The next dew days passed on fairly quickly. I eventually did get another sketchbook, but I have not written in it yet. The teachers here pile homework assignment after homework assignment, so I really haven't had the chance to. Seriously, these teachers must think we have nothing better to do then the assignments they hand us. It's all nerve-racking.
I did see Ulrich and his gang once in a while here and there but I didn't have the nerve to talk to them again. Besides, they seem like they didn't need another person bothering them with Sissi around them all the time. Sissi would stay far away from me as possible, but kept giving me evil looks. I could have cared less, her nose was the size of a baseball! I have been talking to Yumi a bit, but only when the others were not around, so that was usually during Physics. During class, Odd would occasionally talk to me. We had a lot in common, especially in music. We liked the same bands, so we usually talk about that. Jeremie was into computers, so sometimes when there was time we would talk about different programs and stuff. I overheard Ulrich telling Yumi about soccer and how he was going to practice this afternoon. Maybe I will too. It would give me someone to practice with.
So the next day after classes, I laced up my sneakers, grabbed my ball, and walked to the soccer field. Sure enough, there was Ulrich, playing a game of one-on-one with Odd. Either Ulrich was pretty good or )Odd sucked. I sat and stretched. After loosening my muscles, I started dribbling the ball in a small circle (A/N: just to tell you right now, I know basically nothing about soccer. So if I get anything wrong, don't judge me!). I started bouncing the ball on my knee and once on my head. It felt good to play again. I did some quick footword with the ball, just to show off. I saw Odd looking at me, and I smiled to myself.
"Look out!" I heard someone cry from the bleachers. Before o had time to figure out who said it, another soccer ball whammed into my stomach, knocking me over and knocking the wind out of me. Looking over, I saw Odd on the ground laughing hysterically. Yeah, real funny… Ulrich came running over.
"Sorry I hit you. Odd couldn't stop a ball even if it was two feet in front of him, which by the way it was," said Ulrich. "Hey!" Odd yelled. I smiled. After catching my breath again and Ulrich helping me up, he said "do you want to play a game with me? You know, raise the competition? I saw you practicing and you are much better than Odd." By now, Odd had made his way over to where we were standing.
"Yeah, well, Mr. Big-Shot, I'm sure Jamie here could beat you! I will bet you five dollars that she does. Hey Jeremie! Keep score! Red and Ulrich are having a game of one-on-one!" Jeremie gave Odd a thumbs-up to show he understood. Yumi giggled. Well, this is gunna be fun…
Ulrich handed the ball to me. "Ladies first," he said and bowed. What a nobleman. I laughed and kicked the ball passed him. Odd and Jeremie were cheering from the sidelines. I got close to the goal when the ball was kicked out from under my feet. Ulrich had stolen the ball and was running towards the other end of the field. After dodging the ball back and forth, I saw that he was a bit weak on his left side. So while I was trying to grab the ball with my right foot, I took my left foot and stole the ball from him. Running down centerfield with the ball in my possession, I kicked the ball into the net and scored a goal.
"Yeah! That was awesome!" Yumi yelled. Odd was jumping up and down. "Yeah! Ulrich got beat by a girl!" Jeremie laughed. "The score is 1-0, Jamie in the lead!" Ulrich came up beside me. "Wow. That was a great move! I never even saw it coming. Let's keep playing." I agreed and let him have the first kick.
We played for about an hour before Odd was complaining he was hungry. The score was tied 3-3 when we decided to call it quits. Dinner was upon us (Odd must have a clock in his stomach to tell him the time for all meals) and I still needed a shower. I ran upstairs after saying goodbye to the group and grabbed my robe.
After a blissfully cold shower, I headed down to dinner. Grabbing my tray (speghetti and meatballs with vegetables) I started looking for a place to sit.
"Red! Hey Jamie! Over here!" Someone was calling my name. I should have known it would be Odd, he is the only one that calls me Red. "Saved you a seat! Come here!" He was now waving to me frantically. I cracked a smile.
"Hey guys. Thanks for letting me sit here. I don't know where I would have sat." Okay, that was lame… I set my tray down next to Yumi's. Jeremie was looking at my plate. "Uh Jamie? Are you going to eat those Brussels sprouts?" I said no and handed him my vegetables. He started to eat them quickly. Disgusting.
"You and Ulrich played a mean game this afternoon. You should try out for the school team," Yumi said. I swallowed my mouthful of food and shook my head. "Nah, I'm not good with playing team sports. I can't really have someone telling me to do something like that. And the way the coach yells at you if you get something wrong. I can't deal with stuff like that"
"But how did you learn all those killer moves without ever being on a team?" Odd said with his mouth full, spraying me with food. "Oops, sorry," he grinned sheepishly.
"My dad was a soccer coach for my school. He made me try out for the school team once and I hated it my first day. He let me quit a week later, but kept teaching me special plays and things like that." Everyone nodded like they were listening but I think Ulrich was the only one who really understood what I was talking about.
I looked outside. The sky was perfectly clear, not a cloud in sight for miles before dinner. Now it looked like a tornado was about to touch down any minute. The wind outside was blowing so forcefully outside that it make all the windows in the room shatter. Everyone screamed.
"Guys, we have to get to the factory! This is most likely XANA's doing!" Jeremie whispered to Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd. "Huh?" I asked confused. Before they could answer me, the whole building begun to shake. Oh great. "Who is Zana"
Odd looked straight into my eyes. "Jamie, stay here. Whatever you do, don't leave this building. We'll be back, don't worry." He put a hand on my shoulder. I nodded quickly and watched him and his friends leave me standing there alone as they ran outside into the storm.
By now, the wind was blowing really hard around me. Looking outside, I saw Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd run into the forest. Where are they going? I didn't have any time to think. Debris was flying through the shattered windows and kids were hysterical. Me, I was scared. But I didn't show it on my face. I just sat there at the table, shaking, just like Odd told me to do. I trusted him. I looked around. The lights started flickering then shut off completely. The wind was so forceful that students by the windows had to run away form the windows because bigger things like tree branches started coming into the building. The wind sounded like a freight train.
I started to cry. What is happening? Where is Odd? Why did he tell me to just sit here like nothing was wrong? I wish Alex was here…
For about twenty minutes of nonstop wind,flying tree branches and paper, we all thoguht the worst had happened. Then, without warning, parts of the ceiling began to collapse! The dining hall was on the bottom floor of the five-story building. As a piece of cement just missed me by a few feet, i screamed and dove under the table. I could hear more pieces hitting the top of my table, threatening to crush it. People seemed to follow my suit and dove under their own tables. Kids and faculty members were all hudled together. Some tables started to collapse. As i peeked my head up from under my table, i saw a huge block of the cement ceiling about to crash down in front of me. I screamed and covered my head, waiting for the moment it hit.
Everything seemed to stop. I could hear no sound at all. i opened my eyes and saw for a split second the piece of the ceileing that was about to squish me was stopped in mid-air. But soon after everything, including me, was engulfed in a bright white light.
I did see Ulrich and his gang once in a while here and there but I didn't have the nerve to talk to them again. Besides, they seem like they didn't need another person bothering them with Sissi around them all the time. Sissi would stay far away from me as possible, but kept giving me evil looks. I could have cared less, her nose was the size of a baseball! I have been talking to Yumi a bit, but only when the others were not around, so that was usually during Physics. During class, Odd would occasionally talk to me. We had a lot in common, especially in music. We liked the same bands, so we usually talk about that. Jeremie was into computers, so sometimes when there was time we would talk about different programs and stuff. I overheard Ulrich telling Yumi about soccer and how he was going to practice this afternoon. Maybe I will too. It would give me someone to practice with.
So the next day after classes, I laced up my sneakers, grabbed my ball, and walked to the soccer field. Sure enough, there was Ulrich, playing a game of one-on-one with Odd. Either Ulrich was pretty good or )Odd sucked. I sat and stretched. After loosening my muscles, I started dribbling the ball in a small circle (A/N: just to tell you right now, I know basically nothing about soccer. So if I get anything wrong, don't judge me!). I started bouncing the ball on my knee and once on my head. It felt good to play again. I did some quick footword with the ball, just to show off. I saw Odd looking at me, and I smiled to myself.
"Look out!" I heard someone cry from the bleachers. Before o had time to figure out who said it, another soccer ball whammed into my stomach, knocking me over and knocking the wind out of me. Looking over, I saw Odd on the ground laughing hysterically. Yeah, real funny… Ulrich came running over.
"Sorry I hit you. Odd couldn't stop a ball even if it was two feet in front of him, which by the way it was," said Ulrich. "Hey!" Odd yelled. I smiled. After catching my breath again and Ulrich helping me up, he said "do you want to play a game with me? You know, raise the competition? I saw you practicing and you are much better than Odd." By now, Odd had made his way over to where we were standing.
"Yeah, well, Mr. Big-Shot, I'm sure Jamie here could beat you! I will bet you five dollars that she does. Hey Jeremie! Keep score! Red and Ulrich are having a game of one-on-one!" Jeremie gave Odd a thumbs-up to show he understood. Yumi giggled. Well, this is gunna be fun…
Ulrich handed the ball to me. "Ladies first," he said and bowed. What a nobleman. I laughed and kicked the ball passed him. Odd and Jeremie were cheering from the sidelines. I got close to the goal when the ball was kicked out from under my feet. Ulrich had stolen the ball and was running towards the other end of the field. After dodging the ball back and forth, I saw that he was a bit weak on his left side. So while I was trying to grab the ball with my right foot, I took my left foot and stole the ball from him. Running down centerfield with the ball in my possession, I kicked the ball into the net and scored a goal.
"Yeah! That was awesome!" Yumi yelled. Odd was jumping up and down. "Yeah! Ulrich got beat by a girl!" Jeremie laughed. "The score is 1-0, Jamie in the lead!" Ulrich came up beside me. "Wow. That was a great move! I never even saw it coming. Let's keep playing." I agreed and let him have the first kick.
We played for about an hour before Odd was complaining he was hungry. The score was tied 3-3 when we decided to call it quits. Dinner was upon us (Odd must have a clock in his stomach to tell him the time for all meals) and I still needed a shower. I ran upstairs after saying goodbye to the group and grabbed my robe.
After a blissfully cold shower, I headed down to dinner. Grabbing my tray (speghetti and meatballs with vegetables) I started looking for a place to sit.
"Red! Hey Jamie! Over here!" Someone was calling my name. I should have known it would be Odd, he is the only one that calls me Red. "Saved you a seat! Come here!" He was now waving to me frantically. I cracked a smile.
"Hey guys. Thanks for letting me sit here. I don't know where I would have sat." Okay, that was lame… I set my tray down next to Yumi's. Jeremie was looking at my plate. "Uh Jamie? Are you going to eat those Brussels sprouts?" I said no and handed him my vegetables. He started to eat them quickly. Disgusting.
"You and Ulrich played a mean game this afternoon. You should try out for the school team," Yumi said. I swallowed my mouthful of food and shook my head. "Nah, I'm not good with playing team sports. I can't really have someone telling me to do something like that. And the way the coach yells at you if you get something wrong. I can't deal with stuff like that"
"But how did you learn all those killer moves without ever being on a team?" Odd said with his mouth full, spraying me with food. "Oops, sorry," he grinned sheepishly.
"My dad was a soccer coach for my school. He made me try out for the school team once and I hated it my first day. He let me quit a week later, but kept teaching me special plays and things like that." Everyone nodded like they were listening but I think Ulrich was the only one who really understood what I was talking about.
I looked outside. The sky was perfectly clear, not a cloud in sight for miles before dinner. Now it looked like a tornado was about to touch down any minute. The wind outside was blowing so forcefully outside that it make all the windows in the room shatter. Everyone screamed.
"Guys, we have to get to the factory! This is most likely XANA's doing!" Jeremie whispered to Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd. "Huh?" I asked confused. Before they could answer me, the whole building begun to shake. Oh great. "Who is Zana"
Odd looked straight into my eyes. "Jamie, stay here. Whatever you do, don't leave this building. We'll be back, don't worry." He put a hand on my shoulder. I nodded quickly and watched him and his friends leave me standing there alone as they ran outside into the storm.
By now, the wind was blowing really hard around me. Looking outside, I saw Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd run into the forest. Where are they going? I didn't have any time to think. Debris was flying through the shattered windows and kids were hysterical. Me, I was scared. But I didn't show it on my face. I just sat there at the table, shaking, just like Odd told me to do. I trusted him. I looked around. The lights started flickering then shut off completely. The wind was so forceful that students by the windows had to run away form the windows because bigger things like tree branches started coming into the building. The wind sounded like a freight train.
I started to cry. What is happening? Where is Odd? Why did he tell me to just sit here like nothing was wrong? I wish Alex was here…
For about twenty minutes of nonstop wind,flying tree branches and paper, we all thoguht the worst had happened. Then, without warning, parts of the ceiling began to collapse! The dining hall was on the bottom floor of the five-story building. As a piece of cement just missed me by a few feet, i screamed and dove under the table. I could hear more pieces hitting the top of my table, threatening to crush it. People seemed to follow my suit and dove under their own tables. Kids and faculty members were all hudled together. Some tables started to collapse. As i peeked my head up from under my table, i saw a huge block of the cement ceiling about to crash down in front of me. I screamed and covered my head, waiting for the moment it hit.
Everything seemed to stop. I could hear no sound at all. i opened my eyes and saw for a split second the piece of the ceileing that was about to squish me was stopped in mid-air. But soon after everything, including me, was engulfed in a bright white light.