The Dragon's Ring

Chapter Two

*21 MINUTES LATER: 8:32 AM*

It has been a few minutes since Mr. Bodkins fired Mikey and Bodkins himself getting slapped by Melissa, everyone just sat in the chairs in the living room, not saying anything.  Melissa looked at Mikey and was feeling concerned.  Since he just lost his job, what was going to happen next?

Melissa finally broke the silence.

"Mikey, are you okay?" she asked him and Mikey turned his head to face Melissa who was sitting on the chair to the right of his.

"Yeah, I am okay" Mikey said, "Honestly, I was planning on quitting that job anyway, but the money was good so I decided to just stick around"

"Ugh, you could have done better than that" Vixen said making everyone turn their attention to her, "There are many places that are better than your old job"

"The money was tight, Vixen" Mikey said, "Plus, we were struggling after my mom lost her job 4 years ago so I had to find a job quickly.  It was all up to me to help out until Tony got the job to play for the Eagles a year later"

There was silence for a moment.

"Are you going to get a new job, Mikey?" Melissa asked him.  Mikey thought about it for a moment before he spoke.

"I don't think so" Mikey said, "Mainly because I can invent stuff I want to invent and don't have to worry about other things getting in my way.  I know you guys are worried for me, but I don't need you to worry.  I can take care of myself"

Everyone just let out a sigh.  Ever since Mikey became an inventor, he always disregarded everyone's concerns for him, his health and his safety.  No matter how hard they try to get him to relax and take a break, he shrugs them off.

"Mikey, we know how much you love to invent things, but you can't go beyond your limit" Tony said to him.

"Tony, it's my life" Mikey said.

"That's so very, very sad" Robert said and left the living room and up the stairs to his bedroom to do whatever he likes to do in there.

"Come on, Mikey" Melissa begged, "Just take a day-off from inventing and do things you used to like doing"

"Sorry Melissa, I am not that lazy and video game loving kid I used to be" Mikey said.

Just before Melissa could say anything, Tony interrupted as he jumped out of his seat.

"Melissa, I want to talk to you 'in private', please?" Tony said.  Melissa was at first confused.

When she and Tony first met a few years ago, alongside Mikey, they never actually talked about anything between just the 2 of them in person.  Believe it or not, Tony knows that Mikey and Melissa have crushes on each other, but Melissa doesn't know that Mikey likes her and Mikey doesn't know that Melissa likes him.

Tony then looked at Mikey.  Mikey knew what he was going to do.  He was going to tell her that he likes her.  Mikey wanted to say something that could stop Tony from doing it, but he knew if he tried anything, Melissa would become suspicious and he didn't want her to know yet as he felt like it wasn't the right time.  But, it looks like Tony was going to do it for him.

"Um, sure" Melissa said as she got up and walked up to Tony and led her to the bathroom underneath the stairs, shut and locked the door.

"Melissa, there is something you need to know about Mikey" Tony said which caught her attention.

"Okay?" Melissa said in curious matter.

"Mikey likes you" Tony said to her.

Melissa felt her heart skip a beat when she heard this.  Mikey Kowalski, the well-known inventor of Bethlehem, likes her.  Melissa has had a crush on Mikey since she first met him 5 years ago and always wondered if he felt the same way for her.  5 years later, she now knows.

"How do you know?" Melissa asked him.

"It doesn't take a genius to find out" Tony said, "But don't tell him I told you.  He will lose his shit if he does as he didn't want to tell you because he felt like it wasn't 'the right time'"

"I won't" Melissa said as they walked out of the bathroom but when they turned their attention to Mikey, he was giving Tony a really nasty stink eye.

"What were you guys talking about in there?" Mikey asked them, pretending he didn't know.

"Nothing important" Melissa said and Mikey looked at her.

'He knows' she thought to herself, 'He is a lot smarter than I thought.  I like that'

The 2 sat back down on their respected seats and no one said a peep.  Mikey continued to give Tony the stink eye, which Tony obviously noticed but Mikey wanted him to notice.  Vixen didn't know why he was giving his brother the stink eye, but she guessed it was something he didn't want Tony to tell Melissa by the looks of it.

"So, does anyone know about the new exhibit that opened a month ago?" Melissa asked everyone which made them turn their heads to her.

"What are you talking about?" Mikey asked her.

"What?!  You don't know?!" Melissa asked him in shocked tone.

"No" Mikey said.

"Well, have you heard of the Dragon's Ring?" she asked him.  That made everyone's, except for Mikey's, eyes widened at the mention of that name.  Mikey, however, was confused.  What was this 'Dragon's Ring' that everyone seems to know.

"Um, what is this 'Dragon's Ring'?" Mikey asked her.

"The Dragon's Ring is a legendary ring that was said to have been created in the 6th century during the Medieval times in England" Melissa began to say, "For many years, people thought it was just a legend, a myth and others think it doesn't exist"

"Okay, so what does that have to do with anything?" Mikey said in a tone that sounded like he didn't care but really, he was getting interested and curious.

"Believe it or not,... it's real" Melissa said and that made everyone, and once again except for Mikey, to gasp, "The ring was found last year and it has been confirmed to be the real deal"

Mikey literally wanted to laugh and say that they shouldn't believe what everyone was saying, but didn't.  If he had to be honest with himself, he wanted to see this 'Dragon's Ring' thing himself.

"How about we go there and see it?" Melissa suggested, "The museum opens in 20 minutes and it can be just the 6 of us"

"You guys can go" Mikey said as he got up from his chair and was beginning to walk away, "I am going to stay here and work"

"Oh come on, Mikey" Melissa begged and started doing the 'puppy eyes', "Please?"

Mikey looked at her and wanted to say 'No' and just walk away, but now that she knows he likes her, he couldn't bring himself to do it.  He looked at Tony and gave him a very nasty and angry look.

"I want everyone to be ready in 20 minutes" Mikey said as he walked up the stairs to get ready as everyone silently cheered that it worked.