Chapter 21: Cold Breeze

"Hey, what's up, Red?" Casey asked in a cheerful voice.

April lifted her eyes from her T-phone and gave Casey a little glare.

"As if you didn't know," she said coldly.

"Okay, well…uhm… I do," Casey replied, chuckling uneasily.

He handed April a plastic bag, and while she was examining its contents, he had a closer look at the people lined up in front of the bookstore. They looked pretty normal to him, although some of them were wearing costumes of what must be their favorite characters, he presumed. He could make out a knight further ahead in the line and someone else wearing a long dark blue robe.

But who was he to judge, really? He was running around the city in his vigilante outfit nearly every night.

He turned back to April who was stuffing the plastic bag into her messenger bag.

"Got everything you need?" Casey asked.

"Yep," April replied shortly.

"Whoa, don't talk so much, Red!" Casey called out in an attempt to cheer her up. "I barely get a word in edgewise!"

The glare in April's eyes signaled that obviously, this wasn't a time for jokes.

"Casey, I've been standing here for two hours now. It is hot; the sun's beating down like crazy. I am not in the mood to talk!" April snapped.

Casey retreated a step, just in case.

"B-but you gotta see the bright side," Casey stammered, trying to save what could be saved. "You're fan of these books, too, and now you get the newest one earlier, and that's a good thing, right?"

Another warning look from her made him dump all the other pros he had made up in his head.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked quickly. "Do you want some coffee?"

The hard look on April's face softened a bit at the mention of coffee.

"Yes," she said. "And maybe some sunscreen. Don't want to risk sunburn for a book."

Some people turned to them, giving them deadly looks that made Casey flinch internally, but April didn't seem to care. She continued as if nothing had happened. "Oh, and maybe an umbrella, too."

Casey raised his eyes to the sky. It was cloudless, and he frowned as he turned back to April.

"Um, Red, it doesn't look like it's gonna…"

"As a shelter from the sun, you dummy!"

"Oh, okay."

April couldn't remember the last time Casey had been so quick about organizing something when it didn't come to kicking someone's butt, but he managed to get a paper cup of coffee, a tube of sunscreen, and a telescopic umbrella in record-breaking ten minutes.

Still panting for air he held out the supplies to April.

She showed him a bored, rather underwhelmed face as she grasped the coffee, taking her time as she let the smell tickle her nose before she took a small sip.

Not even close to the deliciousness of Donnie's coffee, she had to confess, but still, coffee!

She let the warm liquid run down her throat, and it seemed to soothe the frustration a bit.

She knew it wasn't Casey's fault she would be waiting here for hours to come. No, it was Raph's fault, mostly. Okay, and maybe she was the tiniest bit to blame herself, but wasn't she already punished enough by this task, really!?

No, someone had to pay for it, and since Raph was out of reach, it unfortunately had to be Casey.

She felt a little sorry for taking it out on Casey. That really wasn't what she usually did. But when she thought about it a bit more closely, she remembered that in a way, it was Casey's fault, too, because he had refused to take turns waiting in the line for the new book with her.

And this washed the little bit of regret away completely.

She could see from the corner of her eye how Casey was standing there, still holding out the umbrella and the sunscreen to her and shifting uneasily when April didn't accept the two remaining things.

April smiled smugly. She didn't intend on releasing him too soon, and so she let a few more moments pass before she took another sip of coffee.

Then she felt it, something like a cold breeze that brushed over her and made her skin crawl. It was over in a split second, and April frowned.

"Red, you okay?" Casey asked.

"Yes…," April mumbled.

"You sure?"

April squeezed her eyes shut and gave her head a quick shake in an attempt to get rid of the aftermaths of this odd breeze. Her skin still felt a little cold, forming a huge contrast to the warm feeling the coffee had left in her stomach.

When she opened her eyes again, she realized that all the other people around her were sweating, some even complaining about the heat. Her frown deepened. How was this even possible? Hadn't they felt this breeze her skin was still tingling a bit from? Shouldn't they say something about how refreshing it had been?

"April?" Casey asked again, his voice a bit more pressing.

"I'm fine," April replied. Whatever it had been, it was gone now, so why bother? "I guess the sun was just playing a little trick on me."

Really, she had been standing around here for hours now, starving for a little relief. So was it surprising that she was wishing for some cool air so much, she actually persuaded herself of a cold breeze? Absolutely not!

"Really?" Casey asked further.

"Really," April replied, giving a little smile.

This obviously convinced him. "Okay then."

It was only now that April realized that he was still holding out the umbrella and the sunscreen to her. So she finally drowned the last of her coffee, handing the empty cup back to Casey and then took umbrella and sunscreen in her hands.

Casey responded with a big relieved grin.

"So you're gonna be okay now?" he asked.

April nodded.

"Good, then I'll go see Raph now," Casey announced.

"Tell him I hate him", April said.

"I will," Casey replied with a grin, casually waved at her and left.

April watched him go, wishing she could join him. But no, she had to get this book for Raph! Oh, he so owed her! If only she could let her frustration out on him as she had done on Casey. It would make things so much easier for her, she was sure about that.

But Raph was unreachable. Unfortunately, she thought, as she put the tube into her messenger bag, unless…

She froze for a moment as realization dawned on her.

And the next moment a mischievous grin appeared on her face as she put up the umbrella to block away the unforgiving sun and took out her T-phone.

Still grinning she started typing away on her phone, chuckling slightly under her breath, and the devilish look on her face strengthened.