Chapter 1-Transitions-literal and otherwise

“Okay, now keep up that exact same technique, and continue a few times more.”

Katherine Hillard and Victoria St. John watched closely as their students did the technique that they had taught them earlier and continued to follow it as flawlessly as they could. So far they were doing pretty good, except for Krista who was having a little trouble with the technique. Concerned, Kat walked over to where Krista was to try and help.

“Having trouble?” Kat asked.

Krista sighed. “A little.” she replied.

Kat then motioned for Krista to stop. “Here, follow closely.” and with that she then did the same dance technique that the others were doing but a little slower. Krista saw this and did her best to follow. After doing it twice Krista nailed it.

“All right, now it’s not so difficult, is it?”

“No, not really.” Krista replied.

“Now the key to it is to keep at it until it’s almost all instinct.” Victoria added as she joined in and motioned for the other girls to stop and catch their breath. “Which is actually something that all of you should take to heart: In this, you can’t really afford to lapse, now if you find that you’re not doing it right, that’s okay; just keep at it, though, and eventually you’ll get it.”

As Victoria said this the girls listened intently and nodded.

Victoria then looked at her watch and saw that it was 4:00. “Okay, well, that about wraps up everything for today. Everyone be sure to practice today’s techniques and we’ll continue them next time, all right? Great, see you all Wednesday.”

“Good work, Krista.” Kat complimented.

“Thanks, Miss Hillard.” Krista replied.

--

As Kat walked over to her locker she then opened her bag, pulled out her cell phone and turned it on as she took out some clothes to change into.

“That was pretty good what you did back there.”

“What?” Kat asked.

“You showing Krista the move.” Victoria said as she reached for her own bag to change.

“Well, I wanted her to know how to be able to do the move and be able to keep up.”

Victoria nodded. “True.” She said in agreement as she then looked at her watch and looked at the date. “Amazing,” she said.

“What is?” Kat asked.

“Thanksgiving just ended, and now Christmas is just looming around the corner.”

“I know what you mean.” Kat agreed. “Soon it’ll be 2005 before you can blink an eye.”

“Don’t remind me.” Victoria said as she sipped some water. “In fact, you know what? Forget about the time, the holidays are here at least, and I’m going to enjoy them. Besides, what with our performance coming up, I’d say we’re gonna have a blast.”

“Performance?” Kat asked.

“Oh, Linda didn’t tell you? Every year we do a ballet performance at the civic center downtown every Christmas.”

“Really?”

“Really really.” Victoria answered. “And actually we were planning on telling the girls about it tomorrow so we can prepare as soon as we can.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, I mean, you’re more than welcome to join in, we could use all the help we can get.”

Kat thought for a moment. “Hmm. You know what, I think I will.” she said.

“All right, cool.”

Once Kat was done changing she then heard her cell phone ring. She then slung her gym bag across her shoulder and answered it.

“Hello?” she asked. “Mm-hm. Really? He’s there now?” Katherine then reached into her bag and pulled out a small notepad and a pen. “Okay, I just need the address.” She then began to write the address down on the paper but the ink was too dry for her to write anything. “Damn it!” she said as she shook the pen in an effort to get some ink out of it.

“Here, use mine.” Victoria offered as she pulled out a pen from her bag and handed it to Kat.

“Thanks.” Kat said as she took the pen. “Okay, can you repeat that? Okay…55 W Bullard Ave. Okay, tell him I’ll be there in about 15-20 minutes, but don’t let him leave until I get there, all right? Okay, bye.” Kat then hung up and handed Victoria’s pen back to her. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Who was that?”

“The landlord’s wife to the apartment I’ll hopefully be moving into.” Kat replied. “She just called me to tell me that her husband just got back from shopping and they were going to show me the loft they had available.”

“So you haven’t lived in Reefside long?”

“No, I arrived here just a few days ago.” Kat replied. “I’ve actually lived the past nine years over in London studying dance and before that I lived over in Angel Grove.”

“The home of the original Power Rangers?”

“Um, yeah. How did you know that that’s where they originated?”

“I have an uncle who lives there. When I was a little girl we’d go over to his house and see them on TV a lot. Plus there was even that one time when the mayor had declared a “Power Ranger” day and my uncle took me and my brother to go see it and let me tell you, I could go to a million Bon Jovi concerts and none of them would equal the hysteria and exhilaration I felt when I saw the Black, Pink, Blue, Yellow, and Red Rangers in person. Sadly the White Ranger didn’t show up until later on, but…”

“Wait, you liked the White Ranger?” Kat asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Victoria asked. “Now I know it’s a little weird for me to say this now but yeah, back in the day he was my favorite. There was just…something about him, I don’t know, but it’s like…if you were to see him, you could tell that he just somehow…shone above the others, like he was the heart of the team, even though he never seemed like he basked in it like some glory hound.”

Kat knew all too well as to what Victoria was talking about. When she had first met Tommy she had at first seen him as someone who seemed almost…invincible. That nothing could really break him and even if things were to get serious, he could still keep a calm focus amid the chaos which Kat couldn’t help but find intoxicating. However, when he got “the letter” Kat learned otherwise, but it didn’t hinder her attraction to him at the time, in fact it only made her love him more.

“But anyway, getting back to before, your accent doesn’t sound like someone from around here. Are you Australian?”

“Yeah, I am. From Surrey Hill, actually.”

“So where have you been staying these past few days?”

“Days Inn. I was going to find an apartment as quickly as I could, but things kept coming up. Luckily though I ran into an old friend of mine a few days ago who lives here and with some help from him and one of his friends I was able to look up some apartments. I told them they didn’t have to but they insisted.”

“So you don’t feel much like the new girl now that at least someone you know lives here?”

Kat smiled as an image of Tommy floated in her head for an instant. “Not too much.” She said.

“The person told you that the apartment was on Bullard Ave., right?”

“More or less.”

“Well, come on, I’ll give you a ride. Plus I know the place pretty well.” Victoria offered.

“Well, if you have someplace you need to be…”

“Believe me, I don’t. Besides, the quickest way to get there is by car. You wouldn’t make it in 15-20 minutes on foot.” Victoria said as she reached for her car keys.

“That’s true. All right, let’s go.” Kat said as she followed Victoria out the building’s doors to her car.