of their team.
"Don't worry Kim," Trini said. "He'll be here in time for his first class. He always is."
Kimberly nodded. She has always shown concern for the Green Power Ranger. Ever since the first day they met, she wanted to make sure he was ok. She was in constant fear that Rita Repulsa, their villain, was going to get a hold on him again.
"Come on, guys," Jason finally spoke. "Let's go to the library. I have some last minute homework to take care of."
The others agreed and they headed to the school's library.
Later that morning, just after the first morning's classes ended, the students gathered in the hall. They were all scattered in different parts of the school, but they were all looking at and talking about the same thing.
That morning, while they were all in class, Mr. Caplan had placed up flyers on the bulletin boards. The colorful sheets of papers all announced the upcoming dance, just before their break.
The students all began to spread the word about the dance. Most were excited, some didn't care, but no matter how they felt, this was big news.
"I can't believe there is going to be a dance," a girl said to Kimberly.
"Why, there's a dance almost every other month," the Pink Ranger said.
"I know, but it's still unbelievable," the girl said.
"I wonder who's going to go with whom," a second girl wondered aloud.
Trini shook her head.
"You always wonder who's going with whom," she chuckled.
"Yeah, well, I'm a romantic," girl number two said.
"Me too," girl one said.
She took Kimberly by her arm.
"I bet Tommy Oliver will ask you out," she said.
"What," Kimberly exclaimed looking at the girl with wide eyes. "Why would you say that?"
"It's obvious they guy likes you," girl two jump in. "He's always doing nice things for you."
"And he's always helping you with your problems," girl one put in.
"He's always staring at you," said Trini.
"Trini," Kimberly scolded. "You're supposed to be helping me."
"I am helping you," the Yellow Ranger said. "I'm helping you see that Tommy likes you and you like him and you two would make a perfect couple."
Kimberly said nothing. She could only stand and blush. She didn't think her feelings for the Green Ranger were that obvious, but she guessed she was wrong. She wondered if Tommy knew and if he would do anything about it.
Meanwhile, the other Rangers were down a different hall and were staring at a flyer of green paper. Each guy having their own feelings regarding the announcement, feelings that went with each person.
Jason stood solemnly looking at it. He never really cared about dances and worrying about asking a girl out. It wasn't that he didn't like girls. He liked them a lot. He just found it was too much trouble and way too much stress to go through finding a date. He usually went to these things with Trini. It was a pact they made in 5th Grade. They were both looking for dates then. Trini was hoping a boy she liked would ask her out and Jason had been trying to find the courage to ask out a girl he liked. In the end, the guy Trini liked and the girl Jason liked ended up going with each other and Trini and Jason ended up being each other's date. They swore they would never go through that again. So, they decided to skip the preliminaries and just go to every dance from that day on together.
Billy on the other hand, really didn't mind dances. Even though he was considered the biggest geek in school, he was quite the lady's man and found no trouble in finding a date. He was well liked by most of the girls in his class. They found him more mature than the other boys they were around and the fact that he was intelligent didn't hurt him at all. Knowing all of this, didn't make him not nervous to be the one to ask a girl out. He never knew who to ask. About three girls always looked at him hopefully. It was a lot of pressure on the Blue Ranger. Although their school held a dance often, Billy was never fully prepared to ask a girl out.
Zack loved dances. He loved to dance period and he was a well known "player" in the school. He never understood that, player. He never played a girl he dated. He was an honest and loyal guy. He like Billy never had a problem in finding a date for dances, but that sort of changed about a year and a half ago, when he met Angela. He was crazy about the girl and was always trying to ask her out on dates, whether there was dance or not. He just wanted to be near her. He even spent a lot of time thinking up ways to get her to notice him. This upcoming dance just gave him an excuse to ask her out again. He knew she would turn him down. She always did, at first, but in the end she always gave in and she always enjoyed their time together. So, Zack continued to ask and ask, until she said yes.
Tommy was dreading the dance. It was the first one to come up, since his family moved to Angel Grove. He was never good at asking a girl out. He could never tell if a girl liked him or not. He really was terrible with signals and when he got the girl, he would sit down and analyze the past couple of weeks and realize the girl was very obvious that she liked him. He wished he could do that with Kimberly. It was difficult to tell if she liked him as more than a friend or not. She was such a sweet girl and she was always open and friendly. She was nice to everybody, well maybe not Bulk and Skull, but she was nice to most of the people she was with. This made him want to ask her out more. He had been struggling with his confidence to ask her out for weeks now. He wasn't sure if he could do it.
Tommy looked over at his friends. He needed to talk to them about this, but not now. The bell signaling their next class just rang and they had to separate.
It wasn't until the next day that Tommy got a chance to speak with his friends. They were all in the park, playing a friendly game of basketball. They were split up into teams and since the girls weren't with them, they all could relax and not worry about being judged. So, Billy and Zack were shirts and Jason and Tommy were skins.
"So, do you have dates yet," Zack asked his friends.
They were taking a break now. The male Rangers were gathered on the picnic table were all their duffle bags and sport's bottles were placed at he beginning of their game.
"I always have a date," Jason said.
"Really," Tommy asked. "How did you get one so fast?"
"It's a deal Trini and I have going on," the Red Ranger answered. "We always go to dances together. Just as friends."
Tommy nodded.
"I have a date," Billy piped up. "Her name is Lisa. She is in my History class."
"Good for you, man," Zack said with a bright smile. "I'm still working on Angela. She'll say yes by the end of this week or the next."
"What about you Tommy," Jason asked.
"I haven't asked anyone yet," the Green Ranger said bashfully.
"Why not," Zack asked.
"She's going to say no," Tommy answered.
"Kimberly is not going to say no," Zack told his gloomy friend.
"How," he asked. "I never said who she was."
"It is sound knowledge that you and Kimberly share mutual emotions for one another," Billy said.
"Yeah, everyone knows you like Kimberly and she likes you," Zack said.
He wasn't aware that that was what Billy had just said and the Blue Ranger knew this. Whenever Trini wasn't around, the others, especially Zack, always restate what he had already said. It would be annoying if the Blue Ranger wasn't use to it.
"Yeah," Jason said. "Just ask her out."
"I don't know, guys," Tommy said.
"She's gonna say yes," Zack said.
"Precisely," Billy agreed.
Tommy didn't say anything else. He was still uncertain. He really liked Kimberly and he really wanted to believe his friends, but at the he was more afraid that her answer will be no. He just wished he had a little bit more reassurance than Billy, Zack, and Jason's words.