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The Hamato’s had just settled into their new house in New York. For as long as the boys could remember, they were always moving around. Finally, their dad had found a place for them all to stay. A place for them to settle in and call home.
Mikey, the youngest of the four, was happily talking about everything he wanted to do at their new home.
The eldest, Raph, smiled and nodded as he listened to his brother’s ramblings. Finding his enthusiasm contagious.
In the corner of the room were the twins. Leo was on his phone looking up cheap local food. Donnie was organizing books and school supplies for the four of them.
They started their new school on Monday. Something that Donnie was both excited and nervous about. He loved the learning part of school. Going to classes and listening to lectures brought him comfort. But then there’s the people part. An expectation to socialize with others.
His brothers never had any problems socializing. For him it was a nightmare. He just didn’t get people and they didn’t get him.
Usually he would just stick with Leo and whatever group of people he decided to surround himself with. He never really cared for his brother’s “friends”, but being near them brought him some comfort. It was better than nothing.
The problem was their schedules didn’t match up this year. They had no classes together. They didn’t even have the same lunch. Donnie was doomed.
_____
Monday started with no problems. Classes came and went and Donnie was content, but then lunch started.
Donnie carefully weaved through tables and students. He was hoping to find an empty table tucked away somewhere where he could eat by himself. Sadly, they all seemed to be full.
He’d never hated the absence of his brother more in his life. Surrounded by hundreds of strangers loudly talking. He felt himself getting more frustrated and overwhelmed. He just wanted to disappear.
Then he noticed a room off to the side. Its door was slightly opened, and no noise was coming from inside. He slowly walked over, nudging the door a bit to get a better look inside.
It was an empty classroom, well, mostly empty. There was a girl sitting at one of the desks, typing on a laptop, stopping every now and then to eat a fry from the tray next to her.
She glanced up when she heard the door creak. Giving him a soft smile and a quick wave before turning her attention back to her work.
He took that as permission to enter and took a seat on the other side of the room. It was nice in there. The sounds of the lunchroom were muffled and he enjoyed the familiar sound of a keyboard a little ways away. Donnie decided he liked it there.
_____
The next day, when he walked into the room, he noticed the girl was sitting in the same spot. She had her nose in a book, and didn’t look up when he entered, too invested in the book.
Donnie took a seat and began to quietly enjoy his food in silence until…
“Hey,” the girl said, putting her book down.
He grumbled to himself as he turned towards her. He knew he probably looked beyond pissed, but she smiled at him anyway.
“My name’s April.” After a moment of silence, her smile lessened. Figuring she wasn’t going to get an answer, she awkwardly picked her book back up.
She gave him the opportunity for a conversation and he let it slip by. He was mad at himself and tried to get his voice to work. “Donnie,” he grumbled more to himself than her.
She quickly looked up, clearly surprised to hear him. Her slightly widened eyes looked at him expectantly.
Donnie’s eyes darted around as he tried to think of something to say. He didn’t have Leo to help him out and he didn’t know what to do.
“What… What are you reading?” It was all he could think of, but the way her face lit up told him it was the right choice.
She happily talked about the book. It was just a mystery novel, but the way she talked about it made it sound nice. The way she talked with so much enthusiasm kept his interest.
It started to sound really interesting. Donnie might have to pick it up and give it a read. He asked to borrow it after she was done reading.
_____
A couple of weeks had passed and the two of them had gotten more and more comfortable with each other. It was so easy for them to talk to each other. They spent almost every lunch talking.
They were currently sitting next to each other, their half-eaten food forgotten in front of them. April was on her laptop, typing out an article for the school paper. Donnie was reading a book that she had recommended for him.
Every so often, one of them would say whatever popped into their heads. It was so easy for them to bounce conversations off of each other.
“So,” April started, stretching as she leaned back a little. “Are you going to the game Friday?”
He made a displeased face as he groaned. “I’m not a sports fan, but Leo’s been talking about it. He’ll probably drag me and the others along.” It’s true, that’s usually what Leo did.
“I might see you there then. I have to write an article about it, so I have to be there.”
“I see. Well, heads up, my brothers are idiots.”
“So you’ve said.”
“Well, it’s the truth.”
April couldn’t help but to burst out laughing. Even in the short time she’s known Donnie, she could already tell that he very much cared for his brothers. Even if he tried to deny it, over half the things he’d talk about involved them.
Her laughter was interrupted by the bell signaling that lunch was over. The two quickly gathered their things and began to head out of the room they deemed as their sanctuary.
“See you tomorrow,” April said as she headed off, still giggling at herself.
Donnie gave a quick wave back. It was strange, but for the first time ever, he hated when lunch ended. He rather enjoyed the time he got to spend with April.
_____
Friday had arrived and Donnie was right about being dragged around by his brother. The boys were still standing outside, hanging out before the game started.
Mikey was jumping in place as he looked around full of excitement. Raoh had a soft smile on his face watching his brother’s joy. Leo’s arm was draped over his twin as he loudly talked to all of them. Donnie, on the other hand, was browsing his phone, trying to ignore the world around him.
Donnie’s attention was pulled away from his phone when he heard someone call out his name. He was going to ignore it at first until he realized the voice was too high to be any of his brothers.
He looked up to see all three of his brothers looking off in one direction. Looks of confusion on their faces. He followed their gazes to see a familiar face waving at them.
April came running over to the boys, notebook in hand and a huge smile on her face. “So, you were right about being dragged along, and you must be the brothers I’ve heard so much about.”
Mikey was the first of them to respond. “Hi, I’m Mikey! What’s your name?” He excitedly put his hand out in front of him, which she happily shook.
“April, she responded with a soft smile on her face. She then turned her attention to the other two she’d never met before.
“Raphael,” said the tallest of them as he gave a small wave.
April turned her attention and took a step towards the twins. Her smile shifted to one of amusement. “Then that means you must be Leo.”
Leo was still just staring at her in disbelief. He was frozen in place as he tried to wrap his head around what was going on. Who is this girl? Where did she come from? How does she know Donnie?
She gave him a quizzical look before turning to Donnie. “Well, I had better go find a seat. See you around, Dee.”
“Yeah,” he gave a half wave as she walked off. He then noticed all three of his brothers were staring at him. “What?”
“Why didn’t you tell us about your new friend?” Mikey said, sounding like he had just discovered some big secret.
Raph tried to hide his confusion behind a smile. “She seems nice.”
Finally, Leo snapped out of the confused shock he was in. Throwing his hands up in the air, he shouted towards Donnie, “Since when did you make friends!?”
He didn’t mean for it to sound as rude as it did. He was just in shock. After years of watching his twin struggle to make connections, he wasn’t sure when or if it would ever happen. Turns out that day snuck up on all of them
Donnie glanced between his brothers as he thought about what was being said. Somehow it never clicked in his head. He and April did get along really well. They talk almost every day, just like friends. She’s his friend. A friend he got all on his own.
A small cocky smile formed on his face, as he felt a new wave of pride washed over him. He turned from the three to find a seat, not bothering to say a word to them. He could hear Leo asking several questions behind him. His brother’s confusion was too entertaining for him.
Who knew that moving to New York would be the best thing to happen to him.