Calvin slammed his locker shut as a group of kids walked passed him, discussing the good time they had at homecoming the week before. He didn't feel angry with them until they mentioned how wasted they were by the end of the night. They, like most, didn't shy away from the spiked punch.

It was all a joke to them. Calvin and Sarah nearly died because someone in this school thought it would be okay to drive drunk, and everyone was just laughing it off, pretending like getting drunk in high school made them cool.

It irritated him more that the police had hit a dead end. With so many kids having gotten drunk, they were looking less and less into the incident and more into the school itself. Dances were cancelled while Principal Hastings tried to deal with the police, but that didn't matter much to kids. They would have their own parties, steal booze from their parents, and get drunk again.

And potentially drive.

"Hey!" Hayley said as she stood next to Calvin with a smile. She hugged her books to her chest, "So, I was thinking, since Mick is letting us have one project to work on for the year, and he's got a lot of tools and parts, maybe we can work on Nitro. Together?"

"No," Calvin shook his head and started to walk off. Hayley followed him.

"But she needs to be fixed," Hayley said. "And with the new budget, Mick can afford everything you need and more. She can run like new and it might not cost you a thing."

"I don't think I'm fixing her up," Calvin said and Hayley stepped in front of him, stopping him where he stood.

"What?"

"I just… I don't think I want her fixed."

Hayley gave him a look, questioning his words for just a moment before she realized this wasn't a joke. She pulled him to the side of the hallway and frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"I drove a go-kart into the pond," Calvin sighed. Hayley shook her head.

"Yeah? I thought we were passed that?"

"Me too!" Calvin said. "But then I get my license and… just a few months later, another accident. Maybe… Maybe I wasn't meant to drive."

"Calvin, that wasn't your fault. Everyone and their mother thinks so."

"But clearly something bad happens whenever I do try," Calvin said. "Some people are just better off taking the bus or having their amazing girlfriends drive them around all the time. Right?"

He looked to Hayley, begging she let this go. His eyes were big, he stuck out his lip and he took her hand gently. Hayley was almost swayed and then she shook her head.

"Calvin, this isn't like you. Nitro is your baby. You built her yourself. And you love driving. Once you got the keys in your hands, I couldn't get them back!"

"Yeah, but…"

"Just, fix the truck, alright," Hayley said. "And maybe by the time you're done, this will have blown over."

As Hayley said this, Calvin heard some of the other kids walk by.

"My parents are out of town and my brother said he could get us all the alcohol we wanted. You down?" one said to the other.

Calvin shook his head. "No. Sorry, Hayley, but with people like that, I think it's better if I just stay off the roads for now."

"Cal…" Hayley said but let Calvin go as he walked away. She watched him go, then jumped when Sarah appeared next to her. "Where did you come from?"

"Well, I used to live in Amber Beach," Sarah answered. "Though, I did spend some time in Ocean Bluff, until dad married mom. But, I was born in Mariner Bay."

"I meant today," Hayley chuckled.

"Oh. Locker," Sarah said and pointed across the hall, then she looked to where Calvin had gone, "Uh, is he okay?"

"Mick's letting us work all year on a project of our choosing. He already approved Calvin fixing up Nitro."

"That's perfect!"

"Only Calvin won't do it," Hayley sighed, and Sarah frowned.

"It's not like it's that big a job. A new door, maybe. Some paint, popping out some dents."

"He could upgrade the engine too," Hayley nodded. "Shop class got a bigger budget, so Mick can afford better parts than Calvin ever could."

"And Calvin doesn't want to do it?"

"He's scared."

"Of…"

"What happened," Hayley said, then brought her fist together and made a crashing sound. When Sarah nodded to show she understood, Hayley looked to her pleadingly. "Can you please talk to him. Tell him it wasn't his fault."

"Uh, I can try again," Sarah shrugged. "But I think I already did that in the hospital."

"Maybe he'll listen to you outside of the hospital. Now that we know you're good," Hayley said.

"So, you tried talking to him?" Sarah asked and Hayley nodded. "And he didn't listen to you?"

"I wasn't in the car with him."

"Thank god," Sarah chuckled. "Or he'd never even look at Nitro again."

"Can you try?"

"Sure," Sarah said. "Where did he go?"

"He's probably in shop class. Not fixing Nitro."

"Shop, right," Sarah nodded and left. Hayley watched her go, begging the pink Ranger could do a better job at bringing Calvin around, and then turned to head to her homeroom class. As she did, she saw Mrs. Finch hanging up a poster on the wall. She looked to it, then to her teacher.

"Class president? Already?"

"New year, new vote," Mrs. Finch nodded her head. "Are you thinking of running?"

"I… I don't know. Who's running?"

"Who do you think?" Mrs. Finch asked and then gestured over to Victor, who was at his locker, already planning his victory speech with Monty. He had already been elected class president every year since he was a freshman and every year, as expected, he didn't accomplish much of anything.

"Anyone else?"

"Not yet. We're hoping someone else runs," Mrs. Finch said. "You know, spice things up at the school a little bit. Lead with a bit more dignity and school pride than we're used to seeing. You know, there is a lot you can accomplish as class president. I mean, you can start new clubs, you can discuss some of the school issues and fight for a solution."

"School issues? Like the drinking at homecoming?"

"Drinking and driving? A lesson too many teens learn the hard way," Mrs. Finch sighed. "But I guess, as class President, you would have more power to raise awareness about the dangers of it."

"Where do I sign up?"

"Talk to Principal Hastings about running," Mrs. Finch said. Before Hayley could run off, she grabbed her arm, "Careful, though. Victor's only ever won by default. No one's been against him. With his track record, you very well might win. Are you sure you're ready for the responsibility?"

"More than ready," Hayley nodded.

-Ninja-Steel-

Sarah knocked before she entered shop class. Since it was before the first period, there was no one there except for Calvin, and Mick and Redbot, who were trying to decide what to do with the Ranger base now that they knew Madam Oedius might still be around. Sarah let them be as she approached Calvin.

"I can work on her with you and Hayley, if you want," she suggested and pointed to Nitro. "She can't be that much harder than my hoverboard, right?"

"Hayley sent you here, didn't she?" Calvin asked and Sarah nodded her head.

"She's a bit worried. Not working on Nitro isn't like you," she said. "And giving up on driving."

"I nearly got you killed."

"No, the drunk loser in car number two almost got us killed," Sarah said. "You're the hero who pulled us out."

"Does it make a difference?"

"Police aren't looking for you."

"The police aren't looking for anyone," Calvin said. "Mom told me yesterday they've pretty much given up. They have better things to do."

"So your answer is to give up too?" Sarah asked. She hopped up on Calvin's work table. "You remember my holo-clones, right?"

"Of course."

"You remember how after that went screwy, I stopped inventing things, right?"

"Yeah."

"You know how I'm inventing again. Last night, I turned an old remote-control car into a personal butler for mom when she gets home. That way, if she needs something, she can get it herself. It's got an arm and a camera and it can even go up and down stairs. It's pretty sweet!"

"So?"

"So, bad things happen, you step away from them a bit, realize you're miserable, have someone remind you that just because something bad happened, doesn't mean you should stop doing what you love, get back into it, built mom a robot butler and get hired to build Ranger suits – solo," Sarah said and smiled. "You're in the miserable phase, but it's okay, because Hayley and I are pushing you to the reminding you to keep going phase."

"So the next step is that I build a robot butler?"

"No, that's my thing," Sarah said, then pointed to Nitro, "The next thing is you find her weak points and reinforce them so the next accident isn't as bad."

"The next one?"

"Hypothetically."

"And what if I've just completely given up on engines and want to do something else. Something completely different."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Calvin said and looked around the classroom. At that moment, he saw Mrs. Finch in the hallway putting up a poster. "Run for class president."

"You should!" Sarah's eyes lit up. "That would be amazing! Victor sucked last year!"

"What? No, Sarah, I was…"

"The class president pretty much runs the school, right? You would oversee organizing events, bringing up issues in the school, changing things for the better."

"I can't do that."

"You really only need one issue you want to work on," Sarah said. "Maybe the police have given up on the drunk drivers, but we haven't."

"Sarah…"

"Teach kids how bad drinking and driving is. How you and I could have been killed over a stupid mistake. Use Nitro to show them how even a tough truck can take a beating and that as long as people are idiots, no one is safe. Your thing could be how you want to make school safer for everyone."

"And you think kids would vote for me?"

"Your competition is Victor," Sarah said. "You could tell the school you want the cafeteria to only serve their mystery meat and you would probably still take the lead."

"Hayley does say I'm pretty charming. And as class president, people would have to listen to what I have to say."

"Well, maybe not have to, but they would hear it," Sarah nodded. "I mean, I tune our real president out all the time, but…"

"I'll do it," Calvin said. "I'll run for class president."

"And you'll fix Nitro."

"No," Calvin shook his head, then raced off. Sarah sighed and looked to Calvin's truck, which was parked outside the window in the garage.

"Okay, baby steps," she said. "He'll be back, though."