Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming!
I realize I'm not making Sissi as stuck up as on the show, but I do have chapters written where she does show a bit of that side of herself in front of her own friends. The reason she's acting so different though, is because i want to portray her differently. I mean, I think anyone would question how mean they are to someone who they find out is possibly dying. And as a result of Sissi questioning herself, I think she would be able to act like a nicer person and form real friendships. Don't worry though, there will be a lit bit of the Sissi we all know in some chapters, but I believe that Sissi is only so snobby because she doesn't know how to react to not getting what she wants. I will never make her appear to be a bitch.
Odd was changing out of the hospital pajamas and into his own clothes when someone knocked on the door. "Come in," he said as he slipped on his long-sleeved purple shirt.
Ulrich entered as Odd put on his shoes. "Hey," he said. "Mr. Delmas is checking you out right now."
"Good," Odd said cheerfully. "I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight!"
Ulrich sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "I hate to ruin you good mood Odd, but I have some bad news."
"What?" Odd asked, unfazed. "Nothing can be worse than a week of bed rest."
"How about two weeks of bed rest?" Ulrich replied.
"Are you kidding me?"Odd huffed.
"Dr. Greene told Mr. Delmas that the echocardio-thing that they did to you today showed that your heart was worse than they thought," Ulrich told him. "And, well… They're kind of making you use a wheelchair for a week…"
"What!" Odd exclaimed as he rounded on his best friend. "I can walk just fine!"
"You know," Ulrich said, "if you'd just been more sensible and sat out on those missions your heart wouldn't be so bad. The doctor just wants you to relax as much as possible before it gets worse than this."
"But I don't need a stupid wheelchair!" Odd whined.
"It's only for the first week," Ulrich said, "just to get around to lunch and stuff."
As if on cue, Mr. Delmas came into the room pushing a wheelchair. "Ready to go?" he asked.
Odd sighed in defeat as he picked up his stuffed dog and sat down. "Please tell me that we'll be back in time for dinner," he said. "Because if I miss mashed potatoes, this will go down as the most upsetting day in history."
Ulrich rolled his eyes as he took the handles of the wheelchair from the principal. "Let's get the human garbage disposal back to school before I have to hear him complaining all night."
Odd grinned mischievously as the three of them left.
Odd was fairly quiet as Ulrich pushed him into the cafeteria. It was clear that Ulrich was holding a bit of a grudge against him for lying, but Odd understood and said nothing about it. He felt lucky that Ulrich was even talking to him still. "Did I miss much school work today?" Odd asked, trying to make some conversation.
"Not really," Ulrich said. "I think everyone was still kind of wound up… You know… about you being in the hospital and all… No one could really concentrate on school work… Besides, you're excused from it anyway."
"Yea," Odd replied dejectedly, looking down at his Kiwi doll. Never before had he wanted to actually have to do work. "I know."
"We're here," Ulrich said, coming to a stop inside the cafeteria.
Odd looked up as he heard hundreds of voices yell, "Surprise!" A banner was hung over the windows saying 'Welcome Back Odd!' Odd smiled as the first people to make their way to him were Aelita, Jeremie, and Yumi.
"Hey Odd," they greeted happily.
"This is a different welcoming committee than I'm used to," Odd joked, referring to the monsters in Lyoko.
"Come on," Ulrich said. "Let's sit down."
"Speak for yourself," Odd said sourly. "I'm already sitting."
Throughout dinner, everyone fussed over Odd. Pretty much all of his many ex-girlfriends came over to say hi to him. Between his visitors, Odd smiled smugly. "The girls are really flocking to you tonight Shorty," Yumi teased him.
Odd ignored the 'shorty' comment and continued to smile. "Yea," he said. "Who knew that if I'd only been sick all of my girlfriends would have forgotten to hate me!"
"Yea," Ulrich said dully. "Who knew…"
Odd yawned and Jeremie suddenly noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "You should go to bed," he told him.
Odd quickly scanned the room for the only girl he hadn't seen and sighed. "I guess you're right," he said when he didn't see her.
Ulrich stood and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair. "See you in the morning guys," he said.
"I've got to head home too," Yumi said, standing as well, though somewhat reluctantly. "My mom and dad have been fighting non-stop lately, and I really don't feel like giving them another excuse to fight by missing curfew."
"Goodnight," Aelita said. "We'll see youall tomorrow."
"Night!" Odd said as Ulrich pushed him away.
When Odd was in his room and done getting into his pajamas and bed there was a knock on his door. Ulrich went to open it and Odd heard a happy bark. He quickly went to the door himself to see Sissi holding his dog. "Kiwi!" he cried.
"Get back in bed Odd," Ulrich ordered, earning himself a stuck-out tongue from the short blonde. He rolled his eyes and went back to his own bed.
Odd took Kiwi from Sissi gratefully. "How was he?" he asked.
"Fine," Sissi replied as she pet the dog's head. "He was good company."
Odd laughed as Kiwi licked him all over his face excitedly. "Thank you for watching him. I didn't see you at dinner today."
"Oh, I was playing with Kiwi," Sissi said with a smile. "I tried to put a bow in his hair, but he doesn't really have much."
Odd quirked an eyebrow at her, unable to resist the urge to make some comment at her prissy attempt, but he had no time to say anything before being called back into the room.
"Get in bed Odd," Ulrich said again from inside.
Odd sighed, deciding to give Sissi a break on the whole bow thing. "Well my old lady is calling me," he joked. "Come play with Kiwi sometime. He likes you a lot."
Sissi nodded in consent. "Goodnight," she told him. "See ya Kiwi!"
Odd closed the door and lay down on his bed with Kiwi at his feet. "What was that all about?" Ulrich asked.
"What do you mean?" Odd replied.
"Sissi," Ulrich told him as if it explained everything. "Why are you so nice to her all of a sudden?"
"It's nothing," Odd said quickly.
"Whatever," Ulrich said as he turned off the lamp between their beds. "Go to sleep."
About ten minutes later, Odd was still staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. "Hey Ulrich?" he asked and heard a grunt in reply. "You and your parents don't really get along, right?"
Ulrich was silent for a moment before answering. "Yea, I guess you could say that…"
"But they still love you right?" Odd asked.
Ulrich turned the light back on. "What are you getting at?" he asked. He didn't really like being asked about his parents and was mildly offended that his best friend might imply that they didn't love him.
Odd sat up and looked at Ulrich. "If you were really sick," he said, "they would want to come, right?"
"Of course they would," Ulrich said defensively. "My parents are just a little strict. They don't hate m- Oh…" He finally realized why Odd had asked. "Odd, did Mr. Delmas ever contact your parents?"
Odd laid back down on his side, his back to Ulrich. "Nevermind," he said softly. "Don't worry about it…"
"I know you want to talk about it Odd," Ulrich said.
"They're really busy people," Odd said. "It's okay… I understand that they can't come…"
"I'm sure that they want to see you," Ulrich tried to reassure him.
"Yea… I'm sure they do…" Odd sighed. "I haven't seen them in two years Ulrich…"
"What about vacation?" Ulrich asked in confusion. "You always go away to see them."
"I lied," Odd said bluntly as he turned back over to look at Ulrich. "I have other relatives. I just stay with my aunt during vacation. And that is awful. She's worse than my parents, thinking I'm always about to keel over."
"Why do they send you there?" Ulrich asked somewhat angrily.
"I don't know," Odd said in a sad voice. "They kind of ignore me when I'm around anyway… When I was little it was different… but I remember the day I came home from the hospital… after they found out I was sick… My mom cried when she tucked me into bed… After that, they always had work or parties or vacations that I wasn't allowed to go on… It was like I didn't exist… Since I was five I just grew up with a nanny taking care of me… I think my parents thought that if they don't love me, they can't be sad if I die."
"Odd…"
Odd quickly shut off the lamp before Ulrich could witness the tears in his eyes. "Goodnight Ulrich."
Ulrich sighed before lying back down. "Goodnight."
Poor Odd… :(
Just so you know, that 'echocardio-thing' that Ulrich's referring to is an echocardiogram, which is basically a ultrasound of someone's heart.
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