Splinter pulled the van up to the unloading zone, and put on the parking brake. He turned around in his seat and looked at his four charges, smiling.

"Are you prepared for your first day of school, my sons?"

Splinter was expecting a roar of assent, but instead, they mostly fidgeted until Raphael answered for the group. "As ready as we'll ever be, sensei." The rest nodded their heads and murmured approval. Splinter glanced at them, then shook his head. He turned the van off, undid his seatbelt, and walked to the back. Michelangelo and Raphael moved aside to give him a place to sit, while Donatello and Leonardo knelt backwards on the middle seat so they could look back at Splinter.

"Donatello." Donatello ducked his head, and Splinter went on. "Was this not your dream? Attending school?"

Sighing, Donatello said, "Yeah. Yes, it was, sensei. I'm sorry - I don't know why I'm so nervous about this."

"It is certainly not unusual to be nervous or excited on one's first day of school, regardless of when it occurs. But what worries me is a...lack of passion in your actions. I expected to see some excitement with your nervousness. A few months back, all of you seemed very excited at the prospect of attending school, and you remained enthusiastic throughout the testing process. Now, you seem more anxious than excited. What has happened in the interim?"

They all fidgeted instead of answering, but Michelangelo finally admitted, "Well, we've been talking about it the last day or two, and...well, we dunno what people are gonna think of us."

Raphael snorted. "That ain't true, Mike. We do know what people are gonna think. They're gonna think there's four freaks wanderin' around their school."

Splinter pointed at Raphael sharply. "Raphael." Instantly the scorn was gone from Raphael's face. "I believe you have complained of the human's tendency to prejudge you in the past." Raphael half-nodded. "Now, are you not guilty of the same offense? You have now already decided that your fellow students - all of your fellow students - are against you, thus turning what may be potential friends and allies into enemies. Remember - what you interpret as hostility on their part may in fact be simple curiosity."

Raphael sighed and rubbed his face in his hands. "You're right, sensei. As usual." He half-laughed. "You'd think I'd be used to that by now."

"It would appear that you have allowed self-doubt to consume you. And you are well aware that if you believe you will fail, you will most likely fail." Splinter relaxed and smiled. "My sons, today you are setting forth on a brand new journey - yet another step towards full humanity. This should be a time of celebration. Remember, in order for humans to accept you as one of their own, you must display as many positive human traits as possible, and joy is perhaps the most positive human trait there is. Enjoy this new challenge. Attempt to make friends, and do not concern yourselves with the attempts that fail."

Donatello spoke up, haltingly. "But...how are we...I mean, how does one go about making friends, then?"

"I wish I had time to explain this morning, Donatello, but time is short. This evening, perhaps, I will go into detail, but until then, you should keep just one thing in mind. Humans, like you, are social creatures. They desire interaction, and therefore they are as desirous of a friendship as you are. They may reject you individually as a friend, but the need for friendship exists within all of them. And that which they look for in a friend is more or less what you seek in one. Therefore, to make a friend, you simply need to be a friend." Splinter sat up straighter. "It is time, my sons. Heed my words well." He put his hand, palm down, out towards them, and one by one they placed their hands on top of his. "Go and learn, my sons."

"Let's go get us some ed-jum-i-ca-tion!" yelled Michelangelo, quoting some cartoon he saw some years ago. The rest, at last, chimed in their approval. Leonardo pulled the door open, and after grabbing their notebooks and lunches, they all jumped out into the semi-darkness of the early January morning. Despite the low light, but no doubt aided by their loud cry, the several students milling around the front of the school turned to face them. There was instantly a lot of murmuring and pointing, but, as expected, no direct confrontation. Michelangelo, taking Splinter's lesson to heart, beamed a smile at everyone as he waited for Leonardo to close the door. Donatello managed a crooked smile, but Raphael simply smirked.

They made their way into the main doors, glancing everywhere. They'd been on the street before, but never in a crowd quite like this. James K Polk High School was one of the biggest in the city - almost 5000 students. Kids swarmed by them going in almost every direction, somehow making their way to where they needed to be, even managing a few gasps and stares in their direction. Donatello found a slightly empty spot to the side of the stairway, and headed over there, with his brothers in tow. To no one's surprise, everyone gave them wide berth.

"We'd better get our bearings," said Donatello. He fished into his front pocket and removed a folded-up piece of paper. Unfolding it, he scanned the top. "Okay - my first class is chemistry, room 109B. But our lockers are on the third floor. I can lug my stuff around until after the first class, though."

Raphael nodded, looking at his own schedule.. "I got Spanish first - room 326. I guess that's on the third floor, so if you need me to carry something up to the locker, I can do it."

Michelangelo smiled a bit. "I got the same class, so ditto that."

Donatello nodded. "Cool, thanks. Leo, you've got math first, right?" He paused for a second, and upon not hearing an answer, glanced up. "Leo?"

Leonardo was turned away, staring at the crowd of students, many of whom where staring back at them as they walked by. Upon hearing his name a second time, he briefly glanced back at Donatello, then turned back to the crowd. "Yeah?" he said, barely audible.

"Um, what's your first class again?"

Again Leonardo only glanced back before answering. "Algebra."

"And where is that?"

This time Leonardo didn't even bother turning around. "Room 163."

Donatello decided to let this rather odd behavior slide. "All right. So Leo and I are on this floor. Mike, you and I've got lunch together - fourth period, right?" Michelangelo nodded. "Cool - you want to meet up at the locker then?"

Michelangelo gave a thumbs-up. "It's a date."

"All right. I guess the rest of you, I'll see you when I see you."

Raphael spoke up. "You want Mike 'n' me to take your lunches up?"

"Would you? Thanks." Donatello handed his sack to Raphael, then turned to Leonardo, who was still staring at the crowd of people filing past. "Leo? Your lunch?" Leonardo turned around, glanced at each of them in turn, then handed oven his sack to Raphael.

"Cool. Good luck." He watched as Raphael and Michelangelo started up the steps, and observed the looks they got. Hopefully, that would start tapering off soon. He turned back to Leonardo. "You ready?" Grimly, Leonardo nodded once. Donatello moved back into the crowd, smiling slightly at the space that opened up for them. He glanced at other students, but, remembering Splinter's advice, avoided looking at any one for too long. Suddenly, he realized Leonardo was no longer right behind him. Swinging around, he saw him leaning up against the wall, eyes closed. Donatello headed back and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Leo, what's wrong?"

"Too many," he muttered.

"Too many what?" Donatello looked around. "Too many...people?" Leonardo nodded, eyes still closed. "What's the matter with them?"

"I can't..." Leonardo glanced around, his free hand and arm fidgeting.

Donatello tried to think. What would Leonardo be upset about? Wait a minute. Of all of us, Leonardo was the most untrusting, the most serious about everything. He was always on the defensive, thinking everything was a battle situation. He was probably trying to size everyone up as a potential threat...and there were hundreds of people here. Leonardo's brain was probably overloading. He grabbed Leonardo's shoulders and gaze into his eyes.

"Leo, look at me." He stared until his stare was returned. "These aren't the Foot," he said quietly. "They're fellow students. You gotta relax."

Leonardo shuddered, closed his eyes and nodded. "Yeah."

Donatello paused for a second, then asked, "You gonna be OK?"

Nodding again, Leonardo opened his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

Grinning, Donatello smacked Leonardo lightly across the face, which caused Leonardo's eyes to open wide. "Snap out of it," Donatello said. "We got class to get to." Once more he began leading the way down the hallway, with Leonardo behind.

The bell had rung, and class had started by the time Raphael and Michelangelo found their class. Raphael stared at the door. "So...you ready?"

"Si, senor," said Michelangelo, who reached around him, opened the door, and led them inside. The door was situated at the back of the class, forcing them to make their way up to the front. The scattered conversations from the class fell away by the time they reached the teacher's desk, as Raphael smirked at each of them in turn. Mrs Rodriguez, a small Hispanic woman, looked up at them nervously.

"Yes, what is this?" she said, in a still-somewhat-friendly tone.

Michelangelo smiled. "Hello. My name is Michelangelo Hamato, and this is my brother Raphael." Raphael tried to change his smirk to a smile, as Michelangelo continued. "We're new students." He handed his schedule to her, who glanced it over.

"Um, all right." She looked back up at them. "Well, this is Spanish 1, but we're starting our second semester. Do either of you know any Spanish?"

"Well, we've picked up a few words and phrases..." said Michelangelo uncertainly.

"Caiga su arma!" said Raphael. "Es usted el pie?"

"La ambulancia esta viniendo," added Michelangelo. "Nothing very useful, I guess, but we should be able to pick up what we've missed."

Ms Rodriguez didn't seem entirely sure, but she didn't want to spend all class arguing. If these students weren't ready, she'd find out soon enough. Turning to a side table, she pulled two beat-up textbooks from a pile and handed them to the turtles. "I'm sorry, what were your names again?"

"I'm Michelangelo...well, Miguel, for this class, I guess."

"Raphael."

"OK. Here are your books." They both took the books and held them up to their foreheads. She wasn't sure what that meant, but she decided not to ask. She opened a folder on her desk. "What number book do you have?"

Raphael looked at the large number drawn in black ink along the pages. "Cuarto cero siete."

"Cuarto dos nuevo," added Michelangelo.

"Muy bueno," said Mrs Rodriguez, feeling somewhat relieved as she wrote the numbers down. They might do OK after all. "Sientese por favor."

They turned to face the class, who not surprisingly were all gaping at them. Michelangelo frowned slightly - he was hoping to sit next to Raphael, but it didn't look like there were two open seats together. Michelangelo pointed to a seat towards the back. Raphael nodded and moved back to sit there. Michelangelo ended up sitting along the side, about halfway back. He pulled out his pen, and tried to switch his brain into Spanish mode.

"Good luck!" Donatello waved goodbye to Leonardo as heopened the door. The students turned back to see who the interloper was, and Leonardo had to suppress the urge to take a defensive stance. Instead, he stepped in and stiffly walked up to the teacher. The teacher stood up at the chalkboard, mouth agape.

"Hello," said Leonardo, a bit too formally. "Mr. Buchanan?" The teacher simply nodded, and Leonardo forced a smile. "I'm Leonardo Hamato, a new student." He held up his schedule, but Mr Buchanan made no move to take it. After an uncomfortable pause, Leonardo said, "Um...should I just take a seat?"

Finally Mr Buchanan managed to speak. "You're kidding, right?"

"You don't want me to take a seat?"

"No, c'mon! What's with the get up?"

Leonardo instinctively glanced down at his clothes, even though he knew that wasn't the real issue. "Sorry, Mr Buchanan. This is pretty much what I look like."

Mr Buchanan sighed. "Fine. I just don't understand why you kids insist on making yourself look so...odd." Leonardo thought about arguing this point, but decided he could discuss it after class. "Just...have a seat."

Leonardo found an open desk about halfway back, where he took his seat. Reluctantly, he took out a pen, opened his new notebook to the first blank page, and waited for the lesson to begin. Inwardly, he sighed - this wasn't shaping up to be the most ideal first day.

To his left, Leonardo spotted some movement. A female student was franticly searching her pockets and backpack. Scanning her over, he realized what she was lacking - a pen. Quietly, Leonardo made a clicking noise with his tongue until she faced him. Smiling a bit, Leonardo extended his pen towards her and raised his eyebrows. She looked stunned for a second, then smiled a bit and took the pen from him, mouthing "thanks" to him. Leonardo smiled, closed his eyes and shook his head - "that's all right". He pulled out another pen, clicked it open, and watched as the teacher began writing on the blackboard. Hm, maybe Splinter was right - maybe this wouldn't be too hard. He just hoped his pen supply would hold out.

The bell rang, and instantly there was a flurry of activity in the classroom. "Don't forget to review your verb conjugations!" warned Mrs Rodriguez above the din. "We'll have a quick quiz on them on Friday."

Raphael waited for Michelangelo to catch up to him, giving his smile/smirk to anyone who gave him the eye. They fell in step beside each other. Raphael shrugged. "Doesn't seem that hard."

"Veremos," said Michelangelo, grinning, as they entered the crowded hallway. "Let's see where we're heading next." He leaned against the wall and pulled out his schedule. "English. Hey, that should be easy after Spanish - I already speak that pretty well."

Raphael smirked as he scanned his schedule. "Gym for me - as far from this room as possible, of course."

"I'm kinda the same way. If we hurry, we might be on time."

As they turned to rejoin the flood of students making their way down the hall, a hand reached out from the crowd and shoved Michelangelo, hard. For a split second, he was off balance, but the training kicked in, and he recovered himself without slamming into the wall or anyone else. He spun to look at his accoster. He was rather tall and lanky, with dark black hair and a sneering face. He wore a jeans jacket with several punk bands written or pinned into place. Michelangelo recognized some of them, and immediately felt somewhat miffed - how dare this idiot like the same bands he did! "So, can I...help you with something?" Michelangelo said cynically.

The punk spoke through his teeth. "Look, we already got enough freaks in this school."

Michelangelo shrugged. "And I don't want pricks like you in my school. Looks like we both got a problem. C'mon, Raph, let's go." He didn't want Raphael embroiled in this if at all possible.

"I ain't done talkin' to you, freak!" said the punk, who hadn't budged.

Michelangelo spun around and walked backwards. "Well, just pretend I'm there. We've gotta get to class." He finished turning completely around and continued shepherding Raphael down the hallway.

"Why'd you retreat?" asked Raphael. "I was all set to knock him silly."

"Funny," said Michelangelo. "That's the exact reason why I retreated." In the back of his head, though, a question kept nagging at him. What did that sleazoid mean when he said there were "enough freaks" already at the school?

Leonardo stood up and headed out the door. Three classes, and his mind was already spinning. It seemed like every class held some sort of drama for him. This last one, biology, was no exception. Mr Langtry looks like he didn't really want me in this class, thought Leonardo. Maybe because he's not sure if he can classify me, biologically.

Leonardo was so lost in thought the he completely missed someone calling his name. It wasn't until he felt a hand on his shoulder that he spun around and looked into a familiar face. It took him a few seconds to place it, but then his face exploded in a huge grin. "Jake!"

"It is Leonardo, right? I still can't tell you apart," Jake said apologetically.

"No, you're right - I'm Leo. Lucky you found me first, I guess."

"Actually, I didn't. Already chatted with Donatello. He told me you'd be the one wearing the blue shirt, so I've been keeping my eyes peeled for it."

Leonardo shook his head, still grinning. "It's really good to see you again, Jake."

"You, too. I didn't get to ask Donatello - you just move into the neighborhood?"

"Something like. We've been home schooled up until now, so this is our first taste of school." Leonardo looked at the crowds making their way down the hall. "I've never been in a crowd like this. It's nice to see a friendly face in it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. When do you have lunch?"

Leonardo pulled his already beaten-up schedule out of his pocket and examined it. "Um, not next, but the one afterwards - fifth period."

"That's mine, too. You want to meet up?"

"Yeah, that'd be great!" Leonardo was a bit embarrassed how excited he sounded, but it was a huge relief to have an ally within this mass of humanity. "I'm going to meet Raphael at our lockers at the start of the period, up on the third floor. Where should I meet you?"

"Do you know where the west lunchroom is?"

"No clue."

Jake pointed down the hallway. "End of the hall, right turn, end of the hall again. I'll save you guys a couple seats." Glancing at his watch, Jake made a face. "Look, I gotta motor. I'll see in a bit."

"Sure thing."

"See ya!" Jake put his hand on his backpack strap as he hurried down the corridor. Leonardo watched him go, then decided he'd better hurry to his next class, too. He hustled back down the hall and managed to get into the classroom before the bell rang. As he entered, he realized he had also gotten there before the teacher. Somewhat at a loss, he looked around the room. US Geography is a single semester class, thought Leonardo, which means everyone's in here for the first time. So I guess I can sit pretty much anywhere I like.

Gripping his books tighter, Leonardo made his way to some empty seats near the back, ignoring the expected stares. He selected a seat, sat down, and began organizing his things. While doing so, he idly thought about the class. US Geography - this shouldn't be too difficult. He already knew the states (and, if he gave it some thought, their capitals), as well as where the big mountains and rivers were. This would be a good class to have right before lunch.

"Hey."

Leonardo wasn't entirely sure, but he thought that that comment was directed at him. He looked up to his left, and as expected, he saw someone staring at him. However, he wasn't expecting the eyes that bore into him to be yellow, with black slits for pupils. They sat inside a face that was brown, but streaked and dotted with black and white. The face was furry, with a smallish pink nose with small whiskers coming out of the side. Whatever it was smiled slightly at Leonardo, and he caught a glimpse of small but sharp teeth inside the mouth.

"Please," it said. "Tell me you're a mutant, too."

Leonardo blinked as it hit him. Another mutant! Grinning, he said, "You think I'd choose to look like this ifI could help it?"

The cat-like creature closed its eyes and let out its breath. "I can't believe it." Opening its eyes and gazing at Leonardo, he said, "I saw you down the hall..." Suddenly, the cat stopped and tilted its head in a rather bizarre fashion. "Wait, didn't you have a yellow shirt on earlier?"

"Yellow? No, that was my brother."

The cat's eyes got larger. "You've got a brother here, too!"

"Three, actually," said Leonardo. "Four of us total."

Slowly, the cat shook his head, grinning. "I can't believe it," he repeated. "You don't know how great that is."

"How come?"

"How come? Because I'm no longer the only mutant at James K Polk High School is how come. Now I'm just one of five." The cat extended a paw. "I'm Gavin."

"Leonardo." Leonardo took the paw briefly. It felt kind of strange, but he knew that his two-fingered hand probably felt just as strange to Gavin. "But call me Leo."

"Leo." Gavin pulled his paw back and continued beaming. "Wow. This is so cool. You have lunch next period?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting up with one of my brothers, and this other friend of mine." Leonardo thought he saw Gavin's face fall a bit. "But you're more than welcome to join us."

"Sure, that'd be great." Gavin suddenly got quiet as the teacher finally shuffled into the classroom, murmuring her apologies. Leonardo pulled out his pen and flipped open his notebook. He only half-heard the teacher's introduction to the class, as he mulled over his last two meetings - first with Jake, and now with Gavin. Leonardo smiled as he began jotting down notes. Donatello was right - this school thing might not be so bad after all.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've gotten a lot of e-mails and reviews asking when I'm going to be writing the next chapter. I should know better than to say "never", but for right now, and for me, the story is complete. I wrote this chapter (14) intending it to be the final chapter of the story. My idea was to take the turtles "from the sewer and into the school", and that's been accomplished. :) One or two people have expressed interest in taking the story forward from this point - if you'd like to do that, you're more than welcome to. But for the foreseeable future, I will not be writing another chapter to this story. I consider it complete as is. Thanks for all your wonderful comments - they please me to no end. :)