Okay, he's another chapter of An Odd Love. I never before realized how appropriate the title was before now.
Before I forget, this chapter is deicated to a friend of mine who I call Angelle.
Thanks to her!
(Odd P.O.V.)
As soon as the clock hits 5:30, I'm out of the room. I even grabbed my old watch that I hadn't used in two years so if Jim asked me I could show him what time it was. I quickly left and took a long, drawn out shower. One of the few things I've managed to enjoy in the last couple of days is a shower. The feeling of hot water running down my face and neck is extremely relaxing.
I walked back to my room to change. While putting on a warm purple jacket, I accidentally knocked over a book that was sitting on the desk, and it clatters to the floor. I look over quickly to see Ulrich stir and open his eyes. I quickly pull on my jacket, replace the book, and head for the door.
"Hey Odd, where are you going?" I freeze with my hand on the doorknob and slowly turn around. Ulrich is sitting up in bed, looking extremely tired and disoriented.
"Nowhere Ulrich." I open the door and walk outside, but I feel Ulrich's hand on my shoulder. How he managed to get from his bed to the door that fast, and that quietly, I will never know.
"Just tell me where you're going."
"I'm not going anywhere. Now let go of me."
"Not until you tell me. Are you going to go see Avery? That would probably be a smart thing to do." I turn around and face him.
"No, I'm not." I pull my shoulder out of his grasp and back away. Before I can leave, he grabs my left wrist. My annoyance is beginning to cloud my thoughts and it's getting harder to think straight.
"Let go of me Ulrich."
"Tell me first. I'm only concerned about you."
"Last warning. Let go of me now."
"No." Okay, final straw. I warned him. I try to pull my wrist out of his grasp, but he's too strong for me. Still not thinking clearly, but still knowing I will regret it, I pull back and hit Ulrich in the face. He staggers back, clearly surprised, and lets go of my wrist.
I quickly take off running, down the hall and downstairs.
I run out of the dorm building and into the forest. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I slow down to a walk. After about 15 minutes of wandering, I sit down and lay against a tree on the edge of the path. After about 15 more minutes, I hear someone call my name.
"Odd! Odd are you here?" It sounds like it might be Yumi. And she's not far off.
"Hello? Odd? Can you hear me?" This is Ulrich, I know it.
"Odd!" That's Aelita. "Odd, come out! We need to talk to you!" That's Jeremie. It sounds like Ulrich is the closest to me, not very far away, so I stand up and begin walking.
Believe it or not, having them call for me is making it harder for them to find me. Since they're all making loud noises, I know where they are and can avoid them. I did have a close shave with Jeremie, but he probably thought he was hallucinating. I walk closer to the school and hear a branch snap not ten feet in front of me and around a bend. I quickly dive into the nearby bushes, just in time. I quickly turn around to see Avery walk past, looking confused. Ulrich walks up and sees Avery. I quickly and quietly adjust my position so I have a vantage point from which to see clearly.
"Ulrich?" Avery asks. "What's going on?"
"We're trying to find Odd."
"What happened?"
"Earlier, Odd and I had a fight. He wanted to leave, I asked where he was going."
"What did he say?"
"He wouldn't tell me. When he went to leave, I stopped him. He hit me and ran off." From where I am, I can't see Avery's face, but I'm sure her eyes are as big as dinner plates.
"He hit you?"
"Yah. Now we're trying to find him."
"Have you considered a possibility of a Xana attack?"
"Yah," Ulrich sighs, "I had Jeremie check before he came. All clear, Xana's still asleep. Can you help us look?"
"Of course. But I think if Odd doesn't want to be found, he won't be."
"It doesn't hurt to try." Ulrich yells over his shoulder as he runs off to check some other part of the woods.
"Odd! Odd it's me Avery!" Avery yells out. "Come out Odd, please?" I'm sorely tempted to run out, but that wouldn't be smart. Avery walks around a little bit, not straying very far from the school. After about five minutes she pulls out her phone.
Who's she calling?
I hear her dial a couple numbers and she puts the phone up to her ear. About half a second later, my phone starts ringing out a song called "Faint" by Linkin Park.
That's the ring for an unknown caller….I reach into my pocket and freeze. Avery whips around and looks straight towards I am.
She called my phone!I quickly turn my phone off, but not before Avery begins walking over to where I am.
"Shit!" I yell, jumping up. I quickly take off running, away from Avery, crashing through the bushes like a madman.
After a couple minutes, I stop and catch my breath. Someone is still following me, but they've fallen behind. Knowing that I can outrun them, I walk calmly until I get back to the path. Following the path, I figure out where I am and from there where I can go. I decide to head for Ulrich's tree, it's fairly far from here. By now Avery would have told them that she saw me and they're scouring the forest by where I was for me. I make it to Ulrich's tree and go up as far as I can, while still being safe. Deciding I didn't really care, I go up a little farther and sit down. After about fifteen minutes, I hear footsteps below me.
No way… they can not have followed me here…I look down and see Avery walk underneath the tree.
"Odd? Are you up there?" She yells, looking up. I move to the other side where I can't see her and she can't see me. Suddenly, I get an idea. I'm going to use her own trick against her.
Her phone…I pull out my phone and turn it on. It beeps loudly once and I cringe. I disable all sounds before opening up a message to the last caller.
Do you really think I'm that predictable?
I send it to her and hear her phone beep down below. I peek around the tree, I see her pulling out her phone and reading the message. Her keypad beeps as she puts in a reply.
What do you mean?
Why would I head for Ulrich's tree? That's the first place anyone would look
I followed you here
How can that be when I'm not there?
Your footprints lead right up to the tree
I planted them there
It's a couple seconds longer before she replies again.
Where are you Odd?
I'm beginning to get annoyed again.
Go to breakfast, stop looking for me
Not until you tell me where you are
Why would I tell you that?
Because you said you loved meI decide it's better not to answer. After a couple minutes, another message comes.
Please Odd?
I'm not going to tell you, stop asking
Avery just sits against the tree, I watch as her phone drops limply from her hand. I decide to send Ulrich a message.
Avery is by your favorite tree, I watched her go by there a couple minutes ago she hasn't come out yet, you might want to go get her she could be hurt
After a couple minutes, Ulrich replies.
Where are you Odd?
I'm not going to tell you so you might as well not ask
Odd I'm sorry
I stare at this one for a couple minutes before responding.
I'm not going to get her, so you had better hurry up
I'm on my way
After a couple of minutes, I get another test message from Avery, just one word.
Please
I type in one last message and shut my phone off.
Sorry
About two or three minutes later, Ulrich comes running in. He must have been running at full speed the whole way to make it here that fast.
"Avery! Where are you?" He spots her and runs over. He quickly talks to Avery which I can't hear, but Avery responds only by shaking or nodding her head. Eventually, he helps her stand up, puts his arm around her shoulders comfortingly, and they walk off. I settle myself in for a long wait, not hungry for breakfast.
Ooh, I always wanted to do that. I always thought Avery would be smart enough to use Odd's phone against him.
Bwahahaha
Quote 447. "Heads you die, tails we flip again."
437. If a person with multiple personalitites threatens to commit suicide, is it a hostage situation?
447. Let's flip a coin: Heads you die, tails we flip again.
448. If it takes more muscles to frown than to smile, then my face is way stronger than yours!