Hey everybody! Redhead here, and pleased as punch to introduce our next chapter! This first scene is mine, and everything else is Lizzy's. It deals with Leo, my favorite of all the Ninja Turtles and his stance in The Academy. I decided to make him a writer, just 'cause he's probably the most likely out of the four to possess such a talent, and I'm a writer, so it's easy for me to get into his head! XD Anyways, hope you all enjoy!
And this is Lizzy. The last three scenes deal with Marth and Lia, then Aurora, then Marth and Atem. I think that a lot of the important info was already previously stated, or will be in the future, so those scenes are primarily there to get the 'high school' effect: going to class (which can be difficult), being in class (the rest of the battle), and lunch (ground for teasing and having fun). Enjoy!
Leonardo, or Leo as everyone called him, slung his bag over his shoulder as the bell rang to signal the start of their morning classes. Looking at his schedule, he saw that he had Creative Writing first, with Professor Wordsworth, who taught all the English classes in the school. His heart considerably lighter than it had been this morning, he left the room and headed for the English and Literature building, trying to ignore the funny looks he was getting from people.
One would think he'd be used to it by now. He and his brothers had been getting funny looks ever since they'd been coming here. He could remember Mikey saying it was because they just weren't used to seeing giant mutant turtles in uniforms, but deep down, they all knew it was because they weren't used to seeing giant mutant turtles in general, uniforms or not. Especially if they were giant, walking, talking, pizza-eating mutant turtles. At least they hadn't made anyone run screaming in the opposite direction yet, like that poor junior Kurt had once. And really, with his scarred blue skin, long black hair, yellow eyes, sharp teeth and tail to go with it, he looked like a demon fresh out of Hell, yet in all time they had known each other, Leo had never seen him raise his hand to strike somebody, nor heard a harsh word leave his mouth, despite his thick German accent. Still, people were a little hesitant to approach those strange Hamato brothers, and they usually would be seen in their own little group together, more often than not without Raf with them. Their red-masked brother was becoming more and more withdrawn, preferring to be off by himself, though he was a little more open with them at home than at school. It made Leo a little resentful, though he knew he couldn't blame them. People always fear what they don't understand; this held true even with him. However, it would be nice to have a conversation with someone who wasn't one of his brothers once in a while.
Before he opened the door to the English building, he spotted Ed Elric passing by him, probably heading to his next class. The blond boy gave him a smile and a wave, and Leo slapped his outstretched hand as he passed by.
"Hey man," he said, returning the smile. Ed was a good kid. He'd come over to talk to Leo and his brothers once in a while over the years, and even though Leo didn't know Al all that well, he was pretty sure that if he was anything like his brother, then he was a pretty decent kid as well. He opened the door and headed into the building, tugging on the knot of his tie as he did so.
Man, he hated wearing these things. He didn't hate just wearing the uniforms; he hated wearing clothes. Growing up, he and his brothers had never really worn anything except pads, belts and their masks, for the obvious reason that their shells made it difficult to put anything on. Pants: not so much, but shirts or jackets were pretty much out of the question, save for the occasional trench coat and hat. When they'd come here, they'd had to have their uniforms specially made to accommodate their "unique anatomy," right down to their shoes, which needed some serious altering to fit their large feet.
"When did it become essential for a turtle to wear boots?" he grumbled, frowning at the black abominations on his feet as he hiked up the stairs to the second floor.
But the school wouldn't let them go without, so they'd just had to suck it up and deal, but that didn't mean that they had to like it. Not that he was one to really worry about how he appeared to others, but all in all, he thought he looked like a big, green and blue idiot in this outfit. And Mikey's snide comments about how the uniform matched his bandanna didn't help.
"Good morning, Professor," he said as he entered his classroom and took a seat in the front row near his teacher's desk.
"Oh hello, Leonardo."
William Walter Wordsworth, or Professor for short, looked up from the book he had been reading, his pipe in his hand. It wasn't lit, because the school administration didn't let him smoke inside, but he had grown so used to holding it in one had that he still continued to do so, even sticking it into his mouth on occasion. He watched the eldest Hamato brother sit down, and a couple of girls who had been sitting in the opposite corner of the room stopped their conversation and stared.
"How was your summer?" Leo asked politely. He had always been on good terms with the Professor, having taken several of his classes over the years.
"Well as could be expected, I suppose," the man replied. He put his book down. "There's something I've wanted to ask you. I actually got permission to have a Creative Writing Club this year, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in being president."
Leo looked taken aback by this statement, and his brown eyes widened in surprise.
"M-Me?" Leo stammered, putting a hand to his chest.
"Certainly. You are one of the best writers I have seen here at the Academy, and from what my peers tell me, your leadership skills are nothing to shake a finger at either. I'd say you're a prime candidate."
Leo could feel his face flushing from the praise.
"Absolutely! I'd love to!"
"Great. Let me get you the paperwork here." He disappeared behind his desk as the bell rang. "Oh dear. Well, give them a few minutes to get settled," he muttered. After a minute, he resurfaced, holding a couple of forms in his hand and handing them to Leo, who thanked him and put them away in his bag. He then raised his head and looked around at the class behind him.
"Professor," he said. "Please tell me I am not the only male in this class."
"Umm…" his teacher's eyes scrolled down the roster. "Looks like you are, Leonardo, aside from me. Sorry."
"Great."
In Leo's limited experience with girls, he found them to be quite silly and air-headed, and they were more distracting than anything else. Now he was in a classroom full of them. He recognized the white-haired girl from his homeroom, Jane, but no one else.
"All right class, settle down," the Professor called, and the room quieted. "If you could dig out your schedules please…"
The opening door cut him off as another face familiar to Leo appeared. He couldn't place her name, though. Upon seeing she was late, she turned as red as her hair.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I couldn't find the room…"
"No, that's fine, Ms. Lewis. Please come in. We are a little difficult to find, I'm afraid," said the Professor gently, and the girl came into the room, her eyes scouting out an empty seat. There were only a few. She hesitated, and Leo took the opportunity.
"You can come sit by me, if you want," he said boldly, and in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear him, holding out his hand to the desk. Every head turned in his direction, but the redhead quickly scooted across the room and slid into the seat next to him. She threw a shy but grateful smile in his direction before setting her bag down, and Leo's heart skipped a beat. She was rather cute, now that he saw her up close.
"I'm A.J.," she whispered, holding out a tiny hand. For a moment, Leo just stared at it, a little surprised at her unusual lack of fear, then, realizing that he was being rude, gripped it gently in his and shook it.
"Leo," he whispered back.
"Nice to meet you, Leo," she said, then let go of his hand so she could reach into her backpack and grab her schedule.
"Ugh, calculus," Lia grumbled to Marth, glancing at her schedule. "Remember last year?"
The bluenette laughed bitterly. "Oh, Ms. Dalton. How could I forget her? None of us passed." And it was true enough. That evil witch had failed every single one of them, even Marth, one of the best in their class. He'd had a heart attack when he saw his report card. So had Lia. It was the first time either of them had failed a class.
Lia wasn't a top-notch student, like the quiet Prince, but she did well enough. Her linguistics teacher, Splinter (or, as she liked to call him, Sensei, or 'teacher' in Japanese) was her favorite, and she was his second best student, Marth being the first. But she was often just behind him in everything. Linguistics, calculus, fencing, it didn't matter. But she didn't mind. It only gave her more motivation to beat him at something.
"Let's hope this year's teacher isn't a sadist like she was," Lia said dryly. Teachers like that were few and far in between at the Academy. The odds were good that they wouldn't get a repeat. Headmistress Sforza was tough, it was true, but she'd never make the mistake again of hiring a horrid excuse for a teacher who used medieval methods of torture on her students, via homework.
Marth grinned, and saw Donny Hamato turn the corner, heading to the same destination they were. Sure, the Hamato brothers looked strange, and Marth had been a little apprehensive about their presence, to say the least. But they gained his respect when he'd seen who they really were like. He identified particularly with Donny, the both of them being the intelligent and reasonable ones of the group, and often briefly chatted with him. Marth waved and smiled. Donny returned the gesture.
"Well, here we are. Let's all pray this goes well," Marth joked wryly, earning soft laughter from his two companions.
"Well, Miss Sechrist," Dr. Mewtwo began. "What would you say is wrong with this equation? It is balanced, no?"
Aurora shook her head, chewing on her pen. She had the equation copied down, and there were scribbled symbols and crossed out half-written answers. The numbers were right…or were they?
"No, they aren't, sir. The problem clearly states that when we're done, the chemical reaction described in the equation will result in combustion. Since the problem also states that we're dealing with methane, there is only one clear solution: that in this instance, the reaction required for methane to combust would be oxygen."
"Therefore…?" the sciences teacher prodded.
Therefore…therefore…what?
It struck her. "Therefore, in order to create the necessary reaction, one more water molecule is needed!"
The professor smiled briefly and nodded, writing the answer on the blackboard. "That is correct. Nicely done, Miss Sechrist," he complimented, causing the blonde to nearly blush from the attention.
"So…?" Atem prodded Marth in the ribcage. Marth slapped his hand away, looking severely irritated, and giving him a 'what do you want now?' glare. "How was calculus?"
Marth shrugged, and waved for Link, Lia, and Zelda to come over to join their group for lunch. "Lia answered the question before I could, for a change."
Atem chuckled. "I'll bet she almost died from excitement, finally beating you at something…" The teen messed up his already-crazy hair when a sudden thought occurred to him, and being the immature boy that he was, he decided to go with it. "Link's not gonna like that you have five classes with his girlfriend, not including fencing and all the time you spend with her studying, you know," he said mischievously, a wicked look on his face.
Atem's words had the desired effect: Marth blushed hotter than the sun at noon in summertime. "What?! I don't like her like that!" he spluttered. "We're just really good friends! I've known her since the third grade, and you know that, damn you! She's like a sister to me!"
The other boy grinned widely. Few people could make Marth lose his cool, but Atem happened to be one of them. Especially when it came to teasing the seemingly ice-cold teen about girls. "Uh huh. Right. You keep telling yourself that."
"Telling himself what?" asked a happy voice from behind them. It was Roy Eliwood, Marth's freshman buddy.
"Nothing!" Marth snapped, taking a swig from his soda in anger.
"Ooo, tell me!" Roy begged.
"Marth's got a little thing for Princess Lia, Link's First Lady," Atem said, laughing up a storm.
Marth spat his soda out at that. He turned even redder, and was now a nice shade of maroon. "It's not like that!" he protested.
Roy began running around in circles, chanting in a singsong voice, "Marth and Lia, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage—"
And then the short redhead ran straight into Raphael Hamato, a giant compared to Roy's smaller stature. So it went without saying that Raf didn't budge while Roy was left on the ground. "Ow, I ran into a wall," Roy moaned.
Marth head was in his hands, Atem was about to pass out from laughing so hard, and Link and Lia (having just joined the group) had looks of confusion on their faces. "Why do I even hang out with you people?" the blue-headed teen groaned.
Please review, and tell us what you think!