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Yumi arrived early the next morning for practice. Her mother was already out grocery shopping and her dad offered her a ride on his way to work. Not feeling like walking, Yumi left early to catch the ride with her father.
She waved to him from the school entrance and he drove off down the street. Checking the time on her cell phone, she decided that she wasn't too early and went straight to the auditorium to set up the instruments, amps, and microphones. What she didn't expect to see, though, was Nicholas already on stage setting up his drum set. Yumi waited at the door to see if he had noticed her, not wanting to startle him, but saw that he hadn't and continued walking in.
"Good morning, Nicholas," she called to him.
Nicholas jumped in placed and knocked one of his symbols down with a loud crash. "Oh! Yumi…uh…!"
Yumi cringed at the loud noise after the symbol fell, but hopped on to the stage and walked over to it, stooping down to retrieve it and setting it back up.
"Oh, um…thanks." Nicholas mumbled shyly, already beginning to turn red.
"Don't worry about it," replied Yumi. "So why are you here so early?"
"I, uh, wasn't that hungry for breakfast," Nicholas managed to get the words out. "I didn't just want to sit there not doing anything." He looked up and saw Yumi's sweet smile again. "Uh…so why are you here early?"
"I didn't really feel like walking so my dad gave me a ride up here." She moved over to the edge of the stage and sat down, hanging her feet over the end. "He works early on the weekends, so this is the only time he would've been able to drop me off." She noticed how timid Nicholas was acting and wondered if he was feeling well, since his face was so flushed. She moved her hand back to the floor to prop herself up, but nudged a stack of books in her path, letting out a sharp "Oh!" as she realized their presence.
"Here, I'll get those out of your way." Nicholas offered as he rushed over to the stack, picking them up and holding them as he sat down next to her on the ledge. "I'm sorry for leaving them in your way."
"It's okay," Yumi replied with a small smile. "I should have looked before I sat down." She glanced back at the book on top of the pile. They all seemed to be his thick school books. "Chemistry?" she asked after reading the title to herself.
"Huh?" Nicholas's vision shot back to her, his face hot from the embarrassment of not knowing what she meant.
Yumi held in a laugh. "Is that your Chemistry book?" she asked again.
"Oh…yeah." answered Nicholas as he looked down at the textbook.
"You have Mrs. Hertz, right?" Yumi inquired. "With Jeremie, Odd, and Ulrich?"
"Yeah…and with Sissi and Herb, too."
Yumi noticed his seemingly downtrodden look at the mention of the two as he fumbled with the worn binding of his book. "I remember Chemistry with Mrs. Hertz last year."
"You do?" Nicholas asked, looking back to her again. Then another waved of embarrassment passed over him as he realized that her Chemistry class would have been during that recent past school year and actually wasn't that long ago.
"You bet," Yumi replied with a nostalgic smile as she leaned back on her hands again. "My class loved to torture her."
"Really?" asked Nicholas, his curiosity gaining some capacity over his shyness. "What'd you guys do?"
"Oh, everything!" replied Yumi. "Chalk in the erasers, switching seats before she learned our names, hiding her lesson plans if we could get a hold of them. I remember one time while we were taking a test, she walked out of the room to tell another teacher something and we all got up and hid in the empty classroom across the hall!"
Nicholas gaped at her story, his eyes growing wide as she retold the event. "Wow, you guys actually did that to her? Did she find you?"
"Yes, she found us. We couldn't keep from laughing," Yumi answered, snickering from the memory of her and the rest of her class crouching down under desks and behind cabinets in the empty classroom, all squirming with their contained laughter.
"What'd she do?"
"First, she was as red as a tomato when she saw us, then she collected our tests without letting us finish, refusing to curve them, and after that she lectured us for the rest of the period," said Yumi. "And to this day, I have never seen her that mad."
Nicholas grinned at her story and opened his mouth to comment, but the ring tone of a cell phone went off and he stopped. Yumi reached over to her book bag, having dropped it on the stage before she picked up Nicholas' symbol, and pulled out her phone, answering it to receive a dead line. She grumbled, "Didn't get that one in time."
"It's okay, they'll call back if it's important," Nicholas reassured her.
But the thought of her friends being in trouble suddenly crept into her mind as Yumi wondered why they were taking so long to show up. 'They should be done with breakfast by now,' she thought. 'Even Odd doesn't usually take this long.' She had to force a smile in return for him.
"I wonder what's taking the other's so long." Nicholas said, seeming to be sharing her thoughts, minus the worries of a world destruction-bent X.A.N.A. attack.
Yumi could feel that she was beginning to perspire and her breathing quickened as her mind raced, trying to come up with a way to dismiss herself from the conversation and find her friends. Her cell phone ran again, this time vibrating along with the tone as she cradled it in the palm of her hand, signaling that she had received a text message. She immediately checked it.
Yumi-
Jim patrol. G2G
hide Kiwi.
C u l8r.
3 Ulrich
Yumi didn't know if she felt more relived or surprised; relived to know that her friends were just delayed and not attacked, and surprised at the affection Ulrich seemed to show by the little heart at the end of the message. 'What does he mean by that?' she wondered.
"Who's it from?" Nicholas asked as he watched her read the message, her eyes fixed on the screen.
"Oh," she looked up to him, remembering his presence. "It's from Ulrich. He and Odd have to go hide-" Yumi stopped herself. "They have to stop back at their room. I don't think they're going to make it here today."
"And no Jim, either?"
"No, Odd likes to either schedule practice during days when he has classes or watch duty, or just doesn't tell him." Yumi replied with a shrug as she put her cell phone back in her bag. "Something about having a teacher in the band reminding him too much of school and crushing his inspiration."
"Oh…" said Nicholas.
A silence fell between the two after they ran out of things to say while Yumi's breathing returned to normal. "Hey," the Japanese girl suddenly grinned. "Would you want to go do something?"
Excitement washed over Nicholas after hearing her invite, but then he was immediately filled with terror. Turning red again, he began mumbling. "Oh, uh…well…"
"I came all the way up here on a Saturday, and my mom doesn't expect me home for a while, so let's go," she explained. "The arcade should be open by now."
"Well…uh…what about the others…Odd and Ulrich," Nicholas managed to say as he gazed at his book again to hide his red features.
Yumi smiled, "It's okay, I'll let them know not to come." She gathered herself and stood up, swinging her bag over her shoulder. She noticed Nicholas was almost quivering. "Nicholas?"
The blonde boy was distraught. 'Should I go? I want to spend time with her but…What about Ulrich? What will he do if he sees us? And Odd and Jeremie, too…she's their friend…' he could feel himself gasp in his thoughts. 'Sissi! Oh, no…what'll she do to me if she sees us? What would she say…?'
"Hey, Nicholas," Yumi called to him.
His attention snapping back to her again, he blurted, "Okay."
The raven-haired girl smiled. "All right then, let's get going."
Nicholas jumped up and hurried to his book bag, stuffing his books in and leaving it aside as he packed away his drums with ease and speed, not wanting to break anything or keep Yumi waiting. He grabbed his bag again and followed her off the stage and through the auditorium.
"It's not that far of a walk from here," Yumi said as she pushed the door open and held it for him.
"Oh, thanks," he said, scrambling to catch it and swearing to himself that he would hold it for her the next time.
Yumi pulled out her cell phone again and started to write a text message as she retraced her steps across the school grounds like she did every school day, with Nicholas following behind her, his head darting back and forth as he looked around for anyone who might have seen them. "Oh, I'm sorry," Yumi said and stopped to look back to Nicholas, holding her phone out to him as she felt she was being rude, "Would you like to call Sissi or Herb?"
Nicholas knew that he was staring at her, but on the inside he was still fighting with himself. He wanted to be with her so bad, but he knew Sissi would kill him if she knew what he was doing. His heart won over his thoughts as he responded, "No, it's okay. Thanks."
Yumi just shrugged and continued on her way and with her message.
Ulrich-
Have fun.
C u 6.
Yumi.
Loving shorthand but still mixed about Ulrich's new signature, she decided to add one more line and send the message.
3
Nicholas beamed as he followed Yumi through the school's entrance gate and out on to the sidewalks. The more he contemplated his decision, the more sure he became out it, and the adrenaline of the risk rushed through him the entire time. Gathering up his courage, he moved up next to her. The Japanese girl smiled at him and they continued walking along, together.
Here it is, the second chapter, and still I have no idea what the school schedule is for French students on the weekends. I guess this will just have a little bit of an American feel to it. Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews! You guys rock! ;D And for everyone who is wondering, yes this is an UxY, don't worry! I'm sorry for the delay on this chapter, but I promise more soon. I can't wait to keep writing, so you can expect more very soon! :D Thank you again and, as always, please review! : )