One Riot, One Ranger

Twenty Three

|Chase's POV|
I had to drag Tayra away from Ivan or he would be toast if I wasn't able to stop her. Once Tayra and I were in the gym, I released her wrists.

She bolted for the gym's door, trying her best to get out and get back at Ivan.

"Tayra, stop!".

She turns around and looks at me like a kicked puppy. Her eyes were dull blue and her hair was a mess.

"Ivan has no right to say those things about me!".

"Hey, hey. Don't listen to him, okay, Tayra," I say, watching as she begins to pace back and forth.

Tayra slid down the wall opposite where I stood, pulling her knees to her chest and she rested her head on her knees.

What I heard next surprised me. Tayra was crying.

"Maybe Ivan's right," she whispers.

"Ivan isn't right, Tayra. He's been captured for 800 years," I say walking over to her.

She takes a deep, but shaky breath as she mutters to herself. I sit beside her and I pull her into a hug. Tayra doesn't speak or move much, but she welcomes the hug.

"Forget what Ivan said, Tayra, because you've come along way from that goofy girl I met two years ago.".

She lifts her head up, then she asks,"You thought I was goofy?".

I nod.

"Why?".

"Because, Tayra, you are. You were super silly and goofed off after working at the Café. I also remember when you put your goofiness aside to help patch Tyler's second degree burn up and stopping the grill fire from spreading.".

Tayra looks me in the eyes and asks,"When Tyler burnt those brontoburgers and accidentally burned himself?".

I nod, smirking.

"I only did what I knew I was supposed to do. I didn't want you, Shelby, Riley, Tyler, Koda, Xenia or myself to get hurt that day," she says, weakly smiling.

"What about the time I sprained my left wrist after falling off my skateboard?".

"I didn't want you to be in pain, so I wrapped it and told you not to skate again until it was healed, but you didn't listen because the next week your left wrist was in a dark purple cast," Tayra responds.

I begin laughing, then I say,"I only got back on the board because Riley bet me twenty bucks that I wouldn't get hurt again, but I lost the bet when I landed on that wrist and broke it.".

Tayra begins laughing as well. At first it's a small giggle like laugh, then she has her eyes closed and she holding onto her stomach.

"That.... Was.... Funny.... Even.... Though.... You.... Got.... Hurt," she says in between laughing and trying to catch her breath.

I nod again as Tayra lays her head on my right shoulder. She looks at me again and smiles.

She begins to lightly sing Nickleback's song 'Far Away', smiling as she does. I join in on the second verse, smiling as well. After a few minutes we're both singing 'Folks Like Us' by Montgomery Gentry.

I close my eyes for just a moment, but Tayra suddenly curls up against me and she begins lightly snoring.

We need to make sure Lothor didn't regain control of Hunter, I think as I watch Tayra's sleeping face.

"Hey, Chase you ok-," Riley begins to say as he walks into the gym, but I silence him by saying, "Shush" and pointing to Tayra.

"She calmed down," Riley whisper-asks.

I barely nod, Riley taking that as a yes.

Riley nods and he leaves Tayra and I alone. Tyler, Nick, Kendal, Koda, Chip and Xander take turns checking on both of us throughout the rest of the day, but Ivan doesn't come anywhere near Tayra, possibly because he's afraid of making her go off again.

Today couldn't get any worse.