Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made.

Jake had promised to keep his distance from Gia, and intended on keeping that promise, but he couldn't stop himself from wishing Mme Lacroix would pair him up with Gia.

It was French class. Jake couldn't remember why he took it, except for the fact that Gia had signed up for it. There weren't many other guys in the class. Optional language courses weren't typically male dominated, which was likely the reason Gia had chosen it. Jake wasn't very good in French, but it was worth the effort to spend another class in the same room as Gia.

Emma, Noah, and Troy had all enrolled in French. Emma had shown an interest in the language for as long as Jake had known her, though he wasn't too sure why, and Noah had followed Jake, assuming learning a second language would be fun.

By the time Troy had gotten to Harwood County High, many of the classes had been filled up. French hadn't, so he had been forced into it. It was obvious on his face most days. From what Jake could see, Troy had very little interest in learning the language.

Mme Lacroix pulled a name from her hat and everyone who hadn't already been chosen listened carefully.

"Mlle Emma Goodall," she called out and reached into the hat once more. Gia crossed her fingers. If she had any luck, she would be paired up with Emma. Anyone else, and not only would she not be able to trust her partner would be of any help to her, but she would likely have to force them to keep their distance, "tu travail en équipe avec… M. Carver et… M. Burrows. Tu as de la chance. J'en ai tiré deux."

Troy looked up when he heard his last name and shrugged. He had no idea what the teacher said. Then he noticed Emma and Noah were both looking his way.

"What?"

"We're partners," Emma whispered.

"Three in a team?" Noah asked.

"She picked two names by accident," Emma explained. Troy shrugged his shoulders and went back to staring out the window. At the very least, Emma seemed to know what was going on.

Mme Lacroix pulled more names from her hat, and each time Jake was relieved. Until he heard his or Gia's name come out of the hat first, he didn't want to hear his or Gia's name.

"Mlle Moran et… M. Hollings, vous êtes en équipe. Voilà, cela est tout le monde. Bonne chance. Travail fort!"

The bell rang for the end of class. Jake stuffed his books in his bags and tried to hide the smile on his face as he remembered the promise he had made to Gia about leaving her alone. But she approached his desk.

"You're not slacking off," she said to him. Jake shook his head.

"I plan on acing this assignment," he told her without looking up. He knew she didn't like him staring. "Uh… by the way, what do we have to do?"

"First, we interview each other," Gia rolled her eyes and explained, "Then, we each write up a report on the other person. In French."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Then we present the report. So you better not make up any lies…"

"I'm not going to lie," Jake assured Gia with a playful smile, "Relax, I can barely tell the truth in French. There's no way I'll be able to lie."

"And no using this to…"

"Gia, you can trust me," Jake finally looked up at her and offered her a sincere grin, "I'm not going to hurt or embarrass you. We work in teams, so I'll let you read over my report before I even hand it in. I promise no funny business."

"I'll hand the reports in," Gia said.

"Alright, sure. So shall we meet at my place or…"

"Ernie's. Tomorrow," Gia turned away, "Don't be late."

Jake nodded as Gia walked off and he continued to put his books away in his bags. Noah came over to him and gave him a gentle pat on the back.

"Give up."

"You might," Jake answered and put his bag on his shoulder, "I really think I'm making progress."

"She's cold and aloof, just like before," Noah rolled his eyes, "Yeah, there's the progress."

"She's more than that. You'll see. When I present my interview, you're going to know there's more to Gia than meets the eye. Everyone will."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Noah followed Jake out of the room and down the hall to their next class. "I know you, Jake, and you're going to do something stupid. Just ask Mme Lacroix if you and Emma can switch partners. I think it's for the best."

"I've waited forever for my chance to be paired up with Gia," Jake shook his head, "I'm not giving that up."

"Mistake!" Noah called out as Jake hurried ahead, "You're making a big mistake!"