I want to get to this chappy quickly, so I'm not going to talk much. Thanks to all those who reviewed. This one is dedicated to the real Avery, whom I based my charater off. Thanks to you!
(Odd P.O.V.)
I woke up early again. Which is weird, I have never woken up before Ulrich twice in a row before. I think nothing of it and go take my shower. When I come back, Ulrich is still sleeping, so gently wake him up.
"Ulrich, it's time to get up." I say, pushing him gently. He stirs and opens his eyes.
"Odd?"
"Come on, you're going to be late." I sit back on my bed and put my socks on, followed by my shoes.
"Odd, what's wrong?" I look at him weirdly.
"Nothings wrong."
"Yah, but you woke me up, which is weird, and you didn't pull a prank on me to wake me up."
"I'm just not in a joking mood right now." Ulrich sits up straight.
"Okay, something is definitely wrong. You are always in a joking mood. Come on, tell me. Was it your near death experience that no one can explain how you survived?"
"No. Well, sort of."
"Come on, explain."
"Yesterday, my vision wasn't what I said it was."
"I know, we had meatloaf-tuna-stringed-bean-surprise."
"Well, it was about Avery and me."
"Go on."
"I saw what happened yesterday. I saw myself dive and get hit while in the air by a megatank and fly off the edge. I told Avery, I think she ought to know."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I knew you would overreact and keep me away from Avery. So I figured I wasn't going to see her again. I told her I thought I loved her and I kissed her."
"Yah, we all saw that."
"When I was hit over the edge, I was falling. Then all of the sudden Avery thrust her hand out towards me and yelled my name. I didn't stop. No, I completely reversed direction and shot back up. I landed back on the ground next to her and she hugged me. Then the megatank shot me from behind."
"Yah okay."
"You know the rest, I found her unconscious in the scanner, I carried her back to her room."
"How did you get in her room if it was locked?"
"She had a key in her pocket. I carried her over to her bed and sat down. Not wanting to leave her, I just sat there. Eventually I fell asleep. I woke up when she did. I tried to kiss her again, but she pulled away. She told me to leave and I did."
"Ah, I see. Looks like you've got the classic heartbroken syndrome."
"So what do I do?" Ulrich sighs.
"I don't know Odd. I felt that way until I asked Yumi out. Once I did, it was fine. You've already expressed your love to her and she rejected you. Right now, I'm totally clueless." I give a sigh.
"Oh well. I'll make due." I walk outside and head for the cafeteria. On second thought, I head downstairs and walk up to Avery's room. I bring up my hand to knock, but I hesitate. I can't bring myself to knock on the door. I must have been standing there for a couple minutes, fist raised, just looking at her door. I can't even begin to describe the battle that was going on inside me.
I have to knock. I need to apologize.
No you fool! Pretend you don't care, she'll come running to you. She's just playing hard to get!
No, that wasn't hard to get, she was in real agony over this. I need to apologize and ask to be friends again.
After about five minutes of this, I lower my fist. I walk off with my head down. I wasn't going to play hard-to-get for her, I was just sad. I decided to obey her wishes and just leave her alone.
(Ulrich P.O.V.)
It's a good thing I had my shower last night before I went to bed. I get dressed and walk downstairs. I turn the corner and see Odd there, he's not moving. He's just standing there, fist raised as though he's about to knock. After a minute, he lowers his fist and walks off with his head down.
I have never seen Odd like this….
I as soon as Odd is gone, I walk over to the door he was standing by. It's a small one bed dorm.
This must be Avery's dorm.
I knock and step back.
"Go away Odd." I hear someone say quietly from inside. I listen closely and it sounds like someone crying.
Well, this is Avery's dorm. Good thing Odd didn't knock, he would have been crushed to hear her say that.
"Avery, it's Ulrich. Please, open up. I need to talk to you." I hear her stop crying, but she starts sniffling. The door opens slightly, but not enough to see her face.
"Hi Ulrich. What do you want?"
"Avery, you need to talk to Odd." She opens the door all the way. She has obviously been crying, her eyes are red and puffy. She frowns as soon as I say the word Odd.
"I have nothing to say to him." She says and starts to close the door.
"Please Avery, just let me say something." She stops and looks me deep in the eyes. She resigns.
"Okay. What do you want?"
"Why did you do that to Odd?" She looks angry, but it dissipates and is replaced by sorrow. She still says nothing.
"Avery, Odd has had a lot of girlfriends." I say and she looks angry again.
"Oh, thanks a lot Ulrich, that really helped!" She starts to slam the door shut, but I block it with my foot.
"But he has never acted like this for any other girl." She stares at me with an expression I can't read.
"I just turned the corner and I found Odd standing here. He looked like he was in a furious battle with himself. After a minute, he walked off with his head down. He has never, I mean never, acted like this before."
"Why do you think that is…?"
"He told you he loves you."
"That's not love."
"What is it then?"
"It's just a crush. He'll get over it. Either that or it's lust."
"Odd has had crushes before. He's told me of them. He still has never acted like this. And trust me, Odd is not after sex."
"How do you know?"
"Just trust me. No one knows Odd better than I do. I think Odd really loves you. Can you at least tell me why you won't give him a chance?" Avery looks at me with her deep green eyes.
"I-I can't. I just can't." I can tell this is tearing her up inside. "I'm sorry Ulrich."
I give a sigh. "Okay, I get the picture. You don't want to talk about it. Come on, let's go to breakfast."
"No thanks, I'm not hungry."
"Come on, you've got to get something to eat, you haven't had anything for more than a day now."
"No, I'm not hungry." She says firmly. I decide this is a battle I'm not going to win.
"Well, I can see why Odd likes you. You're as stubborn as he is. I'll see you later okay?"
"Okay. Bye Ulrich…." She closes the door and I walk away, towards the cafeteria. I grab my breakfast, which happens to be leftovers from last night, and walk over to our table. Jeremie and Aelita are talking quietly about some computer stuff I don't understand. Odd is sitting there, picking at his food with a fork. Yumi hasn't shown up, she usually doesn't for another half hour.
"Odd, are you going to be okay?" He looks up at me, he looks hopelessly miserable.
"I'll be fine." He says, but he doesn't look like it.
"After you left, I talked to Avery." Odd immediately perks up.
"What did she say?"
"Let's just say it's a good thing you didn't talk to her. I think it's the worst possible thing right now."
"That bad huh?" Jeremie says, looking at me.
"Yah. Did Odd fill you in?"
"No, but we got the picture. What do you think he should do?" I think for a couple minutes. When I do talk, I direct my answer more towards Odd than Jeremie.
"Right now, nothing. I think she's in emotional pain, it would be best for her to stay by herself. At least until she's ready."
"What about when you-know-who attacks?" My pink-haired friend asks.
"When Odd does see her, he should act like nothing has happened between them. Avery needs to be the one to bring it up."
"Wow Ulrich, you seem to be the expert on this." Jeremie remarks.
"Yah I know. I'm surprising myself on how logical these answers are."
"Well, since you're the expert, maybe you would like to tutor me?" Says an all-too-familiar voice in my ear. I turn around to find Sissi looking at me expectantly. "How about in my room later? I also have the latest Sub-Sonics CD that we could listen to."
I give a contented sigh.
"Oh Sissi, you know I would love to."
"Really?"
"Yah. Unfortunately I don't think the best tutor in the world could help you, your room is off limits to guys, and I already have that CD. So it's basically pointless. Sorry, better luck trying to con me into going out with you next time. So until then, go away." I turn back to Jeremie. "I think I'm off my game. That was a lot less harsh then I meant for it to be." He and I laugh, but Odd just stares at his food. Unfortunately Sissi seems to take notice.
"What's wrong with Della-Robbia? Is he sick from all that crap he eats?" She laughs at her own lame joke. I see Odd's signature grin come across his face.
"No Sissi, just the thought of talking to you makes me sick!" We all laugh at that, even Nicolas and Herb. But they are shut up quickly when Sissi gives them a glare. Sissi stomps off again, followed by her cronies.
"Well, it seems we got Odd back, at least for a little bit." I say seeing Odd's mood change.
"I'm never to sad to make fun of Sissi. But unfortunately, I don't think this will last long…" He gives a sigh and starts eating.
"Wow, that really was short. Odd, we have to do something. You can't mope like this forever. It sucks, trust me, I know. I was the King of Mopeland, I ruled over all that was sulking." I say.
"You got that right. I just don't know what to do."
"I think you should do what Ulrich says. Pretend nothing happens, when she's ready to talk, she will. Until then, avoid her. Let Ulrich try to talk to her, she seems more comfortable around him." Jeremie suggests.
"I don't know if I can do that guys."
"You can do it Odd. Just trust me, it'll all be okay."
"I hope so. I really do."
"Come on lover boy, let's go to class." We stand up and head for out separate classes. Everyone of our teachers mentions how quiet Odd is and how it's an improvement.
During fitness, Jim decides it would be fun to make us run the mile. Again. Third time this month. Odd really doesn't look up to it, so I decide to experiment.
"Okay Odd, you can get through this."
"No I can't. But PE and Art are the only classes I'm not failing, and I really don't want to screw up my grade in this class too…"
"So don't. Just try to imagine this: Avery is waiting at the end of the mile with a kiss for whoever wins." Odd gives me a smile and a determined look. I decide to make this interesting. I've been holding back on all the mile runs so far because that makes it easier to beat your old time. This time, I'm going to race Odd and see how fast he can really go. Odd isn't much of a long distance runner, but he's a really good sprinter. As soon as Jim shoots the starting pistol, we take off. I'm in front, Odd just behind me. After two laps, I'm beginning to tire, but Odd doesn't seem to show any signs of fatigue. I readjust my pace to match Odd's. At the start of the third lap, Odd seems to be wearing out. He slows down and I do too. I'm beginning to run out of energy. I've basically used up all my main energy, and am running on about 50 percent of my backup. At the start of the fourth lap, Odd has fallen behind. I turn back and see him lagging, I have only one last little trick left.
"Hey Odd, looks like I'm gonna get the kiss!" I say and turn around. I run again, a little faster. With about half a lap to go, I turn around to look at Odd, but he's not there. I look forward again, he had passed me on the other side.
Holy Shit!
I quickly speed up but it's no match. I'm just out of energy. Odd actually beat me. I cross the finish line about ten seconds after he does.
"Wow Della-Robbia, that's amazing! You just broke Ulrich's old record with 5 minutes and 42 seconds! Stern, you got 5 minutes 54 seconds. Not bad, but it could use work." Jim says as Odd and I collapse on the sidelines. (A/N: One of my best friends actually broke the school record and got 5 minutes and 29 seconds on the mile. She's really amazing. She and I joke about how if a giant gorilla attacked the school, she would be the only one who outran it.)
"Well Odd, (pant) it looks like (pant) you just found (pant) your motivation." I say while trying to recover.
"Yup, I think I did. Now, where's my kiss?" He says laughing.
"You're not getting one from me!"
"Man, that's just disgusting. What do you want to do now? We still have about five minutes until the stragglers finish." I go pale as I see Avery walking over. "Hey, what's up? Earth to Ulrich…. Hello? Did aliens just abduct your brain or what?" He says, waving a hand in front of my face. I grab his hand and look him straight in the eye.
"Avery is walking over. Whatever you do, play it cool, and don't mention you-know-what." Odd looks stunned but he nods. He turns around and waves to Avery.
"Hi guys." She says walking over. Odd gulps and replies:
"Hi Avery, what's up?"
(Odd P.O.V.)
"Hi guys." She says as she walks over to us. She's still as beautiful as ever, but something seems different. I feel a knot in my throat as I try to reply. I gulp quickly and try to sound casual.
"Hi Avery, what's up?" I look at her expectantly. She looks at me for a second before replying.
"Oh not much. I was just bored, I don't have classes until Monday. So I decided to see if I could find you guys. Lucky you were at PE isn't it?" She says without the slightest hint of anything being wrong.
"Yah pretty lucky." I don't think Ulrich wants to talk, he probably wants me to talk more. I look at Avery and notice what is different about her. She's wearing some black eyeliner, she never wore makeup before. She and Ulrich start talking about something else, but I'm not listening. I can't pay attention. I just stare at those deep piercing green eyes. As I look closer, I see that the black eyeliner is covering up rather well the fact that her eyes are red and puffy, as if she has been crying.
"Odd, why are you staring at me?" Avery noticed that I was looking at her, I turn away blushing.
"Uh, no reason." I say to my shoes.
"Okay… Odd, you are starting to really be… well, odd." She says and starts laughing
"Well, I do try to live up to my name." I say joining in.
"Hey you! What are you doing here?" Jim asks walking over.
"She's a student here." I say immediately defending her.
"She's not in this class."
"Yah, she doesn't start classes until Monday."
"Then what is she doing here? Is this part of your conspiracy? Huh?"
"There is no conspiracy Jim. Never has been, never will be." Ulrich says with a sigh.
"Well then what is she doing here?"
"I just wanted to come and see the track… and I saw these two. I didn't mean to disrupt your class…." She says rather timidly.
Wow, she is really shy around other people, but when she's with us she's like a whole different person!
"Why did you want to come see the track? Come to pull a prank maybe?" Jim says accusingly.
"No, I used to run track for my old school. I just wanted to look…."
"You run track? I'm the coach, maybe you would be a good addition to the team, eh? Could you show me how fast you run?"
"Uh, no not really. I'm not wearing running clothes." Actually, she was wearing a denim jacket with some well worn jeans. Not very good for running in.
"You shouldn't complain. When I was a professional boxer, I had to train no matter what clothes I wore."
"You were a boxer?" Ulrich asks.
"I'd rather not talk about it. Well, I'm going to have to report you to the principal. You shouldn't be wandering around campus during school hours."
"Oh come on Jim! She's new here!" I say loudly.
"Yah Jim. Besides, this is a first time offense." Ulrich pips in.
"Okay fine. I'll let you off with a warning. Don't do it again." Jim walks off to meet the stragglers. He calls for everyone to go inside. Ulrich gets up and walks off towards the gym. I start to follow.
"Hold on Odd. Wait for just a second. I want to check something." I get butterflies in my stomach at the thought. Ulrich seems to notice I'm not following him and he turns around, looking at me weirdly. I just give him a wave. I think he gets the drift and hurries off. As soon as everyone has left, I turn back to Avery.
"So? What did you want to talk to me about?" She looks me in the eye.
"You said you loved me. Did you mean it?" She asks me in all seriousness.
"Yes." I reply instantly.
"Then I want to check something. Will you let me?"
"Of- of course." She leans in and kisses me gently on the lips….
I am not going to say anything because I know I'll give something away. I just ask you to review and tell me what you think. And now I leave you with a quote from my list: (Everyone seems to like them)
242. My parents taught me to walk and talk; but now they just want me to sit down and shut up.