Look Before You Seek
Chapter 16
Ulrich spent the time between break and Lunch puzzling over Minnie. Of course, it didn't help that Odd was still pestering him about Yumi. Finally, he completely lost it.
"You want me to talk about Yumi? Do you?" Ulrich whispered to Odd, sounding somewhat like a maniac. "Okay then, I'll talk about Yumi. I love Yumi. See, I'm talking about Yumi. There, are you happy? Now shut up and leave me alone!" Ulrich was breathing heavily after this out burst, and Odd was leaning as far away from Ulrich as possible. Ulrich rased his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Stern?" The teacher enquired.
"May I please go to the bathroom?" Ulrich asked, sounding as pleasant as he could.
"Very well," The teacher replied, waving him to the door.
As soon as he closed the door behind him, he raced off towards Aelita's dorm, which was now also Minnie's dorm. He knocked on the door.
Inside the dorm, Minnie was just finishing Unpacking for the second time that week, when she heard a knock at the door. She was sure it was the principal or a teacher come to tell her off for skipping classes today, but it was much worse. She opened the door slowly, peaking out and seeing Ulrich standing there, puffing very loudly. She slammed the door in his face, as a fear reflex. She took a few deep breaths, so when he knocked on the door again, she opened it knowing what to expect outside, and so she did not slam the door in his face again.
"What do you want?" Minnie asked in a small voice, almost afraid of the answer.
"We need to talk. I need to talk to you," Ulrich said, still getting his breath back.
"Okay," Minnie said, feeling very unsure.
Ulrich shook his head. "Not here," he said, and he tried to take hold of Minnie's hand to lead her somewhere, only to have her react in the same she did when he tried to hug her earlier. She whipped her hand out of his, and fled back into her room, slamming the door behind her. Ulrich leant his head against her shut door in frustration, and then he knocked again.
"Will you please just come with me?" He called through her shut door.
"What do you want with me?" She called out to him, sounding scared again.
"I only want to talk," Ulrich said. He realized that Minnie really didn't like to be touched. Her door slowly opened, and she peered out.
"Okay," she whispered so quietly it was barely heard.
Ulrich led Minnie down to the forest, and he sat down, and she sat next to him, closer than she did before, although she quickly positioned herself further away from him. He looked at her, but she was looking at the ground.
"Minnie," He started. "I wanted to say I was sorry-" Minnie interrupted him.
"You already said you were sorry," Minnie told him, as though he didn't already know.
"But you don't know why," Ulrich said, insisting on making his point. "You see, I wanted to blame you for everything that's happened over these past few days-" Minnie cut him off again.
"That's okay. It's my fault anyway," she said, still looking at the ground.
"No, it's not your fault. It's not your fault, it's my fault." He reached out to stroke her hair, but she pulled away. He rested his hand on the ground, only to find that he rested it on Minnie's hand, which she quickly jerked away. Ulrich looked at her with concern in his eyes.
"Why won't you let me touch you?" He asked her.
"Why would you want to?" She asked him, before fleeing back to her dorm. This time, Ulrich chased after her. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop running.
As she tried to tug her arm free, Ulrich said, "Maybe I do want to touch you." Minnie froze. She looked him straight in the eyes, with her sad, blue-grey eyes.
"Please, let go," she pleaded, and he let go of her arm, and she ran back to her dorm. This time Ulrich only followed her with his eyes.