Authors Note: Sorry it took so long, I have a lot going on. I wanted to make it really good, so things really take off in this chapter. I also used a lot of dialogue. It seems long, but it really isn't. Remember that new girl, though!
I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for the great reviews!
She placed the key into the lock of that mysterious chest and turned it. The lock clicked and the lid sprang open. Finally something works around here! She glanced inside the box. Pictures?Aelita examined the pictures held within.
In the first picture, there was a much younger looking Hermitage. In front of it were Franz Hopper and a very little Aelita. Although she was smiling for he picture you could tell she was scared. This must've been the day I moved to the Hermitage with Daddy! Noting this, she took out the next picture.
It must have been the same day, for Aelita was wearing the same clothes. The only things that differed was that Franz was not in the picture, and there was someone else in the shot. A girl, seemingly Aelita's age, stood grinning. She wore a short jean skirt and a black t-shirt with a heart on it. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail with a blue ribbon. Who is this girl? She seems slightly familiar…
The photograph that followed must have been taken years after. Aelita guessed she was nine or ten at the time. She was in the middle, and on her right was supposedly the same girl. She was much older now though. Her hair was longer, but still in a ponytail. She had a black t-shirt on also, but this one had a white guitar on it instead of a heart. She wore blue jeans and green flip-flops. On her left was someone new. A boy, slightly taller than Aelita, who had brown hair with blondehighlights, stood grinning a little. He wore a white shirt and an olive green jacket over it. He too wore jeans, and black sneakers. Another mystery character?
Aelita stopped for a moment. Something about their faces, particularly the boy's just seemed to ring a bell. She didn't remember his name or anything else about him, but she knew him. He was important to her, but she didn't know why.
Putting the Idea aside, she quickly looked through the rest of the pictures in the box. They were just random pictures, some of nature, some of random times with the two people in the pictures. Aelita couldn't remember anything, but she felt a few tears roll down her face. Partly because she wishes she remembered these times, and partly because the pictures of her so happy touched her.
That night, her dream was incredible. She could tell it really happened, and wasn't a dream.
Aelita stood in front of the Hermitage, as if she was waiting for something. She had an eager expression on her face, but stood as if she's been waiting for hours. Suddenly, the girl with black hair from the pictures jumped out of the bushes, badly startling Aelita. The girl burst out laughing.
"Oh, very funny. You sure took long enough to get here!" Aelita yelled at her friend, slightly annoyed.
"Well, Kadic is pretty far from your house!" her friend replied, defensively.
"You're an hour late!"
"I might've gotten…detention…"
"Again!? What did you do??"
"It was an accident! The baseball wasn't supposed to hit that teacher's head!"
"Katie!"
"I didn't give myself detention! It was all the principals fault!"
"That's what you said the first time you did it. Who did you hit, anyway?"
"Uhh…"
"I think this is yours, Katelyn." Franz Hopper said, handing her a slightly damaged baseball.
That morning, Aelita woke up with new information; the girls name was Katie, and she wasn't exactly best at staying out of trouble. She smiled, now remembering a bit more than yesterday. Her memories were beginning to get pieced together, and that made the day brighter, and she herself was cheerful.
After classes that day, the gang all gathered at the vending machine.
"I don't believe it!" Odd said, with a depressed look on his face.
"What, new girl reject you?" Ulrich snickered.
"Shut up! The new girl didn't even show!"
"I'll alert the media."
"I was looking forward to her coming! She's Italian!"
"Relax, she'll come. Unless, she heard about you, that is."
"Knock it off you two!" Yumi jumped in before this turned into a fistfight.
"Her flight might've been delayed, Italy is pretty far off." Aelita suggested.
"Oh, I'd better face it, she's not coming! I'll be lonely forever!" Odd complained with a dramatic tone.
"Unless that's her over there, the one carrying suitcases with Italian flags on them." Ulrich stated.
"It is!" Odd cheered, and ran off to introduce himself.
"Well, looks like we'll have some peace during the 3-days his romance will last." Jeremy said, laughter from the whole gang following.
That night, Aelita had yet another of those realistic dreams. This one much different than the last.
Aelita stood with the strange boy from the pictures a few yard away from the school. There were lights flashing in different colors through the window of the gym.
"You could've gone to the dance, John." Aelita told him.
"I couldn't find a date." he replied.
"You didn't look to hard, did you?"
"No, not really."
"Well, you could've gone without a date."
"Nah. It's more fun hanging around with you anyways."
"Really? Katie always complains how boring I am."
"Katie? Little miss injury? A stuntman would seem boring to her!"
"After he ran away from her crazy skateboard tricks!" Aelita laughed.
"See? You're a lot of fun!"
"Thanks. But, you might have a good time at the dance."
"Only if you come."
"What? But I'm not a student!"
"Ton's of people bring kids that aren't from Kadic."
"Yeah, but I can't just walk right in."
"Then you can go with me."
"As a friend?"
"Well, if you want. Or, you could go as my date."
"A...a date?"
"If you want. Or are you just rejecting me now?"
"No, I was just surprised, I guess. I didn't know you…liked me."
"So, you'll go?"
"If you don't mind going with 'the physics teacher's daughter'."
"Not at all."
Aelita woke up feeling different this time. Her last dream made her happy, but now she was confused. I liked someone? How did I not remember that? She thought of Jeremy, and how awkward it would be to see him again. For one thing, it would be very interesting.
