Irma - chapter 23

Guess who's back, back again…

(me!)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Stop staring!" April hissed, leaning forward in her seat in an effort to gain the attention of the lanky teen sitting across from her. Around them the cafeteria bustled noisily with the movement and conversation of dozens of other teenagers, the combined cacophony setting April's already frazzled nerves on edge. She'd never thought that she would miss the peace and quiet of the farm this quickly, but here she was. "Seriously," her voice rose a fraction in frustration, "you're going to get in trouble again and you were only just allowed back after the last fight."

Casey continued to ignore her, shoving another bite of chicken into his mouth and chewing tightly as he glared at a certain spot over her shoulder. A muscle in his jaw twitched, marking the exact place where a bruise had been not too long ago.

"Casey, cut it out!" April snapped her fingers in front of his face impatiently. "You'll get suspended again, expelled, if the teachers catch you even looking at that...thing. Maybe we should just go…"

"Fuck that." Casey finally slid his gaze to her, venom dripping from every syllable as he slammed a fist onto the metal table top. "We aren't going anywhere, this is our school, she's the one who needs to leave."

April closed her eyes briefly and sucked in a slow lungful of air, trying to ignore the part of her that agreed, vehemently, with Casey's sentiment. Her presence, whatever she was, was like a splinter under her skin. She had felt it when it had passed by their table looking for a place to sit, and she could feel the waves of discord emanating from it right now, speaking to something deep inside her skull from clear across the expanse of the cafeteria, like a resonance set to a frequency just on the edge of hearing.

Irma.

"That alien bitch…asshole…thing is up to something and you guys all just want to sit around twiddling your thumbs until it's too late. What if another invasion is about to happen? What if they are getting ready to take the city back right now?" Casey leaned forward, eyes hard and dark. "We should jump her, get her when she's alone after school and take her back to the guys. Donnie could use one of his scanning gadget things on it to figure out what it is in a second, or," his eyes flicked back to that spot over April's shoulder as his mouth hardened, "we could just let Raph…"

"Casey." It was April's turn to slam a hand down on the table between them, cutting him off with a jump as he turned his attention back to her. "Master Splinter's orders were clear. We watch and wait. We don't know anything about this…Irma, other than that she's human. Donnie's already confirmed it. She has body heat, she breathes, she bleeds. We need to be patient, not rush in and mess things up."

Casey's mouth tightened even further, his thin lips vanishing into a white line slashing his face. He tilted back on the bench seat, hard gaze never leaving hers as he brought up his arms to cross them over his chest. The bruises on his knuckles, just like his jaw, had also faded completely. April caught herself wondering what it had felt like to punch that thing, that Irma, in the face and felt a surge of jealousy that she hadn't gotten to do it. She could've, no one would have stopped her, but when she'd first seen it in the hallway she'd been paralyzed with shock. Her best friend, that kind familiar face she hadn't seen for close to a year, just walking towards her down the hallway like no time had passed, like nothing had happened, like she, it, hadn't committed the ultimate betrayal.

Like April hadn't made the worst mistake of her life…

"Great," Casey spat the word like an expletive as he leaned forward once more, posture straightening as he tilted his chin in an effort to see around the crowd. "Brodie has finally decided to show up."

April gave up trying to be subtle and swivelled in her seat to stare openly. Her gaze immediately caught on the Irma, drawn to where it was sitting like a magnet. Then she scanned outward, trying to work out which particular teen had been the one to rough Casey up a few weeks previous during the altercation that had seen him suspended for two weeks.

It wasn't hard to spot him, Casey's description had been 'tall blonde guy with messy hair' and there he was, a tall guy with tousled sandy coloured hair. Of course what he hadn't mentioned was that the guy was good looking. A bit too handsome for April's taste, but definitely very easy on the eye. From the looks of it she wasn't the only one to think so, a fair few heads turned as Brodie passed through the crowd, expressions turning from smiles to confusion as he made a beeline for where the Irma was sitting. Dubious glances bounced back and forth before a low murmur of whispers began.

"This fucking dick," Casey growled under his breath and they both watched as the blonde teen slung his backpack to the floor by the Iram's feet and slid onto the seat across from it. April had a perfect view of the Irma's face and felt a weird feeling settle in her stomach as she saw the shy smile that broke out over it. To anyone watching it was obvious that the girl currently taking out her earphones and tucking her dark hair behind her ears was smitten with the boy in front of her. In another life April would be beyond excited for her friend. In this one she was a more potent mix of more unkind emotions.

"How do you know him?" April asked over her shoulder, turning her head slightly but keeping her gaze focussed between Brodie's broad back and the Irma's face. The two of them had started up a hushed conversation, heads coming closer together in a conspiratorial way that April didn't like at all. What could they be talking about?

Behind her Casey gave a rude snort. "We went to junior high together. He's a total nerd, real brainiac who thought he was too good for us sports jocks. Instead of coming here after middle school like the rest of us, he got accepted to some special high school with a lot of letters instead of a proper name. You know, some place Donnie would drool over because it's all robotics and science and crap. Guess it was one of the ones that got destroyed in the invasion or else he wouldn't be here slumming it with us."

April twisted around to face Casey slowly, eyebrows raising as she gaped at him. "HSMSE? As in, the High School for Math, Science and Engineering?" When Casey gave a dismissive shrug her face somehow adopted an even more incredulous expression. "Casey, that is the number one school in the state, they only take the most gifted students." She turned to look at the pair sitting huddled together across the room then swung back to Casey once more, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. "That pretty much makes him a certified genius." Her expression faltered, then turned pensive, eyebrows knotting in worry as she gazed at Casey. "So what is he doing with an Irma?"

Instead of answering Casey sat back, jaw hardening and gaze narrowing as he went back to glaring over April's shoulder. "They're coming." He said, eyes shifting slightly as he tracked movement behind her.

April felt a fiz of awareness shoot up her spine and her heart began thudding in her ears as she turned to follow Casey's line of sight. Coming towards them, weaving their way through crowded tables, came Brodie, the Irma's hand gripped tightly in his large fist as she trailed behind him. His blue eyes caught hers for a moment before sliding over to meet Casey's heated stare, a smirk pulling at his full mouth as he came parallel with their table and slowed. The two boys glared at each other with a distinct air of bristling anger. April shifted nervously when she noticed Casey's hands begin clenching into fists, knuckles whitening.

"Keep it moving, Donaldson!"

A teacher, possibly the same one who had broken up their last fight, called out sharply, cutting through the noise level within the cafeteria and causing it to dim a little. Those around them quieted as they caught scent of a potential altercation in the making. Brodie didn't break his staring contest with Casey straight away, instead holding the dark haired teens angry glare for a few beats before finally moving away, tugging the Irma in his wake.

For a fleeting second April found herself looking squarely into the Irma's face and she felt her expression harden as she took in its wide brown eyes framed by thick black glasses. Just as when she'd come face to face with it in the hallway, no recognition registered on its features. Nor did it smirk at her in triumph as the Irma that had invaded the turtles lair had done. This Irma only looked nervous and scared, flinching back a little so that Brodie became a protective barrier between them. But April could feel that same unsettling resonance emanating from it in waves, stronger now thanks to its proximity, and it caused her stomach to turn.

Then Brodie and the Irma moved on and she was left watching their retreating forms until they exited the cafeteria. For a long moment she watched the empty doorway, thoughts whirling. Was this Irma really a human as Donnie had told them? Was it possible for Kraang technology to create a human from scratch in the image of a robot? They were certainly capable of cloning existing humans...kind of. But why bother with cloning at all when the last robot Irma had worked so successfully? Cloning was a messy, costly business, even for an advanced race like the Kraang. And, supposing they could, why would they use an Irma when she was already so well known to the turtles? None of it made sense.

April closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips to her temples. The stress of the situation along with the psychic waves emanating from the Irma was rapidly giving her a migraine.

"You ok?"

She looked up to see Casey watching her, all aggression vanishing from his body language as he eyed her with concern. She nodded, sighing as she leant over and began searching through her book bag. "Yeah, but we should probably update the guys." She straightened, T-cell in hand as she motioned with her head towards the exit. "You wanna?"

A grin immediately lit up his face. "Cut the rest of the day? Now you're speaking my language, Red." He scooped up his own backpack before jumping to his feet, "I have no idea why we had to come back to finish school anyway, can't believe you even talked me into it."

April forced a smile, giving one more glance in the direction Brodia and Irma had gone before turning for the exit that would let them slip off school grounds unnoticed. "Suck it up Jones," she joked, elbowing him in the ribs. "It's not like you've got anything else better to do."

Marco!

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So...yeah. 2 years and 4 months. Thanks to 'Guest' in 2021 and ' ' in 2022 for your reviews! I'm going to blame Covid, a musical and changing schools for distracting me for so long!