𝚁𝙰𝙸𝚈𝙰
"Peter Pan Bakery is the best place for donuts," I said, hopping over a particularly large puddle in the sewer tunnel. "And Union Square has a pretty cool market if you're into that stuff."
J.T. gasped excitedly. "Like a farmer's market?"
I frowned and glanced at her in confusion. "What's that?"
"It's a market out on the streets where tons of vendors set up tables and sell stuff like fresh fruit and jewelry, most of it's homemade. There's a ton of them where I'm from, you can find the coolest stuff there."
"Oh, well yeah," I shrugged thoughtfully, "I guess it's like that."
"Oh my gosh," she mused, typing the two destinations into her phone. "I'm so excited to do all this! What else is there?"
I began rattling off more of my favourite places, like Chelsea Market, Wave Hill, the Cloisters, paddle boarding at Pier 66, and spending a day at Rockaway Beach. Raphael trailed behind us, probably bored out of his mind listening to us. I'd asked if he wanted to meet me later tonight outside my apartment, but he insisted on walking with me to 'make sure I didn't get lost again.' Two years and he still hadn't let it go.
I was glad to have him there, even if J.T. might not feel the same. He always walked with me after work; it'd be too strange without him.
"You guys can still go to the beach in October?" Jaz asked in amazement.
I nodded, amused by her blatant awe. "Usually there's still a few warm days." October in the city was already cold enough for me, I couldn't imagine waking up to snow every morning, as Jaz said was the usual forecast for her around this time.
"Is it a long drive?" She asked.
"Depends where you're staying."
She hesitated for a moment, hardly long enough to notice. "Midtown west," she supplied, eyebrows drawing together. "Upper west kinda area. Y'know?"
"Yeah," I laughed. "I live in that area, too, actually. It's almost an hour drive, me and my sister usually take a cab. If you tip them enough beforehand they can usually get you there a little faster."
"An hour?" J.T. made a face. "That's gonna have to be a day trip if I manage to fit it in."
"If you live in Canada and go to lake beaches, I'd say Rockaway is worth it. There's lots of things you can stop to do on the drive there." I proceeded to name all of mine and Liv's favourite food places and roadside shops we stopped at on the way and she happily added them to the evergrowing list on her phone.
"I'm gonna gain at least ten pounds by the end of this trip," she laughed.
I laughed along with her. "Welcome to New York City, baby. You're gonna love every minute here."
Raphael scoffed. "You hate this place."
J.T. covered her mouth to conceal another laugh, glancing between the two of us.
"Shut up!" I spun around to punch him but he caught my fist with a teasing grin. "I don't like it because I've lived here for so long and I've already experienced everything. Plus: people are jerks and the Footclan sucks." I shot J.T. a reassuring smile. "You'll love it cuz it's your first time; I gave you all the best places to visit and when." I waved a hand at the turtle behind us, feigning distaste, "ignore him."
The Canadian girl smiled brightly, her amused eyes flickering back to the turtle and then to me once more. "How'd you guys meet? I–If you don't mind me asking."
Instantly, my heart caught on the memories of that summer two years ago and I couldn't help my nostalgic smile. I shook my head fondly. "When I was thirteen I got jumped in an alley walking home from school."
J.T. gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth in blatant horror, blue-green eyes wide. "Are you serious?"
I nodded. "It was scary, but Leo saved me before anything bad happened. At that time, he and his brothers weren't really known around the city. There were stories of a mysterious person showing up at night to save people then disappear. It was just Leo leaving the sewers every night to help people."
"And he calls me reckless," Raph grumbled, turning to Jaz. "We weren't allowed to go aboveground, but he did anyway for years."
The girl absorbed each and every one of our words like a sponge, waiting for more.
I nodded. "That's how I found them. People didn't believe me when I told them someone saved me in the middle of the day and then just disappeared, so I started doing some mad research."
"Notebooks," Raph supplied. "Tons of 'em."
J.T. raised an eyebrow in surprise.
I did my best to quell the embarrassment I felt. "It was a bit over the top," I admitted. "Anyway, two summers ago on the Fourth of July, I was out late and saw some guys robbing a jewelry store. I was pretty desperate to find the vigilante so I followed them, which was dumb, but they went up a fire escape and on the roof, I saw Leo tying them up to leave for the police." I could just about laugh at the recollection. "He barely recognized me, but said he'd meet me later to talk. We met up for a few nights, he lied and said he was the only one, and he made me promise not to tell my sister. Then for whatever reason, he thought I was working for the Foot and knocked me out and took me to the lair and I woke up the next day ready to kill him." I spread my arms out, gesturing to the sewer. "Then he brought me down here and I met everyone and Sensei Splinter told me their story, which you've already heard from Leo." I shrugged, glancing at Raph in case I missed anything. "And...that's it."
J.T.'s smile fell almost imperceptibly. "Oh," she said, "so you guys are just friends?"
Before I could say anything, Raphael snorted. I could sense his brimming sarcasm before he even spoke. "More like forced partners."
I rolled my eyes. "He's honestly lucky I haven't killed him yet," I said. "He's such a dick. He literally stalked me for a whole week when I first met everyone because he didn't trust me."
"And I've been stuck with her whiny ass ever since."
The poor girl looked so confused I immediately cracked a huge grin.
"We're kidding; only, like, half of that is true," I laughed. "We've been together two years, but he did stalk me for a week, and he was a huge jerk. And," I spun around and jabbed his shoulder, "he is lucky I haven't killed him yet."
Raphael smirked at me before focusing his attention on Jaz for her reaction. I could feel the nerves and fear radiating from him—the self-conscious thoughts that were undoubtedly tearing through his mind.
But she was smiling like she'd just witnessed the heart-warming happy ending to her favourite movie. "You guys are so cute," she gushed. "I didn't want to assume anything, but..." her eyes shone with something like excitement and mischief when they met mine. Her voice lowered. "I'll tell you later."
Tell me later? Holy shit. Did I just make a friend? Somehow, my grin managed to grow wider. I just made a friend.
Raphael stopped silently at a ladder leading up to a manhole. After years spent navigating these tunnels—especially this area—I knew exactly where we were. Just a few blocks from my apartment.
"Oh," J.T. tipped her head back to look up at the exit. "I, uh...is there another one three blocks west of here? I kinda gave Leo the wrong address yesterday because I was a little paranoid," Jaz admitted sheepishly.
Raph nodded. "Sure, that was our next stop."
I glanced at him, shocked and confused as we kept walking. That entrance is right outside my apartment. Then something almost forgotten fell into place and I almost didn't believe it.
"Jaz?"
She turned to me, awaiting my question.
"When did you move into your place?"
"Uh," she chewed her lip as she thought about it. "Friday. Around three, why?"
That's when Liv mentioned the new neighbour. Right after Casey's hockey game. "At Mira Place?"
Her eyes widened. "Yeah," she said slowly. "How do you know?"
"I live there," I said. "Room two-seventy-A. My sister mentioned we got a neighbour on Friday."
"Oh my god," her face lit up, all the fear dissipating in an instant. "Yeah! That's me!"
"The hell are the odds?" Raph mumbled.
"Dude, that's so cool!" Jaz cried, an excited bounce in her step. "For a second, I was worried you guys were stalking me!"
I laughed. "No, Leo wasn't kidding when he promised to leave you alone. But me and my sister are making breadsticks and alfredo tonight if you feel like some serious carb-loading."
J.T.'s jaw dropped. "Hell yeah, man, breadsticks!? I'm down! What time?"
Liv and I didn't usually have a set time for dinner—we just winged it every night. So I guesstimated. "We eat late, so everything should be ready by six-thirty."
"Sounds good," she nodded, pulling her phone out. "I'll give you my number, though, and you can text me later if your sister is okay with it."
"Oh, don't worry, Liv's cool," I said, handing my phone to her and inputting my own contact into hers.
"I just..." she shrugged and we swapped phones again, "don't wanna intrude, or anything. Y'know."
Raphael laughed lightly. "Trust me, she'll be glad Em has a friend."
"Shut up," I mumbled in spite of the smile on my face. When I glanced at Jaz, her face was a mask of confusion yet again, eyebrows drawn together with a thoughtful frown.
"Who...?"
"Oh," I grinned, "That's just what this loser calls me." I lowered my voice and leaned a little closer, "I'll tell you later."
J.T. grinned.
author's note
Hey guys! Sorry it's been so freaking long lol
again
But its okay at least I'm still writing and releasing chapters!.. just hella slow
I got caught up writing a Sandlot fanfic then I started writing an Epic one and yeah. Neither are being posted because they're probs never gonna be finished lol BUT I FOUND AN OFFICIAL SONG FOR TSR
DRUMROLLLLL
"Edge of the World" by PEAKS
I'm 10000% in love with it so go give it a listen!
ANYWAYS back to this story! The apartment building Mira Place mentioned in this chapter is totally made up! I found a real apartment in Manhattan back when I first started TSS that was perfect so I based Raiya and Liv's place off of it but I freaking lost it and have no idea how to find that particular apartment again so I made up a random place to go with what I remember and what's been written throughout the story. Also have no idea how apartment room numbers work ? (I don't get out much) I literally guessed, so if 270A is not a room number that would exist pls help me fix it lmfao
Hope you guys liked this chapter! :D
