Ever since we were kids, I've been different from my brothers. Not just height difference, but just…different different. I could never mediate because I always got bored, I couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes before I started to fidget or something and I always seemed to be talking. My brothers would just tell me to shut up. They'd call me things like lazy, stupid, goof-off.
Things that really got under my shell.
Of course I tried my best, but my best was next to nothing. I tried to work hard, but there was nothing to work with.
That continued for thirteen years.
Then one day Donnie called me into his lab. "I think I know why you're so pro-active. I think you have a learning disorder."
I jumped to my feet, completely outraged. "Hey! Just 'cause I'm not a genius like you doesn't mean I'm stupid!"
"No, no, no. I didn't mean that." He stammered. "I meant that I think you have ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. You see, your brain, it's…it's like a car. It moves fast, but the breaks don't stop too well."
"So, all those times that you guys told me off for running around and fidgeting…I couldn't help it?" I questioned him.
"Yeah." Donnie replied, rubbing his arm sheepishly. "Sorry about that.
So Donnie went out with me and we both told everyone else what he'd found out. I thought the rest of them would be as forgiving as he was, but Raph was saying that I was just lying so I wouldn't seem so stupid. Even Sensei denied it-he just said I lacked discipline. Well I just couldn't take it. I ran out the living room and into my bedroom.
It was about ten minutes before someone knocked on my door. "Mikey." Leo. "Come on Mike, open up."
"No." I mumbled, my speech blocked slightly since my head was on my pillow. "Go away. I don't need anyone to tell me I'm lying."
"I'm not gonna tell you you're wrong. I just want to talk." He said.
I sighed. Leo's not one for lying, mostly because he can't, but also because he doesn't like to. Reluctantly, but surely, I walked over and unlocked my door. Leo walked in, and I locked it quickly before someone else tried to run in. I sat on my bed. "So, what do you wanna talk about?"
"I just want to tell you, I believe you." He said, sitting next to me.
"What?" I half expected a lecture.
"If you and Donnie say you have ADHD, then I believe you." He repeated.
"Why?"
" 'Cause Mike…I have a disorder of my own." He told me, abet quietly.
"Really? What?" I asked him.
"OCD." He replied. "It means that everything I do has to be a certain way."
"Is that why your room is so neat? And why you're always trying to perfect your katas?" I questioned.
Leo nodded. "Yeah, Donnie diagnosed me a year ago."
"Then how come no-one else knows?" I questioned.
"I never told anyone. I was worried you guys would treat me differently. You're much braver than me, you know, for telling us today." He praised.
"Really?"
"Yeah. How 'bout we go face them together?" Leo offered.
"Yeah. That would be great." We got to the door, but just as I opened it I stopped. "Do you have to take medication?"
"What?"
"For your OCD. Do you have to take medication?" I asked.
"Yeah. Donnie gets them for me? Why? Did he say you had to have some?"
"Yeah. He said he'll get them for me within a week."
"That's good then."
I nodded, and opened the door, ready to face the music. But that was alright, because now I know the truth. I'm not a goof-off, or stupid. I actually have something wrong with me. Doesn't mean that I'm not lazy. I know that, and I'm ok with it.
And it turns out I'm not alone in this. 'Cause I have ADHD and Leo has OCD. I'm hyperactive and he's over-compulsive.
It's not weird.
It's just a disorder.
Edit-This is from my imagination, and written in Mikey's POV. I do not have ADHD. I may have OCD but that's not medically proven (and won't be until I get the courage to tell my parents). A special shout out to I love kittens too. Thank you for caring enough to write with advice, but I do not nor cannot use it, for I don't have ADHD, nor do I live in America. Thank you anyway.
G.J (aka turtlefan141)