Holy crap! Look how fast I updated!!! Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Chapter 12

Jeremie's POV

I could hear Mr. Delmas's booming voice fill the auditorium through the door beside me, and I immediately quickened my pace. I knew if Jim caught me skipping the school assembly, I would probably get a detention.

But which stupid backpack was Aelita's!?

I continued to search through the pile of backpacks for one that looked like Aelita's, but I couldn't remember what hers looked like. Mr. Delmas was kind of a nervous wreck when it came to bombs and terrorists… he sort of believed every kid in the school was hiding explosives in their backpack, so he made us put all of our backpacks in the hallway outside the auditorium for assemblies.

I continued frantically looking for Aelita's backpack, clutching the note I had pretty much spent all of yesterday writing. There were two pink backpacks… but which one was Aelita's?

My question was answered when the pink backpack I turned over had 'Sissi' written on it in huge, sparkling pink and white letters. Oh.

I slipped the note into the other pink backpack, praying it was Aelita's, and ran as fast as I could into the auditorium, sliding into a seat easily without Mr. Delmas catching me coming in late. I let out a breath of relief, reclining back into my chair.

"Students," Mr. Delmas announced, "we are going to be having an all-day school field trip next week." All of the students who had fallen asleep from the long drug talk before this (which was about ¾ of them) perked up and cheered. Missing a day of school was always a good thing, even if it meant just for some lame field trip.

"We will be going to the zoo," he stated. For a moment, the entire auditorium went silent, until everyone broke out in laughs or chatter. The zoo? Did Mr. Delmas think we were like 2nd graders or something?

I heard a particularly loud, squeaky laugh come from Sissi, who had been whispering to Theo who was sitting next to her. She received a hard, kick from the back of her chair, almost making her fall off, and then she looked back to see Odd trying to look innocent and whistling. I laughed.

"Now quiet students…" Mr. Delmas said tentatively, then burst out in a huge, "QUIET!"

Everyone when silent, and Mr. Delmas fumbled with his tie nervously. "You will be missing school as most of you have already figured out," a few cheers came from the students, "and will be taking the bus in the morning to get there. You must bring a signed permission slip to the bus in the morning, and make sure you are there by 6:50. If you aren't, the bus will simply leave without you at 7."

He continued, "All students will be divided into small, 3 or 4 person groups headed by a teacher chaperone…" and then Mr. Delmas dove into a very thorough explanation of rules for the zoo.

I could tell pretty much no one was listening because no one really cared, and because they were common sense rules, like "don't jump over the fences to pet the lions" or "no throwing rocks or small children at the animals." I mean come on, who would really be stupid enough to throw a kid at an animal?

Practically no one was listening to Mr. Delmas… even Herve wasn't listening. He was only a few seats away from me, so I glanced over to see what he was doing. He looked like he was reading some sort of weird book. When I tried to look closer at what the title was, his face turned a tomato red as he hid the little book behind his seat. That's weird… I could've sworn the title said something like "How to get a Boyfriend in 6 Simple Steps", but maybe I misread it.

It looked like Odd was still kicking Sissi's chair, until Sissi got angry enough to get out of her chair, put her hands on her hips, and begin yelling at him. Odd laughed the whole way through her insulting, making Sissi look even angrier. A few seats away from them a patch of pink hair stuck out from the rest of the crowd. I sighed. Aelita.

My mind immediately flashed to the note I put in Aelita's backpack. It was just basically saying how sorry I was for being so… weird the past couple months, and wanting to be her friend again… and I sort of told her how much I like her. If I'm going to ask her out someday, she's going to have to know how I feel about her. I had my fingers crossed already, hoping for Aelita to feel the same way.

Because if she didn't, I really don't know what I would do with myself.

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Aelita's POV

Something was massively, majorly, hugely wrong with Yumi. As I sat through physics class next to her, I looked over at her troubled eyes and frowning face. She didn't look sad, or angry… just deeply troubled by something.

You could always tell when something was wrong with Yumi… well, if you were me and you knew her real well you could. Anyone who didn't know Yumi would just look at her and say she was just confused about what we were learning in physics (most people tended to be confused in physics) or she didn't get enough sleep and was trying to focus on staying awake. But I knew Yumi too well for that.

When something was wrong, normally she was just more pessimistic than usual, something that most people wouldn't notice. But now, she was sitting there dead silent. She always talked to me during classes, whether she was commenting on one of the stupid things the teacher said, or whether she was doodling in her notebook whispering to me what her little stick people were supposed to be doing.

You could tell something was wrong because she was doing nothing. No doodling, no making fun of, no sarcastic remarks, not a word left her tightly closed lips. Whatever was wrong, it was bad.

I silently thanked the school bell as it went off, packing up my things quickly to follow Yumi as she left the classroom.

"Yumi, what's up?" I asked her once we left the classroom. Her frown deepened and she rubbed her head slightly, like she was having some sort of a headache.

"Nothing…" she mumbled. Before I could ask her what was actually going on, her lips formed a small smile. "Your boyfriend is back," she whispered to me quickly, before hurrying away. I was just about to run after her when someone stepped in to take Yumi's place.

"Hey." I looked over and there he was. Jeremie. I froze, stopping in the middle of the hallway, not even noticing the annoyed look the people around me were giving me. Jeremie wasn't wearing anything goth, or emo, or gangsta… he was wearing a pair of plain tan pants I had made him buy to replace his old way-too-short nerdy pants and a blue sweater. Jeremie was Jeremie again.

"Jeremie!!" I cried out, giving him the biggest, tightest hug I think I've ever given anyone.

"Aelita…."

"Yes?" I asked.

"Can't… breath…." I quickly let go of him, laughing at the blush that had formed on his cheeks. He smiled happily.

"Aelita, did you get my note?" he asked somewhat nervously as we began walking down the hallway.

"What note?" Now it was his turn to stop. I heard the people walking behind us groan.

Jeremie quickly looked over at my backpack. He said slowly, "Aelita… don't you have a pink backpack?" I looked over at him confused.

"Jeremie, my pink backpack's strap broke… remember? So I had to buy this new white one," I explained. Jeremie's face paled slightly. He began looking desperately around the hallway until he caught eyesight of a pink backpack.

His jaw dropped in horror as the owner of the backpack turned around. It was William.

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Yumi's POV

I can't think straight. I can't concentrate on any sort of schoolwork, a teacher's lecture, or even what my friends are saying to me. In fact, this morning, my mind was so messed up, that I tried putting a pair of baggy black pants on over my head, forgetting the fact that it was summer and I shouldn't be wearing baggy, full-length pants and that pants are supposed to go on your legs, not over your face.

Then, when I got down to the cafeteria for lunch, (late, as usual) I couldn't eat anything. Even when Aelita was giving me those concerned looks that kill me because I hate having my friends worry over me, I couldn't take a bite out of any of my food.

And now, I just left Aelita, saying the first few words I've said all morning. I can't even be happy for her now that she has Jeremie back because my mind's so messed up! And do you know why my mind is messed up?

Ulrich Stern.

I hate that kid. I hate him with a passion. Such a passion, that I have been trying to do anything to get him out of my mind… unsuccessfully of course, he's too stubborn to give me a moment's peace. In my mind of course.

In real life, the real Ulrich Stern has been running away from me and avoiding me as if I was the grim reaper and his time on earth is up. And actually, it's probably a pretty good thing he is avoiding me, because if I saw him I might become the grim reaper and kill him myself.

But, why? Why the hell does Ulrich Stern get to come in my room and kiss me, then just leave casually like it was nothing, when I have to spend the whole day suffering, wondering what the heck was going through his mind!? Honestly, it's exhausting.

Pretty much, the only good thing resulting from his stupid kiss is that he's stuck with Humphrey. Even though it's a stupid little plastic doll, it gets pretty annoying, so I'm happy the guy is stuck with the baby for once, and not the girl.

I sighed, watching as Aelita and Jeremie passed me in somewhat of a hurry. I would have to tell Aelita about what happened last night… there really was no avoiding it, Aelita would find out sooner or later anyway. Maybe I'll tell her tonight… or tomorrow night. Either way, the important thing is making sure the news never slips to the rest of the school.

Because it would be a disaster if it ever did.

Yeah... I know everyone is going to hate me for having Yumi and Ulrich not be a couple... but would one kiss really make them suddenly fall in love with each other? Nope. lol it only complicates things.

Well, even if you didn't like the chapter... review anyway! lol

Oh! And I was just wondering... what did everyone think of the new outfits in Double Take? I don't know if I liked them much... Aelita's wings were pretty cool though.