: Chapter 9:
When my eyes opened for the first time that morning my entire body was stiff. Sleeping on a couch really does a number on you. Turns out the bedroom I woke up in yesterday was Raphael's and he didn't want me sleeping in there again. Donnie offered to let me sleep in his room and he would sleep on the couch but honestly I felt better staying downstairs so I jumped on it and fell asleep before he could argue. I shifted sides on the couch so I was facing towards the TV. I really didn't wanna get up mainly because I was supposed to meet April today.
I stared into the distance with my unblinking eyes. Suddenly I saw something rise, then fall off the side of the couch. It rose then fell, rose then fell. When I leaned over to get a look at what it was turns out it was a shell. A turtle shell. I couldn't exactly tell which of the guys it was but I had a feeling I already knew. I looked up by his head and could just make out the purple bandana strings that were lying on the ground next to him.
"Don…Don" I lightly tapped his shell to try and wake him up
"Hmm?" He replied but he sounded perfectly awake
"What are you doing?" Good thing he couldn't see my face because I was smiling harder than a hyena.
"You were screaming last night so I came down and slept next to you. Then you stopped" He rolled over onto his side so he could see me.
"I was screaming?" I don't suffer from night tremors so I have no idea what he's talking about.
"Mmhm" He seemed half asleep…
"Did you get any rest?" I asked
"Yeah I got some" Wow he was a terrible liar and the dark circles around his eyes helped prove my theory. I looked at him dead in the eyes and grinned
"Is that REALLY why you came down?" I was smiling so hard I couldn't help myself
"Yes that is really why I came down. Ask anyone"
"Ok I call up the president the first chance I get"
Suddenly, Mikey flipped over the couch and landed right on top of the unsuspecting Donatello. He rolled him onto his back and looked him dead in the eyes
"Mikey! What are you doing?!" Don tried to throw him off without any luck.
"Guess what day it is?" He grinned and smacked his face against his brothers. "Just Guess"
Donatello sighed "Here we go again"
"Austria!" He turned to me so quickly I almost jumped out of my skin. "Guess what day it is!?"
"What day is it?" I asked, totally not interested
"GUESS" He jumped up off Donnie and pinned me against the couch. I would severely beat him for this.
"I don't know! Wednesday I think?!" Suddenly his smile grew 8 times wider
"Its…..HUMP DAY!" He screamed
I grabbed the first pillow I saw and smacked him right in the side of the face with it.
"Excuse me!? Hump day?! What kind of mentally retarded freak are you?! Goin around humping people!?"
Don and Mikey fell over laughing
"What's so funny!?" I jumped up off the couch and popped a hip
"He didn't literally mean "HUMP "day" Don grinned
"Every Wednesday is Hump day! Haven't you seen the commercial? Wednesday is the peak of the week when it's halfway over therefore….its HUMP DAY!" Mikey ran around the lair screaming hump day in weird voices and I knew it was just a matter of time before Raphael jumped down from the balcony and beat the living snot out of his obnoxious brother.
Not moments later, like I predicted, Raph grabbed him by the head and held him in a head lock. He definitely wasn't a morning person.
"If you say Hump Day one more time I'm ganna turn yah shell inside out and use it as your body bag! Do I make myself clear!?" You could actually see the steam evaporating off the top of his head.
"Well it wouldn't really be a BAG if you're using my shell…" Mikey chuckled
Raph gipped tighter on Mikeys neck and made him squeal.
"Try me wise guy" He grinned down at his little brother.
"You guys are ridiculous haha, I wish I had my camera to take some photos of you two fighting and show you how retarded you look" I said
"Oh so you're a photographer?" Don walked up to me smiling
"Well I'm not…a licensed photographer but I enjoy talking photos!" I tried to make what I do sound exciting but it was nothing compared to his genius.
"You do still life?" he asked
"What's still life?" I said and he frowned slightly
"You're a photographer and you don't know what still life is?" He gave me a reassuring smile which told me he was only teasing. But I did feel a bit dumb. I've taken over 2000 photos ever since I got my camera from my grandma but I didn't know squat about the whole history of photography junk.
"I told you Donnie I'm not licensed. No one every taught me anything about it. I just go by feel and whatever feels like the right way"
"So you're an expressionist?" He grinned at me. He knew I had no idea what all these things meant
"You are one of a kind Donatello" I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.
"Aww shucks" He blushed and I noticed that he had a hard time keeping eye contact with me.
"HEY! Are you two shumcks ganna answer the door or what!?" Raph was still torturing Michelangelo but now they were rolling on the floor trying to pin each other to the ground.
"Is someone there?" Don asked
Mike slapped his hand against Raph's face to try and push him off
"Yeah…just answer it I think its April…" He said
Now a normal girl would say "OMG I'm not ready OMG I need to get dressed OMG I need my makeup on OMG" Well not this girl. How could I not be ready when I was forced to sleep in my Jean shorts and sweatshirt and have no makeup to put on? I was all ready to meet her but between you and me; I wasn't leaving this place without putting up a fight first. For a bonus, Leo wasn't even here so this might be easier than I thought.
"I'll get it" Don ran over to the entrance and looked out the peephole in the door. "Yeah it's April" He opened the door slowly and let her in, along with some dude. She greeted Donatello with a hug and he instantly hugged her back. Ouch. She had short red hair that was pulled back into a sloppy bun and she actually wasn't as young as I thought. She was in her thirties at least and the guy she was with, who had long black hair and a thin cropped face, looked to be in his thirties as well.
Mikey pushed Raphael off him and jumped up to greet our guests.
"APRIL!" He ran to her and scooped her in his arms.
"Hey Michelangelo! It's so good to see you guys!" He spun her around then put her back down on the floor.
"CASE!" Raphael and the other guy ran towards each other and threw themselves onto the ground. They wrestled for a few seconds then got back up laughing and smacking each other on the arms. I could see that April girl looking at me and smiling. I guess she could tell I was staring at them awkwardly.
"You must be Austria" she walked up to me and held out her hand.
"Nice to meet you" I shook her hand, trying my hardest to be polite.
"This is my husband Casey Jones" she pointed over to the man conversing with Raphael
"Oh he's your husband!?" she crinkled her brow and smiled at me, so much for a good first impression.
"Yes we just got back from our honeymoon in Hawaii"
"Oh yeah how was your honeymoon April?" Don walked up to her and asked
"Oh Donnie it was fabulous! You should have seen it! The waves were amazing, the food was amazing, and the hotel was amazing! It was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be! I wish you guys could have come along!"
"Yeah no one wants to see that April" Raph winked which was followed by a friendly shove via Casey Jones
"Oh you guys" she blushed. Is this chick for real right now?
"Oh yeah how was that Case?" Raph asked with a grin. These guys must be better buddies than I thought.
"You wish sewer breath! Get your own girl and find out for yourself" He said slapping Raph in the back of the head. Several images flashed into my mind and trust me, they were disgusting. Is that even…possible?
"OK so where's Leo?!" I yelled out unexpectedly
"Yeah where is Leo Raph?" April asked
"Eh I'm not sure. In his room maybe? I'll go check for yah" He answered, taking off upstairs.
"So Austria…" April turned to me and looked into my eyes with her large green ones. "Where are you from?"
"Take a wild guess" I popped a hip and grinned. This caught Donnie's attention.
"Wait, are you actually from Austria?" He leaned in close to me and smiled with delight
"Yeah as a matter of fact" I rubbed the back of my head
"Wait really?" Mikey walked over and leaned on my shoulder
"Yes really" I was really embarrassed at this point.
"So like…is that a state or something?" Don smacked Mikey on the head "OW! Hey I don't know my Geography that well!"
"It's in Central Europe right Below Germany. You know before World War I Austria…"
"Save it brainiac" Mikey demanded
"Yeah my parents adopted me from Austria when I was 2 years old. They didn't wanna waste time trying to name me so they just called me Austria. Later in life once I got older, they needed snappy comebacks to hurt my feelings with, so they claimed they only adopted me to get money from the organization that was helping foreign children find homes in America"
April, Don and Mikey looked on the verge of tears.
"That's so sad!" April held her hands over her mouth.
"Yeah, good thing that's not true. I'm from Brooklyn." I smiled with pleasure at my awesome manipulative skills. April dropped her hands and rolled her eyes.
"That's not funny" She said
"She really does come from a terrible home life though" Mikey nodded with himself in agreement. "So it wasn't ALL a lie"
"Oh well that just makes it so much better than doesn't it" She said
"I think me and this kid are ganna get along just fine" Casey nodded at me from across the room. He looked really cool now that I thought of it. He seemed like the kind of guy who would pull the fire alarm in school.
"Sorry I'm late" Leo and Raph jumped down from the balcony and landed in the living room. April ran up and hugged him.
"How was your honeymoon?" Leo asked
"Please don't ask her that" I said. He shot me a look then looked at April for an answer
"Oh it was just lovely thanks for asking" She hugged him again. When I looked at Don, I swear on my life he was about ready to pounce on Leo and attack him. What was up with him? He looked more protective of April then her own husband was!
"I guess you two have met?" Leo gestured to me
"Oh yes, she told us the story of her "adoption""
Leo looked at me with a confused expression. "You're adopted?"
"No she's not she was just teasing" April laughed
"Oh yeah you should have seen it. April was about ready to cry" I grinned with pleasure
Suddenly, Mikey ran up to me and hugged my waist. "DON'T GO!" He leaned his head into my stomach, almost knocking me off balance. "It's not every day we get a pretty girl like you around here!"
April threw her hands on her hips and gasped. "Well thanks Michelangelo!"
"Besides you!" He buried his face into my sweatshirt like a big baby.
"We can still visit her at Aprils house Mikey" Leo said
"Oh yes of course! You guys feel free to drop by anytime. You're always welcome" She excalimed
"Except Raph" Casey said which made Raph elbow him right in the gut.
After a about a half an hour of April talking about their "amazing honeymoon" and Leo talking about how good I'm going to behave while staying with them, they were ready to take me home. April said she had already enrolled me in school and the Headmaster was very understanding of why I was coming into the year so late, and why I would be only staying for 6 months. She also took the pleasure of signing me up for community service in Central Park. This chick really didn't want me around it seemed like. There was no way in hell I was doing no damn community service.
"We will take good care of her I promise" Casey said
Master Splinter had finally appeared to bid me farewell. We bowed to each other and he offered me his blessing. I thought it would be a little weird if I hugged the guys goodbye but I figured "What the Hell." I especially wanted to hug Donnie who I hoped would visit me more than I knew the others would. Raph wasn't very welcoming to the idea of hugging me but after a death stare from master splinter, he gave in and we quickly embraced. Mikey practically tackled me as he wrapped his arms around my whole body and squeezed like a snake trying to kill its dinner. My hug with Leo was the most normal feeling one. It was simple and sweet and he promised this time that I would see them again. Last but not least, poor Donnie. He had his head lowered and he smiled halfway as I approached him.
"I will see you soon" I promised him. He took my hands in his and pulled me into an embrace.
"Sooner than you think" he whispered. My heart was pounding at the speed of light as I felt the warmth from his body drape over mine. I've only known him few days but I already felt like our souls had somehow connected at that moment. I know, sounds cheesy but it felt so real and words couldn't really explain what I just experienced.
He slowly let me go, but still held onto my shoulders and looked me directly in the eyes. I guess I was crying because he used one of his fingers to wipe away a tear from my cheek
"Caaaan you feeeel the loooove tonight" Mikey started to sing and I instantly pulled away and tucked my hair behind my ear.
"This is just a sad moment that's all" I sniffled
"Well you didn't cry when ya hugged me" Raph looked at Donnie who had just finished wiping away a tear from his own cheek. "And I certainly didn't cry when I hugged you" Raph winked
"That's because you have no soul Raph" I grinned
"I'm ganna miss you so much!" Mikey hugged me again, trapping my arms at my sides.
"You guys are acting like you'll never see her again" Leo rolled his eyes.
"Let's hope so" Raph said under his breath
"I heard that smartass" I pointed at him
"Rule number one" April put my hand down and looked at me. "No swearing in my house"
"Umm…" Did she really just tell ME what to do? "Sure thing?" I said
She nodded and wrapped her arm around me
"We will see you guys later!"
They guys waved goodbye and as April, Casey and I walked out of the lair. I turned around to get a last glimpse of them. There was no way I was going at least one day without coming back here and seeing them. Especially a certain purple clad turtle. As we walked through the sewers and up a ladder leading to the surface, I realized I had never argued about leaving the lair like I had planned to. I guess I was so caught up in leaving Donatello that I had totally forgotten about it. Great, now Leo won that round.
"Where are we going?" I asked as Casey Jones helped me up out of the manhole. They sun was low in the sky and the morning haze was starting to settle over the City. Car horns were honking and the smell of gas and asphalt overwhelmed my nostrils.
"We are going to my apartment. I live above an antique shop that I own" April smiled at me
"Yeah it burned down a few years ago but we got it restored. Cool huh?" he said
"Oh yeah…really cool" I said
Casey led the way across the busy streets. April and I fell behind then she took ahold of my arm in the crook of hers.
"Don looked pretty upset to see you go" She looked at me with concerning eyes
"Yeah…" The image of his torn face rushed through my mind. Oh God I hope I see him soon.
"He was heartbroken when Casey and I got married. He's the most caring person I've ever met. He's so selfless and he even risked his life to save mine, multiple times may I add"
What was she trying to do? Rub in my face that Don had a liking for her? Well back off sista, you made your choice, now it's my turn to show him what it's like to care about someone and have them care back. I don't give a damn if he's a large, green, mutant reptile either. He could be a mutant muskrat and I still either way, would fall in love with that big-hearted personality that made up every square inch of his body. He had that characteristic that just screamed "Donatello" every time he opened his mouth to speak. I knew I would fall in love someday, but I never knew it would happen like this. Life Sucks.