Untold

She hated him. She hated him with every fiber of her being. He was arrogant, and cocky, and brooding—

And he had kissed her without her consent.

But he was kind of handsome. And his brooding nature was, she'd admit, kind of hot.

Mostly, she hated herself. She hated that she felt this way, and she was afraid of what loving him might do to her. After Xander…

No. She shook her head. I can't let that happen again.

The others had warned her: "William's a creep, he hurt us, he stalked Yumi…" She'd heard it all. And she'd been avoiding him ever since their kiss, going so far as to make sure Jeremie didn't pair them together for Lyoko duty.

After all, she had come to Kadic to learn, and get away from the drama of home; not to get involved with some stupid boy.

"That's it."

Standing, she stuffed her feet into a pair of sneakers and laced them up, grabbing Vega's harness and clipping the dog's leash to her collar as she readied her to leave the dorms. It was after dinner but not late enough for curfew, and all Giana wanted to do was hit something.

Pushing open the door to the gymnasium, she stopped short as she realized she wasn't the only person there. Standing in the middle of the room was William, though she couldn't see him — he'd been practicing some Pencak Silat moves and straightened when he noticed them. She groaned inwardly.

He's everywhere.

Watching as she looped her dog's leash to the bleachers and headed straight for him, his shoulders slumped when he took in her expression. "I can leave."

"No," she said coolly, forming an idea. "Let's spar."

"Are you sure you want to—"

He dodged as she placed a high kick, but not before landing in a jab to her side. She was knocked back but still remained on her feet, regaining her balance and coming at him again with her fists raised.

He took a step back. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Why?" she demanded. "You scared?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off.

"Is it because you don't want to hit a girl, or because you don't want to hit a girl who can barely see you? Because I've been there and done that, so either you man up and fight, or you forfeit."

He narrowed his eyes. "Okay. Fine."

She blocked an attempted punch, grabbing on to his wrist and pulling him closer to land a knee to the gut. Stumbling back, the wind knocked out of him, he came at her again with a low, sweeping kick, knocking her feet out from under her.

Only down for what seemed like a few seconds, she scrambled to a standing position and beckoned him to her, landing a punch to the side of his head with him blocking her at the last moment.

They circled each other, hands balled into fists, letting out the occasional punch or kick, only to catch air as they deftly dodged each other's attacks. Gritting her teeth, Giana ducked as he'd placed another jab, but managed to knock him to the floor by landing another sweeping kick.

She'd miscalculated, though, and they both went down together in a tangle of limbs. Panting, she realized she'd been the one to land on top and was now pinning him to the floor.

Their faces were mere inches apart. She could see just how grey his eyes were, and how his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.

They could've kissed. But didn't.

Her heart was in her throat as she pushed off of him, coming to lay next to him on her back as they both stared up at the gym's ceiling. She wiped a hand across her brow and tried to calm herself. A full three minutes had passed before either of them spoke.

"You're good," he said, catching his breath.

"You, too," she replied. "I didn't know you took Pencak Silat."

"I'm not as good as Ulrich and Yumi," he admitted, "but I like to think I could take them in a fight."

She let out a hollow laugh. "Maybe. Yumi's pretty tough."

He'd almost forgotten. "That's right. You guys sparred last week."

She flinched. "Yeah." She sat up and checked her hair, the braid still in-tact.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and cast a quick glance her way. "Your hair looks nice. It's just like your Lyoko form."

She blushed, standing. "I have to go." Striding over to her dog, she unclipped the leash from the side of the bleachers and waited for the black lab to stand and shake herself off. "Thanks for letting me kick your ass."

"Yeah, no—"

He watched as they left, the door closing behind them.

"Problem."

Letting out a sigh, he let himself fall back so he was staring up at the ceiling again. "I'm so stupid."

She relished in the cold air hitting her as she made her way from the gym back to the dorms. It was still an hour before curfew, but that didn't mean anything: Somehow, she felt elated. And confused, and still a little upset.

Finally, she'd reached the door to her room. Pausing, she strained to hear muffled voices coming from next door, from inside Aelita's room. It sounded like she and Jeremie were having a disagreement of sorts, but she shrugged it off and slipped away without being noticed.

Undoing Vega's harness and putting it on the hook with the dog's leash, she flopped on to her bed and stared at the assortment of Polaroids clipped to the lines on the wall next to her. Focusing on one, she reached out and plucked it from its clothespin, staring at a shot of her with Xander, Tori, and the other members of their friend group, standing at the entrance to her old school, dressed for a semiformal.

Shaking her head, she put the picture back and stared up at the ceiling, her room illuminated by the string lights framing the pictures.

"I'm so stupid."