Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT! or any brand, website, or Broadway musical (I'm a total musical theater-hound) I mention, I do not own! The only thing I own is my own OC's! Thank you for understanding!
*IMPORTANT! MUST READ!*
So, this is what happens in my alternate version of TMNT. I didn't like some of the decisions the story writing team made (though I adore some of their others), so I made some of my own:
-It was only a month, maybe less, that they were at the farm house
-They defeated the Triceratons in Annihilation: Earth!, and never went to space.
-April found the Aeon Crystal after it had landed from a meteorite near her dad's apartment building. Basically everything that happened with the crystal happened, except without traveling the universe.
-Shredder died from a heart attack, not from Leo cutting off his head. I understand it's meant to be epic, but I don't think Leo would kill anybody, not even Shredder.
-Baxter Stockman was unmutated, because in a weird way, I feel bad for him. He deserves peace and quiet finally.
-Karai introduced them to Shinigami later on, and Mikey never fell in love with her, though she was in love with Mikey.
-Raph never met Mona Lisa. I'm sorry, I kinda feel her character was rushed by the development team, and they could've expanded her personality a lot more than they did. Of course, I could do exactly that in this, but no, I'm weird.
-Karai and Casey fell in love. Because. It's cute.
-New York City is still infested with mutants, though most are in hiding, so the city doesn't know about them, but the government is still searching everywhere they can.
That's all you guys need to know. I hope you all enjoy 'Carousel Of Love.'
May 18
Chapter 1
Hopeless Dreaming
Vanessa's POV
I breathed in through my nose, the scent of caramel apples and popcorn lingering in the carnival night air. A breeze blew through the large, grassy field, making my hair dance. I could hear cheers coming from the distance, where some kind of performer was gracefully contorting on a stage. Squeezing my toes against my flip flops, I looked around at all of the different sights and sounds. The moon looked so large and so beautiful in the night sky, a perfect, round, white dish of milky light. Stars gleamed around it, little shining dots, that could carry galaxies, and we humans would never know. A ferris wheel spun in the distance, and a spinning teacup ride whipped its passengers around in circles, cries of glee echoing from both of the rides.
When I turned around, I saw a carousel behind me. The merry-go-round of spinning light caught my attention. There was a young boy, a teenager, around my age, standing near the entrance. Without even introducing ourselves, we joined hands, warm skin touching each other beneath a moonlit sky. His smile made the ground tremble underneath my feet, as our paths colliding for the first time in a bright carnival of whirling sound and light. He took me over to one of the pastel pink ponies (because alliterations rocks, my dear readers), and the two of us climbed onboard. As soon as the ride started, I felt myself spinning, losing all feeling in my limbs. I was falling, falling in love, falling for a stranger I'd never met, but had known all of my life…
I awoke with a start, my dream ending as quickly as it had started. My phone, mostly dead, lay at my side, my earbuds twisted and tangled around my body. I checked my phone. Yeah, I fell asleep listening to the OBC recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Carousel' again. The opening number: The 'Carousel Waltz'.
Snatching a charger from my bedside table, I plugged in the cell phone, and climbed out of bed. I tried to straighten out the frumpled t-shirt shirt I was wearing, but to no avail. It stayed wrinkled. I frowned a bit at the tiny inadequacy.
It's not like you have to worry about anybody seeing you though. Everyone else is already gone, to work, school, or wherever they spend their days, I thought, grabbing a brush from beside the canopied bed. My room is the sort of room every fifteen-year-old girl wishes they can have. Well, I'm not fifteen yet. But I will be soon.
A glossy, baby blue canopy hung over my bed, like a long veil. My closet door was painted the same color, along with my bedspread, and my walls. Right above my bed, where my head was just a few moments before, my name was spelled out in pretty, pristine, white letters; Vanessa. A white shag carpet underneath my feet, I stepped over several books splayed across my floor. Posters hung on my walls, with frames around them, and a sheet of glass to protect them. Bookshelves lined the bottom part of one wall. I have a lot of time to spend reading, of course. We'll get to that later.
A swing chair hung creating a little bird's nest in the left corner of my room. Little blue and white fairy lights encircled the top of my ceiling, giving off a little light in the room. Shells, sea glass, and all other kinds of ornaments hung from my ceiling, braided into small, handmade dreamcatchers I had made myself, with little feathers my mom and sister found for me from real life birds. I always looked up online what kind of feathers they were. I wanted to know what sort of winged creatures were protecting my dreams. Over my desk, an ebony-colored lamp shone down on all of my work, and a shiny silver laptop that I had gotten for Christmas three or four years before. Neat, blue and white painted shelves were on either side of the desk, containing art supplies, clothes, ointments, medicine...we're getting off track here.
Wincing, I felt myself step on something hard and pointy. I looked down to see a missing screw from one of my tap shoes. I placed it on the desk. I would have to ask mom to help me fix that later.
Of course, you could do that on your own. You're alone all day, might as well make some use of it.
Unlike most teens, I don't go to school. At least, not like other kids do. My mother, Maria Sanbelle, is an English college professor, and when she gets home from teaching her students, she basically teaches me everything she knows. My older sister, Katherine, is in training to become a nurse, which I guess is pretty cool. It means she gets to save lives, which I personally think is astonishing. She's in college now, her nineteenth birthday last winter.
I opened up the bedroom door almost cautiously. My alarm clock had said it was just past eight o'clock. I honestly don't know why I even have an alarm clock, because I never set it. I guess it just makes me feel a little bit more normal. Eight is the time I get up everyday though, so I don't really need an alarm clock.
All the curtains downstairs were closed, like normal. Mom always makes sure to close them before she leaves. Maybe she thinks I'll forget or something.
How can I forget?
Having a sickness like mine isn't something very easily forgotten.
Let me explain.
I was diagnosed with Xeroderma Pigmentosum when I was an infant. My mother had taken me to the beach with my older sister. While she had run around, kicking up sand, and diving into the water with her floaties on, little baby Vanessa had sat crying for nearly an hour. When we had gotten back home, Mom noticed several dozen little freckles all over my body. Like, everywhere. I had also gotten a severe rash, even though Mom had put gallons of sunscreen on me. Later on that week, a similar occurrence happened at the fourth of July parade, except even more freckles appeared, and according to Mom, something strange was going on with my eyes. She had taken me to the doctor after that, and he was the one who told me about my sickness.
I had a disease called Xeroderma Pigmentosum, which can be shortened to XP. Never heard of it? Most haven't. XP is extremely rare. It's basically a sickness where you're allergic to sunlight. You can never take a step outside on a hot sunny day, because why? Several reasons; skin cancer, neurodegeneration, permanent deafness and blindness. Certain lighting can harm anybody who has it as well. LED lights are okay, but unfiltered means unsafe.
But hey, there are a few perks. I don't have to go to school. Most people who have it can go to school, but my case is apparently special. Hooray.
Also, we get to stay out all night if we want. My sister and I have a private joke, calling me nocturnal. I can only go outside when the shadows are around, so it's very fitting.
I like to think of myself as the Queen Of The Night. The darkness is my playground, my kingdom, my world.
My life.
I took tired steps down the stairs, yawning, and running my fingers through my hair. A small bowl of food sat at the entrance of the kitchen, and a Bengal-Abyssinian cat, who bore the named Angela, sat eating from it. Me and Kath got her a few years ago, on Kath's birthday. Angela, when seeing me, meowled and ran forwards, grabbing onto the hem of my sweatpants. Her claws dug into the top of my foot, and I moaned, taking her paws off of my feet. Angela rubbed against my leg, brushing some of her striped brown and tan fur onto me, and she looked at me with unrealistically green eyes, eyes that only animals such as cats can ever carry.
My bare feet hit the cold kitchen tiles, and I immediately wished I had put some slippers on. Instead though, I kept going on my journey to the fridge. My morningly scavenge for breakfast hadn't gone as well the morning before; I had eaten leftover Chinese take-out, which had clumped together in the fridge overnight into a ball of rice, noodles, and vegetables. It was good after two minutes in the microwave though.
Scratching the back of my neck, I reached into the fridge and took out the almond cake that me and Kath had made Mom for her birthday about a week before. She won't mind, I told myself, and cut a slice of the rich cake, the cold chocolate frosting smearing all over the plate. Angela swiped once again at my pant leg, which I pulled away, taking my plate upstairs to my room, where I sat down at my computer.
Okay, so I'm just gonna admit it; when you live inside all day, you get pretty lonely. So, I went to the only place I was accepted as an anonymous and unknown companion. I logged onto the typical website, where a chatroom was waiting for me. Whereas some chatrooms on the site had as many as hundreds of people inside of them, the one I had joined a few months before had a solitary seven friends inside of it including me. Two of them were already on having a conversation. Something about their dog.
I understand the next point you're going to make-be careful who you meet on the internet. But, for some reason, I honestly felt like I trusted them...one of them in particular.
I logged into the Chat Room, my nickname popping up as my internet-lingo-code-name: Grizabella1812.
UltraMegaCoolDude: So, are you guys psyched for the new 'Space Heroes' movie coming out?
Grizabella1812: Not really. I don't like sci-fi that much. You?
YurMom555: Ugh. No thank you.
UltraMegaCoolDude: Why not?
YurMom555: I dunno. It's super old, and super boring.
CalHob14: I've never really been into that show. My brother can't wait though.
LovegoodXOXO: So, Cal, how are things going with that super secret project you keep signing off to go work on?
CalHob14: Not too good.
CalHob14: It's taking a long time.
YurMom555: Honestly, at this point Cal, I'm starting to think you just really don't want to spend time with us.
Grizabella1812: Hey, Yuri, that's not nice.
Yuri is always doing things like that. Yes, we call her Yuri, because, you know, YurMom. Cal gave them to us along time ago, when we all first met.
CalHob14: Thank you, Bella.
Grizabella1812: Anytime.
K0K0CL0CK: Can you guys please stop texting me right now? I'm sorta busy.
Of course, most of them would be in school. None of us have ever revealed our ages, of course, but we all kinda imagine each other as other teenagers. At least, I do. I have no clue what the others think I look like. I'm sure they don't imagine me as a young girl forced to spend all day inside.
YurMom555: Love, what do you think of the idea of a live action 'Space Heroes' movie?
LovegoodXOXO: It sounds alright. I'm going to see it in a few days with friends.
TheMothOfMarch: It sounds pretty cool.
YurMom555: UGH, I dunno why I'm in this chatroom (JK y'all).
UltraMegaCoolDude: Okay then, Yuri, we can have our own opinions too ya know. You're not the boss of me.
CalHob14: Technically, she is your mom though.
I found myself giggling at Cal's joke. Even though I've never met him, he still always finds a way to make me laugh.
Grizabella1812: Nice one.
CalHob14: Thanks. Again.
LovegoodXOXO: Anyways, I gotta go too. See you later!
LovegoodXOXO has signed off the Chat Room.
UltraMegaCoolDude: Gotta go, too.
UltraMegaCoolDude has signed off the Chat Room.
Eventually, one by one, my only friends start to leave the Chat Room, leaving me feeling a little empty.
All except for one.
CalHob14: Private Chat Room?
Grizabella1812: Definitely.
I giddily left that particular Chat Room, letting myself be taken to the neon green and white home screen. I saw a loading sign on the side of me and Cal's private Chat Room. We've never told the other five about the Chat Room, mostly because we didn't want them to feel left out…
...but I also sometimes wanted to talk to Cal on my own. I felt like...he understood me, or something like that. Yes, I know, this is the internet we're talking about, and he could be some middle aged man just waiting to strike, like a viper. But Cal didn't seem like that. He never tried to get me to give up my real name, or address, never being any sort of manipulative. As soon as his was done loading, I clicked onto the tab, grinning as Cal's profile picture appeared; a rosy and golden spiral of a sunset, something I never got to see, except in cheesy movies. But those aren't real. For some reason though, Cal's does.
CalHobs14: How's life?
Grizabella1812: It's pretty good.
CalHob14: I'm sorry if I'm distracting you from school or anything.
So he does think I'm in school too. Does that mean he's a stalker? Or does it mean he's just a teenage boy, innocent, and kind, not pretending to be anything?
Grizabella1812: It's okay. I don't go to school.
There. Just in case he is a strange old man, he'll think I'm an adult.
CalHob14: Oh.
CalHob14: Me neither.
Oh. Well. That backfired.
Grizabella1812: So, how's your life?
CalHob14: Same old same old.
Grizabella1812: Have you finished your latest drawing?
CalHob14: Not yet. It's coming along though. I'm thinking about having a basqued waist, though maybe an Empire waistline would be more appropriate, though that depends on how short I want to make the dress. What do you think?
Although Cal would never say it in real life, according to him, he's deeply into fashion. He watches all of the fashion shows on tv, when he can get a chance, and he loves sketching designs for outfits. It's really all the pictures he posts on his profile. No selfies, no pictures of anybody else. Just designs. And I've got to say, they're some of the most incredible things I've ever seen.
Grizabella1812: Do whatever feels right to you.
CalHob14: Basqued waist then. Long dress. All the way.
Hesitation before his next message. For some reason, in my head, I could see him scribbling away at his page of paper, writing down notes, or maybe even adding the waistline to his drawing.
CalHob14: Thanks.
CalHob14: How's your sister's medical training going?
Yes, I told Cal I had a sister. I also told him she was going to be a doctor. I'm not sure why I trusted him with the information. It felt right.
He felt right.
Grizabella1812: I don't really know. She doesn't tell me too much about the classes. All she really tells me are funny stories from when she's in between classes.
Grizabella1812: Though I heard her say she did well on a test the other day.
CalHob14: Tell her I said congratulations.
I didn't tell Cal I've never told my family about him. Mom knew I had some friends online, but she didn't know the extent of it; talking to them every day, sharing bits of my life with them, like my sister's wanting to be a doctor. And on a rare occasion, Cal would share something with me as well. For instance, he has three brothers and a sister. He also once (though on accident) revealed he lived in New York City, a place I'd desperately wanted to go all my life. It means he's right near the Great White Way, able to see Broadway theaters from his own hometown. That on it's own would be an honor. He also told me his ideal dream would be to design costumes for Broadway. He's shown me a few sketches in the private Chat Room, of what he thinks the costumes in revivals of certain shows should look like. And I'm going to have to say; they were some of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen.
CalHob14: So what do you think of the idea to cast Clara Wilcox as Grizabella, Grizabella?
Grizabella1812: I thinks she'd be a wonderful Griz, thank you very much.
Grizabella1812: I can't judge my own kind too harshly can I.
CalHob14: No, you really can't.
I giggled, rocking back and forth a bit in the wheelie desk chair I was sitting in. Angela scrambled back from the door, frightened by my sudden movement. My fingers flew across the keyboard. Once we were in character, we couldn't get out.
Grizabella1812: And how is Hobbes doing, Cal?
CalHob14: Miss Grizabella, you should know that with my name as CalHob14, I am both characters at once.
CalHob14: And we are both personally offended.
CalHob14: For that, you should fetch us a tuna fish sandwich. Tigers love those you know.
I found myself laughing once more, and Cal's childish mirth and humor. I could practically hear the two of us, using false British accents, mocking ourselves and each other, from miles away, through a small box and a screen.
Grizabella1812: Why Calvin, how rude! Jellicle Cats love tuna fish as well.
CalHob14: Well, let's make one for each other. Time ourselves. See who can make it faster.
Grizabella1812: Oh, you know I'm not the biggest speed demon in the world.
CalHob14: You know I don't care about that Bella. You know I love you for you.
The words on the screen made my heart pump faster. I jumped back from the laptop a little bit. My face grew red a little bit, and I dropped the fork I was holding. Breathing heavily, and stood, pacing the room, and though I should be worried, because this random boy in NYC has just told me he loves me, I could take the smile off my face.
CalHob14 has left the Chat Room. Those words made the feeling leave my gut a little bit. I left the Chat Room as well, and looked and Angela.
"You hear that, Angie?" I asked, rubbing her ear with my finger. "He loves me."
Cal made me feel special. He made me forget about the XP. He made me feel appreciative of the world around me for a little while, and of myself, and him. It was like my dream; 'I was falling, falling in love, falling for a stranger I'd never met, but had known all of my life…'
A/N
I wrote that first chapter surprisingly quickly. So yeah, while I make you wait for chapter two, you guys get to guess who CalHob14 is. And, please, don't fall in love with some random person on the internet who doesn't even post pictures of themselves. It's not safe. This is a fanfic, which means fiction. Now that I've gotten that PSA out of the way, I hope you all had fun reading that. This fanfic is going to be pretty long, but it's a journey we're all going to go on together. Also, YurMom555 is entirely based on a friend I still hang out with today, because for some reason, she loves saying 'your mom', to me and the rest of the world, so yeah, I like to imagine it's her on the other side of that computer screen. Also, Xeroderma Pigmentosum is a real disease. I found it interesting, so I did what any author does; write about it.
Critique as much as you like, just don't swear or say anything inappropriate. This fanfic is the opposite of gas station bathrooms-clean!
That's it for now, see you next time!
Sayonara (Goodbye)!
-Luna