Disclaimer: Ninja Turtles are not mine but Chloe and her grandparents are. Please do not sue and no flames.
Bringing Down the Wall
Sixteen year old Mikey and Donny were in the entertainment area playing a racing game while happily chatting and laughing. Raph and Leo were practicing in the dojo and Splinter was in his room meditating.
"Want to take a break and get some pizza?" Mikey offered.
"Sounds good to me," Donny replied as he and Mikey put the controllers down on the table.
Mikey headed for the kitchen just as Donny's shell cell rang. Donny looked at the ID, saw that it the number for eight year old Chloe Calls' grandparents and answered.
"We have a problem," Grandma Calls confessed, sounding panicked.
"What happened?" Donny asked with concern.
"We picked Chloe up from school earlier and she barely said a word all evening," Grandpa Calls confessed. "She shut herself in her room and won't say anything except to request for you to come over."
"I have evening practice in a bit but I'll be by later," Donny said.
"That's great," Grandma Calls said in relief.
"We'll see you when you get here," Grandpa Calls said.
"See you after practice," Donny said and then hung up. Just then, he turned around and saw Splinter.
"You may go," Splinter said. "We will have your practice later."
"What about the others?"
"I will handle it. Miss Calls needs you."
Donny and Splinter bowed to each other. Then Donny rushed out of the lair.
Chloe was sitting on her bed working on her homework. Just then, she heard a knock at her window and let Donny inside.
The two of them sat on the bed and Chloe latched onto Donny like a life preserver. Donny wrapped his arms around Chloe and the two of them stayed in that position for several minutes.
"Did you have a bad day at school?" Donny asked with concern as he and Chloe released each other.
"I did," Chloe admitted.
"You want to talk about it?"
"Eventually but I'm not ready yet."
"Want to play Scrabble?" Donny asked, spotting the game on the shelf above the desk.
"Sure," Chloe agreed and then went to get the game.
Grandma and Grandpa Calls were sitting on the living room sofa chatting. Just then, Donny entered the room.
"How's Chloe?" Grandma Calls inquired.
"She's sleeping right now," Donny replied.
"Did you find out what's bothering her?" Grandpa Calls inquired.
"She wasn't ready to talk about it so we played Scrabble instead," Donny admitted.
"At least you tried and that's the important thing," Grandma Calls said.
"I'm not giving up," Donny said with determination. "I'll call her tomorrow and arrange a meeting place."
"Glad to hear that," Grandpa Calls said with a smile.
"I should get going since I need to make up the practice I missed," Donny said.
"We're just glad you could make it," Grandma Calls said gratefully.
"Good luck with your practice," Grandpa Calls said.
Later, after making up the training session he missed earlier, Donny headed for his room. He turned on the light and was surprised to see Leo sitting on his bed.
"What are you doing in here?" Donny asked in surprise.
"I just wanted to talk to you," Leo simply replied.
"I was making up the training session I missed earlier."
"Sensei filled us in on why you weren't there. How did it go with Chloe?"
"I got nowhere since she couldn't talk about it for some reason. I'm going to try again tomorrow."
"Glad to hear you're not giving up."
"I'll call her once I figure out where we can talk," Donny said.
"Hopefully, she'll be able to talk about what's bothering her," Leo said.
"I want her to be able to open up and talk freely."
"Just remember that it can't be forced and it's ok if you let down your own walls."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"I'll let you get some sleep."
Leo stood up and he and Donny said good night and wrapped their arms around each other. Then they released each other and Leo left the room.
Donny got into his bed and covered himself with a blanket. By the time he came up with a place for him and Chloe to talk, he was sound asleep.
To be continued…