CH.2

After they had gotten over the initial shock of coming face to face with a 3 foot talking rat, all four girls reacted in their own special way.

Sarah- "Oh, my friggin gosh! A talking RAT! THAT'S AMAZIN!"

Jessa- "How is this possible?!"

Angie- "What's going on?!"

Adele (who incidentally had the most sensible reaction of all of them)- "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOIN DOWN HERE?"

The rat looked at them quite calmly. "My name is splinter. If you will lend me your ears for a moment, I will tell you all you seek."

Sarah's eyes went wide. "YOU CAN'T STEAL MY EARS!!! NO!"

Adele smacked her upside the head.

Angie spoke up. "He means he wants us to listen, not steal our ears…"

"Idiot." Adele muttered under her breath.

"Hey, I'm standing right here!" Sarah said indignantly.

"Guys, calm down. Let's listen to what he has to say. It's the least we can do for barging in on him." Jessa turned to face him. "Please, sir. I'm sorry."

"There is no need for apologies, miss. I must have startled you. My name is Splinter. Please, sit and listen to the story of me and my sons."

~about a half hour later~

All four girls had listened intently while Mr. Splinter told his story. Amazingly, Sarah only interrupted with a question twice. He didn't seem at all put off by this.

"So, I live here with my four sons- Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael."

Jessa spoke first. "Oh my gosh. I'm terribly sorry. We thought this place was abandoned. We'll find another place to stay."

"Stay? Do you not have your own family?"

They exchanged looks. Jessa gave the go ahead. One by one, they began telling their story. It took a long time; none of them had told it to somebody who wasn't one of them.

"So, we've been living on our own ever since." Adele finished.

None of them spoke of the fact that they weren't really sisters. It wasn't exactly a 'need to know' basis. In fact, they'd been living together so long, they actually felt like they were sisters. And who's to say they weren't?

No matter what life threw at them, no matter how mad they got at each other, they were always there for each other.

"So, if you don't mind, Mr. Splinter, we really should be going if we're going to find a place to stay." Angie spoke up. She decidedly like Mr. Splinter. He was nice, and reminded her of her father before he passed away.

"No, no. You must stay here. I cannot bear the thought of you out on your own." Splinter was smiling at them… at least that was what they thought he was doing…

Sarah jumped up and down. "Yes!!!"

Angie shook her head. "No! We couldn't intrude on you like that!"

Splinter looked at her. "It would not be intruding. It would be giving an old rat a great honor of being able to help four very nice young ladies."

Jessa looked at Adele. "Well, what do you think?"

Adele thought for a moment. "It's nice."

Sarah was practically jumping up and down. "Oh, please, Jessa? Please please please please PLEEEEESE!!"

Splinter chuckled. "You remind me of my youngest son- Michelangelo."

Finally, after Sarah practically yanked her arm off, Jessa conceded.

"Thank you very much for your offer, Mister Splinter. We won't intrude on your hospitality too long."

Splinter waved his hand at them. "Think nothing of it, young one. Come I will show you around."

"Where you are standing is the living room, I suppose. That way is the bedrooms of my sons…hm. We will need to figure that out later. That way is the kitchen."

Sarah's eyes glazed over at the sound of 'kitchen'. "I don't suppose you have… pizza, do you?"

Splinter chuckled as if listening to an inside joke. "Trust me, young one, we usually do, but I'm afraid we are lacking at the moment."

Sarah's face fell. "But… you may use that phone to order the pizza."

Sarah's eyes perked up again. "Oh, thank you!"

Sarah sprinted over to the phone. She, of course, knew the number by heart. Her fingers flew over the number dials.

"Oh, hello Chris. Busy night? Yes…three Sarah Specials…extra cheese." She turned to Splinter. "Wait. Do you want me to order something for you guys?"

"I will be fine, but I believe my sons would. Just double whatever you want for you and your friends."

Sarah nodded. "ok, Chris make that six Sarah Specials…extra large, extra chee- WHAT? Ugh. No! No anchovies! Ugh. What am I? Shamu? Yes. And don't forget, Chris. You got thirty minutes."

She turned to four pairs of questioning eyes. She shrugged. "Chris threatened to put anchovies on my pizza…"

Splinter looked bewildered. Adele rolled her eyes. Jessa and Angie just smiled.

"So, who's gonna do pickup?"

They all looked at each other. Then, simultaneously, they all put their fisted hands together. Jessa started.

"Dark chocolate truffles with iced tea. On a sunset." She smirked.

Sarah was next. "Um… Ok. No geometry math homework. Ever!"

Angie nodded. "Yes, um… popcorn with 2 gallons of butter during a movie."

They all looked at her. Jessa fired questions unrelentlessly.

"Actor?"

"Hugh Jackman."

"Theather or home?"

"Home."

"Night or day?"

"Night."

Jessa nodded her consent. Adele was the last one. Dangit. She looked up at them. "Um…driving in a convertible."

"What color?"

"Red."

"Where?"

"Beach?"

"Radio?"

"Yes, I mean-"

"Ha! Gotcha! That was yours last week. Your turn for pickup."

Adele stuck her tongue out at Angie. "Whatever."

She turned to go. Then Jessa noticed Splinter sitting there, looking quite confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We must look insane to you. It's just a game we made to make decisions. We each choose something amazing-"

Sarah interrupted. "Yah, but you can't repeat anything, or you get disqualified, like Adele."

Angie piped up. "Yes, and if that doesn't work…"

"We use the oldest, most scientific form of deduction…" Jessa looked totally serious.

The three girls looked at each other and said at the same time. "Rock, paper scissors!"

Splinter shook his head. "You are much too like my sons. I will go now. Please keep safe."

"Bye Mister Splinter."

Jessa, Angie and Sarah sat talking for a while. Sarah was lounging on the couch. Jessa and Angie were sprawled across the floor. They stayed there for a while until Sarah said 'Has it been thirty minutes yet?' for about the thousandth time.

"No! It's only been 15 min. Jeez."

They heard a rustling behind them. "Dude! Who the shell are you guys?"

The three girls looked at each other. "Hey. Isn't there supposed to be four of you guys?"

The three turtles looked opened mouthed. One with a blue mask stepped forward.

"I will ask you one more time. Who are you?"

The orange masked one stepped forward. "Leo, chill man. They ain't hurtin anybody."

"Yah Mikey, but where's Master Splinter?"

Angie looked at them. "You mean Mister Splinter? He walked off somewhere. I have no idea where…"

Leo looked at them again. "Yes, but how do we know we can trust you?"

They all three looked at each other. Finally, Sarah spoke up. "Well… we ordered pizza."

The orange Mikey's eyes lit up. "Pizza? Aw, man, Donny, ya hear that!?"

Donny nodded. "Dude, Leo! Pizza…"

They both looked at him with pleading eyes. Leo rolled his eyes. "For now."

Mikey jumped up and down. "Alright!"

He looked at them. "I'm Mikey. That's Donny and that's Leo." He said, pointing to his brothers.

Sarah jumped up as well. "Cool!! I'm Sarah, this is Angie and Jessa…"

Mikey looked at her. "So… what kind of pizza did you order?"

Sarah smirked. "Does it matter? Pizza is pizza."

Mikey laughed. "I guess not, but…" He finished in a quieter voice. "you didn't order anchovies did you?"

The look she gave him said it all.

Angie stepped up. "Guys… it's been past 30 minutes. Where's Adele?"

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. Jessa actually looked concerned. Leo looked up from talking with Donny.

"And Raph is… aw, shell."