"Oh my gosh, Leo! You were so awesome last night!" The small group of East Side High cheerleaders all giggled in agreement as they walked along with Leonardo and his band of friends. Leonardo Splinterson, athletic superstar at his high school, had an amazing talent in basketball. He was never one to brag about his abilities; his admirers did that enough as it is. But he would be lying if he said he did not like the attention he got because of it.
"Yeah, man. Ya did pretty good gettin' dat 23 point guard ta travel," his best friend Raphael said with a grin as he elbowed his side.
"Thanks," Leo said with a proud smile on his face. He stopped by his locker to put away his calculus textbook to grab his Spanish II textbook, resulting in the entire group stopping around him as they continued to rave on and on about the teen's amazing tactics.
"Leo, can you show ME how to move like that?" A brunette asked rather boldly, placing her manicured hands against the letterman jacket zipped up across Leonardo's broad chest. His eyes widened for a moment before an embarrassing blush spread across his face.
"W-Well, I-"
"Ah, don't worry about Leo," Raphael suddenly cut in, grinning and eyeing the cheerleader like a predator eyed a fresh piece of meat, "He actually learns a lot of them moves from yours truly~" Leonardo silently let out a sigh of relief as the girl's attention was averted away from him.
"We, I'd really Iike to keep talking to you ladies, but I need to get to Spanish 2. Mr. Gambe will kill me if I'm late again." A chorus of 'aw's and other noises of disappointment resounded from the group as almost every girl gave the athlete their best pouty face. He waved goodbye to Raphael and the girls before turning and walking down the hallway to his class. He had just passed the chemistry lab when he suddenly slammed into something or someone. He let out an exasperated grunt as he fell back, his book sliding across the tiled floor along with the books and papers of the other student. Leonardo let out a slight groan of pain as he rubbed the arm that he’d landed on.
“O-Oh my goodness, I am SO sorry!” A medium-pitched voice chirped at him as he sat up,, rubbing the sore muscle.
“Nah, it’s fine,” he assured the student as he looked up, “It wasn’t that big of a deal.” He watched as a olive green turtle grabbed a few of the books and stacked them back into order before shuffling his hand around on the floor, his eyes squinting. Leo rose a brow at his behavior and looked around the hallway before finding what the turtle was probably looking for - a pair of black-rimmed glasses. He picked up the spectacles and handed them toward the student. “Here,” he said as he pressed them into the palm of the olive turtle’s hand.
“Thank you,” the boy nodded thankfully before quickly cleaning the glasses and placing them back on the bridge of his beak. He looked up at the athlete and his eyes widened. “L-Leonardo?! O-Oh, I am so sorry! I should have been looking where I was going…” He began to ramble as his face turned redder and redder with embarrassment.
Leo snickered slightly at the fellow student’s behavior before gathering the scattered papers around them. “It’s fine, really. I’m okay.” He handed the papers to the turtle and got up. “And I didn’t know that everyone here knew my name?”
“Oh, everybody knows you,” the student said rather sheepishly as he finished gathering his things and putting them back into the neat pile they were in moments ago. Leo gripped his arm and helped him up onto his feet. “Y-You’re absolutely sure that I did not hurt you? I feel just awful…”
“Will you stop?” the popular ordered with a laugh, “You didn’t do anything wrong. It was an accident. Chill.” The other frowned and fiddled with his books as he averted his eyes away from Leonardo.
“W-Well, um, I must be getting to class. Again, I sincerely apologize for running into you,” he said before stepping to the side and walking down the hallway. Leo smiled slightly as he watched the other go before cursing under his breath as the bell rang.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The final bell of the day had rung and the school was a frenzy of students and faculty. Leonardo let out a sigh of relief as he left 7th period and put away his books. Right now he wanted nothing more than to go home and take a power nap until Saturday morning.
“Leo!” Another cheerleader called out as she walked towards him, a bright smile on her face.
Leo sighed before smiling at her. “Hey, April.” The teenage girl grinned up at him as she caught up with him.
“Hey! My parents are gone this weekend and I’m having a huge party at my place. The entire football and basketball teams are gonna be there and you just gotta come!” She bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement. Leo had to force a smile to keep from grimacing. Normally he would agree to such an event, but he wasn’t really in the mood for a house party with loud music that pounded in his ears and drinking. Despite being his friend, Leo did not enjoy having to babysit Raphael when he got completely wasted doing a keg stand because he was trying to impress some girl with a chest larger than her head and no personality.
He hissed in pain as if it physically hurt him to admit it. “Sorry, April. I really want to, but I promised my dad that I’d help out with some renovations in our basement.” The redhead frowned, her pink glossy lips pursing out slightly in distaste.
“Seriously? You wanna spend a Friday night watching paint dry in a basement with your dad? Come on, Leo, just tell him you’ve got, like, a late basketball practice or something.”
“I already blew him off the last time you had a party and I ended up grounded for a month.” The cheerleader placed a hand on her hip as she frowned.
“Come on. Even if you can’t convince him, you can always just, y’know, leave without him knowing.”
“Sneak out? April, my dad is like a ninja about that sort of stuff. He’ll know I’m gone the moment I leave.” Leo tried to hide the smile he had as April whined in defeat and stomped her foot. He gripped his car keys in his pocket and pulled his backpack around his shoulder. “Sorry, Ape. I’ll make the next one, I swear. I’ll see you Monday.” Leo quickly walked towards the parking lot, not allowing April to get in another word. He let out a sigh of relief as he unlocked his car and threw his backpack into the backseat.
As much as he wanted to entertain his friends, Leonardo could hear the futon in his room calling his name. He started up the car and backed out of the parking space before driving around the pick-up area in order to get out onto the road. As he waited in the line to turn out of the school parking lot, Leonardo happened to notice a familiar face i the diminishing crowd of teenagers. He moved the sedan closer to the curb and rolled down the passenger’s side window. The slim, olive-green turtle he had run into earlier that day was sitting on a bench, tapping away at a smartphone with a look of frustration on his face.
“Hey!” Leo called out the window, watching the other for a reaction. “HEY!” The second yell earned him a small jump from the other student as his head snapped up, looking in Leonardo’s direction. He looked around him, as if he was expecting someone else to answer the call. When he found no one around him, he looked back at the popular and pointed at himself with confusion. Leo smirked and nodded, making a motion with his hand for the nerd to come to him. The student was still for a moment before slowly gathering his things and making his way towards the silver sedan.
“Um...Were you talking to me?” he said softly, as if expecting Leo to agree with him and shoo him away.
“Yeah,” Leo said with a nod and slight smirk, “You’re the guy I ran into earlier, right?” The other’s face flushed slightly in embarrassment as his eyes averted from the other. He simply gave a nod to the other as he fiddled with his books. “What’s up? You look like you want to murder your phone or something,” Leo asked suddenly. He wasn’t sure just what possessed him to even talk to this kid, but for some reason, he just found him to be interesting. The student was obviously surprised as well, judging by the shocked expression on his face.
“Oh, I um, it’s nothing,” he mumbled slightly in reply, “Just got a text that my ride canceled on me is all…”
“Oh, that sucks,” Leo said as the gears in his head began to turn. He looked over all of the bags and books the nerd had with him when suddenly an idea came to him. “You want a ride?”
Brown-red eyes widened slightly at the offer. “O-Oh, well...I wouldn’t want to be a bother…”
“Not a chance,” Leo assured with a smirk, “Where do you live?”
“242 Oakwood Lane. It’s the neighborhood off the road by Antonio’s Pizza.”
“That’s on my way home,” Leo confirmed. “So what do you say?”
“I-I’ll have to call my ride first so he knows he doesn’t have to find someone else to come pick me up.”
The call didn’t take as long as it took for Leo to convince the nerd that it really was no trouble at all. But once he had finally agreed, Leo felt a sense of accomplishment that stuck with him. As they rode along the busy street, the two high schoolers began conversing and Leo started to learn about his passenger. His name was Donatello, but his friends and family called him Donnie. He was a junior at East Side High and was planning on going to college to become a physicist. He loved algebra and and old anime called Super Robo Mega Force. He lived with his mom and little sister who was in third grade and wanted to be a unicorn doctor.
At one point, Leo of course had to talk about himself in order for Don to feel comfortable. He told him about his basketball scholarship and his plans to play throughout college while he studied to be a foreign language professor. Leo couldn’t help but chuckle when Donatello stuttered over his words in surprise that a popular kid wanted to be a teacher. Leo further explained how his parents both immigrated from Japan and that Japanese was actually his first language. He was a bit more somber as he told the other about how his mother had passed away when he was eleven, leaving him with just his dad. Leonardo refused to accept Donatello’s sympathy, brushing it off by saying that he didn’t like to focus on the past and that he knew his mother wouldn’t want him to either.
The conversation continued until they finally pulled up into Donnie’s driveway with a brownstone house. Leonardo parked the car and took a deep breath. Donatello twiddled his thumbs slightly as he thought about what to say.
“Thank you for the ride,” the nerd finally said, looking up to the leaf green turtle beside him, “I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime,” Leo said with a smile. Donnie nodded and gathered his things before stepping out of the car. Leo stepped out as well. Donnie walked around the car and played with the strap of his backpack.
“Um…” he started as he looked down, “I-I won’t tell anyone...about this. You don’t have to worry.”
Leo frowned slightly and tilted his head in confusion. “Why would I worry?”
“Well...I mean, I know that you have a reputation and all,” Donnie said with a sigh, “It probably wouldn’t look good if everyone knew that you helped someone like me out…”
“Someone like you?”
Donatello bit his lip. “...A nerd…”
“You think I care about that?” Donatello looked up with surprise, shocked to see the set expression on Leonardo’s face. “I couldn’t care less what people think.”
“B-But…”
“Donnie, you’re a fun guy. You really think I would care about what you like or what grades you get?” Donatello was completely stunned. Leo smiled and reached out his hand. “I ran into you; I gave you a ride home. Now we’re even.” Don looked down at the other’s hand before reaching out and accepting it in a firm handshake.
“Thank you,” the nerd said again. The two finished their goodbyes and Donatello soon retreated into his house. Leo smiled slightly as he stepped back into his car and let out a breath. He buckled up his seat belt and turned on the ignition, laughing as a thought popped into his head.
‘Maybe I can run into him again and ask for his number.’
