1Body, Heart, and Soul…

I am not sure exactly what time I reached the hotel. All I do know is that it must have been clearly past 10pm. I don't really remember my journey from Central Park back to the hotel, not even the subway ride! I bet a lot of people were probably gawking at the huge bruises on my body, the huge rip on the sleeve of my arm where the guy had grabbed me and I had a pretty looking bad sore on my head where I had hit the wall. My head was hurting, which made my vision not too good, but I pressed on. A lot of things rushed through my mind as I walked, which kind of help the physical pain subside for the moment. First of all I would have to face Lea. I knew she would be at the hotel, probably waiting for me. I was really hoping and praying that maybe she had stayed out later with Susan so that would give me some time to treat some of my injuries. At first my excuse would be that I had went out to get some food, but now since I was injured, how was I going to explain that to her? I was pretty mad at myself about this. Not because I was hurt, but for the fact that I lied to the one person who actually took me in and loved me as a sister and friend for who I truly was. I'm not sure why I went to the Bronx; the more I thought about it the more confusing it seemed for me. At first my mind was set on why I was going, but now, I couldn't explain why. The thrill was gone and now it seemed just like a really dumb thing to do. I had no idea on what I was going to say to her. As the hotel started to come into range, I cringed. I really didn't want to go back and face her. I started to even want to turn around and just run away even more. I knew it was cowardly but I didn't want to face her, I didn't want to lose her friendship at all. Lea meant so much to me because she was the only person that I had in my life and I didn't want to lose her.

Suddenly I started to think about another issue that I would have to deal with pretty soon and that was the mysterious rescuer. You know you grow up all of your life learning about fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella. The thought of being in trouble and having some guy rescue you and you live happily together excites you so much when you are young and probably so naïve. For in real life, you would never experience anything like that or at least that is what I thought including some of my friends. Tonight even proved it. The guy wouldn't even let me see him! I mean I wasn't really looking forward to actually falling in love with the guy, but I could have at least seen him! I probably scared him after the dumb question that I had asked. I was still so angry with myself for asking something so foolish! I mean what type of a normal human guy would say that he was not allowed to be seen? That was never heard of! I think clearly the guy wanted nothing to do with me; well either that or he was some sort of criminal or something! That made it even scarier!

I stuck my hand into my pocket to still feel the folded piece of paper that he gave me. The debate of whether or not to contact this April person churned through my mind as I walked further towards the hotel. Before I knew it, I was standing in the hotel's lobby. I sighed and walked into the elevator; I would have to face Lea at one point or another, and it may as well be now. I walked towards my room, which was located on the 32nd floor of the hotel; I tried to take deep, slow breaths to calm myself as I approached my room. But since I had eased my mind, the pain from my injuries started to make itself known once more.

I sighed as I took the key card from my pocket and slid it into the door's security lock. My eyes were fixed on the door, watching the light indicator flash green to indicate that the door was now unlocked. I opened the door and looked inside, in high hopes that Lea wouldn't be there or would be already asleep, but to my horror and luck, she was sitting there on the bed. Her back was to me as she sat on the bed near the telephone, I was hoping that maybe she did not hear the door open and I could slip back out and run off, but I should know better with her. If there's one thing with Lea she could easily detect any sign of a presence in the local vicinity. Cursed be my luck that I had to pick a friend like her.

I don't remember much of the conversation that we had between each other that night. All I remember was that she was pretty ticked off at me and I hate conflict so much! I didn't want to deal with her being angry or hurt. Just seeing her this way made me feel even madder at myself. I didn't want to explain to her fully what happened but I did admit to where I went. My reasons I did not say for I didn't want to whine to her about my problems. Even I was not sure why I did such a thing anymore. All I could do was show her that note and then I laid down on my bed. My body was hurting even more, especially my head, but I didn't want to cry about my injuries since they were my fault so I try to hold the pain off myself but this took a huge amount of concentration, which meant that I wanted to end any more discussion for the moment. I really hope what little that I said would satisfy Lea, she accepted it but I knew that she still was not happy until she knew everything. But that would have to wait for the next day. To avoid anymore contact with her that night, I pretended that I was tired and I closed my eyes to act like I was going to sleep. I did fall asleep some but not much.

I woke back up around an hour later, but it felt like I had slept for at least a good 3 hours. I could hear Lea's steady breathing in the bed nearby. The hotel room was so quiet; all you could hear was her breathing and the sounds from the busy city down below. The room was partially lighted from the lights outside because Lea didn't draw the room's curtains in. I tried to maneuver my body some to look at the clock to see exactly what the time was, but the slightest movement of my body started to make my arms and head hurt; especially my head. The immense pain was causing me to grow nauseas so I stayed where I was. I was facing Lea's bed. I frowned as I watched her sleep. She was on her back, one hand holding the sheet up to her waist, her face was twisted in frustration and hurt. Just watching her, made my eyes fill up with tears. I tried to hold them back, but I felt them coming out despite the effort. I wasn't really crying and sniffling, just my tears were flowing. I could feel their warmth as they streaked down my cheeks, leaving my cheeks to be moist. Some of them touched the upper part of my lip where I could taste their saltiness. I wanted to get up and run over, hug her and tell her what a terrible friend I was, but I couldn't get my body to budge. I felt stuck, the slightest movement of my body made my pain worse for me. I wanted to call out to her but when I opened my mouth, no words would come out. I felt like there was this invisible barrier between us, making it impossible for me to get in contact with her in whatever way.

I don't remember how long I watched my sister. Time seemed to come to a still as I laid there. I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't, it was if I was punished and I had to lay there and look at the one person that I hurt tremendously that night. Lea went through so much with me and with her life. When I first met her, I was a nervous wreck with college and my family. I went through very troubling times to the point where I almost killed myself several times, but Lea stayed strong and remained faithful to me as a friend. She still loved me for whatever I did and she was so patient with me. But I think tonight I really did it. I lied to her. Lea trusted me! There was no way I was going to regain that trust or even the special bond that we had between each other. I felt really bad for what I said to her earlier. I know I acted so foolishly and self-centered in our argument. I know that she went through a lot with her own family years ago and the people around her, but I was so frustrated that I let my own feelings get in the way and act like she never experienced what I am going through, even though she did! Lea can really help me if I would just let her! Why do I have to be so isolated and want to run off and do things my own way for? These thoughts made me want to curl up even more in the bed covers as I stared at her, I could feel the tears rushing down my face even faster. I couldn't control my crying now! I closed my eyes tightly as I felt the burning sensation as the tears rushed out, pouring into my mouth. I just wanted to get away from everything but I was stuck like this. I wish there was someone in my life that could make me feel like I had some importance on this planet. I knew that Lea cared for me deeply as a friend, but I needed someone more than that. I needed to find someone to love me like they never did before, but where was I going to find that? With these humans? I highly doubt that. I was going to be cursed to stay alive and to be lonely. I knew at one point of my life I probably would lose Lea as well; it was only a matter of time.

Suddenly I heard sirens wailing down in the streets below. Now those sirens did sound familiar. I quieted my tears and made my ears tune in more to the sound of the taxicabs blowing their horns as they made their routes down the street, sirens wailing somewhere in the city as emergency vehicles tried to get past the cars to the hospitals. These sounds took me back to what occurred earlier today..

Memories of the Bronx flashed in my mind, how stupid I was! Then I felt myself becoming comforted as the thought of the stranger appeared in my mind. Inside my mind all I could see was darkness because I never did see any part of his body for he stayed in the shadows, but I could still feel his touch on my forehead. My crying stopped as I concentrated more on that specific touch. It was very different. His skin seemed so much smoother than any human, and just that one tiny touch that he gave me brought so much comfort over me that I started to become peaceful as I thought of it. I could still hear the soothing tone of his voice as he talked to me. How I longed to hear his voice once again…and feel the gentleness of his touch on my face. Nobody in my entire lifetime brought such comfort to me like he did in that mere few minutes that he spent with me. But what I was thinking? Was he real? Was I ever going to see him again? As I became lost in my thoughts, I found myself minutes later snapping back to reality as I felt my cheeks growing wet again with tears. Was I crying? I remember I was almost in shock as I reached up to touch my face. Why I was I crying? Was it because I was still hurt and sad about Lea? Possibly, but this was different. It felt different. My heart longed for him; I couldn't believe it! Did I really miss him? How could I possibly start to have feelings for a stranger I just met in one day? Especially when I had no clue what he looked like and knew nothing about him. But yet I wanted to see him again, ever since I parted ways with him earlier. I frowned as I casted my eyes on Lea once more as she slept. I felt so foolish for thinking this way, and if I told her then it was going to make things worse. But my mind was set; I was going to have go see April to contact him. I wanted to see him, just once more…

A Brand New Day, Same Old Pain..


The next morning when I had woke up, I heard the television playing in the background. I looked over as I opened my eyes, I think I was still half awake because everything in the room was still kind of blurry or was it from my head injury? I shifted my body to lay onto my back, but I felt that my sides were extremely sore this morning. I let out a groan some as I rolled over. I then heard Lea's familiar voice as she asked, "You finally woke up?." I looked up at her in a confused state because I couldn't believe that she was awake before me, usually I was the one who was up. But how could be up so early? I then glanced at the clock on the nightstand to see that it was only 10:30am! I knew I must be really sore and tired if I slept in this late, especially when Lea was wide awake before me. Even though I must have gotten at least a good 8 hours of sleep that night, I don't think I slept at all. I still felt so tired, I wanted to roll back to my left side to try to get a few more minutes of rest in but when I rolled some, a sharp pain went through me when I put some weight on that side of my body, I let out a cry as I gave up and stayed where I was. "Did you not sleep well?" Lea asked me.

I shook my head some sadly and replied, "Not really." But I kept my eyes away from her. I felt so ashamed of myself that I couldn't meet her eyes yet. I wanted to tell her that I was sorry and have everything be okay again between us but I didn't know what to say. Lea got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom, I let out a sigh. I knew she must be still hurt at me and I felt so bad that I wanted to pack my stuff and leave. She probably wanted me to leave anyways. I forced myself to sit up some in the bed even though my body protested in soreness. I turned my head to look out the window of my room to the skyscraper right across the street from our hotel. I tuned my ears into listening to the sounds of the street down below. Somehow just hearing the sound of the cars going by brought such serenity to me. Lea walked back over to me carrying a plastic cup in one hand, her other hand was closed tightly. "Here," she said as she offered me the plastic cup, which had water in it. Then she held out her other hand to reveal 2 aspirin tablets. This is when I finally made eye contact with her. Her face was a mixture of sympathy and hurt. I felt like I couldn't talk to her, so the only thing I could do was smile some as I took the aspirins from her and put them in my mouth. "Hopefully that should make you feel better," she said as she walked towards the window. I felt so ashamed of myself but I was in awe of her. How did I deserve to have a friend like her? Although I lied and scared her so much, she still showed concern for me. I remember I choked out the words, "Lea, I am sorry.." That's when I started to cry again. I felt so bad for crying like that because I felt like a crybaby, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to be her friend again and I felt so bad for everything. I think my body and mind were still in shock from being jumped the past night. At that moment I started to tell her everything. I told her how I had only planned to go only a few blocks into the Bronx while she was gone and come back but I had got side tracked. I told her how I got lost and how the 3 men jumped me in the alley.

Lea could only look at me as I cried, but when I felt her gaze upon me, I quickly shot my eyes down to the floor, I watched the tears drip off my face and make damp spots on the carpet below me. I felt so alone in that room even though she was right there with me. Suddenly I felt her hand placed upon my shoulder; I looked up at her. She was smiling at me! I didn't understand why though. I think she could read the expression of confusion on my face for she said, "Look, you're my friend. I know we all make mistakes. I am not sure why you went to the Bronx. You could have been killed or kidnapped and I wouldn't been able to find you. I think I was just angry because I was so frightened. Listen, I know you're deeply troubled, but I am here for you." I smiled at her from happiness when I finally knew that she was not mad at me anymore. I felt a huge wave of relief fall over me as she turned and walked over to the mirror to brush her hair. I knew she was still here with me as my friend and sister. "So what do you want to do today?" She asked as she brushed her hair.

I wiped my eyes some, trying to get the redness to come out of them and looked at her. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but I didn't want to bring up the issue just yet with her but I think she kind of knew what I wanted even though I replied, "I'm not sure, what did you want to do today? I mean we still have a quite bit of time left here."

"Well if you want, we can go downtown to Soho today and contact this April person if you wanted," she replied, which kind of threw me off because I didn't intend for her at all to say that. Actually it left me kind of speechless for a moment. I longed to finally meet the stranger that saved me the night before, but I was kind of nervous too. Lea turned around to face me once more as she leaned back against the dresser, crossing her arms. "I mean I don't approve of it, but I know you won't get any rest until we finally see who saved you."

"I guess if you really want to do that," I frowned. I started to feel very uneasy about the decision. I could feel my heart racing. I knew I was starting to even kind of like this mysterious person, but I started to grow nervous about finally meeting especially with Lea there. The bad thing is that what if he really liked me and I didn't like him after I saw him, how could I let him down? I hated confrontations and I wouldn't be able to give him the hint that I wasn't interested. Believe me, when I went to April's, I would definitely be in shock…

Definitely not what I expected…

We found April's apartment without any trouble at all. I was very nervous about the situation. I remember every minute that went by as Lea and I walked down to Soho. Let me tell you my heart was fluttering! I almost felt myself growing sick some from the sheer anxiety of the situation. Boy was I silly! I felt like a young child who was going to meet somebody famous like a movie star, rock star or even the president! When we reached the apartment building, I let Lea knock on the door. I listened carefully to the sound of wood creaking as someone was walking to the door. I made a quick glance over at Lea and gave her a very fake smile. This was the most nervous I had ever been in my entire life! I think I was a lot calmer when I graduated from college, which is not easy especially when you have over a hundred people watching you! The door opened and a woman who appeared to be around the same age as us, maybe a few years older. She had a pale skin tone with red hair and green eyes. A pin held up her hair and she was wearing blue jeans and a white long sleeved shirt. She was very thin and actually kind of pretty. Immediately when I saw her, I frowned as I thought to myself, "Great, she must be this guy's wife or girlfriend."

"Yes, may I help you?" The lady asked as she looked at us, quite confused. Lea looked over at me, I figured she wanted me to be the one who would do the talking first.

"Yes, uh, my name is Melinda and this is my friend Lea. Somebody told me that we could contact them through you," I stuttered some. I feared that perhaps we got the wrong person.

The woman's eyes lit up after I said this, which made me get a little comfortable. "Oh you must be the one that Donnie was telling me about!" She exclaimed. "Please come in, just mind the mess. My friend Casey was over here earlier watching movies and I am still picking up after him." She opened the door wider to allow us to enter.

I smiled some as I walked inside first. I was a bit calmer now, finally knowing that we did find the right place and that the stranger's name was Donnie. She had a very nice and neat apartment, despite the fact there were 2 empty soda cans laying on the floor as well an empty pizza box. I stood there as I watched April hurry over to the couch, picking up the empty cans and pizza box. I looked over at Lea and flashed a smile. "Please have a seat. I need to contact the guys to let them know that you are here." April walked into the kitchen to get rid of the trash, then she called back, "Do you want anything to drink?"

I hesitated slightly on the question because I wasn't really that thirsty, but I was still a nervous wreck about this entire situation so I thought maybe a nice drink could help ease my mind. I told April that I wouldn't mind having a soda, and then I sat down on her light blue soft couch. Lea sat down beside me, she looked troubled about something, but I couldn't quite tell what. But even I was kind of uneasy when April said the word, "guys." So it wasn't just him? Great, not only would I have to meet a strange man but also there would be more than just one. But I kind of not feared anything bad because April seemed very too nice to hurt us. But then again, looks CAN be deceiving. I think I kind of zoned out for a bit as I sat there on the couch looking around at April's apartment because April almost kind of startled me when she came back into the living room where we were sitting. "Sorry about that," she said. "Well I contacted them so they should be here in a little bit." She smiled big at us.

I nodded some and smiled. I didn't know what to say or even ask her, but she was looking at us which kind of pressured me to say something, but I didn't know what to say! I froze! Thank goodness Lea spoke up. I could tell by the look on her face and the tone on her voice that she was kind of concerned about a lot of things. "You said you contacted 'them', does that mean that there's more than one besides the one that saved my friend here?" She looked over at me, worriedly, but I tried to give her a quick smile of reassurance.

"Well you see, Don has 3 other brothers. But don't worry! The guys are sweethearts! I don't think they could hurt anyone who is innocent. Not even Raph," she chuckled some.

I was still thinking about what they could possibly look like so I asked, "So are they your brothers?"

April laughed some and then smiled, "No, way. But they are close enough to me as family to be my brothers. They are just SLIGHTLY different than me," she chuckled.

I looked at April curiously when I heard the emphasis she put on the word slightly, but my mind was quickly distracted when I heard the sound of voices outside the apartment. I could hear someone approaching the door, I could almost feel my heart stop. I laid my hands down on the couch to my sides in nervousness, my eyes grew wider as I let them fall upon the door. I looked over at Lea nervously, but she nodded and smiled at me. For a moment I remember I was praying that it wasn't who I thought it was, but the sound of someone knocking on the door gently made me stop praying. April smiled big at us, "Oh that must be them! Man, they are fast!" She giggled as she walked over to the door. I watched her walk from the living room to the door, unfortunately from where we were sitting you couldn't look to see who was at the door. I heard April open the door, butterflies started to form in my stomach. I felt so sick, my heart was thumping so loudly. "Glad you could make it, guys." April's voice chimed.

"Yo, dudette! I was driving so we had no problem getting here!" A voice with a surfer accent replied. That was not the voice that I had heard earlier so I knew that must have been one of Donnie's brothers.

"Yah and that is the LAST time we'll let you drive, Mikey! Do you know we were really close to getting a ticket for speeding!" Another voice answered which had more of the traditional New York accent but it was very angry. But at least I knew one of Donnie's brothers was named Mikey.

"Nobody didn't see you come in I hope," April said.

"Not at all. We're ninja, remember?" A voice replied. It was a VERY familiar voice for it was the same as the one from the other night. I remembered I was grinning pretty big at this point when I heard that voice. I felt so happy that I even giggled out loud, too loud. Lea looked over at me with a surprise look on her face and I immediately grew quite once more especially when I realized that only did Lea hear me but the strangers as well at the door.

"Oh so they are here?" Another voice asked, I am pretty sure he had heard me giggle. His voice seemed different as well, for I believe he was the other brother of Donnie. But his voice seemed calmer almost like Donnie's.

"Yeah they are, hang on a minute, guys," April replied and walked back over to where Lea and I were sitting. "So you ready to meet the guys?" She smiled some at us, but I can sense she was kind of uneasy about it.

"Sure," I stammered, I looked over at Lea to see her nodding her head in approvement.

April smiled and walked back to the front door again. I heard her tell the guys to go ahead and come in. But I would have never believed what happened next if I wasn't there. In walked 4 mutant humanoid turtles! All of them were a different color skin tone, they were all about the same height, approximately around 5 feet. All of them had on belts like someone who practices martial arts would wear, knee and elbow pads, and different color bandanas. I sat there in shock as I watched them walk in, my eyes were still wide, my mouth was slightly opened and I felt myself growing pale. They looked back at both Lea and I with their pupil less white eyes from their masks. All of them even had different facial expressions. The one in the blue was looking at us, eyes sort of narrow as if he was studying us, the one in the purple was smiling slightly shyly mixed in with a slight frown, the one in red looked kind of annoyed to be there, and the one in the orange was grinning from ear to ear.

April walked and stood in front of them near the blue masked one, smiling big. "Allow me to introduce you to Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo." She said as she pointed to each one.

I couldn't believe that this was happening to me! I felt so embarrassed to even be here, I felt scared because I had no clue what these creatures were and how I almost HAD feelings for one of them, which made me slightly angry and sad as well. "L-Lea…" I stammered as I quickly stood up from the couch, I was in fright! I could feel my body shaking. I was so disappointed by this! I felt like I wanted to cry then and there. This really had to be some kind of dream or nightmare. I wanted to wake up!