If someone were to take a photograph of our front room at the moment, that picture would be pretty hilarious.
I'm lying upside down on the couch, screaming about my splitting headache. Mallory is yelling at me about how if I sat up like a normal, civilized person, I wouldn't have a headache. Mom is lying on the ground--propped up with her hands--eyes glued to the TV as she watches her favorite soap opera, White Horses. Benj is sitting next to her, same position, watching intently as well.
Whenever it turns to a commercial, Benj turns onto his back and looks at his phone, screaming every time it drops onto his face. Rose sits on the coffee table, painting her nails and pointing out every little thing she thinks is dumb about the show and the commercials.
I hear a knock on the window, but I don't look up. Rose glances over and then turns back to painting her nails.
"Lexi, it's one of your turtle friends," she says monotonously.
Mallory sighs and gets up to open the window. Mikey had been an idiot the night before and stopped by when I had Mallory over at my house.
She unlocks the window and lets Leo in. He thanks her and slowly walks over to our family. He crosses his arms over his chest and raises his eye ridges.
"There's something wrong with this picture," he says.
"It's because you're in it." I groan and rub my head. "AGH! My head is throbbing."
"Then sit up idiot! For the hundredth time!" Mallory says, yanking me up from my position. A look of satisfaction sets on her face when my face relaxes, indicating that my headache is fading.
"MAGIC!" I exclaim. Leo chuckles and takes a seat next to me. I turn to him and raise my eyebrows. "So why'd you drop in? You miss me already?"
"I have to admit, the lair isn't half exciting as this room."
I snicker and lean forward, yawning. "Sunday is our recluse day." The last few minutes of White Horses finishes up. "We all get up at exactly seven in the morning and all sit in the same room doing absolutely nothing for the entire day."
"And you enjoy it?"
"Love it."
Rose finishes her toenails and sits on the coffee table, hugging her knees. Benj turns back upside down and begins texting me, and his phone drops onto his face a few more times. Mom watches the commercials and Mallory yawns.
Rose sighs. "My toe hurts."
"My brain hurts." I yawn, and when I do so, it creates a chain effect and the living room turns into a circle of yawns. First me, then Mallory, Leo, Benj, Mom and then Rose.
"I want a saber-tooth cat," Rose says.
"Go find one," I reply.
"Okay, I'll be right back." She stands up and walks out of the room. It's silent for a few minutes, besides the yawns and commercials. One of the commercials is of a woman -- an ad for a face wash.
"No one can splash water like that and do it without getting their clothes wet," I say.
Benj shakes his head. "She can."
A battery commercial comes on about a girl who loses her dog and can't find it anywhere, but then she finds a flashlight and uses the batteries and finds the dog late at night.
"Mom, why don't we have a dog?" Benj asks.
Mom sighs. "Because dogs are too good for us."
"Are cats too good for us?"
"Benjamin, our entire family hates cats."
"Are pigs too good for us?"
"Yes."
"What can we get?" I ask.
Mom sighs. "You can each get a pet rock."
Rose comes back in and reclaims her seat on the coffee table.
"Did you find your saber-tooth cat?"
"No, but I found a dog."
"We just had this discussion," Mom says.
A commercial comes on that shows an ad for a cruise to Canada. There are a bunch of Canadians holding hands and making a line across a grocery store.
"I wanna go to Canada," Mallory mumbles.
"I wanna go to Canada too."
"Let's just go pack our bags," Rose suggests.
We all continue to sit, motionless. Leo finally speaks up.
"This would be the worst reality show ever," he says.
"You know, that's a good idea," Rose says. "Let's make a reality show."
I nod. "We'll call it the Kings. And Leo."
Rose and Benj turn to Leo.
Rose raises her eyebrows. "You're Leo? Mom says she's so excited for you and Lexi to have turtle kids."
I have never tried so hard to keep a straight face in my life.
•••••••••••••••••
"But seriously, don't feel offended," I say. "We don't usually interact like normal people on Sundays."
I sit in the chair in front of my computer in my bedroom. My feet are propped up onto my desk, and I face Leo, who stands next to the wall, leaning against it. He smiles and shakes his head.
"I understand. At first, I was wondering if I should introduce myself or something. Well I guess that's good to know."
"Yeah, Recluse Days are the best. You should join them more often. It's a way of interacting and bonding with each other...without actually interacting and bonding with each other. Mikey would never be able to follow the rules though."
"What rules?"
"Well," I begin, taking a deep breath. "You have to speak like you're bored out of your mind and you have to say every thought that comes to your mind. We've been doing them since I was seven."
"Wow...that's actually really clever."
"My dad thought of them. He wanted us to be able to tolerate each other more, so he made us all sit in a room together. Eventually, we just got rebellious and ignored each other. Then it evolved to what we do now." I smile. "I think of my family as ostriches. They like to run into walls and dig their heads into the dirt."
"Thank you for that wonderful thought. Get some sleep. I'll see you later, Lex."
"You should come down to the Headquarters tomorrow," I say.
"I'll talk to Splinter about it." There's a silence, and Leo scratches the back of his neck. "Um...we're friends now, right?"
I nod.
"Does that mean we can hug?"
"Of course." I hug him. "Goodnight, Leo." When I pull away, he smiles at me and nods once.
"Goodnight, Lexi." With that, he's out the window.
I take one last look at our family picture, and find myself drifting off into unconsciousness. I don't know what I dream about, but I smile as I sleep that night.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I wake up feeling refreshed the next morning, which is a huge surprise because I'm not at all a morning person. I stay in bed and scroll through my phone, only willing myself to get out of bed when I realize I need to get those DVDs burned today.
I open up the door to the attic, coughing at the thick dust in the air. I try to hold my breath as I search for the videos, but I can almost taste my lungs getting tighter. When I finally spot the bag of videos, I don't waste a moment before snatching them up. I stumble down the ladder, coughing.
"Hey, hey, Hamato Residence!" I exclaim, walking through the doors to the lair.
"Lexi!" Mikey exclaims, jumping out and pouncing into my arms. "Finally! Somebody who isn't boring!"
I chuckle and pat his head.
"You obviously haven't seen her on Sundays," Leo mutters from above.
I grin up at him. One by one, the guys come down, all except for Donnie who is shut tight in his room. I have to literally drag Mikey with me (he wouldn't let go) to Donnie's room.
"Hey Don. Can you do me a Christmas favor?" I ask.
He nods. "Sure. What's up?"
I hold out the bag to him. "For Christmas, I want to burn these old family home videos onto a DVD for my mom. These tapes are easily eighteen years old so if they get damaged, I want a back-up for her to have."
"I'd love to help you out. I'll have them done by tomorrow, if you wanna come pick them up."
"Thanks, Don! You're the best!" I hug him. This catches him off guard, but he laughs and hugs me back.
"Anytime, Lexi."
When I exit Donnie's room, Mikey follows me.
"Why don't I ever get hugs?" The orange-clad turtle whines, crossing his arms.
"'Cause ya hang onto her like a koala! She ain't gonna wanna be anywhere near ya!" Raph says wearily.
I chuckle. "Someone's not too happy."
Raph rolls his eyes. "I'm tired. By the way, Leo said somethin' to Splinter the other night about coming to your work today. I guess Splinter accepted."
"Yeah! I get to go to a secret Headquarters!" Mikey exclaims.
"Not if you act like that, you won't," I warn. "Now where's Leo?"
"Why do you wanna know where Leo is?" Mikey asks slyly.
"So I have someone normal to be around!" I exclaim, slouching onto the couch and taking control of the remote. I hear Mikey trying to sneak up on me, and without turning to look at him, I say, "For a ninja, you're really bad at sneaking up on people."
I hear him groan and flop onto the couch again. I turn on Animal Planet.
"What's so good about animal planet?" Raph asks. "All it talks about are animals."
"You obviously know nothing. Sure, it's called Animal Planet, but it's not completely animal dedicated. Like 65-75%. The rest is like survival show and stuff like that. The logo is, Animal Planet...surprisingly human."
"How old were you when you started watchin' this stuff?" It's a rhetorical question, but Leo--coming from the hallway--decides to answer it.
"She was seven." He takes a seat on the other side of me.
"Do you like any other channels?" Mikey asks.
"Of course I do. I watch news channels. And Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. But my all-time second favorite is Investigation Discovery."
"That last one ain't a surprise," Raph says. "Your family works undercover!"
"Do you like Soap Operas, like your mom?" Leo asks.
"I like to make fun of them," I say, laughing. My eyes catch onto the screen. "Here, look: it's a commercial for 'I Shouldn't Be Alive'." We watch the commercial, and it says that episode will be up next.
"What's the episode called?"
"Killer Crevasse," I answer, eyes glued to the TV.
When it's over, I help myself to some cold pizza, leftover.
"I see why you like them so much!" Raph exclaims, truly impressed.
I smile, satisfied with myself for getting them into one of my favorite shows. I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket. When I fish it out, I see it's Agent Serena calling me. My forehead crinkles. It's not often that Serena calls.
Something is wrong.
"Hello, this is Agent Alexandra King."
"Agent, the Dark Angels have found our headquarters. They have broken in and attacked us. Most of our warriors are injured very badly and some were taken hostage...including your sensei." Her voice is stern, yet calm. I hear clashing in the background.
"Master Makai...is he okay?" I ask, trying as hard as I can not to panic. It has been drilled into my brain after years and years that panic does not help. This goes with another thing that we were taught at the headquarters: if you can't help, then hide.
"Master Makai has been taken, so we're not sure how he is holding up. We have contacted your mother and she's got Benjamin and Rosalie safe. The Dark Angels are going to be looking everywhere for you. I was informed you were attacked by them last Friday at approximately eight-thirty." Shoot...I had forgotten to tell her.
"Yes." I want to apologize for not telling her sooner but I know she'll bite my head off and tell me this isn't the time for apologies.
"Did you give them any information?"
"No, m'am."
"Are you in a safe, secured place where they cannot find you?"
"Yes."
She sighs. "You are not permitted to leave that spot until further notice. Am I heard?"
"Yes, but Agent Serena--"
"No questions at all. You can't do anything except wait for now. You don't have half the experience that they do."
"Serena, I've been taking classes since I was nine--"
"You are not ready, Alexandra. They will not hesitate to kill you. Obey my orders." With that, she hangs up.
I remove the phone from my ear and stare at the ground, my eyebrows scrunched together. I feel a hand on my shoulder but I don't look over.
"My child, what is wrong?" Splinter.
I set my jaw. "The Dark Angels broke into the lair and apparently they're looking for me. I don't know why. My mom has Benj and Rose safe..." My voice gets quieter. "But the Dark Angels have hurt many people at the HUA. Some taken hostage. They have my sensei."
All is quiet.
I close my eyes. "I don't know what they are going to do with them, but I have to stop them. Serena told me not to leave where I am, but I can't just sit back when these people are in danger."
"Why don't we all bust some heads then?" Raph suggests, standing up. "All four of us, plus Lexa. We can even ask April and Casey."
"Raphael, if she is not permitted to leave the lair, she should not leave," Splinter says.
Raph groans. "Master Splinter, c'mon. This is her sensei we're talkin' about! When you were captured by Shredder, we went out to find ya! And we got ya back! We can do the same for Lexa."
Splinter sighs. After a few minutes with his eyes closed, he turns to Leo and tells him to call April and Casey.
"What do they want from me?" I whisper, shaking my head in confusion.
"I don't know, Lexi. But we'll get your sensei back," Mikey says quietly.
•••••••••••••••••••
The lair opens up and a buff man with long, dark hair walks in with a woman with long, red hair. The woman smiles at me, and hugs me.
"I assume you're Lexi. I'm April."
The buff man holds out his hand to shake. "I'm Casey Jones. I like to bash heads in, so these Dark Angels shouldn't be a problem."
I cross my arms and shake my head. "They're stronger than you think." I turn and see that the turtles are ready, positioned with their weapons.
I smile at them, and lock eyes with Leo. His brown eyes are telling me everything is going to be okay. He cares...they all do. I didn't even know April and Casey until a few minutes ago, and the turtles until a few days ago. And they care. And that is what builds the strength inside me to take out my two katana swords and smile. Because I know I'm not going to have to do this alone.
•••••••••••••••••
A/N: Yessss here comes actual action and adventure now. You didn't think Lexi would actually stay back, did you? There wasn't much of a fight on that one
Serena: Alexandra, whatever you do, don't leave where you are.
Lexi: Ok. *puts down phone*
The turtles: So what are you doing
Lexi: Well i was told not to leave
Lexi: So
Lexi: I'm going to leave
Leo: Ok
Mikey: Ok
Don: Ok
Raph: Ok
Master Splinter: But wait i am an adult and parenthood responsibilities prevent me from consenting to this
Raph: but master splinter
Master Splinter: Ok
*April and Casey show up*
April: *hugs Lexi*
Lexi: idk you but ok
Casey: idk you but i like to use my baseball bat on bad guys so idk i guess I'll come with you
Lexi: lol ok
Leo: So you were told not to leave
Leo: And that it's dangerous
Leo: and that these people are trying to kill you
Leo: and you're gonna now go after them
Lexi: Yeah
Leo: Ok
^^^^^^^ A+ writing
So anywayyyyyyy hope that this kind-of cliffhanger made you kind of maybe want to actually keep reading. ^.^'