Chapter 13-Lost
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: AELITA IS LOST
2SMART4U: WAT!
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: YEAH. DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS...LEFT YESTERDAY AND DIDN'T COME BACK. MOM+DAD FREAKING OUT, CALLED THE POLICE AND SEARCHED 4 HOURS.
2SMART4U: THIS IS TERRIBLE!
PURPLEDUDE12: WAT'S TERRIBLE?
SAMURAIGUY123?
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: AELITA IS LOST
PURPLEDUDE12: (SPITS SODA ALL OVER COMPUTER SCREEN)
SAMURAIGUY123!
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: YEAH, POLICE AND EVERYTHING
2SMART4U: WAT IF SOMETHING, Y'KNOW, SOMETHING SOMETHING, HAPPENED 2 HER?
SAMURAIGUY123: DON'T EVEN THINK LIKE THAT BUDDY
2SMART4U: IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: WHINE, CRY, AND FREAK OUT ALL YOU WANT, I'M GONNA LOOK FOR HER. WHO'S WITH ME?
PURPLEDUDE12: I'LL GO IF THE OTHERS DON'T COME AND WE DON'T TALK
SAMURAIGUY123: DITTO
2SMART4U: DITTO
SAMURAIGUY123: SO, WHO'S IT GONNA BE YUMI?
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: YOU DORKS! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FIND YOUR MISSING BEST FRIEND BECAUSE WE'RE A LITTLE TICKED? WELL, I DON'T PICK ANY OF YOU! AND DON'T BOTHER TRYING TO APOLOGIZE NOW!
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL HAS SIGNED OFF 12:49 PM.
SAMURAIGUY123 HAS SIGNED OFF 12:50 PM.
PURPLEDUDE12 HAS SIGNED OFF 12:51 PM.
2SMART4U HAS SIGNED OFF 12:51 PM.
Yumi turned in her chair and frowned. She looked over to the bed next to hers, which should have had a certain pink-haired thirteen-year old in it.
"Mmmmmm... what am I gonna do?" she mumbled, slapping a hand to her forehead. "I should have been more concerned about Aelita and less concerned about that stupid little spat."
She walked across the wooden floor, then paced the room. "If I was a materialized virtual girl who's ticked off at my best friends, where would I go?"
For what seemed like forever, she contemplated her situation. Finally, she came to a decision.
"Lake Aphrodite."
She remembered an old myth of the town her mother's friend, Mrs. Salzman, had told her. "Everything that is lost always ends up by Lake Aphrodite. That's because there is an old, old story that once Aphrodite, goddess of love according to Greek mythology, once came down from Mt. Olympus to see that land that is now our town. She saw the lake and she found it very beautiful.
"So, she declared the lake property of hers. To make sure no harm came to it, she created a spirit, with the beauty of her own self. It guarded the lake for her and legend says it still does. And it is so beautiful, it attracts the attention of anything. So, if there is anything lost, it will eventually end at Lake Aphrodite, whether it realizes it is being attracted to the spirit's beauty or not."
Yumi didn't believe in stories like that very much, but where else would she start? She walked over to the computer and started to IM Jeremie, who she knew was taking a vacation at Lake Aphrodite.
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: HEY, SMART ALECK!
2SMART4U: WAT!
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: YOU'RE SURE YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE AELITA IS?
2SMART4U: NO! I'M NOT!
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: DID U EVER, AND I MEAN EVER, SEE HER AT LAKE APHRODITE?
2SMART4U: O, YEAH, SHE WAS WALKING BY YESTERDAY. I TRIED 2 GET HER ATTENTION, BUT SHE WOULDN'T EVEN WAVE
LYOKOGEISHAGIRL: TY. BYE!
Yumi scrambled up from her seat and got her raincoat from her closet. She slammed the door shut and looked at the calender. She gasped. It couldn't be!
It was June 30th, the last day of June!
"Oh, no... White Noise Day! Aelita!" Yumi shrieked. She dropped her raincoat and scrambled out of the room and down the stairs so fast she tripped twice. She fled, out the door, without telling her mother where she was going. The rain fell in waves on her head. She was soaked in no time as she grabbed her skateboard and continued going at an incredible speed to Lake Aphrodite.
Yumi didn't care about her drenched clothes and hair. She needed to find Aelita. She had to apologize, not just because of White Noise Day, but because she'd realized their friendship was more important than anything.
She had arrived at the entrance of Lake Aphrodite. The bushes by the rickety wooden fence around the lake property were making an unnaturally loud brushing sound. Yumi looked in a few bushes, and in one found...
"C'mon, boy! C'mon, Kiwi! Sniff 'er out!"
Odd was on the other side of the bush, in a purple striped yellow raincoat, holding the leash of Kiwi, who was sniffing around inside the bush.
"Hi."
Odd's head whipped in the direction of Yumi's. "Oh, uh, h-, erk... hi!" he sputtered.
"How come you're here?"
"I heard Aelita was hanging out here before she dissapeared."
"From Jeremie?"
"Hey! How'd you know?"
A voice that was neither Odd's nor Yumi's rang out over the mucky, rainy landscape. "Odd, what's all the noise? Did you find her?"
Ulrich stepped out from behind a tree by the fence. He frowned from beneath the hood of his forest green raincoat, then just got a look of confusion.
"Uh, hi Yumi."
It was silent. The sound of pattering rain on the grass and road and shrubs and the tall oak Ulrich stood next to nearly blew her mind.
"I can't take it anymore."
Odd and Ulrich looked at Yumi.
"I don't want to be mad at you guys. You're my best friends. I'm really sorry."
"We forgive you." Yumi smiled as Ulrich walked up next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Odd came up and did the same. "Yeah," he said. "Besides, I feel so stupid about the whole thing I keep thinking the tree is doing algebra."
They laughed. A good hearty laugh. Then they heard a voice behind them.
"We forgive you too, Yumi."
They turned around. "AELITA!"
Jeremie stood right there, next to a shivering Aelita. They all swarmed toward her and hugged her with joy. As Yumi embraced her, she kept whimpering, ""I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." until Aelita interrupted her. "Didn't you hear Jer? I forgive you!"
They all stood and smiled. For a moment Yumi forgot the cold of the stale rainwater what with the warmth of her happiness, until her body shivered violently. "Hey, let's all go to my house!" Yumi said.
And they all walked back to her house, making jokes, laughing, and talking along the way.
Awwwwww, isn't it cute? Nah, just kidding! But it still just warms your heart, don't it? I could hug my cat right now!
Next chapter: Aelita and the gang have a race to stop White Noise Day to win. Chapter 14-White Noise