A/N: Wow! I can hardly believe this story already has 77 reviews! Unbelievable. Thanks again for all of your heart-felt and funny reviews and PMs! It's a good feeling to know people are enjoying my writing. Alright, on with the story!

Chapter 9

My face mirrors her expression of horror, but possibly for a completely different reason. Mortified, I stare at what appears to be half the skin from my head lying lifelessly on my thighs. I look back to April, her eyes wide and glossy.

She's terrified of you. You're a hideous—

"Oh my gosh, Donnie, your skin just…just fell off! Oh, God, are you hurt?" She asks, cutting off my nightmarish thoughts. Her shaky petite hands hover over my head. Perplexed, I stare at her, forgetting how to speak as my mouth gapes open and shut. "Okay, don't panic," I think she says this more to herself than me. The fright is evident in her voice as she nervously tucks strands of her red bangs behind her ear. "I should call Master Splinter." Those words snap me out of my stupor as I quickly cover her entire hand with mine before she dials the number on her T-cell.

"No," my voice unintentionally cracks. Clearing my throat, I try again, "No, April. It's okay, really." It takes me a minute to wrap my mind around the fact she's not backing away from me in pure disgust or telling me how repulsive I appear. One look at her worried face and I feel guilty for even thinking she had a shallow trait in her entire doting personality. Her concerned gaze turns into one of suspicion, and I know I'd better start explaining myself quickly, before she really does call Sensei.

"I'm not hurt. This," I gesture to the papery olive skin in my lap, "is just a byproduct of a….growth spurt," my voice drops to a mumble as I feel the heat from my neck rise to my face. I swallow back my humiliation as I shrink into the chair and reluctantly continue, "Even though my brothers and I have very human-like qualities, there are still some other….physiologies that remain reptilian from our original genetics." She looks slightly less worried but a little more confused, so I press on, "Generally, in the reptilian familial, skin does not stretch to accommodate growth." Okay, deep breath, Don. "In short as a reptile grows, it will outgrow its skin and—"

"Shed?"

"Precisely," Relief rolls over my body at April's educated guess. At least she seems to understand my predicament. "Shedding was most prominent when we started puberty, and pretty much stopped by the time we were fifteen. I honestly didn't expect to have another growth spurt—I'm already four inches taller than Leo. However, much to my dismay, I once again find myself in the midst of this unpleasant maturing stage."

"So, you're really okay?" Her brows crease in doubt.

"Aside for wishing I had a smoke bomb to escape this awkwardly degrading situation? Yes, I'm fine." I answer with a weak smile, cracking a joke at my expense. "Do you happen to have a mirror?"

April stares dumbly at me for a moment before my words seem to register. She turns to open the door of her closet, revealing a full length mirror hanging from the inside of the door. At first glance, I gasp at myself. No wonder April was so distraught.

Where the dead skin cracked and fell off, there are folds of flaky skin forming an outline from the top of my head down to my left eye ridge. Standing, I move closer to the mirror and trace my fingers along the edges of where my old skin once was. The newly revealed skin is rough and freckled with dark brown spots. Some parts my face look pale and flaky, but there are still some wrinkles of skin stubbornly attached to the membrane underneath; I dare not pull or agitate it. There's an itch just above my eye ridge, which I promptly scratch causing more flakes to litter April's carpeted room.

I don't recall shedding such large scales of skin during my first growth spurt. To my knowledge, my brothers and I are the only ones of our kind, so I don't have an example to go by. Basically, I'm learning these stages of maturity as we grow. A deep sigh escapes my lips as I stare at my blotchy, flaky face. April's hand comes into the mirror's view as she gently touches the left side of my head. Her hand is cool and slightly moist, making me shudder under her touch.

"It's just lotion," she says softly as she rubs it on my skin in a gentle circular motion, "it has oatmeal in it, so maybe it will help with the flaking and itchiness." My face twitches at the smell of oatmeal and strawberries as the lotion's scent wafts to my nose. A small lopsided smile ghosts my lips at her thoughtfulness, but I quickly look away in embarrassment as she dusts her hands together to remove the excess of shed skin from her fingers.

You're disgusting, shedding all over her room like some filthy animal.

"So, is that what's going on under all of this?" She gestures to the extra wrappings around my arms and legs.

"Y-yeah. I didn't want to freak you out, but I guess I successfully managed to anyway."

"It's not a big deal, Donnie, really. When I was a little, we use to have a dog that—" April freezes in midsentence. She turns beet red as she tucks her hair behind her ear again. Was she about to compare my shedding to her childhood pet dog? My face burns hot with utter humiliation. Someone please just end me now.

"You know what? Why don't you hold on to this," Her voice drops to a whisper as she hands me the bottle of lotion.

"Thanks," Putting the lotion in my messenger bag, I can't help but still feel ashamed. April gives me an empathetic look…or is it just pity?

Of course she pities you.

She mutely looks up at the ceiling, then down at her sneakers as she taps her hands thoughtfully against her thighs. Finally, she looks up, her eyes brimming with sudden interest, "Oh! I almost forgot I have to show you something." Thankful for the sudden change of subject, I allow her to grab hold of my thick fingers and lead me to her bookshelf. She carefully grabs a clear rectangular plastic container from the middle shelf. The container doesn't have a lid and its filled with moss, dirt, and…

"They're turtle eggs! Painted turtle eggs, if I'm not mistaken." My previous embarrassment is forgotten, as my curious nature takes over. I look in the container with amazement, taking it carefully from her hands. I've never actually seen real turtle eggs outside the pages of my reptile anatomy books. Even when my brothers and I found Raph's pet turtle, Spike, he was at least 4 months old, so we never saw the egg he hatched from. In the container, there are six eggs, no larger than a nickel, snuggly tucked in the moist dirt.

"I'm volunteering at a new animal shelter near my school. These little guys were accidentally dug up at a construction site. I offered to take them home and care for them until they hatched. I…I thought maybe you could help me with them, to make sure I'm taking care of them properly."

Recalling some research I did a few years ago, I frown thoughtfully, "I need some damp paper towels to—" before I can finish my sentence, April's already sprinted out the room and I hear water running. Before I can count 6 Mississippi's, she back in the room at my side. Thanking her, I cover the eggs with the moist paper towels and gently place the container on her desk. "Putting a damp paper towels over the eggs and keeping the room temperature between 76 to 85 degrees will prevent them from drying out. Do you know if the eggs were turned upside at any point during the transition from the construction site?"

Her ocean blue eyes expand with concern, "I don't know….is it bad if they were?"

"It could be," She's biting her bottom lip now. I don't mean to scare her, but it's important to tell her the facts if she plans to care for these little fellows, "if a turtle egg is turned upside down, the developing embryo can be crushed by its yolk sac." Scanning her desk, I find a black sharpie pen. I don't trust my large hands to do the job, so I hand the marker pen to April, "Mark a dot on top of the eggs. If they are moved again before they hatch, you'll know which side is currently up." Choosing my words carefully, I continue, "The survival rate of rescued turtle eggs is fairly low, so you should be prepared…or rather don't get too attached in case…" I fumble with the right words to say, trying to be honest without sounding too callous.

"I think they're going to be just fine." April says with a level of certainty that softens my resolve; her naïve positivity is endearing, but I push onward to make her understand.

"April, I'm glad you're being optimistic, but realistically speaking," after dotting the last egg, April squeezes my arm silencing me with the gesture.

"No, Donnie, they're really okay. Here, I'll show you." I frown in confusion, but she simply places her hand over the eggs. The fingertips of her other hand spread gently across my forehead. My breath catches in my throat at the softness of her touch for the second time this evening. "Do you feel that?"

Before I can ask her what exactly she's doing, I do feel something. It's a familiar sensation; one that I don't remember, but have somehow experienced before. Its blanketing warmth constricts me, yet makes me feel dreamy and safe; safer than I've ever felt in my life. The warmness thumps in rhythm like a heartbeat in the center of my forehead.

When April removes her hand, taking the comfort of this feeling with her, I nearly whimper from the loss of this long forgotten sensation. I blink several times before clearing my throat. Looking down at the tiny eggs, I know at some point in my pre-mutated life I was also incubated in a very similar matter. Is that what it felt like? Did I really just…

I laugh with a small huff at the absurdity of the thought. There's no way I felt those eggs, or that those eggs have anything to feel. It is scientifically impossible for turtle embryos to have any instinctual infantile feelings at such an earlier stage of their development. I shake the last lingering imprints of warmth from my mind as I find my voice again, "Ah, feel what exactly? Your hands feel nice, if that's what you mean. Ever consider a career as a massage therapist?" I feebly joke with her, not wanting to share the irrationality of what I think I may have witnessed.

"Oh," The sparkle of excitement quickly leaves her eyes, "I just thought maybe you….never mind." She shakes her head refusing to finish her sentence, leaving me puzzled because she seems upset—disappointed to be exact. She quickly changes the subject, "Thanks again for coming by at such short notice to help Casey and me study. You always come through for me…it… it means a lot." Her sweet smile weakens my knees making my legs feel like wobbly jello. She places her hand in mine, and grips as much of my ill-formed fingers as she can, giving them a squeeze. Standing stoic still is the only thing keeping me from melting into a puddle of green glop.

"Nuh-no problem, April, any…anytime," Nervousness trembles through my voice nearly constricting my vocal cords completely. I want to tell her. I want to tell her the way she smiles makes something ache miserably inside me, and her love of science and math draws me to her like moths to a flame. Her eyes glisten with a brightness I'm scare to put a name to. I want to tell her all those things in this closeness. With her hand in mine, I want to kiss her.

But I don't tell her any of those things. Instead, I swallow those words and inexpressible feelings like bitter herbal tea. Those feelings for her and her alone, settle in the pit of my stomach wrapped in an uncomfortable heaviness. At that very moment, the inviting smile falters on April's face. She gently tugs her hand from my grasp, and in a habitual motion curves her fingers behind her ear, even though there is no hair to push back in place.

She's still upset.

Reading emotions are not my strong suit, but her sudden lackluster and nervous behavior sends warning signs to my brain telling me I did something wrong. I don't understand how a wonderful evening of Skittle hypotheses and turtle eggs went south so quickly? Did she prefer to have Casey here instead of me? Was she secretly sickened by my shedding?

"I guess you should get going. I gotta hit the sack, big test and presentation tomorrow!" She chuckles awkwardly, trying to lift the mood with an unsure smile and a 'go get 'em' fist gesture.

I nod before words finally stumble from my lips, "Uh, yes, of course! I have to meet the guys for patrolling so….yeah," pulling out my T-cell, I glance at the time. It's 9:30 and I already have seven missed calls in silent mode. My shoulders slouch in dread. Leo's going to kill me. "Good luck on everything, let me know how it goes," I force a smile that hurts my face as I grab my messenger bag and make a beeline for the window.

"Definitely, good night!" She gives a stiff thumbs up.

Muttering something that sounds like good night, I stumble out of the window and take to the roof. Two rooftops away, I stop running and slowly turn around. I need to know if she's watching me leave the same way she watched Casey.

My face clouds over with forced indifference when I see her window is no longer lit by her room's light, but flooded in darkness. Disappointment gathers in my chest when I mentally calculate and predict my chances of a kiss in the future plummeting into the negative percentile. Turning away, I pick up my pace to meet up with my brothers.

"Oww!" I rub the back of my head where Raph just whacked me.

"That's for messin' around my aura and crap. Do it again and I'll smack the green off ya." He gives me a warning glare before crossing his arms over his plastron and leaning against the air conditioning unit on the roof as we wait for Donnie. I can see the flames of his aura protectively surrounding and enveloping his ooey-gooey center of feelings.

"I said I was sorry!" My apology is answered with a grunt and a mumble about annoying little brothers.

"The spiritual plane is not a fun zone, Mikey, so it would do you well to pay attention during your training with Master Splinter." I roll my eyes as Leo adds in his two cents.

Leo and Raph don't know that I can still see their auras. Honestly, I don't want to get smacked upside the head again by Raph for something I can't control or Leo lecturing me, so I think I'll just keep it to myself. Besides, I'm sure it'll go away after a good night's sleep. Hearing a vibration, I immediately reach for my T-cell in my belt. Then I realize I heard a vibration and didn't actually feel it, so I pause and let my hand drop back to my side. Raph looks down at his phone. He harshly jabs a few buttons with his thumb before slipping the phone back into his belt pocket.

"Was that Donnie?" Leo asks impatiently as he dials Donnie for like the fiftieth time. His aura is practically cutting flips with anxiety.

"Nope." Raph doesn't offer any additional information and Leo doesn't ask even though I know he wants to.

"It's 9:15. I specifically told him 9 o'clock sharp." Leo pinches the area between his eyes.

"Don't get your panties in a knot, Fearless. It's not like there's an overflow of thugs to bust tonight anyway."

"That's not the point."

"It never is with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

And here we go again.

"It means chill out and get your head out of your—"

Their voices start to fade into the background as I find watching their auras more interesting than their actual arguing. Sitting cross-legged on the rooftop, I watch Leo and Raph's aura become more animated. Raph's campfire like aura is blossoming dangerously around the edges of his body. Leo's weighing scales are swinging aggressively out of balance. It's like Raph's adding lumps of coal to Leo's scales, and Leo's feeding gasoline to Raph's flame.

My eyes cross as I try to focus between my arguing brothers and their auras. It's like trying to pat your head and draw a circle with your foot at the same time, and it's giving me a headache. I shake away my dizziness, this time trying to focus on my brothers and ignore their chaotic auras, but it's not easy.

"…You're not going anywhere, Raphael. We're patrolling together and that's final!" In the short time that I tuned in to their auras, the verbal argument had escalated. Leo is in Raph's face, emphasizing his command by pointing at the ground practically daring Raph to challenge him. My oldest brother knows just as well as I do that Raph never backs down from a challenge.

"Screw off, Leo. I'll go wherever the shell I want." Raph shoves Leo away, glancing down at his T-cell before jostling it into his belt pocket again. "I'm outta here."

"Raphael!" Leo shouts at him, but he's already leaped down to a lower rooftop and melted into the shadows. His shell is facing me as his fists clench and unclench reflexively at his sides.

"Dude, you okay?" He doesn't answer my question, and I don't expect him to. I'm the brother Leo bosses around, provides comfort for, and occasionally humors when I'm being quirky. He never confines in me when the load of leadership throws his aura off balance like its doing right now. Must be the curse of the youngest—forever comforted, but never the comforter, at least not where Leo's concerned. This little blow out with Raph really isn't a big deal; I think Leo would totally get his balance back, if he just let himself vent a little. Unfortunately, I'm not the brother he vents to; Donnie's the one Leo turns to for that kind of stuff. Looking down at my T-cell, I see its 9:30 and can't help but cringe. Ironically, Donnie is also the brother that's going to get an earful when he shows up.

Standing to my feet, I stretch my arms above my head until my shell shifts upward slightly from the movement, "Bro, don't worry about Raph, he's just cranky cause he hasn't had his nightly dose of butt-kicking yet. He knows where to meet us after patrolling, just give him some space and it'll be fi—"

"It doesn't work that way, Mikey," he snaps, turning quickly to face me, "Raph doesn't get to just throw a tantrum and run off because he 'needs space.' He's making it a habit, and if he keeps doing this on patrols, he's going to do it when we're on a mission and I refuse to put anyone in danger because of his selfishness." I try to think of something else to say, but he's already looking at his T-cell again, "And why is Donnie so late? This is ridiculous." Leo mutters something else I can't quite hear as he shakes his head disappointedly from side to side.

At that very moment my immediate older brother decides to have impeccable timing…or is that improbable timing?

Donnie must have really hightailed it over here, because he's out of breath and leans over his knees before speaking, "Leo, I'm really sorry about—"

"9 o'clock, Don, I told you 9 o'clock." Leo crosses his arms sternly over his plastron.

"I know, I know, it's just that April was panicking because she has a physics presentation tomorrow and Casey—"

"I don't care, Don. Unless it was a life-threatening emergency, it wasn't important enough to be late. Patrolling comes first, you know that. Get your priorities straight, Donatello. I would expect this neglectful behavior from Raph, but not you."

Ouch, did you really have to play the 'Raph card', Leo? And what's this about Casey being there? Bet that was an interesting study date. I pout with disappointment when Donnie doesn't say anything; he's still partly hidden in the shadows of the air conditioning unit. He seems a little agitated; he's hiding something, I know it. Curious, I immediately look at his plastron wondering if it will give me a clue to my bro's weird vibes. Squinting my eyes, I shift closer to him.

Holy guacamole, Donnie, where's your aura?!

Okay, now I'm totally befuddled—I'm on a role with this word of the day thing—because I see nothing resembling an aura at his core. However, I look up at his face and my eyes widened in awe at the busy little world that is Donnie's brain. Is this the "genius" version of an aura? Wow, I've always joked about Donnie never turning off his brain, but now I'm starting to think there may be some truth to that. It's like the mechanical city that never sleeps up there. Titling my head in amazement, I watch formulas I don't understand zip by with purpose; various purple gears shift and turn as if processing some important documentation. There's a vapor-like purple ribbon flowing from Donnie's ingenious headspace down to his core. The purple ribbon is vibrant and briefly imprints some vibrations on my psyche. Donnie's vibes have a harsh sting to them, like somebody put duct tape on my heart and then yanked it off. Before I have a chance to make any sense of it, the ribbon is suddenly compressed into a tiny cube. I see a metal box at his core that I didn't notice before. The box opens just wide enough for the little cube to drop in, then closes tightly like a steel vault reinforced with padlocks.

That was really weird, and this is coming from the dude who's seeing auras. I know I'm still really new to this spiritual business, but Donnie's aura seems…off somehow. Eyeing his boxed aura, I frown and try to poke it, but I can't quite touch it. Note to self: Can't touch real stuff in the spirit world, and can't touch spiritual stuff in the real world. I poke his aura box again for good measure.

"Will you stop that?!" Donnie snaps as he slaps my prodding finger away from his plastron. I stare at his plastron-slash-aura box and then look him between the eyes. "And stop staring at it!...its not that bad," he mumbles the latter part. He shifts timidly from one foot to the other as the moonlight offers a dim glow over his face.

Huh? Blinking my gaze away from his headspace, I look at him questioningly. What's not that bad? What is he talking….oh….

"Dude, what happened to your face?" My mouth gapes open even though I try not to. At my loud inquiry, Leo stops in mid-lecture as he also looks at Donnie's face.

"It's not that bad…." He repeats himself. His words are kind of contradicting when a few large flakes fall to his feet as he rubs a hand over the side of his face.

"Bro, half of your face is on the ground." I exaggerate only slightly, pointing to the offending piece of skin on the rooftop that's the size of an index card.

Leo's s aura scale isn't so one-sided anymore and starts to balance out a bit as his brows crease with concern. My oldest brother can be a real hardnose when it comes to patrolling and training, but Leo can usually tone it down a bit when he needs to. He's already inspecting Donnie's face under the moonlight. "You skin is peeling pretty badly," Leo confirms, "and you've never had brown spots like this."

"Maybe they're freckles! Freckles are awesome." With a cheesy smile I point to own set of dark green spots below my mask.

"I already told you guys it's just a growth spurt. Some reptiles experience scale discoloration while shedding, so could we not talk about this anymore?" The irritation is pretty obvious in his voice, so I hold my hands up in a surrendering gesture. "Where's Raph?" Donnie asks as he looks between Leo and me.

"…He started patrolling a few blocks ahead while we were waiting for you." I glance at Leo, my face scrunches into that 'What you talkin' about Willis?' look.

That is so not what happened. I feel the need to clarify this obvious confusion of events, "Actually Raph said screw—"

"We'll do a three-point patrol," Leo rudely speaks over me, "starting with the eastside storefronts, hitting the park next, and then meeting back here at the manhole near the bottom of the fire escape. Got it?"

"Yeah." I give him a withering stare and he returns it with a look that clearly says 'shut up.'

"Sure, Leo." Donnie agrees quietly.

With a running start, Leo clears the distance to the next rooftop but doesn't stop to see if we're following, because he knows we will.

"Dude, you have improbable timing," I say with playful sarcasm as we both get a running start before jumping to the next rooftop.

"That's not what that means. The correct word for your satirical comment would be impeccable." Donnie replies with a sigh as he leaps to the next roof. He's not far behind Leo now.

Picking up speed, I'm inches away from passing him, "That was my second word choice," I say, raising my finger to justify myself, "Plus, I used the word 'befuddled' twice today. Twice, and totally in the right context. You gotta give me that."

"He has not said the word 'befuddled' even once today." Leo shouts back at us.

An indignant sound cracks from the back of throat, "I have so!...Well, I'm pretty sure I said it in my head at least…" I tap my chin thoughtfully as Donnie and I catch up to Leo. I slow down a bit so I'm running side by side my brothers. I can see Leo quirk a smile as he shakes his head and Donnie snorts at me as he rolls his eyes.

"Saying a word in your head is not the same as using a word in a conversation with someone." Donnie comebacks with a smile, completely bursting my bubble.

"I was talking to myself! That counts!" At that rebuttal, both my brothers laugh out loud. The tension between my bros is practically gone. Mission accomplished. Our laughter echoes into the night sky as we continue our pointless bantering while patrolling.

I sigh as I toss in my bed for the umpteenth time tonight. Curling up on my side, I fist the covers snuggly under my chin. My eyes sullenly stare at the fire escape just outside my window. My face burns with embarrassment when I think about how horribly things turned out tonight. I've never had this much trouble with guys. I either like a guy or I don't, simple as that. But these past several months have been horrible. I feel like I can't trust my own feelings anymore.

Hanging out with Casey is always…interesting. He's a slacker, always in some sort of trouble at school, but he's a nice guy….when he's not being a pig or trying to copy my homework. We don't have a lot of things common, and honestly I find it hard to hold a decent conversation with him without it relating to hockey, hot girls, or bashing someone's head in. He always teases me about my studious habits and calls me a prude bookworm. Yet, there is still something that drags me toward him, a burning desire, a hormonal pull that I fight to resist.

Then there's Donnie; sweet, adorable, kind-hearted Donnie. He's the only reason I didn't strangle Casey tonight. If it wasn't for his quick thinking, I would probably still be cramming for physics; I can always depend on him when I'm in a crunch. Donnie doesn't tease me for my love of science, he quite frankly inspires it! I thought my dad was pretty brainy, but Donnie knocks my dad's knowledge right out of the stratosphere. For all of his shy nerdiness, his ninjutsu skills are amazing. He would be a walking paradox at my high school; an equal blend of nerd and athlete.

When he's in his element, Donnie really takes charge and confidence practically radiates from him, like tonight when he explained the laws of motion to Casey. Then there are times when he hides behind the very traits that make him shine, reducing him to stuttering words and awkward hunched-over postures. How he manages to flip this behavior on and off like a light switch is beyond my understanding, but I notice it happens more when he's around me. He's said some pretty weird things to me in the past, like calling me his sweet chinchilla….I never really knew if that was a compliment or not.

I was pretty ticked at Casey for leaving before we finished studying, but at the same time I was relieved. I hardly ever spend time alone with Donnie, without Casey or one of his brothers nearby, so I thought it would be nice for us to just hang out a bit—talk, eat some skittles, and maybe even attempt to flirt with him….and that's when everything went downhill.

I swear I thought it was lint! I was not expecting skin to just fall off his head. Completely freaked me out, God, I thought he was sick, or hurt, or worse. After he explained everything, I realized I managed to make a complete fool out of myself and embarrassed him at the same time. Humiliation scoreboard?...two points for April O'Neil.

I thought I could salvage the rest of our time together by showing him the turtle eggs. When I first felt the life force inside the eggs I thought it was amazing and wanted to share the experience with Donnie; I just knew he would say it was fascinating or something along those lines. Unfortunately, he didn't find it the least bit fascinating; in fact I don't think he even knew what I was talking about. He probably just thought I was crazy.

Just as I was thanking him for coming over I thought I felt something, a flutter of passion. I saw it in his gentle brown eyes and I instantly wanted to be held in his strong arms. I was debating whether or not to give him a good night kiss, when suddenly, just as quickly as it entered my psyche, the loving thoughts radiating from him vanished leaving behind an indescribable sense of barren nothingness. How is that even possible? It just doesn't make sense. So I pulled away to avoid further embarrassment. I obviously was sensing my own hopeless emotions and mistakenly thought they were his.

After we said our painfully awkward goodbyes, he climbed out my window and I immediately turned off my lights; I didn't want him to know I was watching him leave. I didn't want him to see my desperation especially if he didn't feel the same way about me. My heart nearly stopped when he turned around from a distant rooftop. I squeaked in surprise as I hid out of sight underneath my window sill praying he hadn't somehow seen me in the darkness of my room.

Why had he turned around? Had I assumed wrong? Was there a chance that he may actually...

The sound of the front door jostling and creaking open pulls me from my questioning thoughts. I hear footsteps drag across the downstairs floor. Dad's home. He teaches night classes at the university now. He can't go back to his old job; he never said why and I never asked. Occasionally, Dad still gets panic attacks from the whole mutation accident, but they're becoming few and far between. Part-time jobs in his field occupy most of his time; I suppose staying busy is probably good for him.

I sigh as my thoughts drift back to Donnie and Casey. Dad just wouldn't get it. I wish Mom was here. She could help me sort out these mesh-mash feelings that are having a tug-of-war my brain. Guys are so confusing. There are just some things a girl needs her mother for. I miss her so much.

I bury myself deeper under the covers as thoughts of my mother carry me into a mournful sleep.

TBC...Next chapter should hopefully be posted in about two weeks. Thanks again for reading and please leave a review, let me know what you think so far! Reviews make me smile! :)

Also, the Stealthy Stories Fanfiction Competition is currently in progress. Nomination ballots are already posted, so go over there and check out some really AWESOME TMNT fanfiction stories! The link to the site is on my profile page. See you soon!

~Poetique