Read and review! No flames! This is Pre-Xana awakens. Ulrich is just going to the school a few months before it starts to have a look around.
"I'm thankful you have accepted my son's application to Kadiac academy."
So is Ulrich. Here he can stay away from his father and not have to eventually go home. No more yelling matches, no having to run out of the house, no more sleeping on a gritty fire escape somewhere when he wanted to be alone for the night. Now, if he could only keep his grades up...
Now he's sitting uncomfortable in an office, squished between his mother and father. It smells vaguely like cinnamon. He keeps his head down and eyes fixated on the floor. He's not interested in conversation; he's interested in sulking places.
Ever since he was old enough to walk, he's always had one. A place to hide when his father got mad (which was, sadly, often), or to hide when he didn't want to be around others. Cupboards, attics, tree houses, etc. His last place was the fire escape of a ratty old motel a few miles away from where they lived. The workers were so used to his presence they'd let food out for him every night, much like you would a stray animal.
The guests complained almost nightly of his presence (he would too if he found a stray person outside their window) but the people just laughed them off. It wouldn't surprise him if they'd lost business because of him, but he needed a place to cool off.
The night before going to the acceptance meeting he'd left a note on the escape stating he wouldn't be back and to thank them for the food. That way they didn't waster extra food that could be served to people staying there.
He glances to his left. Father was talking, yet he couldn't hear the words. His face is tense, eyes ablaze. It was the look he had when someone was putting up a political debate that had intelligence in it. The look of interest, the look of competition.
A glance to his right. Mother is leaning back in her seat and fiddling with her purse, she is obviously as bored as he is.
He could never understand why his father and mother married. He was political, a perfectionist. She was light and feminine, always wearing makeup and dresses (unless in court), she liked buying things like expensive shoes and purses, driving his father into fits. Leading to huge arguments (they were good lawyers, so they both had amazing arguments), driving him out of the house just to get some peace and quiet.
"How does that sound, Ulrich?" the principal (for the life of him he couldn't remember his name) asked, drawing him out of his reverie. Ulrich looks around a moment, before sheepishly saying.
"I'm sorry sir; I didn't hear what you said."
His father 'hmphs' and he knows he's going to get a lecture later.
"Ah, that's alright" the principal amends "I asked if you would like to explore our ground while your parents and I finish up our business."
Hmm… that wasn't much of a quandary, even for him. Sit here and be stuck as well as bored, or go looking around the large grounds he would soon be living in. there was no contest.
He nodded, before standing up and walking out, hands in his pockets.
The academy itself was interesting, with many twists and turns in its halls, but what caught Ulrich's attention wasn't the school, but the forest surrounding it.
Walking through the entrance, it feels almost like second nature as he slips through the bushes blocking his path.
Bird and crickets chirped, animals rustles, trees swayed, it was like steeping into a new world. The deeper he went, the more relaxed he became. Eventually he came upon large oak tree; the wood was smooth, with high, thick, branches. Following and instincts, he started climbing, ignoring the familiar rush of dizziness, climbing as high as his vertigo would allow him.
Looking out onto the trees below, Ulrich felt a feeling of comfort and peace akin to the fire escape of the motel he'd slept on for weeks on end.
Ulrich smiled for the first time that day. He'd found his hiding place.
Ulrich wouldn't know about Xana or the others at the time, so he would be more worried about schooling then Lyoko at the time. Read and review!