Tally was leaning back against her giant fleece pillows, a juice propped up by her hip and headphones over her ears. She was staring intently at the TV while a textbook sat open and ignored on her knees. Her gaze slid to the door as Tori waked in, and she pointed wordlessly at the TV.
Tori followed the finger to blurry but recognizable footage of black-clad ninjas on the streets of downtown Blue Bay Harbor. She sighed, sinking down on her own bed as she watched. It had only been a matter of time before someone caught them on camera.
Tally slipped her headphones down around her neck and gave Tori a knowing look. "That's you, isn't it."
There wasn't much of a reason to deny it. "Yeah," she admitted. "Sensei needed someone to clean up the ones that didn't get thrown back into the Abyss."
"That is so cool," Tally said solemnly. "You're like, a superhero or something. You're practically a Power Ranger!"
The new students didn't know. Everyone who had been freed from Lothor's ship to fight at the Abyss knew who the Rangers were--they'd see the entire team demorph. But that was as far as it went. The Rangers' identities were supposed to be secret, and the ninjas who knew them honored that tradition. Anyone who had joined the academy since the Abyss didn't know and wasn't supposed to be told.
That didn't mean they wouldn't find out eventually, of course.
"Something like that," Tori said with a small smile. "Kind of eats up my free time, though." Her surfboard was still on the floor, taking up half the walking space in the room.
"Oh, that reminds me." Tally sat up, catching her juice just before it would have fallen. She reached for the notepad by the phone and tossed it in Tori's direction. "Someone from the dance department called."
"About the meeting tonight?" Tori looked at the pad, but all it said was Field Hall, 7PM. "I meant to e-mail them to let them know I can't come."
"I told them you'd be there," Tally said with a shrug. "They're expecting you at seven."
"Tally!" she exclaimed. "There's no way the teachers' meeting will be over by then. I can't be there at seven!"
"Actually, it's a funny thing about that." Tally settled back against her pillows, giving her book a token glance without picking it up. "You know my friend Eric's in Sensei Dustin's class, right?"
She continued without waiting for acknowledgement. "Well, it turns out that he kind of hit it off with one of his classmates... Marah? And she says that Dustin's skipped those teachers' meetings twice already 'cause he had to work. So I figure, what's the difference between working and school?"
"Okay, I'll be freaked out by your social connections later," Tori told her. "Right now, the difference is that Dustin has to work. He doesn't have a choice."
"And you have to go to school," Tally pointed out. "How are you going to be a productive member of the campus community if you don't do anything but study and go to class?"
Tori gave her a suspicious look. "Weren't you the one who was just telling me that you wished you could devote more time to your ninja studies?"
"Weren't you the one who was just telling me how important school is to you?" Tally countered. "This is part of school. Come on, I'll go with you and cheer you on or carry your bag or something."
A reluctant smile tugged at her lips. "It's not that kind of meeting."
"Bummer," Tally said with a shrug. "You sure you want to go, then?"
"Now you ask?" Tori couldn't help an incredulous giggle. "You're as bad as my friends."
"If you're talking about Shane and Dustin, then I have a lot to live up to," Tally deadpanned.
"You're there," Tori promised. She paused, then held up the notepad with a genuine smile. "Thanks."
Tally flashed her a smile in return. "Sure."
He was staring at the computer monitor, watching as it pulled up file after file of diagnostic reports, and he admitted--somewhat grudgingly--that Kapri did in fact know what she was doing. The motion detector above the main entrance went off and a quick scan box appeared in the upper right corner, complete with digital picture. The visitor wasn't totally unexpected.
"I thought you were supposed to leave the computer alone for a few days," Hunter's voice said a moment later.
Cam didn't bother turning to look at him. "I'm not typing," he told the monitor. "I'm just watching."
"TV was invented for a reason," Hunter replied.
"Did you skip your coffee this morning or what?" Cam asked the monitor. "I'm still waiting for you to get over your morning grumpiness and it's--" His eyes flicked to the clock at the bottom of the screen. "Six oh-four. In the evening."
"I've been living on coffee lately," Hunter said grimly. "It's not enough."
That statement finally prompted Cam to turn, eyeing Hunter with grudging concern. "Not getting enough sleep?"
"You know how it goes." Hunter shrugged it off. "Always more stuff to do."
Cam frowned, but if Hunter didn't want to talk about it than he wasn't going to try and drag it out of him. "I tried to call you," he said at last. He reached out and snagged Hunter's phone from the nearby tabletop. He held it up, then tossed the device over when Hunter lifted his hand. "You didn't pick up."
"The ringer's not as loud as it used to be," Hunter answered, pocketing the phone. "Can't hear it from another town. What'd you call for?"
"To see if you were okay."
Hunter raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Cause I was such a nice guy this afternoon?"
"Pretty much," Cam agreed. "Are you just having a bad day, or do you have something against Mei Lien?"
Hunter hesitated. "Yeah," he said at last, shifting a little. "Sorry about that."
Cam didn't answer. He wasn't the one who deserved an apology, after all.
"Look... I'll apologize to her later, okay? I just--" Hunter stopped, frowning. "I just didn't expect to see her here, that's all. I didn't know you had non-Ranger people working down here."
"You know Kapri's been working here all along," Cam pointed out.
"She's different," Hunter insisted. He didn't back down when Cam rolled his eyes. "She is, and you know what I mean. She was in the middle of the whole Lothor thing with us. Mei Lien wasn't."
"Well, she is now," Cam informed him. "She's good with the computer and she can fight as well as anyone. What else do you want?"
"I want to be here," Hunter muttered. He caught Cam's puzzled look and added, "I can't keep up on anything lately. Blake won't tell me what's going on with Factory Blue, Dustin had to tell me about the Skyla thing 'cause I haven't seen Shane in ages, and I don't even know who you've got working down here anymore. It's weird, okay? I didn't expect to walk in and see this random girl sitting at the computer."
"She's not a random girl," Cam said sternly. "She's a ninja student, and she's lonely. I'm just trying to give her something to do that she's good at."
"Yeah, right, whatever." Hunter waved it away. "It's fine. But do you have to invite her to lunch with us? I barely get to see you--any of you--as it is. It's better not to have strangers tagging along."
Cam opened his mouth to protest that she wasn't a stranger, but he managed to keep himself from saying it. That wasn't the point. He wouldn't be thrilled if Hunter had invited someone else along without asking him, either. "Okay," he admitted. "Maybe that wasn't the best idea."
Hunter's mouth quirked, and he jerked his head back toward the steps inquiringly. "So?" he prompted, as though his question was obvious. "You hungry now, or what?"
They hadn't gotten lunch. The monster alert had made sure of that. But Cam had plans for the evening, plans that involved work he hadn't been able to get to all day, and plans that definitely didn't include hours spent away from the academy. "Sorry," he began, shaking his head. "I really have too much--"
"Lousy excuse," Hunter interrupted. "Don't wanna hear it. Come on, we can eat right here on campus. Half an hour, tops. You'll work faster on a full stomach, right?"
Cam sighed, but he really should take the time for dinner. At least that hungry feeling in his stomach would stop distracting him. "Fine," he agreed. "You go ahead, I'll just tell Kapri that I'm leaving for a little while. I'll be up in a minute."
"Cool." Hunter gave him a smile that could have melted his amulet at the Abyss before turning to bound out of Ninja Ops with about twice as much energy as he had brought in with him. Not fair, Cam decided. He was negatively effecting the energy balance of the room.
"You don't have to tell me, Cousin," Kapri's voice announced from around the corner. She sidled into the room with a knowing grin on her face. "You're going to dinner with Hunter. I heard. Have fun!"
Cam frowned at the phrasing. "I'm not really going to dinner with him," he corrected, "so much as we're both eating dinner and we happen to be doing it in the same place."
"Shyeah, that's going to dinner with," Kapri declared. "Which is so totally great, because seriously, you two look so cute together!"
Cam just stared at her for a moment. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said finally.
"Uh-huh," Kapri agreed. "But don't worry, we won't tell anyone."
"We?" Cam repeated, getting to his feet. His lack of comprehension had never stopped Kapri before.
"Me and Marah," Kapri said blithely. "But we can totally keep a secret. We won't tell anyone. Well, not anyone else."
"Anyone else," Cam echoed, following her toward the steps as she backed up. Sometimes he thought it might help to speak whatever language Kapri spoke, but then he thought that maybe it would take all the challenge out of working with her. Plus he had a sneaking suspicion that her "language" was nothing less complicated than Teenage Girl, which he knew he didn't have a chance of mastering.
"Well, anyone other than the people who already know," Kapri was saying. "And they're pretty trustworthy. We haven't told anyone else. At least, not more than a few other, really trustworthy people."
Cam was still trying to herd her toward the exit--or, failing that, at least get past her so he could reach the exit himself. Kapri was still happily trying to explain herself.
"Mostly trustworthy," she was telling him. "You know, pretty trustworthy. Like, you'd loan them a bobby pin, but probably not your hairdryer. And I don't think we told... well, definitely not more than a dozen, anyway..."