TMNT: Red As The Blood Spilt

Chapter 11

I stand there in line, waiting for it to just barely inch forward, bringing me closer to food. I was looking forward to some salsberry steak and potatoes. Of course that had to be ruined too when I heard the raspy prepubescent voice of Casey Jones. “Come on, Red! You don’t understand, I need your help to pass or coach will kick me off the team!” I turn back slightly to see a girl with bright red hair, blue eyes, and freckles talking to him. “You need to put in the extra work Jones. I’m not just gonna give you the answers.” She groaned, taking her place in line behind me, Casey following closely. ‘Crap, don’t notice. Don’t notice-” “Hey! Aren't you in my math class?!” He pushes past ‘Red’ as he calls her.

    “What do you want, Jones?” I roll my eyes, as I turn to face the two, arms crossed. “Nice to see you too...” He snorts, not taking kindly to my attitude. I turn my attention to the girl. “Hi. Adelyn Parks.” I put out my hand and she smirks shaking it firmly. “April O'neil.” I nod, glancing at the idiot before me. “What’re you doing hanging out with the Infamous Casey Jones?” I say it in a mocking tone. “Oh… please don’t tell me you’re a fangirl.” I practically beg. April begins laughing, her whole body shaking. “Fangirl? Is that a joke?” I sigh in relief, laughing as well as Casey’s face lights up with a tomato.

    We end up talking, getting to know each other, and I find out that she infact has to tutor Casey in geometry ‘called it’. We get our food, and the three of us sit at a table close to the exit doors. I pull out my phone, seeing about five new messages.
    R: “Adelyn!”
    R: “Adeylnnnnn?!?!”
    R: “Hey text me back.”
    R: “I’m bored…. Addie!”
    R: “When is your lunch, you can text me then!!!”

    Me: “Oh my goodness, Raph! I’ve been busy. Schoolwork and such.”

    R: “Hey, you’re alive! How’s hell?”

    Me: “Lol. It’s fine. But There’s this guy who is really annoying the f*ck outa me.”

    I glance over at Casey, who was trying his flirting skills with April, oddly enough she was laughing at his jokes. Oh lord… I eat my meal quietly, whilst I explain the antics of Jones to Raph. He was agitated at first, perhaps jealous, but soon calmed down as I explained what I did to him.

    R: “Need me to talk to this punk?!”

    Me: “No!”
    Me: ”No, don’t worry.”
    Me: “I think he has the hots for some April chick, or Red, as he calls her.”

    There was a long silence on the other end. He hadn’t texted back for a good 10 minutes, and I only had five or so minutes until lunch ended.

    Me: “Hello?”

    R: “Sorry.”
    R: “April O’neil?”

    I sit staring at the little screen for a moment before replying. How does he know her? How does she know him? What..?

    Me: “Um… What?”
    Me: “Yes.”

    Another moment of silence, before the bell rang for us to get to class. I had art next, but I was more concerned about the previous conversation.

    Art was nice and all, had to get a few supplies such as a sketch book and the essentials, but that’s fine. Last hour finally! Not quite eight hours, but seven is pretty close. So it’s time for U.S history, and unfortunately I have always sucked at history. Today though it was just going over the syllabus and supply list, of course it was only the first day. The teacher was nice, and I just so happened to share this class with April. So we chose our seats next to each other, on purpose, without a Casey Jones to annoy the ever loving sh*t outta me.

I decided to walk April home, of course he followed us. “Ok… so, I’m not judging, but do you really have a crush on him? Reeaalllly?” I whisper, so as to not let him hear. Her face turns a soft pink, and travels over her nose. “W-What? No, of course I don’t I-- y-yes...” She mumbled. I smirked, rolling my eyes. “Ok, well. I gave you my number so we can talk later. I’ll see ya tomorrow.” I nod off, turning into an alley and climbing the ladder.

~Finding my way back to the correct manhole~

I slid down the building, landing in a crouch just in front of the manhole. I look around, making sure no one saw me, and heave open the heavy thing. It put a lot of strain on my shoulders and back, but that’s what training and working out is for. I drop down, closing the hole behind me, unaware of the fact that someone had somehow managed to follow me.

I rush down the pipe lines, skidding on the sludge that managed to build up on the steep incline. I holler out happily as I pick up on speed, turning my feet sideways to slow as I neared the entrance to the lair. Finally I stop, grabbing onto a pole that flung me backwards. “That’s definitely one way to stop.” I wheeze from lack of oxygen. I pull the third of four levers, watching as the concrete walls scratch against the floor to open.

I push past the barrier and flop onto the couch, relaxing into the cushions. “Ohhh… It’s good to be back.” I groan. That’s when it hit me… where were the turtles? “Hello? G-guys? Raphie?” I call, but no answer. I sit up, looking around. Everything was exactly how I left it from this morning. “Sensei?” I call out once more, hopping over the back of the couch and making my way to the dojo carefully. I grab my Tonfas and peer in through the doorway. “Hello?” I whisper, pushing it open a bit more and making my way farther in.

This was getting weird, where was everyone? Did someone take them? Are they hurt? “This isn’t funny...” I growl, rolling behind the tree in the center of the room and looking around. The sound of something metal slicing through the air made me flinch. I duck just as Leo’s sword hit the trunk of the tree right where my head was. I retaliate by hooking a Tonfa around his wrist and flipping him, only to just barely Matrix my way into dodging Donnie’s staff. “Sh*t guys! A little warning next ti--” I yelp out as Raph’s ball and chain connect with my gut, wrap around my and pull me back. I land on the ground with an “Oof-” Wheezing as I try to get my breath back.

Shaking my head I twirl to my feet, knocking Mikey -whom I didn’t know was there- off his balance. I look around, seeing that Splinter was now present, and looking at the fight from the other side of the room, next to the weapons rack. I avert my attention to Raph and Leo’s tag team attack, rushing forward only to slide on my knees and lock both my weapons around their feet, leaving them to crash into each other. I stand up, puffing up in an attempt to gain more air in my body. All that was left was Donnie.

His eye’s were white in determination, as we circled, waiting for the other to attack. I certainly wasn’t about to start, after all it is always better to wait for your opponent to show a weak spot, and to allow them to open up before you. At least that’s what I was taught… Donnie ran but jumped to flip over me. I took this time to click both his ankles at just the right point, so as to watch him fall to the ground with temporary pain, and inability to walk. I cough, trying to catch my breath, as that was a lot of movement all of a sudden. I turn to splinter, who nodded his head and I bowed, wiping the sweat from my face.