AN: Please review! Also I DO NOT OWN THE COVER IMAGE!

deviant art : TMNT-Red-504630299 by mariadenisebrebos is where I found the image.

This chapter is Isabella (my OC) centric, but don't worry the turtles will be central in chapter 3!

Also the difference between texts and a character's inner thoughts is "Quotation Marks" and Lack there of:

Text Message, "What's up?" and Inner Thoughts, Well that could have gone better...

~ I don't know how often I'll be able to update the story since I am currently in the process of moving! Please be patient and a special thank you to TheLadyOfSouls and TheMuseofWar for reviewing!


As Isabella expected, she did not fully wake up when her first alarm went off but fell immediately back to her pillows after pressing snooze. During the third alarm she sighed, finally getting up. She got out Murphy's breakfast before she cooked herself some scrambled eggs. After eating, she turned on the news to get the weather as she did her regular morning workout routine.

Stretching carefully, her muscles were loose after five minutes. After that she began doing some deep breathing exercises and yoga poses, while being mindful of her stitches, doing her best to not stretch the skin much. Twenty minutes of that she switched to cardio exercises. Isabella sometimes wished she had a bigger apartment so that she could practice her dance routines without fear of accidentally running into a piece of furniture or knocking something over.

Isabella had recently been trying out various styles of dance at the studio she practiced at, trying to increase her level of experience in different areas. She excelled best in jazz, then hip-hop but was also great at ballet, salsa and modern. So Isabella had signed up to join bellydancing, Bollywood, and pole dancing classes.

Toweling her sweaty face, she made a to call Amara, the owner of the studio, about her not being able to attend this week's classes. Walking into her bathroom, quickly washing her face clean before she started putting on some light-weight foundation, powder, light pink blush, and mascara. Isabella fixed her hair up into a romantic braided up-do. She finished with spritzing herself with some red plum and freesia scented perfume. Putting in her hazel contacts she went to her closet to put on her work clothes. The spa she worked at was one of the most grand and luxurious ones in the city, so she always made sure to look her best. Her clients knew she was very young but her skills were unmatched which was why she was requested so often and had a long list of regular clients.

Isabella had always been artistic. Music, dance, and art had always come naturally to her and she loved doing all three. When her dad left back when she was only six her mom had gone back to school, determined to not let her divorce affect Isabella and Raquel too much. Her parents had moved near them too, to help their daughter during such a difficult time. Isabella was incredibly grateful to her grandparents helping out so much during the years she had been growing up. If they hadn't been there she knew her mom would not have been able to afford all the dance and music lessons she had taken.

Checking her phone, she was glad to see she had about thirty minutes before she needed to depart for the subway. She put together a large fruit/veggie blended smoothie to enjoy this afternoon and got out a grab n' go healthy lunch packet she had decided to buy. It contained a pre-made sesame-ginger soba noodle salad with a side of edamame. She poured her smoothie in a big blue plastic travel mug before putting the lunch packet in her workbag.

"Murphy!" Isabella put the puppy's leash on before locking up her apartment. She headed to the apartment across the hallway that belonged to her neighbor Syndee, or Syn as she preferred. Syn looked after Murphy for her during the weekdays. It didn't hurt that Syn happened to be a professional dog walker too. Isabella had helped Syn move into her apartment seven months ago and she offered to look after the little guy, saying it was the least she could do for Isabella's generosity in helping her.

"Morning Izzy!" Syn nearly sang, her smile bright as always. She was a morning person, but Isabella suspected that coffee assisted the lovely girl to be this chipper in the morning.

Isabella smiled, handing Syn Murphy's leash, "Morning, I gotta run. You be good Murph!" The puppy yipped before Isabella dashed to the elevator. If she didn't hurry she would miss the subway. This time of year she didn't like taking the subways, with how hot and sticky it got but it was unavoidable. The rise in temperature during the summer season meant that the odors in the subway tunnels became extra noticeable. When it was really bad Isabella wished she was rich, so she could just take a cab to work. Thankfully, it wasn't terrible today on her way into the city.

Ivory Silk Day Spa was posh, very modern, and completely silver and off-white in its décor. To Isabella, it seemed like she was stepping into the future whenever she walked into work. She checked in with her manager Shelly and got her list of appointments for the day.

"Morning Izzy," Isabella looked up from her nail station that she was currently trying to organize when one of her coworkers Kayla walked up.

"Morning," she said before covering her mouth to yawn.

"Late night?" Kayla waggled her eyebrows suggestively before she started setting up her station next to Isabella's.

"Not in that sense," she lightly laughed before she heard Kayla sigh in what sounded like annoyance. "What?"

Kayla pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing a bit, "You never date Izzy. Out of all the girls who work here and are single, you are the only one who never has anything romantic going on." Isabella closed her eyes to keep Kayla from seeing her roll them.

"That's not true. I had a date two weeks ago."

Kayla scoffed, "You said you didn't even kiss the guy!"

"Yes, but what I didn't tell you was that he took me to a bar for the date and ended up getting totally wasted! Sorry but I don't go in for the post-vomit smooch!" Kayla made a face but then sighed.

Isabella knew that Kayla was just one of those girls who's world revolved around romance and relationships. She loved hearing about other people's romantic exploits. Maybe it was because Kayla herself was married and her husband was not as exciting as he had once been? Isabella didn't know. But, Kayla seemed to be determined to help her friends and coworkers find love or at least something that may lead to interesting stories for her to hear about.

"Izzy," Kayla said, a hint of playful sadness now in her tone, "You're such an attractive girl. The guy probably drank too much because he was trying to calm his nerves." This time Isabella openly rolled her eyes.

When the spa opened Isabella relaxed, taking in a calming breath. She loved her job and rarely ran into ill-mannered customers. She had frequent clients so she knew a lot of them by name now. She would ask Carol how her grandkids were doing. Patrica how her mother was doing recovering from her back surgery. Katelyn on how her summer was going and what classes she planned on taking at NYU in the fall, all while creating beautiful works of art out of their nails.

Isabella had worked at Ivory Silk Day Spa for a year now. She had moved to New York City to become a professional backup dancer but needed a way to make money until that happened. Her mom and grandparents helped her out for the first year while she went to cosmetology school. One of her favorite professors happened to be good friends with the owner of the spa and voila! Her job was secured before she even graduated! Isabella knew she was incredibly lucky, last night's event could only prove that. She was just so thankful for her good fortune in those regards.

Around 2 o'clock Isabella was off for her lunch break. Looking at her phone as she went into the staff's back room to get her lunch from the fridge, she saw that she had a text from her best friend Emily.

"Meet me at Della's in 10?"

It had been sent thirteen minutes ago. Isabella quickly replied, texting that she was on her way over.

Della's was a popular little cafe across the street from the spa. Stepping out of the spa's back entrance, she speedily made her way there.

Emily's long blonde curls were always easy to find in a crowd, so Isabella spotted her easily enough in the jam-packed cafe.

"Hey Em!" she gave her a quick shoulder hug from behind before taking the seat across from her. Emily looked up from her phone that she had just been typing furiously on.

"Bad date?" One look told her yes, which was too bad. Emily had texted Isabella that she was going to be meeting up with this hot mechanic she had met in passing a few days ago while coming home from the office. Emily let out a long sigh, her cinnamon brown eyes looking up at Isabella sadly.

"You would have heard from me sooner if it went good Iz," she started eating her bagel sandwich.

Isabella took out her lunch, taking a sip of her smoothie, "What was it that made it so bad?"

Emily swallowed her bite before looking out the cafe's window, "It was going great until one subject came up. Take a guess." She blew out a frustrated breath.

"Tessa?" Emily sighed again, her head drooping slightly. Isabella reached across for her best friend's left hand and gently squeezed.

Emily was the first friend she made when she had moved to New York. Emily was a freelance writer for a couple graphic novel publishing companies and on her birthday a year and a half ago she had a little too much to drink. She had been trying to hail a cab, stumbling around before almost falling off the sidewalk into the busy street when Isabella had grabbed her away.

Isabella had been on her way home from her night classes when she had seen Emily. She helped her get home where she met Emily's aunt Lindsay and Emily's six month old daughter Tessa. After that the two of them became very close friends, bonding over their creative career ambitions and love of classic Disney/Pixar movies. Emily helped Isabella figure out the subway system and Isabella would sometimes babysit Tessa for her. They had been friends for eight months when Emily confessed to Isabella that the night they had met she had been planning to jump off of the Brooklyn Bridge. Emily explained how Tessa's father, a Spanish businessman by the name of Agustín Morillo whom she loved and had been dating since she was eighteen, left her after she told him she was pregnant. It caused her to spiral into a deep depression. After a while, even after Tessa was born, she didn't see a reason for living when she woke up everyday to her heart feeling like it was being torn into microscopic pieces and then lit on fire. Emily had no other family besides her aunt, her parent's died back in the 9/11 attacks. Lindsay loved children, though she could not have any herself sadly. So Emily at the time had not felt too terrible about leaving Tessa with her, but that all changed with Isabella's act of kindness to her, a random drunk stranger. And with the friendship they had formed after.

When Isabella heard all this, she immediately hugged Emily tightly and the two girls cried for a little. In that moment, Isabella was so happy her mom had taught her to always be kind to everyone, even strangers. That lesson had saved her new best friend's life and allowed Tessa to be able to grow up with her mom. After getting through therapy the only problem Emily continued to have was that she wanted to be loved, to not have to raise Tessa as a single mother. But she was convinced no man wanted to get involved with a almost twenty-two year old single mother of a toddler. She had been proven right every time she went out so far. Isabella knew that she needed to give Emily support and comfort until she found Mr. Right. 'Mr. Non-Existent' had been what Emily told her in response to that.

Emily shook her head in exasperation, "I really should just open with, 'Hi, I'm Emily and I have a two year old daughter!' That way the rejection will be quick and less painful."

Isabella chuckled, "You'll find someone someday Em."

"Yeah... When I'm forty and Tessa is grown up," her lips puckered a bit at that thought.

Isabella shook her head, "Not all guys will run from the situation you are in. I think he'll likely end up being one of the better men out there. Because he'll be able to love you and Tessa. I'd say just be patient."

Emily smiled and laughed at that, "Wow, nice lines. You mind if I use them for dialogue?"

"Not at all."

Emily giggled, seeming to feel better before picking up her phone, "So... what's happened to you in the last twenty-four hours?" For a moment Isabella said nothing as she took two more bites of her noodle salad. She decided that if she was going to tell anyone, it would be Emily.

"I was almost mugged last night-" Isabella was cut off by Emily's phone clanging onto the table.

"WHAT!?" Even in the busy commotion of the cafe, Emily's outburst caused many people around to jump and stare at her. She didn't seem to notice as she stared at Isabella, a terrified expression coloring her pretty features.

"Em, I'm okay-" she was cut off again.

"Why the hell are you asking me about my date when that happened to you!?" Emily stood up a little before swatting at Isabella's left shoulder.

"Owww!" Isabella hissed as she clutched her shoulder. Emily had hit it exactly wrong, causing her stitches to elicit pain.

"Oh come on! I barely touched you."

Isabella scowled, before pulling her shirt's collar off to the side, exposing her bandage. She mostly did it to show Emily that she wasn't kidding when she said ow and to just get showing her out of the way.

"Isabella Marie Ortiz! What happened!?" Emily's eyes bugged out as she stared, mouth slightly agape.

"Lower your voice and I'll tell you."

Isabella explained everything to Emily, watching to see if her best friend's eyes could possibly get any wider as she told her. When she finished, Emily was stunned into silence. Isabella continued to eat her lunch before Emily unfroze from the shock.

"God... I'm glad your okay..." Isabella's lips curved before she continued chewing on the edamame soybeans.

"So... someone is going around the city saving people who are in trouble?"

She nodded, still eating the last of the edamame.

"That's crazy! Good crazy cause he saved you, but that person is nuts!"

"What makes you say that he's crazy?"

Emily shook her head, "No, I mean its insane for a guy, even if he is giant like you say, to go around fighting criminals. It's likely going to get him killed..." she paused for a moment before adding, "It does make you wonder..." Isabella looked up to see Emily's thinking face. It was a face she usually made when trying to think of a good plot twist in the stories she wrote. Isabella could practically see the wheels turning in Emily's mind as she went deeper into thought.

"Wonder what?" Emily's eyes turned back to her.

"Why is he doing this? What pushed him to start this? What is he trying to achieve by doing this? How much of an impact is he really having with his actions? And how many people do you think he's actually saved?"

Isabella blinked in surprise, not having even thought of those very good points and felt her brain try to come up with some answers to these very interesting questions. In her daze she noticed a clock on one of the cafe's walls.

"Now I wish I could stay longer to discuss this... But my lunch break is about up Em."

Emily stood, gathering her trash, "It's okay, you could come over tonight after I put Tessa to bed. You can't dance with those stitches huh?" Her disappointed face made Emily give her a comforting smile and a quick hug.

"I'm going to miss my audition on Tuesday now..." Isabella mumbled.

"There will be other auditions Iz. You'll make it one day, I know it," Emily laughed, "If I could dance like you, I probably wouldn't write."

"Well then, thank god for that! I love your stories."

"Thanks, I do too!" The two women laughed and hugged once more before parting ways.

Throughout the rest of the day Isabella had to really focus on her work or else her thoughts would go back to the vigilante and the questions Emily had put in her head. Kayla chatted with her during their ten minute breaks so that helped to distract her some.

When Isabella got off work at ten she went straight home to pick up Murphy. The whole way home she felt on edge, eager to continue her talk with Emily about the vigilante.

"We're going over to Emily's Murph!" The puppy barked back happily, as Isabella put out his dinner and changed out of her work clothes into something more comfortable.

It was starting to cool down a little since it was almost August but Isabella had found out that even if the temperature went down for a while, it could always go back up until October came around. She picked out some short dark-wash denim shorts and a white t-shirt that had the words, 'Nail Technician by Day, Zombie Slayer by Night' written on it. Her hair she let out of its up-do, smiling at how nice and wavy the braids had made her hair. She sent a text to Emily, telling her she was leaving her place to head over.

Isabella put Murphy's leash back on before heading out the door. The night air was humid tonight, so Isabella decided that she would walk Murphy for a bit before calling for a cab to come and get her. When she got down to the end of her street she realized just how hungry she was. Her dinner had been half a chicken pita sandwich and a caesar salad with no dressing from Della's but that hadn't fully satisfied her.

There's a Dunkin Donuts two blocks away from here...

She rarely got anything really sweet and bad for her ever, minus the lollipop from last night but that had only been fifty calories. Donuts and the bakery sandwiches they offered there were different, full of fatty and sugary goodness she rarely let herself indulge in.

I guess tonight I'll cheat my diet just a bit.

Smiling, Isabella led Murphy to the donut shop.


AN: Please let me know what you think!

If you want to know what hairstyle Isabella used, go to YouTube and look up MakeupWearables Hairstyles and on that channel look up Romantic Braid Bun Hairstyle Summer Updo Hairstyles.

Also the link for the apartment I used for creating Isabella's is: (don't type in the spaces I used, the site won't let me use outside links as they are unfortunately -_-)

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