Out Of Place
Chapter 14
"Okay now, what is a neuron?" Jeremie asked on a Monday morning as Rosa slapped pancakes onto his plate.
"A cell that sends out nerve impulses," Odd answered.
"Very good!" Jeremie said as they walked out of the line and to the lunch table. "You know, you've gotten a lot better these past few weeks."
"Thanks, Jer," he accepted the compliment with a smile. "And, y'know…thanks for…helping me…"
Jeremie grinned. "No problem."
The two joined Aelita, Ulrich, and Yumi at the table. Usually Yumi ate breakfast at home, but she had decided to eat with her friends that morning.
"Hello there, dorks," came a sneering voice.
"Well, my day is now so much better," Odd said before taking a drink of his coffee.
"Oh don't be so sour Oddball," Sissi smirked.
"Sissi, why don't you just leave us alone?" Yumi said.
"Yeah, as much as we'd love to keep this conversation going, why don't you and your, um…lackeys, go somewhere else?" Odd said, gesturing to Herb and Nicholas.
"We are not lackeys!" Herb snapped.
"Oh? Is that so?" Odd asked, grinning at him.
"Yeah! That is so!"
Odd raised his eyebrows and said, "Riiight."
Herb grinded his teeth in anger while Odd simply took another sip of coffee.
"You-you," Herb stammered in anger. "You think you're so cool with your-your piercings and your-your…hair!"
"What?" Odd snickered at the lame come-back.
Yumi, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Aelita were all laughing at this point, making Herb even more furious.
"Wipe those grins off of your faces!" he demanded.
There was a pause, and then the response to the threat was more laughing.
"Stop laughing!" Herb shouted. "I got news for you, Della Robbia, you're no hot shot so why don't you just go back to wherever you came from!"
"Woah, okay buddy, let's calm down," Odd said, still grinning as he held up his hands in a surrendering way. "What's your name again anyway?"
"Herb Pichon!" he announced.
There was another moment of silence before Odd turned to Yumi and said, "So, goggles does have a name.
"Alright, that's it!" Herb shouted as he rolled up his sleeves. "Let's go, mister cool guy!"
"Wait!" Sissi said as she held an arm out in front of his face. "I'll take care of this."
Sissi whipped around and grabbed glass of juice from the table behind her. The student who was drinking it gave a 'hey!' in protest.
She smirked right as she tipped it over Odd's head, except it did not land on the one she wanted. Just as she tipped the glass, Aelita shot out of her seat and knocked it back in the other direction. Aelita found herself lying across Odd's lap, staring up at Sissi who was covered in orange juice.
Sissi gave a squeal that could break glass as the orange liquid dripped from her hair.
Odd let out a laugh as Aelita sat up.
"Thanks, princess!"
"No problem," she said as the entire cafeteria gaped in amusement at what had just occurred.
Suddenly Odd felt someone grip his shirt collar.
"You won't be smiling like that for long!" Herb shouted.
Odd sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Herb, let go of my shirt."
"No! You'll pay for what you-or Aelita…whatever! It's your fault that Sissi is covered in juice and you're gonna pay!" he lifted up his fist in what was meant to be a threatening manner.
By now, the whole cafeteria was watching. Rosa was back in the kitchen, therefore unable to stop the situation.
Odd just closed his eyes. He looked as if he was trying to stay calm.
"Get off," he said.
The table sensed danger in Odd's voice. Aelita could feel it even more so considering she was the only one who saw how angry he got toward Geo at the party a while back.
"I-I'm going to punch you so hard it-it-"
"Knock his lights out Herb!" Sissi cried from across the room at the napkin dispenser. Nicholas was helping her wipe the juice off her face and shirt.
Hearing this gave Herb a new surge of courage and he brought his fist down for the punch. Odd, however, stopped the oncoming fist with his own hand and gripped it hard. Herb let go of his shirt as Odd stood up and threatengingly towered over him.
"Ow! Ow! Stop it! I'm sorry!" Herb cried as his hand popped in various places.
Ulrich stood up to stop what was happening, but Aelita beat him to it. She reached out and touched Odd's hand. The touch was so gentle, yet he felt it and looked back to see Aelita's pleading expression for him to stop.
Odd's angry face smoothed out a bit and he let go of Herb, who whimpered a bit as he slumped away.
Aelita gave him a small smile and asked, "You want to leave?"
Odd cracked one side of his neck and said, "Sure."
She waved at the others before they walked away from the table. Once at the door, however, they heard a battle cry behind them.
Odd turned just in time for Herb to land a punch right on his cheek.
There was a short pause in which Odd processed what had just happened. He then turned his head slowly.
Aelita did not have time to try and stop anything from happening before Odd punched Herb square in the face, knocking him into a table.
"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" the whole cafeteria immediately started cheering.
Herb turned around and raised his fists a little before his knees buckled and he face planted into the floor.
"Well that was fast," came a chuckling voice from one of the students.
Suddenly the door to the cafeteria swung open.
"What is going on in here?!" Mr. Delmas shouted.
All it took was one glance at Herb on the floor, whimpering and holding his nose for the principal to realize what had happened.
"Up to my office! Now!" Mr. Delmas said angrily. "Sissi, take Herb to the infirmary."
Herb was guided away by Sissi and Nicholas. Mr. Tiny appeared seemingly out of thin air and gripped Odd's shoulder tightly. Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita watched as he was practically dragged away.
…
The following day, talk had already gone around about the fight. Both Odd and Herb were receiving many stares.
"Wow. You're all over the school," Jeremie said when he noticed yet another person glance at Odd.
"Mm," was his only response; his chin was resting on his crossed arms.
"You got off pretty light considering," Jeremie continued. "I mean, only a week of detention for a fight…"
"If you could call it that," Ulrich laughed. "It was basically one punch and Herb was out."
"Mm," Odd noised again.
Figuring that he was not in the mood to talk, Aelita, Jeremie, and Ulrich conversed amongst themselves. When the final class of the day rolled around, Odd seemed to have cheered up.
It was the beginning of November and the weather channel had been speaking about possible snowfall later in the day. Students were talking excitedly about the possibility and kept glancing outside as though it would start at any moment.
"Okay class, let's get started," Ms. Hertz said as she began writing on the chalk board.
The entire class went by relatively fast. Ulrich was actually able to focus on what Ms. Hertz was saying rather than day dreaming, gazing out the window, or texting. He was finally understanding the concept that she had been teaching for over a week. It was the first time in a while he actually felt confident that he would get a good grade on an upcoming test.
When the bell rang, Jeremie, Ulrich, Aelita, and Odd began walking toward the cafeteria.
"I'm actually going to go up to the room," Odd said when they stepped out into the hallway.
"You aren't going to eat dinner?" Aelita asked.
"Not hungry," he replied. "See you guys later."
The three remaining friends turned around and began walking to the cafeteria. Ulrich stopped in his tracks, however, when he saw a partially folded-up note on the floor. He would have continued walking had he not noticed Yumi's name written on it.
He bent down, picked it up, and began reading. Just like that, his good mood from before crashed and burned.
…