"Ulrich watch your back!" yelled Jeremie. Yumi and Ulrich were having a karate match. Ulrich was knocked to the ground. Yumi helped him back up and they continued fighting. Odd was watching them on the grass, lying down on his stomach with his head on his hands. I sat nearby under my tree and was trying to draw the gang as they were relaxing.
I have given up on Alex (remember him? He was the boy I liked back in the States). Not once has he called in the weeks I have been here nor has he emailed. My friends back home have given me updates on what's been happening at school in Virginia and they say Alex is still with Sam. Typical.
The wind swept through my hair playing with it slightly. It was such a beautiful day. For the past week it has rained and was miserable, so it was good to get out of the buildings for a change. I was putting details into my drawing of Jeremie and his laptop (and adding a little version of Aelita in the process). Of course, they don't know what I'm drawing (or if they even know I am at all) and they never ask what I am creating. They respect my privacy and that I'm thankful for.
"Go Yumi! Kick his -" Odd was cut off as the fighting duo almost landed on top of him. He quickly moved out of the way (thanks to his quick reflexes) and avoided being squished (or at least minimally hurt). "Hey watch where your goin', would ya? You could have kicked me!"
"Well Odd…maybe you should…move….out of our…way! HI YA!" Ulrich made a quick lash out to Yumi and she dodged it with ease. "Oh come on, Ulrich! I know you can do batter than that! YA!" Yumi's hand came right down on Ulrich's shoulder, knocking him to the ground. But not before Ulrich made a quick swipe of his leg under Yumi's knees, making her tumble down with him. Odd laughed.
"That was hilarious! I don't think you could do that exact same move twice!" He held his stomach and smiled. Ulrich brushed himself off and helped Yumi up. Jeremie glanced up over his computer and smiled knowingly. Everyone but those two knew they had a crush on each other. It was pretty obvious. Even I spotted it about two weeks here. I tried asking Yumi about but she just told me she had no idea what I was talking about. She can't keep denying herself forever!
I finished up shading in Odd's shirt when I closed my sketchbook and made my way over to them. "Hey guys," I said, sitting down next to Odd.
"Hey, where have you been? I haven't seen you all day," asked Odd. You think this guy would notice that I'm in most of his classes. But since he sleeps through half of them, maybe not. I just shook my head. "That was an awesome move you guys did. How long have you been practicing karate?" I asked Ulrich. He just shrugged and gathered his things. The lunch bell rung loudly throughout the grounds. Well, so much for talking to them. Jeremie logged off his computer and put it in his backpack.
"I have to go feed Kiwi quick, anyone want to come?" Odd asked. I quickly took the offer. Kiwi was the sweetest dog and I took a liking to him really quickly. He acts just like Odd, its almost weird. We made our way up to his dorm silently. When Odd opened the door, Kiwi jumped into his arms and licked his face. I laughed.
"Geez Kiwi you act like you haven't seen me in ages! Hold on while I get your food ready." Odd hugged the little dog and went to the drawer with all of Kiwi's toys and necessities. I went over to Kiwi and petted him. Such a sweet dog.
I had something on my mind though. When I saw Yumi and Ulrich fighting I couldn't help but wonder if they had to fight like that in Lyoko. I had no skill like that and I wondered if I would be successful if I was to go to Lyoko and fight.
"Hey Odd?" Odd was basically in the drawer trying to find the dog food. I heard a muffled "yes?" I rubbed Kiwi's belly. "You know how Yumi and Ulrich were fighting a bit ago? Do you fight with the monsters like that in Lyoko?" By now he found the food and was pouring it into a bowl. Kiwi barked and ran to eat the food fervently. "Well not exactly." My face fell. I will never be able to fight as good as those guys! "We use weapons." He must have saw the horror and shock on my face because he quickly added "but we don't use them on each other! No we use them at the monsters. Don't worry, it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Hey, maybe I could help you train. Like on Lyoko. That way you won't be surprised when those monsters come so you know what weapon you have and power and stuff like that. We can ask Jeremie during lunch." His stomach growled. "Which is now! So let's hurry! I'm starving!" We raced out of the room and to the lunch building.
Jeremie was a bit reluctant at first with going to Lyoko to help me with my 'training' (that's weird to say.. I haven't had training for anything before!) but he gave in. We decided to do it after classes and before dinner. That should give us plenty of time. We quickly ate lunch and went back to classes.
As the time to go to the factory drew nearer, I grew more nervous. I had all these questions in my head. What will I look like in Lyoko? What would my weapon be (and if I had to choose, what would I pick?)? Would I be of any use in this virtual world? I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear the bell ring for last class to end. Odd walked up to me and grabbed my bag.
"It's time Red! Come on, let's go before people see us run off to the forest. Ulrich and Yumi are going to come too, though not to go to Lyoko but jus to watch on the computer. And if an attack appears they're right there to come anyway. You lead the way O Newbie!" Odd ended with a quick bow. I rolled my eyes and packed up my bag. I dropped it off in my room and we all headed to the forest. I was wringing my hands out of nervousness.
"Jamie you can calm down a bit, we're just going to show you the ropes, nothing big." Jeremie stated.
"Easy for you to say, you go to Lyoko all the time. What if there is an attack? I don't know how to fight them!"
"Well even if there would be an attack (and its pretty unlikely) that's why we are going to be right there so we can come to your rescue!" Ulrich said with a smile. I loosened up a bit but when we got to the manhole, I tensed up again. Odd gave me a little push to head down the ladder.
Earlier that week we all went to the store to pick out a skateboard for me. I grabbed it and started to push off. I looked back up the ladder, knowing that this is for real, I'm actually going to Lyoko. It's unreal.
I dropped off my skateboard when I got to the ladder and climbed up. Going across the bridge, down the rope, and into the elevator was the easy part. The doors opened again to reveal the holomap of Lyoko and the big supercomputer. Jeremie sat down and started pushing buttons so fast my vision blurred. Aelita popped onto the screen.
"Hi Aelita. How are you?" Asked Jeremie.
"Fine, is there a problem?"
"No no, we just wanted to tell you that Jamie is coming to Lyoko to train so she can learn before she fights XANA's monsters. Is that alright?"
"Of course! I'm delighted. I'll meet you in the forest region to help, alright"
"Sure that'd be great! Odd is coming too. They will be there in about five minutes."
"Alright. See you there!"
Jeremie pulled another screen up with four cards: Ulirch, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita. He did some more fast typing and a blank card appeared. Typing in all my information, he told Odd and I to head down to the scanner room. My breath caught in my throat. I was so scared! What if something goes wrong with the transfer? I couldn't think of anymore 'what-ifs' because Odd pushed me to the elevator.
"Red, relax. I remember my first transfer, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Though, I didn't really know what to think because I didn't know what was going to happen." The elevator doors opened and revealed three gold tubes.
"Alright you can step into the scanners now," Jeremie's voice rang throughout the room. I looked at Odd and he gave me a quick hand squeeze to reassure me that everything would be alright. I stepped into the scanner. Its doors closed. My heart is racing and my breath is short and quick. I'm so scared!
Air started to flow all round me "Scanner Jamie" the wind was getting faster, I was almost picked up by it. "Transfer Jamie" Jeremie's voice said. I closed my eyes afraid to see what was happening. A light engulfed me. "Virtualization!"