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[ihavefrogsinmybag]

Chapter 3: First Hang-out.

Seren picked up a turkey fry and munched on it while April talked.

"That's crazy!"

Seren exclaimed.

"I know right? When it happened, I was like, whaaaaaat?!"

April drawled loudly, she drug out the last word while making a funny shocked face.

Seren snorted in amusement and took a sip of their drink. They fiddled with their straw as April continued talking. She was telling them a story about some of her friends. Seren listened to her thoughtfully, just enjoying the company of their new friend.

Even though this was just a casual hangout, Seren felt lucky to be there. Due to struggling a lot socially, they didn't come by friends very often. So when April asked them if they wanted to meet up at the near by Burger Queen, of course they said yes.

The two had texted back and forth a bit, and they actually got along pretty well. So far, Seren had learned that April was into journalism, loved video games, and really liked action hero movies. Especially these two movie franchises they had never heard of, Jupiter Jim and Lou Jitsu. April had only mentioned these things briefly but Seren had a knack for noticing and remembering small details. They were usually very hyper aware of everything around them, which seems like a good thing, but it usually just got them lost in thought. It tended to make them tune out conversations and get off topic a lot... oops.

April snapped her fingers in front of Seren's face.

"Hellooo? Earth to Seren?"

Seren quickly sat up straight in their seat.

"Sorry sorry, I swear I'm listening. I have a tendency to zone out a lot."

April shook her head playfully.

"You remind me a lot of my friend, Leo. He can NOT stay on topic for the life of him. He's constantly zoning out."

Seren smiled softly, playing with their hoodie strings.

"Is that one of your friends you were telling me about, the ones that live abroad?"

April made a face like she had caught herself saying something she wasn't supposed to.

"Yeah that's one of them.."

She deflected.

"But enough about me, tell me about some of your friends back home."

Seren retracted a bit.

"Oh yeah uhm- my friends.."

April folded her arms on the table and leaned in a bit, intrigued to hear what Seren said. They tensed up a bit and twirled their hoodie string awkwardly.

"Well I- I didn't really have any."

April's look softened.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject."

"No no, you're fine, it's not like that."

Seren sputtered,

"It's not like I didn't have friendly acquaintances or people to chat with. I just didn't have any.. "real friends", I guess?"

Seren sat back into their booth and let out a small sigh.

"I've never really been good with people.. I've always just been kinda "weird", y'know?"

April smiled empathetically; seeing as she had 4 mutant ninja turtle brothers, she was no stranger to the feeling of weird.

"Trust me, I know allllll about being the weird kid."

Seren chuckled in amusement.

"Really? You? I'd never think you'd be a weird kid."

April busted out into giggles.

"Are you kidding me? Last year I wore a wizard costume to school for Halloween and everyone made fun of me. I was the laughing stock for a week!"

Seren perked up and put their hands on the table.

"What?! That's so stupid. A wizard is an awesome Halloween costume!"

They defended.

"I know, right?! But apparently, "I'm too old for Halloween" and "Halloween is for little kids"!"

She complained in a mocking tone.

"They don't know what they're talking about. Halloween is for all ages."

Seren affirmed.

"See, you get what's up! Halloween is the stuff!"

They both laughed.

April sat back and smiled.

"Normal friends are overrated. You can be part of the April O'Neil dorky pals for life club. We're always excepting new members."

"That sounds like the club for me."

Seren jested.

The two sat in silence for a minute. Seren looked around, out the window, and watched the people passing by. It was dark outside but the city wasn't. The streets were lit up with signs and billboards. It felt very lively; it was beautiful. They enjoyed looking at the sight for a moment before turning back to look at April.

"Sorry that the conversation got a little heavy there for a second."

"Don't worry about it, I do that all the time. I guess that's just part of being a weird kid."

April reassured.

Seren let out a small snicker and grinned sofly.

"Must be."

April got up from the booth and stretched her arms.

"You ready to go?"

Seren nodded and quickly piled all of the trash onto their tray.

"I'll go throw that away. Would you mind refilling my drink?"

April asked.

Seren stood up and grabbed their cups.

"Not at all! I was gonna refill mine anyway."

"Thanks, Seren."

Seren responded with a warm smile and turned toward the soda machine.

"No problemo, new friend!"

Seren strolled over to the drink machine and April headed over to the trash can. After dumping the tray, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She looked over to Seren, who was still refilling the drinks,

and took this moment to scroll through her phones notifications.

She had a few unread messages, probably from the turtles, no doubt. She clicked on the first message, which was from Mikey.

"Good luck with your new friend!"

The message was followed by a gif of a cute cat jumping around happily. Raph and Leo had also sent her good luck texts, even though Leo's was more teasing than anything. Donnie, on the other hand, was asking for a name, photo, a date of birth, and various other ridiculous questions. April rolled her eyes at his antics and sent him a message with an annoyed emoji.

"I am not asking for their blood type Donnie🙄"

She saw Seren walking over and put her phone down. They held out a now full soda cup to her.

"Here you go."

April grabbed the cup from them.

"Thanks a ton."

She took a sip of her drink and pulled her phone up.

"You wanna take a quick pic before we go?"

Seren beamed.

"Sure!"

April held up her phone and the two scootched together. She moved her phone to where they were both in frame and put her arm over their shoulder to squeeze them closer.

"Say "new friends"!"

Seren held up a hand for the photo.

"New friends!"

April took the picture and let them go.

"Alright! Our first official friend picture."

Seren peeked over her shoulder to look at the photo.

"It came out pretty good!"

They remarked.

"I'm pretty good at taking pictures."

April jested.

She shoved her phone into her jacket pocket.

The two walked out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk.

Seren zipped up their hoodie and pulled out their phone to check the time. 8.00 PM.

"I had a great time hanging out with you, April."

"Me too! We'll have to meet up again soon. This was a blast!"

She exclaimed.

Seren beamed with joy.

"I can't wait! Well, I have to go. See you soon!"

April smiled softly.

"Bye Seren-"

"Oh wait!"

Seren interrupted.

"I almost forgot! I brought you a gift."

They started searching through their pockets for something.

"A gift?"

April asked.

"Yup, a gift!"

Seren stated proudly as they held out their hands. In their palms layed a little pink and white plastic cat figurine.

"I noticed your phone case was a cat, and it reminded me of this little toy cat I have."

Seren explained.

April curiously took the cat from their hands and inspected it. It was small, mostly white with some pink spots, and it had a pink bow tie.

"Awww, it's so cute!"

She gushed.

"Thank you, you didn't have to do that."

Seren seemed very happy with themselves.

"I know, but usually when I make a new friend, I try to get them a small gift. It's my way of trying to start the friendship on a good note."

"That is an awesome way to start a friendship."

April complimented.

"Thank you."

Seren simpered bashfully.

They remembered what time it was and swiftly turned around.

"Okay. Gotta go, but for real this time!"

Seren joked while speed walking away and waving goodbye.

April snickered at their enthusiasm and returned the gesture.

"Bye Seren!"

April put the gift in her pocket and turned to walk home. She jogged to her apartment complex and climbed the stairs to her floor. She unlocked her door, stepped inside, and flicked the lights on. The house was quiet, which probably meant her mom was still at work. She took off her shoes and before setting her stuff down, she grabbed the broom next to the front door. She lifted it up and gently knocked on the ceiling with the handles tip.

"Hey Drax, I'm home!"

April yelled in a sing songy tone, a faint low voice replied from above.

"O'Niel, please stop doing that."

Draxum complained.

"Not a chance sheep man! Gotta make sure you're still alive up there."

April teased.

She heard an annoyed sigh, some grumbling, and footsteps walking away.

She knew she had successfully pissed him off, per usual, and triumphantly put the broom back down. She waltzed to her room and set her stuff down next to her desk. Mayhem leapt into her arms, purring and pawing at her face.

"Okay, okay, I'm happy to see you too!"

April giggled.

She sat on her bed and snuggled Mayhem before letting him go. He sauntered next to her leg and curled up against her.

April sat back and pulled out her phone. There were some new messages from her brothers. The first one she clicked on was from Leo in the group chat.

"Soooo..How did it go??"

April sent the picture her and Seren had taken together. Then she remembered about the cat toy and quickly grabbed it from her pocket to take a picture of it. She sent the two photos along with a text message.

"It was great. They're super cool. We ate at Burger Queen and talked for like an hour straight. And look at this adorable little cat toy they gave me!"

Leos' reply was almost instant,

"How fancy 🤌🤌"

Then Mikey.

"Awww look at how cute that little guy is!"

Then Raph.

"Glad you had fun April!"

And finally, Donnie.

"Will be looking up more about them now that I have this picture."

She sighed in amusement and put down her phone to get ready for bed.

[ihavefrogsinmybag]

Chapter 2: Rainy Friends and Worried Brothers.

The clock hit 3:45 PM. Seren's eyes lit up. They jumped up from their desk and sped into the living room. They grabbed their key from the key bowl and double-checked that they had their phone.

"Bye, Mom. I love you!"

"Love you too, honey! Be careful."

"I will!" Seren assured their mom before walking out of the apartment. They glided down the staircase and stepped onto the sidewalk. Their shoes slapped against the pavement as they made their way through the crowd. Yesterday, a girl named April accidentally pushed Seren over... which seems bad.. but it actually helped them. Seren found out that April worked at the Dollar Hut near their apartment, so that probably meant she lives nearby. This could be a chance for Seren to make a friend.

When April bumped into them yesterday, Seren noticed it was almost 4:00. They assumed that her shift started at 4:00. Seren was hoping to catch April before her shift so they could exchange contact info and maybe hang out sometime.

The clouds became dark and rain started pouring. Seren lifted up their hood and turned the corner onto the street where the Dollar Hut was. They made their way to the entrance of the store and took shelter under the awning. Luckily enough, as they stood there catching their breath, April also ran under the awning for cover. It looked like she had just gotten there for her shift and was taking a moment to compose herself before clocking in. Despite the fact that Seren had been so excited to come and find April, they sort of just...froze up and stood there. They didn't want to bother her at work or come off as weird. They couldn't think of what to say. They just stood stiffly and held their breath. The pressure in Seren's chest grew and they felt like they were going to explode until-

"Hey! I know you. You're the kid I accidentally pushed over yesterday!"

Seren sighed in relief. They were glad April had noticed them first because they were not good at starting conversations.

"Yup, that's me." they stuttered.

"Seren, right? Fancy seeing you here."

"About that, I actually came here for you."

April raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"For me?"

"Yeah for you, but it's nothing bad. I promise! Remember when I told you I don't have any friends because I just moved here?"

"Yes?"

"Well, you said to come visit you during a shift and I was hoping we could maybe hang out sometime?"

April had a look of realization and then smacked herself in the forehead.

"That's right. I did say that! I'm sorry I completely forgot about that."

Seren relaxed a bit. "Don't sweat it, I totally understand. I forget stuff all they time."

"Tell me about it," she chuckled

Seren paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

"So.. would it be weird if we exchanged contact info and hung out sometime?"

"No, not at all!" she smiled, "Here let me.."

She rummaged through her pockets and pulled out an old receipt.

"Do you have a pen on you?"

Seren quickly pulled a pen out of their hoodie pocket and handed it to her.

"Yup! I always keep one on me."

April took the pen and flipped the receipt over to write something on it. She folded it up and handed it to Seren.

"There. I wrote my number on the back of that receipt for you. Text me and I'll text you back when I get off work. "

Seren pocketed the receipt and smiled.

"Thank you! Can't wait to hang out with you." they beamed.

"Same here." April looked at the time on her phone.

"Well, I gotta go clock in. I'll talk to you later."

"Alrighty, see you later. Bye April!"

"See ya Seren!" She waved before heading into the store.

Seren was ecstatic! That had gone better than they hoped. They skipped back out onto the pavement, which was now damp because of the rain. They couldnt help flapping their hands. They stepped in every puddle they could on the way home enjoying the sound of the rain as they went.

(Time skip to after April's shift ends)

It was 10 PM and April walked out of the store, relieved that her shift was finally over. The sun had already set. The air was still a bit misty because of the rain. April turned into a run-down alley and carefully looked around. Once she was sure no one was watching, she squatted down to open a man hole in the middle of the alley. She climbed into the hole and drug the manhole cover back over her before making her way down the ladder. April knew these sewers like the back of her hand so she had no trouble navigating the tunnel systems. She walked to the end of a tunnel and knocked on the wall in a specific pattern. She took a step back and the wall opened for her to get in. She walked into the lair through the opening and was immediately greeted with excitement.

"April!" Mikey exclaimed as he leapt out of a bean bag chair to hug her. Raph and Leo heard Mikey and walked into the skating room.

"Finally, I thought you'd never get here," Leo poked.

"Hey April!" Raph cheerfully greeted.

April gave Leo a hateful glance for his teasing and then smiled at Raph.

"Hey big guy! Sorry it took me so long. My boss wouldn't stop talking to me. "

A voice came from above them.

"Oh good, April, you made it." Donnie remarked midair. He flew down and landed next to her.

"Nice to see you too, Donnie."

"Of course she made it, it's movie night!" Mikey confidently added. April gently pulled away from the hug her brother had locked her in.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Angie!"

"Speaking of movie night.." Raph piped in, "The living room is all ready. We've got popcorn, drinks, and everyone's favorite candies. "

"That sounds awesome Raph! Just let me change out of my work clothes real quick." Before April could do anything else, one of Donnie's robotic arms reached out of his battleshell and handed her a neatly folded stack of clothes.

"Thanks Dee, you're a life saver!"

"No probels"

Leo reached an arm over Donnie's shoulder, pulling him close just to annoy him.

"We'll meet you in the living room when you get done."

The turtles walked out of the room to get the movie ready and April headed to the bathroom to change clothes.

After April got changed, she took a moment to check her phone. She noticed a text from an unknown number and clicked on it. It was a text from Seren.

"Hey April, it's Seren! Thanks for giving me your number and being nice to me. Hope you have an easy shift at work and I am looking forward to hanging out sometime!"

April smiled and left the bathroom. She walked into the living room and flicked on the lights.

"Hey guys, before we start the movie, I have something to show you."

She proudly held up her phone to show the turtles Seren's text.

"See, I told you guys I can make normal friends. I met this kid at work yesterday and they wanted to be my friend!"

Donnie walked closer and squinted at the text.

"Hmm, yeah, the last "normal friend" you had turned out to be made of goop. Plus, we just defeated the Shredder a few months ago. You're new "friend" could be an undercover foot recruit."

Leo nonchalantly leaned against Donnie with his arms crossed.

"And this guy looks like a bit of a try hard. "hope you have an easy shift at work"? That's a bit much for someone you just met."

Mikey pushed the twins onto the couch.

"Don't listen to them. They're just being negative. I think it's great that you're making new friends!"

"Thank you, Mikey." she put emphasis on Mikey's name.

"I dunno April, I want you to make friends but the twins have a point."

April scoffed.

"I met them by accidentally knocking them to the ground. Unless the foot is just waiting for me to push people over, there is no way they could be a spy!"

"Well I guess so.."

Someone clearing their throat broke the silence.

Everyone looked over to see Splinter standing in the doorway.

"What is all this noise about?"

"April has a new "friend" and we think they could be a spy." Leo cut Donnie off,

"Woah, who's "we"? I never said I thought they were a spy. I just said I didn't like how overly nice they were."

"Basically Donnie's over thinking, Leo's trying to start drama, and Raph's just being worried for her."

Splinter sighed in annoyance.

"April is almost an adult. She is allowed to be friends with who-ever she wants. Now.. can we quit arguing and watch the movie?!"

Mikey nodded his head.

"Agreed. Now, let's watch!"

Donnie rolled his eyes and sat in his spot.

"Fine, but if I'm right, you guys will never hear the end of it."

Leo got cozy next to Donnie with a big bowl of popcorn.

"We know Donnie."

Everyone sat in their respective spots and April got her phone out to text Seren back. Raph hit the lights.

"Hey, no phones during the movie!"

"Fine, fine, I'm putting it down."

April pressed send on the text and put her phone away.

"Hey Seren! Glad to see you text, I wasn't sure if I had written my number right lol. I'm excited to hang out with you. Talk to you soon."

[ihavefrogsinmybag]

I realized I didn't describe what Seren looked like, so here's a drawing of them :D

Also Serens appearance will change throughout the series, so I'll try to post a picture of them when their look changes.

[ihavefrogsinmybag]

Do Stars and Turtles Mix?

Chapter 1, "New Home"

Seren let out a frustrated sigh. That was the 7th time the lead in their pencil had broken. They quickly pushed the eraser down a few times, but there was no more in the pencil. That was the last bit they had and they'd have to get out if they wanted more. It didn't concern Seren that much.. but they knew it would be easier to go out now rather than not have it later. They closed up their sketchbook and sat up to check their phone. No notifications, as usual. They put their phone in their back pocket and stood up to put on their shoes.

They tied their shoes and walked into the kitchen. "Hey Mom, can I go get some lead for my pencils at the Dollar Hut?"

"Sure Hun! Just keep your phone on you and don't talk to strangers." Seren snickered a bit.

"I wasn't planning on it. By the way, do we need anything like milk or butter?"

"If you could pick up some coffee filters for me, that would be great!"

"Will do, love you mom!"

"Love you too, sweetie!"

Seren ran their fingers along the railings as they sped down the stairs of their apartment complex. They stepped out onto the sidewalk, looked around absorbing the atmosphere of the city. It was going to take them a while to get used to living in New York City, and they weren't sure they ever would. Seren and their mom had just moved to New York about a month ago, so they couldn't help but stop and take in their new environment. It was an adjustment, Seren took a moment to take it all in and then continued on their venture to the store.

(Skip to when they're checking out at the store)

"That'll be $7.53. Cash or card?"

"Cash," they replied to the cashier as they handed her a $10 bill. The cashier handed them their change and said,

"Have a good evening!"

"You too," they mumbled back before quickly walking out of the store. Seren was good at a few things, but talking to people was not one of them. Their social skills were awkward, at best. One time Seren was so afraid to order at a restaurant that they hid behind their mom. Frankly, they had no idea how they were going be able to make any friends in this new place- *crash*

"Ohmygosh I am so sorry! I almost ran you over that is my bad!!"

It took a second for Seren to realize that someone had bumped into them and knocked them down. They looked up to see a short girl with dark redish, brown hair and glasses standing above them. The girl looked to be around Seren's age, maybe a student from the near by highschool.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" the girl asked, as she reached a hand out to them. Seren quickly got up and dusted themselves off. "No no it's fine! I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. That's my fault. " they blurted out.

"No I was rushing to my job because I'm late, that's on me. Sorry I pushed you over, " she refuted.

Seren chuckled a bit. "It's okay, I get it, I'm late all the time it's a curse." they reassured the girl. Seren realized that since the girl was probably around the same age as them, this could be their chance to make a friend.

"So, where do you work?" they asked.

"I work a little bit of everywhere, but right now, I'm working at that Dollar Hut over there," she replied, while pointing in the direction of the store.

"No way! I live super close to here. I was actually just in that Dollar Hut." Seren beamed.

"Oh, cool, I go to school right down the street. Maybe we'll see each other around, " the girl added.

"Hopefully! I just moved here so I don't really know anyone my age." Seren said as they trailed off.

"Well, I'm happy to be your first teenage companion. I'm April, by the way. April O'Neil."

Seren paused for a moment to remember the name.

"I'm Seren!"

"That's a sick name!" April remarked. "Thank you, I-" before Seren could finish their sentence, an alarm went off on April's phone.

"Oh shoot, I'm really late for work now!" she exclaimed. She shoved her phone into her pocket. "It was really cool meeting you, Seren, but I'm about to be super late for my shift. If I still have my job tomorrow, come visit me during my shift. See ya!" yelled the girl as she ran in the direction of the Dollar Hut.

Seren stood there for a minute, thinking about what just happened. They actually managed to get through a conversation with another person their age without sounding like a complete dork. Seren started the walk back home, replaying the conversation with April in their head as they walked. They turned the corner onto the street where their building was and made their way back up the stairs. Seren grabbed their keys out of their pocket and slowly opened the door, entering the quiet apartment. They assumed that their mom was on the balcony smoking a cigarette. Seren placed the coffee filters their mom requested next to the coffee pot and threw the lead packs on their bed.

Seren plopped down on their bed and pulled out their phone. The first thing they thought to do was look up "April O'Neil". The first result was a school picture uploaded by the nearby high school's social media account. It was a group picture of students in a computer lab, in the middle Seren spotted April. The post was about the school's journalism club. The next few results that popped up were photos with April's account tagged in them and, of course, April's account. Seren didn't want to come off as weird to her, so instead of interacting with April's account, they screenshoted it.

Seren closed all the tabs off their phone and set it down on their nightstand. They plugged up their phone and got up to change into their pajamas. They turned off the lights and crept into bed. As Seren zoned out to fall asleep, they couldn't help but think about one particular thing that April said.

"Well, I'm happy to be your first teenage companion!"

She was probably just being "nice or funny" they thought, but the idea that this girl might want to be Seren's friend made them smile. Seren turned over and pulled the covers over their body. They closed their eyes, happy to know that tomorrow they might have a new friend.