((A/N: Hi!! This here's my first Code Lyoko Fanfiction. In case you didn't see, it's an OddxOC fan fic. I don't know how often I'll get to update, but I'll update as often as I will. Reviews provide wonderful incentive, however, so if you like (or if you don't), please review!!))

((Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. I do own Gabrielle Bursley.))

Chapter 1: Arrival

"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance."—Harrison Ford

"Ms. Bursley?" I didn't reply, didn't even bother opening my eyes. "Gabrielle?" This time, the voice had a bit of a bite to it. My chauffeur was getting impatient. They typically did these days.

"What is it?" I asked, bored.

"We've arrived, Ms. Bursley. Kadic Junior High." I sighed again and opened my eyes a crack to get a look at the building as we drove up the drive. It was a rather big school, but that didn't cheer me up in the least. For me, a big school was probably my worst nightmare (currently, in any case). There was way too much drama, something that I had more than enough of. And frankly, it was becoming infuriating. "How are you feeling, Ms. Bursley?"

I winced at the repeated use of formality. It was one of the sometimes-wonderful parts of being the daughter of two very wealthy entrepreneurs. My dear father had been the owner of a rather large distributing company, shipping goods all over the world: Bursley Issuing Company. My mother was the owner of a fashionable clothing and accessory chain: Olivella. She designed all her own clothing and sold it in her stores, which admittedly were extremely well off. Between the pair of them, they'd managed to make millions. When my father had died less than a year ago, my mother had seemingly randomly decided to pick up and move to France from the United States. Which brought me to the present, and to Kadic Junior High, a boarding school in said country.

A slight breeze ruffled my neon orange hair (dyed, of course; it was a rather strange habit I'd developed recently, dying my hair freakish colors) as I stepped out of the fancy car that my mother had forced me to ride in all the way from Saint-Servan. Typically, predictably, people stared. At me. Fancy cars and funny colored hair tend to do that.

The first thing I saw was the dull brick dorm building. The second thing I saw was a girl with long black hair, a cropped pink baby tee, and a pair of capris strutting towards me. She had on a big grin, big enough to look false.

"Hi!" she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and looking me up and down. She didn't really look impressed, but she quickly hid that and smiled a phony smile again. "You must be Gabrielle Bursley!"

"Gabby," I corrected automatically.

"Huh?"

"It's Gabby Bursley."

"Oh... right, well, I'm Elizabeth Delmas, the principal's daughter, but everyone just calls me Sissi." She suddenly reached out and took my hand in her own, pulling me away to god only knows where. "My father's so anxious to meet you, Gabby!"

Sissi continued talking at an alarming pace as she pulled me through what seemed to be the most populated areas of the school campus, pointing out things like where the cafeteria was, where the gym was, etc. She also took the liberty of sharing her personal opinion of everyone else with me.

"That group of guys over there is just a bunch of jerks! They play pranks on everyone, even the gorgeous, popular people like me! And those guys over there spend all their time playing video games, so boring! That there's Milly and Tamiya; they're reporters for the school news and they're always looking for a scoop, so watch out! And I'd avoid that group altogether!" She pointed away from the two ninth-grade journalists and to a group of four students, all of whom were giving me curious looks. Maybe I shouldn't have dyed my hair so bright... I scowled. I was already getting caught up in all the school drama, and I'd hardly been here five minutes. "Ulrich, the one in the green, is taken, and if he ever isn't, he's mine! So stay away from him! As for the others, they're all freaks, especially Odd, and that Aelita! Speaking of Odd, I don't see him..." She glared at the group balefully, her look darkening as one of them started our way. "Oh no, what does she want?"

"Hi!" the girl called, smiling kindly at me. She was eying my hair with interest, probably because it clashed horribly with my deep green over shirt. I stared with likely equal interest at her chin-length pink hair. She was wearing a darker pink dress, with light pink leggings underneath, and red boots. I wondered vaguely if hers was natural before she continued. "Are you Gabrielle Bursley?" she asked, holding out her hand to shake mine. "I'm Aelita Stones, your new roommate."

"What?" Sissi yelled, nearly deafening me in her shock and horror. Aelita and I stared at her. "You? Who said?"

"Mr. Delmas asked me about it the other day. I agreed to have a roommate, and now here she is!" Aelita said brightly, appearing oblivious to the dark looks crossing Sissi's face.

Sissi growled at her before storming off angrily, presumably to rant to someone else about the injustice of my sleeping location. Aelita giggled at little bit, and then turned back to me.

"I'll show you to our room, Gabrielle."

"Call me Gabby," I said, following Aelita as she waved to her friends and led me back to the dorm building.

"Okay. I'm so excited! I've never had a roommate before! I'm sure we'll be great friends!"

I blushed; I could tell by the heat in my cheeks. We arrived shortly at the room and Aelita and I went inside. She pointed out my bed, and I carelessly tossed my stuff onto it, stretching out and looking around the room curiously. It was rather small, but it seemed quite nice: cozy, lived in. It was a good thing, really.

"It's almost time for lunch. You're more than welcome to come and eat with my friends and I. Unless you'd rather eat with Sissi?"

"No thanks..." I said slowly, spinning around to look at Aelita. "I think I'll... you know, get situated and stuff. I'm not really that hungry anyways."

"Oh... Okay then. I'll be back soon, then, to show you where the classrooms are."

I nodded, and she waved and left me. As soon as the door closed behind her, I sighed. Why the hell couldn't I be home schooled?

~$*ODD*$~

"I'm so bored!" Odd groaned miserably in Biology that same day. "I almost wish we never shut the supercomputer down; at least then we'd have something to do tonight besides hang around in Jeremie's room."

"Right," Ulrich replied, raising his eyebrow in amusement. "And all the life and death situations? Do you want those back too? How many times did you almost die, Odd?"

"Well... yeah, but it was fun! Three years..." he trailed off mournfully.

"Oh, Odd, I know you're bored, but—"

"Who's that?" Odd interrupted, a little confused as Aelita appeared in the doorway of the Biology classroom with another student that he'd never seen before. Ulrich rolled his eyes at him.

"That's Aelita's new roommate, Gabby. Aelita was talking about her at lunch, remember?"

"Well, yeah, but she failed to mention that she's gorgeous."

"Odd, you are such a moron. Can't you tell she's way out of your league?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Odd asked, clearly insulted. "I've dated nearly every girl in our grade, and quite a few outside it. How the hell is she out of my league?"

"Well, yeah, you have; but Gabby seems different. She's a seventeen year old goddess, for one thing—"

"You know, you're really lucky Yumi isn't here to hear you say that. She'd—"

"Oh, shut up! My point is, she's beautiful, she's probably smart, and I heard she's way rich. There's no way that she's going to go out with a goof like you."

"Hey! I take offense at that!" But Odd got the feeling that Ulrich was right. Not that he planned on admitting it. "Eh, she's not really my type anyway," he said stubbornly.

"Odd, she's everyone's type. If I wasn't already in love with Yumi, she'd be my type."

"Why?" Odd snapped suddenly. Ulrich recoiled as if he'd been slapped. "I mean, it's not like she's perfect! What's up with that hair color anyways? Her head looks like it's on fire! And she probably isn't smart at all! Girls that pretty just don't have the brains. It's basically impossible! Not to mention, she's obviously got no fashion sense, because green and orange do not go together! And—"

"All right, all right, shut it, would you! They're coming this way!" Ulrich hissed, elbowing Odd hard in the ribs. Odd grunted at the pain and massaged where he'd surely be bruised in the morning. He glared at "Gabby" as Aelita and her walked down the aisle to sit at the table behind the guys, something that she obviously saw.

But all she did was give Odd an icy look as she passed.

~$*GABBY*$~

I breathed deeply as I re-entered Aelita's and my dorm room. Finally, my first half-day was done. People stared at me all day, they whispered about me when they thought I wasn't listening, and there was Aelita's friend Odd who glared at me during Biology, but it hadn't been that bad. Honestly, I didn't really speak to anyone except Aelita and the teachers all day, so intent was I on not getting involved in the typical school drama.

Speaking of Aelita, she had entered the room behind me, and now she smiled at me as I threw my now-heavy school bag next to my bed. Her green eyes watched me carefully, had all day, and I couldn't decide if it was nice having her watch out for me or if it was annoying.

"My friends and I were going to hang out for a while. We're going to visit our friend Yumi; she graduated last year. Do you want to come?" Aelita asked suddenly, placing her own stuff neatly on her desk. I grimaced internally.

"Oh, uh, I don't think..." I trailed off, wondering if I could think of a nicer way to say no. Or maybe to go further and request that she not try to drag me into the group. "Well, see... I just... Man, this is difficult. It's just that, I'm going through a lot, see, and I just don't... I don't really feel like... socializing... especially with people I don't really know. And it's not—" I quickly continued, seeing Aelita's happy expression slide away— "that I don't want to be friends with you, or with your friends! I'm very grateful that you're trying to make me feel at home here! I'm just a bit... unbalanced... right now, and I think I'd feel a little better if everyone left me alone for a while. I mean," I stuttered on. Damn, I was making a mess of things. Aelita's look was now one of confusion and concern, probably for her own health. After all, I likely seemed unbalanced, and she did have to share a room with me. Poor Aelita... "We can still be friends and talk and stuff! But... just not—"

"I understand," Aelita interrupted, her smile returned. "Mr. Delmas told me not to bother you with questions, so I won't; but whenever you feel ready, we'll be happy to accept you. And if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you. You can tell me anything, promise!"

I stared at her for a minute before I nodded and smiled back. "Right. Thanks, Aelita."

She nodded, and then waved and retreated back through the dorm door, leaving me alone with my thoughts and a hell of a headache. How Aelita understood what I'd been saying was anyone's guess, especially since I hardly understood it either.

Sighing, I leaned back on my new bed, thinking about what Aelita had said. She was such a sweet girl. She seemed pretty trustworthy too. I'd been talking to a counselor since my father had died, but it might be nice to talk to someone else...

Then again, appearances could be deceiving. Maybe she was like the girls at my old junior high, before I'd been home schooled, who spent all their time gossiping.

Or maybe I was paranoid and antisocial. Yeah, that would explain a lot. Okay, so I would chat with Aelita later. But that didn't mean I would hang out with her and her friends. She was my roommate. I had to live with her for the next six months before vacation; I might as well get to know her. But I didn't have to live with her friends. And I wouldn't.

~$**$~

Aelita returned after dinner (which I ate alone, by the way. Like I said, antisocial) and she seemed in as good a mood as ever. I hesitated only a little before I launched into the speech I'd planned. If I waited too long, I'd chicken out, and then I'd be upset with myself and... well, it wouldn't be pretty. Aelita looked up at me as soon as I started.

"Aelita, you said I could talk to you, right? Because I need to talk. I've been talking to a counselor, but it always feels awkward and stuff and I don't feel like it's helping me much. I can trust you, right? You won't tell anyone else?"

Aelita stared at me for a second or two. Then she slowly nodded.

"I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. We can keep it between us."

Relief and gratitude filled me, and I smiled weakly. "Okay. It's kind of... a bit of a story, so if you want me to stop, just say something, okay. You don't have to let me ramble on..." She shook her head.

"It's fine. Just get it all out," Aelita encouraged, nodding. "You'll feel better that way."

"Okay," I breathed. "Here we go..."