FDCALW;
Chapter 10 (Aren't you proud of me? :D)

By Jenn.

A/N: Still on the "contest" with Unt0uchable hehe- which is the reason I updated so fast ahh. Fastest update in like 2 years, no joke. (You won this time, but round 3 won't be as easy! Mwahaha)

Enjoy!

--

With only two days left until the camping trip, everyone was rushing to buy last-minute supplies for the one-week outing.

After a lot of complaints and begs, Principal Delmas finally canceled all classes for the day- courtesy of Sissy Delmas.

So, 99 of the student body was gone. However, one person sat alone in her bedroom, folding a hundred paper stars per minute.

"Stupid Aelita," Yumi muttered, tossing the newly-made paper star onto her roommate's bed. There was now a small mountain of colorful stars on Aelita's bed.

"Ah, sorry Yumi, I forgot to buy some makeup last week!" Aelita had said, her mouth twitching. She was never good at lies.

Before Yumi had even opened her mouth to answer, Aelita had run off and was lost in the multitude of Kadic students rushing to the stores.

Thus, Yumi was left alone in the deserted boarding school.

She sighed, and sat upright. She was so bored; she wanted to cry so that she at least had something to do.

She stood up, and put on her boots and her jacket. She ran a hand through her silky hair. She had grown it so that it was now to the middle of her back. She swept her bangs out of her eyes, grabbed her iPod, and walked out of the room.

--

Ulrich groaned. He was aching from all the high school drama that occurred the past week. Yumi not speaking to him- again. And it kind of hurt right in the center of his chest.

Where his heart presumably would be- but he had no heart.

Ha-ha, just kidding…

He had given Odd a list of the essentials he had to buy, since he himself was not going to town. He rolled his eyes as an image of Odd appeared in his mind exclaiming, "Why do you need 5 deodorants and shaving creams?!"

Well, obviously he needed a lot of deodorant. He was bound to sweat in the outdoors, even if it was going to be cold. Or else he'd have really bad B.O. and the girls would-

… Okay, off the subject.

Maybe he just needed some fresh air. He bent down and lifted his jacket from the floor. He slid it on, put his cell phone, iPod, and keys into his jacket pocket, and walked out of the room.

--

Yumi stuffed her hands into her coat pockets and watched as her breath evaporated into the sky. She looked skyward. It looked as if it might snow.

She grinned slightly. It'd be fun to walk through the snow back to school. She'd missed tasting the snowflakes on her tongue.

She trudged through the park. The park was more like a huge garden. There were rows and rows of flowers and trees. The trees were now bare of flowers; naked branches raised to the heavens.

The flowers on the ground were going to be gone pretty soon too. Yumi bent down and plucked a flower off from its stem. It was pink, with black stripes running down the petals. Lilacs, she thought they were called.

She twirled it around her fingers and leaned in to smell the lovely scent. It momentarily cleared her mind from all the problems she had: Ulrich, school …

She kept the flower in her hand and continued walking down the path, fleetingly forgetting everything else. She just wanted to keep walking down this maze until she finally ended up someplace.

It would feel good to end up somewhere, she mused, especially since her life evidently had no ending.

--

Ulrich ventured out of the building, looking left and right until he decided to walk to the right. He tugged the iPod out of his pocket: it was a nano- a sleek, spotless black nano iPod. Not one scratch was on the iPod.

OK, so there was one scratch, but it was really small. Most days, he didn't even notice it.

… Most days.

Anyway, he walked along the sidewalk, plugging in his earphones. He pressed Shuffle and Simple Plan's 'Welcome to My Life' blasted into his ears. He closed his eyes briefly and smiled into the cold wind.

His iPod knew him well.

He strolled a few blocks until he stopped at a park. Full of trees and flowers; it reminded him of the place where he grew up. Filled with homeliness, he entered the friendly place.

Ulrich sat down on a park bench nearby, and rested his body on it. He lay down, put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes, listening to the song's lyrics.

Are you desperate to find something more? Before your life is over …

He felt someone's breath on his cheek. He sprang up, and almost knocked down the girl leaning over him. As his vision began to come into focus, a pretty girl stood in front of him, comfortably dressed in a hoodie, shorts, and sensible shoes. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail, and she wore dark-framed, rectangular glasses.

She looked oddly familiar.

"Hi, Ulrich." She flushed and looked away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb-"

"You go to my school, right?" He interrupted.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm Emily." She smiled nervously. "I'm really sorry, again. I just…"

"It's okay." Ulrich shrugged. "I'm kind of lonely anyway." He pulled the earphones out of his ears and turned off his iPod. He moved over a bit and gestured to the space next to him.

Her cheeks turned pink again as she hurriedly sat down next to him. Or maybe it was just from the cold.

Emily was the first to speak up. "So um, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Oh, just kind of bored. Came out here to clear my mind a bit, you know? Get some alone time."

"Alone… time." Emily stared off into a distance for awhile. "From what?"

"Problems." He shrugged.

"Oh. I see." Emily nodded reasonably.

There was a comfortable silence until Emily gathered her courage to ask: "Is it about Sissy?"

He whipped his head around to stare at her in astonishment. "Sissy?"

"Yeah. She's been running around telling anyone that would listen that your heart was broken after she broke up with you. That's why you wouldn't talk to her."

Ulrich chortled. "Are you serious? We were never together in the first place."

"But last week, the cafeteria…"

"Oh, that?" Ulrich rolled his eyes. "I suppose it was some fun. But… it was nothing. It meant nothing. I was just frustrated, I think." He stopped talking for a few seconds, as if considering what he was going to say. "It was just a ploy to make someone jealous."

"Oh? Do tell." Emily turned to Ulrich, brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on it.

He debated this. Was he really going to pour his heart out to a girl that was in his school- but one he had just met? He looked at her. She seemed trustworthy. But looks deceive.

In the end, he just threw it all away. He couldn't keep all his problems in his head forever.

"Well, this girl, Yumi… she's amazing. I think I fell for her -"

--

Yumi tugged her pea coat closer to her body, her long, wavy hair blowing in the wind. Her earphones provided comfort and she felt her body slowly begin to relax after being tense for so long.

She stopped in the middle of the park. There was a magnificent water fountain. It was grand, with 5 levels. The top of the fountain had something that looked like Cupid. It held an arrow, and its mouth was open. Normally, water would spew out of its mouth. But since it was winter, it had probably been turned off.

She sighed, and sat down on the edge of the water fountain. It had rained earlier, and water had pooled in the water fountain, not yet evaporated. She dipped her hand into the water, liking the feel of the cold on her fingertips.

Yumi laid her head back, until it rested on one of the water fountain's layers.

Finally relaxed, she pressed the play button on one of her favorite songs: Falling into History by Avril Lavigne.

"I'll be all right by myself.
And no one's gonna tell me I'm defined
Confined by love…"

--

"Oh, so now she's not talking to you?" Emily nodded her head, resting her chin on her knees. She gazed at him with probing eyes.

"Yeah," He looked away. "I'm not really sure why though…"

"Are you serious?" Emily shook her head in disappointment. "She's angry that you made out with Sissy. And she's confused that you don't really like her. And that you're just using her as a toy."

He stared at her incredulously. "I'm not using her for a toy! I like her," He was silent for a bit. "When I'm with her, I feel… I feel like…" He trailed off. "I can't describe it. But whenever I see her, I feel like I want to be with her forever. Like I never want to leave her. It's this-"

"It's like an amazing feeling, right?" Emily finished, looking into a distance, wondering. She turned to him, grinning. "And everyone thought you were more the player type. Don't you usually get, like, five girls at once?"

Ulrich sat there, thinking. "I guess. But… I want Yumi. And I'm not playing this time." He looked at her seriously. "I'm not even sure why I like her so much. But she's so different. She has this magnetic quality that just pulls me to her. She's beautiful and witty and…" He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

"Indescribable?" Emily finished, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah." He lifted his head and looked at her. "How do you know me so well?"

"I feel that way sometimes too." She shrugged her shoulders. "This guy… he's like my best friend but sometimes…"

"Hey, what's that?" Ulrich asked, puzzled. "I hear something." They sat, silent, trying to find out what it was.

A voice. An angelic voice, singing.

Ulrich stood up. "Come on," He beckoned for her to follow, and she did.

They crept behind a shrub and saw Yumi, lying down on the ledge of the water fountain, singing.

"Ha-ha, I feel like we're in Sleeping Beauty." Ulrich grinned.

Emily giggled softly. "Well, are you going to talk to her?"

He smiled. "Yeah. Thanks."

Emily smiled back at him and quietly tiptoed away.

Ulrich stuffed his hands in his pockets and called to her, "Yumi!"

She didn't hear him, and continued singing.

Trying not to frighten her, he stepped in front of her. "Yumi." He said a bit louder.

She looked up, and her eyes widened. He sat down next to her. As her brain slowly began to register who he was, she sprang up, her eyes still wide.

He took her hand softly. He gazed into her eyes and she stood, rigid. The pose looked as if he was going to ask her to marry him.

"Yumi," He said again, his look probing. "Please, just talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about, Ulrich." Her tone wasn't cold, but it wasn't friendly. It was monotonous.

He thought he heard a trace of sadness and regret in her voice. But before he could question it or even make her talk to him, she slowly slid her hand out of his tender grasp, and took off without another word.

--

Good thing Ulrich was a fast runner. He wasn't going to let her go this time.

Too bad she was a fast runner too. Cross country had made them both extremely fast. After all, they were the two best runners in their school. But even so, he was still faster.

Her hair streamed behind her as she ran. She tried pulling it back, but failed. Her long legs were so fast they were almost a blur. Though she was tall, he admired how petite she still was.

After a minute or so, he caught up to her. He panted as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body to his.

"Yumi…" He whispered into her ear. Her hair had a sweet scent, and he buried his face into her hair.

She would never admit it, but she loved how he said his name. He said it quietly, but with an urging want, with tenderness.

"Ulrich, get off." She said just as quietly, but made no motion to get him off of her.

"No, Yumi." He strengthened his hold on her, like a barrier from the wind. She was instantly warm in his embrace. She couldn't see his face, since he was behind her, but she felt him smile against her hair.

"I like you. A lot." He murmured. Her breath caught in her throat as she listened to his heartfelt words.

Yumi stayed silent.

"More than I've ever liked anybody." He confessed, bringing her closer to him than before. He liked the feel of her soft, delicate body against his. "That kiss with Sissy meant nothing. I was just frustrated with myself. I want you so much. I-I've never felt this way before, so I'm not really sure how to say how I feel, but-"

Yumi wanted so desperately to hug him. But she couldn't. She couldn't believe him. Not just yet.

She broke out of his embrace, and immediately shivered without his warmth. "Ulrich, I can't do this. I don't like you. You don't like me. You don't know who I am."

Ulrich blinked, confused. "But Yumi…"

"I'm sorry, Ulrich. But life would be better for both of us if you just stayed away from me." Yumi looked at him one last time, and his forlorn expression threw her off guard. She wanted to throw her arms around him and cry.

But she didn't. The walls around her went up, and no one was to break in. She was a cold-blooded being, and it was going to stay that way. Nothing was going to get in, and nothing was going to get out.

Without looking back, she ran away from him at the speed of light, trying to hold back tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks.

And this time, he didn't run after her.

--

A/N: OH SNAP. :D Many thanks to Miho Mania, who helped me with the ending by helping me keep Yumi in character. Heh.

PLEASE REVIEW. I hope you liked it!

And, I hate summer homework. Ughhh. And my writing's been so rusty lately. I can never seem to find the phrases, the words I want to write down. It's so frustrating.

Sorry if it isn't up to standards. ):

-jenn