Friends and Fame Don't Mix: Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Code:Lyoko at ALL. Dude, in my dreams…

Claimer: I own… :counts: Lexi, Deana, Ashley, Kristen, Clarice, Sarah, the black guard (haha!), and the 16-year old characters! Whoa, a lot of OCs… and a lot more to come.

Author's Note: All right, this section will be the present. The next section will be the Future! And I FINALLY decided to do a Disclaimer and a Claimer thing. It looked like fun! Haha. Oh, and I may not be able to update anytime soon. I gotz school. Sucks ass. But yeah. Anyway, I'm sorry to those of you who I talk to normally, my computer's internet went on strike for 2 weeks, until I fixed it. So, I'm back now, so go ahead and email/IM me! I'm here.

"Good job, Lexi." Clarice called as Lexi walked out of the room, smiling- wait, no, SMIRKING- triumphantly.

"Deana! Come in!"

Deana breathed a sigh of relief that she wouldn't be near Lexi. Lexi smirked at her, and made an attempt to push her, but Deana quickly dodged, and rushed to Clarice's room.

Yumi grimaced as Lexi took a seat beside her.

"Hi Lexi!" Ashley said, making a friendly attempt to be… well, friendly.

"Hi." Lexi replied, staring at her manicured nails, and blowing on them conceitedly.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much…"

There was an awkward silence after that.

Then Yumi decided to be nice as well.

"Where are you from?"

"New York City."

"Oh. I'm from France…"

"France?" She sprang up.

"Uh, yeahh…"

"That's like, soo like fancy and stuff! It's like so romantic! Daddy took me there once." She sighed dreamily, "And like, there were SO many hottt boys, and-"

She started to babble on and on about France.

Personally, Yumi didn't think it was a huge deal. It's not that fancy or romantic… okay, maybe it was- kinda. The boys weren't that hot either- with an exception of Ulrich.

"Oh, it's no big deal…" Yumi interrupting her.

Lexi nodded, "New York isn't a big deal either."

Yumi agreed, "No, it isn't."

"But it's beautiful." Kristen added.

"Ya, it is. It's much prettier than this boring place. And this studio is SO small… MY suite is like sooo much bigger than this." She bragged.

"I'm sure it is… you conceited brat…" Yumi mumbled under her breath.

"Excuse me? What did you say?" Lexi asked, politely.

"Ohh, nothing…" She replied, equally sweet.

Ashley and Kristen giggled softly.

"GREAT job, Deana! You're a natural model!" They heard Clarice cry out with enthusiasm.

Lexi grimaced, her fists clenched ever-so-slightly.

And out Deana came.

"Yumi? You're up next!" Clarice said enthusiastically.

Yumi nodded, and smiled sympathetically at Ashley and Kristen, who shooed her off, eyes telling her to not pity them.

"All right, Yumi, flash me your biggest smile!" Clarice said, when they were in the next room, door shut.

Yumi smiled, showing off her straight, white teeth, and dimples. Her black hair caressed her cheek, and swooped a little above her eye.

Clarice smiled broadly, "I'm going to take you to get highlights, and a manicure and a pedicure sometime. Probably in a few days…"

"Huh? Why?"

"You'd look great with burgundy highlights! And brown…" Clarice smiled again, "We'll talk about that later. Right now, strike me a pose!"

(A/N: Okay, you all know I'm not a model. I'm doing this with my best judgment, as my friend isn't here to help me out at the moment. TT.TT Bear with me!)

"Um, a pose? Like what?" Yumi questioned, "I'm new at this."

Clarice flipped open a "Peoples" magazine and just a regular Wall-Mart sales pamphlet.

"Observe these actresses. You see them smiling that innocent way? That someday, hopefully, will be you. You see her hair blowing in the wind? Not the wind. The fan. It depends what thing you're doing. You need to know how to do the "Cooler-than-you" look, and the "Innocent as hell" look." Clarice explained.

"Ah. All right, I get it."

"And sometimes it strikes to the reader, or viewer, that you're walking. You need that walking pose, even though you're not actually WALKING. You get what I mean?"

Yumi nodded.

"All right we'll start with the simple one."

Clarice walked over to Yumi and strikes a pose.

She rocked her hip to the left, and placed her hand on it. She was leaning over on the right a little bit more. Then she placed her other hand on her right hip. Then she flashed a brilliant smile.

"You got that? That's about the easiest one yet."

Yumi nodded, and imitated her exactly.

"Yes, yes." Clarice nodded, satisfied, "You're quite a fast learner, dear."

"Thanks!" Yumi smiled.

Clarice then strikes the "Walking Pose". Her right hand unseen, behind her waist, and the left hand out a little, as if she was walking. And she then flashed a sly grin, making her look quite seductive.

"This my dear, is the Walking Pose, commonly used in woman's clothes ad pamphlets, such as Macy's. This fits nicely in the category of 'Cooler than You'. These types of poses are usually used to make you look sly and seductive, or just a friendly one for kid's back-to-school ads or something.'"

Yumi nodded again.

"Good, good!" Clarice said, "We shouldn't be wasting that much time now. It has already been 20 minutes!"

Yumi smiled. Clarice seemed to be nice enough.

"Thank you." Yumi said, and went to open the door.

"Deary, you're the fastest learner I have ever met. It takes quite a while to perfect these poses, even the simplest ones. You're one of a kind, hon. A natural beauty. A smart one, at that!" Clarice smiled broadly.

"Why, thank you." Yumi repeated. She knew that Clarice was just saying those things to make her feel good… and it was working.

But however, Clarice didn't lie. She meant every thing she said- usually. But, yeah, she wasn't lying.

"I mean it, Yumi. I don't lie. When I took Japanese classes in school a while back, I remember Yumi meant… beauty yes?" Clarice asked, as she flung open the door. (Clarice is around her lates 20's, early 30's. Haven't decided yet…)

Yumi grinned slightly, "Yes… yes, it does."

-gypsy voice- Into the Future… 3 years later

The crowd screamed Yumi Ishiyama's name, and shouts begging her for her autograph followed it.

Yumi's so-called "nightmare" was coming true three years later.

Here she was, red carpet, bright lights, cameras flashing non-stop… this was the celebrity life. And don't forget there are more than a million fans jumping at you, behind that metal fence, begging you for your loopy, messy autograph. And even if it's the messiest one yet, they won't care, they'll hug it to their heart, and run off to tell their friends- or sell it on E-Bay.

Yumi thought it was kind of funny. She could write her autograph on little slits of paper, then put it on E-bay for hmm… 10 bucks? And there will be a lot of bids on it the next day. She'll get an easy hundred- or maybe thousand. Not that she didn't get them already.

:Yumi P.O.V.:

(A/N: Okay, everything in Yumi's P.O.V. is to give you a glimpse of her now 17-year old life. What she thinks, how her life is, all that stuff. Like to straighten everything out. Sorry if it's a bit of a bore!)

Ugh… here I am at this prehistoric exhibit. I could BARELY care less, but hey, better than having fan boys/girls ringing my doorbell constantly, pleading for my autograph. And, of course, there are stalkers and people jumping up and down outside my window. How they figured out my address, I have no idea. Sometimes it gets so hectic, I call the police.

And you know what? THEY ask for my autograph for their children. And I'm like, "ARRGHHH." But I have to be sooo polite. Ugh. Being a celeb sometimes sucks ass…

It was three years ago when I started my career as a model. I was 14 then, and 17 now. I have kinda dumped my career as a model. I'm still a model, but part time. I still do it when Clarice needs me. You see, I wanted to live my dream of becoming a professional big-hit singer. And, well, here I am. I'm living my dream- but not how I would think. I forgot the gossip, the rumors, the lies, the fan girls, the fan boys, the worshippers, rivals, enemies, and all that stuff. I'm not complaining- okay maybe I am- a little! But, who can help it? All this stuff can make anyone grumpy. Besides, I never knew it would go this far… and I never knew the consequences and results of being a celebrity. Like I said, I'm not complaining. I love my career, and am not going to quit anytime soon.

Anyways, like I said, I'm stuck here at this new exhibit thing. So I'm on the red carpet, signing autographs that are being pushed at me. I fake-smile, and sign autographs, asking them what their name is, and blah. But, hey, sometimes it's quite fun. I loved the feeling I got when I heard people screaming my name, shouting compliments at me in every direction.

I continued signing their autograph books for an hour or so. I was due for a CD-signing thing at a local music store. My new album would be coming out soon, and it was my first, so I was REALLY excited, and the day after it came out, I would be at the biggest CD place in California, as that place is where the album will be coming out first.

Then these two men came out from the exhibit, and ushered me inside. I waved to the people inside the metal fence (I don't really like to call them my "fans". I hate to feel snobby and conceieted… like Sissy for instance.), and smiled- genuinely this time. The feeling was great. Then the men gave me a tour of basically the entire thing. They were like the "head" of the exhibit thing, or whatever you want to call them. The man who basically did all the talking was around 40, kind of bald, was stuttering a bit at the beginning, but seeing he had nothing to worry about, relaxed after a while. I thought it would be some boring old exhibit that my mom used to go with me to when I was 4. But this? This wasn't half bad.

Of course, the technology was better, so it was like a virtual video-game thing. They put this helmet on my head, and I was actually seeing the dinosaurs roaring, and coming at me. I was about to run, and scream as a big dinosaur was going to step on me, but thank the lord, they took the helmet off of my head before I got killed- virtually. Kind of reminds me of Lyoko, but Lyoko was real, and serious. Strange- I went from an unknown super-heroine to a big-hit singer. Sounds pretty weird huh?

So, like, I left at around 6, and a chauffeur picked me up in my limo, and drove me back to my house, if you would be kind enough to call it that.

My house has about 10 rooms upstairs, not including the 3 bathrooms.

And downstairs, there's around 4 empty rooms, one of them filled with junk. But as they say, one's trash is another's treasure. So I'm planning to donate all of that "junk" to the salvation army and charity, such as mattresses, pillows, worn out clothes, baby-ish toys, all that stuff. I'm a charity person, if you'd call it that. I'm planning to donate half of the profit I make from my concert next week to charity. It feels good to give it away to the less fortunate- I'm sure they'll appreciate it.

Anyway, there's a kitchen, sitting room, living room, blah. The usual. Outside is a pool that goes up to 12 ft, including a Jacuzzi and a hot tub. Which is exactly where I'm heading now.

I quickly changed into my halter-top black bikini. (A/N: Can you imagine Yumi in a bikini? I know it's a bit of a drastic change, but hey, it's 2 years from now- anything can happen.)

It had red stripes on the right side, and was kind of plain- how I liked it. Indeed, black is still my favorite color- and thankfully, Clarice and everyone else approves as black is a "sophisticated" color and makes you look thinner and younger. But, personally, I don't really think it makes me look more "sophisticated" or thinner. Speaking of colors, my mother, and my manager (Mimi) and Clarice makes me wear brighter-color clothes, like pink (I had to wear that by force…),blue (One of my favorite colors now, it ain't bad), red (nah…), white, purple, green, etc. etc. But when not outside, and I don't have my maid (Christine) to pester me about it, I stick with black, as it's still my ALL-TIME favorite color.

Actually, I don't think I changed that much since I moved to America. I've grown a bit taller, around 2 or 3 inches. I let my hair grow a bit longer as well. It's now a little above the middle of my back, and with much persuading, I highlighted my hair brown and red. Red on the very tips of my hair, for "flare" as Clarice said. And brown because—well, just because. Mom said my hair looked brighter, and not as "blah" like black. My hair is really straight; occasionally it flares out after I wash it. I'm guessing I've grown curvier, everyone says so. I don't wear black turtlenecks and black pants as often as I used to. Now, I wear halter-tops, crop necks, and the usual clothing Americans wear. I actually carry a purse now- a black one. It's not that big, just the small kind, with my wallet, a pen (in case for autographs), my palm organizer, and my cellphone. See? Not much changed. But people say I look less "blah", and more like the celebrity I am.

Anyway, I head off to the pool, where my friends, Kristen, Deana, and Ashley were hanging out in the hot tub. I already had let Christine know that they would be arriving around five. And Lexi, you may ask? She's a world-wide model, traveling everywhere and such. You can see her everywhere, posters, ads, tv commercials, magazines informing everyone about her personal life- she's EVERYWHERE. (A/N: But hey, so is Yumi! Well, only in U.S.- for now…) We're not close or anything, but sometimes she could be okay. And thankfully, we BARELY keep in touch. I was glad we had lost contact- I didn't need a Sissy brat annoying me every second of my life. (A/N: I know, you probably thought Lexi was going to be another Sissy clone, constantly bugging her. But I didn't want to deal with that, and Lexi probably wasn't going to care much if they kept in touch or not.)

:Normal P.O.V.:

"YUMI!" The girls shrieked, as Yumi dived into the pool, splashing them with ice-cold water.

"Hey guys!" Yumi greeted, as she swam freestyle to the hot-tub and climbed in.

"How was that exhibit?" Kristen asked, soaking herself in the nice, hot water.

"It was really cool. It was this virtual thing that lets you see the dinosaurs as if you were actually there. And I almost screamed cuz a T-Rex was gonna step on me." The girls laughed.

Kristen, Ashley, and Deana were close friends of Yumi now- actually, her only friends- in U.S. at least. They were still models, never quitting the career. As for the gang back in France, they didn't correspond anymore. It's not like they didn't want to. But Yumi had lost their phone numbers when she was forced to buy a more high-tech phone. Her mother went ahead and bought a new one for her daughter, giving her old phone back to the phone company (not before deleting all the contacts and stuff). Her mother had pointed out they had the money, and it would be a lot nicer if it was a camera phone, with Internet and e-mail and AIM attached. Yumi couldn't call the gang to inform them about it, and they didn't have any e-mail addresses in the past.

Again, not much changed. Deana, Kristen, and Ashley were still the gorgeous, beautiful young girls they were 3 years back. But, like Yumi, they have grown curvier, and looked a lot more glamorous. And again, like Yumi, they got highlights. With a lot of decision and talks with Yumi, Ashley highlighted her hair a few streaks of purple. Kristen highlighted her hair burgundy and chestnut, whilst Deana kept her shiny, brown/blonde hair. They had grown much closer, and hung out together every chance they got.

Yumi stepped out of the hot tub, and dived headfirst into the water. The other girls followed suit- except Ashley.

"CANNONBALL!" Ashley screamed as she cannonballed into the water.

The other 3 girls quickly got sprayed by the water, and shrieked/laughed.

"You are SO paying for that!" Deana shouted at Ashley. Deana had grown out of her shell thanks to the girls. Although she was still quite shy around other people, Deana was a fun-loving girl, and really outgoing when she was around the girls.

Deana climbed up the steps and imitated Ashley, purposely landing right next to her.

"HEY!" Ashley shouted.

"Ughhh." Yumi groaned, glancing at Kristen.

Kristen rolled her eyes, as the two girls bickered, and tackled each other into the water.

Ashley pushed Deana under the water, but Deana grabbed her feet and pushed her down as well.

"Will they ever stop?" Kristen asked Yumi.

"Nope…" Yumi replied, smiling slightly.

Some things never change.

In France

(A/N: I forgot to mention before, everyone is in the same grade. Makes it SO much easier.)

"Come on Odd!" a handsome 17-year old brunette boy tugged his best friend's sleeve, "We have to get to class!"

He had brown, messy hair. He was wearing a forest-green t-shirt, and jeans. He was a hunk- the heartthrob of the school. He was muscular and buff- not too buff, just the right amount, if you get what I'm saying. Every girl in school wanted him, those who were single at least. He was star of the soccer team, winning the "Most Valuable Player" award, and was captain as well. He also played guitar. And the most important fact that all girls in school found most helpful- he was single. For 3 years. Though there was a rumour a year ago that he was dating a girl named Emily. But turned out it wasn't true.

"Oh, pipe down Ulrich." The blonde said, waving him away as he stared at two pretty girls giggling together at the lunch table.

The blonde looked the same as always. Hair like Dragon Ball Z characters, but blonde with a purple spot in the middle. He was the oddball in the school, the class clown, unlike his best friend. And, again, unlike his best friend, he was not the heartthrob in school. He was good-looking (sometimes), and was single. But like Ulrich, he played guitar. His after-school, or in school activity was flirting with any good-looking girl that catched his eye. He was dressed in a purple t-shirt, and jeans.

The girls noticed him staring, and giggled again. Then eyed Ulrich with interest, and smiled seductively, hoping the single hunk would notice.

"Come on, lover boy." Ulrich rolled his eyes, "We have to get to Arithmetic Class."

"Oh, come ON Ulrich. You've been obsessing over Yumi since forever. Why can't you just start over? I know there are a million girls drooling over you! I bet Yumi already has a boyfriend or something." Odd said, instantly regretted his words. He felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

"I'm sorry, buddy. But you have to get over it sometime." Odd said, placing a reassuring hand on his best friend's shoulder.

Ulrich's face saddened, and hung his head. He could feel his eyes welling up at the thought of Yumi having a boyfriend. But there must be tons of guys drooling over her as well. Maybe he SHOULD forget about her. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. The measly crush on the gorgeous girl had blossomed into more- love. His heart ached for her touch- her laugh, her smile; oh god, he even missed her teasing! In conclusion, he was… HOPELESS.

"Y-you're right, Odd. But I can't get over it." Ulrich said, his voice somber, his gaze on the floor.

Odd sighed. "I don't want to say that Ulrich. Yumi's my friend too, and we're all not going to forget about her."

Ulrich nodded, and said as an attempt to cheer himself up, "I already found my dream girl." Ulrich averted his gaze from the floor to Odd's face and smirked, "But you haven't."

Odd stuck out his tongue at his best friend and said, "She's somewhere out there! I just well, have to wait."

Ulrich rolled his eyes and dragged Odd to Arithmetic Class.

Ulrich and Odd got there just in time, but they were the last ones there.

The bell rang.

"Hello class! Today we are going to learn-" Ms. Barber started dully.

Suddenly, a voice came over the P.A. system.

"Hello students!" A hyper voice said. It was the principal of Kadic. HIGH. (Notice there's no JR.!) She was Mrs. Pinackalis. (A/N: Don't ask… but if you do, that's okay too. xP)

"I have a very important announcement!" She continued, "As you all know, there was a district raffle. The prize is the whole school will go on a vacation to California!"

Hushed voices spread throughout the room.

"How long the stay will be is unknown. There will be an educational tour once each week. You won't be let off that easy!" She said, "You'll be receiving a permission slip, and a few papers telling you about the trip."

"And, most of you already guessed it, the winner of the vacation is…" She paused dramatically.

The students and teachers held their breath, each of them having a feeling it was-

"KADIC. HIGH!" She screamed, not even trying to restrain her excitement. (Very uncharacteristic of a principal, but w/e.)

The whole school got in an uproar.

Screams, shouts, and yells were heard across the hall, teachers springing up lively, and cheering, as others flew into the halls screaming and dancing. And Ms. Barber's class threw their hats up in the air. (if they had any.)

"YES!" Ms. Barber shouted. The students got up and jumped on the desks, and Ms. Barber hugged the students happily.

"WE'RE GOING TO CALI!"

"Where's California, Jeremie?" Aelita asked as she walked to the park with Jeremie, Ulrich and Odd.

She wasn't as naive as before, and knew ALMOST everything an earthling should.

"It's in the United States, Aelita. It's on the east of us. It'll be great!" Jeremie exclaimed.

As usual, Jeremie was Jeremie. Jeremie the Einstein. Jeremie the school genius. The school mastermind. He wore his usual blue outfit, blue shirt, blue pants. He still wore glasses, never really wanting contacts. And looked exactly the same as two years ago- except he was taller, and cuter, but yeah, still the same old Jer.

"Doesn't Yumi live in California?" Ulrich asked, starry-eyed.

"Yep… I think." Odd said, scratching his head.

"Let me call her." Ulrich responded, and quickly took out his cell and dialed Yumi's number.

"Hello?" A voice said. It sounded Indian… so not Yumi. Maybe she picked up the accent?

"Hey, this is Ulrich."

"Ulrich? Who are you? MOTHER! A PERSON IS STALKING ME!"

Ulrich hastily canceled the call.

"Well?" Odd pestered.

"Some Indian girl who has no frigging idea who the hell I am."

"Ah. I see."

"I'm guessing she changed her phone number… if you're rich, you'll probably want a more high-tech phone. Or if people figure out her cell number, they'll call her, and then she'll have to change the phone number anyways." Jeremie suggested, "Well she SHOULD be rich… knowing her, she's very successful…"

Ulrich and Odd looked at him, quizzically.

"Well, she IS a model isn't she?"

"OH YEAH! I forgot…"

"So we are unable to contact Yumi?" Aelita asked, her voice filled with worry.

"Yes, but don't worry Aelita, I'm sure we'll get to see her face in a magazine…" said Ulrich, sadly.

"Brighten up buddy, at least you get to see her." Odd pointed out.

"For once Odd, you're right."

Ahh! What's going to happen next? The suspense! Haha. Don't worry, the fun's just beginning! The Ulrich- mobbing, the talk show, the confessing, the new Odd relationship, and the lip-locks- it's alllll good. I'll be sure to get the next chappie ASAP. Oh, and REVIEW! Please and thank youu!

--Jenn--