Let the real rewriting please stand up! Okay, I've officially began rewriting this. 'Cus I was bored and, although I have millions of angry readers clamoring to murder me in my sleep because of my updating habits, I decided to fix this stuff 'cus it still kinda sucks. And no one EVER REVIEWS!
Seriously, people. Out of all the people who read it, like, eight people have reviewed. For the whole story.
When I first wrote this thing, there were way more! Come on, people!
Okay, in other news, I'm going to go into the old second book differently. There's going to be one in between this one and that one, which is going to take place during the summer. That said, here you go…
Already broken
Ella stared blankly at the wintry scene outside her hospital window. The episode with Thomas had been three hours ago, but she hadn't moved since then. She heard a noise outside her door.
"I figured you'd like your laptop…" her dad trailed off unsurely. She nodded. He brought the portable table the hospital food rested on over and set her laptop on it. He watched her for a few minutes but finally left, going back home to her pregnant mother and her sister. She eyed the computer for a few seconds before slowly opening it and hitting her program research.
Three weeks ago, she'd uncovered a secret project made in France for some virtual universe…It had long since been shut down, but strangely garbled messages had been coming from it for weeks now. She hit the two final keys that would activate her communication with the strange world and waited.
Finally, a screen popped up. It held a girl with bright pink hair. She was staring at the screen without blinking.
"Who are you?" she asked. Ella's mouth fell open and she couldn't say a word.
Ella twirled the lock on her locker aimlessly, not really paying attention to it. She had better things to think of, like how to finish the circuitry on her grandma's belt or what she was going to design herself as.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned her head slightly and saw Thomas. She glared at the locker and put in the combination.
"Don't touch me." She growled, shaking him off.
"Ella…" he muttered, putting his hand back. She jerked away from him.
"Don't. Touch. Me." She muttered through gritted teeth. He grabbed her shoulder.
"Ella, don't be like this. You don't-"
SMACK! The sound echoed through the hallway, making everyone turn and stare at the angry girl.
"I told you: Don't touch me," she told him, spinning around and grabbing her books from the locker before slamming it. She stomped down the hallway toward her next class.
"Dang! I didn't ever think you'd slap Thomas! You two are…like…tight! Ya know?" her friend Sam asked, walking around and standing next to her. Her back straightened slightly.
"So, like, what did you do in the hospital for two weeks?" she asked, still trying to start up a conversation. Ella sighed.
"Oh, nothing, it was actually pretty boring," she told her, her mind already having moved on to something else. Sam tried a few more times but got nothing. Finally, she just shut up and watched her best friend fall apart.
"What are you doing here?" Ulrich growled. Ella's face started getting red.
"Is it any of your business? Besides, Yumi just said she met me and I was her friend. What, now are you deaf as well as a snobbish, stuck-up prep?" she asked, her fists tightening. The glared at each other for a second before Ulrich turned on his heel and stomped away. Ella stood and glared after him. The rest stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment when Yumi rushed off after Ulrich.
"Uh…So…I'm Odd," Odd said. Ella turned and stared at him.
"Um…That was kind of…random." She said. Odd slapped his forehead.
"That's my name," he told her. Her eyes widened in embarrassment.
"Oh…I'm sorry." She told him. He grinned.
"I'm Jeremie," Jeremie said, thrusting out his hand to her. She eyed it carefully and shook it.
"Your last name…It wouldn't be Belpois, would it?" she asked him. His mouth dropped open.
"H…how did you know?" he asked. She was looking him up and down.
So…This is Aelita's boyfriend…
"Hmmm…I must say…She really doesn't have that good a taste in boys…" she muttered to herself, walking around Jeremie in a wide circle, so she could survey him on all sides (if you know what I mean). Jeremie stared at her.
"Who doesn't have good taste in boys? What are you doing?" he asked, squinting at her. She jumped.
"Why, Aelita, of course. Who else would like you?" she clapped a hand over her mouth.
"Oh, I'm so, so sorry, sometimes, my mouth gets away from me. I didn't really mean it. Forgive me?" she asked. Jeremie and Odd were staring at her, mouths wide open and eyes so wide, they reminded her of a deer staring into headlights.
"Y…You k…know ab..out Aelita…" he was almost telling himself it. Ella rolled her eyes.
"Nope, I've no idea who the girl is. Of course I know Aelita! What are you, an idiot? But no…She told me you were a genius. Hello? Anyone home?" she asked, waving her hand in front of his face. He blinked.
"Then…You were the girl in Lyoko yesterday…I mean…Whatever! You almost shot Odd!" he hissed. Ella blinked and turned to stare at Odd. Looking him up and down, she nodded to herself a little.
"I did, didn't I? I'm sorry about that. You never really know with Xana, do you? Well, I hope we'll be friends now!" she exclaimed.
Why am I so hyper? I was just in a fight with someone…Shouldn't I be angry?
"Eh…Sure…" Odd said, obviously stumped as far as what to say. The lunch bell rang.
"Oh! What does that mean?" she asked them. They were still in shock.
"Um…I think…Hey! Did the lunch bell just ring? Food!" Odd exclaimed, running off. Ella brightened.
"Did he say food? I love food! Hey, wait up!" she ran off after him. Jeremie watched them leave. Finally, he pulled out his laptop.
"Aelita? Who is this girl? She's-and I didn't think I'd ever be saying this-stranger than Odd!"
Ella calmly sat next to Odd after getting her food. She took a huge bite of food and promptly spit it out on her tray.
"Ugh! That's nasty, how in the world do you eat this?" she asked in disgust. Odd didn't pay any attention; he was too busy eating his plate. Ella rolled her eyes and muttered something under breath. Then, to Odd's surprise, she stood up, dumped her tray and went into the kitchen.
His eyes widened as he waited for the lunch lady's (well, actually she's the breakfast, lunch and dinner lady, but work with me, here) top to blow. She hated, absolutely hated having anyone barge into her kitchen at any time of the day, let alone during a meal.
Nothing happened.
Ella walked calmly out of the kitchen a few seconds later and grabbed her jacket from the table. Odd stared at her. She smiled companionably.
"Just forgot my jacket. I'd best start my new job, now, see you later!" she told him, taking her jacket and heading for the kitchen door again. Odd's mouth fell open. Luckily for us, he'd swallowed all his food, or that'd be a very nasty scene right there. Ulrich and Yumi walked in, him standing and staring at her face, and she talking in a low voice to him. Odd grinned to himself and shook his head.
They were so hopeless.
Ella grabbed a spatula from off the table and took a pan from the side dishwasher. She began slicing vegetables after washing them in the sink. The lady (whose name was really Rosa) had stood and explained to the students her brand new assistant was making another serving of stew. They complained, of course, but it only took a dirty look and a few words from Ella and they shut their mouths and sat down. She grinned to herself and finished adding things to the pot. She sighed and rested her back against the edge of the counter, her feet aching from her standing on them for so long. She wiped the back of her hand against her forehead, noticing the strand of hair fall into her face as she did so. Rosa came over and patted her back.
"You know, honey, you have flour on your face," she told Ella. Ella flew up.
"Do I really? Can I wash it off in the sink? Do you have a washrag?" she asked in rapid succession. Rosa laughed.
"Yes, yes and no. By the way, your stew is boiling," she told Ella. Ella got an overwhelmed look on her face and rushed over to the pot. She pulled it off the burner and set it on the side. Finally, she had finished. She grabbed a rag off the side board and wiped her face off quickly. Rosa took the pot from her and dumped it in the bowl plate thingy the lunch peoples always use.
Luckily for them, they had just enough to feed the naturally hungry students. Also Odd, who was abnormal. Or just plain odd. Either way, pretty much the same thing. Ulrich claimed the stew was poisoned and refused to eat even a bite. Yumi just ignored him and ate it. Luckily for Ella, the new food was much better than what the kids were used to, so she was allowed to stay as an assistant. Jeremie showed up about five minutes to the end of Lunch period. He wasn't paying attention to much, really. Just talking to himself.
"So...If…I add….." he mumbled to himself. Ulrich watched him and shook his head. Sometimes, Jeremie confused him more than Odd.
No, he thought to himself calmly, No one confuses me as much as Odd does.
His next class was History. He was good at History, luckily for him. He wasn't able to pay attention in Science at all that day:
He was far too angry at Ella.
Ella had found a plug connected to the old gardening shed in the woods. To most people, that wouldn't matter much, but to Ella, it was like finding a diamond in a pile of rocks. She plugged her stereo in the plug, flipping the song to the one she was choreographing.
"I've been on a roller coaster since you said that we were over,
'Cus you didn't wanna be tied down,
I felt like a loser, wasted and used,
So scared to move without you around,
I felt like I was gonna die,
Turns out I survived.
Hey, didn't need you anyway,
I get better every day,
Don't you think it's funny how it all works out?
I've finally got a life,
I go out every night,
Now I've got so much to say, so much to do,
This is life, life after you.
I've been on a rollercoaster since you said we were over,
I'm finally back to being me,
I don't have to say I'm sorry,
I'm the last one at the party; I don't think I've ever felt so free…
I guess I should be thanking you for this brand new attitude.
Hey, didn't need you anyway,
I get better every day,
Don't you think it's funny how it all works out?
I've finally got a life,
I go out every night,
Now I've got so much to say, so much to do,
This is life, life after you.
Hey, didn't need you anyway,
Getting better every day,
Don't you think it's funny how it all works out?
Yeah, I've finally got a life,
I go out every night,
Now I've got so much to say, so much to do,
This is life, life after you,
Life after you." She back flipped and did the splits, finishing the last part of her routine as the last chords of the song rang out. She smiled slightly and started the song back up again.
Ulrich was standing outside with the rest of the group, talking about basically nothing. Yumi walked up.
"Hey, does anyone hear music?" she asked them. They stopped talking and listened carefully. Sure enough, music was playing from behind the gardening shed.
Other students had already started noticing it, as there was a flock of them heading in that direction. Ulrich looked at Yumi. She shrugged. They took off for the shed and struggled through the crowd.
The crowd was clapping for someone doing a dance routine, but she was moving so fast they couldn't tell who it was. Finally, she stopped. Ulrich's face turned red and he clenched his fists. Yumi's mouth dropped open. Ella stood and took a bow, blushing at the audience. Her CD turned off. The crowd finally cleared away, leaving her and the other four Lyoko fighters.
"Sweet!" Odd yelled, running up and clapping her on the back. She blushed again and started to gather up her things. Ulrich watched her. Yumi finally got fed up with him.
"Look, you have to admit she was good!" she told him. He glared at Ella. He wasn't about to admit he thought she was good, too, just because she hadn't insulted him for an hour or so.
Odd started chatting with her and Ulrich watched them smile and laugh. Yumi rolled her eyes, finally giving up on him, and left to join Odd and Ella. Jeremie stood next to Ulrich.
"Ulrich, I'm sure she'll apologize if you get to know her," he told Ulrich. Ulrich turned to glare at him and stalked off.
Tell me how I'm supposed to forgive her when she's taking over my life? He thought, feeling dejected…
