Once a ranger always a ranger

Chapter 1 Ariel meets Tommy & his friends

AUTORS NOTE: As all of you know Jason David Frank (aka: Tommy Oliver) passed away. I wanted to do this story in memory of him.

I was waiting for my gymnastics class to start one day at the youth center. My dad would drop me off at the youth center in town and I would go into the girls locker room and change into my leotard that I wear for gymnastics. After class I would change back into the clothes that I was wearing when I got to the youth center and my dad would come and pick me up. Sometimes he would be stuck in traffic so it would take him a little longer to get to the youth center. When that happened I would watch one of the martial arts classes. One day I was walking to the juice bar to get a drink and watch the martial arts class when I bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." Tommy said. "Actually, I should be the one who's sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going and I know that I probably should have been watching where I was going." I said as I got up. We made eye contact with each other. "I'm Tommy. Who are you?" Tommy asked. "I'm Ariel. It's nice to meet you." I said. "It's nice to meet you too. Are you here for the martial arts class?" Tommy asked. "No, I was just at my gymnastics class and I'm waiting for my dad to come and pick me up. He sent me a text saying that he's stuck in traffic." I said. "Your dad allows you to have a cell phone, at this young age?" Tommy asked surprised. "Yeah." I said. "You are so lucky. My parents won't get me one until I am thirteen years old. I am so jealous of you right now." Tommy said. "Don't be. My dad just doesn't want me to get hurt. If I get hurt or something I need some way to contact him." I said. "Okay, that's understandable. I mean, you are his little girl." He said. "Are you here for the martial arts class?" I asked. "Yeah, I better get over there before they start without me." Tommy said. "I'll come with you. I was headed over to the juice bar for a drink anyway." I said. We walked into the area where the martial arts class was and the juice bar was in the same area. I walked over to the juice bar while Tommy went to his martial arts class. Ernie walked up to me. "Hey Ariel." Ernie said. "Hey Ernie." I said. "What can I get you today?" Ernie asked. "Just the usual." I said. "Coming right up." Ernie said as he went to go get the usual drink I get which is apple juice. When it's cold outside I usually get hot chocolate. The juice bar just doesn't have those two drinks, they can also make milkshakes and smoothies. Ernie gave me a glass of apple juice. I was watching the martial arts class when I got a text from my dad. He was in the parking lot now. I texted him back saying that I was on my way out. I looked over at Tommy one more time before leaving. "Maybe I'll catch him in school tomorrow." I thought to myself. Then I walked out. The next day at school I was walking to my classroom when Tommy caught up with me. "Hey Ariel, what's up?" Tommy asked. "Hey Tommy, not much." I said. "You're new here, aren't you?" Tommy asked. "Yeah, just moved here this past summer." I said. "From where?" Tommy asked. "From Pittsburgh." I said. "I've heard of that city. It's pretty big." Tommy said. "Not as big as New York City. That one is bigger." I said. "Hey, I have a few friends that I would want you to meet. You'll be able to meet them during recess." Tommy said. "Okay." I said as we walked into our classroom. We were in the same class. It's only the first day of school and I get to meet my classmates. Later that day at recess Tommy walked up to me with a few of his friends. "Hey Ariel, I would like to introduce you to my friends. These are my friends Jason, Billy, Zack, Kimberly, and Trini. Jason, Billy, Zack, Kimberly, Trini, this is my new friend Ariel. She's new here." Tommy said. "It's nice to meet you." I said. "It's nice to meet you too." Kimberly said. "So, did you just move here?" Jason asked. "Yeah, from Pittsburgh." I said. "So, you're a big city girl." Trini said. "I guess you could say that." I said. They played some kind of game that they made up. It was like a boys vs. girls kind of thing. (I did something like that during recess when I was in elementary school) Later that day at lunchtime I sat with Tommy and his friends. The reason why I sat with him and his friends was because I didn't really have a lot of friends. The next day I met this other girl named Carly and me and her became good friends. We were both in girl scouts and whenever we had a girl scout meeting after school she would let me know at the end of the school day. Tommy and I became best friends. It was like I could tell him any secret, but only if he promises to keep it before hand. After a few weeks have gone by I noticed that Tommy was acting a little weird during recess so I went to go talk to him. "Hey Tommy, are you okay?" I asked. "No, I'm not okay." Tommy said. "What's wrong?" I asked. "I don't want to talk about it." Tommy said. "Tommy, I can't help you if I don't know what's going on. What's going on?" I asked. "Okay, I'll tell you, just promise that you won't tell anyone." Tommy said. "I won't tell anyone, I promise." I said. "Okay, it's just that my parents have been aurging a lot lately. I just found out this morning that they are getting a divorce." Tommy said. "Oh, Tommy, I'm sorry to hear that. Who are you going to be living with?" I asked. "I'm going to be living with my dad. My mom is the one that's leaving." Tommy said. "You should have probably seen it coming if your parents were arguing a lot." I said. "Yeah, I guess. It's just hard for me. I know that both of my parents love me. It's just that I'll be able to visit my mom on the weekends." Tommy said. "Okay, I really don't know much about this whole thing. But I just want to say that it's not your fault. I know you feel like it is but it's not." I said. "Yeah. I know." Tommy said. Then we went back inside for our afternoon classes. After school I was walking home with Tommy. "So, I don't think we're going to be able to hang out on the weekends if you're going to be visiting your mom on the weekends." I said. "I could try to work something out with her so that we could still hang out with each other on the weekends. Let me talk to my mom about it this weekend and I will tell you what we think will be good so that you and I can hang out on the weekends next week at school during recess." Tommy said. "Okay. That sounds good to me." I said. We got to his house and walked up to the front door. "Thanks for walking home with me." Tommy said. "No problem." I said. "Maybe I can talk to my dad about having you over for a playdate sometime." Tommy said. "That would be great." I said. "Okay, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school." Tommy said. "Yeah, I better get home before my stepmom starts to worry about me." I said. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." Tommy said. "See ya tomorrow." I said. Then I walked home.