They didn't know. You didn't want them to know, either. You had two homes. The lair. And your home with your father. You had your own room in each of these homes.
Each were the same.
Each had full length, body mirror in the corner.
You'd study you figure for hours on end.
You're fat.
You know that.
You try to do something about it.
At first you had just cut back on the food.
And you were still called names.
Kids at school still threw food, papers, and miscellaneous objects at you along with hurtful words.
Then you started counting how many bites of food you ate a day.
You felt happy when the numbers on the scale began to go down drastically. Casey often asked you if you were ok after noticing your weight going down.
You told him yes.
You lied to him.
You lied to the turtles as well.
But more specifically…
…you lied to Donatello.
He noticed a change in your behavior a long time ago. You had become more withdrawn, quiet, and tired. He often asked if you were ok. You told him yes.
"You know you can talk to me if something is ever wrong, right?" He asked you, his hand wrapped around your wrist as you were about to go back into your room through the window on the balcony.
You smiled warmly at him. It was forced. "Yes, Donnie," You lied to him, "I know."
He sighed in quiet defeat. He had been quite frustrated that you wouldn't tell him what was wrong, but as long as you knew you could talk to him… "Just be careful."
You told him that you would be.
Now you're looking in your full length, body mirror in your room with your shirt off up, but it was still covering your bra. Your eyes land on your stomach.
You can see your ribs.
You smile.
You're doing an excellent job.
Or at least you think so.
No matter how much weight you lose, though, kids still call you terrible names. Including fat.
Time to get a bit more extreme, you think.
You stop eating.
Altogether.
You just stop.
You could see your ribs before, but now they practically projected out of your skin.
You head for the lair. You have practice with Master Splinter. When you enter, you find Leo glued to the TV screen, bright colors flashing on the screen reading the title, Space Heroes.
He doesn't even notice you coming in. You look at your phone.
4:12pm.
You smile lightly. Practice didn't start till 5:00pm. You still had a little less than an hour.
You walk to Donnie's lab, expecting to see the resident genius behind a computer screen.
And though he was in his lab, his nose was not stuck in the computer monitor. Instead, his eyes were eying the entrance of his lab.
He had been expecting you.
He wanted to talk to you.
He wanted you to listen.
He wanted to listen to you.
He knew you weren't ok. And he wanted to know what was wrong.
"Hey, Donnie." You say with a gentle wave as you walk near the resident genius.
He looked your frame up and down, a look of shock written across his face. You look down at yourself as well. Your yellow 5 shirt was baggy on you. It used to fit perfectly.
Now it could be mistaken as a dress shirt.
"April," Donnie said as he took your hands into his, "talk to me."
"I am." You say, a look of confusion lit up on your face.
Donnie glares lightly. "You know what I mean." He tells you as he guides you to a chair in the lab. He sits across from you, waiting for you to speak.
But you don't.
He sighs. "April," He says softly, "I am not stupid. I can see how much weight you have lost. What's wrong? What brought this upon yourself? Why have you been starving yourself?" His voice breaks on the word starving.
You look into his maroon eyes with your own blue ones. Both of your guys' eyes were caked over with unshed tears.
"April," He says quietly, "talk to me."
You sigh as you twiddle your thumbs in your lap. You look down at you twiddling thumbs. "There's nothing to talk about."
He sighs. "April," He says softly, "look at me."
You make him feel a glimmer of hope when you obey and look him in the eyes. It was a small glimmer, but it had been there.
He puts a finger under your chin, forcing you to look him in the eyes even if you don't want to. "Why are you doing this to yourself?" He asks calmly.
Your blue eyes are still locked onto his maroon ones. You sniff lightly, a tear dripping from your eye. "E-Everyone is c-calling me all of these…horrid names. A-And they threw food at me…a-a-and paper, and other objects. Th-They called me fat, and I…I believed them." You sobbed.
He looked at you sadly before enveloping you in a hug. You gripped onto him tightly. You closed your eyes tightly in pain, tears seeping out through your closed eye lids. Each breath you take in is shaky. Each sob you let out is choked.
After a few minutes, Donnie pulls away from the hug, and he wipes the tears away from your face. "Don't believe them," He tells you. "They're just jealous. Especially all of the girls."
"Why would they be jealous of me?" You ask meekly.
Donnie kissed your forehead with brotherly love. "Why wouldn't they be?" He asks. "Your beautiful, talented, smart, caring, selfless, gentle, nice, kind, joyous, optimistic, and did I already say beautiful?" He asked with a gentle smile.
You smile lightly through your tears. "Thanks, Donnie."
He smiles at you. "Don't mention it, now," He says as he stands up, offering a hand out to you, "why don't we go to Murakami's and get you something to eat. You must be hungry."
You frown lightly. "I don't think I'll be able to eat much…"
His smile turns into a sympathetic one, his hand still outstretched to you. "Don't worry," He tells you, "I'll be there, and I'll help you."
Your frown turns to a slight smile as you take his offered hand. "Thanks."
He smiles back. "No problem. Do you want anyone to come with us?"
You shake your head as the two of you begin to walk out of the lab. "No," You say, "just you."
He nods as he leaves to inform Splinter before returning to you. Needless to say, Donatello helped you. The journey was bumpy and hard, but you overcame it.
When I wrote this, I just pictured it as friends, but you could think of it as Apritello if that is your wish. Did you like it, love it, hate it? Let me know! Your opinion matters! :)