Odd's face lit up like a christmas tree. "You would?!' He asked excitedly. Mira gave him a soft smile and whispered "I would."
He laced his fingers with her and faced Mira directly. "Well then, Mira Conwell, would you do me the honors of being my girlfriend?" He asked.
Now Mira was a bit slow on the whole thing. When Odd asked if she 'would' go out with her, she thought he had just run out of questions. After she answered, she felt like she had made a fool of her self because she told Odd that she liked him even though he probably didn't like her that much.
The way she saw herself was that she was a scrawny little girl who wasn't really good for anything. Not once in her life had someone said to her "I'm proud of you." They might have said things like "Good job" Or "Well done" but not "I'm so proud of you." She had a horrible past and ugly scars on her arms to prove it. She was broken.
So then why would anyone like her? Why would anyone ask her out? This is why she figured that Odd didn't like her and she had indeed just embarrassed herself.
Which is why when Odd started smiling like crazy and then asked her out for real, she was speechless.
"O-odd, are you s-sure you want t-to go out w-with s-someone like me?" She stuttered. Odd blinked, confused.
Of course he wanted to go out with her. She was beautiful, smart, and kind. She was courageous and wanted to do whatever she could to help others, especially her friends. Hell, she was even able to hold her own against a xanafied dog without having any clue as to what was going on.
Mira was one of the strongest people he had ever met, both inside and out. If he was the one with a troubled past, he would have given up on life a long time ago. But she kept fighting.
She was a survivor.
Mira couldn't look him in the eye. She didn't know what would happen if she did. "Mira, look at me." Odd's words were gentle and cautious, but they were also strong and demanding. Mira looked at him.
"Of course I want to go out with you. You're beautiful, smart, kind, courageous and a strong person inside and out. What makes you think I wouldn't want to go out with you?" He asked.
Mira still couldn't pull her eyes away from Odd. "Because I'm broken. I'm the girl who cries at night, has ugly scars going up her arms, and a past that haunts her every day. You deserve better then that."
Odd frowned. "But your starting to put the pieces back together Mira! You're trying your hardest to fix that girl. We can do it together, one step at a time. So I'll ask you again Mira. Will you be my girlfriend?"
Mira nodded, trying to hold in her tears. "Yeah Odd, I would love to."
If it wasn't for the fact the Mira was sick, he would have kissed her right then and there. But he couldn't so instead he kissed her forehead. Odd slung an arm around her shoulder and grinned at her.
"Good, I'm happy."
For the next hour or so, the new couple cuddled together, asked each other questions that they wanted to know, and tried to see who get the highest score in temple run and various other games on Mira's iPod. It was nice that they got to spend time together, just the two of them.
Around 12:30 there was a knock on Mira's door. She realized it was the others coming to visit. "Come on in guys!" She called. Her voice was still scratchy and it hurt to yell. The others entered her room, this time Yumi was with them.
"I didn't know you were this sick! They really should have gotten Yolanda." Yumi said when she saw Mira. Aelita smiled. "Believe it or not she was worse this morning when I came to help her. She said she needed help getting ready, but as soon as I got in the room I knew she couldn't go to school."
"But Mira wouldn't stay in bed so Aelita had to call Odd and I in for back up. When we came in the room, Aelita was sitting on Mira so she wouldn't get up."
"And she almost got past us and to the girls bathroom. We got there just in time." Odd finished telling the story. Yumi looked down at the girl and couldn't believe she was that persistent.
"Anyway we really have to go to lunch. And Odd, we can't cover for you anymore, we said you would be back to attending classes after lunch. So you're gonna have to come with us. Say goodbye to Mira." Jeremy said.
Odd got up from the bed and looked down at Mira. "Are you gonna be okay?" He asked. She nodded. "Go ahead I'll be fine." Odd bent down to kiss her cheek before leaving the room. She smiled at him one more time as he closed the door.
Out in the hallway, everyone started to interrogate Odd about kissing Mira's cheek. Questions were flying from all directions.
"Whoa guys calm down!" Odd yelled at them. They stopped asking to listen to what Odd had to say. "Aren't I allowed to kiss my girlfriend?" He smirked.
Mira heard people cheering from in her room, but she wasn't sure what it was. Eh, probably nothing important she thought.
Now that Odd was gone, Mira realized how tired she was. She was fighting her eyelids trying to keep them open. Giving up, Mira went back to sleep.
Jeremy and the others were eating their lunch when Jeremy's computer started beeping. "Guys," He started. Aelita nodded. "Let's go."
"Wait hold on, what about Mira?" Odd asked.
Jeremy answered him. "She'll be fine. Her door is locked and she'd call us if something happened, but the sooner we deactivate the tower, the safer she'll be."
Odd reluctantly followed the others out of the lunch room and to the factory.
Mira was sleeping when she heard footsteps in the hallway that woke her up. The others were in class so it couldn't be them. Maybe it really was a teacher this time. Mira got herself out of bed, using her side table for support. She put on a sweatshirt, slipped her phone in the pocket, and walked over to the door. She opened it to peek her head out.
Jim was walking down the hall straight for her room. "Oh, hi Jim." Mira croaked. Jim didn't answer her. He was moving faster now to her door.
Mira studied Jim closely. Why didn't he answer her? She found the answer in his eyes.
Jim was being controlled by X.A.N.A.
Mira was freaking out. What should she do? On instinct, she closed the door as fast as she could.
She heard Jim outside the door trying to get in. If her got into her room, she would be cornered. She was just going to have to make a run for the factory.
Mira flung the door open with all her might, knocking Jim to the ground. With that opening, she sprinted down the hallway and out of the girls dormitory.
She got out her phone and dialed Jeremy while running. Jim had gotten up and was now chasing her. She had gotten some distance between them but he was gaining ground. Jeremy finally answered.
"Hello?" Silence. "Mira are you there." Odd looked over at Jeremy in fear. The gang add been on skate boards and scooters riding to the factory when Mira called. Now, they had stopped to listen.
"Jeremy did X.A.N.A launch an attack?" She yelled.
"Yeah he did. What's going on?"
"It's Jim. X.A.N.A took control of him and he's chasing me!"
"Hold on, I'll send someone to help you out. O-"
Odd had already turned and was racing back down the sewers to get Mira. He just wished that he wasn't to late.
Mira was running through the woods barefoot. The soles of her feet were scratched and most likely bleeding, but she didn't care. She had to get away from X.A.N.A. Luckily, she was tiny and agile while Jim was. . . on the larger side of the scale. She darted through tree's and over logs where Jim had a hard time following her.
Odd was lifting the manhole cover up only to see Mira racing towards him. Her pale face was covered in dirt and mud. She had twigs and leaves sticking out of her hair and drops of blood dripping down from her feet onto natures floor.
"Mira!" Odd yelled.
"Odd! I'm coming." She broke into the clearing. Odd climbed up to let her go down first, wanting to keep her safe from Jim. She darted into the sewer as he followed after her. He could see Jim in the woods running towards him. He closed the lid and climbed down the latter.
At the bottom, Mira had stopped. She was coughing and hacking, trying to catch her breath. "Are you okay?" Odd asked her gently. "Just give me a second." She wheezed.
Odd punched the wall. He knew they should have gotten her as soon as they knew about the attack. But they didn't and now she was running from Jim, only making her condition worse.
"Let's go." She said, tugging his hand. They both took off running for the factory.
Behind them, Jim had just entered the sewer. Odd cursed. At this pace, it was just a matter of time before Jim caught them. He stopped running.
"Odd what are you doing?" Mira screeched. He had his back turned to her.
"Do you trust me?" He asked.
"Of course I do but what does that-"
"Then run, I'll hold Jim off."
"But Odd!"
"GO!" He yelled.
Without a second glance, Mira turned and continued her journey to the factory, praying for Odd's safety.