So I let Jer rattle on about his program as I stared out the window. As long as he didn't say 'And yes there WILL be a test on this later' I didn't really need to pay attention. My eyes moved from the turning trees to the bench. I actually met Ulrich at that bench. What? Oh not the pity sigh! It's not like that! Just a little background information! Don't act like that. Believe me. Jeremie stopped talking. That was my cue.

"The program sounds awesome." I smiled convincingly. He frowned at me.

"What?" I blinked.

"You are a sad pathetic excuse for a human." … No I'm kidding. There's a difference between what he said and what he was thinking.

"Yumi!" He sounded exasperated. "That's it! We're settling this." He stood up from his desk and walked out the door. Half tempted to follow, half tempted to collapse on his bed (what? I'm TIRED!) I voted for staying put. He came back a second later, pulling Odd by the arm.

"Yumi is not going to go back to normal, have any focus, or be any help until we find out what's the deal with Ulrich. You know. Talk," Jeremie demanded. What did he mean by that? NO HELP? NORMAL? There's NOTHING wrong with me! Odd could see the disgust on my face.

"He didn't mean it like that Yumes," He whispered. Yes he did. He meant every word of it. Jeremie never says anything he doesn't mean. I collected myself the best I could, checking my pride, and started to walk out of the room.

"No wait!" Odd grabbed my arm to stop me. And I threw him into the wall and took off. … Well ok in reality, I just stopped at look at him. My eyes are watering, it's not tears. Why would I cry? Jeremie was wrong anyways. I'm not jealous of Emily! I have no problem she and Ulrich are dating! It's not my business.

"Ulrich's my best friend. And I swore I wouldn't tell what's going on. But ask him, he'll tell you." Tell me? Tell me what? How in love with Emily he is? How he never liked me to begin with? What a fool I am for being jealous? But .. I'm not jealous. I'm not! Stop looking at me like that!

"Yumi please don't cry," Jeremie said softly.

"I'm not crying!" Oh god, that was out loud. The two looked at me with pity. No more pity, I don't need it. Stop. STOP! Water slipped down my cheeks. I WAS crying.

'Stop being weak. Is he worth it? No.'

'Yes'

"Stop it!' My mind commanded itself.

"Come on Yumi. Let's go find him ok?" I shook my head. I didn't want to find him. He was with Emily. I let myself be led out of the room, Odd's arm around my shoulders. Make them stop. You don't want to go. Make them stop.

"Yumi?" I turned my head, Aelita was standing in her doorway, bag draped over her shoulder. No one said a word, we just stopped walking. She dropped the bag and ran to engulf me in a hug.

"Yumi, why are you crying?" Her voice was pleading.

"I'm not crying," I managed. She gave me another squeeze and took a step back.

"Come on, let's go find Ulrich." WHY? WHAT GOOD WILL THAT DO ME! HE'LL JUST- JUST.. My chest feels tight, my face hot, am I scared? No, never. Not over something so stupid.

It's not stupid.

Yes, it is. It's just Ulrich. Ulrich and Emily. It's his life, not mine. Aelita was leading me down the hall, Jer and Odd behind us. He was by himself when we got outside. I tried with my mind to dig my heels into the ground.

'Run. Flee. Leave. Danger.' My mind was warning me to get out as fast as I could. But I couldn't. He looked, worse than me. He looked so broken. I stopped fighting and ran towards him. That look again. But I am. I'm running right to him, right into his arms. I felt his arms go around me, was I crying out loud? What am I saying? I lost total control over my mouth. Total control over myself.

"No, no, we can't. I have to go, Emily, I'm, Yumi come on stop. Please. I'll.. You'll see." I looked up at him as he pulled away. He slipped something into my hand, gave me one last look, was he crying? Why was he crying. Ulrich Stern does not cry. He was crying, and he left. I sunk onto the bench. The others stood in shock. What just happened? I looked down at my hand. It was a piece of paper. My name in black on the front, folded expertly into a tiny square.

So now the note is sitting in front of me. On the floor. Me not the note. The note is on the end of Aelita's bed. After.. What ever it was, we went back to her room. The guys left.

"Open it," She finally says. I can't. It could say any number of things. All ending with him hating me. I can't open it. She reaches down, unfolds it and hands it back.

"Read it."

"Yumi. This is such a mess," I was reading it out loud. What was I doing? "I'm sorry. Just let me explain ok?" That was the last thing I read. I was asleep. Right now, I'm not ready to wake up.

A/n: I'm thinking one more chapter to the short, ya know? Thanks for being patient with me. I have writers block, and practice, and school starting soon. Thanks for dealing with my slowness.

Amaherst- Sorry I'm Late!

Lune-Solei- Who cares what YOU think? Lol. Thanks! I'm glad you like it though, you can be so hard to please some days my dear friend.

Wave Maker: Thanks! Yumi's theories came in my head so fast it scared me. I'm going to find that book tomorrow.

Evil-Dr-Will-Fan-1: Thanks so much! I'm so glad readers actually read ALL of my fics! I hate it when someone only reads one fic. Thanks for keeping up

Tsuiraku Nami: Thanks! The style's new for me. Something I tried.

Honestly tell me a lie: Hook line and sinker! Thanks for writing. You're review almost made me cry!

Kim: Yeah yeah. drop the FFHD.

shakespeare's2juliet: thanks so much! i love being in people's heads.

top20fan13: Thanks! keep reading!

knightx it was a little long.. thanks for reading!

general observation board: You'll see... :smile: thanks for reading

Red Wolf Goddess: It just kept coming! I wanted it to be angsty, didn't happen! thanks for reading!

lizziepercrush: thanks for the review!

ANIMECHiK3243: Thanks!