"Fight! Fight! Fight!" the crowd chanted as Kayla lifted her hand to block a punch with her forearm. Alex threw a punch with his other hand, which Kayla ducked down to dodge and punched him hard in the gut. He leaned forward to clutch his stomach in pain. Kayla straightened up and looked blankly down at him for a moment before pushing the top of his head. He toppled right over on his butt. She snorted as she looked down at him while about half the crowd cheered.

She had been at her locker minding her own business when he came up out of nowhere and started insulting her, which then escalated into insulting her family, which resulted in her getting mad. So she shoved him into a locker and the fight began.

Kayla bent down and picked up her shoulder bag and skateboard. When she straightened up her eyes met Alana's. Her best friend was looking at her with eyes that were filled with a mixture of anger and disappointment. Kayla tried not to flinch.

"Alright, what's going on here?" a voice called from way at the back of the crowd. Kayla recognized it as the speech teacher Mr. Moore. Thinking quickly Kayla slid her bag over her shoulder and ran down the hall in the opposite direction, knowing she could use one of the back doors to the school. She couldn't afford to get in anymore trouble, Don would ring her neck. She'd gotten in several fights since the beginning of the school year three months ago, but she'd never been caught by a teacher. However, she had gotten four detentions for falling asleep in class thanks to her 'night job'.

As soon as Kayla burst through the doors she threw her board to the ground and leapt on it, sending it sailing off the steps. She swerved around the corner and forced her board to go faster. As she did so a figure stepped out of a door to her left and before she could stop she crashed into the person. Both of them were sent sprawling across the sidewalk.

Kayla groaned as she tried to push herself up. She looked down and, realizing she was sprawled out across someone's back, quickly backed away and rested on her knees.

"Sorry." she said quickly as she stood up. "I was in a hurry and I guess I didn't see you."

The boy shook his head and turned over to sit on his butt. He looked up at her and she realized it was Marcus from her gym class.

"Oh, Marcus I-um. Sorry." Kayla offered her hand and he took it so she could pull him to his feet. He grabbed her board and gave it to her.

"It's fine." he brushed off his pants and went back to picking up the football equipment he had been carrying. Kayla knelt down to help. "So, why were you in such a hurry, anyway?"

Kayla's face turned bright red and she looked away as she handed him his helmet. "Oh, no reason. So uh, how many more practices and games do you have left?" she asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Marcus smirked and she had a feeling he knew she was changing the subject. "We have four more practices and two more games. Hopefully we can do better than the varsity team did this year."

They both laughed as they stood up. Marcus was on the JV team and they'd already done better than the varsity team, who'd won maybe four games the entire season and were now finished for the year; while the JV had won about ten games and weren't done playing yet.

With a jolt Kayla remember why she'd been in a hurry. "Oh, uh, I really have to get going, Marcus. I'll see you tomorrow." she said as she backed away before throwing her board down and speeding away. She called back at him over her shoulder, "Sorry again for running you over!"

It took Kayla about twenty some minutes before she finally pulled the pipe that opened the entrance to her home. The extra distance of going around the school added a good five minutes to her journey, but as long as she didn't get caught she was fine. She plopped her skateboard and bag in their usual spot by the sofa and turned to head towards the kitchen but stopped and sniffed the air once. She immediately wrinkled her nose and covered her mouth and nose with her hand, looking down at the sofa where Michelangelo was currently sleeping. She dared to sniff him again and nearly gagged. He stunk! And that was coming from a girl who lived in the sewers with a family of turtles and a rat!

Kayla hurried into the kitchen where she found Don fixing April's camera.

"What's up with Mikey?" she asked as she opened the fridge. "He stinks. Well, more than usual."

"He had another birthday party gig today, this one was a good four hours long with over a dozen kids. He came home so exhausted and sweaty he just passed out on the sofa." Don explained.

Kayla pulled an apple from the fridge and leaned her shoulder against the side of the doorway to the kitchen as she took a bite, watching her brother sleeping. "Ya think dumping a bucket of soapy water on him would do anything?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Kayla." Don started warningly. "He had a rough day, leave him alone."

Kayla put up her hands in defense. "Chill, bro. I was just kidding." Then she turned and headed to the sofa to watch some TV.

"Do you have any homework?" Don asked.

"No." Kayla answered. That was a lie. She had a math assignment as well as a writing assignment she had to get done by tomorrow, but the truth was she didn't care. As Kayla began flipping through the channels the phone rang. Don got up to answer it.

"Cowabunga Carl Party Services. Cowabunga Dude." he greeted good-naturedly. Kayla turned the volume down a bit so she wouldn't disturb him. "Yes, I am." he answered the person on the phone, almost sounding cautious. There was a brief silence and Kayla knew the other person was talking. "Oh, well, how do you know it was her?" Don asked. Kayla furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and listened more carefully. "How many students witnessed it?" Don asked tensely and Kayla immediately knew what was going on. "Okay, yes I'll have a word with her. Yes, I'll tell her. Thank you."

As Don was finishing talking Kayla stood up slowly, grabbed her board, and started sneaking towards the entrance.

"Hold it." a firm voice made Kayla freeze. "Sit." Kayla obeyed and sat back down on the sofa as Don walked around to stand in front of her. "That was the school Principal on the phone."

Kayla gulped slightly. "Oh?"

"He says you got in a fight and fled the scene before a teacher saw you."

"If a teacher didn't see me how do they know it was me?" Kayla asked, trying to keep the cockiness out of her voice. That would get her in more trouble.

"They said well over a dozen students witnessed the fight and several confirmed it was you." Kayla slouched in her seat and ducked her head. "I'm also supposed to tell you that you have to go talk to the Principal tomorrow morning. And if you don't go of your own accord they'll call you from class, and I'm sure that would be much more embarrassing for you."

Kayla rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Don knelt down in front of her and tilted his head to look her in the eyes, but she turned away from him.

"Kayla. Is something going on at school?" he asked gently. Kayla tensed, not sure what to say. On the one hand; she could lie and say nothing was wrong and that she just lost control of her temper for no reason; so she'd have to continue handling it herself and would most likely get a severe punishment from either Don or her father. Or she could tell the truth and tell Don everything that she'd been going through the past couple years; therefore accepting her family's help and possibly getting a lighter punishment.

Kayla made her decision and shook her head. "Nothing's going on, Don. There's just a lot of stress at school with finals and such, and I lost my temper. No big deal."

Don narrowed his eyes at her, as if deciding whether or not to believe her. "No big deal, huh? Considering you nearly knocked a guy unconscious."

"Hey, I could've done a lot more damage if I wanted to, and I didn't even use any ninja tactics, just basic self defense." Kayla defended herself.

Don narrowed his eyes again. "You better not be making a habit out of this, Kayla. First you let your grades slip, then you're getting detentions for falling asleep in class, now you're getting in fights at school. I don't know what's gotten into you."

Kayla looked away, unsure if she was embarrassed or ashamed by her behavior. Probably a bit of both. Don sighed tiredly as he stood up.

"I'm gonna go talk to Master Splinter about this and see what he wants to do for your punishment." Kayla watched as Don crossed the lair and entered Master Splinter's room. She blew a strand of her bangs out of her eyes and stood up. She decided she might as well go to bed since she was still exhausted. She was always tired nowadays. As she headed towards her bedroom a shape landed a couple yards to her right. She stopped and looked over to see Raph straightening up.

"What was dat all 'bout?" he asked tiredly.

"I got in a fight at school so I have to talk to the Principal tomorrow morning and Don's talking with Master Splinter about my punishment." Kayla explained quickly. Raph blinked once, his face blank, before he cracked a smirk.

"Nice." he complimented, "Didn't know ya had it in ya. What's your victim's name?" he asked nonchalantly, but Kayla knew better than that.

"Nice try, bro. But I'm going to bed, considering the lack of sleep I've been getting." she explained pointedly. Raph couldn't help but chuckle as she turned and entered her bedroom.

Nearly an hour later Kayla was almost asleep when light filtering through her bedroom door across her face woke her back up. She squinted her eyes and saw Don peaking in at her.

"I talked with Master Splinter. We've agreed on a punishment. He says you have to do the dishes and clean the lair for a month as well as an extra hour of training everyday."

Kayla nodded, still partially asleep.

"Are you okay Kayla? It's only 6:20 in the afternoon. Why are you so tired?" Don asked worriedly. Kayla just shrugged, trying to act too tired to answer, which was partially true anyway. "Do you want me to wake you up for dinner?" She shook her head in response. "Alright. Well, goodnight Kayla." Don shut the door and Kayla grabbed her alarm clock off the bedside table and stuffed it under her pillow. It was set to go off around 9:30 so she could get up and meet Raph topside.

As she lay her head back on the pillow she found herself being lulled back to sleep to the tick-tock of her alarm clock.