𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚗'𝚝 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍.

Chapter XVII

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈

Charlotte
——————

The school day has now ended and James had finally brought himself to leave the very same stall he's left just hours before.

He checked his eyes in the mirror for any sign he's been crying and when he saw none he left to walk to the store, he planed on getting groceries since that morning he saw he was out of his favourite fruits.

It may be a little weird but he really wanted Donnie to try an apple as soon as he was told about the turtles diet; it was one of James' favourite fruits so it was understandable that he wanted his friend to have one with him.

Alas, the store was out if his favourite kind of apples, not only that but they were out of his second and third favourites as well.

He nearly broke down for the third time that day—the only reason he didn't was because he was in public and not in a safe space; and yeah, it was just a minor inconvenience but to the boy it felt like the world and all its inhabitants turned against his very existence.

James took a moment to breath before picking out a new kind of apple then proceeded to go to the bakery section to find a cake to binge eat when he got home.

Once he finished getting all the food items on his list he went to the hair and makeup section to get more conditioner and maybe a face mask for later that night; he wasn't expecting company anyway so why not have a little bit of "James time"?

He spent a lot longer in that section then what he was expecting after passing one specific row of small boxes and in the end, when he left the store, he had over nine items when all he went in for was one or two things.

The walk back to the apartment was relaxing and by the time he got home he was completely calm; which was good for what he was planning on doing that evening.

James pulled out his phone and went to his texts, he only had the a few people saved in his phone, most of which he ignored, so he didn't have to go searching through to find the right one.

It took a minute for the kid to type out a message and send it, when it was sent he got up and went to the bathroom to have a quick shower prior to his caretaker checking in on him.

-

"What is this about?" Charlotte asked looking back at her phone, James' latest message on the screen.

"Exactly what it says, I need your help." He stated, a grubby green t-shirt covering his torso and vertical striped pyjama pants over his legs, an old towel was also wrapped around his neck to catch all the water droplets from his hair at the moment which just showed that he just hopped out of the shower.

The older women sighed angrily. "What do you need help with exactly?" She leaned against the kitchen table with a hidden glare in her eyes that James was more or less oblivious to.

"I need your help to cut my hair and dye it." He stated not making eye contact with Charlotte and instead picked up the box of hair dye he got. "My mother used to do it for me but I'd be grateful if you would do it for me this time."

James didn't see it; but Charlottes expression softened at the obvious guilt spreading on the young boys face as he played with the ends of his over grown hair while reading the directions on the box, the first time she had met him his hair was just above his shoulders and now it was about an inch or two past them and the once icy blue tips had turned a sea-foam green from how many times it had been washed.

Charlotte didn't speak but lead the teenager to sit on a chair in front of the kitchen table that already had the scissors, bleach and two colours of dye set out around it.

"What kinda' cut we going for?" She asked picking up the scissors.

James looked up at her and smiled for the first time in hours. "Shorter everywhere except the back, like a jellyfish." He explained.

"Like a jellyfish." Charlotte repeated then went to work on the curly mess.

-
"Sorry, Donnie. I can't tonight."

April's voice repeated threw Donnie's head as he laid on the couch disappointed in more ways then one, first his own partner didn't want to go out with him, second his friend ignored his text and call—more like missed it—and to top it off he didn't have any inventions to work on.

So, there he laid, his head buried into a pillow and the sound of video games being played by his younger brother in the background, and sure, he could just go to check on James anyway but he was too bummed out from his first rejection.

"You know, you could always pick up the player two controller." Mikey reminds for the second time that evening.

"I'm not in the mood for games." Donnie also reminds for the second time that evening as well.

The two brothers didn't talk to each other for a while after that; Mikey being too into his game and the older turning to face the back of the couch to either have a nap or just to get more comfortable.

In was rather inconvenient though, because as soon as he did turn over his phone buzzed with a message that he didn't hear but his brother sure did.

"Hey, Don?"

"I told you I'm not in the mood."

"Who's 'J'?"

It was quite for a moment.

Till Donnie sat up with such force that it knocked him off the couch, even while he was falling he tried reaching for his phone; desperate to keep his secrets.

"He's no one, none of your business, don't go through my phone ever again!" Donatello reached for his phone, a little too over dramatically, seeing as Mikey hasn't even moved from his spot on the ground.

"I wasn't, the dude just texted you saying that he was busy tonight and that a lady was with him." Mikey explained holding the phone out for his brother who in turn snatched out of his hand.

Donnie took a second to read the message and when he finished he sighed in relief. "Don't tell anyone about this, you hear me?"

Michelangelo nodded and before Donnie left before he could ask who this mysterious 'J' guy was, Donnie stopped and thought about it for a second and figured that even if Mikey decided to spill the beans that no one would believe him anyway so he'd might as well spill a bit more of information to get Mikey off his back for awhile longer.

"He's someone I'm close to, I guess."