"Oh come on Leo, she didn't even see us!"

The blue clad turtle turned to face his younger, hotheaded brother. "How can you be so sure about that? She was looking right at us Raph."

"Dude, she was just takin' pictures." Mikey added, trying to get his two older brothers to calm down. "Sides, the flash wasn't even on."

Donnie nodded in agreement, "So if she did manage to get us on film the quality would be too poor for her to make anything out."

Leonardo sighed while shaking his head. "Fine, but I want everyone to be more careful okay?"

All his brothers nodded in agreement.

"So dudes, that girl was cute huh?" Mikey said with a wide grin.

Raphael lightly punched his baby brother's arm with a small chuckle.

Mikey rubbed his arm and tilted his head to the side. "What?"

… Three weeks later…

While fiddling with the combination on her locker, Ava tried to calm herself down. Today was her first day at this new school, Eleanor Roosevelt High. Despite being nervous, Ava was glad that she managed to talk her grandmother out of sending her to the nearby all-girls school. Even though she went to one back home, Ava did not wish to relive such a thing ever again. Her last experience back in Vermont did not leave a positive impression on the sixteen-year old… all of the other girls back there were always so judgmental of her… So when she managed to be enrolled into a co-ed high school Ava was thrilled at the prospect of having the chance to be with students of both genders.

Suddenly the first bell rang, signaling that classes were about to start. Ava took a quick look at her schedule and school map that she got a week earlier. First period was Chemistry in room 305, which meant that she had five minutes to go up a flight of stairs. She shrugged before grabbing what few supplies she might need for her first couple of classes. Taking the stairs two at a time Ava only had to run one corner to get to her class, unfortunately she did not take notice of another student that was rounding the corner at the same time. They both slammed right into each other, folders and notebook crashing on the ground.

"I'm so sorry," Ava managed to rattle off before dropping to the ground to pick up both her and the other student's things.

"That's fine, I wasn't looking where I was going," the other student said with a smile as she knelt down as well. Once Ava looked up she saw that she had run into a girl with blonde hair that cascaded several inches past her shoulder and the brightest green eyes Ava had ever see before

Ava shook her head, "It was my fault." She said while getting back on her feet, just as the bell rang. Inwardly, the delicate brunette groaned. What a perfect way to begin at a new school… late for her first class.

The blonde smiled in return as she stood, folders held against her chest with both arms. "I haven't seen you around before. I'm guessing you're a new freshmen."

"No," Ava said with a sigh. Even though she had turned sixteen only a few short weeks ago, many people would peg her for a fourteen year old or younger since her face retained some childlike qualities. "I'm a junior."

"I'm so sorry, you just look so… young is all." She outstretched a hand. "By the way, my name is Selena, a fellow junior."

Ava grasped the blonde's hand and smiled in return as she shook it. "Avariella."

Selena smiled, "Well I'll see you around, I really have to get going."

"Okay, see you later." Ava said while watching as Selena seemed to fly down the stairs. Within seconds, she turned and made her way to her first class. Opening the door, Ava froze like a deer in headlights upon seeing every set of eyes in the room turn to face her. Darting her gaze away, Ava stole herself and strode into the room, hoping to find an open seat in the back of the room.

A short but rather stocky woman glanced over at her. "I don't appreciate tardiness Miss…"

"Avariella," she softly replied, only loud enough for the woman to hear her.

"Ah, Miss Weller," the woman said as she grabbed a thick textbook and thrust it towards Ava before pointing at a seat towards the back.

Nodding, Ava quickly muttered an apology to the teacher before quickly making her way to the back of the room, thankful that there was a free seat in the back of the room. Sitting down, Ava placed her books upon the desk's surface. Pulling out a pencil, the brunette lifted her head, hoping today could not possibly get worse.

… Lunch…

Even though the school was surrounded on all sides by buildings, there was a nice area central to the five-story school with a couple trees and decently cared for grass where many students decided to take their lunches during the warmer months. Sitting alone on a bench, guarded from the August sun by one of the trees, Ava was no exception as she quietly ate her lunch while reading one of her beat up mystery books since she had no schoolwork with which to occupy herself. Looking up from her book, Ava thought back to three weeks ago. She just could not stop thinking about those four creatures she saw… but it was most probable that what she saw were a bunch of people wearing costumes. Sighing, she quickly directed her attention back to her book. Even though she read this particular story a dozen times, she still admired the way the author could describe every minor movement and every detail about any character. It was as if she was sitting right there watching everything unfold.

"Well look who's here!"

Blue eyes peeked over the page that they were on as Ava caught sight of Selena, with a strawberry blonde girl right behind her. "Hey."

Selena smiled as she sat down at the table beside Ava, the delicate strawberry blonde quickly following suit. "So how was your first day?"

"It was okay. I don't think Miss Mathews cares for me though." Ava said with a shrug before taking another bite of her sandwich.

"Yeah, she's always a bit bitchy." Selena said while shaking her head. "I took that class last year, worst choice ever." She snapped her fingers, "Ava, this is Isabella."

Ava smiled while giving a small wave. "Hello."

Isabella was a small girl, appearing to only stand at 5'2", one inch taller than the height at which Ava stood. Her strawberry blonde hair shone brightly in the sun as it rested just above her shoulders with bangs so softly cut that framed her heart-shaped face and brought out her baby blue eyes that seemed to be placed just perfectly upon the slightly tanned skin. She was truly a simple beauty to behold, it even made Ava slightly self conscious with her limp, brown locks of hair and dull skin.

Isabella smiled sweetly. "Please, call me Izzy." She said with a sideways glance at Selena. "Do you play any sports?"

"Um, well I ran cross country." Ava replied while marking her page, she had a feeling that this might last a while.

"Really?" Selena said with a big grin. "My brother does too. He didn't say anything about you being in the club though."

Ava shrugged, "I didn't hear about it that and I only started here this year."

"That's too bad," Izzy added.

"I'm pretty sure you could sign up still. I mean you are new and the year just started." Selena pointed out. "They should be fine with that."

"Yeah… I guess I could, that would be nice." Ava replied while absent-mildly pulling at the hem of her purple shorts.

A sudden awkward silence hung over them. Ava silently nibbled away at her food while taking sidelong glances over at Selena and Izzy.

Her blues eyes looked up at the two girls, lips curving upwards into a small smile. "Uh… so what do you two do?"

Selena smiled, "Well I'm in the volleyball club and I play on the basketball team."

"Tennis," Izzy said with a sigh. "Only because my dad is making me…"

"I still say that you should tell him that you quit. It's your life, not his. You should make it that way." Selena said while lightly grabbing her friend's shoulder. "Then you can try out that chess club like you always wanted."

The strawberry blonde shook her head. "I can't just do that. Almost everyone else in my family plays… it's kind of a tradition. My family would be disappointed if I quit…"

Selena sighed, "Suit yourself."

Although she would not voice it, Ava had an idea of what Izzy was talking about. Though her mother was never all that pushy on most matters, she always had Ava take self-defense classes just in case something were to happen to her only child, Ava would have the capabilities to protect herself in some way. Even though the brunette knew it was for the best, her mother always pushed her to take it one step further… and Avariella could never understand why.

Just then, the bell to end lunch rang throughout the courtyard. Izzy and Selena gave hurried goodbyes as they gathered their things. Ava quickly nodded and murmured her own parting words before making her way to Gym class… she wasn't looking forward to this at all…

Soon she reached the gym, where she was greeted by looks from many other students. Walking towards a nearby wall, far from the others, she tried to block out all of the comments thrown between her new classmates. Once the bell rang again, signaling the start of class, a rather pudgy woman with her brown hair pulled back and wearing a pair of black athletic pants and a green top in an attempt to show some kind of school spirit, walked into the gym. She introduced herself as Mrs. Oswald and quickly called out names before throwing a uniform consisting of green shorts and a white tee that had an image of a Lion on it, the school mascot.

"Weller!"

Ava's head quickly shot up to meet with the woman's gaze. "Yes?"

She tossed a uniform at her before pointing her in the direction of the locker room, where she quickly ran. Once inside the locker room, all the other girls looked at her before turning and whispering amongst one another.

Some things just never changed.

Ava quickly went into a deserted corner, placed her books down, and started to get dressed. Hanging up her clothes in an empty locker as she slipped on the shorts and threw the shirt over her head, though the shorts fit her just fine the shirt was extremely baggy on her smaller frame. Sighing while throwing her hair up into a ponytail, she quickly exited the room behind all the other girls and entered the gymnasium.

Mrs. Oswald glanced over all the students in her class before. "Okay, instead of sitting around like you've been doing all day, we're going to get your hearts pumping." She pointed to the center of the gym. "Ten minutes of stretching and then I was all of you to run fifteen laps around the gym."

The other students groaned as they made their way to start stretches. Once the ten minutes were up, Oswald blew her whistle and everyone started to run around the perimeter of the gym. Ava smiled as she joined in the running, even though she hated most parts about gym class the running was one thing she was good at. Back at Vermont, she would always run if for whatever reason she needed to clear her head or feel a burst of adrenaline running through her system. She started out in a light jog, starting to gradually fall behind the other students that were already in full on sprints.

"Weller! Pick up the pace!" Oswald yelled.

While rolling her eyes, Ava gradually picked up her speed until she had caught up with the other students. Still gradually running faster, within a few minutes she went from the back of the mass to running in the front. Even though she wasn't looking back, Ava knew that most of the students would be giving her looks once more. They always did, even in Vermont, but by now she was used to the dirty looks and whispered comments. Only because she didn't go out of her way to talk to others everyone got the impression that she thought that she was too good for them or something.

Soon Ava finished running her laps and her blue eyes were met with an approving nod from Oswald. "Not bad kid." She gestured to the belchers. "Take a seat."

While nodding, she sat down on the cold and hard plastic seats as she waited for the other students to finish. Within moments, Ava noticed that there was someone standing in front of her, though she tried greatly to ignore this new presence.

The new figure cleared his throat, "Um, excuse me."

Ava sighed as she looked up, the owner of the voice appeared to be a boy perhaps only a year older than herself. He had short, dirty blonde hair and deep brown eyes with just the slightest tan to his smooth skin.

"Yes?"

He pointed behind him. "Uh, I saw you earlier… you know, when running? And I was thinking that you should sign up for the cross country club, we could really use more people if we want to get into any sort of competitions… so, uh, we're meeting Thursday after school. You should try it out."

"Okay…" Ava said with just the slightest nods. "I'll think about it."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. "I'm Nick."

"Ava."

Nick nodded before turning around just as Coach Oswald blew her whistle. He quickly faced Ava again once she started to stand. "I guess I'll see you Thursday then."