He woke up feeling better than usual that day, which really was an understatement for feeling well in the current condition. Jeremie Belpois sighed with some relief in his voice, stretching thin lanky arms in the air and rolling backwards.
Sunday, no school. He should probably work.
Something nagged him the back of his mind, 'you've been working hard everyday without any sort of gratitude, today you should relax.' Though usually Jeremie didn't listen to those voices, something about this one made him comply. Maybe it was because of how he remembered the distinct lack of gratitude he was receiving for his hard work and dedication, or that he really was so tired and stressed he'd gone insane.
It was awful early, way earlier than he could imagine waking up without the urgency of a XANA attack, and there was absolutely no line for the shower. Was it really that early? He took his time, looking up and down the hallways to make sure there wasn't any snickering "friends" that were setting him up. Nothing, really, Jeremie didn't really like the feeling of things going his way. He walked into the bathroom and took a hot shower.
Once out, Jeremie was reminded why it was a good thing to go back home now and then. Hot showers were much more pleasurable than the cold ones he usually suffered through by the time he got his turn in the shower, and there were no other boys with questionable intents on checking his size. Why they did it was beyond him. Speaking of which, his pants fit more snugly than usual, bringing up rather embarrassing thoughts that didn't need to be repeated outside of his mind.
"Well, I guess I should go now," Jeremie said but didn't move, his eyes focused on the computer instead of on his way out, "…I'll work some later, I should enjoy my day off some."
He turned and left the room, making sure to lock the door on the way out.
You may think it odd, but Jeremie felt like every girl in the school was watching him. Did he forget something? Certainly, it made no sense to the genius boy but the attention was an interesting change of pace from the usual. It kept his body warm with embarrassment in the brisk February morning.
Oh, shoot. February 14, right?
Jeremie stopped, burying his face in his palm. He'd been working so hard, he'd totally forgotten it was Valentines Day. What to do, Aelita was probably bringing him some sort of pink colored terabyte or some useful piece of machinery for stopping XANA, but he had totally forgotten!
…Well, it's not like she didn't have it coming. The only thing they discussed these days was programs and saving her father. There wasn't any romance left in that relationship. And anyways! He had a feeling she was sneaking off with—
"H…hey, Jeremie…"
Jeremie turned to Tamiya, ready to put a hand on the lens of the video camera and leave before a baby pink envelope got shoved into his hand. The younger girl blushed so heavily that it even turned out red on her dark skin then she turned tail and ran. Jeremie blinked, glancing at the full length of the envelope, expecting to see Ulrich's name scribbled on the front. To his surprise it was his own.
"Wha—?"
"Jeremie!"
Jeremie practically jumped out of his skin turning to see Milly with a small red back in her hands, decorated with hearts. Her cheeks were flushed as well, but Jeremie was certain that this one was for Ulrich. He smiled at her, lips twitching awkwardly.
"Oh, hello Mil—"
"This is for you!" Much to his surprise, she shoved the bag into his hands much like Tamiya but stayed still, looking up at him with a flustered gaze. "I…I like you!"
EH?!
Jeremie furrowed his brow, almost knocked off balance by the surprise. This must be some gigantic joke that Milly and Tamiya were filming as their Valentines headline. Candid camera and Jeremie could only muster a meek smile at her.
"…" Before he could say something, the other remaining girls in that grade seemed to push through Milly and hand off their respective gifts into Jeremie's hands. "H…hey, hey wait…"
"I like you more, Jeremie!" One girl, who Jeremie vaguely remembered as Julie Vigouroux, exclaimed suddenly becoming uncomfortably close, "please date me!"
Now this was getting weird. He never had any problems with these girls before. He was always a kind and courteous gentleman with them, there would be no way Milly and Tamiya could form such a gigantic conspiracy against him. He tried his hardest not to make any wrong movements.
"Like he would ever date a kid like you!"
Jeremie turned to hear a voice that was entirely unfamiliar to him. The girl was definitely older than Milly or Tamiya, but he was sure she wasn't a part of his grade. Julie hissed a name Lola, was it? Jeremie raised an eyebrow, and turned to look at the girl whom he'd never seen or talked to before.
"Excuse me, do I know yo—?" Jeremie attempted civility.
"Jeremie Beplois," Lola approached the blond with a small package in her hand and placed it atop of the others, "I know we haven't really met before, but I want you to know that I've always loved you. Unlike that Solovieff over there."
"I'm touched, really but—"
"Jeremie"
Now, Jeremie could easily identify these girls. That disturbed him a bit, though, as they all found themselves giving each other daggers from the eyes. Azra Urgurp, Claire Girard, Heidi Klinger…where were these girls when Jeremie was looking for a girlfriend?! Azra showed the most resolve, breaking her heated stare to deliver a small expensive looking box to his hand, which were quite full at this point.
"I hope you like it…" She smiles sheepishly, and scoots away slowly, "I…I asked around for things you might like so…so…"
Claire shoved past her, dropping a bag of candy that had a phone number etched on it in marker and winked. "You know who to call when you want some company, okay, Belpois?" Why was her voice so suggestive…?
Heidi didn't say anything, just placed an envelope in his fingers and shyly walked off. What happened to all the boldness she had when Odd wanted to date her? Jeremie didn't exactly understand the situation here.
"Heya" Jeremie furrowed his brow and turned his head to see Jeanne LeBihan closing in the space with track team speed, "how's the most handsome man in the school? Oho! Look at all of those gifts, I'll just add mine here at your feet"
Jeremie inwardly thanked her for not stacking it on his hands but had to wonder what she got him in such an unreasonably large box. She grinned at him and winked before walking off.
Jeremie had to wonder if this was how Ulrich felt for years and took the moment of silence to stack his gracious offerings onto the large box. Sighing he waited to see if anyone else would come and make him feel like he wasn't trying when he first looked for a girlfriend.
"Oh, Jeremie, alone?"
Of course, Emilie Leduc was in love with him! Why hadn't he seen it sooner? They exchanged some minor small talk before she merely placed a nice smelling envelope on top of the stack. Jeremie sat down on the ground beside the pile of gifts. Was every girl in the school going to deliver him something?
OF COURSE THEY WERE! He was the most handsome student in the school after all!
It didn't matter if he was sure Magali had a boyfriend, or if Odd would be angry when Noemie gave him something. Hey, Soria and Tania were a part of this school; they had to throw in their handmade chocolate as well, didn't they?
Even Taelia decided to join in on the fun, nervously delivering a small bag of goodies.
"Seriously, where were these girls when I wanted a girlfriend?" Jeremie groaned, rubbing his forehead.
Anais, Caroline, and even Maitena from Yumi's grade! Was there no sanity left in this school? He didn't even know Pricilla's name until she delivered the gift!!
Jeremie fell backwards onto the ground, sighing.
"Oh, having a rough time, Jeremie? Geez are you popular this year!" Yumi laughed, causing him to sit back up. "I feel like old news delivering this to you then."
"Eh…wha…you…" Jeremie tried making sense with his hand, "what?"
Yumi crossed her arms and grinned, "what, a girl can't have her secret crushes?"
Well, that was it, his life was over. Ulrich was going to kill him and Odd would eat all the sweets he was given. It's probably better this way. Probably. Jeremie laid back down on the ground, exhausted. Why was the entire female student body attracted to him? It didn't make any sense.
"Oh, my God! Jeremie is Kadic's new hottie? How lame!"
A plop, and Jeremie turned his head to see Sissi sitting beside him. At least she was complaining, he didn't have to worry about some sort of gift or anything.
"Sissi? I thought I'd never be glad to see you," Jeremie sighed sitting up only to slouch over, "…you're not mysteriously attracted to me…are you?"
"Nope!" Sissi crossed her arms, nose in the air. "Don't bunk me in with those other girls, Belpois!"
Jeremie let out a heavy sigh of relief, "…thank goodness."
"…It's not a mystery why I'm attracted to you was what I was going to say! Geez, you're so dense, Jeremie!"
Jeremie's jaw dropped.
"…eh…wh…mm…er…" He tried explaining with his hands again, "what?!"