They were all sitting together laughing and talking when Mira's wrists started to itch. She bit her lip resisting the urge to scratch them. It wasn't working. Her hands flew under the table silently and under her legs so that she could sit on them, restraining herself. She kicked Odd under the table.
He glared at her wondering what her problem was. Mira placed one arm on the table and glanced at her wrist. His eyes widened, understanding. "Uh guys, Mira and I are gonna go study in her room. I asked her to help me in umm math!" Odd exclaimed getting up from the table. "Yeah, I did" She whispered.
Without listening to anyones responses, Odd got up, put an arm around Mira's shoulder, and walked as fast as he could towards the exit. Mira was bitting her lip hard. The temptation was getting to her. "Odd" She cried out desperately. He started running, leading her up to the girls dorm. They sped up the stairs and in to her room. Odd locked the door behind her and sat her on the bed.
They were facing each other sitting criss crossed. Odd had his hands on her shoulders and she was breathing rapidly. She needed to cut.
"Breathe. Just take deep breaths. In, out. In, out." He instructed. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. "It's getting better but still. . ." She cringed. The itch was slowly going away, but it was too slow.
"Can I just-"
"No." Odd said monotone, cutting her off. She pleaded with him. "Odd please! I won't cut too deep and I'll clean it right away. Please"
"No. He answered, more fiercely then before. She stood up. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a sharp hair clip on her desk. If only she could. . .
Odd grabbed both her hands, and held them behind her back. "I said no." He whispered in her ear. A blush creeped up her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry. I just can't help it." She replied. He sighed. "I guess where gonna have to do this the hard way."
He grabbed a scarf off of her night stand and tied her arms that were still behind her back to the bedpost. Odd felt awful about doing it, but there wasn't a choice. She tried pulling her arms out, but it didn't work. He tied her up tight.
Mira noticed the guilty look on his face. "Thank you Odd." She told him sincerely. "I know I'm being troublesome, asking for your help like this, and it's not fair to you, but I've improved a lot." She gave him a small grin to let him know how grateful she really was.
"It's no trouble at all, I want to help you, and I'm glad it's working. If you really want to repay me though, I could use some help studying."
So Odd got out his text book while Mira sat tied to the bed post. He lay everything down in front of them, as they got to work.
"Odd, I told you, like, 5 times already, you have to subtract 3x from both sides, not just one." Mira sighed. Odd groaned in frustration, leaning back against her bed next to her. "Why?" He whined. She then launched into a purposely boring explanation as to why it was important that you subtracted 3x to booth sides.
Odd pretended to pass out on the floor. "I give up! Obviously math just wasn't met for me. I'm gonna go and grab something to eat. You want anything?" He asked, getting up from the floor. Mira shook her head. "It's not like I can eat anything anyway." She said, signaling to her wrists. "I think the itch is almost gone though, so would you untie me?"
Odd studied her face closely. Her eyes wandered around the room, probably looking for a sharp object. "Nope. Be back in a sec. I'm locking the door so know one can come in while I'm gone. And don't worry, I have the key." He grabbed the key off of her nightstand, waved, and walked out the door.
Mira lied. Her wrists weren't getting much better, and although the distraction helped, it wasn't enough. She started twisting her arms, trying to figure out how to get herself out of the home made hand cuffs.
It took her five minutes until she was able to twist around so she was facing the bed. Her hands were in front of her and she could see the knot. It looked complicated. If she could just get it undone and get to the bathroom before Odd came back. . .
She started working on the not with her teeth. Biting and pulling at the scarf. It loosened a bit. Not enough that she could pull her wrists out but enough that she could start using her hands again. She pulled and tugged at the knot. It finally came undone. Mira giggled in relief, darting for the hair clip.
She grabbed it in her hands and ran across the room to open the door. Yanking the handle, she was about to run again only to bump into someone. Her eyes widened.
Odd.
"So where were you going in such a hurry." He asked. Odd closed the door and set the food he had snatched from the cafeteria on the table. Mira hid the metal clip behind her back. She gulped. "Umm. . ." She started. Odd held his hand out. "Give it."
"Give what?" She asked, deciding on playing stupid. "Mira" Odd started dangerously. She brought the paper clip back out from behind her back and dropped it in his hand. "I thought you were improving." He grumbled. "Don't get me wrong! Teaching you math really helped me to not focus on the itch, but it's just to much. I don't think you can do anything to help me besides let me cut. Sorry. I should have tried harder." A single tear fell down her face. "I'm so weak" She whispered.
Odd gently grabbed her chin. "'Alright then. Let's try a new distraction" She looked confused. Her innocent face made him chuckle. He leaned in, tilting her face up towards him and pressing her lips to his. She was shocked at first, but soon started reacting to his kiss. She kissed him back, her arms wrapping around his neck. He pulled her a bit closer, one arm around her waist and the other on her cheek. Butterfly's formed in Mira's stomach as a warm feeling spread through her body.
They were interrupted by Odd's phone. He pulled back and growled, obviously annoyed that he had to stop kissing the girl that he really really liked. She was different from the other girls, special. He wanted to keep her close to him and never let her go.
"Yeah?" He answered, getting straight to the point. It was hard to keep his voice in control. Mira was blushing fiercely as she sat on the bed, listening to Odd's conversation. That had been her first kiss, and although she heard the rumors about him being a player, she wouldn't have wanted it to be with anyone but Odd.
"I hope your done studying, because we're going on a mission to sector 5. I want to see if we can find any new information on Franz Hopper." Jeremy said. Odd had noticed Mira trying to listen and decided to put the phone on speaker.
"Okay, should we head over now?" He asked. "Yeah, everyones waiting." Odd told him they would be there right away and hung up the phone. "Come on lets go." He said, holding out a hand to help Mira up. She took it allowing Odd to help her.
"How are your wrists?" He asked, holding back a smirk. She ducked her face in embarrassment. "B-better" She stuttered. He laughed and bent down, kissing her cheek. "We'll talk about this later. You heard Einstein, we're going on a mission to sector five." Mira temporarily forgot her embarrassment and was bouncing with excitement. "I can't wait! I've never been their before!" She gushed.
Odd laughed again and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the room. "Come on let's go." The ran out of the building together and through the forest, making it in no time flat. "Ladies first" Odd said, lifting up the manhole cover. "Then you better get going" Mira giggled. He gasped, faking a hurt look.
Mira thanked him anyway. She took the offer and climbed down first, waiting for him at the bottom. "Wanna race?" He asked. She nodded and grabbed a skateboard, passing Odd his. They set them on the ground. Odd started the countdown. "Ready, set, go!" Both took off, flying down the sewers.
Odd got a head start, but Mira never gave up. She kicked off harder, leaning forward for momentum. She passed him on a jump, gliding on the cement. "Oh no you don't!" He called, catching up. They were neck and neck for the majority of the race. Odd only beat here by an arm because his were longer and could touch the wall first. "That's not fair." Mira pouted. "All is fair in love and war." Odd winked. As a prize, he got to climb up first.
At the top, he offered her a hand, pulling Mira out of the sewer. They ran over to the ropes and grabbed on, sliding to the floor.
They stepped out of elevator panting. "What were you doing?" Aelita asked, giggling. "You look like you just ran a marathon."
"We. Raced. Odd. Cheated." Mira got out between breaths.
"I. Did. Not! Your. Just. Short" Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Anyway, head down to the scanner room." Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich joined them in the elevator.
Yumi punched in the code and hit the button, sending them down to the scanner room.
