A/N: I'm just over here rediscovering my love for this series. Is Code Lyoko even still a thriving fandom? Also, I am aware in Code Lyoko that Chris is in Yumi's class, but for the sake of this story I made him a year older.
Rated: T for underage drinking
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko.
Let Loose
Ever since they defeated X.A.N.A and shut down the super computer back in junior-high, Ulrich Stern had been working hard to acclimate himself back to reality.
Before the shut-down, Yumi, Odd, Jeremy, Aelita, and himself had virtually no free time. They spent most of it traveling back and forth to Lyoko to save the world. Sure – it kept him busy and physically fit, but after a while it just grew to be work (not to mention it was a demanding job with no recognition on account of it being kept a secret). Ulrich always said that he couldn't wait for the day when X.A.N.A was defeated so that he could finally relax and be a teenager again. He had a horrifying grade-point average and a deprived social life to salvage with the few years he had left at Kadic.
That day ultimately came: Ulrich pulled his grades up (just enough to get his dad off of his back), he re-joined the Kadic soccer team, befriended Theo Gauthier, and started relaxing a bit more during his day-to-day, but he still felt like something was missing. He was also beginning to notice that the original Lyoko Warriors were drifting apart as they found new ways to occupy their time.
His roommate, Odd, began to really focus in on his music career. He spent most of his free time writing new songs for the band he started with his new drummer, Nicholas Poliakoff, as well as overseeing the music for the drama productions the theater department puts on. Surprisingly, he was also having much better luck in the romance department; scoring tons of dates with the girls in their class who previously wouldn't have given him the time of day. Even more shocking to Ulrich was Nicholas' ability to pick up a few girls. Apparently joining a band gave you infinitely more sex-appeal (Ulrich made a mental note to ask Odd about any openings in his band).
Jeremy and Aelita, whom he figured would have the hardest time adjusting to life without Lyoko, had teamed up with - of all people - Herb Pichon to restart the Kadic Academy robotics team. The three of them spent most of their free time hanging out in Ms. Hertz's science lab. Apparently, they were in the midst of creating something called the Sissi-Kiwi3000. Ulrich caught a glimpse of it one day and was actually impressed by the design that Jeremy and Aelita came up with. He was even more impressed by Herb's willingness to work together with them, since the acne-riddled teen wasn't known for being a team player.
Yumi, the girl he had been crushing on for nearly the entire time he'd known her, spent a lot of her free time with William Dingbat (er, Dunbar) while they researched and visited colleges all over northern France, and even a few in England. Ulrich wasn't entirely sure what Yumi saw in him, even though she swears that they're just friends. Ulrich had every intention of asking Yumi out once X.A.N.A wasn't an issue anymore, but the day he was going to do it was the day he caught Yumi giving William a kiss on his cheek.
So that wasn't going to happen.
Even Sissi Delmas had gotten her life somewhat in order over the years. She had been Ulrich's biggest headache for what seemed like his whole life. She was constantly flirting with him and trying to get him to go out with her. To be honest; that part hadn't changed much. She was just a bit less obnoxious about it ever since Ulrich and his group agreed to be friendlier with her. The girl had - after all - unknowingly helped them dozens of times in their fight against X.A.N.A. For now, she spent her time cheering on his soccer team and helping Milly & Tamiya with the Kadic newspaper (which resulted in a lot of bickering between the three girls, but that wasn't Ulrich's problem).
Despite the perpetual feeling of lonesomeness that washed over him when he thought about his group moving on to bigger and better things, Ulrich continued to busy himself with the Three S's: studying, soccer, and sleep – but most importantly soccer.
He was the absolute best player at Kadic hands-down.
His teammates (and Jim Morales) loved him.
His fans loved him.
Ulrich had the whole school eating out of the palm of his hand whenever it was game-time. He loved the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he ran down the length of the soccer field; listening to the cheering and screaming of the people in the stands as he kicked the ball straight over the goalies' head.
He couldn't get enough of that rush, but he was still craving something different - something he had never done before... something completely out of his comfort level (which wasn't that hard to do).
And that something finally came in the form of a crudely hand-written note that Theo slipped him during their Saturday morning soccer practice.
Ulrich sat back on his bed while his fingers idly played with the crumpled slip of paper he'd been given earlier in the day. His other hand had been bouncing a tennis ball off of the wall over Odd's head. That was until Kiwi decided to grab it mid-air and take it to the opposite end of the room to chew on. He didn't realize Kiwi could even jump that high.
'So much for that,' he thought, laying his head back on his pillow and uncrumpling the piece of paper again. At the moment, the only sounds in the room were of Kiwi slobbering all over his stolen tennis ball and the blasts and beeps coming from Odd's hand-held game. For once Odd wasn't rushing off to band practice, but instead was sucked into a rousing game of Tetrix Annihilator. Ulrich glanced over at his blond roommate who was completely absorbed into his game.
"Hey, Odd.."
The blond hmm'd quietly in response, fully concentrated on his screen.
"Do you remember Christophe M'Bala?" Ulrich asked. "He was a year ahead of Yumi…" A louder explosion resonated from the speakers on the console and Odd let out a frustrated groan as the game re-started.
"Yeah, he DJ'd the school dances up until he left for college and Aelita took over. Why do you ask?"
"Well, apparently he's having a party at his house tonight and Theo said the soccer team was going…" Ulrich pushed himself up on his elbows and tossed the paper with the address across the short distance to Odd.
"You going?" the blond asked, looking up at Ulrich who shrugged a shoulder in return.
"I want to. I've never been to a house party before, but I don't really want to go alone…" he trailed off. "So, do you feel like joining me?"
"Sneaking off campus for a night of teenage debauchery?" Odd tossed his handheld gaming console over his shoulder and jumped up from his spot on the bed. "Count me in. You think Yumi wants to go? I doubt Einstein and Aelita would be interested."
"I thought about asking Yumi, that is if she can tear herself away from William for the night," Ulrich grumbled as he walked over to his wardrobe in search of something to wear. He quickly settled on his usual army green jacket, a black t-shirt, and his one decent pair of jeans that didn't have grass stains of them.
"William's harmless, Ulrich. You know Yumi's totally flipped for you," Odd grabbed his purple shower caddy before swinging an equally purple towel over his shoulder and striking a pose in his mirror.
"I'm not so sure," he sighed, running a hand through his brunet locks. "I just wish I knew what she was thinking. In any event; it would be stupid to start something now - she'll be leaving for college in the spring".
"Then you'll be free to pursue other options, my friend!" Odd gave him a reassuring clap on the back, leaning in a little closer. "I think Claire's friend Magali just broke up with her boyfriend, and she's pretty cool – I would know."
"I seem to remember you dating both Claire and Magali at the same time," he pointed out in amusement as Odd just waved him off casually.
"Not one of my finer moments, but that's in the past," the blond turned for the door before casting a wicked grin over his shoulder. "There's always Sissi to occupy your time with when Yumi's gone. She's just dying to go out with you and you already know how she kisses."
"I told you never to mention that again," he lightheartedly yelled, chucking his sneaker at the teen. Odd ducked out of the room just in time and Ulrich could hear his friend's laughter receding down the hallway. When he was sure Odd was long gone, he reached for his phone and pressed Yumi's speed dial, praying she wasn't busy tonight.
The raven-haired girl had picked up after three rings.
"Hey, Yumi," he started off while rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and blushing a little. He had never been any good at asking girls out, especially ones he liked, and he was thankful that Yumi couldn't see him at that moment. "If you're not doing anything tonight, would you want to come to a party with Odd and I? It's at Christophe's M'Bala's place."
"It's funny you mention that, Ulrich, because William actually ran into Chris earlier today at the store and he invited us. I guess it's going to be pretty big."
Ulrich died a little inside.
"Oh, William was invited too?" he said trying to sound thrilled through his clenched teeth. "Sound like it's going to be a fun time." He heard Yumi's sweet chuckling through the receiver and he sighed quietly, turning to face the window – the sun just beginning to set. He didn't really want to go to the party anymore knowing William would be there, but Odd would never let him pass up this opportunity.
"You can cut the sarcasm, Ulrich. William's got his own friends going tonight so you don't have to worry about him."
"Who said I was worried? I'm not worried," he shoved a sock-clad foot into the sneaker he had to retrieve from across the room. His eyes gleamed with mirth as they landed on a dirty sneaker print left behind on the wall from when he threw it at Odd, but decided that it would be 'later-Ulrich's' problem when Jim questions it during the next room inspection.
"Okay, Ulrich," came the humorous response.
"So, uh, what time do you think you guys will be there?" Ulrich glanced over at the alarm clock on his desk. It read 17:50 in offensively bright, glowing green letters.
"I think William was aiming for around ten-thirty. Jim's done with his rounds by then, right? Do you think you'll have an issue sneaking away?"
"It's 'lights-out' at ten, and no; Odd and I are the masters at sneaking out past curfew. You know that."
"Yeah, that's true actually," she laughed, "Okay, see you guys then."
"Bye, Yumi." Ulrich ended the call and tossed his phone onto the desk.
At some point during the phone call Kiwi had made his way over to Ulrich's bed and curled up in a tight ball near his pillow. Rolling his eyes, Ulrich strolled over to his bed and took a seat next to the little dog, petting his head gently. He hated having the little dog hairs all over his comforter (because God forbid Kiwi ever lay on Odd's bed), but deep down he loved having the dog's company.
He'd never admit it though.
A short while later Odd burst back into the room, his usual spiked up-do lying flat against his face. After quickly towel drying and gelling up his hair, he pulled on his signature purple cargo pants, threw on his matching purple hoodie, jammed his feet into his beat-up red sneakers, and then pocketed his cellphone. His stomach let out a low growl causing the brunet and the dog to look up.
"I'm starving!" He complained, rubbing at his stomach. "You wanna get dinner early tonight?"
"You're always starving, Odd." Ulrich shook his head in disbelief as he stood up and stretched. "It's hard to imagine someone as scrawny as you can put away so much food."
"I am not scrawny! I'm-"
"Svelte. Yeah, we all know." Ulrich laughed making his way to the door before realizing that Odd was still standing by his closet pouting with his arms crossed. "Are you coming, oh svelte one?"
"Yeah, that's more like it." Odd reached down to grab his knapsack and threw it over his shoulder. "See you later, my little diggity dog!" With a gentle pat to Kiwi's head, Odd fell in step behind Ulrich, closing the door to their room behind him.
"Oh, I talked to Yumi. Her and William are going to meet us at the party later." Ulrich shoved his hands into his pockets.
"William, eh?" came the sly response.
"Don't even say anything." Ulrich warned.
Odd just grinned at his best friend.
The walk from Kadic Academy to Chris's house was a short distance; he lived just on the outskirts of the city. Despite his parent's sizeable wealth, the M'Bala family had no desire to flaunt it in the heart of the city, so they built the family home in a safe wooden section near the academy. Ulrich recalled that his mother was a pediatric neurosurgeon and his father was well-respected cardiologist. Even his older brother was a licensed anesthesiologist at a hospital somewhere in London.
Ulrich always did find it a little strange that Chris decided to become a DJ while his entire family was in the medical field. But Chris was great at what he did and he had a very supportive family backing him up – something of which Ulrich would never experience. He and his father had barely spoken to each other over the past year.
Ulrich and Odd sauntered up the walkway where Yumi had been sitting waiting for their arrival. She pushed off the wall and greeted them with a grin. Behind them, the trio could feel in their bodies the pulsating beats of whatever track Chris was spinning, as well as the sound from the raucous teenagers thrashing about just beyond the door.
"Where's William?" Odd asked somewhat loudly; the music drowning out most of his question as they pushed open the front door.
"He's already inside. I'm going to go find him – be right back!" Yumi slinked off down the hallway leaving Odd and Ulrich to stand a little self-consciously in the grand foyer. They looked around, taking in the sights before them.
Chris's house may have been smaller than the average Parisian home, but was still decorated lavishly. The grand foyer that the boys (and several other questionably sober teens) were standing in was laid with beautiful dark hardwood floors. The walls surrounding them were a warm cream-color with built in shelves that the M'Bala family decorated with professionally done family photos.
"Ulrich!"
The two boys glanced up at the top of the iron-railed staircase where Sissi was waving enthusiastically to them. Ulrich recognized her pink dress with off-shoulder sleeves and maroon dress boots as the outfit she wore on the night they discovered Lyoko. Of course, they then had to complete a return to the past in order to wipe her memory since she betrayed them. That was a story for another time, though.
Carefully, the raven-haired beauty made her way down to the first floor and flipped her sleek hair over her shoulder, giving the two boys before her a playful smile.
"You like?" she purred, doing a little spin to show off her outfit. The roommates opposite of her looked on with straight-faced stares.
"Beautiful, Sissi." Ulrich deadpanned while Odd tittered into his palm.
"Where's Nicholas and that goon, Herb?" Odd asked, looking around the room.
"What?" she laughed out loud like it was the funniest thing she had heard all day. "You think those two would ever be caught dead at a house party? You must be living on another planet. I'm surprised to even see you here."
"As long as it's a planet uninhabited by Sissies." Odd grinned at her and she rolled her eyes in aggravation.
"Very funny, creep" She muttered before turning to Ulrich and dropping her voice to a suggestive whisper. "Ulrich, sweetie, I'm going to go find a drink, but come find me when you want to dance." She winked, spun on her heel, and ambled off down the hall in search of a beverage, making sure to sway her hips for all to see.
A minute later, the host and ever-popular disc jockey, strolled around the corner, pulling his pair of expensive, sleek headphones down around his neck.
"Odd, my man! And Ulrich!" Chris held his hand up, bumping fists with the boys. "Thanks for coming! Drinks and snacks are in the kitchen. Guest rooms are open for anyone planning to get lucky," he winked, "Although I think Maïtena and Julien are occupying one currently…" the boys blushed. "Oh – and just don't puke in the house." Chris looked past the boys and threw his hand up as a few new kids entered the room. "Yo, Romain Le Goff! Haven't seen you in ages!" …and with that Chris was on to the next guest as Yumi pushed her way back through the crowd.
"William's getting us drinks," she stated and Odd perked up.
"Hey, there's Bastien and Matthieu! I'll catch you guys later!" Odd said, slipping into the throng of sweaty dancing teenagers in the room to their left. As Odd disappeared William took his place next to Yumi, carefully holding three red plastic cups of sloshing clear liquid in his hands.
"Special delivery!" he cheered, handing the cups to Yumi and Ulrich. "Wait, where did Odd go?" He looked around.
"He went to say hi to some people." Yumi replied, taking a sip from her cup. William shrugged and took Odd's cup for himself. Meanwhile, Ulrich looked at the liquid in his plastic cup questionably, eyeing the little bubbles that rose up.
"What's in this?" he asked suspiciously, watching William take a rather large gulp of whatever the concoction was.
"Just a little vodka soda, Ulrich. Why? You aren't scared, are you?" the raven-haired teen challenged, hiding his smirk behind his cup. Yumi rolled her eyes, already expecting where this was going.
"What? No way!" Ulrich brought the plastic up to his lips and took a small sip, his face scrunching up at the sharp alcoholic taste. William laughed out loud and gave him a clap on the shoulder.
"Wait, was that your first sip of alcohol, Ulrich Stern?" William teased, thoroughly enjoying making the brunet flush in embarrassment.
"Of course not! I've drank before." Ulrich lied as he forced another gulp - this one bigger - down his throat, doing his best to ignore the burn at the back of his throat.
"Oh, this should be fun…" William gently nudged Yumi.
"Be nice," she pushed his shoulder lightheartedly.
Ulrich wasn't sure how much time had passed since they arrived at the party, but he was guessing it was sometime after midnight.
At some point he remembered that Yumi went to find a bathroom and accidentally walked in on Maïtena and Julien in a compromising position. She returned with her face beet red and refusing to make eye contact with him. He also remembered heading outside for some fresh air and running into Odd, Bastien, and Matthieu. Bastien handed Odd something small and skinny, which the blond brought to his lips before passing it on to Matt.
Coming back to reality, Ulrich glanced down at the party cup in his hand and cocked his head to the side. Was this drink number three or number four? …No, no; it was definitely number three! But Theo had also handed him the rest of his unwanted drink when he went off with Azra…so four?
Ulrich's head was swimming and the music suddenly didn't seem so loud, or maybe he had retreated into his head and blocked most of the noise out. His body felt like it was floating as he moved from room to room, swaying to the music as he went along. But he knew he wasn't actually floating because his feet were definitely on the floor…. right?
He bent over to check just in case…and then teetered forward into Emily as he lost his balance. After straightening up he apologized to the girl and blushed in embarrassment. She gave him a beautiful smile and handed him a new cup – this one filled with water. He politely thanked her, quickly downed the water, and continued on to the back of the room where there were fewer gyrating bodies.
Being drunk was a strange feeling he hadn't experienced before. His skin felt warm and tingly and his head clouded over with silly thoughts. His limbs seemed to move on their own, and he definitely was starting to feel a little dizzy. Ulrich wasn't convinced that he was fully enjoying it, but he also didn't exactly hate it either.
It was then that he realized that he had gotten separated from Yumi and William and hadn't the slightest idea of when he lost them. He found himself alone until a slender body rather forcibly pushed him back against the wall. He staggered a bit, bringing a hand out to steady himself against the wall, and once his eyes re-focused, he realized he was staring into Sissi's glittering, dark, mischievous eyes.
"Hi, Ulrich-dear," she whispered into his ear. He gulped, hiccupped, and then laughed at himself.
Oh, he was in big trouble.
"Uh, hi…" he said lazily, bringing his nearly empty cup back up to his lips and frowning when the liquid trickled out. Noticing the situation at hand, Sissi went to work pouring half of her full drink into his empty cup and managing to spill a good majority of it on his sneakers.
Strangely, he didn't care. Was this drink number five?
He was really in trouble.
"Where's Yumi?" she yelled over the music and Ulrich gave her a small shrug, happily sipping away at his new drink. This one tasted sweeter than his last few, but still had that familiar burn he was growing accustomed to.
"Dunno, lost 'er and William somewhere," he was vaguely aware that Sissi was gently pressing herself against him as the seconds ticked on; her hands lingering on his chest. The last remaining shreds of sobriety and reason were screaming at him to push her away, but he just couldn't do it; his dumb teenage body began to warm up under her touch.
He gulped once more and tried to think about his sweet grandmother in Germany…. the meatloaf surprise with the green things that Rosa prepared for them on Thursdays…. the random gross hairs left in the boys' shower drains… Jeremy's briefs with the kangaroos on it…. Odd's sweaty feet!
Oh god, where was Odd when he needed him?
Oh right – he was currently up with the stoners, Bastien and Matthieu, watching Chris create mixes. Ulrich thought that maybe if he stared long enough at his best friend, he could get his attention, but try as he might, he couldn't get Odd to look. He also couldn't quite shake the thought of Sissi's intoxicated wandering hands sliding up his chest, giving him little goosebumps.
"Sissi, I can't-" and tried to say and looked past her shoulder, his half-lidded brown eyes landing on Yumi and William across the room who were dancing together provocatively. A shocked gasp left his throat as the jealously flared up in the pit of his stomach. For a fleeting moment he thought he was going to be sick. Squashing the ill feeling down, he brought his eyes back to the yearning girl in front of him and took her by the hand, a lopsided smile on his weary face. "Um, do you wanna…maybe dance?"
"Y-yes!" Sissi cried out, excitedly pulling Ulrich off the wall causing him to stumble forward on his feet and almost spill his drink. He took the lead, pushing past some of his soccer teammates who were unsteady on their feet and pumping the air with their fists. With the offending couple in sight, Ulrich pushed a little closer to them, before pulling Sissi's back against his body and beginning to move against her - a concoction of liquid confidence and bitterness coursing through his veins.
It took all of thirty seconds for Yumi to become aware of what was happening directly behind her, thanks to Sissi purposely brushing against her to get her attention every few seconds. Ulrich could almost see the steam coming from his Japanese friend, but instead of Yumi yelling at him, she pulled William even closer, glaring daggers at the brunet. Ulrich felt Sissi's hand snake behind his neck and the dancing duel went on for a while before he eventually felt himself get roughly pulled away from the heat of all the dancing bodies by none other than Odd.
"What're you doing with Sissi?" The blond asked, gripping Ulrich's arm for mild support. The taller teen's nose crinkled as he took a whiff of Odd.
"You smell like booze and marijuana," he laughed through half-lidded eyes.
"And you smell like jealously and bad decisions." Odd countered, his index finger pointing accusingly at Ulrich from around his party cup. "As your best friend and roommate, I'm obligated to point out that this is not a good idea. Are you trying to get Yumi to kill you? She likes you, Ulrich."
"Yumi isn't acting like she likes me. You saw her; she's all over William." He shrugged sluggishly and hiccupped again before chugging the rest of his drink in one go. "Besides... she started it," Odd shook his head in incredulity, laughing out loud.
"Okay, well it's your funeral. Don't say I didn't warn you." Odd threw back the rest of his drink too as the music grew louder and Sissi found them again, tugging on Ulrich's hand.
"Are you two finished yet?" she complained, swaying a bit on her feet.
"That depends: are Yumi and William still snuggled up on the dance floor?" Ulrich asked smugly from behind his empty cup.
"No, I think they're making out now." She responded seriously.
"What!?" Ulrich crushed his cup and scowled at the older girl, his heart shattering watching their lips crash together in an awkward kiss. From next to him he heard Odd's "tsk tsk" under his breath as the blond shook his head in disbelief.
"Yumi really shouldn't have done that." He smacked his forehead dramatically, turned to Ulrich, and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Okay, forget everything I said earlier. Time to do you, good buddy." He gently poked him in the chest and Ulrich smirked at him.
"I wanna dance!" Sissi whined, impatiently tapping her foot.
"Last one on the dance floor is a dead Kankrelat!" Odd shouted, pushing into the crowd again with Ulrich laughing hysterically right behind him.
"A what…?" Sissi scoffed, watching the two leave her behind. "Hey! Wait for me!" She staggered after them, shoving drunk teens out of the way.
It was the wee hours in the morning when Ulrich was beginning to come out of his first drunken stupor.
And he felt like garbage.
'And people do this for fun…' He thought to himself.
Thankfully, Odd had dragged himself back into the house in search of water for them. After Sissi had thrown up in the woods behind the pool and fell asleep against Odd, the blond called Nicholas and made him come pick her up.
Ulrich groaned miserably as he tried to focus on anything that wasn't the incessant spinning inside his skull. He had his jeans rolled up as best as he could with his legs in the water and tried to concentrate on the cooling liquid swirling around them. He slowly dropped his heavy head into his hands. "This blows." He muttered to no one in particular, holding back his sickness. The last thing he wanted to do was throw up into the pool.
"Mind if I join you?" A quiet voice came from behind him. He knew the familiar voice, but chose to completely disregard her. His black-clad friend kicked off her boots and socks and dropped her legs in the water beside him. They remained quiet for a long while before Yumi looked over at him. "When is this jealously thing between us going to end?"
"When you go off to college and I don't have to watch you throw yourself at William," Ulrich grunted, shifting away from her a bit.
"Throw myself at William? I would hardly call that throwing myself at him," She scoffed, kicking her legs around in the water. "And what about you and Sissi? Do you have any idea how frustrating it is when she hangs all over you? Did you even see yourself tonight?"
"Sissi and I are never going to happen. I've been telling you this for years." He grumbled. "And at least I didn't kiss her."
"No, but you have kissed her before…three times if I remember correctly," Yumi softy pointed out, looking away from the brunet.
"That was like two years ago and I didn't have much of a choice; once was a favor to get you out of trouble. Once she kissed me on the factory bridge and I wasn't expecting it, and that last time doesn't count because that was when XANA ran around making polymorphic specters of everyone, including me. I've never kissed her to get back at you." He stressed and she bit her lip apprehensively. "Why did you kiss William? Tell me the truth."
Yumi, still looking away, shrugged and whispered "I don't know" under her breath. "I guess I was just mad when I saw you and Sissi. This whole 'just good friends' thing has never really worked out for us, but then again, neither has a romantic relationship."
Ulrich let out a deep sigh, his stomach still roiling from the alcohol. "Yeah, we're pretty messed up, huh?" He chuckled weakly, finally looking over at her. She picked her head up to look at him and their cheeks reddened. "So, uh, you and William aren't a thing?"
Yumi shook her head quickly. "Definitely no. He's a friend and nothing more. Besides, I think I'd rather kiss you." She blushed deeply. "Or anyone for that matter - William's not a very good kisser." She clarified quickly.
"Well, it's not very romantic, but we could try now. If you want to that is…" he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, his own blush darkening. Their legs shifted in the pool water as they turned to face each other. Ulrich tilted his head up slightly and gently connected his lips to Yumi's before immediately pulling away, covering his mouth, and paling. "I swear it's not you; it's the alcohol." He mumbled from behind his palm. At this, Yumi let out a full-bellied laugh and Ulrich just looked at her awkwardly, trying not to throw up.
"That was your first kiss? How lame!" A new voice lamented from behind them. Ulrich hastily pushed himself up and nearly ran Odd over as he made a mad dash for the tree-line where Sissi had thrown up earlier. "Although it will make for a great story!" He called out before cringing at his vomiting roommate.
Yumi dried her legs off as Odd knelt down to hand her a bottle of water. "Thanks," she said appreciatively as Ulrich retched in the background. "He'll be fine, but I better go see if William's ready to leave."
"No need for that; I called Jeremy and Aelita and they're on their way. You can come with us if you want, although I have to warn you that Mr. and Mrs. Einstein are not exactly thrilled with being woken up."
"Wait, you mean in Jeremy's smart car?" she asked amusedly. "How is that going to work?"
"As long as no one pukes on anyone, we can squeeze in."
Ulrich dragged himself back over, groaning and wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "I'm never drinking again."
"You say that now, but just wait; you'll get back on the horse in no time," Odd gave him a water bottle and he chugged a third of it before handing it back to the blond who shook his head and pushed it back. "Eh, you can keep that. I don't want your puke-y backwash in it."
A short time later, the three teenagers were waiting out front. Ulrich was sat against the stone wall with his head resting on his knees, Yumi was staring up at the starry night sky, and Odd drowsily leaned against the stone wall with his arms crossed over his chest. It wasn't long before a silver smart car pulled up and the three cringed when the interior light illuminated the aggravated faces of their two pajama-clad friends.
It was, after all, almost four in the morning.
"It's like looking into the face of disappointment." Yumi muttered, lugging herself down to the car.
Just as Odd predicted, everyone was able to squeeze into Jeremy's tiny car. Odd kept reassuring them it would be fine; citing a previous world record of how they managed to squish twenty girls into the two-seater vehicle. The rest of the group didn't believe him about that, though.
And so, the hungover group of teenagers found themselves squashed into the car; a visibly irritated Jeremy in the driver's seat, an exhausted Aelita sitting on Odd's lap in the passenger seat, and Yumi and Ulrich squished into the cramped trunk behind them practically sitting on each other.
Aelita shifted awkwardly on Odd and yawned, resting her chin in her hand. Odd picked his sweaty head off of the cool window and let out a feeble chuckle. "Now, imagine if we still had Sissi."
The rest of the occupants audibly groaned and it went quiet for a minute. The glowing numbers on the clock read 3:55 and Jeremy rolled to a stop at a red light, resting his head on the steering wheel.
"You guys are lucky that Chris lives so close to the academy." He stated.
"What were guys even thinking?" Aelita glared at the group.
No one answered her.
Ulrich moaned from the very back of the car as his stomach lurched again. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick again."
"Ulrich, I swear – if you throw up on me, I'm going to be so mad." Yumi declared.
"Now you know how I felt every time we took the transporter to Sector 5," Odd joked from the front.
"Wait, how come Odd isn't sitting in the trunk with Ulrich?" Yumi asked, glaring at the blond. "He's the shortest one here!"
"I dare you to say that again!" He exclaimed.
"You. Are. Short."
"Okay, you asked for it," Odd took a deep breath. "Break, break, breakdance! Break, break, breakdance! Break, break, breakdance, here we go!"
Ulrich groaned, Jeremy and Aelita sighed tiredly, and Yumi threw her hands over her ears to block out the noise.
"You guys are seriously the worst." Jeremy stated.
A/N: Thanks for reading!