Ulrich had been right. Within a few days of the announcement of changes to Kadic's expulsion and academic probation standards, Ulrich's father had texted him that he needed to speak with him and was going to call him tomorrow evening. He had been in his dorm room with Odd when he had received the message. When he read the message, he let out a defeated sigh and then chucked his cell onto the floor angrily, the protective cover breaking into pieces.

Odd looked up from his Rolling Stone magazine when he heard the thud. "You okay, man?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Ulrich snapped back at him, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Okay, okay. Chill. I was just asking!" Odd threw up his hands in defeat.

Ulrich knew one thing. He needed to go take a shower and clear his head. He grabbed his robe and bathroom caddie from his dorm closet and left the room. When he got to the boys bathroom, he turned on the water to the shower, stripped down, and then stepped into the steamy mist.

He let the hot water scald his body. He tried to focus on the feeling of the heat, but he couldn't get it out of his head. He knew all too well what his father was going to sound like on the other end of the phone tomorrow. He was absolutely dreading it. He would tell him what a disappointment he was to him and how he was ashamed of him with the grades he had. He'd even told him once that he wished he had a daughter instead because maybe she would make him proud.

Ulrich turned the shower off when he realized the water was getting cold. The hot water tanks in the boys bathroom weren't exactly stellar. If you didn't use your time wisely, you'd end up with an icy cold shower. He stepped out of the shower, toweled himself off and then got dressed in a white tank top and pair of night shorts. He put on his robe and headed back to his dorm room.

When he returned, Odd had fallen asleep. He was face-down into the magazine and he was snoring. Ulrich shook his head and quietly closed the door. He hadn't meant to jump down his friend's throat like that. But when it came to his father, Ulrich had trouble controlling his emotions.

He put his shower caddie back in his closet and hung up his robe. His eyes caught a glimpse of the picture of Yumi he kept taped to the inside of the door to his closet. Her and Ulrich were smiling in the picture, Yumi's arm around Ulirch's shoulders. He smiled at the memory, feeling a little of his anger dissipating.

Yumi always seemed to cheer him up. They'd been good friends for years now, but he often wondered if they'd ever be more than just friends. He wanted that for sure. But he was afraid that if he told her how he really felt then things might go wrong. One of these days he might take the chance and tell her. Just not right now.

Ulrich closed the closet door. He pulled the comforter and sheets back from his bed and lay down. He stared up at the ceiling. His thoughts were battling inside of him. Half of his thoughts were of Yumi, but the other half were of his father taunting him about his grades. Ulrich tried to focus as much as he could on Yumi. After what seemed like eternity, he finally managed to fall asleep.

The next morning, Ulrich awoke to the beat from Odd's headphones. He was laying on his bed, reading the same magazine in the same position he was last night and was bobbing his head to the beat. When Ulrich stood up from his bed, Odd put his headphones down around his neck and looked up at him. Ulrich had a doleful expression on his face.

"Morning sleepy-head."

"Hey, Odd," Ulrich started, but Odd raised a hand to stop him.

"Don't sweat it," he said. He knew Ulrich well and figured it had something to do with either his father or Yumi.

Ulrich smiled. That's one of the reasons why Odd was his best friend. He seemed to understand exactly what he was about to say exactly when he was about to say it.

Odd broke the silence then. "Get dressed and let's go get breakfast together." He closed his magazine and stood up.

"I dunno. I'm not really hungry," Ulrich stated. The knot in his stomach was progressively getting worse, and he didn't know if he could stomach anything.

"Well, then just come and don't eat. Just sit with us," Odd insisted.

"Okay, fine." Ulrich got dressed, grabbed his school bag, and they headed for the cafeteria.

Once there, Aelita and Jeremy were sitting at one of the tables near the window. Odd headed for the cafeteria line, while Ulrich wandered over to the table. He took a seat next to Aelita. The smell of her oatmeal wafted into his nostrils, making his stomach do flip-flops. He wrinkled his nose.

"Hi, Ulrich," Aelita greeted him, taking a sip of her steaming cup of tea. She could tell something was off with him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you don't look so good," Jeremy added, concern evident in his face.

"I'm okay. My stomach just isn't feeling too good today." It was the truth, but not the whole truth. Ulrich never felt like he could talk about his father with Jeremy or Aelita. They were high achievers in school and, to be honest, he felt intimidated by them because of that. Which was really dumb, he knew. They were his friends, but he couldn't help it. He was afraid they would judge him like his father did.

"Why don't you get some tea? It might help calm your stomach. I know whenever I'm not feeling good hot tea with honey always seems to help," Aelita suggested with an empathetic smile. "I'll even go and get it for you."

Ulrich managed a small smile. "That's really nice of you, Aelita. I appreciate it, but I can go and get it." Maybe the tea might help. He stood up and headed for the cafeteria line.

When he returned with his cup of tea, Odd had joined his group of friends and was stuffing his face with french toast, a banana, applesauce, scrambled eggs and bacon, and milk to top it off. Again, he couldn't believe how much he was able to eat. None of his friends could, but they were used to it by now.

"Are you guys ready for the quiz in math today?" Jeremy questioned inquisitively as Ulrich had just taken a sip of his tea. He nearly choked on it. The knot in Ulrich's stomach tightened.

There was a mix of yes's and no's from the three of them. Wasn't it just like Jeremy to bring something like that up at a time like this? Though, he didn't blame him. Jeremy didn't really know what was going on.

"No way, Einstein. You know studying isn't for me," Odd mused with a mouthful of banana. "And I'm sure I'm gonna be called to Mr. Barbeau's office because of it." He just shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine though."

They continued to chat about this and that. Everyone had something to add to the conversation. But Ulrich was quiet the whole time. He just gazed out the window trying not to think about quizzes or grades or his father, until it was time to head to their first period classes.

It was a long day. Ulrich was sure he had failed the math quiz and the knot in his stomach seemed to tighten with every minute that passed. He tried to eat some lunch, hoping that might calm his raging stomach down some. But all he had managed to eat was the crust off of his grilled cheese sandwich. He had given the rest of his meal to Odd, who graciously thanked him.

Now, it was time for dinner. But Ulrich couldn't bring himself to head to the cafeteria. Instead, he headed to his room to lie down. He must have fallen asleep because the ringing of his cell phone jolted him awake. He stood up immediately and looked at his phone. It was his father.

Ulrich paced back and forth in his room. A cold sweat broke out over his body and his hand began to shake as he clicked the phone on.

"Hello?" he stammered.

"Hello, son." He could already tell from the tone of his father's voice that he was pissed. His voice was low and agitated. "Well, I'll just cut to the chase. I had a chat with the principal-Mr. Barbeau, was it?-and he told me that based on the rule change that you are now on academic probation."

Ulrich's heart sank, even though he had known this was coming. He had known it in his gut.

"So what now?" Ulrich stared at his black tennis shoes.

"I'm sure you already know how disappointed I am. All your mother and I do is spend money when it comes to you! I swear, there's no fixing you." His voice had risen and taken on a bitter tone. "You have an appointment with the principal tomorrow. I'll text you the details. But you better damn well make sure you go!"

"Dad-"

"Shut up! I'm still talking!" He was shouting in Ulrich's ear now. "You're a pathetic excuse for a son! When I was your age I worked very hard and got excellent grades."

Ulrich felt his eyes begin to sting with tears and he clenched his free hand tightly into a fist. He was very happy his father couldn't see him tear up. He couldn't imagine what he'd think of a sixteen year old boy crying, much less his own son.

Ulrich couldn't bring himself to say anything. His father kept ranting about how he was a good-for-nothing son with no future. Tears fell down his cheeks.

"Now, tell me you're going to that meeting," his father cautioned in a menacing voice.

"Y-Yes, I will," Ulrich mumbled, clenching his fist even tighter.

"I'll check back with the principal to make sure you went."

Ulrich heard the line click and then it went dead. He dropped his phone on the floor, walked over to his bed and collapsed on top of it. He wiped the tears from his cheeks, curled up into a ball and willed himself to retreat into a restless slumber.