Hello there reader, welcome to my little story. First off, let me just say that I only own my OCs and the plotline, nothing else. This covers the entire story, so remember this.

Secondly, lets establish a few things about my main OC. Her name is Elisabeth, Liz for short. She's fifteen, lives in a well off family, and is, hopefully, less repetitive and boring than my last attempt at an OC. I've tried to make her an original character, instead of the regular perfect little Mary Sue, so if anyone has any problems with her, please, let me know.

These first few chapters will focus on building my character. I don't expect to bring the turtles in until a few chapters later, although I don't want to bore anyone.

I'm working on improving my writing, so any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

Well, enough with this chit-chat. On with the story!

I collapsed on my bed. It had been a long day, and I was exhausted. I plugged my headphones into my iPod and blasted my music, letting my mind slip off into a daydream. It was one where I lived in a big city, one I had often. The city was a foreign and exciting place to me, much unlike the small town my family currently lived in.

My mom knocked on my door and told me to go to sleep. I sighed and turned off the music, then snuggled under the covers. It took me a while to find a comfortable position, but eventually I slipped off into dream land.

I dreamed I was in New York. Tall building shot up from the ground, touching the clouds. People milled about, chatting on cell phones, or to each other. I found myself in the air above everyone, looking down at the now tiny people. I flew around the city, squealing in delight. It was a wonderful dream, and I woke with a smile on my face the next morning.

I sighed in frustration and let my head fall onto the book in front of me. I hated math. I hated it with a passion. I lifted my head and finished the last few problems in the lesson. I closed my notebook and stacked it on top of the math book, putting both on their shelf. I stretched my arms above my head and yawned. I glanced at the clock. Only twelve o'clock and I had already finished my schoolwork.

It was one of the few perks to being homeschooled. If I worked fast enough I could finish before lunch, and then have the rest of the day to sit around and be lazy. I looked out my window. The only thing I could see were trees and fields, with the occasional house.

I left my room in search of lunch. I was starving. The house was quiet. Everyone else must still be doing schoolwork. My five siblings took much longer than I to finish their work. They got distracted too easily. I could hear my mother from somewhere in the house, helping one of my younger siblings, probably Benny. I grabbed an apple from a basket on the counter.

On my way back to my room I glanced into my brother's room. Michael sat at his desk, writing quickly. Mikey was a quiet and serious boy. He worked quickly and was a few grades above most other ten year olds. He didn't talk much, and spent most of his time reading books. Not comic book, or children's books, but big scientific books. He was smarter than most people his age. Heck, he was probably smarter than most people my age. He was like a sponge, soaking in knowledge faster than you could teach it.

I smiled at the young boy and continued my journey, stopping only to wave to my mom when I passed Benny's room.

Benny was the opposite of Mikey. He played video games all day, read comic books, and stuffed his face with junk food. For twins, the two were nothing alike. While Mikey was dark haired and brown eyed, Benny was an American boy, with blond hair and blue eyes. Even when they stood next to each other, it was hard to tell they were related.

Next was Becky. The young girl had light brown hair and blue eyes. She was the youngest, and milked it for everything she was worth. At the young age of five, she had learned how to manipulate people to do her every wish and command.

I passed Alex's room next. Alex was the oldest, after me. He looked like an older version of Benny, with slightly darker hair. He was athletic, to the point where if cooped up too long he would most likely break something by bouncing off the walls. He was also my best friend. Sure I had other friends who I would talk to and hang out with sometimes, but Alex was my best friend.

I finally made it to my room. I looked in my mirror. I was probably the most different out of my family. While everyone else had light brown or blonde hair, I had black. Everyone else was pale, but I had dark tanned skin. The only thing I had in common with my family was my bright blue eyes. I took after my father's Hispanic mother.

I spent a lot of my time with my grandma, cooking, cleaning, or just talking. I loved learning about my origins and hearing stories about my ancestors, and my grandma was happy to share. I learned how to make a lot of Hispanic foods. Cooking was one of my hobbies. Someday I planned to be a chef, photographer, or artist.

I plopped down on my bed and munched my apple, thinking about my family and life in general.

I stepped out of the moving van, stretching my legs. We were almost there. I was so excited!

My dad ran an apartment company with his dad and brother. They had recently bought an apartment in Manhattan, NY, and needed someone to manage it. My dad had decided that my family could use the change of scenery. So here we were, just a few hours away from the legendary city.

I wasn't really all that sad to be leaving my old home. I hadn't had many friends, and the few I did have weren't very close to me. My grandma was probably the one I would miss most. I had always loved seeing new places. New York was just another adventure for me.

I walked over to the minivan, where my mom was helping my youngest sister unbuckle her seatbelt. The small girl, finally free, leapt out of the car and ran into the restroom. I gave my mom a hug. The stress was getting to her. Out of our entire family, she had been the most skeptical one about the move, but eventually she had given into the pleading from my siblings and me.

"Hey Mom, how're you doing?"

She smiled wryly at me. "Well, other than the exhaustion, stress, and traffic, I'd say I'm doing pretty well. How are you holding up in there with your dad?"

"We're good, although we did run out of snacks."

She chuckled, "Go check on your sister, and maybe I'll consider sharing".

I grinned, and headed into the restroom to make sure my little sister hadn't fallen into the toilet, or something.

We were finally here! The apartment building was huge. I had gotten a crick in my neck from staring up at it. We had the entire ground floor, besides the lobby, which was pretty big.

Our apartment was amazing. It had a large living room with a flat screen TV, a giant couch, and bean bag chairs scattered around. The kitchen was big, with a long counter that separated it from the dining room. I knew my mom would love the large in-wall oven and giant fridge. The dining room had a big table and ten chairs. There were eight bedrooms, and five bathrooms. I couldn't help but think this place was perfect.

I hurried to pick a bedroom, knowing that as soon as my brothers and sisters got here there would be a fight. My dad and I had beaten them here, so I got first pick. I passed the master bedroom, peeking in quickly as I went by, admiring the king sized bed and earthy colored walls.

I finally found a room that was perfect for me. There was a queen sized bed, window nook, dresser, bookshelf, and a walk-in closet, and I absolutely loved the pale green walls. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that it was designed just for me. I flopped down on the bed and let out a happy sigh.

I heard a shout. I sat up and listened carefully. Another came to my ears, followed by more. I smiled at the shouts of joy. The others must have finally made it. I left my suitcase by the bed and headed out to meet them.

I placed a last pillow on my new bed and turned to admire the room yet again. I had spent hours unpacking, but now the room looked like it was really mine. The bookshelf was almost full, and the dresser was decorated by my many little trinkets. One of the walls had been chosen to hold my photos, and now was almost halfway covered, the pictures taped to its surface.

I sat down on the window seat and pulled out my laptop. I plugged the electronic in and started it up. I went online and checked my emails. I sent replies to a couple of my friends, and uploaded some pictures onto my computer from my camera, planning on getting a few of them printed out for my wall. I let out another happy sigh. Things were going to be different here, I could tell.

I heard the clack of claws against wood. I looked up to see my dog sniffing around my room. I called him over and patted his head. He had hated being stuck in his crate for so long. The poor darling got carsick easily. I rubbed his head again. He collapsed onto the floor next to me, and soon started twitching while he dreamed. I smiled at the dog. I wasn't quite sure what breed he was, probably a mix of just about everything, although I was pretty sure he was part Dalmatian. Someone had been just giving him away in the parking lot of a grocery store.

I went back to my typing, absently petting the canine every now and then. I started looking at the New York news, and such, scoffing when I saw talk of an alien invasion. People here must not be all that bright.

I finally shut the laptop when Mom called me for dinner. I walked down the hallway, dodging things my siblings had left lying around. The table was laid out with Subway sandwiches. I grabbed a turkey sandwich and sat down in between one of my brothers and my mom. We discussed what we would do first after the house was organized. My brother, Alex, wanted to go visit central park, my mom was content to just sit at home, although she did kind of want to see the statue of liberty, and I just wanted to walk around in the entire city and take it all in. We decided to finish moving in first, and then start planning all that.

After dinner I said my goodnights and headed back to my room. When I got there I noticed Eli, my dog, was gone, he had probably gone off to sleep on someone else's bed, someone who didn't toss and turn in their sleep. I shut the door and changed into my pajamas, a tank top and shorts, then headed to bed, where happy dreams filled my head.

So... What'd you think? I'd love to know.