Chapter 3
"And she just ran off like that?" Odd asked, bewildered.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either," Ulrich replied, moving his food around on his plate with his fork. "She's not herself...I think something's seriously wrong and she won't tell me. Or maybe she just wants to be with William. She's eating lunch with him now."
"Don't worry buddy." Odd said reassuringly, "I'm sure she's fine. Now, are you going to eat your lunch or do you want me to help?"
"Very funny." Ulrich smirked at Odd's comment. "You never stop eating, do you Odd."
"Mmm Nope." Odd laughed through a mouthful of food. He smacked his lips. "Yum that is some good food... Hey Ulrich, where's Einstein?"
"I don't know, probably with Aelita."
"Well uh, Maybe we should call them to see where they are." Odd suggested through another mouthful of mashed potato.
"Yeah OK, It won't hurt." Ulrich replied carelessly as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jeremie's number.
"Ulrich?"
"Oh hey Jeremie, where are you?"
"Aelita and I are in my room, doing some research on Aelita's anti-virus."
"How's it going?" Ulrich asked, trying to get his mind off of Yumi, but it wasn't working.
"Not so good. I'm starting to lose hope altogether. I'm running out of ideas." Jeremie sighed, "I'm trying so hard, staying up all night, missing meals and classes, but XANA's virus proves unbeatable." His voice cracked a bit and he sounded like he was trying to keep from crying.
"That's horrible, Jeremie... I hope Aelita isn't hearing this..." Ulrich winced at the thought of Aelita hearing that Jeremie was running out of ideas. It would surely break her heart.
"No, she just went out to the girl's room as you rang... Oh, Ulrich?"
"Yeah?"
"How did everything go with Yumi yesterday? Odd told me you were going to ask her out."
Ulrich turned red and glared at Odd. "Uh...I'm not really in the mood to talk about it right now...I have to go. Good Luck on the anti-virus project. Bye!"
"OK, that was weird." Jeremie muttered to himself, pocketing his cell phone.
"Odd, you told Jeremie already?" Ulrich complained, giving his best friend another glare.
"I uh.." Odd stuttered and then gave Ulrich one of his famous goofy smiles.
"Oh forget it Odd, I've got to go talk to Yumi anyway. She acted so weird this morning..."
"Good luck Romeo." Odd said, winking at Ulrich.
Ulrich made his way over to the table where William and Yumi sat, they seemed to be in deep conversation.
"Uh, hey Yumi, mind if we talk alone for a minute?" Ulrich said, trying to sound as nice as he could, he didn't want to blow it this time.
"Well... okay. Sorry William, I'll be right back." Yumi got up and followed Ulrich out of the Cafetiria to the hallway.
"Listen Yumi, About this morning, I didn't mean to upset you... I'm sorry." Ulrich muttered awkwardly, he wasn't good at apologies.
Yumi looked at the ground. "It's ok Ulrich...It's my fault I mean, Oh Ulrich I'm just so scared!" With this, Yumi hurled herself into Ulrich's arms and started sobbing.
Ulrich froze where he stood from Yumi's touch but regained himself. Something was obviously wrong and Yumi needed him.
"Shh, Yumi it's okay." Ulrich whispered in her ear, "What's this all about then? Hmm?"
Yumi lifted her head from Ulrich's shoulder and looked at him, her eyes still full of tears. She opened her mouth to say something but then heard someone coming down the hallway. She pushed away from Ulrich and wiped her tear-stained face with her shirt sleeve.
"If you want to talk we can go to my room." Ulrich suggested, trying his best to make Yumi feel better.
"But you'll miss your physics test and-"
"Hey, I'm going to fail anyway." Ulrich sighed. "What's the use?"
"But Ulrich..."
"Yumi, if you don't want to talk about whatever this is to me then I understand...Besides I'm keeping you from William."
"No, you need to know." Yumi muttered. "Come on, I'll tell you."
Yumi took Ulrich by the arm and headed for the dormitories.
TO BE CONTINUED...