Hello, my faithful and loved readers! I'm back! Hopefully you like this chapter 'cause I had a major writers block n the middle of it.

Disclaimer: you all know how it goes, say it with me… "I do not own the ninja turtles."

Use your Voice

The silence between Raj and Leo was very awkward. They had the same class this period and rarely spoke to each other as it is. Raj kept wanting to say something to Leo, but somehow, she was too nervous. He was the student body president; why would he want to talk to her? After a few minutes, Leo finally broke the silence.

"So, what did Sukari say your name was?"

"Rajein," she answered. "Call me Raj."

Leo noticed an accent in her voice.

"Is that a Spanish accent?"

"Yes."

"So you're from…?"

"Spain," she giggled.

"Cool."

"Where are you from?"

"I was born and raised here."

"Really?" she stopped. Raj wanted to make the time with Leo last just a little longer. "I was almost betting that you were from somewhere like… Tennessee, or something."

"Why would you think that?"

"You seem more into wide open spaces and nature than skyscrapers and sidewalk trees."

Leo found this very interesting. He had often thought about living out where he could see the country and all of its natural beauty.

"So," Raj said, "are those boys your friends?"

"They're my brothers."

"Really? You don't look anything alike."

"We're all kind of adopted. Do you have any siblings?"

"No. I was born an only child. Sukari, Carolie, and Mona are like my sisters, though. We've been friends since freshman year. Are your brothers nice?"

"Sometimes," Leo murmured, making Raj giggle. They began walking again as he continued. "Most of the time, they're annoying; as little brothers are. It's sometimes really hard to be the oldest of four."

"I'm the oldest of the girls. They tend to look up to me a lot when they need help. But, honestly, aren't siblings supposed to be annoying?" Leo laughed and nodded.

"I suppose so," he said. They finally got to their class. Raj was just about to grab the door knob, but Leo was faster. He grabbed the door knob, opened the door, and held it open for Raj.

"Oh!" Raj was shocked. "Uh… thank you."

"Anytime," Leo chuckled. They walked into the classroom and took seats next to each other.

"Well," said their teacher, Mr. Brent, "now that Leonardo and… um… Rhonda have decided to grace us with their presence, let's continue."

Raj was fuming. She shot her hand in the air, but it was pulled back down by Leo. She looked at him with confusion and annoyance and he shook his head, gesturing that what she had to say wasn't a very good idea.

The teacher began to lecture on World War II. Raj had always hated social studies. After a ten minute lecture, Mr. Brent started to ask everyone questions.

"Shady," he looked at Shady Taylor, "what is the definition of 'racism'?"

Shady stood and recited, "Racism; belief in innate superiority of particular race and antagonism towards members of different race based on this belief."

"Good, Jeremy!" Jeremy Carson looked up at attention. "How many people died during the war?"

"In an estimate, over ten million people," Jeremy said.

"Very good," Mr. Brent scanned the room and stopped at Raj, "Riana!" Raj blushed.

"Yes, sir?" she sighed.

"Why, if America's means of transportation were of greater value, did the Spaniards make it to the war before us?"

"When you say, 'of greater value', can you clarify?"

"Our technology is greater in every way and yet Spain got their before us. Why is that, Miss Genera?"

This struck Raj's last nerve and everyone knew it. Her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched. The lights above flickered vigorously. Raj suddenly stood so fast that her chair was knocked over. She smacked Leo's hand away when he tried to calm her. Her gaze on the teacher was cold and deep. It seemed as if her eyes were glowing even brighter blue.

"First of all, sir," she hissed the word as if it were toxic, "my name is not Rhonda or Riana, it's Raj! Second of all, America, knowing very much about many people in this so-called great country, probably had a few glitches in the technology that you deem so superior to others! Spain was there first because they had a plan and a set time of when to come! By the time America showed up, thousands of soldiers from other countries including mine had already died!" The lights in the classroom finally went out and she collected her things and stormed out of the classroom leaving the class stunned and silent and Leo a little impressed.

Dignity

"Raj!"

Raj had been so mad when she left the classroom that she hadn't noticed Leo follow her out.

"Raj, wait up!" Leo ran in front of her, blocking her way.

"Not now, Leonardo," she said as she tried to push past him. He didn't budge. "Please let me pass."

"Not until you tell me what the hell just happened. Mr. Brent told me to tell the principle that you were telling him off. I'm not going to because it was his fault that you did that. I just need to talk to you first."

Raj knew that he meant what he said. He wasn't going to let her pass until she spoke her part.

"That teacher is a complete hypocrite!" she said, her voice quivering as she yelled. "He says that racism is frowned upon yet he shows resentment and discrimination towards people like me! You heard what he said to me!"

"Yes, I heard. You still didn't need to react that way."

Raj gazed at him with offended disbelief.

"How else was I supposed to get it through that bastard's head? It is not my fault I am an immigrant!"

"I never said it was!" Leo stepped toward her in defense.

"You don't have to! Honestly, Leonardo, you're defending him when he offended me?"

"I'm not defending him! Just let me say something."

"What could you possibly have to say?" Her voice went out and tears fell from her eyes.

"Don't cry. Look, I'm not saying that you're in the wrong, but you can't just do something like that and storm away. I have noticed that Mr. Brent is very critical towards people from different countries, but that," he pointed behind him, "is not the way to handle it."

"Leonardo," Raj tried, but Leo wasn't done.

"If you show him that what he says gets to you, you're just fueling his mockery. I know exactly what it's like to be different and misunderstood by people. That's why I don't let criticism get to me." Raj was silent. "Okay, I'm done now," Leo chuckled lightly.

"How would you know what it's like to be different and misunderstood?" Raj whispered, but Leo could hear. She looked him in the eyes and Leo fought hard to keep from cringing under her stare. He had never seen eyes that… piercing before. He soon got over it and took her hand in his.

"I'm not everything that I seem, Rajein," he said to her in a slightly whispered voice. "There's a specific trait about me that tends to throw people off and judge before they know me."

Raj looked down at her feet and remembered how people used to treat her when they first saw her.

(Flashback)

A young girl about 16 was sitting on the steps to the New York Orphanage. She had hair that hung down her back that was blonde with black highlights. On her body were markings that looked like tattoos. Those markings were natural, though. She had been born with them. This girl's name was Rajein, but she preferred to be called Raj. Her eyes were bright, glowing, piercing blue and were sad at the moment.

"Are you Rajein?"

Raj looked up to see a girl about her age: 17. She had long black hair that grew strait and slick. Her eyes were lime green and she had mascara caked eyelashes and cherry colored lip gloss.

"Yes."

"My name's Monique. You can call me Mona." The girl sat next to Raj. "I saw you come in earlier. Where are you from?"

"Spain."

"Cool."

"Hey," said a mean voice. A girl who had long blonde hair and red lips came up to Raj and Mona, "I heard the headmistress say that you're from Spain. Do you speak English?" She spoke slowly as if Raj couldn't understand her. Raj gazed up at her with a glare. "What's up with the weird tattoos? None of them even say anything or look like anything. Did the tattoo artist screw up and just go with it?"

"Yo, Amy," Mona said, "why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Right, Monique," Amy said, "and just who do you have in mind?" She stepped forward so that she was almost nose to nose with Mona.

"Oh, you really don't wanna take me on, Barbie doll; not unless you want me to screw up your suckish boob-job."

"Whatever," Amy said. She flipped her hair and turned and strutted away.

"Monique?" Raj said shyly.

"Yeah?" Mona said.

"Thank you."

"Anytime, girl. I'm always happy to help out a new friend."

"Friend?"

"Definitely," Mona took Raj's arm in her's and they walked away from the steps arm in arm.

(End of Flashback)

Raj hung her head. She hated and loved that memory all at the same time. It was the first time she made a friend and the third time people had picked on her. She and Mona had been best friends ever since.

"Raj?" Leo asked.

"Leonardo," Raj said, "what trait about you could possibly be so bad?"

Leo's eyes widened in shock. Did this girl think that he was perfect? He thought about telling her exactly what it was about him, but the bell rang.

"I need to go," Raj said with her head still down. "I'll see you later, Leonardo." She walked away from him and disappeared into the crowd of people, leaving Leo to stand and wonder what had just happened.

"Leo!" Leo looked behind him to see Raphael coming towards him. "Wassup, bro?"

"Hey, Raph," Leo murmured.

"You, okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"What were you and Raj doin'?"

Leo looked up at his brother.

"How did you-,"

"I saw you guys out here talkin'."

Leo stared at his brother in disbelief. He then figured it out.

"You skipped class again, didn't you?" He eyed his brother.

"No," Raph assured, "I just left early. Why was Raj crying?"

"Something happened in social studies. Why did you leave class early?"

"No reason," Raph mumbled. The reason that he had left class early was so he could wait for Sukari at her locker so he could make sure that Josh prick didn't come near her. "I gotta go bro. I'll see ya later." He walked away. God, how he hated Josh! Every time Raph saw his stupid face, he wanted to punch that freaking smirk off of it. Suddenly Raph remembered something that brought a wicked smile to his face. He and Josh had the same P.E. period and they always played dodge ball on Fridays.

Don't Touch Me

Carolie had P.E. this period. She hated the subject so much. She was very quick and in shape, but she wasn't very athletic and she was rather clumsy. Out of sheer luck, the gym coaches canceled dodge ball and let the kids just hang out.

Out of the corner of her eye, Carolie saw Josh Mason and his gang talking, laughing, and roughhousing. She knew it was dumb for her to be scared of him. She was much stronger than him in her own special way. She wasn't like most girls. She had a special power that took most of her strength to control. She was a shape shifter.

Sukari wasn't the only one with a connection to Agent Bishop. Carolie, being an orphan without a home, used to be one of his test subjects. She remembered that night; when Bishop had changed her life.

(Flashback)

"Now, now, my dear, hold still."

A little girl, about age seven, was strapped to a metal table with a man in a trench coat and a syringe in his hand hovering over her. She was afraid of needles and this one was huge! She struggled against the straps as best as she could, but to no prevail. The man scared her and she wanted out.

"Caroline, if you misbehave, I will have to sedate you," said the man with the needle. Caroline continued to struggle.

"What do you want?" she shouted at him. He just smiled.

"I want you to stay still so I can do this experiment," he said calmly and coolly.

"No! Let me go!"

"I'm afraid that's not an option, my dear child. This will only hurt for a second, I promise you." He suddenly grabbed her arm and held it still. Caroline felt the needle puncture her skin and screamed in pain. The stuff he was injecting into her burned as it spread through her body like morphine. Soon, though, the pain went away and she stopped screaming. The man was looking down at her, waiting for a result.

A horrifying change came to the girl. She felt her head tingling and her body trembling. Her hair suddenly changed from short blonde to long brown and her eyes turned from purple to blue. The changes kept happening and coming and going as soon as they came. She grew more and more faint with each change that came until she fell unconscious.

(End of Flashback)

Carolie had woken up the next morning in an alley looking completely different than she remembered. It had taken a lot of time to get back to her regular look and even more time to practice controlling her new power.

"Hey, Carolie," said a familiar unwanted voice. Carolie looked up to see Josh and his group circled around her chair.

"What do you want, Josh?" she asked impatiently.

"Jus' wanted ta ask ya somethin'," he said with that stupid smirk of his.

"What?" She eyed him with suspicion.

"Do ya know which way Sukari goes to get home from school?"

"Why should I tell you?" Carolie got up to walk away, but Josh grabbed her arm and pushed her back onto her chair.

"I wasn't done talkin' to ya, sweetheart," he said evilly. He let go of her arm.

"What gives you the right to just grab someone like that?" Carolie shouted. She hated to be touched unexpectedly, especially by perverts like Josh and his friends. Josh stepped forward so he was towering over Carolie menacingly.

"Who says I need da right?" he asked. His gang chuckled a little. "Jus' answer ma question and I won't touch you again."

'Where are the teachers when you need them?' Carolie thought. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I'd like ta walk her home afta school," Josh answered. His gang began to close in, the circle getting smaller.

"I think she goes through Central Park and then down Wall Street and she's there, okay?" she said quickly.

Josh waved his gang away and they went back to their original spot. He stayed by Carolie, though. He continued to hover over her and she was cringing under his non-stop stare.

"How do I know ya ain't lyin'?" he asked, kneeling in front of her. She straitened up and looked down at him.

"I'm not, I swear. That's where she goes."

Josh leaned in towards her face and whispered creepily in her ear.

"Ya betta not be lyin'." With that, he walked away to rejoin his friends. Carolie was left to wonder how Sukari would react to this.

Lock and Seal

Sukari was walking out of her classroom and on her way to her locker. The class she had just gotten out of was on the other side of school from her locker. She had a free period and was going to put her stuff in her locker and hang out in the auditorium to watch the drama members practice their musical. While she was walking, she felt a presence following her and scowled.

"What do you want, Josh?" she asked. Josh was by her side in an instant, walking next to her with his hands in his pockets. "For one day, can't you just leave me alone?"

"No," Josh said. He was sober now, or at least, better than earlier. "Jus' wanted ya ta know dat I'll be walkin' ya home afta school."

"No, you're not," Sukari said as she stopped in her tracks.

"Yes, I am," Josh said as he stopped in front of her, facing her with a disgusting look of lust.

"You don't even know where I go and I'm not going anywhere else other than our house."

"Actually, I do know where ya go. Ya little blonde friend told me."

"What?" her heart plummeted as she spoke. "Why would she do that?"

"All it took was a little gentle persuasion," he smirked.

"If you even touched her," Sukari started, pointing at him threateningly. Josh grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. "Let go!" She pushed him away and he stumbled backwards. He regained his balance and walked towards her, fury blazing in his gray eyes. Sukari stepped backwards in fear until she hit the wall. Josh was in front of her, leaning until he was two inches away from her face. He had venom in his words when he spoke.

"You know as well as I do dat I have every right ta touch you," he growled through clenched teeth. He raised his hand to her chin and tilted her face upward so she was looking at him with unfallen tears. "Nothin' ya do will change Bishop's mind on his decision for us. Do ya understand?" Sukari nodded, making the tears fall down her cheeks. "Even if ya fell for anyone else, I ain't gonna make a damn bit a difference, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Sukari said shakily. Josh had a point. According to Bishop, she and Josh were to marry when he graduated this year. Since Bishop and the Purple Dragon leader, Hun worked together, and Josh was Hun's nephew, Bishop wanted Sukari to marry Josh so that she would have no reason to leave.

"Good girl," Josh said. He tilted her face more, his lips an inch from her's. With his thumb, he parted her lips. Without hesitation, he smashed his mouth against her's. He could hear the surprised sounds she made and felt her struggle against him. He pushed himself against her, pinning her to the wall with his body. Sukari could feel him do this and still tried to struggle. She couldn't close her mouth to stop him because he was holding her mouth open, not allowing her to close it. His tongue wrestled with her's for entrance and he won. His tongue entered her mouth and explored it joyfully. More tears fell from Sukari's eyes and trickled onto Josh's hands.

After what felt like an eternity, Josh finally released Sukari with the biggest smile on his face. Saying nothing, he walked away.

"Sukari?" said a voice that Sukari recognized and at this moment, feared. She turned her head to look at its owner and her eyes went wide.

Dun, dun, dun! Who does the voice belong to? Will Josh get away with stealing Sukari's first kiss? Will Raph pound his face in? Stay tuned my dear readers!

I got some songfics out that I think you guys might like. The characters in this story with their own song. Please read and review! :D