Always a Turtle (TMNT Book 6)

Waking Up From a Long Party

Many weeks in the lair were had celebrating, dancing, and even singing. Every day I was more and more exhausted. Julie had healed, already wanting to do something with her arm other than hold a microphone to do karaoke or pinball with the boys. Melanie had run out of her simple pranks with the help of Mikey four days in the celebration. Out of all the time celebrating, I think I only had about a day's worth of sleep.

All of us were wanting to get out of the lair for a bit, wanting to see how the city was doing after the attack. The reason we hadn't been up in a while was because we didn't want to be caught in some police search to find extra Kraang. Or be caught anyway with the knowledge people were still on edge, probably looking to the sky and rooftops where we usually hung out. So tonight we were going to head out. Melanie and Naomi were staying behind to catch up on needed sleep. None of us complained really.

With Leo ushering us out, the seven of us headed out. Julie, Sophie and I walked by one another, basically brimming with excitement to be out of the lair for the first time in what seemed like forever. I couple times Sophie and Julie let out squealing laughs that ended quickly when either Leo or Donnie turned to look at them. They would only let out strained giggles after that.

When we found a ladder that was in one of the alleys that lead topside, we went up, boys first. I went before Julie and Sophie. After all of us were on the concrete, hidden from the street lamp, we started climbing up a fire escape, ready to run and jump after being cooped up in the lair for so long.

Reaching that rooftop felt like heaven to me. First time I felt a nice breeze of wind since I left that Kraang escape pod and that was weeks ago. My first reaction to feeling the New York breeze was to stretch, arms high, and a giant grin on my face. "Oooooh it's been too long!" I strained near the end, right before I dropped my arms.

"You are so right," Mikey grinned, spinning in circles before falling on his back. He grunted but sighed directly after. "I missed the night sky."

"I missed being out," Julie cooed. I looked over at her since she was behind me and she was sitting like a cat on the edge of the building. Her tail was hooked down over the edge of the building. She was smiling with her eyes closed without a care in the world. "I don't wanna move for, like, ten minutes. Just let me enjoy being out."

"Oh we will," Leo smiled, sitting on his own air conditioning vent. "But only for a while because I'm sure we're all getting urges to get up and run."

A giggle came from Sophie as she responded, "And see how much damage the people haven't fixed yet."

"Exploring the rubble!" Julie's eyes snapped open with excitement. "Taking souvenirs!"

I looked at the duo, blinking slowly as I sat by Mikey who was leaning against a water tower. I ignored the others, letting them talk about whatever as I slowly leaned against Mikey. My eyes began to close as I enjoyed the comfort of the orange-masked turtle. His only response was to wrap me close, probably understanding my exhaustion. Maybe I should have stayed behind with Naomi and Melanie. I bet they were getting some well-deserved rest.

It didn't take long for the others to realize where Mikey and I were. Before I knew it, Julie was behind us, nuzzling the cheek that wasn't connected to Mikey. My eyes snapped open and  I sat a bit and looked at her. Julie's eyes were wide, pupils huge to where you couldn't see much color, and a white toothy grin was plastered on her face.

"What'cha doing?" she asked, sitting back down like a cat and watching us, her tail swishing back and forth behind her.

"Trying to sleep," I murmured, pushing at her face with a weak hand, showing her I was teasing her. "Why don't you try the same?"