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I'd like to say I hope you enjoy reading this! I'm always up for suggestions so please don't hesitate to send me a review(:
Please review "There You Go Again" :D

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Troop.

SYNOPSIS: After Hayley's heart is broken, there's no better thing to do but to immerse herself in monster hunting; especially when there's a rare but vicious monster on the loose. But what happens when she finds herself falling for someone she'd never expect?

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Chapter 1: Getaway

I huddled myself into a ball, hiding my face away from the outside world. I couldn't let anyone see me cry. I sat in the corner of the Troop's headquarters, whispering to myself reassuringly that everything would be ok. I glanced at my watch and realized I was late to cheer-leading practice. Knowing that Roxanne would probably want to bite my head off for skipping another practice was a thought that entered my numb brain, but for some reason, I just didn't care.

Hayley Steele does not cry.

I sobbed. I knew I was stronger than this; I knew I shouldn't be crying. Especially over Brett...

Brett and I had been dating for a month now and today was supposed to be our one month anniversary. I was so excited because I believed Brett was 'the one'- the one to sweep me off my feet, wipe away my tears and be the prince to my happily ever after. But sometimes, things don't go the way you want them to. And that broke my heart the most.

I had luckily gone through the day without any monster encounters. I had finished most of my homework early so I could spend my whole evening with Brett. He had clued me in on a romantic evening and I was bursting with excitement. It wasn't until later, when I had waited for him in the school parking lot for almost an hour when I saw his car and witnessed something I probably shouldn't have.

Brett and Roxanne, my cheer-leading captain and friend, were making out in the back seat of his car. They didn't notice me as they continued to suck each others' faces; even when I swear I heard my jaw break and hit the floor, along with my heart.

Without thinking, I ran. I ran and ran and ran til I was short of breath to the only place I knew no one would see me. I shut the Troop's headquarters doors and set them to lock-down mode, so no one could find me either. And when I collapsed on the floor, I deteriorated into tears because the guy I had given my heart to had just broken it, and with a supposed friend, nonetheless.

As I relapsed into deep and meaningful thoughts, my watchcom beeped. Hesitant, I wiped my wet eyes and accepted the incoming message.

"Hayley?"

A husky voiced Jake was on the screen; his usually curly hair damp from what appeared to be pouring rain, and his eyes were still the same chocolate brown colour that made me melt inside so damn easily when I had first met him. Before that though, Jake and I barely talked because well...I never did know why. I always found him a little interesting. But after Jake had joined the Troop, we had gotten to know each other a lot better. He was an over-confident idiot and a little slack on Felix, but he only wanted to protect us and make sure we were ok, even if it meant him getting hurt. It was something I had always admired from Jake because I wasn't even sure that I had that quality.

"Oh hey Jake," I fake-smiled, trying to be happy, "What's up?"

"Nothing much, you know, I'm just stuck outside the Troop's headquarters and I'm unable to come in and it's pouring out here like a freakin' waterfall," he shouted angrily.

My bad mood was instantly erased when Jake had started another one of our infamous bickers. It wasn't my fault that he always had to start up a fight, though maybe it was my fault I always fought back. Whoops.

"Well lap up the water, Jake," I sneered, "Think about all of the African countries out there who don't get a single drop of clean water, though they really need-"

"Have you been crying?"

The question shattered my train of thought as I looked at him. He seemed curious yet caring and I had the urge to tell him everything then and there.

But that would show weakness. Hayley Steele does not show weakness.

I ended the watchcom call as I entered the security code and opened the doors to reveal a shivering Jake. His black shirt clung to his upper body at all the right places and I had to stop myself from gaping. Who knew Jake would have muscles? As he walked in, he left trails of puddles; all different shapes and sizes. His blue jeans were now an almost black colour; like the colour of his black sneakers and I was genuinely worried he would get sick.

"Took you long enough," he mumbled under his breath, as I fought back a smile.

Jake sat down on a chair and feeling pretty guilty that it was my fault he was wet and could have a chance of getting pneumonia, I grabbed a towel from my bag, that I usually carried to wipe off any goo when one of the monsters exploded.

"Here," I offered, handing him over a pale yellow towel, "Sorry for changing the code. I needed time to think to myself and I thought this was the place. I'll change it back to its original settings,"

Jake took the towel and started to wipe his hair and his face. I walked away to the main computer and changed the security code to its previous ways, so Felix and Mr Stockley- if they were coming, wouldn't have any trouble with entering the headquarters like Jake did. It was silent for a couple of minutes as I was rattled around my own thoughts; filled with the betrayal and hurt that my heart was enduring right now.

"Thanks for the towel," Jake whispered, breaking the silence.

"No problem," I replied, a little dazed, "Sorry for making you wait outside. You could've gotten sick and you could've died and-"

"Oh please, Hayley," Jake cut me off arrogantly, "I can fight monsters. No sickness can take me down!"

I rolled my eyes, attempting to remain emotionless but Jake shot a grin in my direction, and it got the better of me. His stupid smile was infectious and that wasn't fair. Jake was the prick to my side- the little flea a dog can never get rid of, and yet the guy was practically making me laugh and feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, even though I knew I should be feeling empty and destroyed.

"So why are you here, Jake?" I asked, still wondering what had brought Jake here on a Monday, "And what happened to the weather? It was sunny last time I checked..."

"Felix called me and said to meet here in 15 minutes because Mr Stockley had told him to tell us that there was an emergency. I was with Leanne in the school front yard anyway so I just decided to come here after he called me because it was starting to pour. The weather's been so weird lately, I mean, one minute it's sunny and the next it's all rainy and gloomy," Jake explained, "It's like the weather follows your emotions. I swear every time you're happy, it's all bright outside and when you're upset or angry, there's a crazy storm going on,"

I chuckled at Jake's analogy between me and the weather, because to an extent, I had to agree. The weather had changed quickly, from sunny to stormy; just like how my day had been. The day had started off great and I was as content as a little kid on Christmas, but ended up as a depressing catastrophe, like my relationship with Brett.

Unlike my pitiful excuse of a love life, Jake's was currently blossoming. Leanne Williams- a girl in our year was currently dating Jake, and frankly, I had no idea what he saw in her. I mean, sure she was quite pretty with her straight black hair and her baby blue eyes. She was the popular but quiet kid at Lakewood High and she was on the cheer-leading squad. I guess she was smart and good-looking and...dammit, maybe I could see what he saw in her. Unlike all the other girls Jake had shown interest in, Leanne was actually pretty decent, and in his league.

"You were with Leanne?" I questioned, suddenly numb from everything else that had happened today, because the subject of Leanne and Jake, for once, had made me feel uncomfortable.

Before Jake could answer, Mr Stockley, in his trademark black suit, and Felix in a white shirt, an orange jumper and black jeans came barging through the door. Unlike Jake, they were dry and had their own separate umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain. Luckily though, Jake was almost dry now.

"Hello Jake, hello Hayley," Mr Stockley greeted politely.

"Hi Mr Stockley," I smiled, as Jake just got up from his seat and folded his arms.

"So what's this emergency, that we had to come here," Jake stated curtly, emphasizing this comment so I would know he really didn't want to be here and talk to me.

"Well Jake, there's been a serious outbreak of monsters in Japan. The Japanese Troop have requested our services to help them capture the monsters and detect the source. We fear the worst," Mr Stockley replied with a touch of despair.

"And what would the worst be?" I said, looking towards Felix who was tapping away at his new computer.

"Well, the worst would be a monster called the Vortex," Felix sighed, "They are very rare so that's good but if the Vortex isn't slayed soon, an army of monsters will come out from it and create havoc across the globe. But calculating the resources and the members of the Troop we have right now...there is very little chance that we can overcome them,"

"Wow," I breathed, "We better get over there as fast as we can. Akira, Yuki and Keiko need us! They came to visit us last time and we need to protect them before these monsters get out of control!"

"Calm down Hayley," Jake said humourously, rolling his eyes, "You just want another excuse to see Akira again. We all know he had a thing for you and you had a thing for him. But remember, you have an idiot boyfriend, Brett,"

Tears threatened to spill as they started to swell up in my eyes. I had temporarily forgotten about Brett and the overwhelmingly painful hole he had made into my chest, but now I was so rudely reminded. I looked away from Jake and stared at my feet, clearly avoiding eye contact. As I felt Jake's concerned gaze on me, my cheeks started to heat up and I cursed inwardly.

"Anyway..." Felix continued, sensing the awkwardness between Jake and I, "Mr Stockley's got our travel details all planned out. He sorted them out when we were in class today, right?"

"That's correct," Mr Stockley nodded, as he continued to explain the rest of our arrangements, "You'll catch a flight this evening and arrive in Japan after 12 hours. I know it's long but there are some sacrifices we just have to make. After, you'll be picked up by the Japanese Troop at the airport and they will take you to your hotel. You'll have the day to settle in, eat, etc. and then you'll have a good night's rest because the next day will be full of monster hunting and fighting. Do we understand each other?"

Jake and Felix nodded but I was still unsure of leaving the country in such an emotional wreck. What if I fought lousy and put the lives of the others around me in danger?

"Now Miss Steele, I hope you're not reconsidering this opportunity to save the world. It's an all expense paid trip to Japan to fight monsters and maybe after, even explore the atmosphere. Before you worry too much, I've told your parents and Felix and Jake's family that you guys will be going on a school excursion because you had gained a scholarship to attend a mime workshop for 2 weeks. Hopefully, I won't need to prolong your stay, because I think 2 weeks will be sufficient. What do you think, Hayley?" Mr Stockley smirked.

"It sounds pretty full-proof to me," I chuckled, "I'm in,"

"Then it's settled," Mr Stockley exclaimed, "Now go home and pack. Be back in 2 hours or you can't receive your new weapons and other technology Felix has developed for you guys to assist you with your mission. And here's your tickets, just in case your parents ask to see them,"

"Thanks Mr Stockley!" Felix replied happily as he grabbed the tickets and handed them out to Jake and I, "This is going to be so exciting! I've never been to Japan before!"

Jake and I both laughed. Leave it to Felix to be so excited that it was enough to distribute among the 3 of us. I had to admit though, that I was also quite ecstatic about going to Japan too because I could see Akira, Yuki and Keiko again. I didn't have a great deal of time bonding with Yuki and Keiko because they were off chasing after Felix, and Akira...was quite the charmer. Maybe I could go on an actual date with him this time and forget all about that stupid, no-good cheater of a boyfriend.

As I continued to ramble in my own thoughts, Jake nudged my arm and shot me a confused look.

"You ok?" Jake questioned softly, "You didn't say bye to Felix when he left. I had to say you were far too frozen with excitement for the Japan trip,"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I smiled weakly, "Just...a lot going through my mind right now. I'll apologize to Felix later. Thanks for covering me, Jake,"

"No problem," he replied, matching my hushed tone, "So I'll see you later at the headquarters?"

"Of course you will," I laughed smugly, as I turned around, ready to walk down to my street, "Think I'm going to let you get all the monsters without me?"

"Didn't think so," he mocked with a fake disappointed tone, "Oh and Hayley?"

I whipped my head around and I was surprised to see Jake so close to me. I was just about to stumble back when a pair of lean but muscular arms encircled my waist. My breath hitched as I looked up slightly and stared at chocolate coloured orbs. I never realized how beautiful his eyes were; how smoldering and how alluring the colour brown could be when they were on a person like Jake. For a second, I thought if I leaned in a little closer, I could reach Jake's pink, soft looking lips but immediately shook that idea out of my head when I felt his hot breath against my ear.

"Don't think I forgot, Steele," he whispered lowly, as I tried to contain a shudder.

"Forget what?" I croaked, my throat obviously dry from how close Jake and I was right now because friends didn't stand as close as this.

"How you never told me why you were crying because Hayley, you can't hide things from me," he smirked devilishly, (which was too attractive for me to experience up so close) as I bit my lip in anxiety, "You know I know you too well,"

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So here's the first chapter of "There You Go Again"
Hope you enjoyed it & if not, tell me how I can improve this!
Please review! Thank you(:

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