Chapter 3: Obsession

Jason lay awake in bed that night as well. It wasn't dreams keeping him awake; he couldn't get what happened at the Youth Center off his mind. Nothing like that had ever happened before. The Red Ranger rolled to his side and closed his eyes, hoping sleep would come. No such luck.

Behind his closed lids, the scene replayed itself over and over. Tommy's face inches from his own, Tommy's hot breath against his ear as he whispered his taunt, the green sparks in his eyes, and the cruel smirk on his lips. Even after battling monsters like Goldar, this was far scarier to him for some reason.

With Goldar, Jason knew the ultimate goal was killing him. That was true with the other monsters Rita sent as well. Hell, that was definitely the Green Ranger's goal too but there was something else. In that instant, it felt much more personal. It wasn't just good vs. evil or Red Ranger vs. Green Ranger. It was Jason vs. Tommy.

Sighing, Jason rolled onto his back again, trying to keep his eyes closed and will himself into sleep. Was it really Jason vs. Tommy? The Green Ranger was under a spell; this wasn't truly Tommy. Whatever lay deep inside the evil Ranger, it was frightening as much as Jason hated to admit it. He promised himself that he would never allow one of his Rangers to be alone with Tommy or take him on in battle by themselves. As much as he could, the Red Ranger would challenge him and intercept any attacks on the others.

In a few more hours, his alarm was going to ring and it would be the start of another school day. That meant interacting with Tommy in public again and hoping his stunts didn't go too far. Since sleep didn't seem to be coming, Jason got up and walked into the bathroom. Catching sight of himself in the mirror over the sink, he gingerly touched the bruises that had formed over his chest and stomach from the "sparring" match. No, he would never, ever allow his friends to be alone with Tommy Oliver.

Tommy was running late to school. Rita and Goldar had insisted on going over the afternoon's battle with him right before he was to teleport to Earth. He power walked the rest of the way down the sidewalk, swearing under breath, and into the building just as the bell rang. Great. Peaking down the hallways, he didn't see Mr. Kaplan anywhere. Throwing his backpack into his locker and grabbing his English book, he then slipped down the hall to Ms. Appleby's classroom.

"Glad you decided to join us, Mr. Oliver, " Ms. Appleby sighed. "Take a seat and turn to page 63."

Tommy smiled his brightest smile. "Sorry Ms. Appleby."

Turning towards the class, he realized the only empty seat was behind the Red Ranger himself. This is going to be fun! The look on Jason's face as he walked slowly by was worth being late. The other rangers also gave him shitty looks but the Green Ranger plopped down in the seat and when Ms. Appleby's back was turned, gave them all the finger. Kimberly rolled her eyes and turned back to the lecture. Trini shook her head and whispered something to Billy. Zack happily returned the gesture. Jason hadn't even bothered to turn around but the tense set of his back muscles gave away his feelings.

Reclining back in the seat, Tommy kicked his feet up on the shelf under Jason's seat and every few minutes "adjusted" his feet, kicking Jason's chair in the process. Finally, when Ms. Appleby stepped out to pick up handouts she left in the front office, Jason whirled around and glared. Tommy just smiled as sweetly as possible. "What's the matter, Jason?"

Other students had picked up on the tension Tommy was creating and listened for Jason's answer. Catching sight of the interested students, Jason forced himself to smile in return and calmly reply,"Just wondering if you realized you're kicking my seat."

"Oh! I'm so sorry Jase! I didn't!" he answered in mock horror. The other students shook their heads about the drama and went back to talking amongst themselves.

Jason clenched and unclenched his fists as subtly as he could. Tommy removed his feet from under Jason's chair and leaned slowly forward until his face was uncomfortably close to the Red Ranger's. Jason reflexively pulled back and Tommy chuckled.

"Bet it sucks knowing I'm sitting back here and you can't see what I'm doing," he snickered, remembering Jason's comment at the Youth Center. "Don't worry, you'll know what I'm up to soon enough."

As awkward as it was, Jason leaned forward again toward Tommy. "You know we'll stop you."

"We'll see, Ranger. We'll see."

At that moment, Ms. Appleby returned and started passing out her homework packets. The class groaned. "You can work together on this assignment but I expect each of you to hand in your own packets with the work written in your own words."

When Jason received the packets, he thrust one behind him at Tommy, without even looking. Grinning evilly, Tommy grabbed the packet and gave a sharp yank. Jason gasped and pulled his hand to his chest. His palm absolutely stung and when he was able to carefully open it, bright red blood trickled from the cut. It was a pretty wicked wound and hurt like hell.

Raising his other hand, Jason requested to be excused to the restroom. Ms. Appleby smiled and nodded. Trying to be as casual as possible, Jason got up and walked to the door, making sure to keep his hand relaxed and natural. Once he hit the hall however, he cradled it back to his chest and dashed to the restroom. Swearing softly, he put his hand under the faucet and ran cold water over it.

He couldn't believe he opened himself up for that. But honestly, giving him a paper cut? What an asshole...

Back in the classroom, Tommy pretended to look through the papers he'd ripped out of Jason' hand. That was pretty funny; he hadn't expected it go as well as it had. The others clearly knew something was up. Zack was mouthing something at him; Tommy smiled and pretended not to understand him. Trini and Kim were whispering to each other and looking at Jason's empty seat.

Then the knob was turning as Jason let himself back into the class. He glared at the Green Ranger as he walked to his seat and sat down. Tommy wished he could see what the cut looked like.

Soon it was noon and the lunch bell rang. Jason gathered his stuff and stood up. Thank God that was over. He walked over to his friends who stood around Billy's desk.

"Jase, what happened?" Trini asked, her eyes going back to the Green Ranger who was sauntering toward the door.

"Him being an ass is what happened." He nonchalantly opened his hand and showed his friends the nasty paper cut to his palm.

"Oh that looks really gross!" Kim choked out.

"Man I'd love to smack the shit out of him!" Zack seethed.

"No, let it go. When he attacks again, we've got to keep our tempers in check. Me included. We can't let our anger get the best of us; that's how he'll win." Jason sighed.

"Well I'm starving. Let's get some grub!" Zack changed the subject as some other students got too close for comfort while they were leaving.

The five friends walked out of the classroom and down to the cafeteria.