The auditorium was loud with students' voices as Ulrich and Sissi entered.

"See you later," Sissi said with a smile and a wave of her hand. Sissi took a seat next to Nicholas and Herb.

"Later."

Ulrich scanned the room for his friends. He spotted them about twenty rows back from the front. Yumi Ishiyama, Odella Robia and Jeremy Belpois sat in the same row together. Ulrich scooted in beside Yumi and put his bag on the ground.

"Hi," she greeted him with a smile. She brushed a few strands of her short black hair from her face.

Yumi was dressed in her usual black sweater, black jeans and black boots. Though she dressed in black from head to toe, Ulrich knew that if you didn't know Yumi you would never suspect how colorful her personality was beneath all of the goth.

It took a while to gain her trust, but once he had he discovered that Yumi was very mature for her age. Her generosity and commitment to her friends and family was truly admirable. She was beautiful inside and out, and he had never felt about anyone like that before.

From the day he met her he could tell that there was something different about her, and it wasn't her clothes or the cold vibes she gave off to most everyone. The first time they met was in the campus park where she had been practicing some martial arts. It intrigued him. He had walked up to her and asked if she needed a sparring partner. Yumi had looked around the park as if expecting someone else to be there.

"Oh yeah?" she had said, putting her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow. "Well let's see what you've got." She motioned her forearms into a defensive position. What she didn't know at the time was that Ulrich had a history of martial arts, too. Since then, they had practiced together in the park many times.

One of his favorite moments with her was when they had been sparring one Sunday morning. He remembered the warmth of the sun on his exposed arms. Without warning, Yumi used a new move on him. She swung her leg under his knees, causing him to collapse onto his back on the ground, the dew from the grass dampening his clothing. It had taken him by surprise and he had laid there in awe.

"Here let me help you up," she had said with a smile, walking over to him and extending a hand. But before she could grab his hand, she tripped over her own feet and landed right on top of him.

She stayed there on top of him, frozen, looking into his eyes for what seemed like an eterning. Ulrich felt his face grow hot and new beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. At that moment he had recalled how much he wanted her to bring her lips to his. He wanted to feel them on his, and he had imagined how soft and warm they would feel.

Instinctively, their heads moved closer to one another. His heart began to beat faster in his chest and he closed his eyes. But then she stood up, still blushing.

Yumi extended her hand once again. Ulrich took her hand and she helped him up from the ground. They both smiled.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Yumi's voice startled him from his daydream.

"Oh, nothing," he said smiling, feeling his face go crimson.

"Have you guys heard anything about the new principal?" she asked her group of friends.

"No," Jeremy replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I looked him up on the Internet but I couldn't really find anything."

"I wonder how long he'll be here until Mr. Delmas comes back," Odd said. "Maybe he'll actually let me bring Kiwi back to my room!"

"I wouldn't count on that," Aelita said with a small laugh.

"Why not? You never know what someone won't do," he replied with a hopeful smile. "Why did Delmas leave, anyway?"

"I talked to Sissi on the way here. Apparently her grandmother isn't doing well and he wanted to take a leave of absence to spend time with her. It didn't sound like she had much time left," Ulrich explained, shaking his head sadly. "Sissi was really upset this morning."

"Oh? Is that what you guys were doing walking in together?" Yumi asked him.

"Yeah." Ulrich shrugged his shoulders. "You know how she is."

Yumi considered this, then nodded.

"Hey, look!" Odd exclaimed, pointing a finger towards the stage. "Here he comes now."

A man dressed formally in a suit and tie strode out and positioned himself in front of the podium. He wore black glasses, had short blond hair and freckles on his nose. He tapped the microphone, causing it to screech loudly through the auditorium. He adjusted it, the auditorium fell silent, and then he began to speak.

"Good afternoon, Kadic Academy. My name is Mr. Barbeau. I'm going to be filling in for Mr. Delmas for a while." He cleared his throat. "I will start off by saying that it is a pleasure to be here. I am looking forward to meeting each of you. I have some great plans for Kadic Academy, and the first change that will be made has to do with grades."

"Oh no," Ulrich said in a low voice.

Yumi put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. She knew how Ulrich struggled with his grades.

"Mr. Delmas has asked me to make this change in his absence. So, throughout this week I will be meeting with individual students to discuss grades. Stricter criteria for academics and expulsion are going into effect as of Friday. I will say though that I will be helping you out every step of the way. I truly believe each student can achieve greatness, and I plan on helping whomever I can achieve this."

Ulrich buried his face in his hands. He was not expecting something so drastic to change like that! This was the last thing he needed right now! His grades were horrible, and he was borderline failing all of his classes...except for art. If they made the rules any stricter for academic expulsion he would be expelled for sure!

One thing was for sure. His father would not be happy. He had a feeling he'd be hearing from him soon.