Kayla stared out the window, lost in her own thoughts as she watched some kids playing football outside for gym class. She subconsciously tugged the hem of her sleeve further down to cover her forearm. The previous night she'd gone out on her usual outing and happened upon a jewelry store robbery. One of the three goons had a knife and managed to leave a deep cut on her arm. She managed to keep it a secret from her family, but it wasn't easy; and part of her knew that it wasn't a good idea to keep it from them. She didn't know for sure if she needed stitches or something, but everything seemed fine. She just cleaned it up and bandaged it. But she knew that it would unfortunately leave a scar as it healed.

The dismissal bell jolted Kayla out of her thoughts and she looked down at her desk. Her math final was only half done. She knew nearly everything that was on the test like the back of her hand, but her mind was just out of it like usual and she couldn't concentrate no matter how hard she tried. 'Oh well,' she thought as she gathered her things. She had a high B in this class as it was, even if she failed this final she'd still pass the class easily.

Kayla handed her test in and quickly left the room.

Only about an hour later she was at her locker. It was the last day of school and it was a half day, so it was going on 12:30 and she was finally free. Free for a whole two and a half months of summer vacation. As she opened her locker she grabbed the three notebooks and two folders she had left and put them in her bag before grabbing her skateboard. She closed her now-empty locker and turned to leave, but was stopped by Alex and two of his friends Brock and Carter.

She hadn't really had any run-ins with them since the lunchroom incident apart from a few insults here and there. And she wasn't in the mood to start something now. She just wanted to get as far from this prison as possible. But when she tried to step around them they blocked her.

Kayla clenched her teeth and glared at them.

Alex grinned mockingly. "Going somewhere?"

Kayla breathed deeply through her nose before she answered him. "Yep, as far from you guys as possible." But as she tried to pass them Alex grabbed her forearm, right where she'd been cut.

Kayla winced as she felt like daggers were shooting up her arm. Without really thinking, but feeling extremely pissed off now, she dropped her board and grabbed Alex's wrist in her free hand. She squeezed a pressure point, causing him to let go and gasp at the sudden pain. Taking advantage of the opportunity she turned him and shoved him against the locker, pressing the length of her forearm against his back and twisting the arm she grabbed behind him.

Leaning close to him, she whispered in his ear, "Take this as your only warning: Stay. Out. Of. My. Way." She shoved away from him, grabbed her skateboard, and left; Carter and Brock moving to let her pass.

She had to get home almost immediately after school as part of her punishment. She had gone to talk to her father the day she threw spaghetti at Alex's face, like she promised Donny she would:

Kayla peeked her head into her father's room. "Donny said you wanted to see me?"

Master Splinter was knelt across the room, his eyes closed and head bowed in meditation. "Yes, my daughter. Enter."

Kayla obeyed and knelt in front of him, waiting.

"Donatello informs me that you got a detention at school today. Is that correct?"

"Yes Sensei." Kayla answered quietly.

"What did you do?" he asked, his eyes still closed. Kayla knew he already knew the answer.

"I threw spaghetti at someone's face."

"Why?"

Kayla bit her lip momentarily. She didn't want to admit to anyone what really happened. "He asked for it." she answered. This made Splinter open his eyes and look at her, his eyes emotionless.

"That doesn't answer my question, Kayla."

Kayla looked at her lap, avoiding her father's gaze.

There was a long silence before Master Splinter finally spoke again. "I can see that you don't wish to tell me the whole story. Though you try to hide it, there is shame and a sense of hurt pride in your stance. I will not ask you further, just remember that I am always here to listen, if you are ready to speak."

Kayla looked up at her father, her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Master Splinter was probably the first, and possibly only, one to not demand an answer from her.

"However, you still need to be punished." he continued. Kayla grimaced and slouched her shoulders.

Master Splinter had given her the punishment of having to come straight home everyday after school until summer vacation, no free time with friends, extra training, and she had to do the dishes for a whole month after the incident. Luckily, as of today, she was free.

The next day Kayla was slouched on the sofa watching X-Men with Michelangelo. She heard the phone ring but Donny got up to answer it. She heard the familiar, "Cowabunga Carl Party Services. Cowabunga Dude." as Don answered the phone. Kayla had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing at him. There was a few seconds of silence before, "Kayla, it's for you." Kayla looked over her shoulder and saw him holding the phone for her.

She got up and took the phone from him. "Hello?"

"Hey." Alana greeted her. "Does your brother have to answer like that for every phone call now?"

Kayla chuckled. "Yeah. Why do you think I avoid answering the phone at all costs now?"

Alana laughed before asking, "Hey, are you doing anything tonight?"

Kayla thought for a moment, not sure of what to say. "Um, I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to sleep over tonight. We haven't had a sleepover in forever, you know, since you got grounded."

Kayla glanced at her brothers to check they weren't listening. "Um, well, actually my family really wanted me to spend time with them this week now that I'm out of school for the summer. So, I don't think I can. Sorry." she looked at the ground, grimacing at her lie. Truthfully, it was because she had responsibilities now as the Shadow Archer. She couldn't just ignore that.

"That's okay. I'm glad you're spending time with your family, again. Especially after all the arguments you guys have been having lately."

"Wait, what?"

"Oh crap! I probably wasn't supposed to say that."

Kayla put a hand on her hip. "Where did you hear this?"

Alana was silent for a while before answering. "Well, a while ago, now don't kill him please, Don called me and asked if I knew anything about how you've been acting lately. I asked him what he meant and he told me about a bunch of fights you've been getting into with your brothers. Plus I already know about most of what's happening at school even though he really doesn't. I told him I didn't really know anything, but I don't think he believed me."

Kayla glanced over at Don, who was working on the computer again. Figures he had to drag her friends into it. "Everything's fine, Alana. It's just been pretty stressful with school and stuff, you know that. I see you and your brother fight all the time."

"Yeah I know. It just sounds like your fights are getting pretty serious. And don't try lying to me; Don told me that black eye you got a few weeks ago was from a fight with Raph, not tripping on the stairs like you said."

Kayla growled and glared at her brainiac brother, though he didn't notice. One day Raph had tried bringing up the cafeteria incident again and it resulted in a huge fight. The result was Kayla getting a black eye from a punch to the face when she let her guard down. Raph locked himself in his room and mentally beat himself up for it. Except instead of going to talk to him like Kayla normally did, she just went to her room with a bag of frozen peas on her eye.

"Kayla, is there anything you want to talk about?" Alana asked, her voice full of concern. Kayla sighed and Alana quickly added, "Maybe sometime soon you can sleep over and we can talk about stuff. Like we always do."

Kayla thought about it for a moment. "Maybe. I'll think about it. If I can find a time that would work for both of us I'll call you."

"Okay. Well, I gotta go. See ya."

"Bye." Kayla hung up the phone and made her way across the lair. When she was right behind Don she smacked him upside the head. Don winced and spun his computer chair around.

"What the heck was that for?" he demanded.

"It's not bad enough that you guys are sticking your noses in my life; now you have to drag my friends into it?!" she yelled, placing her hands on her hips. Don's face went from anger to slight surprise and guilt.

"Okay, look. I can explain…" Don's mouth hung open but nothing came out. Kayla raised one eyebrow.

"Yeah, that explains a lot, Donny." she responded sarcastically. A low chuckle from behind made her look over her shoulder. Raph came up with an apple in his hand.

"Told ya she'd find out, Brainiac." he joked as he took a bite of his apple.

Don snapped out of his shock and sighed. "Kayla, look I…you weren't telling us anything and I wanted to help you, so I called Alana and asked her if she knew what was going on with you. I knew if anyone would know something it would be her."

Kayla crossed her arms and shook her head. "What is going on in my life doesn't concern you; and you have no right to go and interrogate my friends. You don't even know if she knows anything."

"You're right, I don't; but I knew she'd be my best bet. I know you tell her more than you tell anyone else, so I figured I'd give it a shot." Don defended himself.

"Plus, you're wrong 'bout one 'ting." Raph put in, leaning his shoulder against the wall. "What goes on in your life does concern us. You're our lil sister an' we'll do whatever we can ta keep ya safe. Whether ya like it or not."

Kayla looked away and ducked her head slightly, hiding her face behind her hair. She honestly didn't know how to feel about what her brothers just said. Lately her emotions had been so muddled up that she didn't know how to feel anymore. It was getting harder to tell the difference between her true emotions and the emotions she put up as a mask.

She turned and forced herself to walk slowly to her bedroom, ignoring their eyes on her back. When she closed the door she leaned her back against it. She felt like a volcano. Like all her emotions were building up, getting ready to burst. And they did. A small sob escaped her throat as a few tears escaped her eyes. She slid down the door until she sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her forehead on her knees as the tears burst.