I'm staring blankly at my computer while I wait for Aelita to wake up. There's nothing for me to do. I've finished the diary, there is nothing suspicious going on inside Lyoko, and there are no XANA attacks. The computer hums silently in the darkness of my room that is slowly brightening up from the rising sun. I've been awake for over an hour now, although I'm not really sure why. I guess I just couldn't sleep.
This morning 'Lita has an appointment with Mr. Delmas, and she's finally going to tell him everything. I'm extremely happy and relieved that she will finally be getting help. I know she's scared that it will only make things worse, but I'm confident that this will prove otherwise. I know that once the situation is in an official figure's hands, everything will be okay. Once this freak is thrown in jail, she will no longer be in harm. And I can't wait, because as much as it's stressing me and the others out, I can't imagine what it's actually doing to her.
She barely talks to anyone anymore. She doesn't smile and laugh like she used to, and she's very timid and frightened all of the time. I like being close to her, and I don't really mind personally escorting her around, but sometimes I need to be left alone, especially with all the work on defeating XANA I still have to do. Not to mention, we haven't even started looking for Aelita's missing fragment yet.
Although I guess right now, her situation on Earth is more important than in a virtual world. XANA has been quiet. So quiet that I almost wonder if somehow he is behind this… but there would need to be an activated tower for any sort of signal to be sent from XANA to the men in black.
Maybe I should pay more attention in P.E. with Jim, and then I'd be able to take care of this guy myself. I clench my fists against my sides at the thought of personally pounding him into the ground. It makes me stomach churn, thinking about what he did to Aelita. I don't even think she really understands still. It's not fair.
I look at my watch. The appointment with Delmas is in less than an hour and she's still asleep. Although I hate to wake her because it's so rare that she finally sleeps anymore, I walk over to her and gently shake her shoulders as she begins to stir.
"Aelita," I whisper against her ear. "Wake up."
She moans something I don't understand before pulling the cover back over her head. I smile at how adorable she is and begin thinking about last night, which in turn causes me to blush. I think about her hands being around my neck and my fingers rustling in her hair, and I think about how she curls her lips into a smile while pressed against mine. She deserves it, though. There was no way I could've said no to her. She deserves to know what something like that really feels like, compared to when you're being forced against a brick wall. Time to stop daydreaming, Jer. You need to get this girl out of bed.
"Aelita," I say again, although a bit louder. "Come on, you need to get up."
She sighs heavily and throws the blanket off of her body and then smiles up at me. "Good morning," she says.
I smile back. "Morning, 'Lita." She drags herself out of my bed and rubs her eyes before yawning and walking down the hall into the wash room. I sit on my bed and wait for when she comes back, ready to head down to Mr. Delmas' office. I hate that I can't follow her to the girls room, because who knows when that guy could pop out? Not to mention, truthfully, I like to be around her as much as I can. All I have to do is take one look at her and my heart starts pounding inside my chest… and that just makes me even angrier. It's not fair that someone so beautiful and perfect had to have something so horrible happen to her. She doesn't deserve that. Nobody deserves that, but, especially not Aelita. I sigh, and Aelita walks back into my room dressed for the day. "That was quick," I say.
"I guess." She nervously clutches the ends of her dress and I walk over to her side.
"Are you ready, Aelita?" I'm waiting for her to change her mind last minute. For her to say she's too afraid and that she wants to wait until tomorrow. Instead, though, she nods her head. I think I'm just as nervous as she is.
We make our way down the hallway and start walking towards the headmaster's office. The walk seems long, awkward and agonizing. Everywhere we go there is a rumor of some sort making its way through the air. I see students look at Aelita before leaning into their friend's ears and snickering.
"Did you see her the other day?"
"She totally trashed Milly and Tamiya's news stand."
"I heard she has a brain disease."
I sigh and roll my eyes at the blunt immaturity of some people, and notice Aelita is dragging her feet as she pouts towards the ground. I put my arm around her shoulders and give her a friendly tug closer to my body.
"It's gonna be okay," I reassure her as I lean against the fragile cartilage of ears. I don't think she paid much attention, though. She continues to stare at the ground and she would've run straight into the doors if it weren't for me jerking her shoulder to hold her back.
"Huh?" she pipes up as she raises her head. I love the way she sounds when she's confused. I gesture my hand towards the double doors that seal away the office of Jean-Pierre Delmas. She looks over at me with fearful eyes, her usually soft face tense with anxiety.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask her.
"That depends," she quietly responds. "Are you sure it's the right thing to do?"
I nod. She looks towards the door and takes a deep breath before turning back towards me.
"Then yes," she says. "I'm sure." She doesn't sound very sure, though. I think she's only doing this to make me happy, and I certainly don't want that. I don't get to say much back, though, because the door is already shutting in front of me as I open my mouth. I guess she didn't want me to go in with her, and that's probably for the best anyway.
"Oh, hello, Ms. Stones! And what is it that brought you into my office so urgently this morning?" I hear the powering, albeit friendly voice of Mr. Delmas as the door slowly closes in my face.
Mr. Delmas sat in silence, tapping his ball point pen against the rough wood of his desk as he rubbed his chin in nervous contemplation.
"I see," he simply said.
Aelita sat Indian-style in the cushioned chair sitting across from his large desk, staring blankly at her lap as she twiddled her thumbs. She had told him every single detail. Every time of day; whether the sky was orange from sunset or blue from nightfall. Every place, whether the corners of the bathrooms or the alley in the city. She had gone from describing in painful depth the original event, to explaining how now it felt like he was following her around campus. Mr. Delmas patted the stack of papers in his oversized palms against the shining hardwood counter in front of him, gently placing them down and continuing to rub his chin. He twirled the hairs of his silvery beard around his fingers and cleared his throat, tapping his fingertips against his desk. The silence began to eat at Aelita. The clock on the wall ticked oh so slowly, each click growing louder than the last and pounding against her ear drums. She felt as if her ears were about to explode until the principal before her finally broke the silence as he fumbled for the telephone next to him.
"I'll phone the police, then. We should have you see Yolanda. Aelita?"
Aelita tilted her head upwards. "Yes, Mr. Delmas?"
He smiled slightly and gave a gentle nod of reassurance. "It's good that you told me."
Aelita grinned and exhaled a massive sigh of pure relief, finally feeling confident that everything was going to be okay. Jeremie was right, she thought to herself. Of course he was. It's Jeremie. She smiled. For the first time in a couple of months, she truly, legitimately smiled.
"How long ago was this, Aelita?" Yolanda asked as she pulled the gloves down her hands and snapped the latex against her wrists. Aelita nervously sat on the exam table in her gown, tightly hugging her shaky legs towards her chest as she watched the nurse rummage through the drawers.
"Uh… um… two months?" She chewed on the nails of one hand, with her other hand securely wrapped around her knees.
Yolanda frowned. "That's what I was afraid of," she mumbled.
"Why?" Aelita shifted around on the table, tugging at the hospital like gown to cover her chilly, bare legs. "What's wrong?"
Yolanda shut the drawer and turned to Aelita with an intimidating, metal tool in her hand; somewhat resembling a garden shovel. "Any samples of his DNA will surely have been washed away by now, which means tracking him down will be harder."
Aelita scowled and let out a defeated whimper.
"But not impossible," she reassuringly smiled. "Don't worry." She pulled a stool around from the corner and scooted towards the end of the exam table patting her hand against the tissue, encouraging Aelita to move forward. She reluctantly obliged, scurrying her little butt towards the end of the examination bed as her lips puckered into a panicky pout. "So, I'm going to assume that all of the bleeding I saw from you the last time you were in here was because of the assault, right?"
Aelita leisurely nodded.
"I was afraid of that, as well. That was very heavy bleeding, Aelita. Are you still bleeding like that?"
The porcelain skinned girl shrugged. "No, not really."
"Well that's good, at least. Now, Aelita, I'm going to ask you to relax your body as much as possible and lean back."
"Uh… okay," she quietly said as she lowered herself onto the table, still keeping her knees tightly clamped together. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying to loosen her muscles as requested.
"Can you open your legs a bit for me, Aelita?"
"Uh, what?" Aelita shot upwards on the bed and noticed the tool that Yolanda had on the tray next to her. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Yolanda saw the nervous expression on the pinkette's face and rolled the stool closer to her, taking her hands into hers. She patted them as she tried to reassure Aelita. "I'm just going to do a simple examination to see how much damage there is, that's all."
'Lita's eyes, however, were still fixed on the intriguing tool that sparkled under the glare of the fluorescent lights. "Uh… is it going to hurt?"
"No. It may feel uncomfortable, and most likely cold because of the metal, but it won't hurt. Not too badly, if at all."
"Uhhh…" Shivers trickled up and down her spine and her stomach began to twist inside of her. She lied back down on the examination bed and took another deep breath whilst creating a tiny gap between her tightly shut legs.
"You're going to have to spread them a little wider, Aelita."
Aelita whimpered and gradually widened the space she had opened. "Is this… really necessary? I'm fine, really. Can we just skip the exam?"
"I'm afraid not. Just try and relax, Aelita. This is something every woman has to go through at one point or another, it's a common routine." The blonde nurse smiled at the shuddering woman as she took the tool into her hands and rubbed it with sanitizer.
Aelita turned her head towards the closed door, where she knew that Jeremie was waiting on the other side. She could almost see the outline of his shadow behind the blinds. And then, her mind wasn't so focused on the nurse, the metal or the exam bed anymore. It was focused on the night before, and how warm being embraced by Jeremie was compared to the far too freezing atmosphere of the nurse's office. She let her eyes fall shut and began to reminisce on the way he rested his hand against her hair and gently played with it, and the way his lips could so gracefully brush against hers as if he were an expert, even though she was sure he had never kissed a girl before. She sensed her face growing warm with a tinted blush in contrast to the air conditioning that filled the room, making her feel as if she were melting into a puddle and dripping off of the edges. Comfort and even happiness overwhelmed her, and for a split second she had forgotten where she was.
Only for a split second, though. A powerful sensation of pure ice below jolted her off of the bed.
sorry for the uneventful chapter. when my mind tells me to stop a chapter, i have to stop it, whether or not i've gotten what i want out of it. xP reviewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww