Conner licked his lips again, peering towards the school and trying to think about something else. Because it was quite sad when, about fifteen minutes later, he was still unable to do anything but replay the feeling of someone kissing him.

He glanced back at where Trent sat. The other boy was slumped over, head in his hands and elbows on his knees. Conner edged a little closer. “Trent?”

Trent looked up, hair ruffled from where he’d been running his fingers through it. “Have you seen them?”

Them? It took Conner a moment to remember he was supposed to be looking out for Ethan and Kira, not staring at Trent. “Oh. Them. No.” He took a look just to be sure. “No, everyone’s still in class.”

Trent put his head back in his hands.

Conner slid a little further towards Trent, wondering why Trent had chosen to sit so far away. “Trent?”

“Yes, Conner?”

“Do you want to, like . . . talk?”

“About what?”

Conner gaped for a moment. About what? How about the fact that Trent had kissed him? Which wasn’t a bad thing at all. It had been a very good thing. Very good. The sort of kiss that left you feeling like floating, and made you flush just to remember it. And totally hot. Unexpected and scary, but hot.

That’s what he had thought, anyway. Until Trent started ignoring him. Now he was starting to wonder why Trent had done it. “About . . . stuff.”

Trent cast him a look of irritation. “Can you just shut up and watch for Kira and Ethan?”

If Conner thought he had felt shocked before . . . “Dude, chill! What’s wrong? I mean, I’m sorry if you didn’t . . . you know, but . . . it’s not my fault!”

Trent sighed, rubbing his forehead. “It’s not about you. I just don’t want you to miss Kira and Ethan.”

“They’re going to be here all day. That’s kind of how school works. We’ll hear the bell go, anyway. They won’t come out before then.” And hopefully they wouldn’t mind skipping second lesson.

When Trent didn’t reply, just looked away again, Conner slipped the last few yards along the benches, sliding down to sit next to Trent. It was probably natural for him to be snappy, he reminded himself. Evil spells probably had some sort of after affect, like a hangover. And evil-spell hangovers sounded much worse than normal hangovers.

It could even be a bit of evil clinging on. Or maybe Trent had gotten used to acting this way. Conner felt a bit happier. It was almost certainly nothing to do with him. He should just be quiet and understanding until Trent felt better.

Conner sat still for several minutes, trying not to fidget, before deciding that Trent might want to be distracted from whatever he was thinking about. “Trent?”

“Yes?”

“Um . . . I kind of realized something, while you were evil.”

“What?”

“Do you remember . . . we sort of talked, before? And you said you liked me? Well, you thought Kira had said that, so you sort of didn’t tell me, but you still let me—”

“I remember.”

“Oh. Good.” Conner paused, biting his lip. This shouldn’t be so difficult. He knew Trent liked him. He’d told people this before. Girls, but they were still people, even if a bit strange sometimes. “I think I kind of like you too. I mean, not just like, but like-like.”

“Oh.”

Conner frowned. That hadn’t been the reaction he’d expected. “Trent?”

The look Trent gave him was so cold and wrathful, Conner recoiled instinctively. “What’s wrong?” he said, worry and something that felt like fear starting to grow inside of him. “Trent . . .”

Almost immediately, the look slipped away, replaced by something warmer and gentler. To his surprise, Trent reached out and took his hand, squeezing gently.

The warm pressure helped Conner to relax again. “Trent?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been feeling so stressed, what with everything that’s happened.” Trent tilted his head slightly, watching Conner closely. “You really like me?”

Well, he’d already admitted it. Feeling himself blush, he said, “Yes.”

Trent’s smile grew a little wider. “Good. That’s good. I like you too.”

There was still something . . . off. Something not quite right that made Conner uneasy. But Trent was recovering from an evil spell, and it wasn’t like they’d known each other that well. What mattered was that Trent wanted their help, was good again, and still liked Conner. That was all that mattered.

In the distance, the bell rung. Trent dropped Conner’s hand, nodding towards the edge of the stands. “They’ll be out soon.”

“In a few minutes.” He didn’t want to stop sitting next to Trent. His side felt slightly warm and hypersensitive, almost touching Trent. If Conner leaned over just a few more centimeters, he would be— “Ow!”

“Sorry,” said Trent, retracting his elbow from Conner’s ribs. “I think you should go look now.”

Conner scowled. Way to ruin a moment. He got up anyway, walking over to the edge of the stands and peering out towards the school. Kira and Ethan were already out, but talking to Randall. Hopefully not about Conner’s unexplained absence. He hated to think of what sort of excuse Ethan would come up with.

Conner waited till she had left before waving. Ethan saw him, nudging Kira. “What’s up?” she called as they jogged towards him.

He waited until they were too close to run away before telling them. “It’s Trent.”

Ethan looked about two seconds from morphing. He stared when he saw Trent, eyes going wide. “Now I know you’re crazy.”

“I know, dude, but check it out.” Trent wasn’t attacking them. Trent wasn’t morphing. Trent was sitting and watching them with a hopeful expression. “He’s reformed.”

“Really?” Even Kira looked skeptical. Conner tried not to sigh. Wasn’t she supposed to be Trent’s head cheerleader or something? Couldn’t they just believe him? Trent was good again. This should be a happy occasion.

Conner ran across to where Trent sat, Kira and Ethan clomping behind. “Trent?” Kira asked, as soon as they got close enough. “Are you in there?”

“Hey.” Trent stood, looking and sounding nervous. “It’s really me.”

When he didn’t explain, Conner told them, “One of Mesogog’s monster attacks backfired.”

Trent nodded. “I think it released the Dino Gem’s hold.” His eyes flicked between Kira and Ethan, reading their reactions. Conner wished Trent would glance at him again.

“That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” said Ethan, still suspicious.

“Guys, look, I’m really sorry for everything I’ve done to you. You’ve got to believe it wasn’t me. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you . . .”

Kiss me again? Conner’s mind offered. Luckily, Ethan spoke first. “How about returning our zords for starts.”

Trent smiled, almost a laugh, and nodded. “Meet me in the warehouse district this afternoon. I’ll give you back your zords, and I might have a little peace offering as well.”

Conner glanced at Kira, who looked convinced—more than convinced, she looked two seconds from throwing her arms around Trent and hugging him to death, and both of them turned to Ethan. He just shrugged, still looking suspicious. The glance he threw at Trent couldn’t be described as friendly. “We’ll be there. Now, I have to get back to class.”

Class was the last place Conner wanted to go. From Kira’s expression, she felt the same. “You go,” she told Ethan. “I want to talk to Trent a bit more.”

Ethan shrugged, but didn’t protest. Conner wondered how long it would take him to contact Dr. O. Hopefully he’d wait until he was out of earshot. He didn’t want Trent to know Ethan still didn’t trust him.

Kira smiled at Trent. “Are you really you?”

“Yeah. I am. And I’m so sorry for . . .”

“No, it doesn’t matter. I always believed there was good in you.”

Despite the fact that he knew Kira was just trying to be nice, Conner still felt annoyed. Why did she have to point that out? Was she trying to remind Trent that Conner had hated him or something? “I did really,” he offered, but Trent barely glanced at him before turning back to Kira.

“That means a lot,” he said. “I wish I’d told you sooner. Maybe all this could have been avoided.”

Kira shook her head. “Not your fault. I wouldn’t know how to tell someone something like that. But, you know, in future? You can always talk to me.”

“And me,” added Conner, telling himself he was being ridiculous. He did not need to compete with Kira for Trent’s attention.

“Thank you,” said Trent, smiling at Kira. Conner felt like jumping up and down and waving his arms about. “I’m just so relieved that it’s all over, and you’d still forgive me.”

“Of course we would,” said Conner, managing to get it in before Kira. “And soon we can forget all this.”

Kira nodded. “We’ll talk to Dr. O, and meet you this afternoon. Everything’s going to be fine.”

--

“What do you mean we should go morphed?” Conner could hardly believe Dr. O had suggested it. “Why?”

Conner bet that if Dr. O hadn’t been stuck in a helmet, he’d be running his hands through his hair in frustration. Something about his tone of voice suggested it. “Why do you think, Conner? Perhaps because he used to be under the control of an evil Dino Gem? Now stop asking me!”

Conner scowled and folded his arms. “Used to be. Isn’t still. He’s good now! Turning up morphed will be like saying we don’t trust him.”

“We don’t.”

“Well, I do! And you told me that Trent was still good. Why won’t you believe it now?”

Dr. O sighed, and glanced over to where Hayley sat, ignoring them both. Rather than turn up late, Conner had decided to skip school entirely—much to Dr. O’s annoyance, who for some reason felt learning stuff was important. “Conner, it’s good that you trust him, because one day he will be good again. But to me, it just seems a little . . . convenient, that not only does he turn good again, but apparently has technology to help us.”

Conner paused, struggling for an argument. “Sometimes convenient stuff happens. And you weren’t even there when it happened! He’s good again. I know it.”

“Maybe. But I’ve been doing this a long time, and it’s taught me to be suspicious of things like this. So we’ll go in morph. If he is good, he’ll understand.”

“He’ll be hurt because we don’t trust him.”

“I’d rather hurt his feelings than get the three of you killed because we didn’t take enough precautions!” snapped Dr. O. After a moment, he did reach a hand to his helmet. “Conner . . . just trust me on this one, alright? If he’s offended, say I made you do it because I’m old and paranoid or something.”

Conner stared at them, realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere. “Is this because of Ethan? What did he tell you?”

“He told me Trent had apparently turned good again, he didn’t understand how, but that you and Kira believed him. He also acknowledged that even though he didn’t trust Trent, you and Kira knew him better. So don’t get mad at him.”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” Dr. O shifted, like he was debating whether to go over to Hayley or stay with Conner. Eventually, he asked, “Conner . . . are you sure he’s good? That you trust him?”

“Yes!” Had Dr. O somehow missed their entire conversation? “I know he’s good.”

“I just don’t want you to get your hopes up, that’s all.”

“I’m not,” said Conner. The words ‘he kissed me’ hovered on the edge of his tongue, but he stopped himself saying anything. He wanted to tell someone, just because it felt too special to be kept to himself . . . but at the same time, he felt like telling someone might have it seem more ordinary, less like something out of a dream. A good dream, one that he wanted to have again and again.

A good dream for a while, anyway. It probably was just the after effects of the spell that had made Trent act like that—look at him like that. He’d probably apologize later, about the time Conner was apologizing for Dr. O making them go in morph. Everything would be fine.

And maybe they could kiss again. Several times. Or, maybe, just not ever stop. The world could save itself. Conner felt giddy just thinking about Trent, hopeful and happy. He liked Trent, and Trent liked him. Where was the bad in that?

--