Once a ranger always a ranger

Chapter 2 Tommy's playdate with Ariel

The next morning Tommy walked up to me before class started. "Hey Ariel." Tommy said. "Hey Tommy." I said. "Okay, so I talked to my dad about the playdate thing and I also called my mom to see if I am going to be able to visit her this weekend but she is really busy this weekend so I can't visit her this weekend. The good news is that my dad is scheduling a playdate on Saturday." Tommy said. "This weekend?" I asked. "Yeah. Are you going to be there?" Tommy asked. "Yeah, I just have to ask my dad or my stepmom to drive me." I said. "Okay. It's going to be so much fun." Tommy said. "Especially if you're inviting more than just one person." I said. "I'm having some other friends over to make it really fun." Tommy said. "Great, I can't wait!" I said. A few more days go by and on Saturday morning Tommy's dad woke him up. "Tommy, it's time to wake up." Mr. Oliver said. "Dad, why are you waking me up? It's 7:30 in the morning. Plus, I don't have school on the weekends, you know that." Tommy said. "Did you forget? Today is your playdate with your friends, including your new friend." Mr. Oliver said. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot." Tommy said. "Okay, well, get ready and come downstairs for breakfast." Mr. Oliver said before walking out. Tommy took a shower and got dressed. He went down to the dining room. "So dad, what is for breakfast?" Tommy asked. "Banana nut pancakes and bacon. Your favorite." Mr. Oliver said. "Great. I love banana nut pancakes and bacon." Tommy said. After Tommy was done eating breakfast I rang the doorbell and Tommy came to the door. "Hey Tommy. Is everyone here yet?" I asked. "Not yet. You're the first one to show up. Come on in." Tommy said. I walked in. "So, what do you want to do while we're waiting for the others?" Tommy asked. "How about we watch Bear in the big blue house?" I said. "Sounds good to me. I love that show." Tommy said. "I love that show too. I used to watch it after school all the time." I said.

We watched at least three episodes of Bear in the big blue house while waiting for the others to show up. When the others got there his dad walked up to us and he told us that he will be downstairs in the home office if we need him. We went outside and played a few rounds of tag in the backyard. When it was time for lunch Tommy's dad decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches for us. After lunch we went up into Tommy's room and played with the dinosaur figurines he had. A few minutes later Tommy's dad came up to the room. "How's everyone doing?" Mr. Oliver asked. "We're doing just fine dad." Tommy said. "Okay, by the way, Jason's dad is here to pick him up, so is Kimberly's mom." Mr. Oliver said. "Okay, I guess we'll see you guys at school on Monday." Kimberly said. "Okay, we'll see you at school on Monday." I said as they walked out. After they left Tommy asked me, Billy, Zack, and Trini if we would like to watch a movie. "What movie?" I asked. "I was thinking high school musical." Tommy said. "That's a good movie." Billy said. "Yeah, I just watched it the other day." Zack said. "I would like to watch camp rock." Trini said. "Let's take a vote." Tommy said. We took the vote and the movie that had more votes was high school musical. I never saw this movie before so this would be my first time watching it. Halfway through the movie Zack's dad came to pick him up. After the movie Trini's mom came to pick her up along with Billy's dad. After those two left it was just me and Tommy. At 4:30 p.m. my dad came to pick me up. "Today was great. Thanks for having me over for a playdate." I said. "No problem. We should do this again sometime." Tommy said. "Yeah. We should. I'll see you at school on Monday." I said as I left. "Okay, I'll see you at school on Monday if I don't see you before then." Tommy said. Two days go by and I was sitting by myself on the swings during recess. I twisted my ankle the day before today while I was playing in the backyard at my cousins house. Yes, I was at my cousins for dinner. Anyway, my ankle was still a little sore. It hurt sometimes, but not really bad. It was just a dull, aching pain. Tommy walked up to me. "Hey Ariel, are you okay?" Tommy asked. "Yeah, it's just that my ankle is a little sore. I twisted it yesterday when I was at my cousins house." I said. "How did your ankle twist?" He asked. "I don't know." I said. Tommy sat on the swing next to me. "You know, nobody should be alone. I don't like seeing kids that are all alone." Tommy said. "You sound like someone who is a good friend to a lot of people." I said. "Yeah, my friend group is kinda small right now but if I make anymore friends then it's going to get big." Tommy said. Then I saw another boy. "Who is he?" I asked. "I knew that was coming. That's John, and the girl he is talking to is Kaitlyn. They were the new kids last year." Tommy said. Then John and Kaitlyn walk up to us. "Hey Tommy." John said. "Hey John, hey Kaitlyn." Tommy said. "Who is the girl you're with?" Kaitlyn asked. "Oh, this is my new friend, Ariel." Tommy said. "Hi." I said. "Hey, what's up?" Kaitlyn said. "Not much. What's up with you?" I asked. "Not much." Kaitlyn said. "So, did you just move here or something?" John asked. "Yeah, I just moved here from Pittsburgh this past summer." I said. "It must have been really nerve wracking on the first day of school." John said. "Yeah, it was, except that I already met Tommy by that time." I said. "Really?" John asked. "Yeah, we met at the youth center while she was waiting for her dad to come pick her up after her gymnastics class." Tommy said. I stared to rub my ankle and Kaitlyn noticed. "Are you okay?" Kaitlyn asked getting my attention. "Yeah, it's just that I twisted my ankle yesterday." I said. "How exactly?" John asked. "I have no idea. All I know is that I was playing with my cousins in their backyard when my ankle twisted." I said. "I have twisted my ankle before." Kaitlyn said. "Yeah, but it didn't hurt as bad as the first time. The first time I twisted my ankle was when I went to San Francisco, California with my dad. He was meeting one of his friends and I was jumping on the trampoline with his friends kids in the backyard and my ankle twisted. It hurt so much that I was crying. I don't know if it was because I landed in a weird way or if it was because of something else." I said. "Well, there are a few things you can do to tell if you broke your ankle or just sprained it or twisted it." Tommy said. "Yeah, I know that. There are a few videos on YouTube about that. I was watching one of them the other day." I said. "Which one?" Kaitlyn asked. "The one where this guy talked about how to tell if you broke your ankle or if you just sprained or twisted it and when to go see a doctor about it." I said.

"I have twisted my ankle too. I just don't remember when." John said. "Really?" I asked. "Yeah." John said. "Anyway, we were wondering if you would like to sit with us at lunch tomorrow." Kaitlyn said. "I don't know." I said. "You need some more friends." Tommy said. "I know, it's just that, when it comes to meeting new people, I get nervous." I said. "Don't worry about it. John and I will introduce you to our friends." Kaitlyn said. "Thanks." I said.