Hello everyone. While I'm preparing other chapters from my various stories I thought it was high time I finally released my most important story, I present "Internal Struggles" to you. This story is one I've been working on for months. Months of planning and pre-writing. This is not about Lyoko or any related events. This is not going to be a fun story or drama based, this story series will be based on very real and very important struggles a lot of people go through. This series will be between 10-15 chapters long. 2-3 per character. I'll be touching on multiple Mental Health Disorders. If anything of this nature disturbs you or makes you uncomfortable, I'd suggest you change. These are the struggles people go through in silence. This story, even in the light hearted moments, is not to be taken as a joke. If you, or anyone you know are suffering from any of these disorders, do not hesitate to contact me for help or contact someone local. Do not let yourself suffer in silence. Give people a chance to help you. I hope you all can understand why this series will be my most important. I hope you enjoy this series. Please, leave reviews with your honest opinion or if you relate to any of these, if you have a story to share or if you know someone who has gone through anything I've touched. I hope I can communicate these problems well to someone who hasn't experienced so that they can help others. Without further ado, this is Internal Struggles.
Aelita. (1/2)
The cold, harsh winds of Winter shook the windows of the cafeteria that belonged to Kadic Academy. The hustle and bustle of the students however, kept the interior of the building warm and vibrant. About midway down the building, stood a table. Sat at the table, was the perhaps, the most mysterious group of students that were currently or have ever, attending Kadic Academy.
"Alright, alright! You win!" Ulrich laughed, pushing his now empty tray across the table. Odd lifted his arms into the air, his hands balled into fists.
Yumi, Jeremie and Aelita rolled their eyes but still smiled at the two best friends entertaining themselves with a lunch eating competition.
"The undefeated champion of Kadic! Odd Della Robbia!" Odd cheered for himself, earning himself a round of applause from his friends at the table, even a few of the students from neighboring tables chimed in with claps, amused at the blonde's antics.
"I don't think being the fastest eater at Kadic is as big a triumph as you'd like to think!" Yumi said with a smile, taking a sip from the warm hot chocolate she held in gloved hands. Odd pointed at her and smiled.
"You're just jealous Yumi, that's all it is!" Odd replied with a smile, leaning back in his chair and letting out a happy sigh.
"You're such a dork!" Jeremie said with a laugh, taking a break from his laptop he was currently glued too.
"Ahh, again! Another jealous party!" Odd grinned, his eyes sweeping across the table, meeting the eyes of his friends but stopping on Aelita's green eyes. His eyes scanned her face, her eye sockets seemed shallow and her face looked thin, her skin paler than anyone else at the table.
"Was she always like that?" Odd thought to himself, his mind considered blaming the Winter weather or perhaps a lack of sleep but once his eyes fell to her plate, a horrible feeling set itself into the pit of his stomach. Her plate of food, the same as the others had gotten, remained full. Untouched.
Before he could mention anything to anyone, Jeremie stood up and stretched out his back.
"Yumi, didn't you want me to help you study for your History exam tomorrow?" Jeremie asked, shutting his laptop, placing it into the bag that hung on the back of the chair. Yumi stood up with a start.
"That's right!" Yumi replied, face palming as it slipped her mind completely, "Will we go to the library?" she questioned, reaching for her bag on the floor.
"Yeah, sounds good. You guys coming or?" Jeremie asked, throwing his coat on before putting his bag on his back.
"I'll meet you there in five minutes or so, I have to go hand this paper into Mrs Hertz!" Ulrich said, fishing a bundle of papers from his bag and waving them in a circle.
"Alright! Odd, Aelita?" Yumi asked, tilting her head and smiling. Odd shook his head.
"I'm good, I need to talk to Jim about my detentions anyway!" Odd replied, a sheepish smile spreading across his face.
"I'm going to head back up to my room, I need to catch up on homework." Aelita said, wrapping her scarf around her neck and taking off before anyone could say anything. Odd stared sadly after her which Ulrich caught out of the corner of his eye.
"She must really need to get that work done," Ulrich said, scratching the back of his head. "You guys go on ahead, I need to talk to Odd about something for Jim anyway!" Ulrich said, waving as his friends took off towards the library, leaving only Odd and Ulrich at the table.
"What do you need to talk about?" Odd asked, leaning on the table and glancing at his best friend. Ulrich stepped past him to where Aelita was sitting, he pulled out her chair and reached down, picking something up.
"You're still in love with her, aren't you?" Ulrich asked, pushing the chair back in. Odd blinked at his roommate.
"Is this all you wanted to talk abou-" Odd started but was cut off when Ulrich grabbed his arm and placed something into his hand. Odd looked at his hand and realized that Ulrich had put a phone into it.
"Aelita forgot her phone," Ulrich stated, looking towards the dorms before looking back at Odd, "Listen, something's up with Aelita, I don't know what but you've noticed it too. You're the only one she'd talk to if she had any problems. Go talk to her and find out what's wrong."
Odd looked at her phone that rested in his hands, he stole a glance at the plate she had left and he was hit with that feeling in the pit of his stomach again. He looked at Ulrich and nodded.
"Alright, I'll talk to her."
The corridors of the dorms were eerily quiet as Odd made his way through them, the only sounds accompany him were the sounds of his own footsteps.
He turned the corner, his eyes lazily tracing the frames of various doors before he neared Aelita's dorm. As he stepped closer, he lifted his hand to knock on the door but found himself frozen in place when he realized the door as slightly ajar. His heart started pounding as he contemplated looking through the crack. Going against his better judgement, he moved to the crack of the door and peered through.
"Aelita… Whats happened to you…" Odd cried inside to himself, his eyes setting upon an extremely worrying sight.
Aelita was standing with her back to the door, wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top but Odd's eyes traced across her back. Almost every part of her backbones was visible through her skin. Her spine poked out further then it had when she first arrived on Earth, all those years ago. Her shoulder blades were worryingly notable. It all clicked in Odd's head at that moment. All the times she had left meals early, each time she had an excuse not to eat dinner. She was starving herself. Odd's stomach dropped so fast he felt himself lose his balance. He took a few deep breaths before standing up and composing himself. He knocked against the door three times.
"Aelita? It's me, you in there?" Odd called, his heart praying she wouldn't ignore him.
"Odd? Yeah, I'll be there in a second." Aelita called back. Odd heard her moving around in the room frantically before opening the door with a feeble smile.
"Hey, what's going on?" Aelita asked with a forced smile, gesturing Odd to come into her room. Odd instantly noticed that she had put a zip-up hoodie on before she answered the door.
"I wanted to ask you something." Odd responded, stepping into her room, Aelita closing the door behind him. She turned to face him and leaned back against her door.
"Shoot!" Aelita said, taking a breath before walking over and sitting on her bed. Odd noticed how shakily she was walking.
"Aelita," Odd said, his mind thinking of what to ask before he had an idea, "Will you come into town with me?"
"Into town? What for?" Aelita questioned, folding one leg across the other, the bottom of her jeans slipping up, revealing her lower leg that looked painfully skinny. Odd felt like someone winded him. Shaking his head free of the thoughts to yell his questions then and there, he looked back at her.
"I wanted to get dinner in town instead of in the cafeteria and I wanted to ask you to come with me." Odd stated, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
"Oh," Aelita simply replied, looking down at her lap, "I don't know Odd, why don't you ask Ulrich? Or maybe Jeremie? Or Yu-"
"Because I want to go with you." Odd blurted out, feeling his face heat up due to the blush creeping up on it. Aelita felt her cheeks heating up as well before she let out a sigh.
"Alright, I'll go with you." Aelita replied, giving Odd a weak smile and nodding.
"Oh, and Aelita," Odd said, turning to leave the room, "Careful you don't forget this in the cafeteria again."
He placed her phone on her desk beside her door, waved his goodbye and left the room.
She stared at the phone on her desk and let out a sigh. She was losing her mind.
Hours passed until it was 7pm. Odd paced back and forth in front of the Kadic gates. He kept checking his phone, hoping she wouldn't stand him up and not come. The truth was, he always planned on asking her on a date at some point but this wasn't the time. He had to find out what was happening with one of his best friends. He turned to face the building just on time to see her approaching him.
"Hey Odd," Aelita said, offering him a smile while brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, "I'm sorry if I'm late!"
"You're not late at all, don't worry about it!" Odd replied, smiling back at her and looking her up and down. She looked very cute in the outfit she had picked but Odd still worried deeply for her. "You look great by the way," he said, offering the pink hair girl a smile, "shall we?" Odd smiled, offering his hand.
"You clean up nicely too, Della Robbia," Aelita teased, poking him in the chest, she placed her hand into his and smiled, "Yeah, lets."
The duo entered a small diner, around 10 minutes from the ground of Kadic. They sat at a booth close to the window and settled into their seats across from each other.
"Odd?" Aelita asked, looking at the blonde with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah Princess?" Odd responded, using her nickname while pouring over a menu. Aelita felt herself smile at the use of her nickname. Smiling, for her was a rare occurrence these days.
"Is this a date?" Aelita questioned straightforwardly. Odd blinked as his cheeks turned a little pink.
"Well… No… Yeah… Maybe. I don't know, is it?" Odd rambled, rubbing his arm with his hand, his mind fighting itself to treat this night like the date he longed for with her.
"Well, I'd like it to be one." Aelita said, placing her hand on top of his. Odd smiled and cupped her hand with both of his.
"Then, a date it is." Odd nodded, a smile crossing his face. The waitress came and they ordered their food. A burger and fries with a cola for Odd and a small portion of fries for Aelita with a diet cherry cola. Odd felt himself sigh when she ordered. Their food came and they ate and talked, enjoying each others company, well, more accurately, Odd ate while they talked. Aelita picked an occasional fry from her plate and slowly chewed on it. By the end, she had only eaten half of her plate, much to the dismay of Odd.
The night progressed on for the two. The left the diner after an hour and a half or so, walking back to Kadic, laughing and having a good time on the way back. Aelita was surprising Odd. For as little as she ate, she was so full of energy and life. Odd's mind traced back to how little of her fries she ate and the reason he asked her out tonight set itself back into his mind. His concerns were confirmed when he noticed how little she ate.
They entered the grounds of Kadic once again and approached the dorm buildings.
"Odd, I had a great time tonight, thank you for this." Aelita smiled, her smile radiating her happiness, showing she was being truthful.
"No problem Princess, I had a great time too!" Odd responded, a smile plastered on his face. She giggled before leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.
"Goodnight Odd," Aelita blushed, smiling to herself that she had the courage to kiss him, "I'm going to head up now. Sleep well!" she said, waving as she walked towards her dorm building.
"Goodnight Aelita!" Odd called, placing his fingers against the cheek she had just kissed. Smiling to himself, he turned to head into his dorm. As he neared the door, his brain jolted and gave him the sudden urge to look over his shoulder. He did as his brain commanded and noticed that Aelita had changed her path from the dorms to the public bathroom. He watched as she entered and the door closed behind her. Without giving himself a chance to think, his legs began moving on their own towards to the bathroom.
Odd quietly pushed the door to the bathroom open and stepped inside. The dim light of the bathroom helped him find his way to the stalls, only one of them closed over. He quietly walked closer before he heard it. The one noise he hoped he wouldn't hear. The sound of someone puking. His heart began to pain him instantly, causing him to inhale sharply. He quickly clasped his hands over his mouth and prayed Aelita hadn't heard him. When a few seconds passed and he heard the sounds again, he let go of his mouth, knowing he wasn't caught.
He stepped closer to the door and placed his hand on it. Every single fiber of his being told him not to open it, to forget all this and go to bed, but his heart told him otherwise. This was the girl he loved and one of his closest friends. He couldn't let this go. He pressed on the door and it slowly swung open with no resistance.
"Aelita."
Aelita, from her position on her knees, leaning over the toilet, felt herself jump. Standing up and slowly turning to face Odd. She looked him dead in the eyes.
"Odd…" Aelita began, looking up at Odd who towered above her, but was cut off when Odd wrapped his arms around her. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and suddenly felt herself crying into Odd's chest.
"It's alright Aelita, I'm here." Odd said burying his face into the top of her hair, stroking her hair as she cried into the blondes chest. Unbeknownst to Aelita, Odd silently cried into her hair.
"I'm here."
That was my first chapter out of two for Aelita. Aelita's chapters will cover two disorders that I've had experience with personally through a friend, so I felt this was the right one to start with. I hope you all understand what I'm trying to relay her and that you will all understand with time that we need to work with each other to overcome these disorders. Nothing, can be done by yourself. Until the next chapter for Aelita, I'll see you then.