I haven't gotten a lot of the plot to this worked out, but I feel bad about leaving you guys hanging on Confessions of Kiley Trace, so I'm writing a new story!! Yay!! As always, I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Code: Lyoko or any songs I may use in here. I do own my original characters, and any original works I may put in here. This will have OCs in it, so if you don't like them, suck it up or read somebody else's story. OXOC and UXOC and WXYXUXOC lol. This is for have-a-cookie, for being awesome. =]

Ulrich stepped out of the car. He wasn't a flight risk, so they'd let his parent drive him to school. His mother cried a lot; his father wouldn't speak to him. Odd's parents were so ashamed, they wouldn't even take him, so he'd sat in the backseat with Ulrich on the long, painful ride to Kadic Academy.

They're letting us back in here? Ulrich thought bitterly. As soon as the gates opened, every bit of chatter stopped, and pairs of eyes- too large in numbers to begin counting- turned to them. Each stare accusing, each student at Kadic Academy completely unforgiving. The silence was gut-wrenching. All the schoolyard lacked was a tumbleweed rushing past in the breeze, its twigs crackling. Six months in Juvenile Hall, and now I want to go back.

He and Odd walked across the grounds, toward the office. Odd's eyes were on the ground and the corners of his mouth twitched, but he had no jokes left in him. Ulrich glanced at the group. Well, what was left of the group. It was now just Yumi, Jeremie, William, and Aelita. None of them were acknowledging he and Odd. The one letter he'd received the entire time he sat on a hard bed and rotted across from his bunkmate, Steve, was from Aelita. It said she was sorry, but Jeremie thought it was best that when they returned, they shouldn't speak to each other anymore. Also that William had joined, and he and Yumi were official. Steve had tried to make a joke out of it, but Ulrich's little heart was broken, at the time, beyond repair. He was over it, by then. If Yumi wouldn't listen to his side of the story, she'd miss out. Go Ulrich! That's the way to think!!! =]

When they reached the office, the lady behind the counter wasn't the same person. This one had dark hair; her smile froze on her face when she saw who it was, but nevertheless, she shook her head and asked, "Ulrich Stern? Odd Della Rhobbia?"

"Yes," they replied in unison.

"No one went in your room, except a girl named Aelita Stones. I believe she's your friend? She said you had a kiwi plant in there that would die if she didn't take care of it," the woman handed the boys each a key. "My name is Ms. Frazier, by the way, but you can call me Ms. F. The last secretary retired."

"Thank you," Odd replied, and they turned and left. The other children spoke in hushed whispers, but steered clear of the two. Even Sissi left them alone, and Ulrich enjoyed the new peace, but at the same time, he missed his friends. He missed Yumi telling him that William was just a friend. He missed laughing at Nicholas and Herb's crazy ideas. He missed Yumi. Six months in that kind of confinement, and you had time to miss everything.

He looked at them out of the corner of his eye. Aelita was looking at them mournfully. She'd made it clear that she didn't blame them, but she couldn't leave the group or else risk the world (coughLyokocough). Jeremie's face was buried in his laptop, Yumi was pointedly looking at William, who had an arm around her and was sending them a withering glare.

Ulrich was grateful when the doors to the dorm building closed behind them. The halls were deserted and their footsteps echoed. Odd glanced at him. They didn't speak. They hadn't spoken more than twice in the last six months, and on those occasions they could only get a few words in. Ulrich created a timeline in his head; the prank had occured on Halloween, but the woman didn't die until mid-February. The trial ended on March 26th, and they were enrolled in Juvenile Hall on March 31st. Today was August 23rd, thier first day of eighth grade and they'd spent their last morning in Juvie.

The moment the door closed behind them, Kiwi jumped from his drawer and into Odd's arms, licking at his face, yipping with delight. Odd commented, "I'll have to thank Aelita for feeding him." Pause. "Or not."

Ulrich didn't say anything. What was there to say? "I'm going to the bathroom." (They'd both taken cold showers at the Hall that morning. He hoped no one was out. It was only seven, and school wouldn't start until 8:25. He walked slowly, delibrately, wishing everyone would just forget about everything. But of course no one would.

Who would've thought that a Halloween prank could go so wrong? Ulrich wasn't even into that kind of thing, but the one time he'd let Odd convince him to go, it tore his life apart and then shoved it back in his face.

A hand grabbed his elbow. He froze, then relaxed, and turned slowly. A girl with blond hair and brown eyes dressed in a short black shorts, a pink tee shirt with a black vest over it, and a pair of black leggings with pink polka dots on them was standing behind him. Gwen Stephens, Ulrich thought. A member of Kadic's less-popular crowd. No, she is not the UXOC character. XD Her blond hair was cut choppy and her eyeliner was too thick, but she was the first friendly face he'd seen all day, so he ignored it.

"Hey, Gwen."

She smiled slightly. "Hey, Ulrich. Just wanted to tell you, you're welcome at our table." By 'our table' she meant the table in the far corner opposite the Lyoko gang.

"Thanks," Ulrich smiled for the first time in a week and a half. "We appreciate it." On his way back from the bathroom, he thought about that group. He didn't know all of them, just Gwen, Jay, and Tiffany. Gwen was Kadic's resident talent; everyone knew her. She won the talent show every year. Jay had once been his partner for Phys. Ed. and Odd had always given Tiffany a hard time. Once when he'd seen her crying, he'd made a comment about her eyeliner running. They later found out that one her friends had died. Odd felt bad about it, but he never apologized. Sometimes he's just cruel.

When he reached the room he shared with Odd, he announced, "We have a lunch date."

"Like any girl's going to want to date us now."

"Not one girl in particular," Ulrich replied. "The group of (1)scene kids in the corner of the room."

"I don't feel like making fun of Tiffany today."

"Then don't. Try being nice to her." He paused. "Look, Odd, it's becoming heart-breakingly clear that they're not going to forgive us. At least not any time soon."

"I know," Odd replied. "I'm sorry, Ulrich. This is my fault."

"Yes, it is. Now come on, class is starting soon."

Since they'd been a last minute addition to all their classes, they had the exact same schedule. The first class, History, was awful. Sissi, who sat next to Ulrich, kept giving him dirty looks and scoffing, and the teacher was blatantly cold to them. Gwen sat behind them and next to Odd, and her reassuring smiles made him feel less alone.

Ulrich discovered that his first five periods he either had a class with Gwen or a class with Tiffany. After 5th period physics was over, Tiffany Trace the OXOC char!! whooo! led them to the lunchroom. She hair that was red and black layered hair and green eyes. She was wearing a black 3OH!3 concert T-Shirt and a pair of tight, light skinny jeans with names written all over them in Sharpie, but she never held still long enough for him to read them. She'd cut a hole in the back pocket in the shape of a star and then put a light blue bandanna inside the pocket. Her skater shoes were black and the laces were light blue and bar-laced. Her eyeliner was also too thick, but she seemed friendly enough, even though she wouldn't look at Odd.

The room was quiet, simply because there was only a girl and a boy, who were sitting at their new table. He'd never met them; noting that they didn't have trays, he remembered seeing them at lunch, never eating, just talking. That was probably why all the girls were thin. He and Odd went to get trays, and the lunch lady's eyes settled lovingly on Odd.

"There's been so many leftovers since you've been away," she announced.

"Won't be a problem anymore, ma'am!" Odd replied cheerily. It was the happiest Ulrich has seen him in a long time. They returned to their new table together.

The girl was pretty, and Ulrich's eyes lingered on her longer than they would have regularly. She was dressed in a black love sleeve with a neon purple spaghetti strap underneath it and a short black silk skirt that was neon purple on the inside. She wore a pair of knee-high toe socks that were black and neon purple striped. A black chain choker-necklace was around her throat and she wore a pair of black flip-flops. She was pretty, but like every other girl in that group, her eyeliner was too thick. Her hair was long and dark and it hung in her face a lot, and when he looked at her eyes he found them a stunning shade of blue. She was the only "goth" one in the group, because the rest of the kids were scene. There used to be another goth, but she'd died, and he couldn't remember her name.

The boy wore simpler, tight scene clothing, but he looked friendly and had black hair and brown eyes.

"Hey guys," Tiffany smiled at her friends. "Odd, Ulrich, this is Tabby and Trey."

"My name is not Trey," he hissed at her, and she laughed. "My friends call me Sparky."

"Cuz his last name is Sparks," Tabby explained, her head in one hand. "Stop standing. It makes me feel short." Ulrich and Odd sat down. Gwen entered the room that moment with Jay and another boy and realized that Jay and Gwen were twins. He hadn't made the connection until he saw them standing next to each other. Same blond hair, same brown eyes, and they walked the same way. The other boy had dark hair and gray eyes, and they introduced him as Mikey James.

Other people had begun filing in, so the cafeteria was getting louder. He saw his old friends sit down. A feeling of remorse choked his throat a moment when he saw Yumi and William, laughing about something or other. Aelita was talking to Jeremie, as if trying to convince him of something, but Jeremie wasn't budging. Ulrich sighed, and turned back to his "new" friends.

"So, Ulrich," Tabby's blue eyes locked on his, her head still in her hand. She had the whole 'everyone-bores-me-to-death' attitude, and it was showing in the careless way she asked, "How exactly did your Halloween prank land you in Juvie?"

Ulrich drew in his breath. Just the question he'd been dreading. "Don't you know? I figured the papers covered it."

"Like the newspapers would deliver the truth," she rolled her eyes. "What really happened that night?"

Ulrich sighed inwardly. If he was going to fit in with these new friends of theirs, he was going to have to explain it eventually. Why not now?

(1) "Scene" is a style. It's almost like a girly-gothic kinda thing. I can't really explain it. Just go to photobucket and then look up "gothic girls" and then look up "scene girls" and you'll see the difference.

Hah!!! You don't know what the praaaaaaank is. MAYBE I'll explain it next chapter... depends on how many reviews I get... =] So go review!