"Hey Ulrich, you okay?" Jeremy asked, looking up from his dinner. Ulrich looked down at Odd eating at his usual supernatural pace, Aelita chewing slowly, looking at Odd with some amusement, and Jeremy's vaguely distracted face. He wanted to tell them, he did.
"Yeah, I'm okay," he said, not looking his friends in the eye. "Delmas isn't happy about my grades, that's all." Feeling cowardly, he pushed his tray to Odd. "It's taken away my appetite, so here, Odd." Odd dug into his mashed potatoes while still chewing rapidly on his beans, happy for the extra dish. Ulrich felt sickened, and not just disgusted. It was all just like before, but it wasn't. He felt like he was drifting, like someone was taking his place, saying things – normal things – that weren't him. He felt separate by the barrier of shock.
"Do you want help studying?" Aelita asked gently. "I'd be glad to help, and so would Jeremy, I'm sure," she added, looking over at Jeremy with affection. Now Ulrich felt positively nauseous at the bittersweet scene playing out before him, without him.
"No, I'm fine," he said absently. "I'm going to see Yumi tonight so she can tutor me." The words were out of his mouth, and felt fine until Odd burst out laughing.
Spraying food across the table, Odd bugled, "You're seeing Yumi tonight? Excellent! It's good to see you showing the initiative, Ulrich, but make sure you get some actual studying done!" He started laughing, loud and hard. Ulrich knew that he should fight back deny something, but he felt drained, empty. He only felt a vague bump of despair when Sissi stood and sashayed her way over to the table, Herb and Nicholas lumbering behind her.
"You're seeing Yumi tonight?"she shrilled. "It's against the rules, and I'll tell Daddy, I will. You will get in so much trouble!"
"Go mind your own business, Sissi," Odd said scathingly.
"No, I don't think I will," Sissi cried. "I think I'll stay right here and make sure you don't do something you regret, Ulrich dear."
"The only thing he regrets is seeing your face!" Odd put in.
"No he doesn't, do you, Ulrich?" she asked, then started, seeing his empty stare. "Ulrich?"
"Hey, Ulrich, buddy, you okay?" Odd asked, now edging Sissi out as he turned to his friend. Ulrich turned, to look at him, but his face was fuzzy, his words jumbled and out-of-place. No, he doesn't do cocaine, where did that come from? He wants to tell Odd that but when he looks up to say something, he sees his father's face.
Retching in grief and shock, Ulrich fell deeply unconscious.
"Will he be okay?" Odd asked, standing by Ulrich's bedside in the infirmary. The nurse, having just finished talking to Delmas, was looking grim and distraught. The grave manner of the adults scared him, but he didn't want to mention it aloud.
"He'll be okay," the nurse said, but didn't look sure enough to Odd. "Did he tell you why he went to the principal's office today?" When Odd told her what Ulrich had said, she sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't say anything more than that if he didn't. It wouldn't be right." She looked sharply at Odd. "Don't be too much of a bother to him, and be as understanding as you can of him. This is a hard time on him."
"Okay." Looking down on his roommate and fellow warrior, he left. Outside, he found Aelita and Jeremy sitting on a bench, both looking intently at Jeremy's laptop.
"No activity on Lyoko to speak of now or in the past few hours," Jeremy informed him.
"And I just got off the phone with Yumi. She knows not to wait up for him," Aelita added.
"And the nurse was no help," Odd said. "She said Ulrich would be alright, but we should be understanding of him right now. And he didn't see Delmas for grades, but she wouldn't tell me what for."
"I didn't think it was for grades," Jeremy said. "If Delmas ambushed people because their grades weren't great, you'd have been first in line."
"I thought about that, too," Aelita said. "And he looked toopale, too shocked, like everything he'd ever known just suddenly...wasn't there."
"Exactly." Odd started pacing. "Did Yumi know anything?"
"She said he was normal enough, if a little quirky."
"So whatever Delmas said must've been what messed up Ulrich." Odd stopped pacing abruptly.
"So I guess that's exactly who I have to see."