My fourth day of freshman orientation was a lot different not only from days one-three, but different than what I expected, so that was what it feels like to have hall credit.

Here's what I mean, you fight off one horde of the living dead's illegitimate love child with the T 800 without them conking you in the head with your own fist to incapacitate you and the whole student body thinks you're some kind of superhero, with the narrow frame I had and zero access to my bow and arrows? Not likely.

You read that right, everywhere I turned within the confines of the campus, someone either looked at me with an awestruck look in their eyes or breathlessly asked themselves or the person they were talking to before they noticed me how I did it.

Silas caught me in the hallway and we murmured our hellos. "Seriously, how does everyone know already?" I asked while continuing to walk, there is absolutely no way everyone here could find out that quickly.

In spite of the limp, Silas managed to keep pace. "Mother and I have been meaning to be more careful about that, if something interesting catches one students eye or ear, word spreads, your mileage may vary on what it spreads like." Silas answered as we sauntered out the door to the courtyard.

"Speaking of mother, I take it you said something to her?" I questioned, feeling a phantom chill.

"I didn't even need to say anything, yet she knew and just my luck, she's indeed sick of running, she wants to assemble a team of sorts, I'd lead but… I'm afraid to." Silas explained, The Phantom chill I felt was stronger, this is how a couple of my Godfather's Power Rangers stories begin, except for the expected leader being scared to lead.

"Either way, thank you for having my back yesterday." I said, thinking back the previous day for distractions sake. "I probably would've been vulnerable and it probably would've been fatal."

"I've been through worse." Silas smiled before it dropped just as quickly. "The reason why my mother and my cousin and I are here instead of remaining in London England was because my mother freaked out after we got into a car accident."

Speaking of 'fatal', "If you don't mind my unintentional prying again, what happened during that accident?" I asked, A man like that in a car accident? he must've saved everyone like the guardian angel he looked like underneath all that angst and gloom/doom, even if that wouldn't explain the scars.

"It's what almost happened that scared my mother." Silas said, sounding a bit antsy, but willing to say it out loud… Or show it, whatever that may be.

He was about to pull down his plain black v-neck T-shirt, most likely to show an injury, maybe those scars, i've got a vague idea where he got them, but is he actually going to tell me?

"Maris." I heard my godmother speak my name… well, my nickname, we turned our heads and saw her, uncle Tommy probably went back to Reefside to prepare for yet another semester of teaching science. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Umm." Silas and I said in unison.

"There's something Tommy wanted to tell our goddaughter, but I'll say it." Auntie Kat said, I'm not sure if she was just trying to get me away from Silas and the struggle to understand the significance of what she could possibly have to say was real that very moment.

"See you tomorrow?" I could practically feel his hands compressing my chest and his lips blowing air into mine when he asked me that, I keep asking this and I will ask it again: why does Silas have that effect on me? I have been told why, but is said effect supposed to be that strong?

But I had to remain self composed. "Yeah, see you tomorrow." My words earned a smile from him before he walked away, dang, that limp is just somehow so attractive, am I the only one attracted to a limp?

I turned around to face my godmother. "What's up?" I asked, noting the serious look on her face.

Aunt Kat took a deep breath. "It's time you knew something." She answered. "When we get back to your house." I wasn't sure where this was going, but we got in the car and drove back.

"Okay." I said, closing the door once the two of us were inside my house. "Is this a couch confession or a dinner table confession?"

I guess it was unanimous. "Couch." We both answered in unison, while beelining the living room furniture.

"Once again: what's up?" I asked, sitting down on the loveseat while my godmother sat on the coffee table.

Poor me, little did I know what I was about to find out about my godparents and especially uncle Tommy.

…

I was pacing around my room like the woman possessed by disbelief her godfather would even do what he did as the Ranger he was when he did it, does he even realize what could've happened to white Drago?

Yep, that's right, my godmother told me she was the second pink Mighty Morphin ranger and Zeo ranger number one/pink and that my godfather was the green mighty morphin ranger and then the white mighty morphin Ranger and then Zeo Ranger number five/red, but the real kicker was the fact that he was also the black brachio ranger.

The Ranger that abandoned a fellow former evil ranger that was adopted, how could he? The man was in the then boy's shoes when he was his then age, adopted and all and he couldn't even drill it into the other Rangers heads that white Drago needed their help, and then to expect Drago to have snitched on his father, lest he be stripped of his morpher when he didn't? I know a team has no secrets, but a team abandons no one at their time of need and he needed the other rangers.

Just as I was about to let out a rage fueled scream, my phone rang from the nightstand at my bedside, the ringtone was Javier Garcia's rendition of The Tide is High, one of his more controversial songs of which made no sense to me whatsoever, hey, if Sixpence None the Richer is allowed to cover There She Goes by the La's, no one gets to criticize Javi Garcia if he wants to cover The Tide is High.

"Just what I need right now." I grumbled, angrily sauntering to the nightstand for my phone before turning it over, pressing the answer button and switching it to speaker mode. "Aloe?" Hopefully my whimsical attempt to not sound like I'm about to punch a freight train or a zord wasn't in vain.

It was Junior, well it was his phone. Hey, how goes your first few days in college? He asked, background voices to follow, seconding his question.

"Mixed at best." Why stretch the truth? Then again, why be brutally honest? I've just been told something problematic about my godfather, why not?

Oh no, what happened? What sounded like Hunter asked, is he and Alastair spending the night with Tori and Blake for something?

A hopefully not frustrated sounding sigh escaped my lips. "Guess nothing I was ready for."

What do you mean? Hunter asked with concern, boy if he… Well, everyone I know knew what of college I actually was ready for.

"I attended my first former homeschoolers anonymous support group meeting." Yikes, at least here was hoping everyone on the other side of the phone line didn't see it as such. "That kinda snuck up on me."

Oh, cool; I hear our cousin Arlo attends those meetings in his spare time. Junior said, The one member of their crouching-imposing-hidden-adorable and affectionate family that I have only ever met because he was in town on assignment, yet it's almost as if I've known him my whole life. He takes the social stigma against homeschooling a little harder than the rest of us and me, Sally, Camari and Alastair rarely ever taking it hard, that's saying something.

"Well to top it off, I think i've got a sponsor, one meeting and already, I have a sponsor." I said, unsure of how to bring up Silas to these guys, I think Hunter sees me as the daughter he never had… well, the more responsible daughter, Sally might be the fun loving daughter he never had, your guess is as good as mine, he has a son.

My guess is, Tori was listening in. Oh, what's this possibly sponsor like? She asked, I guess I am a practice daughter for her… For when her actual daughter starts liking boys or… It's the 2020s, I don't know, there isn't even any telling if she can sense what my answer is about to be.

"Well…" oh man, just thinking about him makes it hard to function like a human being not stricken with panic. "He's on the Spectrum like me and he's from what sounded like the Middle East." Come to think of it, talking about the day prior to finding out what I found out did me good. "And not bad looking, Not bad looking at all."

Why does that concern anyone what he looks like? Sally chimed in, poor dear sweet naïve Sally, was I like this at her age? Am I like this now? Heaven knows just how embarrassing that would've been. "Will I understand when I am older?"

"Seeing as you kind of didn't react well to being told about the birds and the bees, I don't think you'll understand even when you're older." Was my answer to Blake's 12-year-old gender swapped doppelgänger.

Well, anyway, we'll let you go, you've got school tomorrow. Junior said. Well, the rest of us will let you go, my mom seems to want to talk to you for a few more minutes.

"Okay, bye." I said, I heard some bustling and after that, I was sure that it was just me and Tori. "There's something on your mind that only I get to hear, isn't there?"

This possible sponsor of yours sounds like a catch, what does he look like specifically?Tori asked, gosh this conversation is going to fail the Bechtel test, also, I can almost hear Hunter rip the phone out of Tori's hand and grill me about Silas.

Speaking of rip… "You should've seen how I reacted in his presence, his muscles have muscles and he is handsome, it just about gave me a heart attack and the mental image of me lying on the floor while he's attempting to revive me leaves third-degree burns on my brain." Say what you will about what I just said, but something in me felt relief now that I got that off my chest.

Oh… Kay… then. That would've been the reaction I would've given as well. That didn't actually happen, did it?

"Do you hear the sounds a hospital would have?" I asked. "I promise I'll be careful, for some weird reason though, I think he can also tell when I'm distressed."

Well… anything else out of the ordinary? Even by culture shock standards? Tori asked, probably to change the subject for the sake of keeping me out of distress.

It did not work, I mean, do I dare to say I was attacked by what appeared to be foot soldiers straight out of a collaboration between George Romero and James Cameron? Do I ask if they already knew about my godfather's Power Ranger past, abandonment of white Drago and all? Say what you will, but I've got a very sticky craw.

"Why, did you hear about anything?" Was all I could think of at the moment.

No, I only want to know you're okay. Could she tell too? Culture shock on its own must be hard enough. Well don't I know it? Well, enough girl talk, I should let you go.

"Right, school tomorrow, I will hopefully get used to saying that soon." That was true and only for the slightly better as far as it concerned me. "Talk to you later."

Bye. We both spoke in unison before we call ended.

I eventually dozed off.

…

A really bad pit in my stomach woke me from my sleep in what looked like the middle of the night and maybe I was thinking going to the bathroom could have helped.

That was funny, no flashback, not even a dream, I couldn't for the life of me understand.

but for some weird reason, when I passed the guest room my godmother slept in, she could be heard talking as if she was up.

"Tommy, why did you tell her those stories?" She asked with a frustrated moan.

Seems she was on the phone… And it was on speaker mode with my godfather on the other line. She needed them and she needs them now more than ever. Tommy answered, him and his by automatic thinking that I was offered such an opportunity to become one and ever will.

"She was upset, finding out about us upset her." Kat whisper-yelled, I was upset about what uncle Tommy did as Dino thunder black brachio, unless Kat was there encouraging him to do what he did, and he neglected to tell, this does not concern her.

I highly doubt you have any thing to do with that, it was all me. Something tells me he didn't go back to reefside for the reasons that were too easy to guess, very cowardly of him, is it not?

"I should probably get some sleep… We both should, I'll see if she wants to talk to me and we'll hope for the best from there." Kat sulked.

Okay, I love you. Tommy said.

"I love you too." Kat said, that was my cue to get back to bed.

I crept back into my room, sat on the bed and looked at Space Ruby. "I may never forgive him for this." a quiet sigh escaped me in frustration, I laid down on my bed and fell back into another dreamless flashbackless sleep.