"I'm bored."

I banged my fists on the ground. "Enough Odd. You've been whining about the same thing for over an hour. Just relax," I glanced over at him briefly. "And read the book I so generously loaned to you. No," I said as I saw him flip causally through the pages, "I mean actually read it. Like read the words." Then I smiled and added just for fun, "We all know you can't read, Odd. But you can try...for me." Ulrich started laughing behind me. Odd threw me an angry glance.

"Ha ha ha...very funny." Odd tossed my book onto the floor. "Its not interesting."

"Well, of course it isn't interesting. You haven't read it." I picked up the book and waved it in front of his face. "Get it? You read books?" He tried grabbing the book out of my hand but I didn't let him. I turned my back toward him instead and placed the book in my lap. I flipped through the pages and skimmed a few. "There's some really great stuff in here, if you took the time. A whole new world will open up to you and the author does write quite a good history of it."

Jeremy looked up momentarily and the rhythm of fingers on the keyboard stopped. "Another world. Like Lyoko?"

"Like Lyoko," Ulrich agreed. I nodded although Jeremy couldn't see.

Jeremy turned in his swivel chair to face the three of us sprawled on the floor in our blankets with our pillows in front of us. He took the book Odd had been trying to read from my hands and looked at it thoroughly: front, back, side, inside cover, inside back cover, and some of the pages. "Pass inspection?" I asked jokingly. Surprisingly he nodded and handed it back to me.

"Looks like a good book," he said, adjusting his oval glasses and running a hand through his blonde hair. "Maybe I'll read it when Odd's finished."

"Highly unlikely, as Odd doesn't really seem interested in beginning it right now," Ulrich said causally, glancing past me at Odd who gave him a nasty look.

"Besides," I added, "you're way too busy with your computers and Lyoko and everything. Oh, and...Aelita."

Jeremy leaned into my face and gave me a harsh shush. Then he swiveled back toward his computer anxiously. On swiveling back, he gave a little sigh. "Whew. Yumi, she could have heard!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, Jeremy." I put aside my own book I was reading and crawled over to kneel next to Jeremy and stare at the computer with him. "You should tell her how you feel," I said, this time in a whisper.

Jeremy stared at me through his glasses with wide eyes. "Um...no...I..." I saw him blush and smiled. I patted his shoulder and returned under my warm blanket. Just as I had gotten my legs underneath my blanket I felt something fuzzy and warm at the end of it. I froze and watched as the blanket at my feet wriggled. Instantly, I scrambled out of my blanket, knocking it askew. "What are you...?" Ulrich started to ask and then found his answer when Odd's dog, Kiwi, was revealed when my blanket went flying. Odd was laughing his head off.

"I can't believe...you fell for that one!" he said between gasps for breath. Kiwi, confused at why his owner was laughing, yapped in delight anyway and bounded into his arms. I slid Odd an angry look as he pounded his blanket with mirth. He let his head fall back on his pillow and shortly after, his laughter subsided. "That was a good one!" he exclaimed as he wiped tears from his eyes generated from laughing.

"Sssh!" Jeremy suddenly exclaimed. "Someone could..."

There was a knock on the door.

Everyone froze.