Later that night, I find myself at my house watching television. I am not alone, however. April sits a few inches away from me. The only thing separating us is a humungous bowl of popcorn, which is only half full by now. Or half empty, I can never tell.

  I sink down into the fluffy couch cushions as two actors on the television kiss. It's not something that I am in the mood to see, so I start booing. I throw a few popcorn kernels at the screen to get my point across more effectively.

  April bursts into laughter. Her feet connect with my legs and she shoves me so hard that I fall straight into the floor. She looks surprised for a minute as she gazes down at me, then we both break out into laughter.

  Climbing back onto my knees, I take a huge fistful of popcorn and start hurtling pieces at her. I stick my tongue out as she tries to bat the snacks away.

  "Casey! Stop!" The redhead giggles and grabs a throw pillow from beside her. She blindly whacks me with it as I continue tossing popcorn at her.

  "Booooo!" I shout as popcorn keeps flying through the air and landing on her. "Wicked aim you got there!" I add sarcastically as she misses me.

  "Quit it, Jones!" Even with the pillow in hand, April only manages to block about half of the popcorn kernels. She shrinks down into the corner of the couch to hide as best as she can, but I can still hit her.

  Finally, my handful of popcorn disappears and the laughter dies down. I return to my seat as April scrapes all the popcorn off the couch and onto the floor.

  "Guess I could say that I buttered you up, huh Red?" I joke with a huge grin on my face as I slip an arm around her.

  April pulls out of my reach and turns the corners of her mouth into a smile. "In your dreams," she retorts with light teasing.

  We fall into a peaceful silence as we focus on the television. The two random people that had made out before are dating now. I find myself rolling my eyes at the storyline. What idiot would randomly date someone that they don't even know? It's way too unrealistic.  But it was April's pick, so I can live with it.

  I pay attention as best as I can, even though I have to force myself to stay awake. Normally, I can stay up until the A.M.; but with it getting dark outside at only four o'clock, I yearn to sleep earlier. Time change sucks.

  The moment that the movie goes to commercial, April turns herself towards me. Her bright blue eyes are serious and her eyebrows are propped up like she has something important to say. "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to keep an open mind about it, alright?"

  That isn't a good way to start a conversation. I narrow my eyes and refuse to agree. "What is it?" I ask suspiciously.

  April takes a deep breath and avoids looking me in the eyes. "See, I visited the turtles yesterday. While I was there, Leo mentioned that you seem a little distant.  He said that you are a lot more irrational than usual, too."

  I snort.  "Leo thinks he knows everything," I point out with a shake of my head.

  "Raph agreed with him," April adds.

  I pause.  It's one thing for Leonardo to assume things, because he doesn't know me that well.  But if Raphael suspects that I'm acting strangely, then there is no doubt that he's right.  And deep down, I know exactly what he means.  After Charlotte's death, I haven't been able to keep my mind stable.  I have been all over the place as I try to fan out the fire of revenge in my heart.  And with the sudden appearance of Tiger Claw and his gang, things have only gotten harder to cope with.

  "I've just been busy," I say as I shove my real feelings into a bottomless pit.  She doesn't need to know about how deep my thoughts truly run.  Only wimpy guys think like that.

  "Well, Leo suggested that you and I come down for Thanksgiving," April finally drops the bombshell.  "He said that Lucy and her mom usually cook a lot of food for it, so Lucy requested that we help them finish it off."

  I frown in disbelief as I sit up straighter.  "I doubt little Lucy is the one that invited me," I remark.

  April sighs.  "So what if she didn't?  Leo still wants us to visit them, and I think we should.  It will be nice to spend Thanksgiving with the people who save our lives on a regular basis."

"No," I respond instantly. I do not want to be forced to hang around Lucy.  I just want to spend the holiday with April, like I planned on.  Sure, I wouldn't mind visiting Raphael, but he will be too interested in Lucy anyway.

  "You're not the only one that's going to feel alone," April points out as she starts to grow a bit irritable.  "The turtles don't have Master Splinter this year.  They've also lost Lizzy.  Lucy doesn't have Lilac anymore, and they were best friends.  Consequently, my dad and I still have hard feelings over kicking me out when the Shredder took over.  I don't have any family that I can trust.  We've all lost someone, Casey.  We understand what you're going through."

  I know she is trying to guilt me, so I shake my head stubbornly. "I'm not going," I argue, though I feel myself slipping.

  April's frustration is replaced with insistence. "Come on, Casey! You can't spend the holidays away from friends. That's just not right.  Besides, Lucy isn't that bad.  You've just got to find something in common with her to make things less awkward."

  I can't bring myself to stand as strong in my decision anymore.  "I don't want to," I finally mumble.

  April puts on puppy dog eyes and clasps her hands together. "Please? For me?" she begs.

  No matter how hard I try, it is impossible for me to resist her desperation. I don't like to admit it, but I have always been a softy when it comes to her. I hate that about myself.

  "Fine, I'll go. Just get off my back about it," I grumble. How bad could it be, really?

  "Thank you!" To my astonishment, April throws her arms around me and hugs me. She stays like that for a while, before blushing and releasing me. I smile a tiny bit and look back at the television.

  The movie is back on, but I have lost all interest. Instead of focusing on the screen, I let my gaze wander the room. My eye catches my laptop lying in the coffee table beside my feet. I had left the electronic there from the previous night.

  Instantly thinking of Nyleve, my mind begins to wander back to the Halloween party. I can still recall the pull I had toward her and the feeling she gave me in the pit of my stomach. It was like no other emotion I have ever experienced. I can't even try to explain it, but I loved it.

  Suddenly, a thought hits me square in the face. I sit bolt upright in astonishment.

  April, alarmed, sits up straight as well. "What's wrong?" she asks, startled.

  "The party girl's name," I answer, somehow breathless from the fact. I can't believe that I hadn't realized it before.

  April wrinkles her eyebrows in confusion. "What about it?" she presses.

  I snag my laptop and pull up the notepad on it. I type out 'Nyleve'. Then I proceed to type the name backwards. Sure enough, when I am finished, the word spells out 'Evelyn'.

  April and I both stare at it in astonishment. It takes several minutes for the fact to sink in. It feels like my mind has blown into pieces.

  April, however, doesn't seem convinced. "It's obviously just a coincidence," she says. She seems a bit annoyed for some reason.

  "I don't think so," I reply less certainly, but my best friend is determined.

  "You know, you've really got an unhealthy obsession with this girl," she states almost angrily.

   Shocked at her lash, I  can only raise my eyebrows in confusion.

  "You can't bring everything in your life back to her," the redhead goes on, evidently finding it hard to stay calm. "It's almost been a month since the Halloween party. You haven't spotted a trace of her since then. Do you realize that? Yet you're still way too absorbed in her."

  My eyes are glued to the virtual notepad on my computer. "Maybe I have seen traces of her, because she's closer than I thought," I murmur.

  April shakes her head, her red ponytail swaying side to side. "The girl from the party was fun, right?" she asks. When I nod, she looks satisfied. "You've told me for two weeks that Evelyn is the most boring person you've ever met. No one can change their personality so dramatically. She clearly isn't the same girl from the party."

  I finally look into her eyes to show her I am too set in my ways to listen. "They can on Halloween," I respond.

  April sigh and stand up. "I've gotta get home and finish up my homework. I'll see you at school."

  "See ya," I say distractedly, my eyes not leaving my laptop screen.

  I have a few questions to ask Evelyn tomorrow.