Chapter 4: X.A.N.A.'s Back!; General POV

"I just can't believe she said yes!" Jeremie exclaimed to Odd as he sat down. He had just finished describing Aelita's call last night about the dance.

"Well, who else would she go with, Einstein?" Odd laughed, sitting down next to Jeremie. "Where is the princess anyway?"

"Helping her roommate get ready, I think." Jeremie picked up his fork. "She told me that she would be sitting with us today, so at least try to be on your best behavior."

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't have a best behavior." Odd responded, shoving a pancake into his mouth.

Jeremie sighed and shook his head. "Where's Ulrich, anyway?"

"Asking a certain girl to the dance." Odd laughed, continuing to put large amounts of food into his mouth.

"He's really asking Yumi to the dance?" Jeremie asked. "I thought he would've chickened out by now."

"Just like we all thought you'd chicken out of asking Aelita." Odd smiled as Jeremie glared at him.

"Hey, Ulrich." Yumi said as she walked into the gates of Kadic's campus. "You waiting for me?"

"Actually, yes. I am." Ulrich nervously shoved his hands in his pockets. "I have something to ask you."

"Oh?" Yumi gave Ulrich a curious look as she walked beside him.

"I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to go—"

"Oh, Ulrich dear!" A familiar, squeaky, female voice called. "I have something to ask you!" The annoying, black-haired teen approached the pair, who had stopped walking to face the girl.

"For the last time, I am not your 'Ulrich dear', Sissi. And what do you want, anyway?" Ulrich grumbled, frustrated that someone had ruined his chance to ask Yumi to the dance.

Sissi twirled her hair around her finger and looked slightly "I was wondering if you might go to the dance with me?" She gave a wide, slightly nervous smile.

"Sorry, Sissi, but I already have plans for the dance." He side-glanced at Yumi, who tried to hide her disappointment. "Or I… plan to."

"Oh. But maybe—" Siss began, but was swiftly interrupted by the bell.

"Guess I'll be seeing you guys later." Yumi waved herself off, heading toward the older kids' classrooms.

"That's just great." Ulrich grumbled. He began walking toward his classroom.

"So is that a yes?" Siss asked as she watched her crush walk off. "Okay, later then?"

Ulrich ignored Sissi and continued walking to Ms. Hertz's class.

"So, Romeo, how'd it go?" Odd whispered to Ulrich, who was on the stool next to him.

"Don't wanna talk about it." Ulrich mumbled back.

"Ooh, someone's kind of touchy." Odd re-centered himself in his seat.

"Did Yumi turn you down?" Jeremie looked back at his two guy friends from his seat in front of them.

"Not exactly." Ulrich sighed, looking down at his desk. He searched for something in the room to change the subject. He spotted a redhead sitting with Aelita that he had never seen before. "So that's Aelita's new roommate?"

"Yep." Odd said.

"And she's in our grade?" Ulrich asked.

"Yes, Lacey's in our grade." Jeremie replied, looking at Ulrich funny.

"What grade would she be in?" Odd asked his roommate.

"I don't know. She looks older. Like she could be in Yumi's grade or maybe even older than that." Ulrich noted— more to himself than the others.

"Boys!" Ms. Hertz turned from the board where she had been teaching. Do you find my class boring?" She scowled at the three.

"Well…" Odd quietly joked.

"Maybe if I hand back your tests, you will consider paying more attention in this class. Especially you, Mr. Stern."

"Great. Because my grades always make my day so much better."

Meanwhile, up front where Lacey and Aelita were sitting, the pink-haired girl had already received her test back. Lacey curiously side-glanced, trying to see Aelita's paper. Aelita caught on and generously showed her roommate the paper.

"A-; lower than usual, but I'll survive." Aelita explained, giving a small shrug.

"So what do you and your friends do around here?" Lacey not-so-subtly blurted.

Aelita gave her a funny look. "What do you mean?"

Lacey was quick to think up a cover-story for her sudden interest. "I mean, what do you do for fun? There's got to be something amusing to do around here."

Aelita seemed to buy the story. "Well, I guess we just hang out."

"Hang out where?" Lacey asked.

"In our rooms, I guess." Aelita shrugged again. "We just hang out, like normal friends."

"Right." Lacey nodded, though she felt frustration building up inside her.

"So, Ulrich, what'd you get on the quiz?" Odd asked his best friend. The small group, which included Jeremie, Aelita, Lacey, Odd, and Ulrich was walking to lunch, where they would meet up with Yumi.

"D+." He mumbled back, clearly unhappy.

"No way!" Odd exclaimed. "I got a C+! Which means that I did better than you! Haha!"

"I don't believe this." Ulrich muttered back.

"It's happened before." Jeremie shrugged.

Ulrich looked genuinely upset and looked to be getting worse by the minute. "But I actually studied for this test! And what did Odd do? He played video games!"

"Some people are just naturally smart." Odd laughed. "Get used to it."

"You're a nutcase." Ulrich grumbled as they entered the cafeteria.

Only a minute after the gang had all gotten their food and sat down, Yumi joined the group, taking a seat in between Ulrich and Aelita, putting her across from Lacey.

"You must be Aelita's new roommate." Yumi said, picking her spoon up to eat her soup. "Lacey, right?"

Lacey nodded. "And you must be Yumi. I've already heard a lot about you."

"Yeah?" Yumi dipped a cracker in her soup.

"Yumi here lives off campus." Odd interjected. "Just a few blocks away."

"How cool." Lacey gave the Japanese girl a small smile.

"I guess." Yumi shrugged, swallowing the bit of soup she had in her mouth. "It's kind of a pain to run here and run back before curfew every time—" Yumi quickly stopped herself before she said "Every time X.A.N.A. attacks Lyoko". Instead, she said, with a slight pause, "every time we want to hang out."

Lacey, being the agent that she was, pretended to buy this story. "Oh. Well I guess it's cool that you still get to live with your family."

Yumi nodded, and when she thought Lacey wasn't looking, she and Ulrich shared a look.

"So, Lacey, where are you from?" Aelita kindly asked her roommate.

"Oh, here, there, everywhere, really." Lacey shrugged. "My family moves a lot."

"I would love to do that!" Odd continuing shoveling food into his mouth. "Instead of staying in this boring place all of the time!"

"You know you like it here." Ulrich told his roommate.

"Yeah, you're right." Odd agreed. "Kiwi couldn't stand moving everywhere." He laughed.

"Therefore, y is equal to…" Mrs. Hertz continued drawing on her board, but Jeremie's concentration was broken by his laptop beeping. He subtly pulled it out.

"X.A.N.A.!" He whispered. "He's back!"

Sorry it's been so long, guys! I've been busy with the horses lately (yes I ride horses)! Also, school has started back up again, so I've been busy with that (this is my freshman year of highschool!)! Thanks for the reviews, reads (Yeah, I keep track…), favorites, and follows! You have no idea how much they make my day!

XX,

peddiegirl101