Chapter 4

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Jo. You're an awesome authoress, friend, and think up lots of ideas. You just don't know it yet!

Oh, and Sam will be mentioned occasionally throughout the story, but most likely you won't actually "see" her. Just to tell you. Enjoy!

"YUMI! YUMI!" The crowd chanted.
She was on a red carpet, in the same dress as last time.
A limo was at the end of the red carpet, apparently waiting for her.
She tried to run away, but the crowd held her back, as they continued to chant her name menacingly…

"Yumi. YUMI! Wake up!" Her mother shook her. "We're in America. We're somewhere on the east coast."

"Wha-what?", Yumi mumbled.

She rubbed her eyes.

"Ugh, not the same nightmare again!", She groaned.

"What nightmare?" Yumi's mom asked, confused.

"Oh, it's nothing." The still dazed girl replied quickly. At her mother's doubtful glance, she added, "Really."

Her mother sighed with exasperation. "I know you're as stressed as I am. But it's a new opportunity."

"Pffttt", Yumi mumbled. "I have to wake up at 5 AM in the morning. I barely even get to eat! I call that a great opportunity."

Her mother sighed again, not knowing what to say.

Yumi decided not to make her mother more upset about the situation, even though it was her fault that this happened in the first place.

"I'm sorry if I made the wrong choice, Yumi." Her mother finally said, quietly, as to not wake her snoring husband. "But there's no backing out now. We're already in America."

"Then I'll just go up to the pilot and demand that we head right back to France!" Yumi replied, getting up.

"Yumi. Please." Her mother held on to her arm. "Just give it a chance. If you hate it, you can go back to France."

Yumi sighed, and sat down, staring out the window.

She saw land- a lot of land. But it was kind of hard to see, as it was around 7 or 8 PM. Or something like that.

She saw gorgeous lights brightening the city. It was like illuminating the city around it.

Yumi gazed at the beautiful sight.

"That's New York City." Her mother said, looking at the lights longingly "Isn't it just beautiful?"

"Yes." Yumi breathed. "Where are we going to live anyway?"

"We're going to live in California. Somewhere around San Francisco," Mrs. Ishiyama replied.

"Will I have to go to school?" Yumi fired another question at her mother.

"It depends. If you're very busy, then, no. You'll be home schooled. If you are not as busy, you will attend school." Mrs. Ishiyama said,
still staring out the window.

"What do you mean, very busy?"

"Why, it means you will be famous. As in, you may have a lot of advertising to do or commercials. Or," Her mother's eyes twinkled, "You could even be a singer! I know how much you love singing."

"How do you know?" Yumi asked, wide-eyed.

Her mother grinned. "Mothers have ways of finding out."

"Mom, I don't want to be a model." Yumi said, shifting to a more comfortable position. "Heck, I'm not even pretty."

"Don't you dare say that! You are very pretty, and nothing anyone says will change that. You are pretty inside and out." Her mother replied, looking at her daughter seriously, obviously meaning every word she said.

"Whatever." Yumi shrugged off her mother's words.

She looked at the map overhead, and saw she was somewhere around New York. It also said there were about 3 and a half more hours of the nonstop flight until she reached her destination.

She fiddled with the locket that was fastened around her neck, and wished she was still in France.

Sighing, she wished she never even went to Picture Day…

Meanwhile, back with the boys: In their dorm, around 7 PM

"Come on! What was in the box?" Odd pleaded for the zillionth time.

"It was a present for Yumi. Can't you tell?" Jeremie asked, smirking a little.

"I know that!" Odd said impatiently. "I want to know what was inside of the box!"

Ulrich remained silent as Jeremie and Odd discussed the possibilities.

"Maybe it was a necklace." Jeremie suggested.

"Yeah, right. I, for one, think it was an engagement ring!" Odd snickered, as Jeremie chuckled.

Ulrich glared at the two. "Ha-ha. What about Sam and Aelita?"

Jeremie blushed, as Odd remained silent.

Sighing, Ulrich said, "I gave her a locket. It has a picture of all of us when Aelita was materialized."

He decided not to mention the engraving.

"What? That's it? There's no engagement ring!" Odd pouted.

"Do you think Yumi's at America yet? We promised we would call her when Aelita gets materialized. And the sooner Aelita gets
materialized, the better." Jeremie asked.

"I'm not sure. Why don't you wait until tomorrow?" Ulrich suggested.

Jeremie looked quite a bit upset. He was hoping his dear Aelita could get materialized today.

"But-", Jeremie wanted to protest.

"A promise is a promise, Jeremie." Ulrich said.

Jeremie remained silent.

"Isn't there a 9-hour difference?" Odd questioned, listening in on the conversation, while rubbing the back of Kiwi's ears.

"And I'm surprised that little brain of yours knows that." Ulrich teased.

Odd glared at him, as Jeremie replied, "Yes, indeed there is Odd. She will probably arrive at 3 AM. Well, for us that is."

"I'll send her a text message for her to call us back when she gets there." Ulrich said, and picked up his cell phone.

"You mean she has to call us at 3 AM?" Odd wailed.

"Dunno. Depends what time she looks at her cellaur phone." Ulrich replied.

Odd pouted. Kiwi began to whine.

"Guess Kiwi needs to go outside. I'll see you guys around. Come on boy, let's go." Odd said, as he walked out of the room with Kiwi.

"I'm going too. I have to go check up on Aelita." Jeremie hurried out of the room.

Ulrich looked up, and before he could even say bye, they were gone.

He shrugged, and continued typing his message.

Y-

call me back when U get there. J wants 2 materialize Aelita soon

-U

He pressed the send button, and lied down on his bed.

He had a feeling he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

3 hours later…

(A/N: I'm skipping the entire plane procedure. I'm just gonna get to the point…)

"YESSS!" Yumi cried, ecstatic to finally be in America. "We're here!"

"Come on, let's grab our luggage and get out of this plane." Her father said, quickly grabbing their belongings, as they all made their way off of the plane.

A woman was there to greet them.

"Hey, you're Yumi right?" The woman asked cheerfully. "I'm Sarah. Remember me? I'm your photographer! And you must be Mrs. And
Mr. Ishiyama!"

Yumi's parents smiled politely, and nodded.

"As I have told you, I have provided car transportation." Sarah continued, "I'll show the way to my car."

They followed the way to her black Accord (woo-hoo! Lol jkjk)

"And we're off!" Sarah said, continuing to be bubbly, making Yumi a bit- annoyed.

They parked in front of a hotel.

"You'll live in this hotel until you are able to get a house. Come on, let me show you inside." Sarah said happily, leading the way, unaware no one had really talked the entire way.

She walked the way over to a chestnut-colored hair lady at the counter, intently tapping on the keyboard in front of her.

"Hello, miss-", the woman at the counter noticed Yumi and two other grown-ups, "And company. What can I do for you?"

"Ah, yes, I made a reservation for this family the day before. Their room number is 236." Sarah replied.

"All right, hold on a minute please." The woman said. The name tag on her shirt wrote, "Annie".

"236…" Annie mumbled. "Okay, got it. You are the Ishiyama family, correct?"

The Ishiyamas nodded.

"Three people and two rooms, yes?" Annie asked again.

"Yep," Sarah answered for the family.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure with ya'll. Here's your key!" Annie said, handing over the key to room 236.

"Thanks." Sarah said, once again taking charge. "Follow me." She told the family.

She started blabbing about the modeling agency, about Clarice, blah blah blah.

Yumi was starting to feel a bit drowsy…

"Yumi! Hello! You have to listen to this, it's very important." Sarah said, waving her hand in front of Yumi's face.

"Wha-what?" Yumi snapped out of her trance.

"Clarice decided to let you take a break tomorrow. She is very stern, mind you. If you get on her good side, she is very nice." Sarah
warned.

"The next day, you have to take the train to go to the studio. You have to wake up around 5 AM, you have to arrive at 6 AM. The studio is called Golden Studio. It's really big, I'm sure you'll notice it right away." Sarah informed her.

Yumi looked a bit dazed.

"Oh my. Look at the time! I'll have to go, I got some work to do. Bye!" Sarah waved, and left the family in a daze.

"My, she sure is…" Mrs. Ishiyama failed to finish her sentence.

"Hyper." Yumi finished for her.

They went inside their hotel room.

Yumi flopped onto her bed, claiming the room.

She turned on the TV, and flipped through the channels, trying to find something that suits her taste to watch.

"Are you sure you'll be all right in this room by yourself?" Her mother asked.

"Mom!" Yumi groaned loudly, "I'm only in the room next door!"

"Maybe you should get some sleep." Yumi's father suggested. (A/N: Yeah yeah, I know, I don't mention Yumi's dad a lot. And I mention Yumi's mom a lot more. I'm trying I'm trying…)

"Well I'm not a model yet, am I?" Yumi replied, "Just give me time to get used to this place."

"All right, dear…" Mr. Ishiyama replied, leaving.

He dragged his wife along, mumbling reassuringly to her that Yumi would be okay.

Yumi, however, stayed up all night, watching MTV, and other various amusing channels.

'There was so much America could offer' she mused. But she didn't even see half of it yet.

I'm finally done with this chapter! I actually did some research on this thing! Sorry for the hold-up. I am working on Anime Bubble's story, "Good Times Fasho". I'm already half way down with Chapter 16, and hopefully it will be up soon! Look out that for that later!

:NOTE: In August, I may not be able to update, I'll be busy then. Just a warning…

Review Replies

Andy c.o- Yep! Thanks!

Yumi-Ulrich4ever- Your welcome! Lol.

Lune-Solei- lol. I'm not a big fan of Harry Potter. I only finished the 2nd book, I started the 5th book, but I was too busy to finish it, and eventually I forgot about it. Gah... Thanks for the nice review!

Vic92091- lol. Yep. I just think everything I write turns out embarrassing or a horror. It's very common and VERY natural for me. Lol. Thanks for the review!

SHAYNA- Gah. Stop with all the cackling! lol. I know you're already evil! Lol jkjk. Gah, I would think you'd be confused. –cackle- lol jkjk. Thanks!

Doggiegal- Thank you!

Yumi Stern- Still waiting for that e-mail… -teases- It's a long story. Jo is a VERY famous authoress on fanfiction. I'll leave it at that. Yeah, I was misunderstood, and SHE was misunderstood, jumping to conclusions. But everything is cool now. Don't worry about it, okay?

aZn sIsTeR 92- Mm hmm! That locket will be used in further chapters. Thanks for your review!

xx Painful Bliss xx- Hope you enjoy this chappie!

Aelita6349- Gah. That sucks about him "needing a more local gf"… No offense to boys, but sometimes they just don't get it… -glares at brother- Thanks for the review!

Yumifansanchez- Yeah, I'm long over the deleting the other story thing. I don't really care anymore. I thought that story was too confusing anyways. Thanks! I'm glad I got over my depression too. Now I'm my happy self, once again. Thank you for the review!

American-Kitty- Thanks!

lYoKo gUrL 2006- Thanks, I'm glad you like the locket idea!

magicalfairy12- I haven't read Harry Potter's latest book yet… I'm going to get my hands on it eventually, I'm just too bubbly to sit there and read a thick book. Gah. I need to do that! I can't do it any other way. I picked that up from some book. I can't really remember… I think it was Black Beauty. Or some other book. Ah, whatever… I tried to follow your request, give me some credit for trying! Thanks for all your help too!

Luna- lol. I always thought Yumi as a… well, I never really thought of her that way. I think I'll put your idea in somewhere, I'm not sure when. I really like your cat idea, though! Thanks for the review!

Tessa- THANKS! Lol.

sadnesstwinedwithfriends- Well, I'm hoping the sadness didn't rule the world yet!

krazy- Thanks Angie!

Jo- Lol. Already done. :D

dongsang- lol. I'll take that as a compliment…

Lyoko-Luver- Thanks for the FANTABULOUS review! Lol!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. Please, if you have any ideas, e-mail me or tell me in your review. In desperate needs for ideas for the next chapter. Until then, I'll be working on "Good Times Fasho". Hopefully, it'll be coming soon! Thanks for all the reviews! REVIEW! All of them will be greatly appreciated.

--aZn dReAmEr xD