Chapter 11: Clean Socks
Odd and Dawn stared at each other for a moment before Dawn let out a screech and quickly closed to bathroom door again. Amber rushed in afterwards.
"Odd, explain yourself!"
"I, um...I came to see how Dawn was."
"She's fine, but I think you might have startled her just now. She'll be released today, so go on back to class and don't worry. Besides, she needs to get dressed."
As Amber finished her rant, a blue-hair woman walked in. Amber whirled around to demand who it was, and left her mouth hanging open. The woman smiled, and ran up and hugged Amber.
"Shana! You're here!"
"Yeah, just got here actually. So did Monica and Josh."
"Josh? Why'd you bring him along?"
"Well, we kind of told him about Lyoko and X.A.N.A. and Aelita."
Amber suddenly went pale. Then she turned to Odd.
"Go back to class. We'll meet up later at the factory."
Odd nodded and slipped out the door. Shana's eyes followed him out the door, then turned back to regard her 'sister'.
"He knows about Lyoko?"
"Yeah." Amber retrieved the clothes she had brought for Dawn and knocked on the bathroom door. "Dawn, Odd's gone. Here are your clothes. And some clean socks."
"I don't want to wear socks! I want to wear booties."
"Remember our deal?"
"Okay, I'll wear the socks."
Shana looked amused. "Deal?"
"Yeah, I have to try to hook up with this guy named Jim who works here as well, and Dawn has to be my dolly for the morning."
Shana grinned. "Oooh, stuck between new crush and old boyfriend. This should be interesting."
"So, Dawn's leaving the infirmary today?"
"Yeah, and some woman that Amber called Shana is there too."
"Shana. That name seems familiar."
"Shana is our water 'sister'. She helped create Lyoko. I'll bet if she's here, so is Monica."
"Well, I guess we'll see this afternoon."
(IN THE CAFETERIA)"Look, there's Dawn!"
Dawn strode through the crowded cafeteria, seemingly unaware of the attention she was receiving. The whole school had witnessed the fight between her attacker and the police officer, and some had heard her name mentioned. News spread quickly at Kadic School. The boys, however, were looking for quite a different reason. Amber had dressed Dawn in a tight black leather skirt that went down to the knee, a soft silvery scoop-neck, off-the-shoulder top, black pantyhose, and simple black pleather shoes. She wore a silver chain around her neck and silver hoop earrings, and her hair was kept neatly out of the way in a bun on top. Odd rose and met her halfway.
"Hey, Dawn. I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to startle you."
"That's alright, Odd. I overreacted."
"Dawn, can I ask you something?"
"Depends on what it is."
"What happened to you?"
"Erm...Let's go sit down first."
Odd and Dawn walked back to the table, where Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita were watching them. Much to Dawn's disgust, Daemion and Anita weren't even trying to find a secluded spot to make out. She caught Daemion's eye and shot him a disgusted glare. He sheepishly ended the kiss, then went to find a more hidden spot to continue. Dawn then took a seat and Odd sat next to her.
"Dawn?"
"Aelita, what you said last night was true. You can't protect me forever, and I've found that I can't protect them from the truth forever, either."
"So what happened Dawn?"
Dawn smiled sadly. "I was raped."
END CHAPTER
Janette: Muahahaha, evil cliffie!
Sharina: Meanie!
Janette: Yeah. Sorry to everyone who reviewed! School's been a pain.
Sharina: And detention sucks.
Janette: Totally.