A/N: Ok so this is my new storyish thing since writersblock has claimed me as a victim for my Avatar one. I'll try to update as much as possible but only if I can get some feedback. I love reviews! Anyways these chapters will be a little short, they may or may not get longer it depends on the ability to write and the ideas that come with it. So I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review and let me know what you think. Thanks.

Alcohol

Noun

Definition-ethanol especially when considered as the intoxicating agent in fermented and distilled liquors

Everybody knew that Ulrich never had the greatest family life. The tiny bits of his childhood that he could remember consisted of his parents' screaming down stairs as their son curled into the closet and whimpered softly for them to get along.

Now that he was 13 the only that changed was where he lived. Kadic Academy was a nice replacement for the house that Ulrich was forced to call his home for so long. Ulrich believed that just leaving the house would be enough to stop the sadness and fright that danced in the pit of his stomach, whenever someone said 'dad'.

Even now, three years after moving to France, Ulrich's father never resists the urge to mock him. Though most of the yelling was done through a tiny receiver that Ulrich held to his ear, every word and sentence was still heart chokingly close. It was when his father paused during his latest rant about Ulrich's grades that Ulrich understood what caused his father to call him at 3:14 sunday morning.

Every word began to slur into the next as his voice became angrier and angrier. Ulrich could feel salty tears sting his eyes and well in the corners, just waiting to cascade down his cheeks as he held the mobile close to his ear. He was thankful that he turned down the volume as soon as he saw the caller id, he didn't want Odd to wake up and find his friend in this kind of state. He didn't want to see Odd's concerned eyes as he looked at Ulrich's shivering form under the covers. He didn't want Odd to know the horrors of his family and that Ulrich was really just a scared kid not a Lyoko warrior capable of saving the world from X.A.N.A.

It must've been an hour or more before Ulrich could hear the thud of something hitting a hard wood floor and the soft snores from the other line. Finally Ulrich could press the glowing red light on his phone and try to put this night under the nightmare section of his mind, right next to the times his father hit him for just sitting on his bed. Ulrich could sleep and dream of a world without alcohol.