Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Code Lyoko. to lawyers Get it through your thick skulls!!!!

Chapter Two

I looked around nervously as I entered the lunchroom. Odd ushered me into the line.

"Come on!!! It's chicken and dumplings tonight!!!" he exclaimed happily. I smiled nervously at his enthusiasm as we moved through the line. Everyone got out of Odd's way, and I just followed him. I noticed him beg the lunch lady for a bigger portion, but she shook her head. I laughed and leaned over his shoulder.

"Come on, Odd. Some of us want to eat, too," I whispered playfully. He stiffened, but then relaxed when he realized it was only me. He moved on in line, and out of the corner of my eye, I thought he was blushing.

Odd POV

"Come on, Odd. Some of us want to eat, too," someone behind me whispered playfully. I involuntarily stiffened when I realized that it was Mel. She was right behind me. She didn't scare me, so I don't know what it was. All I know was that the blood was suddenly rushing to my face. I moved down the line and turned my head, hoping that she wouldn't notice, but I got the feeling that she did.

Mel POV

I didn't know what he'd be blushing about, but it soon left my mind as I noticed that the lunch lady had given me extra portions of chicken and dumplings and of mashed potatoes, something that I know Odd would have wanted. I thanked her and she smiled at me. I moved down the line and grabbed a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. I looked around the cafeteria and saw Odd and the others. Odd was waving me over, and I smiled and shook my head. 'He's the cheerful one, alright,' I thought with a smile as I walked over to the table where they all sat. I noticed that Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and Jeremy were there, but no Yumi.

"Hey, where's Yumi???" I asked.

"Oh. She's a day student. She normally goes home for dinner," Ulrich said, and I noticed a faint pink tint to his cheeks.

'Hmmm… I think Ulrich has a thing for Yumi. Otherwise, he wouldn't be blushing like he is.'

"Oh, okay," I said simply. I saw Odd stuffing his face, and I laughed. He looked at me with his fork halfway to his mouth.

"What???" he said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes, and I laughed again. He just looked at me like I was crazy. I could see the others smiling out of the corner of my eye.

"What??? I thought it was funny," I said candidly, causing everyone to laugh. Odd nearly chokes on his potatoes, causing us to laugh even more. Once he swallowed, he continued pigging out, and I joined him not too soon after. I didn't realize how hungry I was. As I polished off my plate in record time, I noticed everyone at the table staring at me, even Odd. I suddenly felt uneasy.

"What??? Do I have something on my face or something???" I ask, not knowing why they're staring at me like that.

"Whoa. Looks like Odd has some competition," Jeremy said, and the others agreed.

"What???" I ask, still not knowing what they were talking about.

"You just finished your dinner as quick as Odd would finish the meager meals they give him, and you have at least twice as much food as he does," Ulrich said in surprise.

"What??? You think that all girls are sticks and eat rabbit food???" I ask, mocking insult.

They shake their heads and resume eating. Since I'm done, I stand and move to throw my trash away when I see someone coming towards me. I recognize the giant pink blob as Sissy.

"Great. Snob alert," I say as I return to my seat at the table. I sigh as she walks up, and I raise an eyebrow when I notice her cronies aren't with her this time.

"Oh Ulrich dear," she said shrilly. I had to cover my ears at the sound.

"What now, Sissy???" Ulrich said in a bored tone of voice.

"Well, I was just wondering when you were going to come to your senses and dump these losers for me. You don't have to be afraid to show your emotions," she cooed in what she thought must have been an attractive tone, but it just sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me.

"How many times do I have to say it??? I'm not afraid to show my emotions. I'm just allergic to anyone who's stuck up. And in that category, you win hands down," he said. I smirked. 'Oooh, harsh. Nice one, Ulrich.' We all laughed as she stormed off.

I then remembered that my computers were set up in my room, and I needed to get online tonight, but I had no idea how to hook up to the Internet here, so I decided to ask.

"Hey, do any of you know how I could hook up to the Internet from my room???" I ask. Immediately Jeremy's head pops up.

"All you have to do is log on to the Internet and tell the server that you're using a school computer. That way they can't track your files and you can get around all the filters," he stated simply. I nodded.

"Thanks. I wasn't sure what I needed to do," I said. I was getting kind of annoyed that they weren't saying anything, but I didn't hold it against them. I decided that I was going to head back to my room, so I stood up.

"Well, I'm heading in for the night," I said, but then I remembered something. I definitely needed a shower, and I had absolutely no idea where the showers were. I stopped and turned to Aelita, the only girl besides me that was here, and I wasn't going to ask someone I didn't know for directions.

"Ummm… Aelita, could you tell me where the showers are??? I have no idea where anything is yet…" I trailed off, and she smiled.

"Sure, I'll even show you," she said, also standing. She turned to the others. "Don't wait up. I'll probably go to bed soon anyway," she said, and I noticed her gaze lingered a little on Jeremy. I had a feeling that there was something going on there, just like I thought with Ulrich and Yumi, but I wasn't sure. We left the cafeteria and headed to the dorms.

"What room are you in???" she asked. I had to think a little before I remembered.

"347. Odd said you're in 340???" I said, making sure that he was telling me the truth. She nodded.

"Yeah. I'm just down the hall from you. At least I'm not the only girl in the group who's a boarder," she said as we reached the third floor landing. We took a right, and walked down the hall towards our rooms. She led me down a side hall that was opposite the residence halls, and she pointed to the door with 'GIRLS' scrawled across it on a silver sign. "That's the nearest ones. You'll want to get in here early in the mornings, since Sissy likes to lock everyone out until she's done, and even then she sometimes doesn't let us in," she said helpfully. I nod.

"How does she manage to get away with stuff???" I ask as we head back towards our hall.

"The principal's her father. She seems to get what she wants around here. She always manages to worm her way into getting things done her way," Aelita said with a small scowl. We reached our hall and stopped at her room, which was the first room on the right.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning, then," I said. Aelita smiled.

"Yeah. Oh, and breakfast is at ten tomorrow since it's a Saturday and we don't have classes," she said, and I smiled.

"Thanks. Night," I called as I started to walk down to my room.

"Night," I heard her reply before she shut her door.

I grabbed my keys from my pocket and unlocked my room. I noticed that my computers were still locked and triple passworded, and I left them that way as I grabbed my robe, pajamas, and my basic shower stuff before I left again, making sure to lock my door on the way out, and heading to where Aelita said the showers were.

As I enter the shower room, I notice that I'm the only one in here. 'Good. Let's keep it that way.' I slip inside a shower stall and pull the curtain closed behind me as I undress. I put my clothes, both dirty and clean, on the small ledge that was set into the wall. They would be high enough off the ground and far enough back so that they wouldn't get wet while I was taking my shower. I turned on the water and waited for it to warm up as I took my hair down and shook it out, letting it fall once again to my hips. I had been thinking about getting it cut, but it would have to wait now.

Once the water was warm, I rinsed my hair before shampooing and conditioning it once before rinsing it again and turning the water off. I wrung the water out of my now knee-length hair before drying it and drying off before I slipped on my underwear and pajamas under my robe. I grabbed my stuff and left.

Once I was back in my room, I looked at all the boxes I still hadn't unpacked. There were about four, and they were full of stuff that I would put in my room. I decided that I would go ahead and unpack them now, rather than do it later. I opened one and it was all of my CDs. I grabbed them a few at a time and stacked them along the top shelf on the bookshelf. I then opened a small, heavy box and pulled out my stereo. I put that on the shelf below my CDs and proceeded to plug it in and set it up. I then opened one of the two remaining boxes, and this one was full of books. I stacked them below my stereo on the bottom shelf before I opened the last box. This one was only about half full, but it had all my nightstand stuff in it. I took out my alarm clock and plugged it in, setting it for 9:30 so that I'd have time to get up and dressed before breakfast tomorrow morning. I opened the drawers on my two nightstands, one on each side of my bed, and in one I put some random magazines, and in the other, I put all my journals and notebooks. I put these in the drawer that locked, because I didn't want anyone who had somehow managed to get in my room to be going through them. There are some things people aren't meant to see. Last, but not least, I pulled a smaller box from this last box. I open it and unwrap the tissue-paper covered contents. I set three framed pictures on my nightstand with the generic lamp on it. I smile as my eyes linger on each one, remembering happier times with those I love.

I then turned to my computers and unlocked both of them and was pleased to see that all the files that were on my laptop were now on my desktop as well. I unhooked them and shut my laptop down before putting it back in my bookbag by my feet. I decided that I would get online, and I went through the steps Jeremy had told me in my head. I logged on and just as he had said, a server setup notice popped up on my screen. I entered a bunch of random numbers and letters and it took it as a server code, and I was online. The first thing I did was check my email. I had only one, which was depressing. I opened it and saw that it was from my brother.

Hey Mel. Hopefully you managed to get this the night you moved in. If not, oh well. It can't be helped. I hope you get to stay in school there longer than you did here. Cora really misses you. She keeps asking when you're coming back. I tell her that I don't know, but I hope you don't have to come back for a long time, and when you do, I hope it's because of your free will. I know that sounded a little harsh, but I hope you can actually have a home and have time to make really good friends this time around. You know I worry about you, sis. If you ever need anything, you know you can call here, no matter what time it is. I'm always here for you, Mel. I worry about you sometimes. Hopefully you're in a good enough mood to reply when you get this.

Talk to ya later.

Jake

P.S.- Cora says hi, and she wanted to sign her name on the email. :)

I love you Maman!!!!

Cora

Hehe... See ya, sis.

I smiled when I read my brother's email, especially what little Cora had written, and I instantly opened up a reply box. I thought of what to type for a minute before I actually started typing.

Hey Jake. Well, obviously I got your email, 'cuz I'm replying. Anyway, I hope that I get to see you guys soon. Tell Cora I miss her too!!!! You take good care of her while I'm gone, okay??? She doesn't need to turn out like us, even though I know she won't if we have anything to say about it. Geez, if someone didn't know any better, they'd think that Cora's my daughter, the way we talk. I sure hope I can stay here for a while. I'm sorta starting to make friends, and you know what comes with new friends... yup, you guessed it. New enemies. But don't worry. I can handle a stuck-up prep, no problems at all. I just hope that I don't have to deal with problems from our past. Well, if I go on any more, I might fall asleep here. Unpacking is so not fun. But hey, at least I get the entire dorm to myself. Woo-hoo!!!

Tell Cora I love her!!!!

Thanks for worrying, bro. I know that if you didn't, no one else would.

Love y'all!!!!

Mel

I sent the email and I decided to surf the web for a little bit longer before going to bed. I went to my favorites and decided that I would visit one of my usual music forums. I waited for the webpage to load.

'Well, is this a slow connection or what???' I thought just as the page was finished loading. I checked all my posts and read what people had said to them when I went into the live chat. I had a question in mind, but I didn't feel like having a conversation right now. I close out the Internet and shut down my computer, but not before locking it once again. I made sure my door was locked as I crawled into bed. I turned out the lamp and thought about what I'd been told online. I used the remote to turn on my stereo to a low volume and I listened as familiar music drifted over to me as I fell asleep on my first night in a new school, in a new town, in a new country.

And that's Chapter Two!!!! It's a little off the wall right now, and I've been thinking. Okay, I really haven't, but I was wondering if you guys what you guys would think if XANA attacked and turned everything into a Broadway like situation. If anyone reading this has seen the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I was little, okay?!) 'Once More With Feeling', you know what I'm talking about. So, I want everyone's opinions. Say yes or no. If I get enough yes votes, I'll do it and tell more about my ideas later. If not, I'll put in a school musical type thing. Tell me what you want, or you might not like the results.

This is lyoko-is-home, signing O-U-T!!!!!!

(walks away)