Chapter 2

Adam walked up the sidewalk along the tree-lined path. There were mature fir and crepe myrtle trees with shaped bushes of roses and beds of tulips along the freshly poured concrete path. Aisha and Kim lived in the building across the path from the building he and Rocky lived in. A few families and many of the graduate and older undergraduate students that also attended the university lived there, keeping the apartment complex quiet. Between the two buildings, Adam passed the community pool and grill along with the workout center. He saw Kim's pink Beetle parked in her usual spot and smiled when he spotted the pink and white artificial daisies in the car.

When he reached their door, he could hear Kim's voice inside.

"No, I'm sure he's single. At least I haven't seen him with any girls lately," he heard Kim say from inside the apartment.

He waited for an answer from someone else behind the door.

Nothing.

It was perfect timing. She must be on the phone and Aisha is definitely not home yet. He knocked on the door, shifting his books and sweatshirt to his left shoulder.

"Just a minute," Kim called from inside. "Who is it?"

"Um, it's Adam."

"Oh!" Kim opened the door.

"Hey!"

"Adam, what's going on? I thought you were coming by later when Aisha got out of class." Kim asked stepping aside to let Adam walk into entryway of the kitchen.

"Yeah, I was…I am," Adam said, nervously as he stepped into the sunny apartment. "But, I need to talk to you about something and I didn't want her to hear."

Kim closed the door and turned to face him with a look of puzzlement. "Okay…about what?"

Adam walked over to the kitchen bar and sat on one of the stools.

"It's a long story," he said, draping his sweatshirt across the adjacent stool.

"I'm getting a little worried," she said, opening the refrigerator and poking her head in, "you don't usually want to talk to me like this. Hey want a juice?" she popped back up from the refrigerator with two glass bottles of apple juice.

"Sure," Adam said, reaching for the cold juice. "Kim, it isn't anything bad. I just need you to do me a favor."

Kim's eyes narrowed as she drank from the frosty bottle and leaned against the counter. "What kind of favor?"

"Well, Rocky wants to join this fraternity and they're having a dance for his line next Friday. At first he was going to ask Nicole but she and Jared finally hooked up."

"Really? Good for them," Kim said, as if she expected the news.

"I know," Adam nodded in agreement, "but now he wants me to ask Aisha. Well, he wants me to ask Aisha to go with him."

"Okay…so…like, where do I come in?"

Adam stood up and nervously shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"I don't think I can do it," he said, pacing between the kitchen bar and living area.

"What?" Kim said, visibly confused.

"I can't ask her for him," he said, finally sitting down on the grey sofa.

"So, I'm guessing you want me to ask her for you. Am I getting this?"

"Yes—no!" Adam put his head into his palms in frustration. "Kim, I'm not sure. I was going to ask you to ask her, but now I realize that's not an option."

Kim placed her bottle on the counter and sat down next to Adam on the sofa.

"Adam, I'm really confused. Why don't you just tell Aisha how you feel? You've loved her since-"

"No!" Adam was shocked. "How can you tell?"

"We all know how you feel about her. I guess everyone except Rocky."

"Kim, what am I gonna to do?"

"Why don't I ask Rocky out? Frat dances are fun. I'd love to go and I'm sure Aisha would only have said yes because he's her friend."

Adam thought about the proposition.

"Kim, that's a great idea! Rocky just wanted a date and you're a date. He gets what he wanted!"

"Glad I could help?" Kim was definitely confused again.

Adam turned to notice the puzzled look on her face.

"Well, you know what I mean."

"I do. But you still need to tell Rocky the truth," Kim said, getting up to grab her still cool juice. "And Aisha how you feel."

Adam sighed and leaned back into the cushions of the sofa. "Great, you sound just like Tommy now."

Kim stopped drinking and swallowed a large gulp of apple juice. "What do you mean by that," she asked apprehensively.

"He gave the same advice earlier this morning when we were in the library. By the way, Kat and Tanya are moving Saturday and it sounds like they need major help. If you and Aisha are free, they could use more hands packing the smaller items. We're supposed to head over about one o'clock."

"Yeah, that sounds doable. I'll talk to Aisha tonight, but I think she's off this weekend. I have to work at the studio on Sunday morning, but as far as I know I'm off all of Saturday."

"Cool. Hey, please don't say anything about the rest of this to Aisha. I'm not sure if I'm ready to tell her how I feel yet." Adam sat up to face Kim as she sat down next to him again.

"I promise," Kim hugged Adam as he forced a smile. "Aww, Adam. I wish you had kept Aisha from leaving. It changed so much in the timeline."

The timeline changed for everyone.

Adam let the words echo in his mind for a moment.

"I don't think it would have made a difference with Aisha if I said anything then," he said, "She was determined to stay. By the time we found out she wouldn't be coming back, her mind was solidly made up. The ironic part was that the effects of time reversal were the reasons behind the plague affecting the animals. Once things went back to normal, they began to recover. She theorized it was the time shift that effected their metabolism and the bacterial growth cycle...or something like that."

Kim looked at Adam with bewilderment.

"Kim, I know she has tried to explain this to you as well."

"She has, but I never understand half of the science words between her and Billy. I don't know how you catch it all."

"I guess I'm used to it. Did she tell you I visited her twice before she returned to the States?"

"Of course. She actually called me right after you teleported out. But I always wondered how you got away with it. We were always told we couldn't use our powers that way. Only official Ranger business. Like, no unnecessary drains on the Power Grid."

"Billy recharged the Power Grid and I begged Alpha and Zordon one night practically in tears. I'm not too proud of that…but the outcome was worth it. And she will never know that part, either!" Adam held up his pointer finger for emphasis as if to threaten Kim.

Kim giggled at his lack of ability to be menacing. As shy as he was, Adam's attempts at threats never landed hard. But she knew that he would be devastated if she broke her promise. "I understand."

"You know, she and I became a lot closer after she left," Adam paused before adding, "I love her Kim."

"Aww," Kim squeezed Adam in a tight hug and kissed his cheek. Adam didn't open up often to them about his feelings. She knew he loved Aisha, but to hear the words from him weighed heavily given his private character. "Adam, don't let her get away again."

"I won't." he smiled.