Nicole thanked a higher power when the bell rang, signaling another end of the school day. She constantly counted down the days until graduation.
"Nicole!" came Darren's voice.
Nicole looked up and saw Darren making his way towards her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised to even see him. "Did you get my messages?"
"I did," Darren said. "Look, Nicole, can we talk?"
"Darren," Nicole began, distancing herself from him. "I think-"
"I can explain," Darren told her, closing the distance. "Please?"
"Explain what?"
"Why I haven't been myself. Nicole, please? Just let me explain and if you still decide that you want to be together, then I'll respect that. Just give me a chance to explain."
As he spoke, Nicole went through all the pros and cons of hearing Darren out. In the end, Nicole nodded her head.
"Okay, fine, explain."
"Not here," Darren said, eyeing all the students passing by. "The park?"
"Okay," Nicole agreed. She let Darren slip his hands in hers. As they walked to his car, she wondered if it would be the last time their fingers would intertwine the way they did.
The drive to the park was quiet, and fortunately, short. Again, Nicole allowed Darren to hold her hand and lead her towards the lake.
She eventually took her hand back, not wanting to get caught up in the moment.
"Okay, Darren, explain," she demanded, crossing her arms across her chest.
Darren looked out into the lake, trying to figure out how to start.
"Darren? I don't have all day."
"Okay, just hold on," he told her. "Look, what I'm about to say is gonna sound crazy. I know you're not gonna believe me."
"Just say it, Darren."
"I haven't been myself," he blurted.
"I know. You said you were going to explain why."
Darren sighed. His hesitancy and obvious nervousness, worried Nicole.
"Are you in some kind of trouble?" she asked.
"I think so," he said. Nicole's arms fell to her sides. She no longer felt the need to be on the defensive.
"What's going on, Darren?" her voice was soft when she spoke.
"I don't know," Darren admitted, lowering his voice. "Ever since I went with my dad on that trip, I just haven't been feeling like myself." Nicole watched as Darren looked back out to the lake. He seemed to be searching for the words to say. "I feel like I've just been in a constant bad mood. Any little thing just sets me off."
He stopped and looked back at Nicole.
"Nicole, I'm sorry for how I've been acting. I-I can't explain it. I-" A rustling behind them made the two turn back. Darren placed a hand on Nicole's arm and signaled for her to keep quiet. Nicole watched as he slowly approached the shrubbery. She looked around to see if there were any people nearby in the instance that they needed help. After all, it was only yesterday when some sicko in white ranger uniform showed up at the park and-
A scream pierced the air and Nicole's attention was brought back to Darren. She quickly ran by his side and saw what was on the other side of the plants. She narrowed her eyes at her older brother and his girlfriend. A look of guilt showed on their faces.
"Tommy? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I could ask you the same question," he said.
"Where you spying on me?"
No answer.
"Nicole, I'll just call you later," Darren said.
"No, wait, Darren!" Nicole reached for his arm to stop him.
"I'll call you," he said, placing a hand on top of hers. He gave them a gentle squeeze before slowly removing them off his arm. He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Bye."
Nicole sighed as Darren jogged off. She spun around.
"What were you two doing here?" Tommy asked before she could say a word first.
"Talking! We were talking! What are you two doing here? Spying on me?"
Kimberly only looked at Tommy, her hands on her hips. She told her boyfriend that his sister wouldn't appreciate them trying to eavesdrop on her personal conversation. She was not about to help him explain it away.
"What were you talking about? Didn't you break up with him?"
"He wanted to talk-"
"Don't tell me you're giving him a second chance," Tommy exclaimed.
"Take me home," Nicole demanded.
"What were you-"
"Tommy!" Kimberly finally said. "Let's just go, okay?"
Tommy opened his mouth to argue again, but one look from Kimberly made him swallow whatever argument he had. He fished out his car keys.
"Fine," he muttered.
.-~*~-. -~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.
After not hearing from Darren when he promised that he'd call, Nicole decided on seeing him afterschool the following day. All her calls went unanswered and she realized the only way to get to him was to see him face to face.
"Thanks for the ride, Kaye," Nicole called as she got out of her friend's car.
"No problem! How you getting home?" Kaye asked.
"Darren."
"You sure? Isn't he acting like a jerk right now?"
Nicole giggled.
"I'm sure. If I'm wrong, I'll call you."
"You want me to wait for you instead?"
"It's okay. I'll talk to you later," Nicole said as she started towards Darren's dad's house. She followed the driveway that led up to the garage. Heading to the side, she started climbing the set of stairs that led to Darren's own studio apartment that sat on top of the garage.
As she neared the top of the stairs, she heard the sound of things clattering to the ground. She quickly ascended the remaining steps. She stopped as she heard Darren shout out. He sounded like he was in pain.
"Darren?"
She made her way to the door but stopped as she reached the window first. Bright white light flashed, making Nicole shield her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes and peered through the window. Nicole gasped as she saw the white ranger from the attack at the park standing in the middle of Darren's room. She closed her eyes again as another bright white light flashed. When her eyes opened, she saw Darren where the white ranger previously stood. She jumped as Darren cried out in pain, falling to his knees. More bright light flashed and Nicole retreated back down the stairs. She continued to run, away from the flashing lights, away from the screaming Darren, away from whatever the hell was going on.
Nicole continued to run through the park. She only slowed down to catch her breath once she reached the Youth Center. She looked up and down the street, making sure that Darren didn't follow her. Nicole quickly entered the Youth Center. She replayed what she saw at Darren's house. Her head was spinning, maybe it was because she just ran from his house all the way to the Youth Center. Her thoughts went to wondering how far she had ran.
"Nicole, are you okay?"
She finally reached the bar and came face to face with Rocky.
"Uh, y-yeah," she managed to stutter.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Zack joked. It was only then that Nicole realized that some of her brother's friends were at the bar, too. She remembered that they were starting their classes.
"Uh, no, nothing like that. Can I have some water, Brandon?"
"Coming up!"
Suddenly, Nicole felt vibrations on her back. She yelped, catching the attention of Tommy's friends. She could feel their eyes on her as she felt around for her cellphone in her backpack. Her heart stopped as Darren's name flashed on the screen.
"You want me to answer?" Zack asked. "I can scare him off."
"No, it's okay. Excuse me," Nicole said as she stepped away. She took a deep breath and answered, making sure to keep her voice steady.
"Hey," Darren's voice came from the other end.
"Hey, Darren, what's up?" 'Act normal!'
"Sorry I didn't get to call you last night."
"It's okay. You were probably busy," Nicole answered. 'Being the freaking white power ranger!'
"Yeah, it was late by the time I got a chance to call."
"Yeah, no problem. Don't worry about."
"Alright, so quick question."
"Yeah?" Nicole asked, her voice getting a little higher.
"Did you come by earlier?"
"Huh? What? What do you mean?"
"Did you stop by my house earlier?"
"Uh, no, no I didn't. I, um, thought about it, but I realized that you must've been busy so I just went straight here after school. By here, I meant the Youth Center. I went straight here to the Youth Center afterschool."
"Oh. Okay, I must be losing my mind. I thought I heard you…"
"Nope, I've been here ever since I got out of school so…"
"Alright then. I know we still need to continue our talk, but I can't really meet up tonight. You want to meet tomorrow?"
"Uh, tomorrow? I can't. I made plans with Tommy and Kim. We're all going to…do something. Tommy said he had something planned."
"We can't meet after?"
"Like I said, Tommy had something planned, so I don't know what. I don't know what time I'll be home, but we'll see, okay? I'll call you once we get done with whatever it is that Tommy planned for us to do tomorrow."
"Alright, we really need to talk."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Nicole muttered.
"What?"
"Uh, I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Bye."
Nicole shut her cellphone closed.
"Doesn't school get out at 2:30?" Nicole jumped and spun around, coming face to face with Jason.
"Jason! Damn it, you scared me!" Jason seemed amused at Nicole's reaction. "Uh, yeah. School got out at 2:30, why?"
Jason looked at his watch.
"Cause it's almost four. You've been here for, what, only five minutes. And if I recall, Kim is visiting her brother and she said she'd been gone for a few days."
Nicole crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Okay, so now Tommy has you spying on me?"
"Well, I was sitting right there," Jason said, nodding at the chair beside Nicole. "It was hard not to hear your conversation."
"Right," Nicole muttered. She turned around, heading back to the bar.
"Is everything okay?" Jason asked, following her.
"Yeah, I mean, I broke up with Darren," Nicole shared.
"Really?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?" Nicole asked.
Jason shrugged. "I don't know. You just seemed really into him."
"Yeah, I am. I mean, I was. You know, it's actually complicated, right now."
"I think you're just making it complicated," Jason joked. "Either your two broke up or you didn't."
"Well, I mean, I broke up with him. Kinda."
"You kinda broke up with your boyfriend? How does that work?"
"Well, I was calling him over the weekend so that we could talk. All those calls went ignored and I just maybe, kinda broke up with him via voicemail?"
Jason tried to stifle a laugh, clearly amused. Nicole rolled her eyes.
"It's not that funny. Now, he's asking to see me, and he said he wanted to explain somethings in hopes that we could work things out." Nicole sighed. "So yeah, it's complicated."
"And like I said, you're making it complicated," Jason said. "Do you want to work things out?"
Nicole thought about the question carefully. If what she saw earlier was what Darren was trying to explain, then she certainly did not want to work things out. After hearing what the white ranger did, she couldn't see herself staying with Darren.
"No, I don't," she finally answered.
"Obviously, he does. So you're out of the relationship, but he isn't."
"Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it," Nicole said. Jason looked at Nicole and saw that she seemed deep in thought. Jason smiled to himself.
'Young love,' he thought.
"Well, I hope you two will find a way to work things out," Jason told her, interrupting her deep thinking.
"Thanks," Nicole replied, giving an appreciative smile.
"I know how Tommy feels about him, so good luck with that, too."
"Thanks," Nicole groaned, making Jason laugh as he walked away.