Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter! Life caught up with me, and if I pass World Geography, it will be a miracle. If I didn't pass, I will have to do summer school, which will mean I'll be just as busy this summer. It's not that I didn't learn the stuff, I just had a lot of missing work and low quiz grades, and that brought my grades down. I think I probably BARELY passed English. Either way, it gives s.joann.c and me great pleasure to post this chapter today. Thanks for sticking around!
P.S. I'm going to try to update all my stories sometime during this break, with at least one new chapter for each, even my Star Wars stories. I will TRY to get up the next story in my Sonic series, but no promises!
Jeremy awoke the next morning, which was Monday. He put his glasses back on, then took a towel, a washcloth, and some odds and ends, such as bath soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste, and left his room. After he stepped out, he realized he didn't know where the boys' shower rooms were.
Suddenly, he heard the door across the hall from him open. He looked and saw a boy with brown hair and brown eyes and a defined musculature that indicated he was skilled in martial arts emerge, followed by a stranger boy with blond hair that had a splotch of purple in it, as if someone had spilled grape juice in it, which was shaped into a cone on his head, and he had purple eyes.
"Ulrich, come on, you know you like Yumi!" the blond and purple haired boy was declaring.
"Odd, I don't even know her very well yet! I only met her yesterday, for goodness sakes!" Ulrich, the brown haired boy growled.
"Um, excuse me, but could you two show me to the shower rooms?" Jeremy asked. Ulrich and the other boy looked at him.
"You must be the new kid," Ulrich said. "Hi, my name is Ulrich, welcome!"
"And I'm Odd," the other boy said.
"I figured that out, what's your name?" Jeremy inquired.
"That is my name," Odd sighed. "Everybody says that!" Ulrich and Jeremy laughed.
"I'm Jeremy," Jeremy introduced himself. "So, are you going to show me to the shower rooms or not?"
Ulrich and Odd laughed. "Of course," Ulrich agreed.
After they were showered and dressed, Ulrich and Odd showed Jeremy to the lunchroom. Jeremy showed them his schedule, and Ulrich and Odd found that they shared all their classes. Then Ulrich saw Yumi walking through the cafeteria. His and Yumi's eyes caught once again. Yumi smiled and made her way over to him.
"Hi, mind if I sit here?" she inquired.
"Sure, go ahead," Odd interjected.
"My name is Yumi. You're Odd," she guessed, pointing to Odd as she sat down next to Jeremy, who was sitting across from Ulrich and Odd, "and you're Ulrich, right?" she asked, pointing to Ulrich.
"That's me," Ulrich agreed. "How did you know?"
"Let's just say Odd is well-known among the girls around here, and I know you because my best friend pointed you out to me," she replied.
"Who's your best friend?" Odd inquired.
"Sissi Delmas," Yumi replied as Odd snorted.
"That stuck-up brat?" he began before Ulrich elbowed him in the ribs. "Owww, Ulrich, what'd you do that for?" he whined.
"You don't say things like that about other people's best friends, especially not right in front of them!" he scolded. Then he turned to Yumi. "Please forgive Odd's severe lack of manners."
"That's okay," Yumi replied. Then she looked at Jeremy. "Who are you?"
"My name is Jeremy. I'm new around here, so it's no surprise you don't know me!"
"Well, welcome to Kadic Academy, Jeremy!"
"I would like to warn all of you that I am a first-rate computer nerd, I'm really smart, and I'm also in the seventh grade."
"Wait a minute," Odd protested. "How can you be in the same grade as Ulrich and me? You're a full year younger than the two of us!"
"Isn't it obvious, Odd? He skipped a grade!" Ulrich offered.
"Oh, yeah! I never thought of that!" Odd replied sheepishly.
"That's all right, Odd, you were just having a pre-mature senior moment," Yumi laughed. "I get those all the time and I'm not even in my senior year here yet!"
The three boys laughed. They talked for a few more minutes before Jeremy posed a question. "Yumi, why don't you have a tray?"
"Oh, I live off-campus. I'm Japanese, and my parents are very traditional, so I get to eat a home-cooked breakfast every morning!"
"Lucky," Jeremy whispered softly, looking down and pushing his food around his plate, suddenly looking very depressed. Concern quickly became apparent on the faces of the three others.
"What is it, Jeremy?" Odd asked out of concern for his new schoolmate.
"I just… I miss my parents," Jeremy admitted quietly, a tear falling from each one of his eyes. "They were my only friends, the only people I ever really connected with!" Yumi put her arm across his shoulder and gave him a little squeeze.
"You know, Jeremy, I went through the same thing about a year or two ago when I first came here," Ulrich offered.
Jeremy looked up, giving a little sniffle. "Really?"
Ulrich nodded. "My parents were all I ever had. My grandparents live in other countries, and I don't have any brothers or sisters. So they were really important to me!"
Jeremy sniffled again. "How did you get over it?"
Ulrich smiled. "I immediately met a new friend, who was also new to the school- Odd, my roommate. Odd missed his parents, his older brother, and his older sister. We kind of looked out for each other, and we eventually learned to deal with the separation." Odd smiled, too.
"And you've got it easier than we did, because you have three new friends already! We'll always be happy to help you get through anything!"
Jeremy smiled, his sadness forgotten. "Thanks, you guys! I really appreciate you all being so nice. So, who is this Sissi person you were talking about earlier?" he inquired curiously. Yumi smiled, Ulrich's expression remained blank, and Odd rolled his eyes. They then launched into a discussion about Sissi, which was quickly halted by the warning bell.
"See you guys at lunch!" Yumi called as she ran off.
As she exited the lunchroom, somebody grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side. "Hey, Yumi! Where were you this morning? You were supposed to meet me out front, remember?" Sissi exclaimed, letting go of Yumi's arm.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I got here a little earlier than usual this morning and decided to find out more about this Ulrich guy," Yumi replied, clearly sorry.
"Really? What'd you find out!" Sissi asked greedily.
"I'll meet you in your room after school to tell you, okay?"
"All right," Sissi reluctantly agreed. "But how did you find out?"
"I went straight to the source! I asked him! I sat with him and his friends this morning and we talked!"
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Sissi exclaimed. "You're serious? You actually sat with Ulrich Stern this morning?"
"Yeah!" Then the tardy bell rang. "Oh, crap!" Yumi yelled. "See you later, Sissi!" she cried, bolting for her first class as Sissi did the same. She rushed to Mr. Fumet's class. She burst into the room, panting slightly, exactly 60 seconds after the bell rang.
"It's nice of you to finally join us, Ms. Ishiyama! Do you have an excuse for your tardy?"
"No, I do not, sir," she admitted, looking down.
"Well, since your record here at the school is spotless, and this is your first offense, I will let it slide just this once. Be tardy again and you can expect to reap the full consequences!"
"Thank you, sir," Yumi breathed gratefully.
"Now, please take your seat."
"Yes, sir." Yumi made her way toward her desk and took her seat, class then continuing as if nothing had ever happened.
Heehee, Yumi won't have much of a spotless record from now on, huh? Because little does she know that she and her new friends are going to discover a secret! Next chappie, the group makes a tour date to show Jeremy around town, since he's new.