Ch 12 Working Relationships
On Monday, Leo made his way to the table where he and the others would gather to eat lunch. He nodded happily to Slash and Casey who were already there and enjoying their lunch. "Hi guys," Leo said happily.
"How's the day going Leonardo?" Slash asked.
"It's been great!" Leo said excitedly. "No homework so far in any of my classes." He let out a chuckle. "And I'm actually looking forward to my report card this semester." The three laughed and looked up as Mikey, Renet, Raph, Mona, April, Donnie and Spike came up behind them.
"Are you starting your job today Leo?" April asked as she took her seat by Casey.
Leo nodded excitedly as Raph sat down next to him with Mona on his other side. "What job?" Raph asked.
"Our substitute Japanese teacher, Mr. Usagi, asked Leo if he would be his assistant at the adult language class he teaches after school." April explained.
"But Leo," Spike looked at him. "What about basketball practice?" He asked him. "Will you still be able to attend?"
"Not a problem," Leo assured him. "Usagi and coach Leatherhead spoke about it after I said I would take the job."
Raph narrowed his eyes. "When will you be doing this assistant teaching job Leo?"
Leo looked over at him and frowned when he saw Raph's look. "It's three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from three to four-thirty and only till the end of the year." He looked back at Slash and Spike. "On the days we have practice I'll help Usagi for only half an hour then go to the gym." He explained as the brothers nodded at him.
"What does your job entail Leo?" Donnie asked.
"Usagi says I'll be helping the students, helping to grade papers and any filing or organizing he needs me to do."
"Sounds like you'll be doing everything," Mikey laughed. "What exactly will he be doing?"
"Teaching," Leo said simply with a smile and a shrug.
"Mona looked over at him with a sneer. "So you are basically his secretary." She said. "Why do you call him Usagi?" She questioned. "He is after all a teacher," She looked from Raph to Leo. "Since when do we call our teachers by their first names only?"
Raph looked over at Leo curiously as the older turtle, along with the others at the table shifted uncomfortably at the tension rising between the two. "Well," Leo said, "Usagi said he was only a few years older than us and he asked me to call him only by his name." Leo looked at Raph. "It doesn't mean anything." He assured.
"So you say." Mona muttered. For the next few minutes the group ate in tense silence, looking between Leo and Mona until, finally, the silence was broken by a happy voice calling out to them.
"Hi everyone," Angel called out as she once again sat down next to Donnie. The group let out a collected sigh as Angel placed her math book in front of the tall gap tooth turtle.
"Donnie," She looked up at him and grinned brightly. "I have a test tomorrow and was wondering if you would help me study for it?" She asked. "Can we possibly get together tonight?"
Donnie felt the steam rising in his cheeks. He looked down at the eager girl and gulped hard while fiddling with his collar. "Well, I….um…it's just that…." Donnie stammered. "I may have to….I mean…"
"Of course Donnie can help you study tonight Angel," Mikey jumped in. He looked up at Donnie as the turtle looked down at him with a surprised look. "Why don't you bring the popcorn and Raph and I will make sure you two are completely…..alone….." He wiggled his eyes at his brother.
"Great!" Angel said excitedly. She stood up and gave Donnie a kiss causing his eyes to widen in shock. "See you tonight Don."
"Okay Angel," Donnie replied with a dreamy voice while everyone at the table laughed.
"You're welcome bro." Mikey said in his ear.
Everyone at the table smiled and went back to eating. "Hey Leo," Renet looked over at him, "Most of us are usually here till after four thirty," She looked at the rest of them, "How 'bout Wednesday we all get together and go out for pizza?" Everyone nodded excitedly and quickly finished eating.
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At two fifty-five the last bell of the day rang and Leo and April began cleaning up their books to leave class. "See you tomorrow April." Leo said as the red-haired girl wished him a goodnight.
Leo sat at his desk, watching Usagi clean the backboard, while he waited for the entire class to leave. As he sat, a figure loomed over him. "You got detention Leonardo?" Leo looked up to see the smirking face of Karai.
"Uh, no," He replied. He looked back at his desk feeling slightly awkward as the young girl continued to look down at him.
"Well," She said watching as Leo fidgeted under her gaze. "Are you doing anything after school?" She leaned down to where, from the side, Leo could see her cleavage inches from his face.
"Ummm, I have to work." He told her.
She smiled as she watched his cheeks turning red in the cheeks. "Shame," Karai said as she straightened. "Maybe one day after school we could get together and do some….work." She said as she ran her finger along his arm.
Leo gulped. "Ummm….."
"Hey turtle," Both Karai and Leo looked over to where Fong was now coming toward them. He took Karai's arm and led her away from him. "Stay away from my girl or you'll be regretting life." He said as he escorted Karai out of the room.
Leo let out a breath as Usagi came over. "What was that all about?" He asked as he watched Leo go slightly limp in his chair.
Leo shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure." He told him as he stood and, after gathering his books, followed Usagi out of the room and down the hall to another room where several adults were currently waiting.
"I have noticed that one character Fong occasionally glares at you." Usagi said as they walked. "Does he have something against you?" Leo gave a light laugh and went into what happened the first time he met the Purple Dragons. Usagi nodded. "Oh yes, I have heard of them." He smiled at Leo. "From what I was told, they practically ran the school until someone…'taught them a lesson' so to speak." He glanced at Leo. "I take it then that someone was you?"
Leo nodded shyly. "Yeah," he admitted. "It wasn't the way I wanted to start school but…." He shrugged. "Can't exactly help what other people do."
Usagi nodded. "That is true." He agreed. They walked into the classroom and Usagi greeted his students.
Leo arrived home just after five and went straight into the dining area. Enda was just putting a plate down for him. "Welcome home Leonardo." She greeted.
"Smells good Edna," He complimented and began to eat.
"Coming home late again Leonardo?" Bradford asked as he came into the room. Leo's eyes narrowed as he watched the large man sit in his father's seat across the table. "What exactly are you doing these days that you keep coming home so late?"
"Leo huffed. "I don't need to explain anything to you." He retorted. "And as long as you're going to be here then I'll continue to come home at whatever time I chose." He stood up and headed for the door. "I'm going to do my homework "
"Perhaps I should start driving you to where you need to go," Bradford suggested as Leo started to leave. "Maybe then I can keep tabs on you and not give you the third degree when you get home."
Leo turned his head to him, "The only thing I want from you is to leave this place." He told him, "and not come back." Bradford smirked as he watched Leo walk out the room.
The rest of the week by went fast for Leo and between homework and the job with Usagi, Leo found his life busy. But, he decided, it was better this way. He found that he would rather be at school then at home and although he found that to be a little disappointing, he also realized his life was happier when he wasn't at home.
On Friday, Leo watched in admiration while he graded papers as Usagi continued to teach his class. "You have been a wonderful assistant Leonardo," Usagi was telling him after the class had ended.
Leo blushed. "Give it time Usagi," He laughed, "It is only the first week."
Usagi laughed and nodded back at him. "Tell me Leonardo," Leo looked up at him from his seat where he was grading papers. "Do you need to rush home after school?"
Leo shook his head. "Not at all," He replied, "Do you need me to help out with something?"
"No, I was just wondering if you would like to accompany me to dinner tonight?" Usagi asked.
Leo looked up at Usagi in bewilderment, "Isn't that against the rules?" He asked. "After all I am your student."
"During school you are my student," Usagi told him, "But after school you are an employee of the school so that actually makes us coworkers." He chuckled lightly. "And I would like to treat my fellow co-worker to dinner for doing such a good job."
Leo smiled up at the rabbit. "Sure Usagi," He said as he handed him the papers. "I would love to."
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At twenty minutes to five, Mona said goodbye to her wrestling team and walked out of the school to go to the football field to meet up with Raphael. She had just finished wrestling practice and was looking forward to celebrating Raph's birthday with a night of romance. As she made her way out of the school, familiar voices laughing in the parking lot caught her attention.
"Tell me Leonardo," Usagi was saying as he and Leo walked to his car, "Where would you like to go for dinner?"
"How about Murakami's," He said as he got into the passenger seat of Usagi's car, "I would love some more of his pizza goyza."
"Sounds like a good idea," Usagi said as he got the car in gear and drove out of the parking lot.
Mona watched with a knowing smile as the car drove out of the parking lot. She smiled in satisfaction as she continued her way to the football field.