Hey guys! Sorry about the wait...I had family over, a major case of writer's block, and some trouble with my French :P. Here it is though! Enjoy! PM me with any trouble with the French (I find google translate to be helpful, try that out)!

Chapter 10 The Art of French Dodge Ball

Ms. Maitland looked up from her desk as two of her students, Jeremy Belpois and Ulrich Stern, rushed in. "Bonjour les garçons, vous êtes en retard," she said.

The boys blushed in shame. "We're sorry, Ms. Maitland…We just-"

"We only use French in this class, Belpois! A rule you should soon learn to remember, especially since you currently have a 'B' in this class! Now…Asseyez-vous!"

Still blushing, the two friends took their seats. "Maintenant, la classe, ouvrir votre manuels à la page 22 ..."

As Ms. Maitland was writing on the board, Odd turned around and whispered to Jeremy, "Don't worry, Einstein, Aelita and I will help tutor you!"

Jeremy was about to express his thanks when Ms. Maitland spun around and yelled at Odd to: "Demi-tour, enfermé, et faire attention de sa classe!"

"Enseignante désolé, il ne se reproduira pas. J'étais juste discuter une phrase à la page 23 avec Einste…eh…Jeremy ici," Odd said, displaying remarkable talent in speaking French to a surprised teacher.

"Très bien, Odd. Déplacement sur ..." Ms. Maitland said approvingly to Odd, who grinned at Jeremy.

"Well?"

Jeremy looked down at his impossible French homework and made his decision. "Please help me," he said despairingly to him.

"Ne vous inquiétez pas, nous vous ferons parler français en un rien de temps!" Aelita said enthusiastically to a confused Jeremy.

"What…?"

After class, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Aelita, and Jeremy met up by the vending machines, as usual. Jeremy was downcast, thinking about his, 'fruitless French future', as he put it in his mind. Aelita and Odd though, were getting along even better than usual, if possible, having found yet another thing that they had in common. Looking over at them, Jeremy submerged into an even worse mood.

"Hey, Ulrich," he said, disgruntled, "Wasn't there someone you wanted to introduce me to?"

Ulrich looked up, surprised, from his chat with Yumi, who raised an eyebrow at him. "Were you going to ask me something?"

Ulrich blushed. "Um…It can wait. Let's go, Jeremy."

"You guys always interrupt at the worst times…" Ulrich muttered when they were a little bit away from the others.

"Sorry? What was that?" Jeremy asked.

"Nothing. Right, here we go. Hello Emily! You remember Jeremy, right? Well, I'll leave you two to it. Gotta go!" Ulrich said, waving and heading back towards the others, leaving Jeremy and Emily in an awkward silence.

"Um…Do you like foosball?" Jeremy asked the intimidating girl.

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "Better get ready to lose though."

Jeremy smiled too, "We'll see."

As Jeremy and Emily headed towards the rec room, Ulrich arrived back to see the others looking curiously at him.

"Um…What was that about?" Odd asked him, confused to say the least.

"Nothing. What's there to drink today?"

Odd sighed theatrically and Aelita giggled. "Alas, there'll be no rations for us today, my friend, for, as the fair lady quotes, it's turned into the devil himself."

"English for the lowly, Odd?"

"Machines on the brink again," Odd said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

"Great. What class do we have next?"

"PE and Yumi's got History."

"Great."

"Great…" Aelita and Yumi sighed as well, ready to be bored out of their minds.

"Are we all here?" Jim's voice boomed out across the field.

"YES," the class responded, wanting to hurry it up and get past the exercises and to the sport.

"Right. Well, today, we will run 5 laps of the track as a warm-up and play dodge ball as the sport today. The losing team will have to give me 10 vinyasas… do I make myself clear?"

"YES JIM!" the class responded unanimously.

"That's 'yes coach' to you!" Jim corrected them. "Now, get going!"

After they had run their 5 laps, the two leaders were chosen to pick teams. Naturally, it was the terrible two, Odd and Ulrich.

Odd chose first. "Aelita!"

Ulrich looked over, surprised at him and made his choice. "Nicolas!"

And so it went on, with Jeremy being on Ulrich's team, as well as most of the good throwers. The first game had commenced, and Ulrich's team had knocked almost everyone out, and were frustrated by the 'line rule'. The two survivors, Odd and Aelita, were facing Ulrich's entire team. But they had a system.

Odd stood in front of Aelita and deflected the balls using two he had caught from Ulrich's team, and Aelita would throw them back. They were a very intimidating pair; no one could get them out, even with Ulrich's tactic of throwing all the balls at once.

"Here comes another round!" Odd called over his shoulder to Aelita, who nodded.

It was now Nicolas and Ulrich versus Odd and Aelita. As their two balls came towards Odd, he deflected them straight up into the air and stepped forward, allowing Aelita to lithely step forward and catch the balls, earning their team the first win of 3. Ulrich was indignant, calling them wimps and cowards, and telling them to fight like men (and women in Aelita's case). Jim intervened, though, and called their teamwork skill, and Ulrich would do better with more teamwork like theirs. Blushing madly from the insult of one of his favorite teachers, Ulrich stepped back into line, ready for the next game. This inspired his teammates, and they fought harder than ever.

In the end, it was 3-0, Odd and Aelita's favor, and Ulrich's team was doing vinyasas.

Odd felt sorry for Ulrich though, so he had a talk with Jim, who agreed to do one more dodge ball game, the oldest and most dangerous combination of them all, a sacred tradition that has carried down through the ages, through the Spartans, through every school that has ever existed, and to their playing field.

Boys vs Girls.

It was a beat down, just like always, since the sacred tradition did not permit the boys to win, out of courtesy, of course. But the boys could catch the balls to get the girls out, and they soon learned NEVER to throw a ball anywhere NEAR Odd and Ulrich, who were an even better combination than Odd and Aelita, a difficult thing to accomplish. But, eventually, it came down to just Odd and Aelita.

"Come on Odd, you little lâche! Me battre comme un homme!" Aelita taunted him.

Odd was torn. He didn't want to get Aelita out, but he also didn't want to let his team down. So, he did the only thing he could do: he dodged every ball Aelita threw at him, and even had the time to make a neat little pyramid of his dodge balls, which Aelita promptly destroyed. They both, eventually, ran out of time and energy, and the class hit the locker room, exhausted.

"Nice job, Princess," Odd grinned. "Almost had me there."

Aelita grinned evilly as she headed into the girl's side, "I'll get you next time, Odd!"

Odd grinned, "I'm sure."

Well, i think that Jeremy would be good with Emily, but that's just my opinion. I also NEED more suggestions for the gang's Halloween costumes! MAJOR thanks to everyone who suggested before, but I would like more of your guys' opinions. Halloween chapter will be out on Halloween (naturally)!

This chapter is dedicated to my good friend, Lloyd, who encouraged me to take French!