Chapter Twenty-Two

Melissa exited her bedroom at a half past six, fully dressed and made up with a flesh-colored lipstick and light green eye shadow. She wore a long silver chain with a wolf-shaped pendant hanging from it which rested just below the nape of her neck and made her look stunning.

Tommy looked at her in surprise. He'd never seen her dress this beautiful before. "Whoa! Why so dolled up?" He asked, taking off his reading glasses to look at her.

"I have a date, Tommy." She said as she gathered a few items into her purse.

"So, who is he? What does he do?"

She could tell he was joking. "Don't start this, now. I'm going to be late." She hurried up and put on her jacket. She checked herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. "Okay, you have my cell phone number. Call me if something comes up, but only if it's a dire emergency. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." He said as she walked out of the front door.

She pulled into the parking lot of The Red Dragon Karate Studio. She saw Jason waiting over next to his SUV, a small smile on his lips.

"Hey." She said, locking the doors to her car. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay." He said, holding out a rose for her. "Here. I bought this for you."

She smiled as she accepted it. "Thanks." She brought it up to her nose and breathed in its sweet scent.

"Shall we go?" He asked.

She nodded as he helped her into the car.

Tommy was busy reading one of his many books on dinosaurs, when he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He set down the book and picked it up.

"Hello?" He asked, taking off his glasses and rubbing his tired eyes.

"Tommy, my boy! How are things?"

Tommy smiled at the sound of the man's voice. "Hey, Uncle Matt… Things are going really good."

"So, you and Melissa are getting along, then?"

"Yeah. We're doing great. I'm afraid she's not here, right now, though."

"Oh… Is she off working on her article?" Uncle Matt asked.

"Uh… no. She… She's out on a date, right now."

"A date?"

Tommy laughed slightly. He knew what this was about, now. His uncle had tried to set him up with Melissa, not knowing that they used to be friends. It was rather funny. "Yeah." He flipped on the TV and began to flip through the channels. He had a feeling this was going to be a long conversation. He always flipped through the channels while he was talking on the phone. He didn't exactly know why, though. It was a bad habit. He had figured he's caught it from Melissa, since she did the same thing.

His feelings of a long conversation quickly faded as he turned on the news. There was a hideous monster attacking Reefside. He needed to do something. "Uh, Uncle Matt, as much as I am enjoying this conversation, I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow." He then hung up the phone and brought his bracelet to his lips. "Rangers, we've got trouble."

Melissa and Jason sat at their table at the fancy Italian restaurant that Jason had made reservations at. He heard that the food was really good, so he figured it would be a good place to take Melissa to make up his leaving on her to hire Conner. It was a really beautiful place with low light, soft music, and great food. It was perfect.

Melissa and Jason talked casually as they smiled at one another. They were happy that they did this. It was a good thing that he had bailed on her at the last minute.

"So, I ran into Tommy, today." Jason said.

Melissa, who had been taking a sip of the wine in front of her, spit it back into the glass. "Really?" She asked, coughing lightly.

"You okay?" He asked, laughing slightly. She just nodded as an answer. "Yeah. I can't believe him, you know. He's changed so much. Can you believe he's a science teacher and has a PhD in Paleontology?"

"Amazing." She said, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

"Plus, he had this woman staying with him." Her eyes went wide. "Yeah, I know. He say's she's a real whack-job."

Her hand tensed around her napkin. "He did, did he?" She asked. Then, she noticed Jason stifle a laugh. She knew what he was up to. "He told you, didn't he?"

"Yeah." He took a sip from the glass in front of him. "Why didn't you tell me you were staying with him?"

"I dunno. I really didn't think about it." She laughed softly.

"So, then, you came up with the story about you staying with a weird psycho?" He asked, not able to hold his smile back anymore.

"I don't know what I was thinking. Sorry." She apologized.

"It's okay, really."

Tommy flew through the air and landed hard on the ground as he tried to fight the monster in front of him and the teens. "Ow!" Was all he said as he got up.

"You okay, Dr. O.?" Conner asked.

"Yeah." Tommy answered as he pulled out his Bracchio Staff. "Let's get this guy."

"You wanna dance?" Jason asked.

Melissa was caught slightly off guard at the question. "Uh… sure." She set down her napkin and took his hand as he held it out for her. "You know, you look very beautiful." He said, softly as they swayed to the music while out on the dance floor.

"It's the dress." She blushed.

"I didn't just mean tonight. You've always looked beautiful." That made her blush even more. She didn't know what to say to that, so she just let out a girlish giggle and that was somethign that she never did. "I have a confession, Mel." He said.

"About what?"

"About why I really asked you out, tonight… I have to admit that I've wanted to do it since high school."

"Really?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I guess I just never got the chance, but I'm glad I got the chance, tonight."

"Me too." She smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder as they continued to dance.

The Rangers were losing. They were all tired and on the verge of collapsing. They needed help and fast.

"We can't do this anymore." Ethan said.

"This guy is too strong!" Kira said.

"We need help!" Conner gave in.

Tommy nodded. "Right. Just hold out a little longer while I call Mel."

"Right." The teens said.

"I'm glad we did this." Jason said.

"Me too. I'm having a really good time." She said as they headed back toward the table, hand in hand.

They blushed at one another as their hearts began to race. They knew what the other was feeling and the feeling was mutual. Their lips needed to meet. They inched closer and closer, until there was only a breath between the two of them.

They smiled, slight as they both leaned in, but groaned when they heard the familiar sound of a ringing cell phone. Melissa rolled her eyes as Jason just gave her a puzzled look.

"Sorry… It's important… I hope." She said as she reached for the distraction. "This had better be good." She growled.

"Mel, we're in very big trouble, here! We need your help!" She heard Tommy say.

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Why now?" She asked. "I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and turned to Jason who was looking slightly hurt. He knew what was coming. "I'm really sorry, but I have to take care of something. It's for work… I'm really sorry." She said as she gathered her purse and her jacket and left Jason to stare dumbfounded at what just happened.

The Green Ranger appeared on the scene, making the others cheer.

"Glad you're here." Tommy said.

"I'm really not in the mood." She said to him as she faced Octopod, a monster that was half octopus and half plant. "Let's get this over with." She growled.

"Ooh! Another girl ranger… I'm shaking in my leaves!" The monster mocked.

"You should be." She said, falling to one knee. "Green Raptor Thunder Blast!" She cried out, the gem in her helmet glowing brightly. Clouds quickly loomed overhead, thunderclaps and lighting strikes occurring almost instantly. She pulled out her Power Saber and raised it toward the sky. "Power Up!"

A bolt of lightning struck her sword, illuminating it. She then proceeded to slash at the Octopod. The monster was being attacked by bolts of lighting coming from her saber.

"Say goodnight, Slimey!" She said as she stopped slashing and watched as the monster was defeated.

"Whoa!" Kira said.

"Awesome!" Conner chimed in.

"Cool!" Ethan added.

Melissa didn't say anything as she walked passed them. She didn't feel as though she needed to.

Tommy felt bad. "Mel?" He asked. She turned sharply to look at him. "I'm really sorry about ruining your date."

She let out a long sigh as her anger subsided. There was no need to be mad at him. "It's okay… I'd better go and talk to him."

Tommy nodded as he saw her slowly walk away.

I recently got a review saying how sucky the last two chapters were. And I thank you. You were the first person to have enough guts to tell me. And I know this chapter wasn't up to my standards either, but this is where I started to get writer's block and when that happens, it just goes down hill.

But, thanks to all who reviewed and I ask that you please keep reading this, because it will get better.