Chapter 7 - The Other Team

Starry ran down the street to her neighborhood, still pulling Jeremie along behind her. Finally she reached someone's house. Politely, she rang the doorbell. Almost in an instant, the door opened. There stood a tall boy with bright red hair and brown eyes. 'I never thought about the fact that Starry could have a boyfriend from her neighborhood. After all, she only transferred schools, she didn't move too. Aww, shoot! How could I have been so stupid to think she liked me? This is probably her boyfriend. Oh well. Might as well face facts.'

"Hello," the boy said cautiously. He glanced at Jeremie, and gave him a look that could kill. Jeremie gulped down his fear and managed to mumble a quiet "hi".

"Hey George," Starry said brightly, as if nothing was going on. "Jeremie, this is George. George, this is Jeremie." She looked from Jeremie to George, as if expecting to shake hands or something. George gave her a look that said "you've got to be kidding".

"And this is my girlfriend," George spat at Jeremie.

"Pfft, you've got to be kidding!" Starry exclaimed. "After that last fight I broke up with you, remember?"

"No, I don't, actually," George said, now glaring at her. "When was this?"

"Just last week. We had that awful fight, all of us. You, Melissa, Chrissi, and I. That's why I wanted to transfer schools. You guys were the only friends I had. Once I lost all of you, no one would even talk to me anymore. That's why I was eager to leave." She told the story of how the fight had occurred, obviously not really wanting to bring it up once again, but she wanted to make sure that George hadn't totally forgotten.

"Wait, if you had such a horrible fight, how are you going to get your friends to help you out if they won't even talk to you anymore?" Jeremie asked, looking directly at Starry.

"Well, after the fight and my transfer, Melissa and Chrissi regretted all that they'd done, and apologized. George never did even notice that I was gone. I don't even know why I came to his house, actually. Let's go get Chrissi, Melissa, and Jake, and forget about him." With that she closed the door on George and walked off, pulling Jeremie behind her once again. Now that he was more willing to walk with her, she relaxed her grip slightly and let him walk next to her. She walked down the street a way, then stopped at another house.

She knocked on the door three times, then it opened. A girl with shoulder-length blond hair greeted them. The girl glanced at Starry first, then at Jeremie, and noticed that she was holding onto his wrist. "Hi," she said, still glancing at Starry holding onto him, almost protectively. "What's up, Starry?"

"Just had a run-in with George," she said. "But that's not all. There's a problem. You know that world next to Ekahj that we found?"

"Uh-huh?" the girl nodded.

"Well, it seems that there's another team going to it, trying to save a virtual girl there. Her name's Aelita, and the world is called Lyoko. It's owned by another of evil, XANA. He's having a last-stand upon it today, so I'm trying to help them out. Oh, and this is Jeremie," she added, motioning to him and giving his arm a slight tug, never letting go of his wrist, "He runs the super-computer that works the scanners to Lyoko."

"Let me guess," the girl wondered. "You're in love with this Aelita girl, just like Starry is with Ja-"

"Shhhhh!" Starry shushed her. "I was never in love with him, and I don't even like him anymore! Besides, Jeremie isn't in love with her, his friend is. He's a strange boy named Odd. He has pointed blond hair with a purple splotch right in the middle."

"Wow," the girl sighed dreamily. "Sounds like quiet a hottie. Maybe if he ever falls out of love with that Aelita girl, he can come on over here!"

"I'll be sure and inform him of this, Chrissi," Starry chuckled. Chrissi grinned slightly.

"So, you want me to help you out to save this Aelita girl from XANA and get her outta Lyoko?"

"Basically, yes," Starry said.

"Hey, maybe if it works, we could try and materialize Jake too. Melissa's had a thing for him for quite a while now," Chrissi stated.

"Ohh, I see. I'll have to speak with her about this," Starry chuckled. "Let's go get her." Chrissi nodded and stepped out the door, closing it behind her. The three of them continued to walk down the street. Starry still held on tightly to Jeremie's wrist. A hint of red was still visible on his cheeks. He was wondering about all this. 'Ha, another girl that thinks Odd's hot - and she's never even seen him! Wow...then look at me, such a geek. Starry'll never like me. For all I know, she's still got a thing for this Jake guy. Or maybe she still has hidden feelings for that jerk, George. Who knows! All I know is that she'll never, in a million years, like a geek like me. Sure, she's almost holding my hand, but that's only cuz I don't this neighborhood well enough. Oh my gosh, she's almost holding my hand!' His cheeks became redder. Chrissi noticed this and giggled. "What's so funny?" Starry asked.

"Just a sec, boy," Chrissi said to Jeremie.

"His name's Jeremie," Starry noted.

"Ok then, just a sec, Jeremie," Chrissi said again, pulling Starry from him and over to the side. She whispered in her ear, "You were right, Jeremie's not in love with Aelita. He's totally got a thing for you!"

"You really think so?" Starry whispered back.

"Totally! You didn't see him blushing?"

"No...I don't really think he likes me. He's just never been that close to a girl before, mostlikely. I mean, no offense to him or anything, but I don't think any girls at his school like him. You know, like-like him. Still, I don't think he likes me."

"Yes-huh girl, trust me on this one. I can tell."

"Let's just keep going," Starry replied hurriedly, her cheeks reddening. She pulled Jeremie back over to the group and regained her hold on his wrist. She only hoped that Chrissi hadn't seen her blushing, or else she'd make a comment in from of Jeremie. Of course, she noticed, and stifled a giggle. Jeremie looked at her, puzzled. What was going on with those two? 'Girls,' he concluded. 'They've got a secret language or code or something. Wonder what that meant exactly...' He watched them. Starry responded to the giggle with one finger to her lips, shushing her. Chrissi just continued to laugh quietly.

Starry sighed to herself. 'There's no getting her to shut up. Well, now that she's concluded the obvious, might as well do the obvious because she knows the obvious is obviously true...' She casually slipped her hand down to hold Jeremie's hand. Then she continued walking on as if nothing had happened. Finally they reached Melissa's house. Starry knocked on the door twice with her free hand. Soon the door opened. Melissa answered the door. She was a girl of average height, and she had long black hair and piercing sky blue eyes. "What's up, girl?" Chrissi greeted her.

"Nothing, really. What's up with you two?" Melissa replied. She glanced at Starry, who was holding a strange boy's hand. 'So she's over Jake. Score! He's totally mine. No question.' Melissa looked at Starry questioningly, as if asking "who's the new guy?".

"Long story short, you know that other virtual world?" Starry started.

"Yeah?" Melissa prompted.

"Well, it's called Lyoko. The virtual inhabitant's name is Aelita. She's in danger because Lyoko's evil overlord, XANA, is having a final stand against the Lyoko team because they were planning to materialize Aelita today. This is the guy that runs the super-computer connected with Lyoko's scanners, Jeremie," at that she squeezed his hand slightly, and he gave Melissa a small wave, "I was thinking that maybe you, me, Chrissi, and Jake could somehow help out? What do you say?"

"Sure! Let's get our cards and head over to your house. Wait, shouldn't Jeremie have stayed at the Lyoko super-computer?" Melissa pointed-out.

"I'll get back there soon. Let me just see the cards that you were talking about. I'm intrigued," Jeremie stated in one breath.

"All-righty then," Melissa said. She hurriedly left the door, picked up something in her living room, then came back. In her hand she held a plastic card case. Inside were, what Jeremie estimated to be, about 50 cards. "Let's go." Melissa shut the door behind her and followed them all to Starry's house.