Chapter 29

"DONNY!" I called up the stairs to him. He was still in the bedroom and I had his lunch all ready made. He still had to eat breakfast though. "You're going to be late!" I added and walked away back into the kitchen. "First day of work and he's going to be late..."

Donny came rushing down the stairs. "How many times are you going to call me? I told you I would be down in a minute."

"I know, but you didn't come down in over two minutes," I replied. "I wasn't sure if you fell back asleep or not."

Donny sat down at the kitchen table. "It's my first day of work, Ann. Do you really think that I'm going to sleep in late? Then they'd defiantly know that letting me take that test to get in was a big mistake."

"Eat your breakfast," I ordered. "What are you teaching exactly?"

"Science," Donny answered. "Ninth graders."

I started to laugh. "I remember my ninth grade science class."

"Were you good?" He asked.

"I was," I replied. "My class wasn't. I mean, my science was...sometimes. That's only because my teacher was strict and half of the class was afraid of her, though."

Donny paused. "Well, I'll just hope that my classes aren't like that."

I bit my bottom lip. "I wouldn't count on it. My class was the worst and all the other classes after mine were just as bad."

"Thanks for the encouragement." Donny sighed.

I smiled. "Your welcome."

Donny stood up. "I'm going to go now." He said.

"All right. Good luck and have fun," I watched him walk over to the front door. "Cue freaky horror music." I added with a giggle.

Donny shut the door behind him. "Goodbye, Ann!"


"Dishes are done!" I smiled as I put away the last plate. I looked around the kitchen and nodded. "I did a good job. Now, I'm going to go into the living room, sit down, and watch a movie all by myself!" I walked into the living room and walked right back into the kitchen as I played with my ring finger. "It would help if I grabbed my wedding ring." I muttered.

I walked over to the kitchen sink and placed my hands all over the counter top. "Wedding ring...wedding ring...where's my wedding ring...?" I paused and scanned the counter with my eyes. "I can't find my wedding ring," I stated. "Shell."

"I know I put it right here! Right on the counter! I was washing the dishes, didn't want it to get wet and slip off of my finger, so I put it right next to the sink. Oh, God. What if it...?" I looked down the drain. I took a couple of deep breaths before I continued. "No, Ann, don't scare yourself. It must have just slipped off of your finger when you were..." I opened my eyes and looked around. "When I was what? What did I do so far this morning? Where did I go?"

I walked back upstairs and into my bedroom. "Okay, I'm going to retrace my steps," I talked to myself. "I woke up," I pointed to the bed. "I sleep with my ring on. Then, I went into the bathroom." I left my room to go into the bathroom. "I brushed my teeth." I pointed to my tooth brush. "I don't take my ring off while I brush my teeth. I took a shower." I pointed to the shower, trying to re-picture myself doing these things so I could figure out when and where I took my ring off.

I looked down the sink drain in the bathroom. "Oh, God, I hope not." I muttered. Then, I heard the ringing, so I went back into the bedroom and checked the Caller ID. "Oh, it's Leo," I picked up the phone as calmly as I could. "Hello?"

"Hi, Ann--" Leo began.

"I NEED HELP!" I burst. I was so petrified of what was going to happen to my ring that I decided I should ask the turtles to help me out a little bit.

Leo's eyes grew wide. "Okay! We'll be right there!" He hung up the phone.

I slowly hung up the phone afterwards. "I didn't even tell you what I need help with..."


Weapons drawn and in a fighting stance, Leo, Raph, and Mikey all burst through the front door.

I slowly came walking down the stairs. "What are you guys doing?" I asked.

Leo let his guard down. "You said you needed help."

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. "Not that kind of help!"

"Oh." Mikey lowered his guard as well and put his weapons away.

"What do you need help with then? You made it sound as though...Oh, never mind." Leo put his swords away.

"If you don't need help, why'd you call?" Raph asked.

"I do need help," I corrected him. "And I wasn't the one who called. Leo called me."

"Oh," Raph became confused and he looked at Leo. "Why'd you call her?"

"I wanted to ask her--" Leo interrupted himself. "Ann, what did you need help with?"

"Well..." I finished walking down the stairs and I stood in front of the three of them. "I kind of..."

"What did you do now?" Raph rolled his eyes.

My jaw dropped. "Again! You're blaming me for something that I might not have even done!" I shouted. Actually, technically it is my fault, but...

Mikey stepped in front of Raph. "Ignore him. What happened?"

"I lost my wedding ring." I spit it out.

Now it was Mikey and Leo whose jaws dropped.

Raph rolled his eyes again. "And you said that you didn't do anything?"

"I didn't say that," I protested. "I said it might have been something that I didn't do."

"When did you last have it on?" Leo asked.

I looked up at the ceiling to thing. "Um...Before I realized that it was gone."

Raph groaned. "Ann..."

I shrugged. "I'm sorry. I all ready retraced my steps, but I can't seem to find it anywhere!"

"Okay, let's not panic," Mikey began to walk through the house. "What rooms have you been in today?"

"The bedroom, the bathroom, and the kitchen." I replied.

Mikey smiled. "No problem. There are four of us. We'll split the room evenly."

"Right," Raph said dryly. "There are four of us and three rooms."

"Oh," Mikey paused. "Never mind."

Leo shook his head. "Guys, just look where ever you want. It might not be in those rooms."

"What?" I replied.

"You could have lost it last night. You never know." Leo responded.

"But I had it when I went to bed last night." I protested.

"Then it's probably under your bed or something." Raph suggested.

I shook my head. "I had it when I was washing the dishes this morning. I think that's when I took it off so it wouldn't get wet."

"Maybe it fell in the drain." Mikey stated.

"It didn't fall down the drain." I said through gritted teeth.

Mikey backed up a little. "Okay. It didn't fall down the drain."

Leo sighed. "Well, we're not going to find it standing here wondering where it's going to be, now are we?"

"Right," Mikey made a determined face and ran away. "I call the kitchen!"

Raph began to walk up the stairs. "Of course he does."

Leo followed Raph. "I'll take whatever room he doesn't take."

I nodded. "Thanks. I'll be in the kitchen with Mikey."


I walked into the kitchen and watched Mikey dig in the refrigerator. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Did you make Donny lunch and breakfast this morning?" Mikey asked, without getting his head out of the refrigerator.

I nodded. "Uh-huh."

"It could have fallen in here, then." He replied.

I looked over at the counter. "Why is the bread out of the bread box?"

"Did you make him a sandwich?" Mikey asked.

I nodded again. "Yeah."

"It could have fallen in there," He stated. "But it didn't."

"So why didn't you put it back?" I asked before interrupting myself. "Why is the peanut butter out?"

"Did you go into the cabinet to make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Mikey wondered.

I shook my head. "No."

Mikey hesitated a response. "...Oh. Then, uh..."

"Mikey," I sat down at the kitchen table, leaning my head against my elbow. "If you wanted to get something to eat, all you had to do was say so."


The bell rang and Donny glanced up at the clock. He closed his book with a smile and put it away. Okay. My first class will be coming in any minute. Donny stood up and looked at all the empty desks in front of him. This is going to be so weird. I'm not used to this. Donny sat back down and looked outside the door. Kids were walking through the halls and passing his room, but none of them were coming into the classroom.

"Yep...Any minute," Donny repeated himself, tapping his fingers on the desk. He looked back up at the clock. Every single one of his students were one minute late. "Where are they?" He asked aloud.

Donny looked back up that the clock again and walked out into the hallway. There weren't any kids out in the hallway, but there were kids in the other classrooms. I do have a first period class, right? He walked back into his room and checked out is schedule. Yes I do. He walked over to the telephone and called the office. This is going to be a good first day...


Raph checked under the bed, under the mattress, under the pillows, inside the pillows, in the drawers of the two dressers and nightstands. "I can't find it anywhere," He muttered to himself as he looked around the room. "Should I get the vacuum and try to see if it...No. I can't do that." Rach sat down on the bed and looked around the room staring at the huge mess he made.

"Although, I am going to need a vacuum, probably." He bit his lower lip, wondering how Donny and me were going to react when we saw what he did to our room.


The bell rang for the kids to be moving to second period. "Okay, guys, I'll see you tomorrow," Donny closed his book. "And on time!" He added.

All the kids walked out of the classroom without a word to Donny. He sighed. "Let's skip class on the first day because we have a new teacher. I swear it's like being the new kid in school all over again."

A kid in his second period class came in.

"Hi." Donny smiled.

The kid raised an eyebrow at him. "...Hi."

Donny slightly nodded his head and sat back down in his seat. "Okay, awkward..." He mumbled to himself.


Leo leaned against the bathroom door. "There is no way I am ever going to find this ring," He looked at the mess he made in the bathroom. "Donny's going to kill me."

"Leo?" Raph came over. "Any luck?"

"No," Leo shook his head. "You?"

"Nope. Do you want to come down to the kitchen with me to see if Mikey and Ann found anything?" Raph asked.

Leo nodded. "All right."


Donny smiled at the class once his third period class walked in. "Hi. My name is Mr.--"

He was interrupted by all the kids dropping their pencils. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Green," He tried to finish. "My name is Mr. Green and I'm going to be your science teacher for this year. So, let me take attendance." He turned around to grab his grading book off of his desk and noticed a note on the board saying, "Mr. Green smells!"

Donny started laughing. "Ha, ha...Very funny, guys," He said as he turned back around to look at the class then he glared at them and pointed to the board. "Who wrote that?!"


"Did you guys find anything?" Leo and Raph entered the kitchen.

Mikey and I were sitting at the kitchen table. The kitchen was a huge mess as we tore everything apart looking for the ring. We also tore the living room apart.

"No." Mikey replied.

"We even looked into the living room." I added.

Leo sat down at the table next to me. "Ann, I know you don't want to admit it, but I think your ring may have fell into the drain. You and Mikey stay down here and look in the kitchen sink and Raph and I will look in the bathroom sink, okay?"

I gave up. The drain seemed to be the only place it could be by now. "All right," I stood up and walked over to the sink and opened up the cabinet beneath it where all the pipes were. "I hope Donny's having a better day than this."


The bell rang once again and Donny's third period class jumped out of their seats and ran out of the room.

Donny plopped himself in his seat. "Finally! Fourth period!" Donny had a free period that period. He put his head on the desk, but lifted it when someone came in. Oh, no.

"Hi," Another teacher came in. "I'm Mr. Scott and you are...Mr. Green, am I right?"

Donny nodded. "Yes. Hi." He stuck out his hand and Mr. Scott shook it.

"How's your first day going?" Mr. Scott asked.

"Horrible." Donny replied.

Mr. Scott nodded. "Yeah, that's just the first day, though. Plus, you're a new teacher so that probably has something to do with it. But, the freshmen class this year is...bad."

"You teach freshmen too?" Donny asked.

Mr. Scott shook his head. "Seniors and juniors. I just know how bad the freshmen are this year because one of the other science teacher's teaches just freshmen."

"But this teacher's not new?" Donny said.

"No, she's been here for a while," Mr. Scott explained. "I think this year's freshman's class is just from another planet or something."


Donny came in through the front door and closed it behind him. "Ann, I'm home!" He took a peek into the living room and saw the mess. "What...The...?" He ran into the kitchen, which was also a huge mess and he saw Mikey under the sink. "What's going on?!" He demanded.

I jumped and turned around. "Oh, hi, Donny. I didn't know you were home."

"What happened?" Donny asked again.

"How was your first day?" I smiled.

"Horrible, what happened?" Donny repeated.

"Oh, really?" I frowned. "Why?"

"Stop changing the subject! What happened in here?!" Donny yelled.

Mikey came out from underneath the sink. "Oh, Ann lost her wedding ring." He replied, bluntly.

I looked down at Mikey and glared at him. "Thanks a lot."

Mikey shrugged and went back under the sink.

Donny sat down at the table and banged his head on it. "This has just been a very bad day today..."

I sat down across from him. "Why?"

"First all my classes treat me like the new kid and I come home, the house is a total mess and I find out you lost your wedding ring." Donny explained.

"We'll find it," I reassured him, not about to make myself believe that it was long gone. "And it was only the first day. They'll be better tomorrow. Did you make new friends?"

Donny sighed at me. "Ann, I'm not legit the new kid!"

I leaned back in my seat. "I'm sorry, but what else do you want me to say?"

Donny ignored me. "I have to do it all over again tomorrow..."

"But tomorrow's Friday. Then you have the weekend!" I smiled.

Mikey came over and stood next to us. "And then he has to go back in on Monday, and then Tuesday, and then Wednesday..."

"You're not helping." I glared at him.

Donny groaned. "I'm going to take a nap." He walked up the stairs.

"Um," Mikey poked me. "Is he going to be able to take a nap?"

"WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE?!" Donny shouted from the bedroom.

I shook my head. "Nope."


Ann: That's the end of that chapter. I'll try to update soon. Thanks for reading and please review!