Central Park is beautiful at night, sprinkled with the silvery light of old streetlamps, a dark fairytale amid the modern humdrum of New York City.
Shaking the romantic thoughts from my mind, I turned from the window over my bed and returned to my Physics workbook.
It may have been Thursday, but I hate leaving homework for the last minute when I could finish the pages early and relax instead.
The music program playing in the background switched from 'We Are Unbreakable' to 'Moves Like Jagger', and I whistled along with the intro as the window opened.
"Hey, Blossom!" Abby greeted, hanging upside-down from the fire escape. "Ready to stop being a stick in the mud yet? Casey said he'd take us somewhere cool tomorrow tonight!"
The blonde was a good six inches taller than me, lean and toned where I'm doughy and soft, with sun-darkened skin and these dark green eyes.
I'm of the opinion God put us together like this to test my patience.
"I'm not a stick in the mud." I replied, looking over the next question as I quickly calculated the math in my head. "Besides, Casey's not really going to Central Park to fight a green man. He's just being an idiot."
"Yeah, but then we get to see him get drunk off his butt!" Abby explained as she swung in through the window and landed on my bed.
I sent her a disbelieving look.
"That's not my idea of fun."
"But Casey's a funny drunk!" She argued, flopping down on my fluffy black comforter and mountain of pillows.
"Not when you're the one dealing with the hangover, it's not." I grumbled, writing the answer to the next question in my workbook, along with an explanation of my reasoning.
"You're such a party-pooper…" Abby whined, going boneless.
"Too bad, Bubbles." I teased, shooting a smirk her way. "Why don't you find a Buttercup and have fun destroying things with her?"
The blonde sighed.
"It wouldn't be the same…"
With a snort, I turned my attention back to the rest of my homework, a smile forming as Abby began to hum the Batman theme song.
Never a dull moment…
Living above a dojo is not as cool as it sounds, especially when all that separates you from the screams of children and adults is a thin floor.
Add to that a three-person family overhead and a crazy vigilante on top of them, and it's a miracle I can sleep at night.
Sprawled on my bed, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to my black ceiling, I found myself awake way before dawn.
Again.
Music came in through my open window from Abby's room upstairs, a too-lively song that would be better used after noon, and I could hear a TV going on the top floor.
My brother Adrian would normally be playing Halo or watching something too, but he was gone for a karate competition in Chicago and wouldn't be back for at least a couple months.
He left Casey Jones in charge, a sign of one-too-many hits to the head during practice.
Sometimes, I wonder if we were born in the wrong order…
Rolling out of bed in defeat, I trudged past my little TV and computer-laden, rickety desk to the little hallway outside.
Adrian's room is right across from mine, the bathroom between us at the very end of the hall, and walking down leads to a small living room on the right and a miniscule kitchenette on the left.
The latter was my destination, stomach grumbling and demanding sustenance.
Looking up from a pile of blankets next to my door, my six-year-old blue and white pit-bull, Ace, wagged her tail and barked in greeting.
"Hey, girl." I cooed, crouching down to scratch behind her ears. "Did you sleep well?"
Leg thumping, she growled happily and leaned into the touch.
"Lucky dog." I teased, reaching down to rub just beneath her chin.
Ace crooned, practically melting in my hands.
Leaving the puddle of dog to lounge on her bed, I went into the kitchenette, already listing all of the ingredients left and what I could make for breakfast.
'Eggs, toast, pancakes, French toast, bacon, sausage…'
A 'THUMP' from overhead and a shout from even higher made a half-exasperated, half-amused smile grow on my face.
'Guess I'll just make a bit of everything…'
Dropping onto my squeaky computer chair with a sigh, I swung my bag underneath as I started the desktop up.
Fridays are a gift from God; without them, I would have snapped by now.
Ace came in and sprawled on my old carpeting, lonely from a day all alone at home, and started to doze as I stretched.
A few 'THUDS' and 'THUMPS' from upstairs signaled Abby's arrival to her own room, and music soon followed.
Her mother is rarely around, either helping my brother with the dojo or out taking care of the business aspect of things, so it's not strange to hear songs like 'Hey Dad' or 'We're Empty' blasting through the apartment.
Actually, her dad and my dad had been friends for years, which is how I met Abby and my somehow-best friend ended up living right above me years after The Accident.
My computer chimed, and the username, PurpleTurtle15, had me scrambling to accept the video chat.
I had met Donnie on a Yahoo! Answers Page roughly a year ago, where we both answered someone's question about biology, and we started chatting after that.
Honestly, he's one of my only friends.
Well, besides Abby, of course.
"Hey, Rocky." He greeted, voice smooth and warm.
Smiling, I turned on my microphone, taking only a moment to glare at my damaged video camera.
"Hey, Donnie. What's up? We haven't chatted in a while."
"Sorry about that…" He replied, sincere. "Things have been kinda crazy over here. We had to move, and we just got settled."
"And you've been without a computer this whole time? You poor turtle." I teased, poking fun at his username affectionately.
Donnie chuckled, and my stomach flip-flopped.
"Actually, the worst part was not being able to talk with you."
Heat rushed to my face as my stomach did some fancy gymnastic twists around my intestines.
"Aw, Donnie, you sure know how to sweet-talk a girl…"
"Hey, Donnie!" Another voice greeted, most likely one of the brothers I'd heard so much about. "Talking with your girlfriend again?"
My cheeks spontaneously combusted at that point.
"Mikey!"
Ah, the annoying little brother…
Kinda reminds me of Abby.
"Sh-She's not my girlfriend! We've never even met face-to-face!"
"That doesn't stop the power of love!"
At that point, I was caught between being extremely embarrassed and highly amused.
I was distracted from the thought when my window creaked open, and I turned as Abby squeezed her way in.
"Hey, Blossom! Chatting with your boyfriend?"
Now I knew how Donnie felt.
"Abby!"
Laughter came from the other line, most likely Mikey's, but I was too distracted at the moment to really tell.
"He's not my boyfriend! He's just a friend that happens to be a boy!"
"The Nile isn't just a river in Egypt!" The blonde chirped, giggling.
"You-!"
I reached out, grabbing a Gaara plushy and chucking it at her head.
Squealing, Abby dove out of the way, hitting the carpet with a 'THUMP'.
"ABORT MISSION! ABORT! ABORT!"
Ace jumped to her feet in surprise, barking once before racing under my bed to hide from Abby's foolishness.
Fully prepared to give Abby and Mikey a piece of my mind over their idea of fun, I tackled my friend to the floor, tangling in a heap of limbs and curse words as laughter poured out of the speakers.
Sometimes, I wonder why these people are my friends…