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Chapter Two

Mysteries Abound

They did try to invite Alexa to join them the next day. Unfortunately, none of them could find her. They noticed that she was in a class with at least one of them at all times, but when lunchtime came, she was nowhere to be found. She floated among them again after lunch, but none of them were able to talk to her.

Tommy was especially concerned. He'd sorta made the girl his personal project, and it bothered him that she was so alone all the time. No one talked to her, and she talked to no one. Even the teachers seemed to ignore her in that she was never called on to answer questions.

When school let out, Tommy watched Alexa gather her things from her locker across from his. As he watched, her shoulders became more and more tense until she was practically hunched in on herself. He turned to Kim when she came to put her own things away. "I'll meet you guys at Ernie's, alright?"

"Alright," she said, confused. She glanced along his line of sight to where Alexa was nearly ready to go. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to follow her home."

"What!?"

"Shh!" he placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to placate her. "I just want to make sure she's alright. Something's not right, and I'm going to find out what it is." Before Kim could protest further, he slipped away from her and followed Alexa out of school and through town.

The neighborhood she entered was full of picture-perfect houses behind perfect lawns. Alexa went up the driveway of number 203, then into the house. Tommy managed to sneak up the driveway and close to one of the front windows, but his hearing was limited to that room.

"Where were you yesterday?" a man's voice asked.

"I went to the Youth Center with some kids," Alexa replied. Her voice was so quiet that he could barely hear her.

"Did you get your homework done?"

"Yes."

"Good. The last thing we need is your grades slipping. How is your project coming?"

"I'm almost done."

"Good. Better get back to it, then." There was a rustling sound, like newspapers being shuffled, footsteps on stairs, then nothing.

Tommy snuck away from the house and hurried back down the street so he could meet his friends.

Kim was the first one to notice him when he entered the Youth Center. "Tommy!" she called, hurrying over to him. "How did it go? I still can't believe you did that."

"I didn't really learn anything. Her father asked where she was yesterday, asked about her homework and some project, and that was it. I don't know what I was expecting to learn."

"At least you tried," Trini added as the rest of the friends joined them.

"Yeah, but I'm sure there's something going on there," Tommy insisted. "I guess we'll just have to keep an eye on her."

"How about we ask her to join us at lunch tomorrow," Zach suggested. "If we can find her, that is."

"That's a great idea!" Tommy exclaimed with a smile. "You know what? She was with at least one of us in all of our classes. Whoever sees her last before lunch should try following her and finding out where she goes."

"That is an excellent idea," Billy agreed. Everyone nodded.

"It's settled, then," Jason added. "Tommy, let's spar. We can't do anything until tomorrow."

It turned out that Billy was the last one to see Alexa before lunch. The girl remained near the back of the room until nearly everyone else was out, which made it hard for Billy to easily follow her. Finally, just when he thought he'd have to pretend to talk to the teacher in order to have a good reason to stick around, Alexa left.

Billy followed at a discreet distance. When she entered the music room, he turned and headed for the cafeteria to find his friends.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Tommy asked aloud, frustrated with himself for not thinking of trying the music room the day before. He stood quickly. "Jason, Kim, you guys come with me. We'll bring her back with us."

The music room was quiet this time as the three Rangers approached. Tommy entered the room first to find Alexa sitting by the window just like last time. In the hopes of avoiding another pencil spillage, Tommy knocked on the doorframe. Alexa jumped a little, but she succeeded in keeping her supplies from scattering across the floor.

"What do you want?" she asked quietly, returning to her sketch pad.

"We were hoping you'd come eat lunch with us," Tommy said, entering the room with Jason and Kim following behind him.

"I'm not hungry."

Jason took a single step forward to emphasize his point. "You don't have to eat anything if you're not hungry. You can just sit with us."

"I like to be alone," she insisted. "No need to waste your time with me."

Tommy approached slowly. "Please, we just want to be your friends."

"I've heard that before," she snapped, her voice suddenly sharp. "You'll just try to use me for your own gain."

"No," Kim said quickly. "Honestly, what could we possibly want so much that we'd resort to something so devious?"

Alexa looked up at these words. For the first time, Tommy got a good look at her face. Her already sharp cheekbones stood out like knives in her thin face. Her hair, which glimmered faintly in the light from the window, was actually dull as it hung around her face. Her eyes were dull and nearly lifeless. Yet Tommy could see a tiny spark of something in those green eyes. Something that looked suspiciously like hope.

Jason extended his hand toward the girl. "Come on, just come sit with us." Slowly, Alexa reached out and took his hand.