Hey people, I'm back. If you're all curious about why it took me so long to update this fic, then continue to read this. If not, just skip ahead to the actual fic. And I say this before hand: please excuse my language if you are incredibly sensitive.
My younger sister broke my comp, so now I can't even write on it anymore. Not only that, my mom's work moved to a temporary spot in the mall (where she works) and they didn't want to fucking set up the work comp and then unplug it again to move to their permanent spot, so I couldn't get on. Then the manager's cousin took the comp to his own shop and set it up, but they only had one fucking phone line so the comp couldn't access the internet without blocking the store's phone calls. So I had to wait eight fucking long weeks until we moved again. Finally, I was able to access the internet, but then my younger-fucking-sister broke the phone jack clear from the fucking wall! So I had to wait until they bought a new one, fix the phone jack, and replug the internet. And then, after all that, I get writer's-shitting-block! So if this chap isn't as good as the other ones, now you know why.
Enjoy
Chapter Eighteen
The silence within the room came to the point of suffocating. Yumi and Jeremy stared, wide-eyed, at the soccer star, their bodies tense and aprehensive. Orrick glanced curiously at his two friends before he settled his gaze upon the curled up blonde. Odd returned the other's gaze, shifting uncomfortably on the bed; Orrick, noticing this, relinquished his stare and turned it onto Jeremy instead.
"Orrick...stop joking," said Yumi, her voice unsteady as she broke the silence. Jeremy visibly relaxed when the suffocating air dispersed, and let out a small sigh. Orrick turned to the Japanese girl in alarm. "That's Odd, your roommate...your best friend...!" Orrick's brow furrowed, and he turned back to Odd again, scrutinizing him. Odd pulled his legs tighter to his chest, and burried his face deeper into his arms to escape the observation.
"But...I don't remember having a roommate...or a best friend," Orrick said finally, turning back to Yumi, noting with slight interest that the curled up blonde relaxed somewhat. "In fact, I don't remember ever meeting him in the first place."
"The virus..." Everyone's attention was on the blonde genius, and Jeremy stared at Orrick sadly, much to the brunette's confusion. "The virus," he said again, but louder this time. "It erased Odd from your memory..."
"Virus?" asked Orrick, alarm rising in his voice. "What virus?"
"Xana..." Yumi clenched her fist, a deep, angry frown on her pretty face. She turned to Odd, and said fiercly, "Don't worry, Odd. We'll get Orrick to remember you, and cure you as well. We'll defeat him this time...and make sure he never comes back." Odd, despite himself, felt a small, appreciative smile cross his face, and he pulled himself off the bed, though he inched away from the room's other occupants.
"That's alright," he said softly, and Yumi stared at him, hurt on her face. "I'm fine, really. It's ok that Orrick doesn't remember me..." 'I'm rather relieved, actually...' he added silently to himself as he tried not to look at said teen. Even though he was uncomfortable around everyone, he felt the most anxious around the soccer player, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't figure out why, much to his chagrine. Now that the brunette didn't remember him, he could successfully avoid him now. At this thought, he felt kind of sad, and he frowned in confusion. "I...I'm going to go to the cafeteria to see if they have any leftovers from lunch..."
And before his friends could say anything, he left, closing the door soundly behind him.
Jeremy and Yumi shared looks. 'This is going to be easier said then done...' Yumi nodded in agreement, and Orrick glanced at each of them in confusion.
Once the door was closed, Odd leaned against the hard wood as he let out a relieved sigh. His body completely relaxed, a state it hasn't been in since he awoke from the virus, and he finally could feel the effect the taughtness of his muscles had on his body; in short, he ached allover, even in places he didn't even knew he had. He groaned softly, and rubbed his shoulder. He winced slightly as his muscles protested to this act, but kept going until they weren't as sore as before.
Odd glanced back at the door behind him, frowned slightly as his heart weighed heavily in his chest, and immediately left. Once he was at a respectible distance, the anxiousness lifted from his mind and he thought of it no more.
"Are you sure you don't remember him at all?" asked Yumi, desperation slipping into her tone.
Orrick frowned in slight annoyance as he sat down at their usual lunch table; they had been asking him the same questions over and over again all morning, and he was getting fed up with it. What's so special about that blonde guy? he thought irritably.
"Nothing," he replied, managing to keep the venom from his voice. "I'm telling you, I've never seen that guy in my life, let alone met him."
"Surely there must be something!" insisted Jeremy, starting to get frustrated. 'If we ever find you, Xana, you're going to pay for this...' he thought vehemently. As if reading his thoughts, Yumi turned to him with wide eyes and a deep frown, as if agreeing with him. Orrick's frown deepened.
"None."
"Orrick, sweety, you'll get premature wrinkles if you keep frowning like that," said a silking voice from behind the soccer player. Jeremy and Yumi stared levely at the black-haired girl before them, and Orrick turned around and stared impassively at her, though his frown was tugging at the edge of his mouth.
"What do you want, Sissy?" Sissy flipped her hair, and Herb smiled idiotically. She ignored him.
"I want to know who would make my sweety-poo frown like that." She glanced about the table, stopping only to leer disdainfully at Yumi, before her gaze landed on Orrick once again. "Where's Odd-ball? Normally you couldn't take a step around here without seeing him stuff his face with desserts."
As if out of instinct, Orrick's eyes narrowed and his frown dipped low, surprising not only himself but his friends, also. Yumi smiled slightly, hopefully, and Jeremy seemed to perk up slightly.
"What's wrong, Orrick, honey?" asked Sissy, slightly surprised at the brunette's reaction; there was a rumor going around that Odd and Orrick had gone their separate ways. "Surely, you're not upset by what I said about Odd-ball? I heard you two weren't even talking to each other anymore!" Sissy proceeded to seat herself on Orrick's lap, causing Herb to stare enviously. Orrick, despite himself, growled deeply in his thraot as she wound her arms loosely around his neck, and promptly stood up, knocking her onto the ground. "Ow!" she squealed very unladylike. Some students that had saw this chuckled.
"Don't you dare talk about Odd like that!" growled Orrick, clenching his fist as he tried to decipher exactly what it was that he was feeling. "He's my best friend, and I won't tolerate you bath-mouthing him!" Sissy stared up at him, wide-eyed and confused. "And guess what? I'd rather go out with Odd then date a whore like you!" Everyone around them gasped, and Sissy stared up at her crush with angry tears. Finally, she stood up and promptly stomped out of the cafeteria, Herb following closely behind, a curious expression on his face; it was as if he couldn't decide whether to boil with anger or jump for joy.
What Orrick had said about Sissy wasn't far from the truth. She had draped herself over boys, let them have their way with her, as well as go into their dormrooms after lights out. It wasn't much of a secret, but nobody had ever mentioned it outloud, and Orrick, being the only boy in school that she hadn't seduce, became her new target. Unfortunately for her, she had been chasing him for three years, and never succeeded.
Orrick turned back around, and sat down, ignoring the stares Yumi and Jeremy were giving him. Finally, once he had had enough, he looked up, and irritably barked, "What!"
"So you do remember him!" cried Yumi, leaning forward in her seat.
"For the last time, I never met the guy!" Jeremy frowned.
"Then why--"
"I only said that because that was what you guys said we were; best friends," interrupted Orrick, stabbing at the Mystery Meatloaf. "Isn't that what best friends do?"
"But you can't be his best friend if you claim to have never met!" said the blonde, confused for the first time in his life. Orrick paused in his murder of the poor meat, and looked up, a slight frown on his face.
"Well...we could always start from the beginning," he said slowly. "I've been searching through my memories, and there are a few patchy places that don't seem to fit together... If we were as close as you guys say we were, then we should have no problems being best friends again, right?" Yumi and Jeremy glanced at each other. "Besides, it seemed as if Odd recognized me. So I guess I really did know him..."
"Orrick, there's something we need to--" Orrick quickly stood up from his seat, and picked up his tray.
"I don't wanna hear it," he said, already fed up with his friends' prodding. "I'll see you later at the dance." And with that, he quickly walked away from the table, disposed of his trash, set down his tray, and left the cafeteria.
"Oh man, this is terrible!" wailed Yumi, something she rarely did, and placed her face in her hands. "Odd's not going to let Orrick befriend him in his condition! They might end up as enemies rather then best friends!" Jeremy shook his head.
"We probably shouldn't have bothered Orrick so much," he said. "He's so annoyed with us that he won't listen to a word we say."
"This sucks..."
"Yeah..." Jeremy sighed, wiped his glasses, and placed them on his nose again. "The only thing we can do now is get rid of that punch." Without thinking, Yumi nodded, staring into space.
Finally, she said, quietly, "Hey...Jeremy..."
"Yeah?"
"...If the virus makes one of our worst fears come true...what is Orrick's worst fear?" asked the Japanese girl. Jeremy turned to her curiously.
"...Yes..." he replied, not exactly sure where this is going.
"Then why is it that Odd is the only one that is erased from Orrick's memory?" she continued. "What is Orrick's fear? How is Odd involved...?" Jeremy rubbed his chin, trying to figure out an answer to the enigma.
"I'm not sure..." Jeremy replied, and looked up. "But I'm going to find out."
Orrick scanned the field for a certain blonde head with a purple burst in the center. He finally found him, and jogged to reach him. When he was withing arm's length, Orrick tapped the boy on the shoulder, scaring the latter out of his wits.
"Hey! You're Odd, right?"
Odd turned to look at the soccer star, and felt his chest tighten slightly. He scooted away from the other's touch, and Orrick couldn't help but think he looked adorable. 'Where did that come from?' he thought in surprise, but immediately brushed it off, not wanting to open any unwanted cans of worms.
"Y-yeah," replied Odd, rubbing his arm uncomfortably, causing Orrick to think he was even cuter without realizing it.
"Yumi and Jeremy kept pestering me, saying that I definately knew you and that we were best friends, so I'm here to test our chemistry." Odd blinked in surprise, and Orrick backtracked. The latter flushed lightly, and shook his head. "N-no, that's not what I meant to say. I meant--well...um--that is--oh! You know what I mean!" he said finally in frustration, his blush darkening slightly as Odd chuckled at his expense.
Orrick smiled slightly as Odd laughed, relaxing somewhat. 'This seems kind of...familiar,' he thought, rubbing his temple as it began to throb slightly.
They sat down on the bleachers, Odd keeping a comfortable distance (which didn't go unnoticed by Orrick), and began to talk hesitantly about themselves. Yumi just happened to pass by, and noticed their progress with some satisfaction. She hurried to Jeremy's dorm to inform him about it. Sissy, on the other hand, just watched them angrily.
Odd glanced away, and Orrick smiled slightly. 'From what Yumi said, I thought he'd be more...outgoing,' he thought, tilting his head slightly. 'Either way...he's still adorable...'
"What?" Orrick crashed down to Earth, hard.
"Huh?" 'Oh no, did I say that outloud?' Orrick had known for a while that he was bi-sexual, but he'd never been in a situation like this before.
"Why are you staring at me?" asked Odd, pulling at his sleeves nervously.
"Oh, sorry. No reason," and he looked away. Odd eyed him suspiciously, not buying the answer, but allowed it nevertheless.
For the rest of the hour, they just sat there, not really talking but rather enjoying each other's company--or, as much as Odd could enjoy anyone's company at the moment. They didn't move again until it was fourty-eight minutes before the dance.
Orrick stood up and stretched out his sore muscles. He turned to the blonde, smiled, and held out his hand.
"Let's go, Odd." Odd stared at the hand for a moment, and Orrick waited patiently, noticing earlier that the blonde wasn't uncomfortable with people touching him. Finally, Odd hesitantly reached out and placed his hand in the other teen's. Orrick, slightly surprised that his hand was accepted, tightened his grip and pulled the blonde to his feet.
Once standing, Odd immediately pulled his hand from the other's grip, but Orrick only smiled softly.
"Um...let's go..." Odd averted his eyes, and briskly stepped off the bleachers, heading for their dormroom, Orrick following closely--or rather as close as he can be without Odd being uncomfortabl--behind.
There, there's the eighteenth chapter. Hope you enjoyed, and if you have any complaints--tough luck, but I'll read them anyway (if you review that is). See you next chapter.