the sun was shining, the grass was green, and I, Odd della robbia (A/n Is that the right spelling?) was hiding behind a bush, attending my own funeral. Yes, that's right. I had decided to, Thomas sawyer style, attend my very own funeral.

well, okay. I hadn't even known I was dead till that day. It had all started with a XANA attack. Me, Aelita, and Ulrich headed to lyoko to fight. Ulrich was devirtualized fighting a magatank, and that left me and Aelita. Luckily, we were right in front of the tower. "Go on, Aelita," I had said. "I'll take care of the blok." Aelita nodded, and entered the tower. But XANA had a new scheme. He temporarily trapped me in lyoko, and stopped up the return to the past sequence. I was trapped in Lyoko for three days. it wasn't so bad. Yumi made a bunch of stupid movies for me to watch so I wouldn't get bored. Jeremy uploaded them to lyoko, along with some music. I hadn't realized how bad Jeremie's taste in music was until then. But while I was in Lyoko, a search party was set up when I didn't return to school the night of the attack.

they found my walkman by the river. I had put it there when me and William had gone swimming off the tiny beach, near a deeper stretch of the river. Nobody was allowed to swim there, but everyone did, anyways. Aelita, who had narrowly escaped being trapped herself, had then tried to make something up to make it seem like I was on a trip. But all that did was make everyone feel sorry for her, thinking she was in denial about my 'Drowning.' And, viola! Before you knew it, I was 'dead.'

Jeremy had narrowly pulled me out of Lyoko earlier than planned, and he was then fiddling with the back in time machine. But if there was one thing I always wanted to do, it was attend my own funeral. So, I promptly ditched the gang to watch the proceedings. Any second now, I expected a back in time, since XANA's tampering wasn't permanent. But in the mean time, this could be fun...

"Now," said principal Delmas. "We will have a word from one of Odd Della Robbia's peers, Herve." Herve? Who's freakin' idea was it for Herve to testify at my funeral? I mean, come on. Me and Herve aren't exactly friends. Maybe not enemies, but definitely not friends. But a blushing Herve made his way up to the podium that had been set up in honor of me. My stepmother was there. My Father had apparently gone on one of his infamous business conferences. He had gotten lost in Rome. They figured he was still alive (We'd learn later that he was indeed alive and well and staying with a goat farmer that didn't speak English. Since my Father didn't speak Italian, the goat farmer assumed Dad was stranded in the wilderness. good guess.) But either way, they had found his only means of communication, his cell phone, near a olive oil factory, which meant they couldn't call him to break the bad news.

"um," said Herve. I mentally smacked my forehead. "Odd Della Robbia was, uh, a nice guy, and he, err, had a lot of, erm, friends. And, uh, he was, erm, good at sports. He, um, was, uh, on the soccer team. He was a valuable member." I stopped listening after that. It was mostly stammering and 'uh' and 'um's. My stepmother was crying quietly. Me and her had always gotten along well.

Suddenly I became aware of someone sobbing. I looked around and saw none other than Sissy, seated in the second row. She was crying into a tissue. 'Great,' I thought. 'Sissy is fake crying at my funeral. Just what we needed, Sissy.' I rolled my eyes. But Suddenly I noticed Something in Sissy's hands. I peered through the leaves. It was a tissue. A sopping tissue that looked about ready to split in half, for the tears. I was touched. Sissy actually missed me?

"Err, thank you, Herve," said the principal. "Now, we will hear from yet another of Odd's peers." Stepmother cried harder at this. "Sissy, will you please come up here?" I gasped. Sissy? Luckily no one heard me.

Sissy pulled herself together and walked up to the podium. "Hi," she said, her voice wobbly. "You may know me as Sissy Delmas. For those of you who don't, I'm the Principal's daughter." She didn't sound stuck up, just unsure. "Odd and I weren't what you would call friends. But I think he was the nicest person in the school to me. He actually treated me like a human being. The one time, in science, I did a formula wrong and ended up making a huge mess. Everyone else just looked annoyed and frustrated, in the case of Mrs. Hertz, the teacher. Odd, though, said 'Sissy,' like he was disappointed because he knew I could do better. I was surprised. Most students just see me as 'The principals daughter.' The teachers see me as 'The bosses daughter.' But Odd saw me as another person. Even though I acted like I was above them all, I didn't get treated any better. Odd was the only one who treated me like I was human, not just some robotic symbol of fashion or money."

"I always appreciated that most about Odd," Sissy continued. "That he wasn't afraid to stand up to me, just because my Father runs this school. He never listened to anything mean I said, and that always irritated me. But Odd was the only one who would bother trying to get me to be nicer. Everyone else said I was a lost cause. It was nice to have someone treat me like I wasn't a total popular bully. Odd even said to me once, 'Sissy, I know there is some niceness in you, and I'm determined to find it.' That made me wonder. was there anything that anyone could care about in me? Or would I always be popular only because of my connections? Nobody really cared what happened to me but Odd Della Robbia. I remember one time, I was having a rough day. Ulrich had gotten mad at me, and Yumi had 'accidentally' spilled pudding on me. Both were friends of Odd. Odd laughed, and I didn't think he cared. But I headed outside, and towards the gym, where the only soda machine that sells grape nehi is. I inserted my change, and nothing happened. I got mad and kicked the machine. Still nothing. I was so frustrated I sat down and cried."

"I didn't think anyone would notice I was gone. and If they did, they certainly wouldn't care. I don't know how long he stood there till I looked up. Odd smiled, and asked if I was okay. 'No,' I told him. 'I'm not. why does everyone hate me?' Most people would have said, 'That's an easy one, Sissy! Because your such an air-headed jerk, no one can stand to be around you longer than they have to.' But Odd wasn't most people. 'They don't like you because you aren't nice to them, Sissy. If you told Herve 'good job!' once in a while, he might be willing to carry your lunch tray for you. If you stopped spreading rumors about Talia, she might explain pre-algebra to you. and if you complimented Milly on her hair, she might not laugh when someone trips you. A little kindness goes a long way, which I will now demonstrate to you.' And he put his money in the machine, gave it a rattle, and low and behold, grape nehi fell out. 'how did you know?' I asked. 'Cause, I always see you drinking this when you're upset. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think my friends are wondering where I am right now.' That meant a lot to me. A little kindness made my day all the better. I only wish I could return that kindness."

As Sissy stepped down from the podium, someone began clapping. And suddenly everyone was clapping for Sissy. I sat back in shock. Never had it occurred to me that all those things I had said to Sissy had such a profound affect. Suddenly, a familiar freeze-up happened, and a white light surrounded everything.

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I stepped out of my bedroom, still groggy. 'Sissy, you have got to stop staying up late and watching teen movies,' I told myself. Suddenly, my foot hit something crunchy. I looked down, expecting to see something gross, but instead I saw a piece of paper. 'hey, sissy,' it read. 'Good luck on the history test today.' and on the floor near it was a pepsi. 'you always drink it when you feel nervous. Odd.' I wondered what this was about. Oh well. "Odd," I said. "You're the only person who sees me as human. Thank you."