Revelations of the Heart

Third times the charm.

Aella Jones, 16 years old
New York, New York 2017
Tonight was the guys' 18th birthday, and Casey, April, and I were going down to the lair to throw them a little party. Mikey was pretty stoked about being 18 and we had were excited to give the guys a piece of normalcy after everything they did for us. Since Casey and I had met them a year ago, they had become fixtures in our lives. After Casey got home that first night he explained everything from the beginning to me, including how April got involved with the turtles and their rat mutant father/sensei Master Splinter. To be honest, I thought that would be the end of it, that we would go back to just being plain old Aella and Casey. But then he actually DID start dating April, and she was around as much as possible. Vern Fenwick went back to being her cameraman, even though he was famous again, so he was around somedays, and because April considered the turtles to be family of sorts we spent a lot of time with them either in the lair or in our loft. We were hardly alone anymore, and I had a hard time adjusting for a couple of months. But Vern was almost like a funcle, always bringing me presents, and the guys were awesome. The second time I met them it was a shock. I had come home around 8 from a babysitting job a block over, expecting to curl up on the couch next to Casey with popcorn and Netflix before bed. Instead, I walked into the living room to find all four guys sitting on the floor and April and Casey cuddled on the love seat. There were pizza boxes and sodas on the coffee table, and everyone was talking and laughing. They all looked up when they noticed me, and Casey's eyes got big and he said, 'Hey sis, how was babysitting?' I suddenly felt lightheaded. My grey eyes locked with green, and everything went black. When I came to, I could hear Mikey asking, 'Dude, is she ok? Did we scare her?' 'Nah,' my brother said. 'She's anemic. She probably forgot her iron again. Trust me, you guys don't even register on the scale of anything that scares her.' I opened my eyes to see Casey brushing the hair off my forehead with a wet rag. Mikey was right behind Casey, Leo and Donnie were still sitting on the floor, looking concerned, and April came into view with a glass of water. I sat up slowly and looked around at them. Then I noticed one was missing. I looked behind me to see Raphael leaning against the wall, holding another wet rag. He walked over and dropped it into my brother's hand before taking a seat beside the others, looking into my eyes the whole time. I noticed other details this time. A scar on his upper lip, and a crack in his plastron. He had a toothpick between his teeth. I glanced up at Casey. He looked nervous, like he was scared of how I'd react. I waited a minute before speaking, just to keep him in suspense. 'So, I need iron, some chocolate, and a darn good explanation for why I wasn't invited to the party. You know Fast and the Furious is my jam.' He smiled, relieved. 'Yeah, yeah I didn't think you'd be home so soon. Um, I'm gonna come clean. This is a pretty regular thing on nights you babysit. I honestly wasn't sure how you would like it, so I didn't tell you.' I got to my feet, walking to the kitchen for my pills, popping one and swallowing water. Glancing at Raph I said, 'What's not to like? Just four mutants chilling in my apartment for two months without me knowing. No big deal. I can obviously handle this betrayal from my loving brother so much better.' 'Oh don't be dramatic Aella. You know I would've told you eventually.' 'Yeah, eventually. Look, it was nice seeing you all again, but um, I'm just gonna turn in for the night, yeah? I'll see you April.' Turning, I walked up the stairs to the bedroom on the top floor of the loft. I was getting angry and I didn't understand why. I was usually pretty chill, especially with Casey. He just wanted to protect me like he always does. But it didn't feel fair. I felt like I was being pushed out of his life. It had only been a couple months, but he and April seemed pretty serious, and now he was having secret movie nights with mutant turtles. He was having all the fun. I mean technically it wasn't his fault I didn't have friends. I didn't tend to get along with people my age, being that my brother was 15 years older than me, and I had already watched both of my parents die, which was more than most kids in my grade. I buried myself in books and homework. I loved reading and science and really wanted to get into a good nursing program and get me and Casey out of New York. He always joked that I was the brains and he was the brawn. I shook the thoughts out of my head and went into the bathroom, starting my bedtime routine. When I came back out I was startled to see Mikey standing by the window inspecting my Himalayan salt lamp. 'Uh, hello?' He fumbled the lamp, barely catching it before it hit the floor. He looked up and grinned. 'Hey girl! I, uh, brought you some chocolate from April, but I may have eaten it while I was waiting on you.' He produced a Hershey wrapper from somewhere sheepishly. I couldn't help but smile a little. 'So if you ate the chocolate, why are you still up here?' He rubbed the back of his neck. 'I kinda wanted to ask you to take it easy on Casey. He didn't mean to hurt you. Leo hinted that you shouldn't be involved with us if it could be helped. We deal with dangerous stuff all the time, and you're still a kid.' I sighed. 'I haven't been just a kid for a long time. But I appreciate you trying to defend my brother. I'm not really angry, I just miss him. Maybe next time he'll let me in on the fun.' 'Yeah, we always have pizza, so that's like waay awesome.' I smiled again. He was so simple. 'I love pizza too,' I said. 'Pizza, chocolate, and caring about my brother. This could be the start of a great friendship.' He grinned wider. 'I'd like that, a lot.' Just then we heard a loud 'Yo Mikey, we're leaving. Hurry up!' from downstairs. He gave me a three fingered salute, saying 'Sorry again about the chocolate. I owe you!,' and then ran downstairs. A minute later I heard excited whooping from outside and looked out the window to see the four of them jumping out of sight over the roofs. I heard footsteps on the stairs, and a knock on the wall. 'Hey, punk, I really am sorry you found out this way. I was trying to shelter you, let you be normal as much as possible. Keeping their secrets and hearing all the time about the crazy stuff that actually goes down in town is weird still, even for me.' At least he was honest. He wasn't sorry for not telling me. He was sorry he got caught. He knew I would discern the difference. He would never be sorry for doing what he thought was right for me. I sat on the bed and sighed. 'I know you're right, but I don't have to be happy about it. Besides I haven't been completely honest with you either. I haven't been the same since I met them the first time. I'm not scared of them, but knowing that their existence is just the tip of the iceberg is pretty intense. I mean aliens? That was wild. And I miss you enough as it is but now I find out that you've gotten involved deeper with them? I'm not ok Case.' He sat beside me quietly for a minute. Then, 'I hear you. I'm glad you told me. But we'll be ok, I promise. And I miss you too, punk. But I do want to let you know that April and me, it feels serious. You will always come first to me, no matter what, and she is very aware of that. I love you sis.' He kissed the side of my head and got up. 'I love you too Case. Goodnight.' I clicked the lamp off and rolled over, falling asleep quickly.
The third time I met them was a month later, on their turf, in the sewers for the first time. There was a power outage, it was cold, and Donatello said they had power in the lair. So April, Casey, and I each packed a bag and a pillow and met Raphael at the nearest entrance. Of course on the way down the ladder I lost my footing, gasping and embarrassing myself in front of the ninja. He offered a hand to help me the rest of the way but I ignored it, cheeks flaming. I didn't want him, THEM, thinking I was some helpless kid. I could take care of myself. I hoisted my backpack higher on my shoulder and gestured for him to lead the way. In a few minutes we were in the lair. It was highly modified, fully furnished, and teched out with scavenged stuff. It was honestly amazing. That wound up being the first of many that I would spend the night. Everyone except Raphael sat around the tv with pizza and sodas. He took a plate and walked into a different part of the lair, sliding two doors closed behind him. Mikey noticed me watching and said 'Don't mind him. He probably just wants to train some. It takes a lot to be that big you know. Are you gonna eat that?', pointing at the half eaten piece on my plate. I shook my head no pushing it towards him. He downed it in one bite and I snorted. 'What? Is there something on my face?' 'This is all just so weird still. You guys are pretty awesome, but I might need a minute to adjust, you know?' 'Totally dudette. No problem. In the meantime you and me are totally gonna be besties you know.' He threw an arm over my shoulder. I laughed and shrugged out from under it. 'Well for starters to our new bestie-ship where's the bathroom?' I was walking back towards the common area after I finished when I heard rock music playing from a room on my left. I paused to listen, then gently slid one of the doors open. I recognized the band as My Darkest Days, and I peeked into the room to see Raphael with his back to me, doing one handed push-ups with his feet crossed. He was so focused he didn't hear me come in. I leaned against the doorframe and just watched for a minute. He looked almost calm, despite the fact that he was sweating, and his muscles were contracting with each count. As I watched, all of a sudden I felt warm and nervous, like I was doing something I shouldn't be. I ducked back out into the hall and quietly slid the door shut. Then I leaned against it until my heart slowed, before rejoining everyone else, taking my place on the arm of the couch beside Mikey. Nights like that became common. Movies, pizza, popcorn, everyone catching up on the latest what ups. During the school year Donnie helped me with pretty much anything I needed. Leonardo was teaching me breathing and meditation, and a little Japanese on the side, and, of course, Mikey became my bff. During the summer we skated the sewers and in the winter we had rooftop snowball fights. We were partners in crime, masters in finding ways around the rules my brother put in place. I mean, it wasn't like I was ever in any real danger with any of them around. And then there was Raphael. I couldn't figure out what he thought of me, mostly because he barely spoke to me. He was always polite, but never friendly, and on most movie nights he shut himself in the dojo and exercised for most of the night, usually coming out near the very end. I knew this because after that first night I went back time and time again to spy on him, excusing myself to the bathroom and lingering quietly in the doorway to the training room. Every time I felt the same way, excited and ashamed at the same time. He intrigued me, the rough exterior, anger issues, and Brooklyn accent, covering the facts that he knitted and read, he loved his father and brothers deeply, and he had a soft spot for street cats. I caught him watching me a lot, with a look I couldn't place, and when they split up on patrol I would catch him out of the corner of my eye pausing on the roof opposite the loft. He always moved before I could look at him fully but I knew. All this leading up to tonight, and him letting me sleep in his room. It felt huge. He was so private when I was around and yet here he trusted me with his only little retreat. It made me giddy. His room was suprisingly tidy. His bed was made, books, comics, and cds all had their place on a small bookshelf, and the floor was fairly clear aside from a pair of red boxers peeking out under the bed. The bed itself took up a lot of the space and was fitted with black cotton sheets and a thick red comforter. The whole room smelled like Axe body spray and faint musk. April had done a good job of teaching the guys basic human hygiene, so the lair now smelled less like a sewer and more like the boys locker room at my high school, but this room smelled all Raph. Getting changed into my pjs quickly, I pulled out my book for school and settled back into the pillows. After trying and failing to concentrate on my biology text for about 10 minutes, I took out my sketchbook. It didn't take long for my eyes to get heavy. My pencil fell to the floor and I drifted off.