Creds to -Renci- for Nixie and Kelly <3

Dean walks to his locker beside Copeland. The look to their lock combos, struggling as they try to open them. Soon, Dakota and Asher walk over, having already mastered the lock.

"Spin right, spin left, spin right again," Dakota demonstrates.

Dean's locker pops open, and he grins. "Oh. Thanks Kota."

"No problem."

Asher opens Copeland's locker, and she smirks. "Thanks nerd boy."

He rolls his eyes and gives her a gentle shove, heading back to his locker with his sister.

"Dudes! This is awesome!" Mitch grins. "This place is amazing!"

The cousins laugh.

Suddenly, a girl behind Dean trips, her books and binders flying into the air. A few people nearby laugh and point at her. She keeps her head down, her ponytail falling across her face as she scrambles to retrieve her fallen items. Dean immediately stoops down to help her. He knows this moment seems incredibly cliche, but he does want to help the poor girl.

"Here," he says kindly, handing her one of her many novels.

"Oh...thanks," she mumbles, taking the book. "Sorry. I'm really clumsy."

She looks up, blushing a little with embarrassment. Freckles dot her nose and cheeks lightly, and her eyes are a coffee brown. Her hair is the same colour and is pulled into a flowing side ponytail. Her figure is tall and slim, and Dean guesses she must be around 5'7".

Dean grabs her last binder, and she stands up, smoothing out her shirt and jeans.

"Sorry again," she says.

"It's no problem, really." He smiles. "I'm Dean."

She tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Elisabeth. Call me whatever nickname you want."

"What if I want to call you Elisabeth?"

"That'd be a first."

He laughs.

Copeland, having watched this whole exchange, winks at her cousin and heads down the hall with the others. Dean rolls his eyes, smiling lightly. He looks back at the girl he just helped, keeping the warm smile on his lips.

"I could help you out with these," he offers, adjusting his grip on the few of her supplies he's still holding. "If you're okay with it."

She lets out a nervous laugh. "Uh...sure. Thanks."

He follows her to her locker, handing her the items once she opens the door. He watches as she piles it all neatly into the locker, and he notices that she's wearing a Space Heroes shirt.

"You like SH?" he asks.

She looks down at her shirt, blushing again. "It's kind of a guilty pleasure. Not a lot of people watch those older cartoons anymore."

She seems to brace herself for something, and he tilts his head a little. "What?"

"Usually, this is when people laugh at me."

"Actually, Space Heroes is my favourite show. My parents love it too." He chuckles. "That's why my middle name is Ryan."

She laughs. "Your parents sound awesome."

"They are."

She smiles, looking down the hall. "There's a welcoming assembly. I can show you the way."

"That'd be great. Thanks."

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Copeland sits in the auditorium among the hustle and the bustle of the other students. She watches everyone carefully, and her eyes fall on a nervous looking boy standing on the edge of the rows of seats. He wears a red snapback paired with a red vest and belt. His shoes and slimming sweater are black, and Copeland tilts her head a little as she looks at him closer.

He's lean, but not wimpy. She can see some slight muscle definition through the dark material of his shirt, and his hands remain shoved into the deep pockets of his baggy blue jeans. Some of his shaggy black hair has a bit of white right above his forehead. Dark brown eyes fall over the crowd as he chews on his lip nervously. His skin has a tan to it, prompting the disguised turtle girl to think that he may be native or something.

Suddenly, he starts walking, and Copeland drops her gaze from him. She keeps her viewpoint stuck on some spot in the distance, and she feels a soft tap on her shoulder.

"Excuse me? Can I sit here?" a soft voice asks.

She glances up to see the boy she was just noticing. She nods, forcing a pleasant smile.

"Sure," she mumbles. He nods and sits down, looking at his feet. She leans back, crossing her legs. "I'm Copeland," she says, turning her head to look at him.

He gives her a tight lipped smile. "I'm...uh..." He trails off and mumbles the last part.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"...Tiki," he nearly whispers.

She smirks, and he blushes and pulls his hat down over his bangs.

"Yeah, I know. It's incredibly stupid. Everyone laughs about it..." he mumbles.

"No!" she says instantly, her tone slightly snappish. He jumps, looking up at her with surprised brown eyes. She coughs and changes her tone. "No...I think it's cool."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" She smiles lightly, and he returns it. "What class do you have first?"

He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Geo. What a waste of time."

She laughs. She already has a good feeling about him.

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Dakota and Asher head to science, their arms full as they almost shake with excitement. They're almost to class when someone shoves into Dakota rather roughly. She stumbles, but Asher immediately catches her.

"Woah! Sorry!" a boy apologizes instantly, ruffling his dirty blond hair.

"It's fine..." she mumbles.

Asher looks to the new boy, taking in his appearance. He's wearing a red jacket with black buckles and a few wires twisted around the outside, attached to speaker-esque patches on his shoulders. His ears and nose are rather pointed, like an elf's, and he wears normal jeans and black hiking boots. His dirty blond hair is shaggy and longer than most other boy's, and his grey eyes twinkle with a sort of mischievousness.

Asher's eyes widen when he notices the headphones the boy is wearing. "Woah...are those the newest Bluetooth wireless headphones?"

The boy laughs. "Almost. I did a bit of tweaking to a different pair and made my own. This jacket has some of the wiring hooked into it to boost the sound."

"That's awesome! My dad and I do stuff like that too. We made my phone a few years ago," he mentions.

"Really? What sort of processor did you use?"

"Okay. I'm gonna go to science," Dakota says rather awkwardly, heading away at a brisk pace.

The boy watches her leave, smirking lightly. He turns and looks back at Asher.

"I'm Lukas," he introduces, sticking his hand out.

"Asher." The disguised mutant grasps Lukas' extended hand and shakes. "My aunt had a bandmate named Lukas."

He shrugs. "It's a common name." He looks at Asher's face, arching a blonde eyebrow. "Your eyes are freaky, dude. In an awesome way."

"Really? You think so?"

"Totally! Are they genetic?"

"Yeah...they are."

"Sweet."

Asher laughs, and Lukas looks down the hall down the path Dakota took. "You're heading to science?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Same." He smirks and fiddles with the straps of his jacket. "Wanna hang?"

"Sure!"

They start walking, and Asher adjusts his binders a bit in his muscled arms.

"So, are you any good at science?" he asks.

Lukas shakes his head. "I'm more into stuff with computers and inventions. The hardcore science stuff isn't me." He looks to the turtle boy in disguise. "You?"

"I'm both. Both my parents are scientists, plus Dakota is smart. We like inventing and such," Asher mentions.

"You don't look so much like the nerd type. Too muscular."

He purses his lips. "I do some ninjutsu stuff in my free time."

"Cool, bro." The blonde looks back at Dakota, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "Are you and her siblings?"

"Twins."

Lukas grins. "That's epic, man."

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Dakota walks into class, trying to find a spot to sit. She can still hear Asher and Lukas behind her, and she deduces that they're going to sit together.

She notices a quiet girl seated near a large window, gazing off into the distance. Her auburn hair is wavy and her eyes, which Dakota notices are as green as Uncle Raphael's, are framed with black glasses. She wears a simple black sweater and a pair of clean blue jeans, black runners on her feet.

She moves to the desk, tapping the girl's shoulder. She jumps a little, looking up at the newcomer.

"Mind if I sit here?" Dakota asks.

She shakes her head, and the white-haired girl seats herself down. The other girl fiddles with her hands nervously, and Dakota takes a deep breath.

"Are you excited to start science? I am," she tries to start a conversation.

"Yeah. Science is cool..." the other mumbles.

"Um...I'm Dakota. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh...I'm Kelly. Kelly Byrd." The girl looks up at the secret cyborg, readjusting her glasses. "What's...uh, your favourite part about science?"

"I love everything, to be honest."

Kelly smiles a little. "Same here. It's all so fascinating."

"Exactly." Dakota grins.

The auburn-haired girl gets a curious look on her face. "Why are you wearing an eyepatch?"

Dakota drops her gaze and her smile all at once, running over her fabricated excuse in her mind. "The one eye is blind. I prefer to keep it hidden so people don't make fun of me."

"Hey, you can't help what your born with. People make fun of me too..." Kelly trails off, her expression pained.

"Why would they do that?"

She shrugs. "Who knows? They find me...weird."

"I don't. I think we're gonna get along just fine." Dakota smiles reassuringly.

The class starts up with an intro to the different courses and such, and both girls smile lightly to themselves.

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Mitch sighs heavily as he trudges towards math class. Dean already walked ahead with the girl he was helping, leaving the blonde skater boy alone.

"Ugh...I hate math class already!" he groans out loud.

"You and me both," a new voice says.

He turns to see a girl slam her locker, blowing a strand of straight brunette hair out of her eyes. Her skin is tanned and her eyes are a reddish-brown colour, which Mitch immediately associates with his Uncle Donatello. She wears simple black sweats and a maroon t-shirt. There's a cut-off grey jacket layered overtop of the shirt, her hair just barely brushing her shoulders, and she smiles pleasantly at him.

Woah, what a cutie... he thinks.

"Oh! Hey..." He blushes a little and rubs the back of his neck.

"Hey." She laughs. "I'm glad someone else hates math like I do. God, I'd love to go home and eat pizza and play video games right now."

Mitch's eyes widen. "Video games and pizza?"

"Yeah. That or I'd hit the skatepark."

He almost falls over, his face stuck in a state of shock. "Okay, did we just become best friends?"

She laughs again. "Why is that?"

"Because exactly what you just said is what I want to do!"

"Dude, we're totally best friends then," she says. "I'm Nixie."

"Mitch."

"Cute name."

"Thanks." He blushes again, chuckling breathily.

"Wanna sit together in class?"

"You bet!"

She runs a hand over her hair, shutting her eyes briefly. "Good. I need someone to suffer with."

He grins as they head to class together.

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"This is so weird," Blake whispers.

"Just be cool," Venus replies just as softly.

The two best friends stare at the other kids, feeling jumpy and nervous. They walk to the carpet, where everyone is gathering in front of the teacher, Ms Dempsey.

"I want everyone to say hello to someone nearby that they don't know," Ms D says. "Also, tell them something cool about yourself."

The kids all start to talk excitedly among themselves, and Venus looks to the boy beside her. He has shaggy brown hair and blue eyes that remind her of her dad and brother's eyes.

"Hi! I'm Venus!" she says happily.

The boy smiles. "I'm Keith." He looks around for a fleeting moment. "I have a big secret."

Her green eyes widen. "Can I know?"

He nods and leans closer to her ear. "I got a cooties vaccine. No one else knows about it, so I can't be hurt."

She laughs. Her mind races for something to tell him, and she almost says, "I have a patch that makes me look human. Really, I'm a mutant turtle and my entire family are mutants too!"

But she doesn't. Instead, she says, "I'm learning ninjutsu. It's really fun!"

Blake scoots over to them, introducing himself to Keith.

"I'm Blake and I'm gonna play hockey like my dad when I grow up," he says proudly. Keith tells him the same secret about cooties, and he giggles. "Vennie is my best friend. I became immune by being around her a lot."

"Uncle Donnie says that'd be called 'prolonged exposure'," she informs them.

"I never thought about that...Cool!" Keith grins.

"Alright children! Listen up!" Ms D chirps.

Keith, Blake, and Venus all stick together, grinning the entire time.