Hey guys! Here's a filler-ish chapter. It's mostly just a nice break from everything else that's happening. ((: Hopefully, you'll all still like it, because there are still some stuff that's enjoyable in this chapter (I hope, haha). Well, anyways, this quote gave me chills. Not the kind that happens when something is super good and relatable, but the kind you get when you are creeped out. But it fit into the story, so I like it a lot. (:
Well, let's get to shoutouts to all the guests on this site, since this chapter is pretty terse! I haven't done those in a while.
Random Person: Heyy, what's up?! Hehe, thank you for your kind words- I'm relieved you find my Willumi scenes likable. I've been trying all in my power not to throw my laptop across the room because of how much I'm not a fan of the pairing. But yeah, I still find them cute, haha. (: And yesh, more Ulumi is coming!
Sunwhisper: Thank you so much! :) I've never read 'Pride and Prejudice,' but 'Prom and Prejudice' was inspired/ based off of that book. So I guess you'll say that I'm doing a parody of a parody, LOL. (;
bluedog197: Great theory you have there! Probably Ulrich does have another side of the story, but will it prove William's story to be the truth, or a lie? Hmmm...? Haha, I'm keeping that a secret! (; I'm sorry that I had to make you go through all the agony of reading all that.
Just a Reviewer: Thank you so much! Your reviews are awesome. Thank you as well for taking the time to put your theories into your reviews- I really enjoy reading them. Now all we gotta see now is if they're right (I'm keeping that a secret, MWAHAHA)!
Guest: Hopefully there's only one of you... Well, if there's more than one, then I'm thanking all of you! You guys are awesome!
Kim: Thank you so much! I've been trying really hard to pace everything and make the characters as consistent as I can. (:
Rosa: Thank you! I've really been trying to update as fast as I can- it's summer vacation now, so it's much easier. Phew!
Galkar: Hehe, thanks, dude!
I'm wondering if all of you are still following this story... hm... Well, anyways, I love you all! Let's proceed with the chapter. (:
"By the time you swear you're his, shivering and sighing.
And he vows his passion is infinite, undying.
Lady make note of this -One of you is lying."
-Dorothy Parker
Chapter 9: Guilty Pleasures
Yumi told Aelita about William the next evening at dinner. She felt guilty keeping him in the shadows for so long. Unfortunately, instead of showing her friend support, Aelita didn't seem pleased.
Aelita rose an eyebrow and scanned her eyes throughout the dining hall, as if she was sifting through her thoughts. She wanted to put this nicely so as not to hurt Yumi, but still sound firm. Marveling at the crystal chandeliers which casted their golden light throughout the room like Allard's hall, Aelita kept her eyes from Yumi's expectant gaze. She took a deep breath and creased her eyebrows in concern. "Yumi," she began, "William Dunbar? I haven't heard great things about him..."
Yumi wasn't surprised. Ulrich could've told Jeremie who could've told Aelita a different story. "I didn't expect you to," she replied. She looked down at her salmon and began to cut into it. "Ulrich could've told you something different," she then muttered.
Aelita sighed in utter frustration at her friend's slight relapse of immaturity. "Yumi.. It could just be a simple misunderstanding," she answered as nicely as she could. "Jeremie would never be friends with someone who was so heinous. And plus, I don't ever think that Ulrich would do something like that."
Yumi put down her fork. "So that's what it's all about, huh?" she spoke in a slightly irritated tone, crossing her arms. She was annoyed that Aelita's crush on Jeremie made her no choice but to be biased about him. "You're just telling me this because if Ulrich really did get William expelled, then Jeremie will be looked down upon."
"I didn't mean that..." Aelita trailed off, poking into her salmon. Seeing it ooze with thick oils, she settled with sipping from her tea. "I'm just worried, okay? I'll be sure to ask Jeremie about this, but it isn't exactly something he would talk about. So no promises."
Yumi rose an eyebrow. She was surprised that news of this never got out. "You mean you know nothing about this rumor?" she asked.
Aelita's facial expression contorted into that of contemplation. "I do remember that William was kicked out of Kadic and that Jeremie knew him through Ulrich, but that's pretty much it..." She sent Yumi another look of concern. "Yumi, please be careful, and give Ulrich a chance. Let him explain his side of the story. It's unfair of you judge him as the worst antagonist you've ever met."
Yumi broke off a bit of her salmon and examined it. "How can expulsion from school without reason be misunderstood?" she asked, challenging Aelita. "I don't think William would lie about something this serious."
Aelita sighed and ignored Yumi. They ate in silence for a few minutes. Then, Milly came marching over, waving about a stack of papers in one hand. She dropped the latest issue of the Kadic news in front of Aelita, beaming proudly at the fine print. It was the paper which held the latest reports (and gossip) circulating around both Kadic and Lyoko Academy, the paper in which Milly was the lead reporter. "Aelita, look at this!" she exclaimed, her pigtails bobbing about. "Isn't this great? Tamiya and I finally got the next issue printed!"
Aelita picked it up, an impassive look settling upon her face. She swallowed her last gulp of tea. Yumi watched intently as Aelita tried to brighten her face in support of Milly's success. She held back her laughter when she found it was feigned. "This is wonderful, Milly," Aelita complimented in a monotone voice. She did believe that her sister possessed talent in writing stories, really, but she didn't care for all the pointless gossip the newspaper held.
Milly frowned. She yanked the paper out of Aelita's hands. "Fine, Aelita, if you don't care about my success, let me tell you about yours," she said. Aelita looked at her and rose an eyebrow. Milly couldn't stop beaming; she paused for dramatic effect. "I just called Mommy, and she told me that she was able to contact Cecile about your prom dress!" She squealed, clenching her fists. "Aren't you just so excited?"
Aelita shot Milly a look. She instantly settled down. "Milly," she began quietly, "I haven't been asked to prom yet..."
Milly looked towards Aelita with wide eyes, making it clear that she was shocked. "You mean Jeremie didn't ask you, yet?" she asked, laughing slightly. "Wow, that guy really is a nerd."
"Milly!" Aelita shrieked, though she was already blushing bashfully. "He's just a little shy..."
Milly scoffed. She then looked over to Yumi, an expectant look on her face. Not getting the signal, Yumi took a sip of her hot chocolate, her eyebrow raised. "Well?" Milly began after seconds of silence. "Where are you going to get your dress, Yumi?"
In response, Yumi simply shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I'm probably just going to shop at Galeries Lafayette, or fly back to Kyoto and grab something from Indulgi, but I doubt I'm even going."
Milly creased her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side, looking at the Japanese as if she just spoke gibberish. "But Yumi!" she whined, jumping in the air. "You can't possibly think that that'll be acceptable at a school like this!"
"Of course I don't," Yumi answered placidly, taking another sip from her hot chocolate. She exhaled deeply to rid of the burning sensation that slid down her throat. "I just find it ridiculous spending hundreds, or even thousands, of euros or yen on a dress that I'll only be using for one night." She then looked over to Aelita. "No offense."
Aelita ignored Yumi, and instead, glared at Milly. When there seemed to be no change in her demeanor, though, Aelita only sighed. "Milly..." she began. "You really need to start learning how to be sympathetic. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have these connections with designers."
Milly placed her hand on Aelita's shoulder. "Aelita, dear," she said, "this school is all about the connections you do and do not have." She batted her eyelashes and used the tone people used whenever they were stating the obvious to a mentally disabled person. "Oh, and by the way, Mommy also said that we will not be able to fly out to anywhere during spring break! Can you believe that?!" she squeaked.
Aelita clenched her fists under the table. "Enough!" she shrieked, whipping her head around to look at Milly hard in the eye. "You're sounding like an ingrate right now!" She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "You have to understand that Daddy lost more than half of his income after he stopped working for the government. Their work is wicked, and he finally understood."
Yumi knew just what she was talking about. Waldo Schaeffer, Aelita's father, used to work for a top-secret government project called 'Carthage,' a computer program whose main purpose was to intercept enemy communications. He was highly talented with computers, one of the greatest geniuses of their time, and that talent was applied for the wrong purposes. Aelita never understood the project, so she couldn't tell Yumi the whole story, but she knew it was highly confidential. Yumi was the only friend Aelita ever trusted the story with. And to cover up for his covert job, he was also an investor to the school.
Milly flinched from Aelita's sudden outburst. Her eye twitched. "But why should we experience the damage?" she muttered, crossing her arms. "It's Dad's fault, not ours."
"Don't you ever dare say that about our father again," Aelita threatened, having heard that comment. "He eventually realized his mistakes, Milly."
And like that, Aelita got up with her tray and placed it on the conveyor belt. Yumi followed. Sadly, her emerald eyes were glossed over with tears- it was clear that she used all the strength she had to forgive her father.
"Hey.. you okay?" Yumi asked, pulling Aelita into a compassionate hug.
Aelita sniffed and wiped away a tear. "Yes, thank you," she replied. "I'm really sorry about that, Yumi. I just don't know what I'm going to do about Milly... Jeremie told me to invite her as well to Saturday night's party, but I don't know..."
Yumi nodded. "I understand," she answered.
"You are coming, right?" Aelita asked, pulling away and getting rid of her tears. "You'll have fun.."
Yumi sighed. Instantly, thoughts of William rose once again inside her mind. "Of course," she answered. She was looking forward to the party, but not for reasons that were exactly innocent. She knew she was betraying Jeremie, who was nothing but nice to her, but due to her excitement, she couldn't pay attention to it as much. The desire to spend more time with William made her forget all about the feelings of contrition she was supposed to be feeling at the moment.
She was going to have fun with William, and there is nothing that will keep her from doing so.
Jeremie's party was going to take place at the top floor of Le Cheval Blanc, a posh hotel that was the most popular for travelers that were visiting France for a while. Du Gourmand, the expensive, yet small restaurant that catered to all of Kadic's and Lyoko's needs was confined on that floor, only letting in students that attended either school. Aelita, having her spirits risen by Jeremie's request for another date on Sunday, ended up forgiving Milly and invited her to the party after much debate with herself.
Aelita and Yumi spent most of the Saturday inside their dorms, dressing for the gathering. This was mostly because of the fact that Aelita wanted to look nice for Jeremie, and she wanted to pick Yumi's outfit -with many protests from her, of course. After hours of arguing, Yumi finally settled with something that she liked and Aelita approved of, which was something that was almost near impossible a few hours ago.
Yumi threw on a sleeveless black top and burgundy mini shorts. Her black arm warmers edged with burgundy went down to her wrists, and her knee socks were decorated with alternating burgundy and black stripes. Over the socks she put on some black lace up combat boots, which were more sleek and detailed than her normal ones. Then, she clasped a chain necklace with a gray gemstone around her neck. It was much more elaborate than she would normally dress like- punk, but more chic. No matter how much she didn't want to admit it, she partially dressed like this in hopes to impress William.
Aelita, meanwhile, put on a soft pink trench coat jacket that went no lower than her waist over a white undershirt. It had a burgundy collar and cuff sleeves in the same color. With it, she put on a pair of skinny jeans and soft pink flats.
Aelita applied some mascara as Yumi stared disdainfully at the cluttered cosmetics that cluttered their vanity. Minutes of silence passed, and then Milly ran in through the door. Yumi was shocked to see her appearance. She was wearing a very short skirt that threatened to show off her...er, unmentionables, and her face was caked with so much makeup, even her older sister couldn't recognize her. She squealed loudly like her usual self, and Yumi had to cover her ears just so they wouldn't burst. "Ohmigod!" she yelled, fanning herself dramatically. "My first upperclassmen party! I'm like, so excited, and so ready to flirt with older boys!"
Aelita frowned and yanked a tissue from the tissue box. She then silently walked over to Milly, grabbed her face, and -literally- began to expunge all of the artificial coloring on her face. "Milly," Aelita called calmly, "you look ridiculous."
In response, the redhead squirmed frantically in Aelita's grasp, trying her best to push her older sister away with her small hands. The pinkette wasn't deterred, though, as she said, "Oh, this isn't coming off. Come with me to the restroom, Milly."
"Aelita, stop it!" she half whined, half shrieked.
Yumi watched silently as Aelita dragged her little sister into their bathroom and closed the door behind her. Inside, there was a crash, then a scream, and then the running of water. Crying then ensued, and then, lastly, silence.
The pair of siblings walked out of the bathroom with Milly transformed. Luckily, Aelita managed to erase all the makeup from her face and then reapply a thinner, more natural-looking coat. She was also wearing a pair of leggings under that ridiculously short skirt, making her look a lot more appropriate. Aelita wrapped her hands around the edges of her hips triumphantly. "Yumi," she began, "Please tell me how much better Milly looks."
Yumi laughed. "You look beautiful, Milly," she answered.
In response, Milly stuck a tongue out to Aelita, her eyes shut tightly. Aelita remained impassive and clasped her hands together, unable to stop her constant smiling. Not even Milly's uncooperativeness could bring down her mood. "Well, are we ready?" she asked, once again examining herself in the mirror. When no one answered, she then grabbed her Dior purse. "Well, then, let's go."
Author's Note: I'm sorry, guys, but I have to say that you guys will have to wait a while until the party! Who's pumped up for it? Haha, thank you so much for choosing to read this story, and for the kind reviews, favorites, and follows! :) I'll be sure to update once again as soon as I can! :)