DISCLAIMER: Not mine. If they were, would I really be stuck in the middle of Kansas working at a Wal-Mart?
SUMMARY: Tommy has met his new teacher's aide, TaraLynn Scott. Does he realize who she is?
A/N: Thank you to Chylea and PurpleLeopard. I knew that Chylea would be among the first to review this one.
Tommy sat down at the desk after pulling up a chair for Tara. "So, where are you from, TaraLynn?"
"A – A – Angel Grove. I still h – h – have family there, i-i-including my older brother."
"Angel Grove, huh. I don't remember meeting you. When did you graduate high school?"
"I – I – I didn't go to p-p-public school. My p-p-parents sent me to private school b-b-because a lot of kids teased me and w-w-were mean to me." Tara took a deep breath. "But I-I-I graduated in 1997."
"It's okay to be nervous, TaraLynn. Being a teacher's aide can be almost as intimidating as being a teacher."
Tara smiled. She was starting to feel a little more at ease around Tommy. Jason had always told her that Tommy was a nice guy. She swallowed hard and realized just how dry her throat was.
"Are you okay?" He was worried he noticed that she seemed a little nervous but he wasn't that intimidating, was he?
"Just a dry throat." Tommy poured a glass of water from the pitcher he kept on his desk and handed it to her. She drank it thankfully. "Thank you. I'm sorry that I'm so nervous."
"It's okay. Just relax. I just want you to remember one thing. If any of the students or any other teacher gives you a hard time, tell me. Please. Let me help if I can."
"I will," she promised, smiling shyly. 'He's actually gotten cuter over the years. Wouldn't it be great if I could stand a chance with him?' She shook herself mentally. She figured that she didn't stand a chance with a guy like him. He went more for the Kimberly type. Slender and athletic. A scrawny little thing like her wouldn't stand a chance.
'She's so pretty. But so tiny. I'll be she's suffered with low self-esteem all her life. I wonder what her brother's like. Maybe I knew him. Went to school with him or something.' It still hadn't clicked with him that Jason Lee Scott was her brother and that he had never met Jason's little sister until now.
"So what's your brother's name?" he asked, hoping that she'd give him a name he recognized.
"Kevin," she answered, giving him their oldest brother's name. She knew that if she dropped Jason's name, he'd feel a need to call his friend and tell him about the fact that he'd gotten stuck working with her and at least she knew that he didn't know her oldest brother. He'd already graduated high school before Tommy moved to Angel Grove.
"Oh. I knew a Scott family in Angel Grove. They had a son named Jason. He went to Switzerland for a peace conference. Did you know them?"
"I'm not sure. I didn't get to get close to many people in Angel Grove. I was too shy. A lot of kids used to pick on me because they though I was stuck up." She bowed her head at the admission.
"That was their problem, not yours." He touched her shoulder. "Look at me, Tara." When her eyes met his, he continued. "Some people are just too ignorant to see past appearances to find the real person. I hope that you'll let me get to know the real you."
"I'll try. I've never been good at dealing with people. I still can't believe that I let my brother talk me into trying a teacher's aide position." She rolled her eyes. "He convinced me to try debate in school and I ended up hospitalized with a panic attack. He tried to get me to try out for plays and musicals but I used to hyperventilate just thinking about it. I finally agreed to do this because he just wouldn't leave me alone about it."
"Maybe it'll help with the bashfulness a little."
"That's what he said. I hope it does. I'm so tired of always being the frightened little mouse. It's just hard to do anything when shyness almost cripples you. I mean, I've seen days when I was terrified to leave my dorm room even for class. And when I was home on break, I hardly ever went out. I was too scared."
Tara was really surprised that she had opened up so much to Tommy. She was so relaxed around him that she felt like she could do anything. She realized that she had lied to Tommy about her brother. She vowed to herself that she'd make it up to him later.
She heard the bell ring for the start of second hour and she jumped. "Easy, Tara. It's just the bell."
"Maybe you should show me what your plans are for class. After all, if I'm supposed to help you with the class it might help to know what you plan to teach."
Tommy chuckled. "You have a point there, Miss Scott."
At the end of the day, Tara found herself actually relaxing a little with the students who all seemed very understanding of her. Kira joined Tara and Tommy for lunch and the three joked around for the hour.
She found herself walking down the hallway after school alone. Tommy had to run off for his karate club and Kira had to help with auditions for the fall play.
So it was that four football players cornered her in the hallway just inside the doors. "I know that you're not old enough to be a teacher's aide," one of them said. Tara found herself cringing against the wall. "So exactly who are you? You can't be any older than what – fifteen?"
"I'm twenty-four," she protested weakly. She was scared. Each of these guys was easily twice her size and she had no way to run from them.
"No way. I mean, my girlfriend is bigger than you are and she's only sixteen," another mocked.
Tara felt her lungs closing up on her. 'Damn it! I can't hyperventilate now. I have to get out of here. I'm so going to kill Jason the next time I see him.'
It was too late. She couldn't breathe. The players stepped back. "What's wrong with you? What's wrong?"
She heard nothing else as the world went black and she slid down the wall to a heap on the floor.
Tommy had brought his karate club to a classroom to cover a few things before they actually started with the karate. He was surprised when he had seen the four players walk in from outside.
When he heard their panicked questions of whoever it was they were picking on this time, he decided to check things out. "Back off, boys."
The four young men stepped back revealing their current victim. "Tara!" He turned to the teens. "All of you go to the office and tell Principal Randall what happened and your part in it. If you don't, I'll make sure she finds out tomorrow and then you'll be benched for the next three games."
The four took off down the hall toward the office. Tommy bent over Tara. "Tara, wake up. Wake up, Tara, please." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. "I need an ambulance at Reefside High, the doors nearest the basketball courts. A young lady passed out in the hallway."
Once he had confirmation that the ambulance was on the way, he asked one of his students to go down to the auditorium and get Kira. She took off and Tommy sat down beside Tara, pulling her head into his lap. Brushing the hair back from her face, he kept a close eye on her until the ambulance pulled up and medics had her loaded on the gurney.
She still hadn't regained consciousness as they loaded her into the ambulance and drove off. Tommy waited where he was until Kira got there and he could explain. Then, he and the former Ranger headed to the hospital to watch over their new friend.