Not So Ordinary Teenage Days

Chapter 3

A/N: I know I said that the updated chapters would be longer but I have actually been busier than I have ever been in months. I'm moving out of state in a few months so I am trying to spend my days off with my friends as much as I can before I go. I know the story has started pretty slow but I hope it will pick up soon. If you have any ideas please feel free to leave them in a review and maybe I'll even write a chapter with events of my favorite idea suggested by you guys.

TMNT © Nickelodeon

Ava © Me

Please enjoy and Review afterwards with your thoughts and comments.

Even though Ava had slept soundly thanks to the pain killers when she woke up her whole body surged in protest. She could barely sit up without whimpering in pain. Her body felt stiff when she tried to stretch but the stitches on her shoulder wouldn't let her completely stretch. She heard sounds from the dojo area and wondered if they were training. She wanted to watch but she couldn't get up just yet since she was too sore.

"I guess I'll do my homework." She muttered, pulling her binder and text book from her bag to study for her classes. She still couldn't believe where she was and who she was saved by. Her mind wondered during her studies and hadn't noticed the boys walking into the room and sitting on the couch and floor to watch television.

"Ava?" Mikey poked her arm to get her attention. She seemed startled and snapped her head up from her book to look at Mikey who sat next to her, "did you hear me?"

"Sorry, I was kind of lost in thought. What did you say?" She smiled apologetically for not paying attention to the youngest of the four. He seemed to not mind as his big blue eyes watched her.

"I was asking if you wanted pizza, we were going to order some and have April pick it up." Mikey seemed excited about the pizza when he asked, holding his strange phone in his hand. It looked like a turtle shell, which was kind of neat.

"I work at a pizza parlor, I can get a discount." She pulled out her phone but her arm was grabbed by Mikey, "um," she looked at him, his baby blue eyes shining at her, "what?"

"You work at a pizza parlor?!" Mikey asked excitedly and she nodded slowly, "You're the coolest person ever!" He cheered, hugging her arm and she couldn't help but laugh at him and his childish behavior.

"Yeah, I am pretty awesome." She boasted jokingly. Dialing her work she called and ordered their pizza for them, "oh well, my friends are coming over to check on me and help me study so we're ordering pizza." She explained to her manager, "thanks, yeah I should be able to work next weekend. Yeah. A girl named April will be picking up my order. Thanks boss. Bye." Hanging up she smiled at Mikey who got up and cheered, doing a dance and then left to play a video game.

The day seemed to be passing by so slowly to Ava and even with April to talk to for a little while over it still passed slowly. Ava kept to herself when April left to train with Master Splinter. She had her headphones on while she finished her homework and moved to her book she had been reading the past week. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to see a text from Casey asking if she could make it to his hockey game that night.

"Hey guys," she called, removing her headphones so she could hear their reply, "I know you want me to stay here for another night just in case but my friend has a hockey game tonight and I told him I would go if I could." She looked up from her phone to the guys who looked to Leonardo. She assumed he was the leader of the group so she met his gaze, "could I?"

Leonardo shrugged and stood from where he sat in front of the television, "I don't see a problem with it but can you get up and walk around?" He asked and saw her expression of concern. He saw her stand slowly and her face twitched, as if trying to show she was in pain but she did her best to hide it. Taking a few steps her body screamed in protest and her head started to spin. She had been sitting to long and got a head rush along with her blood loss she still needed rest but she wanted to watch Casey's hockey game. She walked over to Leo and stumbled part way only to pout and cross her arms with difficulty.

"I'm fine." She assured him but she knew he wasn't going to buy it, "please, he's my best friend and I need to go home anyway to take a shower and get a change of clothes." She protested instantly then realized that she didn't need their permission to leave. "Actually I don't need your permission." She walked to her back pack and put her things away. She put on her roller blades and turned to face them, "Thanks again for your help guys. I'll be sure to bring some pizza over some time." She glided past them and to the exit when Leonardo ran after her.

"Ava, wait." He called and got in her way, "let us walk you there," He saw Ava glance at him in curiosity, "just to be safe." He offered with a smile and she couldn't say no to him so she nodded and the others joined her.

They escorted her out of the sewers and to the surface. It was already so dark outside and she was worried she might be late for the hockey game. Glancing at her phone Ava sighed as she saw she didn't have much time before it would start. She walked the streets while the turtles stayed on the rooftops and kept an eye on her. She paid no mind and listened to her music while thinking about what she said to the turtles. It was rude but it was true. She was just glad that Leo let her leave because she would have protested or pouted until he let her go. Casey was her best friend and she used to go to every one of his games before she started working.

"Alright guys, we should probably patrol while we are out so Raph and Mikey you two go search the east side of the city and meet up back at the check point in two hours." Leonardo ordered when they reached the next rooftop, "Donnie and I will check the west side tonight after Ava makes it to the skating rink." He turned his attention back to Ava who skated across the street and jumped to the next roof top. He wondered if she really would visit again like she said she would. Mostly because he knew Mikey would never stop talking about her now that they knew she worked at a pizza parlor. He also just wanted to see her again. There was something about her that made him feel normal. Well, as normal as a mutant turtle could feel at least.

Ava arrived at the skating rink and removed to skates. She replaced them with her boots and turned to look at the roof top. She gave a small smile and a two finger salute to Leonardo and Donatello before she headed inside. She felt tired, hungry, and extremely sore but she could sit and rest during the game. She was glad she made it just in time to get a good seat while the teams practiced their goal shots. When Casey spotted her he waved and she couldn't help but waved back at the huge smile he gave her. It was like old times when she would come to his game every weekend or his practice and watch him play.

The game started and she made sure to cheer for Casey and his team despite how tired she was. He was really good at hockey. He literally slept, breathed and lived hockey since he was young. He always had a hockey stick with him and his skates too. Ava on the other hand used to take dance until the end of her second year of high school when her mother was hospitalized for the first time. She played the acoustic guitar a too because her mother played her whole life and taught her how to play before she was diagnosed with cancer. Ava actually stopped doing everything that she enjoyed when her mother was hospitalized. She lost a lot of motivation and became so worried she got stressed and sick sometimes. Her mother was special to her but not just because she was her mother but because she was her best friend. Her mother was kind and soft with such a strong heart that Ava admired her mother. Ava was glad she had Casey to keep her company during all of it otherwise she would have fallen apart.

"Dude when I did that sick trick shot and scored the winning goal was epic!" Casey cheered excitedly while he walked Ava home and grinned at her. "I'm glad you made it, I was worried you had work." Casey nudged his friend playfully and it took all she had to not yelp in pain and laugh it off with a playful nudge back.

"Yeah, actually I wiped out on my way home and got hurt then went to a friend's place that was nearby to rest and study." She lied to Casey but it wasn't fully a lie. She never lied to Casey and it made her feel sick to even tell a little white lie. "Anyway, I'm alright just sore." She shrugged it off so that her hockey freak friend wouldn't worry about her. "I haven't seen you play in so long. You have gotten so good you almost looked cool out there."

"Cool enough to fall for me?" He joked with a wink and she giggled at him, "I can't blame ya, you know. I am pretty cool when I'm in action and not to mention handsome." His friend rolled her eyes at him and he laughed, "Hey," he ruffled her hair and noticed it was already messy, "your hair is a mess."

"Oh," She touched her hair with a frown. She didn't fix her hair that whole time she was at the lair. "I rode my blades to the rink so I wouldn't be late." Was her reply with a shrug as if it were no big deal, "Thanks for walking me home Casey." She smiled when she got to her apartment door, "I'll see you at school Tuesday. I'm glad that we have a three day weekend. I can rest for once since I can't go to work with how beat up I was from that wicked fall." She pointed to her forearm and her back, "not to mention the bruise you left on my other arm from your puck." She playfully glared at him.

"Yeah," Casey scratched the back of his neck, "sorry about that Ava. I'll see you at school. Later!" He waved and waited for her to get into her apartment before he left. He was glad that Ava was alright but worried since she seemed a little off. Or it could just be his imagination.

"Finally I'm home." Ava breathed in deeply with her hands on her hips, "Alright, first things first," making her way upstairs the teen grabbed her pajama shorts, a clean tank top and underwear before she headed to the bathroom to shower.

Turning on the water she made sure it was warm enough and then stripped down so she could step into the shower. She removed the gauze carefully but still groaned at the slight pain and then removed the one on her arm. Frowning at the gauze she tossed it into the trash and got into the shower. Sighing at the warmth she let her hair get soaked but when the water touched her stitches she hissed as it cleaned any dirt away. Once she was done she turned off the water and stepped out to dry off and then got dressed in her pajamas. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned at how tired she looked. She put new gauze over the stitches and left to her bedroom. She spotted her guitar in the corner and debated on playing it or not. Shrugging she decided it couldn't hurt to play a little and picked it up before she made her way to her bed to play a song her mother had taught her. She only played a few chords before she felt a tear roll down her cheek and quickly rubbed it away and then put her guitar back.

"I need to sleep anyway." She told herself when she set her guitar on the stand and stared at it. She frowned at it just before Ava turned on her heel to go to bed. She was careful not to hurt her shoulder and lied down on her stomach which was rather annoying since she usually slept on her back or her side. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep that night with how sore she was but at least the pain wasn't so bad that she couldn't sleep soundly.

She slept in until the late afternoon the next day and was glad she had gotten some good rest. She ate breakfast and watched some television when she passed by the show that Leonardo was watching the other night. Sighing she shut off the television and headed to her room. She picked up her guitar and her notebook that had some songs she had written and decided to finish a few of them. She played for about an hour or so when she got a text.

"April?" She had forgotten that she had given April her number.

April had asked her if she was alright and if she was going to visit the turtles again. Ava texted her back and said that she was alright and also that she was not sure if she was going to visit again. The reply from April told her that Mikey kept talking about the discounted pizza. That made Ava smile and laugh softly. She wasn't sure what to text back. April saw the turtles as her friends but what did Ava see them as? She wouldn't mind having more friends but she had Casey and he was enough. Besides she wasn't sure if she could handle how surreal it all was when she was around them. Then she thought about how they must not have any other human friends and how it must be nice to have friends. Still she didn't feel like walking to the lair since she was still a little sore and wanted to make sure her uncle was alright. Ava told April she would visit the turtles another day and bring pizza for them too. She set her phone down and put her notebook away along with her guitar just as her uncle got home.

"Uncle Jessie!" She rushed out of her room and to the front room where she saw her uncle setting his things down. She hugged him and smiled, "you're home early." She pointed out, helping him with his things.

"They're performing an inspection on the building and the progress so far before we finish the next floor of the building." He explained to his niece. He was a carpenter and architect, which meant he usually worked really late but there were some rare days when he got home early and they would watch movies together or bake sweets. "Tomorrow I have the day off so I was thinking of visiting Mia."

Ava froze and looked slowly up at her uncle with a worried expression. She hadn't seen her mother in a few weeks and missed her but she was scared to see her mother in her current state. It always hurt to see her mother in the hospital bed looking so tired and alone. Ava let out a deep breath, "Alright." She replied before she left back upstairs and closed her bedroom door behind. Taking out her phone she texted Casey and told him that she was going to see her mother.

[Casey] Will you be okay?

[Ava] I'll be fine I'm just scared.

[Casey] I'm sure she's okay. Just try not to worry too much and enjoy the visit.

[Ava] I'll try.

There was a long pause before she sent another text.

[Ava] I started playing my guitar again. I almost finished one of my songs.

[Casey] Really?

[Casey] It's been a while since you've played. You gotta let me hear it when it's done.

[Ava] Sure thing.

[Ava] My uncle is home early so I'm going to go now. I'll keep you posted

[Casey] Alright I'll talk to you later.

[Ava] Later.

She set her cell phone I her pocket and sighed heavily, blowing at her bangs in the process and left the room to make dinner for her and her uncle. The night was relaxing for her and it helped her to calm down before bed. She lied on her stomach in her bed but couldn't fall asleep. She sighed and looked out her window. She wondered if the turtles were out on a patrol again. Ignoring the thought she closed her eyes, forcing herself to sleep.

Her heart was racing with anticipation from the moment she woke up the next morning. She wanted to see her mother but what if things had gotten worse? She couldn't handle losing her mother. When they arrived they signed in and got visitor passes so they could go to her mother's room. She stood outside the door with her hand on the door handle before she opened it and saw her mother sitting on the bed, looking out the window.

"Ava," Her mother's gaze met Ava's and she ran to her mother in an instant. Hugging her tightly to her small frame she buried her face into her neck. Her mother's soft hair tickled her nose and cheek. Ava managed to pull away and let her uncle hug his dear little sister. "It's so good to see the two of you again. How is work and school?"

"It's the same." Ava answered simply, sitting on the edge of the bed as she spoke to her mother. "Casey is the same too," She pointed to the bruise on her arm, "and he won his match on Saturday. I was able to go." Her mother smiled at her daughter and turned to her brother. They talked for a while about work and school along with her job when Uncle Jessie asked how the tests were going.

"Actually," Ava saw her mother's expression drop to something grim and Ava felt her chest clench at her heart for a long moment. "They said it has spread to my back." She took Ava's hand and squeezed it but kept her eyes on her brother, "I can't leave yet."

"You mean you won't ever be able to leave?" Ava asked, turning her head to look at her mom then down at their hands. She wasn't a kid anymore so her mother didn't have to try and soften up the bad news. Ava squeezed her mother's hand and bit her lip.

"Ava," Her mother frowned, "sweetheart I promise everything will be alright."

"No it won't. You can't keep treating me like a kid Mom. I know what cancer is. I know how serious it is and I know that once it spreads it won't stop." She kept her voice low as it was strained and tried to hold back her tears. "Stop making promises you can't keep." Everything was quiet for a long while as they all knew the truth of the situation. Ava was acting like a child but she hated it when her mother acted like everything would be okay.

"Just make sure to visit more often for me, okay?" That was all her mother could say in reply and hugged Ava close, "thank you for visiting me today. I love you." She kissed her daughter on the cheek then hugged her brother goodbye.

When they left Ava didn't say anything or look at her uncle as she tried to stay calm. She knew her mother was in a bad state but the cancer had spread to her back so quickly. Sighing heavily she sat in the passenger seat of the car when her Uncle got a phone call from his work and had to drop her off at home and then go straight to work. Once again Ava was left at home all alone. She told Casey about everything then sat in her room listening to music and sulking. She looked at her phone and saw what time it was. She decided to climb onto the roof of her apartment to see if she could spot the turtles. The night air was crisp, cold and smelt wet since it had rained earlier that day. She rubbed her arms and sighed again. Aside from the sirens and sounds of New York it was a rather quiet night. An hour passed and Ava didn't see any sign of the turtles so she started to head back when she heard a loud explosion in the distance and looked in the direction of the noise. It was ear the construction site that her uncle was working at.

Panic and worry filled her so she rushed inside, grabbed her phone and called her uncle but no answer. Getting her skates on and shoving her shoes in her back packs he left the apartment. Swiftly she sped down the streets of New York with nothing but worry filling her thoughts. She arrived at the scene and saw that the construction site was still intact. Her attention left the site and met the scene of Kraang shooting at something. She moved closer making sure to stay hidden. She saw the turtles fighting the Kraang and some strange mutant she didn't know about. Her phone vibrated and her uncle had texted her.

[Uncle Jessie] There was an explosion near the site but everyone is safe and nothing as destroyed. I'm alright and I'll see you when I get home.

A huge sigh of relief left her body when she finished the text and told him she was out so she would see him later then put her phone away. She turned her attention back to the fight. The Foot Ninja from before appear along with a huge mutant dog and a type of fish with robot legs. The Kraang were taken out easily but the turtles seemed to have trouble fighting the new foes. She felt worry fill her again when Leo was knocked back into Raph by the giant mutant dog. Ava watched as the turtles struggled to fight them. They couldn't escape as they were surrounded. She felt she had to help but what could she do? She was just a teenage girl with roller blades. Looking around she was sure there was something from the construction site that she could use. Her eyes saw a lead pipe and although it might not take down the mutants it could do something against the ninja.

"I'll probably regret this…" She grabbed the pipe and skated out from behind the debris she used to hide herself and at full speed tackled down a ninja that was about to grab Mikey. Ava hit the Foot Ninja as hard as she could in his gut then kicked him in the side of the head. Her skate making a rather loud and pain cracking sound against his skull. The ninja stumbled then passed out. She had learned how to street fight a little but from Casey over the years and boy was she grateful for those lessons. "You okay Mikey?" She asked, turning to her turtle friend.

"Ava, what are you doing here?" Leo asked, surprised to see her but also worried for her safety. "You should get out of here now!" He rushed at the mutant dog again while Raph went for the fish. "It's not safe here!"

"I saw your shells getting beat into the ground, I couldn't just run." Ava protested. Rushing at another Foot Ninja and hitting him in the head with the pipe then turned around only to duck from an attack by another ninja. Donnie was able to take him out and she smiled at him, "cool move."

"What's this? You little freaks made a human friend?" The dog teased with a mocking laugh, knocking Leo over, stomping on his chest. "How cute." He continued to tease the turtles. Mikey rushed at the dog but was knocked away and into a wall with a loud thud.

"Donnie!" Ava called, rushing to his side, "are you alright?" She looked him over but he nodded and stood. "If we take out the ninja can you guys run?" She asked, wanting to help.

"Y-Yeah but you shouldn't be here. Go home." Donnie frowned at her, grabbing his staff from the ground. "We can handle this."

Ava rose her brow at him, hands on her hips, "Oh really?" She nodded to his brothers, "You distract him and I'll get Leo." She skated off with her pipe, hitting another ninja in the back then made a sharp turn to rush at the giant mutant dog. Donnie had managed to get him off of Leo in time for her to grab Leo. "I'm not leaving you guys to get beat up when you saved me. I can't fight but I am fast on my skates." She told Leo with determination, "I'm tired of just sitting back and watching everyone around me getting hurt while I do nothing." She whispered to herself but Leo caught it, "can you fight?" The teen asked, letting the leader stand on his own.

"Yeah," He unsheathed his duel katana, "don't get yourself hurt again." He smirked just before he ran back into the battle. He jumped on into the air and kicked the mutant dog hard in the chest. The mutant recoiled with a yelp but came back with a growl and grabbed Leonardo by the neck, bashing him into the ground and chocking him. The fish mutant seemed to be staggering from the two brother constantly getting at him. Ava watched them fight and gripped the pipe in her hand tighter. She was so useless. Yeah she knocked a few heads but she had just gotten lucky.

"Hey, flea bag!" Ava shouted, pointing her pipe at his face, "you need to learn to play nice, mutt." Rushing at him she let the pipe hang at her side. It scraped on the ground creating sparks with the hiss of steel on the pavement. She saw a ramp from the construction and made a break for it. She jumped the ramp and kicked the dog in the nose. He whimpered loudly, shook his head then knocked her back. She stumbled and groaned but saw the ninja and mutants retreat. She rushed over to Leonardo who was coughing for air.

"That was dangerous," Leonardo frowned at Ava who looked him straight in the eyes, dropped the pipe and shrugged, "but it was pretty cool. I didn't know you could street fight." He grabbed his swords and sheathed them.

"I learned from my friend." She shrugged, "sometimes the other hockey teams would pick fights with him." She looked to his brothers, "I'm glad that you are all okay. I saw the explosion from my roof and thought my uncle had gotten stuck in the middle of it." She looked at the building that was nearly done being built, "he was working on that building."

"Sorry," Donnie apologized, "we made you come all the way out here because we caused that explosion. The Kraang made a new device that I had to destroy." He explained but she shook her head.

"As long as you're all okay."

"Those were some cool moves, for a street fighter." Raph spoke up, teasing her. Ava smirked at him and he smirked back.

"Can we have pizza?!" Mikey shouted excitedly.

"I don't have school tomorrow so I can get some pizza if you guys let me stay at your place for the night." They agreed to the deal and headed to the pizza parlor. She talked with her manager and show the wounds on her body but insisted she was okay. She just wanted pizza for her and her uncle. She left the pizza parlor with a few boxes of pizza for them and followed them to the sewers. She was lost in her thoughts though on the way to the lair. She kept thinking about her mother, the explosion and how she was scared of losing her mother and uncle. Not to mention the turtles were constantly in danger when they left the lair at night to patrol. April was also in danger from what it seemed. Everyone around her was in danger and she couldn't do anything to help any of them. Most of all she couldn't help her mother.

"Hey, are you alright?" Leonardo asked when they reached the lair, "You seem to have something on your mind. Need someone to talk too?" He offered to lend his ear but she shook her head her eyes meeting his for a moment before she pulled away. She was hiding her thoughts from him. "Okay," He shrugged, taking a slice of pizza and watching the television.

"Actually," She started quietly, looking back at Leo, "I saw my mother today…her cancer spread to her back." She took a slice for herself and took a bite. She stayed quiet for a long while and grabbed another slice, "she's…" Ava felt tears in her eyes and she sniffled, "she's going to die…" she finally said it aloud and thought it for the first time ever. She shoved the slice of her greasy food into her mouth and sniffled again. Grabbing another slice to shove into her mouth while tears rolled down her cheeks.

Leonardo watched her eat and shed tears and realized Ava must have been running from the truth of her mother's condition but finally acknowledged it for the first time. He didn't know what to say or do so he paced his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him. When she swallowed her food he gave her a soft smile. There wasn't anything he could say or do to fix it or help her but he could just be there for her. Mikey and the others stared at her then at each other. There was nothing they could say to help her. They were helpless.

"Damn it," Raph grumbled, holding a small pet turtle in his hands she remembered he had called spike. He held Spike up to her face and she watched the pet turtle chew on his leaf. "Spike doesn't want you to cry so you should just stop it already. If there is nothing you can do then why cry over it? I know it sucks but I mean…man it's lame to cry, okay?" Raph put spike on his shoulder and grumbled to himself. Ava knew it was probably hard for Raph to try and cheer her up.

"All you can do is spend as much time with her as possible, right?" Mikey asked, big baby blue eyes watching her and his genuine smile made her smile softly past her sadness and frustration. "Dude, just try and have some more memories with her." He stated simply, taking another slice of pizza and eating it quickly.

Donnie nodded in agreement with his younger brother and gave her a big smile. His gap between his teeth made her smile back. He had a cute smile and it was so kind. Ava wasn't sure why she was able to cry in front of the turtles and she also wasn't sure why she had told them what was on her mind but it seemed to be so easy to talk to them.

"Ava, we'll be her for you if you need us. We can't do anything but you can talk to us at any time." Leo's hand on her shoulder gave a gentle squeeze, "you're our friend now." He saw Ava's eyes widen slightly and meet his gaze. She felt more tears fall and Leo's own eyes widened. Had he said something wrong?

"Friends," She repeated, "yeah we're friends now." She finally had more friends. She had Casey and she adored her hockey obsessed friend but she finally had new friends. The turtles and April as well as Master Splinter. She ate another piece of pizza and looked at the television, "I'm okay." She assured them all. The teenage girl had let out all her frustration and sadness on the ninja earlier and she was able to cry a little too. Ava felt lighter now. She felt she could keep smiling if she had her friends. She was okay for the moment but she knew when the time came that she would lose her mother she would need friends to keep her afloat. She would need them to help her through it and she would need to be there for her uncle too. For now she would enjoy every memory she had of her mother until then.