A/N: Pour a cup of coffee and enjoy! *sips own coffee*
Out Of Place
Chapter 4
"So, what were you doing in the boys' hallway anyway?" Ulrich asked.
Aelita thought for a moment, her fork with egg paused at her mouth.
"Oh! Now I remember! I was going to Jeremy's room."
Jeremy looked up from his laptop with a narrow-eyed expression before turning to her.
"Oh! You remember?" he asked mockingly.
"Yeah, I guess I'd forgotten," she said shrugging and going back to her breakfast.
"You forgot?" Jeremy mocked again.
Aelita looked at him quizzically and said, "Yes? Why are you repeating everything I say?"
"I was just wondering what you were visiting me for in the first place…and how you managed to forget," he said.
Jeremy liked the fact that she was going to see him, but not liking the fact that she had ditched the idea for Odd. Also, that she had forgotten that she was going to see him in the first place! Was he really that forgettable?
"I was just going to walk with you to breakfast, that's all, " Aeilita said in a no-big-deal tone.
"Oh! Well, if that's all then," Jeremy responded sarcastically, earning a sideways looks from Aelita.
Odd was choosing to appear nonchalant to the whole conversation, though, he was still listening.
"Ew, you drink your coffee black?" Aelita asked him, clearly done with her conversation with Jeremy.
Odd just shrugged, "Yes ma'am."
"But it tastes so...so..."
"Good?"
"No! Nasty! Jeremy likes his black too, don't you, Jer?" Ulrich said.
Jeremy nodded, "I like mine super, extra, extra dark. So dark you can't even see the bottom of the mug."
Odd looked at him with a cocked brow and nodded, "That's…usually how it's brewed, yeah."
Odd was not dense. He noticed how Jeremy acted whenever he was around. He was unsure of how to talk to him; he figured that maybe the feeling was mutual.
"Yeah, but, not quite like I like it," Jeremy argued.
Odd gave him a quizzical look. This competition Jeremy was starting was completely pointless and made zero sense, but he figured he would play along.
"Really?"
"Mhm," Jeremy replied smartly. "I don't drink the crappy, lighter coffee you are probably consuming."
Ulrich and Aelita were watching them; their eyes were darting back and forth between the boys as each of them responded to each other.
"Well, as appealing as your golden coffee sounds, why don't you taste mine?" Odd asked, scooting the mug across the table.
Jeremy looked at the steaming mug with slight concern and regret of ever talking.
"Go on, I don't have cooties," Odd said, smirking.
Jeremy scoffed, picked up the mug, and took a sip. His eyes automatically grew wide and he set the mug back down rather violently. His face was contorted into a strange expression of surprise and pain.
"Jeremy? Are…are you okay?" Aelita asked with concern.
Jeremy swallowed, his eyes watering. He then gasped for air and choked a bit.
Odd picked up his mug again and innocently said, "Hm, I guess it is still pretty hot."
Aelita was patting Jeremy on the back as he continued gasping and coughing.
"Oops," Odd said, with zero remorse in his voice as Jeremy started drinking madly from his glass of orange juice.
"Odd Della Robbia," A voice said from beside the table.
They all looked up to see the principal, except Jeremy.
He slammed his now empty glass down on the table and gasped, "That was freaking hot…"
Mr. Delmas gave Jeremy and strange look before continuing, "Someone is here to see you. He's right outside the cafeteria. I suggest you don't keep him waiting."
They all four looked out to see a huge man standing outside the cafeteria. He was in a sleek business suit. It was amazing anyone made suits that fit such muscular men.
Odd looked back down at the table.
"Oh, shit. Tiny…" he muttered.
"Tiny?" Ulrich asked. "Odd, who is that?"
Odd did not respond as he stood up and walked out of the cafeteria.
"Who do you suppose that is?" Aelita asked as she watched him from the window.
"Well, according to Odd, it's Tiny. Whatever that means," Ulrich shrugged.
"Whoever he is, I hope he punches him in the face," Jeremy grumbled.
"Jeremy! Why on earth would you say that?" Aelita asked.
"Um, hello? He burnt my tongue!" Jeremy pointed at his tongue as he stuck it out.
"That was your own fault buddy," Ulrich pointed out.
"Yeah, you were being a total jerk. Why, I'm not sure," Aelita said, crossing her arms. "You've been acting kind of off since he showed up. What's up with you?"
"What's up with me? I don't like him! I mean, have you seen him? He's obviously here because he didn't belong in the last place he was at, or he just got kicked out, or both."
"Jeremy," Aelita said stricly. "His personal life is no business of ours. So what if he's different? He's nice, and friendly, and…"
"Nothing but trouble? Total freak?" Jeremy interrupted.
Aelita scoffed and stared at him in disbelief.
"You don't know what you're talking about Jeremy!" Ulrich said, defending his new friend. "You haven't even tried to get to know him."
Jeremy did not respond to his friend's outburst. Instead, he closed his laptop and stood up.
"Whatever. If you guys want to continue defending some loser jerk then that's fine with me. You have fun with that. But I'm not wasting my time!"
"Jeremy, wait!" Aelita said as she caught up to him.
Aelita definitely did not want him to leave on a bad note, no matter how ridiculous he was being. She absolutely hated any animosity amongst her friends.
Jeremy stopped walking when she called out to him, but did not turn around.
"Can't you just try to get to know him? Please? For me, and for us?" she asked.
Jeremy sighed angrily.
"Fine. Now are we going to class or what?"
Aelita smiled and gave Jeremy a hug.
"Oh, thank you Jeremy! Won't it be great to have a new addition to our little group of friendship?" Aelita asked as though they were adopting a new puppy.
"Yeah, sure…" Jeremy muttered.
… … … … …
When Ulrich, Jeremy, and Aelita reached the classroom, they noticed Odd was already there. He was talking to the giant man again.
"Hey, Odd!" Aelita called.
"Oh, hey guys…this is-" Odd started.
"Tiny. Mr. Tiny," the man said in a deep voice.
Ulrich and Jeremy snickered, but then but saw Odd waving his hand across his throat in a 'cut-it-out' motion as he shook his head. This shut them up and wiped the smiles off their faces.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Tiny…" they said in unison.
Once in the classroom, Odd, Aelita, Ulrich, and Jeremy were sitting in their seats.
"What do you have a parole officer for?" Jeremy asked.
The three looked at Odd, waiting for an answer but did not receive one. Odd was looking out the window, clearly spacing out.
"Um, hello? Earth to Odd!" Aelita said.
"Yo, Dellarobia!" Ulrich said loudly.
This snapped him out of his daze.
"Hm? What?"
"What the heck was that?" Ulrich asked.
Odd just shrugged and said, "I'm tired."
Ulrich rolled his eyes.
"Jeremy asked why you had a parole officer," Aelita said.
"I don't want to talk about that right now," Odd snapped.
This shut them all up, putting them in an awkward silence. Thankfully, the teacher walked in about ten seconds later and started the lesson.
… … … … …
