"Amanda, sorry I can't help you, but I gotta go right away!" April yelled from the living room.
"What did she say?!" May yelled from the other side of the line.
"What? Why?" Amanda asked, placing her phone screen down on the counter.
"I-it's my brother," April stuttered, gripping the kitchen doorway, "I-I mean my friend—my brother—it's just—he's poisoned!"
"What?!" Amanda exclaimed in disbelief. "By what—why?!"
"I-I don't know, but his brother told me to go get some supplies," April said.
"Let me come with you!"
"Amanda, dear," Mrs Baker called from the phone, "the school's gonna be open in a couple of hours!"
Amanda sighed and picked up her phone and scratched her head. "Forget the ingredients, mom. Girls, sell what's left. I'm gonna help April's friend," she said.
"Amanda, you don't even know who you're helping," Justine said before Amanda hung up.
"Amanda, you don't have to-" April said.
"Look," Amanda sighed stressfully. "I lost my grandfather because of food poisoning. I don't want that to happen to anyone else."
"I...I'm sorry," April swallowed, looking down, her grip of the doorway relaxed.
"It's fine," Amanda said, "He was ready to leave and it was gonna happen sooner or later, right?" April nodded bitterly. "Now, let's go."
9
"April, you know that we love you as a sister and all, but Leo's not gonna be happy."
"Screw Leo, I'm helping your brother!" Amanda exclaimed, taking a step toward the orange banded turtle, who leaned back a tad.
The orange turtle looked at April with wide eyes. The red head was sheepish.
"Uh, Amanda," April called, a slight movement of her hand towards the brunette shoved up the turtle's face.
Amanda turned around, a sweet, friendly look her face. "Yeah?"
"You just screwed the boy-er, turtle- you came to help," April said, looking away with a hint of pink on her cheeks from embarrassment.
Amanda blinked. The corners of her mouth twitched up in confused amusement. "You're kidding."
9
"You're not kidding," Amanda stated, standing at the door of the leader's room. Her eye twitched.
"April, why is there a stranger in Leo's bedroom?" Raph asked in a whisper, covering his mouth with his hand. "You do know that Leo's gonna kill you for this, right?"
"What can I do?" April whispered the loudest she could. "She's very persistent."
"Well you know her. You, of all people, should know how to deal with her."
"But I just met her today."
"What?!" Raphael exclaimed, a little too loudly. Leo stirred and propped himself up in his elbows as his woke up.
"Aw sewer apples," Donnie grunted as he rushed to Leo's side and laid him back down. "Leo, you gotta rest."
Leo slowly began to open his eyes that filled with pain and sleepiness. "...Don...ie?"
"Leo, go back to bed, there's nothing you should worry about," Donnie reassured him.
"Besides the fact that you're literally poisoned and you're gonna get angry at me for coming over when I just wanted to help," Amanda mumbled angrily. April heard it, and she hoped that Leo didn't.
"Wha...t was...that?" Leo asked, propping himself on his elbows, only to be pushed back down by Donnie.
"What was what?" Mikey asked form the foot of Leo's bed. A big smile was plastered on his face, but you could tell that he and his other brothers heard it.
"Me," Amanda mumbled, this time with a stifled chuckle.
"That," Leo replied hurriedly.
"I...didn't hear anything at all, Leo," Donnie reassured with a nervous grin.
Amanda stifled a giggle, and Leo noticed it.
"There's someone else in here," he rasped.
"Uh...your voice sounds rough Leo. I'll get you some water! Get some rest!" Mikey said, too quickly. He ran out, grabbing Amanda's hand.
9
Amanda squeaked as Michelangelo jerked her out of the room with such force, she almost thought she dislocated her arm. He brought her to some kind of kitchen then ran out with a full glass of water, a miracle not spilling it.
Amanda just stood there in confusion. She stared at the curtained doorway the orange clad turtle had just exited. She raised a brow and shook her head to clear her mind. The smell of the sewer wasn't as bad here, maybe the melted candles at the top of the cupboards had something to do with it. She walked to what looked like an island table in the center of the room and ran her fingers across it, she picked it up and was surprised to see nothing on her hand. This time, she ran her entire right hand across the surface, counting all the cracks in the stone. Amanda kicked the material that held the stone table up from underneath. It was solid. Solid rock.
If this was an abandoned subway, she thought, then why would the table be made of stone? Then again, the table looks a lot more cracked than the counter. But how— Maybe it was moved here from a junkyard or something. Yeah. Convince yourself. But it's not like they're cavemen or anything. Amanda smiled at the thought.
"Caveman turtles," she chuckled, "yeah right."
9
"April, we're all gonna be in big-huuuuuge trouble if Leo finds out that there's a stranger in the lair," Donnie said.
April sighed, "Yeah, D, I'm aware, but it's kinda hard not to let her come. Because I know it's either that or I'm gonna have a stalker on my tail."
Donnie looked at her in worry. This stranger had to get out of here before they all got in trouble. If not, who knows what'll happen. He was under enough stress of finding a cure for Leo, and now there was this emo brunette invading their home and they were trying to protect her! Well, it's for their own sake, but still!
Donnie ran a hand across his wrinkled forehead and turned to the kitchen, where Mikey left the girl, or so he said. With his little brother, you'll never know.
Donnie turned back to April, who was just as concerned. He planted his hand on her shoulders and looked at her as gently as his stress would let him. "Why don't you tell your friend that it's nice of her to help, but she has to leave and pretend that this never, ever happened," he asked, but it was clearly more of an order.
April gave a shy nod and brushed Donnie's hands off and walked to the kitchen. Donnie knit his brows together and sighed for the hundredth time today. He turned to the clock, it was about five. He could go out. Kinda. He's been out at four before, five wouldn't hurt. Plus it was almost winter so nights will be longer. And if he was not mistaken, the sun had set a few minutes ago. He could use a break. Plus maybe he'd grab some stuff on the way home. Yeah, he's going with her.
"Hey, April," he called unsurely, reaching a hand out to her.
"Yes, Donnie?" April replied, turning to him with a small smile on her face. That smile flushed Donnie of his color. He wondered if April noticed.
"I... Can I...go with you? I - I mean, bring April home with the girl. Aw, wait, no! I mean, can I go home with you?" Donnie mentally hit himself at all his failed attempts, but April knew what he was talking about and replied with a small 'yes'. Added with 'we could use some more time together'. One could take the latter as an offense, but Donnie took it as a compliment and fainted as soon as April's back was turned.
9
"Hey, Amanda-" April stopped short on her tracks as she saw Amanda handing Ice Cream Kitty a chocolate square. The mutant kitten looked at it curiously before giving it a small lick. The pet meowed with a smile in thanks and started sucking the sweet as Amanda closed the freezer door with a smile.
The brunette turned her head to April. She was shocked to see the red head there. "Oh, uh, hey, April," she stuttered with a nervous chuckle. There was an awkward silence in between the two girls. Then Amanda's eyes went wide in realization. "...how much of that did you see?"
"...From the part where you gave Ice Cream Kitty chocolate," April replied.
"Oh, wait- did I do something wrong?" Amanda asked guiltily.
"What? No! ... okay, you did come here and that was gonna get all of us in trouble, but about the Ice Cream Kitty thing... It was actually kinda cute. And...I wasn't expecting that from you," April smiled, "This day is full of surprises, isn't it?"
Amanda looked down as her cheeks flushed. "I..guess."
"Aw, don't worry about it too much, Amanda," April said, walking over and placing a hand on Amanda's shoulder.
"Okay," Amanda sighed, rubbing her hand on her arm.
"C'mon, let's get you home before Leo forces himself up and we all get into more trouble than we were supposed to," April said, leading Amanda to the lair entrance, where they met up with Donnie and left.
9
"She's supposed to be goth?" Donnie asked as he and April trekked through the sewers, back to the lair. The two had just brought Amanda to her school, as she requested they do, and they were now walking in peace even though Donnie's legs were killing him in due to his attempt to beat April and Amanda, who had taken the subway.
"Well, so I heard," April said, "but other students say that she's emo."
"What's the difference?" Donnie asked. April responded with a shrug. "You said that she was nice to Ice Cream Kitty." April nodded. "It could merely mean that her personality's not all-in-all goth or emo, if there ever is a difference."
"Yeah...but, her singing a romantic recipe song? I don't think that's normal," April replied.
"It could be a normal thing. You just met her, April," Donnie said. He tensed as no reply came. Donnie coughed in attempt to get April's undivided attention. He didn't know whether or not he succeeded since he didn't dare to glance at her. Instead, he kept his eyes on the path in front of them. "I mean— you're worried...why?" Donnie asked, trying to bring back the conversation. He didn't care about this girl too much, if at all, but it was bothering April and that was bothering him.
"It's just—" April's muscles stiffened as she lifted her fists, as if trying to grasp something in the air. After a second or two, she slumped in defeat. "There's something about her that doesn't seem right," she admitted, bringing her hands to her elbows and lightly hugging herself.
Donnie's brows knit together as he saw her worried state. He hated seeing her like this. It's not like her to be so worked up about something. He had to do something. But what were you supposed to do when your crush was all wound up and you have no idea how to help them? Donnie had to look that up later, but right now, he had to do what he could. He gently clamped a hand on her shoulder in silent reassurance.
"If she's troubled, I want to help her," April murmured, Donnie barely heard it, but he did. "...If she's hurt, I want to comfort her...and...and if she's lonely, I want to be there for her, give her company."
This was the April Donnie knew. Helpful, whether she knew the person very well or not.