Hey everyone. Thanks for reviewing. Oh, and for those who're wondering, yes, my mom did enjoy her b-day... Well, I know I can be cruel sometimes when it comes to cliffhangers (my friends and my teachers pointed that out to me), so sorry. You're just going to have to get accustomed to it. And, when I said I was going to change it...I didn't mean I was going to change the pairing...really. Well...on with the chapter, I guess.

Chapter Seven

"Od!!" Orrick cried in alarm, before rushing to his friend's side. He tenderly held the blonde's head up from the hard ground. "Od! Wake up! What's going on?! Od!" He gently shook the blonde's shoulders, in an attempt to awaken him. His efforts were futile. Orrick ignored the confused murmurs around him, laid the blonde's head in his lap, and called Jeremy.

"Orrick? Did you find Od?" asked the blonde genius.

"Yeah, I did," answered Orrick, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Orrick...? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"...You could say that..." Orrick glanced down at the blonde in his lap, as a sickening feeling churned in his stomach and painfully grasped his heart. "...Od..."

"Od? What's wrong with him?" asked Jeremy. "Tell me!" Orrick winced slightly at the loud yelling.

"He's unconscious," he answered. "I'm not sure why, or how...but he just is, and he won't wake. You guys gotta hurry up in Lyoko. Things are getting weird around here!"

"We're working as fast as we can," Jeremy answered. "You're just going to have to be patient."

"'Patient'?!" asked the brunette, immediately losing his cool. "How can I be 'patient' if my best friend's lying, unconscious might I add, on my lap, when I have no idea why or how, and I'm helpless to do anything about it?!"

"Orrick, calm down," ordered the other boy. "Yelling isn't going to do anything, and it's certainly not going to help Od's condition." Orrick scowled.

"I'll call you back, Jeremy," he said, biting back an angry growl.

"Huh? Wait! Orr—" He hung up his cell phone, turned it off, and pocketed it before the blonde could finish. His expression softened as he looked at his friend's sleeping face, and shook his head.

"What's going on with me lately?" He shook his head, before carefully dragging the unconscious blonde over to the bleachers. The girl that screamed followed him, and helped him as much as she could. They reached the bleachers; they picked him up, and gently laid him down on one. Orrick sat down, and then laid the blonde's head in his lap again. "Thanks."

"Y...your welcome," the girl answered, blushing slightly. Orrick noticed she had a thick British accent, and he looked at her.

"Who're you?" he asked. "I don't think I've seen you around school...are you new here?"

"M...my name is...Vanessa," she answered, looking down at her feet to hide her flush. "And...yes, I am new here." Orrick smiled kindly at her.

"I'm—"

"I know who you are, Orrick," she said, flushing an even darker red. "I have known for some time..." Orrick grew suspicious of the girl, and shifted slightly in his seat. She looked down at the sleeping blonde. "And he is Od...am I right?"

"...Yes..." Orrick raised an eyebrow at her sudden directness, and an uneasy feeling settled in his guts. Vanessa at him right in the eyes, and Orrick flinched slightly as the intense green eyes focused on him.

"...Look," she said, "I am not supposed to tell you this...but..." Another earthquake came, and toppled everyone off his or her feet. Orrick was glad he was sitting, and not standing, though he almost lost his balance.

"What's going on?!" he asked out loud as the tremors subsided. "Where are all these earthquakes coming from?!"

"That is what I have been trying to tell you!" Vanessa said in frustration, and Orrick noticed that she hadn't lost her balance at all. "Xana—"

"Xana?" Orrick interrupted, narrowing his eyes. "How do you know about Xana?" Vanessa covered her mouth as if she had said something horrifying, but then recovered. "Tell me! How do you know about him?!" She stood up, her bangs obscuring her eyes from view, walked over to stand in front of him, before lifting her face so she can look him in the eye.

"Because..."

"Because what?!" asked the brunette boy, leaning back slightly in his seat. She glared at him, her green eyes suddenly turning cold, all blushes gone, and clenched her fists.

"Because he's my—"

Well, that's all for now, everybody. (smiles evilly) I told you guys that you would have to get used to my cruelty and cliffhangers. Anyway, later!