TMNT Corrupted Innocence

1. The Book

“Ugh…. I’m so clumsy honestly….. uh.. o-ow” my knees are slightly bleeding, I guess it’s just my sort of luck to trip over my shoelaces and fall front first. So here I am, in the middle of New York on a sunny afternoon with my butt on the sidewalk and myself clutching my knees. A few stray people are walking around here and they’re giving me a few sideway glances, I began to feel my face burn up and I quickly forced myself to my feet in complete embarrassment
“at least its only a few people” I shyly muttered under my breathe
I brushed off the bits of stone and dust from my knee length black skirt and twirled the frills for extra measure, I then re-tucked my white blouse and pulled my dark blue cotton Cardigan back over my shoulders, my long necklace was still here and so were my bands and bracelets, next step was tying the laces of my black shoes, I really don’t feel like embarrassing myself again, lucky for me I’m in the library district and it’s not very busy here, which I like. It’s less people and I don’t have to feel like everyone’s eyes are on me. Oh. Speaking of the library, where’s my side bag??… it has the books I just checked out. I looked around frantically with my hands swaying at my sides, clutching the end sleeves of my Cardi, and spinning my body in wide steps, when I spotted my bag near the curb with my wallet and books spilled out onto the gutter. I quickly ran over and I would say kneeled but if it wasn’t for my still stinging knees id say I more bent down and picked up my books, counting as I go
“Constellations and you…. 101 best MMA moves… A-Z best game hacks… wait where’s my Da Vinci book??”
I quickly became panicked and scanned my eyes endlessly, looking for that book, i remember seeing it on the library shelf and on a gut feeling grabbed it, I felt compelled to his work and the book gave more knowledge on his go how and drawings, I couldn’t face the librarians if I’d lost it, I can’t handle disappointment very well and not to mention I don’t have the money to pay for it. I think  I was almost pretty close to asking someone for help when I saw my wallet tilting into the sewer grate, I reached over and grabbed it before it fell in and my eyes wandered back to the darkness that emitted from the grate. I couldn’t see my book anywhere else, the only possible conclusion was that it fell down the grate. I took a deep gulp and already felt my body beginning to shake and my face heat up, I sighed deeply nearly in tears over the fear of what I knew had to be done.
I rubbed my face and ran my fingers through my hair as my thoughts scrambled through my mind about the stupid book, as much as I was afraid to go down into the sewers, the odds of simply finding it, grabbing it and leaving, seemed more compelling then returning to the public library and having to explain the whole situation… I don’t think I have the strength to do that, I don’t even think my legs would be able to carry me back to the library, and running away wasn’t an option. I’m too timid and scarce, I honestly cannot handle confrontation, and I’ll admit I’m weak, but I’d take going into the sewers then having to face a look of disgust or anger…
“R-right… you’ve thought of both sides… it’ll be f-fine” I stuttered as I stood up weakly,
my knees still hurt but id deal to that soon, I threw my book bag back over my shoulder and clutched the straps close to my body as I slowly made my way to the nearest man hole, the street is practically empty now which is good, I don’t think I could handle the shame if someone spotted me.
“It-it’ll be okay… your brave… it’s not far… it’s going to be all okay” I whispered to myself
it was still light out so I had that on my side, the nearest man hole wasn’t far from the grate, maybe a block away, so I was pretty confident it wouldn’t take me long and I’d be perfectly safe.
I stood on top of the lid now, I hadn’t even noticed that id already made it here, I guess I got too side-tracked by my self-encouraging words, my legs slightly buckled and I let out a nervous laugh
“I’m really going to go down there… for a book..” I glanced back in the direction of the library, and that was confidence enough, it was simple, one fear surpassed the other and as I reached down and pulled up the lid, (which by the way was a lot heavier than I thought,) and stared down the rusted ladder into the sewer darkness, a small sense of confidence gathered in me, and that was enough to go on as I slowly and shakily made my way down into the depths of the sewer.