Chapter Text
They did it. They managed to save the world from the evil Super-Fly. They earned the respect from the people above the sewers, earned their right to go to high school. Be normal teenagers. It was a dream come true, and every day had become an adventure!
Is what Leo would like to say- the reality of teenage life was a lot more taxing and complicated than they had all anticipated. Yet, they were still happy.
They had gotten into a steady routine now, Leo was always up and ready first thing in the morning. School didn't start until 8:00. Which meant, he had to set an alarm for 7 to get ready. Which also meant he needed an alarm for 6:30 to squeeze a shower in. Let's not forget making sure he had all his school supplies and outfit for the day set out, 6 am. But then what if he doesn't wake up for the first alarm? Let's set one for 5 am, just for good measure. In the end, he'd always find himself cracking his eyes open around 4:58, right before the alarm goes off.
He made sure to quickly turn it off as well, since the first time it happened he'd gotten an earful of Raph complaining about how early it was. He didn't know how his brother could handle waking up ten minutes before it was time to leave and be perfectly fine, he himself was much too anxious for that. So, Leo would quietly slip out of bed, tip toeing to the small dresser they had and rummage through the new clothes April had given out to them.
She had collected a lot of items from other students or family that didn't need the extra clothing, which would be appreciated, at least until they could somehow acquire more money to get their own stuff. Splinter had said to just steal like they always have, but Leo found that a lot more harder to do every day.
He found a nice blue button up, some simple light washed jeans to go with it. He brought those with him to the little shower room they had fixed up, no longer just a tub anymore, how about that? He placed the clothes to the side, and got to scrubbing at his skin. Another thing April supplied them with- candles. Lots of them, all over their sewer home. Random cologne/perfumes (Mikey likes the perfumes more), even some spray for the air. Can't come to school smelling like ‘garbage’, she had told them bluntly. To be fair, it smelt pretty bad down there.
By the time he was out of the shower, he'd peek back into the room to find another one of his brothers stifling a loud yawn. It was always Donnie, and Leo always gave a look of concern. He climbed the small ladder at his bed to reach him. He whispered over to the younger turtle with a hand over his mouth, towel draping over his shoulder.
"Don? It's still really early, you can go back to sleep. You were up all night again, weren't you?" Donnie shrugged his shoulders, his eyes still falling closed as he rubbed them with his fingers. His other hand reached around for his glasses he set nearby his bed.
"I'm fine. I was up late doing an assignment with Carly and Ray." He yawned tiredly again, falling onto his side lazily against his pillow. Leo had no idea who those two were, maybe some of his classmates. He laughed quietly when Donnie forced his eyes open again.
"Next time, maybe you should do your homework before the day it's do."
"That's no fun." They both smiled at each other, Leo went back down the ladder to leave him be. He pulled his backpack out of the room with him, tucking his towel in a basket.
He went out to the kitchen area of their home, taking out the box of cheerios and a bowl. He smiled to himself as he poured an even amount of milk, then topped it over with the cereal. He heard Donnie coming in behind him, giving out a noise.
"God, I can't believe you still pour the milk first. That's like, criminal." Donnie rubbed his eye again, pulling out a chair and taking a seat.
"What? It gives an even proportion to the ratio of milk and cereal, it's not that weird!" He got out another bowl for Donnie, as well as a box of sugar. Donnie liked his cheerios a little bit sweeter.
"Not you thinking milk before cereal is normal."
"Oh- well, not you being pressed over some cereal." Donnie was laughing tiredly now, shaking his head as he watched Leo serve him a bowl.
"Alright alright, I call truce!" He called, his eye aching now. Leo brought the bowls over to the table, setting his before him.
"Hey, be careful. You don't want to get uh, what was it called again? Pink eye?" Donnie frowned, dropping his hand from his face and bringing his bowl closer.
"It just felt itchy, I don't know why."
"Well, you were staring at your screen all night?"
"What's that gotta do with it?" Leo shrugged, taking a bite of his cereal. The mornings were usually quiet, since even their dad didn't get up this early. Leo was a trooper, Donnie just had a messed up sleep schedule. They spent most of their time eating breakfast and watching old recorded episodes of courage the cowardly dog. Donnie liked that show, for some odd reason.
And at some point, Mikey would join them. They had a good hour before school, the young turtle popped his head in the room, a smile on his face but his eyes closed. If you didn't know any better, you'd figure he was sleep walking. Leo got up to greet him, patting his shoulder as he entered the kitchen area.
"Hey Mikey, how you feeling?" Mikey hummed, his head going to lean against Leo's shoulder. He was tired, he has been for the past week. Thanks to joining the theater club, Mikey had been spending most of the day in practice for an upcoming play. He stayed long hours after school, and was exhausted by the time he came back. Leo didn't blame him.
"Never felt better." Mikey gave him a thumbs up as he was led to a seat at the table. He gave a full belly yawn, peeking his eyes open to catch Donnie giving him a small wave from the couch.
Leo moved his backpack into the living room. Mikey had one of those suitcase type of backpacks, the kind you roll along with you. Raph had made fun of him at first for using it, but then he quickly realized that Mikey had a lot of things he needed for classes. The school was waiting to find a free locker to give him, so it was the most convenient for him. Raph had stopped making fun of him.
"Are you hungry, Mikey? We still have some lucky charms left! Or even those pop-tarts April gave us!" Leo was searching through a small bag of goodies, Mikey gave a shake of his head before yawning again.
"No thank you. I'll just get something at lunch." Mikey chewed the inside of his cheek, Leo turned to him with a frown.
"But... that's what you said yesterday. Then you forgot to go get lunch because you were busy with practice. It's not good to skip meals like that, it'll make your body more tired and then you might get sick because-"
"It's ok, Leo. I'm really not that hungry." Mikey tried to assure him, Leo looked back at the bag of food, thinking. He sighed, pulling out a few items.
"Ok, fine. I'm going to pack you lunch then." He turned with a pointed finger. "AND. I better see it all gone when you get back home, ok?" Mikey gave him a tired smile, resting his cheek in his palm.
"Yes sirski!" Mikey settled for watching the tv from the table. He wasn't the biggest fan of courage, he found it a bit creepy. But the old couple was cute! Except when they were creepy too.
Leo had his lunch packed, everyone's backpacks ready to go. Donnie pointed to his watch and Leo sighed out, realizing Raph was still asleep.
"Guess I'll step in the lion's den." Leo said, and the two wished him luck as he went back to their room. He thought he'd have to struggle with Raph's morning irritation again. Maybe get a few swats of the hand or pushed away from the bed, but he was surprised to walk in and find his brother already zipping up one of his red jackets.
Raph turned to Leo, acknowledging his presence before going to look for his shoes. He noticed Raph had his skateboard ready to go, and he knew exactly why his brother was up earlier than usual.
"Meeting up with that Casey person again?" Leo asked curiously, and Raph grunted in response. He was busy tying up the laces on his shoes, he still had some trouble with it, eventually pushing them down into the shoe instead.
"Yup. Don't wait for me after school." Was all he said, picking up his skateboard and phone. Leo shrugged to himself, going back to the open space of their living room. He didn't know Casey that well, he only met him once. But if it got him out of bed in the morning- then hey! He wasn't going to start asking questions.
Mikey had more pep in his step now, his cheery morning attitude taking over as he waddled to his backpack. He pulled up the handle, making sure it was stuck in its place so he could pull it. He turned to Raph with a big smile.
"Morning, big bro! Bright and early for a change, huh?" Raph scoffed playfully, nudging his arm as he walked by. He tugged out a single pop tart from the box, he was the one who enjoyed them the most.
"Guys, is it ok if we start going now? My friends wanted to meet up a bit early." Donnie asked, getting up to wrap his bag over his shoulder. Leo nodded, already reaching for his own backpack, and handing Raph his.
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Class president duties." He grinned cheekily, holding up his student ID card on the lanyard he had around his neck. Leo had easily earned a spot with his student council. He usually helped with school events and such, and his classmates loved him!
"Ok, Mr. President." Raph joked, and Leo rolled his eyes as he walked out of their living room.
"Ha ha. So funny- Hey Mike, don't forget the lunch I packed for you. And remember what I said." He tapped his chest with a finger, and Mikey gave him a thumbs up.
"It's all packed away, I'm gonna be eating good today!" The bands of Mikey's braces threw color into Leo's face. It made him grin back, Mikey had that effect on people.
They all usually walked to school together. Taking the same route everyday, never straying too far. Except maybe Mikey, who liked to stop and stare into the windows of the corner shops on the way, saying they should visit each place when they get the chance. Once they arrived at the school, they went their separate ways. No one had classes with Mikey, Raph and Donnie had a few classes together. Leo would probably run into them at some point in the halls, but he was a grade above them, so they didn't have classes with him either.
Mikey always blew a few kisses to his brothers when they parted ways. Raph pretended not to notice, Donnie awkwardly smiled and slipped his headphones on his head. And Leo, well, he actually blew some back. That was his baby brother, damn it! He didn't care who saw, he just cared for the big smile Mikey gave him before he ran off. It was worth it every time. Besides, no one would make fun of Mikey anyways. He was rather popular amongst his peers, Leo quickly realized.
Mikey pulled his backpack along with him as he walked the hall to the far right end of the school. As he passed by the lockers, his eyes scanned the various stickers and colorful markings students had added to make them uniquely theirs. Apparently there was an influx of new students the last semester, so a few were unlucky to not get lockers right away. Mikey was one of those unlucky students. He silently wait for the day he'd finally have his own, ideas already blooming in that head of his of how he would decorate it.
Maybe he would cover it in skater stickers? He has an old sticker of Mario and Luigi he found a long time ago, never had a use for it. One things for sure, he'd get rid of some of the textbooks in his backpack. Then he would actually be able to carry a more normal backpack like most of the other students! This thing got heavy at times, not always fun. Mikey was lost in his head, the familiar door to the theater room coming into view.
It was his first class, luckily. He'd start his day here, and end his day here as well. He was so lucky to have gotten a major role in the next play, and he was determined to work hard at it. Maybe the whole acting jig was really his thing, something he could pursue in the future? He doesn't know, but the idea was definitely there. Mikey made his entrance with a kick to his step, his smile greeting the familiar faces of his classmates.
"Good to see you, Michael." His teacher gave him a polite nod, and he gave her a small salute in turn.
"Good morning, Mrs. May! Happy to be here!" She was always refreshed by his upbeat attitude, and it seemed like the rest of the class was as well. He rolled his backpack over to his seat. It was near the front, he liked being able to hear and see everything clearly. He turned in his seat to greet his classmates, who always gave him a few fist bumps and cheery smiles. They always delve quickly into conversation about their scripts, going over lines together, asking for critique. A hand at his shoulder caught his attention, and he turned over to his seat mate.
"Hi, Evette! I'm so glad to see you back, did you get over your cold?" The young girl wore a light pink mask over her face, extra precaution she took just in case. She gave him a squinted eye smile, he couldn't see her smile, but he knew it was there. Then she put two thumbs up.
"A lot better. I was hoping you had some time to practice lines together again today? I promise I won't get you sick!" She asked nervously, her script folded in her hands. Mikey and Evette's characters had a lot of scenes together, but they hadn't gotten to practice much since she had got sick. Mikey put his hands in his lap, giving her his best reassuring smile.
"Of course we can! I've been so hype to practice with you! And don't worry, You wont get me sick. And if you do- well" He thought about it, then shrugged. "It's ok, I won't tell anyone." He playfully winked. Evette held the script close to her face, she was quite thankful her mask hid away the color in her cheeks. She gave him a small nod, her fingers going to unfold the script before her.
"I've been practicing as much as I could by myself. You'll have to tell me if there's anything I need to fix when we practice together. Oh! And they said they started on the costumes! They just need your measurements. It's a good thing you came back today, that way they could get started on yours soon." Mikey flipped through a few pages of the script in his hands, he hadn't payed too much attention to Evette's lines since she was gone. Now he was skimming them over since they would finally get to practice together.
"Gosh, I'm so glad you're back. I was missing my seat mate! Practice was a bit lonely!" He said it with a giddy smile on his face, Evette fluttered her lashes closed. She opened her eyes back up to skim at the pages, she had been practicing as much as she could as well.
"I'm glad too. We can practice all day today if you want, I'm free at lunch?" She offered, and he gasped as he set his script down.
"That's such a good idea! Let's do it, oh- but I'll have to eat my lunch first. Or else my brother will actually have an anxious melt down. You know how he is." She did know how he was. Mikey talked about his brothers all the time, and she was always there to sit down and listen. Some might say his rambling got off the hook, but she never minded it. She loved how easy Mikey was to talk to, even if he did most of the talking.
"He's right to worry, you should be eating three meals a day! Or at least, that's what my brother says." She shrugged her shoulders, Mikey cringed and whispered to her.
"Really? I already skipped breakfast. That's one meal down." She looked around, leaning in to whisper to him as well.
"So did I..." They looked at each other for a second, before breaking out into a fit of small chuckles.
"What are you two whispering about?" Another classmate asked, and Mikey turned to them with a cheeky grin. Evette felt a finger press on her back, and she turned to the student behind her. A knowing grin on her face, and Evette immediately waved her off. She turned to Mikey, who was easily conversing with the other students now, his own little world. His world was so different from hers, so much more loud, open. She silently began getting her things out for the class.
Every grade had the same lunch time, it just worked best for the school. Mikey exited his math class, glad to just be out of it because boy, did he not like that class. Maybe he could make it with a passing C if he tried hard enough. As he rolled his backpack down the halls, he waved to many different students. They greeted him with a familiarity that made him warm inside, like they had always been friends. Mikey made his way to the area where the lockers began, keeping an eye out for any of his brothers. He liked to at least meet up with them when he could, he had that sort of attachment to them. Plus, they always let him tag along.
The one he ended up spotting was Leo, placing a large folder into his locker. He caught Mikey in the corner of his eye, giving him a smile and a wave. Mikey went up to him and peeked inside his locker, giving him a curious look.
"What's all that for?" Leo placed his hands at his hips, giving a small sigh.
"Well, actually. It's for the festival the school is setting up. You know, for halloween?" Leo closed his locker, stuffing a new textbook into his backpack.
"I can't believe we actually get to experience a Halloween festival! For the first time! I'm so excited my toes are tingling." Mikey grinned, Leo gave a pat to his back as they walked down the hall to the lunch tables. He didn't need Mikey to ask him to spend lunch with him, and besides that, he wanted to make sure he was actually eating this time.
"I'm excited too. There's gonna be so much stands. There's one guy who's gonna make a bunch of cupcakes for the festival. And April even said her class would help us with decorations around the school." Mikey could hear the underlying giddiness to Leo's tone at the mention of April.
Mikey took an empty seat at one of the lunch tables, and Leo sat across from him after taking a carton of milk and some pizza from the lunch lady. They had extra cold pizzas left from the morning breakfast, Leo had taken a liking to those cold pizzas. Mikey pulled out the small lunch box from his backpack, smiling when Leo handed him a carton of milk.
"What? You didn't tell me we had cheese puffs!" Mikey pulled out a small ziplock bag, waving it in the air. Leo took a sip of his milk, some of it coating over his mouth.
"If I told you we had cheese puffs, you would have eaten them in one sitting." Mikey opened the bag, clicking his tongue.
"Touché, bro." Leo made a gesture to his sandwich, a look telling him to make sure to eat the actual food he packed and not just the junk food.
Mikey listened to idle chatter around him as Leo scrolled through his phone, taking bites at his pizza. He was sure Leo was probably looking at his class's group chat. Yes, they had a group chat. His class took on a lot of the events for the school, so he was a busy bee most of the time he was here. Mikey was beginning to look up to him a lot more.
Mikey was taking another sip of his milk through a small straw when his eyes glanced up to the person walking towards them. His eyes glittered in recognition, setting down his milk with enthusiasm.
"Evette! Hey, I'm almost finished with my lunch!" Leo turned up to the girl as well, smiling and giving her a small wave. He knew her because she was Mikey's theater seat mate. And he always talked about her, since they were good friends.
"That's ok. I was just worried I wouldn't find you in time..." She was smiling behind her mask.
"I can wait for you at one of the outside tables, I'm sorry for interrupting you guys." She nodded shyly, but Mikey immediately waved his hands in front of her.
"No! No, it's ok! You don't have to wait for me, I'll go with you! I'm sorry I didn't let you know where I was, you should really give me your number so we could message between classes sometime!" Mikey hurriedly finished the last of his sandwich, crumpling up the ziplock bag in his hand.
Leo glanced up at the young girl, and went still when he noticed color burn into her face. She shyly looked around her, scooting back when Mikey got up from his seat. She was clutching a folder close to her chest, with the two next to each other, she was maybe only an inch or two taller than his brother. The young girl pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, her voice so small.
"Yeah... Exchange numbers. I'll give it to you before school ends..." Leo took another sip of his milk, glancing to his painstakingly oblivious brother, who probably didn't even hear her with how focused he was with gathering his things.
"I'm sorry, Leo. I promised we'd practice our lines together at lunch." Leo smiled.
"Ditching me now?"
"Yup!" Not an ounce of hesitation in his voice. Leo gave a shoo of his hand.
"Don't worry about it, Mike. You guys have fun, good luck with your lines." Evette bowed her head to him, Mikey's hand ghosting over her arm to pull her along with him. Her ears were a bright shade of pink to anyone who could see them.
"Huh. No way." Leo said to himself. Not because someone possibly had a crush on his little brother, but because Mikey seemed to be completely clueless to the matter himself. Well, he was a kid after all. He doesn't think Mikey had ever given romance much of a thought. His phone lit up, and he smiled wide when he found that April was texting him.
"And you, Madame. Are looking quite swell, I must say." Mikey made his voice go a pinch deeper, dramatizing movement with his hand. Evette giggled next to him, Mikey was made for theatrics.
"Does that sound good? I didn't think my voice was deep enough for the part, but the teacher said it was fine." Evette had more experience in acting than he did, so he always came to her for pointers.
"Maybe a little less dramatic. Ollie is described as a very smooth, gentle man. See here, it's like he almost whispers it to her." She ran her finger over a few lines, and Mikey leaned in to look at the paper better. Their shoulders were smushed together as they sat on the small bench.
"You're right. Sounds like he's got game, I need to be smooth. A smooth criminal~." Mikey let the words roll off his tongue, channeling something in him in an effort to bring out a more calm demeanor. He took another look at his notes, clearing his throat before turning back to Evette.
Mikey gave her an easy smile, his eyes going half lidded as he reached for one of her hands. His voice was low again, but a lot more slow and even trailed off into a whisper.
"And you- Madame. Are looking swell, I must say." Mikey brought the top of her hand up to his lips, placing a small kiss there. He did it because that's what the script instructed, and she had anticipated it, it didn't stop her from being frozen in shock. Mikey dropped the act with one of his usual grins.
"How was that? Better?" She glanced down at their hands, somehow his were a bit smaller than hers. She glanced back to him, her eyes looking nervous. Mikey quickly let go of her, his lips turning down.
"What's wrong? Was that pretty bad too?" He looked at his script, wondering what he could have done better. Evette shook her head, looking down at her own script to avoid his eyes.
"No- No, that was perfect, Michael." Mikey turned to her unconvinced, his papers falling down into his lap.
"You don't sound so happy about that?" He questioned, they were just laughing together a few seconds ago. Evette shook her head again, pulling out her notebook and a pencil.
"No, really. You did it perfectly, I'm the one who needs more practice." She was writing something down, Mikey patiently waited beside her before she handed him a ripped corner of the paper. He saw that it had a phone number, hers, he assumed.
"Lunch is gonna end soon, but you wanted to exchange numbers, right?" She bunched her shoulders up. "We can always practice after school in the theaters room, but just in case you want extra practice. You can text- or I mean, if you want to. You don't have to- I know you're probably tired when you get home and-"
"Yeah! Totally, I’d be so down to practice together after school sometime! Oh, but- I mean, you probably already know this. My home is in a sewer." Mikey gave her a cringe of a smile, but it just got a small laugh out of her. Whatever, he liked it better when she was laughing anyways.
"That's ok. I'll bring a candle!" Mikey waved his hands.
"Oh, we have plenty of those. But you can still bring one, we could probably use some more honestly." They were back to sharing smiles again, Mikey preferred it this way. Eventually, they got up when they heard the bell ring. Mikey waved her good bye, he wouldn't see her again until school ended.
And least, that was what he thought. It started off slow, a few coughs sounding out from his throat during class, nothing major. He sneezed once, really loudly, but he thought his nose was just feeling itchy for a second. It was bugging him the whole way to the theater room, and when he went in, Evette was no where to be found.
He took out his phone, it had been on silent while he was in class. He found that she had left him a message an hour ago, and his face fell when he realized she wasn't feeling good again. He turned on his heel, walking back down the hall to the school's entrance with a worried frown on his face.
He was staring down at her message, sniffing and hearing the beginnings of a stuffy nose. He wiped at his beak, looking around to see if his brothers were anywhere around. The only one he ended up finding was Donnie, so he went over to him, coughing into his closed fist. Donnie turned to him with a push of his glasses.
"You ok there Mikey? Your nose sounds stuffed." Mikey sneezed into the inside of his arm, shaking his head unconvincingly.
"Yeah. My theater buddy went home early today. I'm just gonna practice at home instead." There was a disappointment etched into his voice. Donnie didn't question further, gathering his bag and waving to his friends.
"Ok. Let's go then. Leo said he and Raph might be home a bit later, no use waiting for them." Mikey followed him silently. It was unusual to say the least, and Donnie noticed his coughs becoming more frequent. He offered his water bottle, letting Mikey have the rest of it. By the time they reached their home, Mikey sagged his shoulders, his throat feeling strained from the amount of times he cleared it.
"Mikey, if you don't feel good, it's ok. You can skip a day of practice." Mikey shook his head, stubbornly getting out his pages of lines and scattering them over his bed.
"I feel fine, Don. I have to practice more so I can do my lines right." Donnie tried to place a hand at his shoulder, but Mikey lightly shoved him off. Donnie crossed his arms over his chest.
"What's wrong? You look mad." Mikey let his hands fall at his sides, he looked at the papers on his bed before turning up to his brother.
"I'm not mad. I'm just worried. Evette missed a lot of days of school, I don't know when she'll be back." He coughed again, and Donnie reached out to feel his head.
"You're starting to get warm Mikey, are you sure you feel ok?" When the young turtle couldn't think of something to say, Donnie began gathering up his papers in a stack. He tucked them back away in Mikey's large folder, hiding everything in his backpack.
"Come on, it's better to rest up for now. Maybe you got sick too for being around her." Mikey frowned to himself, staring at his bed. Then, Donnie helped him get comfortable under the covers. He even tucked the blanket in at his sides, checking his head one more time.
"I'll let Leo know you aren't feeling too good. Maybe he'll be able to get something for you. Just rest for now, I'm gonna go let dad know too." Mikey watched Donnie leave their room, bringing the blanket closer to cover his mouth. His mind was becoming hazy, and he hadn't realized when he managed to fall asleep there, tucked away in his bed. Donnie came back to check on him at one point, letting his dad know he was finally getting some rest.
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Mikey awoke with a stuttering cough. He quickly shoved the blankets off him, curling in a sitting position as his throat ached. His mind was still in a fog, but registered someone coming to sit next to him. His eyes forced themselves open, finding Leo wrapping an arm around him for support.
"Oh, Mikey... it's ok, April gave me some medicine. She said it should help." Mikey looked around him, still trying to wake himself up. He rubbed at his eyes with both hands, his nose now completely stuffed compared to earlier. He was also shivering, despite having been covered in his blanket. His phone at the corner of his bed caught his attention, and without another thought, he scrambled over to it. Mikey opened up his messages, finding that the last thing Evette sent him was a single 'Sorry.'
"Mikey, what are you doing?" Leo asked, but he completely ignored him as he stared down at the call button. He pressed it, eyes glued to the screen as the rings sounded between them. It only took a few seconds before the call went through, and a small voice appeared on the other side.
"Uhm, Michael?" Mikey sighed at the familiarity of her voice. He tried to say something, before coughing harshly. He cleared his throat a bit before continuing.
"IM SO SORRY I FORGOT TO MESSAGE BACK! I fell asleep as soon as I got home!" Leo watched as his little brother fret to find the right words. His hands were waving at his sides."It's not your fault at all! I just hope you are ok! Did something happen at school?" He heard a small cough on the other end.
"Nothing bad! My throat was just feeling soar again, better safe than sorry, right?" Mikey smiled in relief, another cough tickling at his throat. He gave her a small laugh, his voice sounding strained.
"I hate to tell you this... but I'm having the WORST headache right now. I think my nose is running too, it feels terrible!" Evette gasped on the other side.
"Oh noo! I'm sorry Michael! Are you ok?"
"I'll be ok, don't worry about it. Looks like we might have to move our practice to over the phone, yeah?" He laughed some more, and he found her laughing with him. His laughs stuttered with a few short coughs. Leo gave him an exasperated smile, shaking his head as he got up.
"I'll get the medicine." He said to no one, because Mikey wasn't really listening. He was busy apologizing back and forth to his friend, they eventually had to call a truce. She stayed on the phone with him as he swallowed a single pill.
"Dad said he's gonna make some warm soup for you, if you feel hungry later. It should help with your throat."
"Oh, soup sounds so nice." Evette commented, and Mikey smiled at him.
"Ok, thank you Leo. I'll get some later." He turned back to his phone. "I guess I should let you get more rest today, just in case. We can practice our lines on call tomorrow, if you want?" He couldn't see her smile over the phone, but he was usually able to catch it in her voice.
"Yeah. Yeah, we can do that. Thank you for calling me, I would have been worried."
"Don't be worried! I'll be totally good tomorrow, promise!" It was a debatable promise, but he just hoped the medicine did what it was supposed to do. She sighed softly.
"Ok. Then, goodbye Michael."
"Bye Evette!" He pressed the end call button on his phone, setting his phone down back beside his pillow. Leo smiled down at him, patting his shoulder.
"Nice girl. She sounded really worried about you." Mikey nodded, folding his hands in his lap.
"She worries a lot sometimes. Kind of reminds me of you, only, it's cuter when she does it." He shrugged, laughing a bit. Leo's brow rose up, he gave Mikey a curious stare.
"Yeah? You must like her a lot then, huh?" Mikey looked at him with surprise.
"What? Of course I like her, she's a really sweet person! And, like, the coolest seat mate." There was something innocent in Mikey's expression. Leo mentally slapped himself for even trying to press on it, Mikey didn't get it. But that was ok, he didn't have to get it.
"Yeah, she seems pretty cool." He easily agreed, taking the empty cup from Mikey to refill it with cold iced water.
"Get some more rest, at least before dinner. Sleep helps a lot when you get a cold." Mikey saluted him, fixing up his blanket since he had made a mess of it. He glanced at his phone, a small giddiness rising in his chest. He wondered if he'd be able to get back to sleep now.
Well, he was able to go back to sleep. Actually, he slept all the way through dinner, and only woke up once in the night with a pounding in his head. He hesitantly woke up Leo, who let him have another one of those pills he got from April. He was able to get back to sleep after that, feeling troubled no longer.
The following two days, he had to call off school. The worst of it was a runny nose, he stuffed a few tissues up there to take care of the damage. Both Raph and Donnie had collected his homework he missed from his classes, stacking it all beside his bed.
Mikey was currently ending a practice session over the phone. Donnie was trying to ignore him with his headphones, but he ended up slipping them off, hearing Mikey and his friend giggling over the phone.
"Ok, you're right. Maybe we should leave that whole part for when we practice in person. I think we did the rest of it all good though!"
"Yeah, I think so too. Hey, are you feeling any better? Do you think you'll be able to come back tomorrow?" Mikey gave himself a small evaluation, thinking about it.
"Hmm. Maybe, if my headache goes away by tomorrow I'd like to go!" He pulled out one of the tissues from his nostril, cringing at a small string of blood.
"Ok. Then I'll be waiting at our desks. Thank you for practicing with me today." Mikey smiled, holding his phone closer.
"No, thank you. I feel like I'm getting better with my lines already!" She gave him a small laugh, and it made his whole face light up. They said their goodbyes, she was off to help with dinner. Mikey put his phone aside, grabbing at his folder of homework so he could do his assignments for the day.
Donnie peeked over at his little brother. Leo was also in the room, going over some notes for the upcoming festival. It was a list of students he needed to get into contact with. Donnie climbed down the ladder of his bed, going to join Mikey on the floor. He hadn't started his assignments yet either, now was as best a time as ever.
Mikey chewed the eraser of his pencil as he looked at a few math problems. God, was he starting to hate math. The teacher was very stern too, probably his least favorite class. Donnie leaned into the space between them, rolling a pencil in his hands.
"Sooo. You've gotten closer with Evette?" That caught Leo's attention, who whipped his head up to look at Donnie. He didn't have as much tact as Leo did, he decided to push further. Mikey's eyes met his, tilting his head.
"Huh? I mean, I guess so. Why?"
"Why? She obviously likes you." Leo froze, he watched Mikey smile wide, his hands on his lap.
"Yeah? Well, I hope so! Cause I like her too!" He watched the way Donnie was about to smirk, but then his face fell when he realized something.
"Oh my god."
"Donnie, no." He made a cutting motion with his hand, begging Donnie not so say anything.
"No way, dude. You don't know??"
"Don!" But his brother wasn't paying any attention to him, Donnie sat up straight. Mikey was giving him a confused face now.
"She totally has a crush on you. Like, she like likes you." Leo ran his palm over his face, of course he couldn't count on his brothers not to say anything.
Mikey sat still for a moment. It was like something switched in his head, and his mouth gaped open. He placed his hands over his head, as if it had just been blown to a million pieces and he had to find a way to put it back together.
"What?! She likes me?" He actually didn't believe it, and his brothers were just as surprised as he was.
"Don't tell me you didn't realize..." Donnie trailed off, he had never seen Mikey so on the brink of short circuiting.
"But- But. But she's like, so cool. And so nice. And I'm just, I don't know, a weird, mutant- turtle boy. I don't believe you, it has literally never crossed my mind." Both Leo and Donnie gave him a look at that.
"What? Dude... I think you're pretty cool too." Donnie mumbled, placing his pencil to the side.
"Yeah, I mean, so what if you're a mutant turtle. Mikey, just because you're a mutant doesn't mean you can't... y'know, like someone." Leo tried to assure him, but Mikey was only half listening. His mind still blown.
"Yeah, actually. There's a whole thread of people who are really into alien creatures and even other species, you'd be surprised."
"What?!" Both Mikey and Leo turned to Donnie in shock, and he averted his eyes after realizing what he just said.
"I-I mean, nothing! Never mind, you guys totally didn't just hear that from me! Please, forget I said that before I die of embarrassment..." He awkwardly laughed, staring at the floor.
Mikey was staring at the floor too. He didn't know what to do with the information. He used to tease Leo about his crush on April, but that was because it was Leo! He genuinely didn't expect to find himself in this predicament.
"She hasn't told you anything?" Donnie asked, his voice a lot more gentle than before. Mikey shook his head, a frown on his lips.
"No. And I don't think I want her to tell me. I don't even know what I'd say." Mikey meant it when he said he liked her. But the possibility that they could be anything more had never occurred to him- he just didn't think that way. Now he was beginning to wonder if he should be thinking that way.
Leo sighed at the troubling expression on Mikey's face. He got up from his bed to move to the floor with them, placing a hand over the back of Mikey's shell.
"Hey- Hey, Mike. Look, it's not that big of a deal, ok? First of all, we shouldn't have said anything." He shot Donnie a pointed look, who grimaced in regret. "We aren't the ones who should be telling you this, Evette should. When she wants to." Mikey turned up to his brother.
"And- Maybe she might never say anything, and you won't have to worry about it. Maybe we are completely wrong, I dunno." He shrugged, trying to lighten the mood. For some reason, that comment didn't exactly help his turmoil, which just confused him more.
"Yeah. I guess. I'll just- forget it, then." That was the answer he settled on as he looked back down at the floor. He still had pages of math homework to do, but now he was feeling all these different kinds of irritating emotions he's never had to deal with before. How could he do his math sheets in these conditions?
"I'm sorry, Mikey. Leo's right, I shouldn't have said that. Just wanted to tease you a little." He gave an awkward smile. Mikey just nodded his head, he didn't really blame him. Donnie took a look at his math sheets, realizing he hadn't started a single one.
"Here, I'll help you. Im pretty good at math. Take it as my apology, yeah?" That got Mikey to smile a bit. He scooted closer to Donnie, bringing his knees into his chest as he started explaining one of the problems and how to solve it. If Donnie ended up doing most of the math sheet for him, no one mentioned it.
Ok, so, maybe just forgetting everything was easier said than done. The minute he found himself conscious in bed, everything Donnie and Leo had said came rushing back. He was clearly preoccupied, he even forgot to greet his brothers in the morning like he usually would. He was staring down at his bowl of soggy lucky charms when Raph called his name. Once, twice, maybe three times.
"Earth to Michael- Angelo. Wow, this is the quietest you've ever been. What, did you get in a fight with one of them again?" Mikey shook his head, swirling his spoon around and watching colors mix in the milk.
"No." Raph clicked his teeth, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.
"Well, spit it out then. Dude, you're making me depressed. Who hurt you? Do I need to beat someone up?" Why was that the first thing he assumed? Didn't he know Mikey could throw down if he so wanted to?
"No, Raph. No. Just-" He tried to find the shortest explanation he could give him, dropping his spoon and watching it sink into the bowl.
"Girl problems. I guess."
"Ohh, there's a sentence I never imagined coming out of your mouth." He stared at him a second too long, his teasing smile wavering. "Aaand wow, you're actually serious. Ok-" He expected as much from Leo, he'd never expected this from Mikey. Raph sat up straight in his chair again, he looked like he wanted to say something more. Whatever it was, Mikey beat him to it.
"It's just- I don't know. I didn't think I'd ever be able to experience real crushes before. And now Don and Leo are saying my friend likes me. She's never told me that before! And I don't not like her. But I also don't know if I like like her. What am I even saying??" His hands were spread before him, searching for some kind of answer. It was all word vomit, and Raph was honestly surprised to find his youngest brother so conflicted for once.
"Wow. You sound like an actual teenager. Good for you." He commented, and Mikey gave him a stank eye. Raph awkwardly scratched at his neck, wondering what to say because honestly- he was drawing a blank. He was never good at comforting people to begin with, how do you comfort your little brother with his 'girl problems'?
"I mean, dude. Is she asking for an answer from you right now?"
"She's not asking me anything!" Raph gave him a look, as if to say 'then what's the problem?' He wasn't sure what the problem was, that was the problem.
"Ok. Well. Stop worrying about what everyone else is saying then. Just worry about what she says." Raph took a bite of the pop tart that lay on the table in front of him. Then he pointed a finger back at Mikey.
"And she's not saying anything. So, don't worry about it. Look, when it matters most, you'll know your answer. People are gonna say a lot of things, you have to learn to tune them out." He took another bite of the pop tart, and Mikey was staring him dead in the face like he couldn't just believe it was Raph who said that. Raph? His mentally unstable older brother who flies off the handle when someone even looks his way wrong? He was struck speechless for a good minute, he didn't even know what to say.
"Wow. That's- that's actually really good advice. I'm gonna be honest, I thought you'd make fun of me." Mikey admitted, because it felt like the most Raph thing to do. Raph grunted as he swallowed his food. He gave him a quick glance, shrugging his shoulders before beginning to get up from his seat.
"Yeah, well. You aren't the only one with problems."
"You're having problems?" Mikey looked concerned, Raph gave him another look.
"Sure, I mean, I was. But they weren't 'girl' problems." Mikey blinked up at him, Raph turned away right after.
"Wait- Raph! What does that mean?" It was no use, Raph wasn't going to give him any more insight on his supposed 'problems'. Mikey felt damn lucky for taking what little he had been given in the first place, even if it didn't make any sense at all.
On the way to school, Mikey had a small, very estranged fear in the pit of his stomach. Anxiety. He was anxious. He was anxious, because what if he couldn't be normal around Evette anymore? He got along so easily with everyone, would that perfect streak break now all because of what his brothers told him? What if things start to change? What if they can't be good friends anymore? That made him anxious. He didn't want any of that.
Mikey stepped up to the entrance of their school, pausing in his steps. He was sure the smile on his face looked a lot more forced than natural. He turned to find his brothers waving to him, and he gave a wave back. That was it. No big gestures from him today, he started toward the hall alone.
Each step closer to the theater room made him feel like he was walking towards his doom. Gosh, was this what Leo felt like whenever they teased him about April? Because if so- he may have to start dialing back on the whole thing. Mikey ducked his head down into his hoodie, wanting to suddenly hide away from the crowd of people surrounding him. Something he would never think to do. He was forced to give a few greetings anyways, no one ever left him alone in the halls.
When Mikey first entered his classroom, he was met with smiling faces. The teacher gave him a hello, like she always did. A few of his friends that sat in the far back row of the class called out to him. He waved his hand their way. He heard some kid near him recite a line from a popular video on tiktok, and he couldn't help but let out a laugh. So many things were happening at once, that he hadn't even realized he had made it to his seat, as if on autopilot. He pushed the handle to his backpack down, a small voice catching his attention.
"Michael!" Mikey's fingers flinched at the voice, and he turned over to the girl who called his name. His seat mate, and her smile was on full display for him. She had discarded the mask this time, a pencil resting between her fingers. Mikey's voice came out like a surprise to him.
"Evette!" He sat in his seat, his body instinctively turning towards her.
"You’re back! That's good, I'm so glad you didn't get as sick as I did the first time." She sounded so relieved to see him. Mikey's shoulders slouched in relief as well.
"I told you not to worry! Leo gave me some of that medicine. What is it called? Niquel? Nill- something." His hands were moving now, she laughed a bit.
"NyQuil? Yeah, my brother gave me that too." A small laugh escaped his throat.
"Yeah, that. It knocked me out every time." Oh? What was this? This was a lot easier than he anticipated. He wasn't forcing the conversation, it was just happening. And it was so easy too. And he had worried for nothing, now he felt like a fool. They were smiling, laughing together. Like they always did. Mikey pulled out his class folder, turning to her enthusiastically.
"Ok. You, me, lunch. We can practice everything we didn't get to the past few days." Her smile never faltered, in fact, it enhanced. The light from the classroom seemed to illuminate her every feature. Now Mikey was looking at her. Like, really looking at her.
She always dressed in plain colors, was the first thing he noticed. Today she had on a white button up, a light blue tie around the collar. It was paired with a long skirt that almost covered the light brown boots at her feet. Parts of her straight brown hair were pulled to the back of her head, a light blue string keeping the hair in place. Her bangs always looked a little messy on her face, but Mikey found that it just worked for her. It was cute.
"Ok! Yeah, I'll meet you at our bench spot." Our bench spot. Mikey was beaming, but a sudden shyness seemed to come over her, washing away the split excitement she had in her voice. That happened a lot with her, Mikey wished it happened less. She didn't need to be shy with him, he supposes that took baby steps.
"Yeah, I'll be there!"
And he was there. On time, early? He had been waiting at the bench with his backpack tucked between his legs, his eyes searching amongst the students around him. He didn't even go around to greet his brothers like he usually did, he just came straight here after math. The time on his phone only showed that three minutes had passed since the lunch bell rang. They had plenty of time, so he stayed patient.
And that was getting harder to do when the ten minute mark hit. Now he was confused. Now he was anxious again, and he wasn't sure why. Evette wasn't the type to ditch you out of no where, and yet, not a single text from her. Mikey wasn't one to keep still, he jumped up from the seat, rolling his backpack behind him as he went back into the halls. Nothing, and then he found himself at the lunch tables.
He wasn't sure what class she had before lunch, his search was limited. He was so convinced he could spot her out in a room if he tried hard enough, squinting his eyes and watching people and colors mix together in his vision. But I guess he was right. Because he did spot her, somewhere at the end of one of the lunch tables, her back turned to him as she looked toward a few other faces. Friends, most likely.
Mikey went closer to the table, relieved to see that she most likely got distracted for a moment. He was about to call out to her, but he heard one of the girls at the table start talking, her voice loud and piercing, it even annoyed Mikey.
"He totally knows! Did you see the look on your face? Just tell him already! Like, what are you actually waiting for?" Mikey froze in his spot, he was standing right behind her.
"Guys... It's not that easy." Her voice sounded so much smaller than he was used to hearing. Another girl started talking.
"Well, if you don't, someone else probably will eventually. He's pretty popular, and no offense, but you kind of aren't."
"Eve, we love you, but grow a pair and tell him already. The worst that could happen is he turns you down!" Evette held her folder close to her chest, her head turning down. One of the girls finally acknowledged him, a hand flying up to her mouth.
"Looks like you don't have to try that hard, cats out of the bag now!" She laughed, like this was something to laugh about. They motioned for her to turn around.
Mikey grew up with a father who hated humans. He always talked about how cruel they were, how badly they could treat you just for being different. He didn't expect the world to be all sunshine and rainbows, but he did try to see the good in everything, everyone, he knew they had it in them. The first time he believed his father's words was when everyone turned against them during their battle with Super-Fly. And this, this would be the second time.
Mikey's face fell when he saw the shock in Evette's face. She had tears welling up in her eyes, a redness appearing in her cheeks and nose. That didn't happen automatically, Mikey wondered if she was crying before this.
"Evette-" He breathed out, her lip quivered at the sight of him. She accidentally bumped his shoulder when she pushed past him, running off down the hall to escape it all. Mikey's brows furrowed in worry. He turned to the table full of girls. Evette's friends, some friends they were. They would be the first people in this school he could confidently say he didn't like.
"Why... Why would you say that?" He asked them, because he was still processing the fact that people could be so mean. That obviously wasn't the question they were expecting.
"Come on... it's obvious, right?" She smiled to him, the other girls humming in agreement. Mikey's face showed one of sadness, and blatant disappointment.
"But... it wasn't to me." He remembered not only Leo's, but Raph's words. Why was everyone trying to talk for her? The girl raised her brows in disbelief.
"Seriously?" Seriously? Yeah, seriously. He didn't even care to answer her, instead, he turned away from the table. Mikey headed toward the direction he believed Evette had went. Or, at least, the direction he'd hoped she went.
And luck must have been on his side, because she was right where he thought she'd be. On her side of their bench spot. She was still crying, and Mikey felt so guilty, even if he hadn't done anything.
He moved his backpack beside the bench, taking his seat next to her. His hands were folded together, and he kept glancing over to her. Usually, he'd be able to put on a smile and crack a joke or two to lighten the mood, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to think of something.
The young girl finally looked over to him, her eyes were pink, her bangs were even more of a mess than before. Mikey wished he had some tissues on him. He tried to give her a small smile, but she turned back away, wiping her eyes. Mikey rubbed his palms over jeans.
"...Hey-"
"Can you pretend you didn't hear it?" Her voice was quivering, Mikey could barely make out what she was saying. He leaned in closer, but not too close, not enough to scare her away.
"What?"
"I didn't know you were right there. And-" Her hands shakily held the folder in her hands.
"I-I wasn't ready to tell you." Mikey swallowed the lump in his throat, he felt so bad for her.
"I just want to be your friend- I don't want to ruin it." She let out a small cry, and Mikey so desperately wanted to hug her. He felt the same way, he had shared the same fear when his brothers brought it up.
Mikey willed himself to sit still, not wanting to screw everything up with the wrong reaction. So, when she looked at him, he gave her a small shrug. The most honest smile on his face he could give.
"Didn't hear a word." He heard everything. He heard it twice, but if she was asking him to act like it had all been a made up scene in some fairy tail? It may as well never happened.
She gave him a small nod, her hands folding over her folder. She took deep, shaky breaths to calm herself. She was already embarrassed for crying, Mikey stay silent beside her. He looked down at his backpack, realizing they would have missed another chance to go over their scripts. It seems Evette was thinking the same thing, a sad smile on her face.
"Jeez... Will we ever get to practice our lines?" She tried to joke, despite it all. Mikey felt something wash over him, he sighed out dramatically, throwing his arms up before him.
"Right? Can't get nothing done around here!" Her laugh was accompanied by small hiccups, she was still wiping her eyes. A few trails had stained her cheeks.
"Don't worry. If we have to, we'll just improvise. I think we can do it, yeah? We make a pretty good team." It was coming back to him now. The flow of easy conversation. She wasn't feeling her best, but she was still smiling with him.
"Yeah. We can do it." She stopped shaking a minute ago. She picked at the hairs of her bangs, realizing how tousled they must look. Her eyes were cast downward, that familiar shyness Mikey knew too well at this point.
"...Thank you, Michael." Mikey blinked at her, he didn't think she had to thank him. He thought about how to reply, his fingers playing with the hem of his shirt.
"Mikey." He said, and she tilt her head.
"I know everyone here calls me Michael, because that's what's on the name sheet. But..." Unbeknownst to him, his cheeks went a darker shade of green. "You can call me Mikey. Like what my brothers call me. Or Mike, whatever floats your boat."
"Really?" He nodded, watching her eyes go through the motions. She gripped her folder in her hands.
"Then... Eve. You can call me Eve. Like my close friends do!"
"Ok." Mikey laughed, his grin spreading from ear to ear. Did he have ears? Whatever, that wasn't important.
"Ok." She repeated, and they were cut short by the next bell. They laughed when they realized they'd have to stay late after school to get practice in. But neither of them minded, promising each other to meet in the theater room.
It was really late when they finally left, and Mikey's brothers had stopped by to pick him up from school. Mikey could handle walking home himself - but they went anyways, just because that was their little brother.
Mikey was all smileys, waving to Evette as she went over to the truck that was sat waiting for her. Without thinking too hard about it, he pressed two fingers to his mouth, and tossed one of those nonexistent air kisses her way. That's how he said goodbye to his favorite people, but he failed to realize it may have been overkill when her face burned a bright red. She hurried away to hide herself in the truck.
"Yeah, maybe don't do that to just anyone next time." Raph said, feeling sorry for the poor girl. Mikey frowned, shrugging his comment off.
"She's not just anyone."
"Oh really?" That was Donnie, Leo trapped him with an arm around his neck, lightly shoving into his side.
"Alright Alright, save the teasing for later. Dad just bought pizza with stuffed crust. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving."
"Ooo, stuffed crust." Both Mikey and Donnie said in unison. Raph just looked down at his phone when a text lit up the screen. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips, Leo watched him curiously.
"Excited for pizza?" He asked, Raph put his phone down, stuffing it into the pocket of his hoodie.
"Always." Raph said, going to give Mikey a noogie on his head. Mikey laughed, inching away from Raph when his knuckles grinded against his head.
He watched the truck drive away, his eyes following it before it was out of sight. He wondered what expression she wore now, after hiding away from him.