"Gracie!" Alex called after me. "Wait!" I could hear the concern in his voice, but I didn't stop. I didn't want him to see me this way. He's seen me worse, but after a recent bully attack, I was feeling particularly horrid and everything about me seemed completely disgusting. Especially my puffy, red, tear-and-snot-stained face. I kept running. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, but my feet were. I knew they would lead me to the park, my only sanctuary in the busy city of NYC.

I could hear his footsteps slowing, and his breathing beginning to labor. His running was no match with my top-of-track pace. I slowed down a bit, for his sake, but I still didn't stop. I sped forward, looking away from pedestrians walking by. I can't even imagine how we must have looked, a sobbing teenage girl being pursued by a wheezing, stumbling boy. To them it's just another teenager romance drama, most likely.

I could now see the big arched gateway into the massive park. I picked up my speed, knowing Alex would be able to find me. I sprinted forward, running through the arch, and into the large area. The park was gargantuan. It contained long, winding paths throughout everything, huge fields holding all kinds of sports courts, wooded areas with trees so thick in some places you could climb to the very top without even having to lift yourself up, picnic spaces, gazebos big enough to fit a circus tent, multiple playgrounds, and so much more you could spend a week in there and still not see it all. It's hard to believe a city could hold such a beautiful place. That's why I loved this place. It's just so easy to lose yourself, and let go.

I take a sharp turn and veer towards the closest patch of trees. I steal a glance over my shoulder and see that Alex isn't far behind, so I accelerated even more, zooming past all the people, ducking into the thick miniature forest. I weave my way through the trees until I find the right one.

Me and Alex had had our own special spot in this park ever since we were kids. We were always the rejects, and finding a safe place was hard. But when we saw this, we knew right away it was perfect. It was great. The mean kids claimed they didn't want to go anywhere near our "loser germs", but me and Alex knew that they were really just scared. The winding, twisted trees weren't exactly welcoming, and the hard trek to get to our particular tree was very exhausting. Over the years me and Alex had mastered it so well we could get to the tree in under a minute, knowing just the right route, while it took the other kids at least ten. And the trees were easy to learn to love. With their amazing shapes, they created the best jungle gym a kid could ever ask for.

Our fort was simply astonishing. It consisted of multiple trees wound together into a magnificent structure. One long branch from the further-most tree hung down to the ground, and with its bumpy pattern, it formed the perfect staircase. Once you had climbed up that, they led you to a hollowed out hole in the tree, where the multiple trunks and limbs of the trees intertwined, leaving a pocket big enough for about six big people can fit comfortably, and the two of us can move freely inside (They were really big trees). I crawl into it, already feeling secure as heat radiated from my body and filled the small space.

It takes a few moments for Alex to catch up to me, and in that time I manage to calm myself down a bit, wiping the moisture from my face and slowing my heart and breathing rate. Once he get here, he plopped himself down heavily beside me, emitting a heavy breath. I wait patiently as he catches his air, and he leans back by me and wraps his arm around my shoulder as he practically gasps for air. My skinny friend is obviously not the sporty type person.

"You shouldn't run that hard, you going to make your asthma worse." I warned him. He had really bad asthma as a kid, and even now, if the air is thin or he uses to much energy, he can get into coughing fits, where he can barely breath. He leans against me and tilts his head back so he can look at my face. He places a hand on his heart and breaths in an excessively dramatic way. He looks kind of funny, trying to look at me upside down. I send him a small smile, knowing he is only trying to cheer me up. He smiles back at me, breaths a final "Whew!" In my face, and sits up and turns toward me.

"You call that running hard?" He said, raising his brows. "Did you see yourself? Well, I sure didn't. You're like a blur out there!" He nudged my foot with his own. As I don't respond, he adds, "A very beautiful blur, by the way." He says, trying to replace the harsh words that had been spoken to me earlier, making his eyebrows do a little do a wave movement, at which I can't help but smile. He knows I love it when he does that. That was actually how we became friends in the first place. I can remember it clearly. We were both in kindergarten, and he walked right up to me and said. "You want to see what I can do with my eyebrow hairs?" As my best friend, he always knew exactly how to make me smile.

I scoffed. "Yeah, sure I am." I say with a roll of my eyes. "The day you get Patrick Dunham to say that, I'll believe you." Patrick was a really popular kids in my school. One of the hunks that all of the girls were supposed to fall head-over-heels for and all the boys were supposed to be crazy jealous over, with his black hair, dark blue eyes, and huge muscles. I hated him, though. He was always such a jerk to everybody. But, If Patrick says it, it happens.

Alex cast me a serious look. One he doesn't wear very often. "You are beautiful, Grace. You would be beautiful no matter what you looked like, because you're a great person." I could tell he was really trying to get through to me, but it wasn't working very well. Of course he thinks so, he's my friend.

"The inside beauty isn't really what gets you places with these kids." I say, referencing to all the stuck-up snobs in our school.

"It's what gets you places with the good people." He tells me. This makes me feel better. It amazes me how he always knows just what to say, and just when to be serious, or when to lighten the mood with his antics. I am glad he's my friend. I sigh and lean over, allowing my head to rest on his shoulder, stretching my legs out into the spacious bubble, as they were getting tired.

"Why can't I just be like you?" I say softly. He was so perfect. They only reason he wasn't so popular was because he wasn't so huge, and muscular. He was pretty tall, he was sixteen in a month, and he stood 6' 2", when I was fifteen and a tiny 5'7" compared to him. But he was skinny, like me. That's why one of Patrick's goons had made up the song, "Skin and bones couple." I won't even bother saying how it goes. But he really was handsome, with his neat sandy brown hair that had the most adorable curls on each ear, and his light green eyes. He had nice features, nice chin, nice ears, nice nose, nice hands, he even had nice feet, to be honest. I thought of me, with my straight, straw yellow hair, my freckled face, and my grayish misty blue eyes, and couldn't find myself beautiful.

He turned his head so his chin was resting a little above my ear. I could feel his warm minty breath on my face. "You're better than me, Grace. Way better." He whispered. I suddenly felt very tired, probably from crying so hard, as it seemed to do that to me, and wanted to go to sleep. I peered out through the slits in our cocoon. The sky was still pretty light. I figured I could take a small rest. I nuzzled my head further into his neck until I was completely comfortable. He seemed to catch on to my notions, as he also lay his head down on top of mine. I made a contented humming sound, then I shut my eyes. I soon found myself dozing off to the sound of his steady breathing.

I was jolted out of my dreams by a shrill ringing sound. I opened my eyes. "What?" I mumbled, confused. As the sound went off again, I realized it was my cellphone ringing. I grabbed my bag from my side and began rooting through its contents. As the phone rang again, Alex moaned in his sleep and began to stir. I patted his arm. "It's okay, go back to sleep." I tell him. He seems to hear me and settles back down. I find my phone and pull it out of my bag triumphantly as it rings again. I flip it open quickly.

"Hello?" I say quietly, so as not to disturb Alex. "Where the hell are you?!" Someone yells from the other end. I recognize the voice as my older sister, Sarah. "Sarah, It's okay. I'm with Alex." I assure her. "It's okay?" She yells "Do you have any clue what time it is?" I don't. I look out one of the holes in the fort, and It's pitch black outside. I look at the time on my phone. 1:13 flashes back at me. Oops. "Oh, Sarah, I had no clue! I fell asleep, and-" She interrupts me before I can finish. "You weren't doing anything inappropriate, were you?" She had stopped yelling, but she added this last part in an accusing tone. "No! Of course not! It's just Alex, you can trust us!" I say back, a little embarrassed. She should know that we would never do something like that. "You sure?" she questioned. "Yes! Of course I'm sure!" I say back to her. I tuck my hair behind my ear, and once my peripheral vision is clear, I realize Alex is watching me. I cast him a voluntary wince as if to say "sorry about her." because I know he can hear her from where he is. He shrugs back at me, and places his hands on his hips and silently mocks the way my sister talks. I smile. I love my sister, I know she is just trying to protect me. She's eighteen now, and when my mother died, she had to take up the role of the responsible one. But, she can be overprotective a lot, which gets annoying.

"You are so lucky dad hasn't come home yet! You need to hurry up and get here. Now!" I cringed at the thought of my alcoholic dad. "Okay, Sarah. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, promise!" I told her, and shut the phone before she could respond. I turned to Alex.

"I have to go." I told him, even though he already knew, as he had heard the whole conversation. He nodded. "Yeah, me too." We both began packing up our stuff. He grabbed a flashlight. "Might need this." He said. I dipped my head in agreement.

I crawled out of the hole first, sliding down the steps carefully, as we were about ten feet up in the air, and I preferred not to fall. All though it was to dark to see, I had done it so many times that I got down with ease. Alex was beside me in a few seconds. He flicked on the flashlight, allowing us vision in the dense trees. We wove our way out quickly, and soon we were in the large field, where we no longer needed the flashlight, because there were street lights everywhere. We walked to the front gate together.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Alex offered me. He took off his bag and shoved his flashlight

inside of it, then slung the bag back over his shoulder.

"No, thanks. I'll just run there, I'll get there faster. Besides, you need to get home, too. Your mom might be worrying." I shoved him on the shoulder lightly. He was an only child, and he lived with his mom. His parents divorced a long time ago, and he never gets to see his dad, though he claims that he doesn't care, because he doesn't like him anyway. Because she has no other children to worry about, Alex's mom always is concerned about him.

"My mom's out on business for a few days. I got the whole house to myself." He said with a grin. Like I said, he doesn't get to do these things very often.

"Alex, I'm fine!" I laughed. "Go home! I can handle myself!" I shoved him away from me playfully. He breathed out a long, loud sigh.

"Fine!" He whined. I laughed at him.

"Well, see ya." I said, and began to turn away.

"Gracie." He said, making me turn around. He cast his sparkling green eyes onto me. "Stay safe. Don't get mugged, or something." He smiled at me. I returned the smile, touched by his worry for me. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his torso, pulling my head against his chest. He pulled me tight against him. I loved Alex hugs. They were the best.

"I wont, I promise." I whispered to him.

"I'm going to hold you to that." He said as we released each other. I just smiled to him as I turned away, waving back to him. As he turned around, I took off sprinting.

I loved the feeling of running. The wind in my hair, my feet one with the ground. My surroundings passing in a blur, making me feel as though I was somewhere else, somewhere where none of the jerks matter. None of the terrible people can hurt me. I am, who I am. And who I am I perfect. As I push my body as far as it can go, my muscles screaming with the strain, I feel powerful. I speed on, passing blocks in mere seconds. Suddenly, something catches my eye.

I stop, to see that I was looking at a pet store. What had caught my attention was a new sign up, framed in glittering Christmas lights. The sign read:

New!

Baby Turtles!

On Sale For $15.00 Each!

I thought of my little brother, Ethan. He loved turtles. I decided that I should get him one, since his eighth birthday is in a week. I was pretty exhausted from running so hard, so I decided to walk for a short while, to recharge my energy. Once I got to the end of the block, I noticed a little green speck by my foot. Interested, I bent down to look at it. I couldn't believe it. A baby turtle! I guessed that it somehow escaped from the store, or maybe someone had bought it and dropped it. I didn't care. It was so cute! I was going to bring it home and surprise Ethan early. I was so thrilled, because we don't usually have much money to get presents with, and only me and Sarah will get them for him, considering my dad's to busy drinking away his troubles.

I literally jump for joy as I picture my adorable blonde haired, blue eyed, gap-toothed little brother's huge dimpled smile when he sees it. He looks the most like my mom, with his straight, light blonde hair, and light blonde eyes. I look like my mom too, but not as much. I wish I could be beautiful, like she was. Sarah looks like my dad, except her brown hair is lighter, but she has the same hazel eyes.

I scoop up the little reptile, and begin jogging again, looking down at the adorable creature I now posses. I wasn't watching where I was going, and suddenly I ran straight into someone.

I looked up with surprise, wondering why someone was out as this time. I see a man in front of me, dressed in a crisp black suit. I quickly shove the turtle into my sweatshirt pocket. "Oh, sir, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." I say to him. He wasn't even looking at me, like he hadn't felt it at all. "Sir...?" I question, wondering what was wrong. This time he turns his head toward me in a very stiff motion. I find myself staring into two black orbs of nothing. There was no life in those eyes. Suddenly, his whole body snapped towards me, and he emits a screechy, squealing, robotic noise. That's when I realize that he was not okay. And that he was not alone. I turn my head, suddenly seeing that there was at least twenty different people here. All though, different might not be the best word to describe them, because they looked exactly the same. I don't think people describes them very well, either. Alerted by their comrade, they all turn the same lifeless eyes to me. I gulp.

Then I noticed what they were doing. They had a line formed, one end in some kind of warehouse, the other by a big vehicle. They were passing along luminous capsules of greenish looking goo. Several of them were outside of the line, holding objects that looked like space guns. The one I had crashed into seemed to be ordering all of them. I was not supposed to be seeing this.

I slowly inch away. "So sorry, sir, I'll just, be going now..." I try to make a break for it, running at top speed. I dart away from the thing I had run into, and aim for a gap between the freaks. But I barely even made it halfway, before one of their arms snapped out, quick as lightning, and grabs me. He hoists me up off of the ground. I shriek in protest. He makes a serious of beeps and clicks, and I suppose he is communicating with the others.

"She has seen to much. Capture her." A new voice says. I doubt it came from any of these robot-like people, but I still can't see who says it.

"No!" I yell. "Let me go! Let me go!" I begin struggling. I don't seem to be getting anywhere, until I realize the one holding me was carrying one of the strange canisters. I guess that they are important, so I aim my foot, and skillfully knock it from his hands. It falls through the air, then hits the ground hard, and shatters. Spilling the glowing substance everywhere. While they were distracted by the commotion. I crash my body against my captor, causing him to drop me. I realize, too late, that it was right into the middle of the liquid. I land on my hands on knees, but glass from the container stabs into my hands, and I feel the strange stuff seeping into my cuts. I scream as a terrible burning sensation fills my hands.

"Leave her, it'll finish her off! Let's go!" The husky male voice commanded. The creatures all run and jump into the vehicle. It sped off. Leaving me. I tried to get out of the liquid as fast as I could, but I only succeeded in cutting myself more, and it entered those wounds as well. I fell to my side, screaming, as I felt like I was being burnt alive I thought, surely, I was dying. I thought of Alex. I thought of my promise to him, and I felt terrible.

But, strangely, the last thing I thought of, was of the little, baby turtle in my pocket. It felt as though I could feel what it was thinking. And, it wasn't scared. But, instead, it felt powerful, like it was whole. Whole with me...

Well then! There's the first chapter, I hope you liked it! What's going to happen to Gracie? To Gracie's family? To Alex? And where the heck are my ninja turtles?! Please review!