Alita's POV:
I had to tell my friends the truth.
Yumi had given me a note book on our way home, so that I could communicate without having to act everything out. She had lent me some pajamas, & as I waited for her to finish her bath, I wrote & rewrote my confession. It was hard to find the right words. I didn't want her to get mad, but I only had two days left. If I was going to do this, I would need her help.
Thankfully, I had managed to settle on a final version just as Yumi entered the bedroom. "Ok, since it's your first night here, you can take the bed."
I stood up, took a deep breath, & held out my note book.
"No, I insist." she said.
I shook my head, & held out the note book again. That's not what I'm trying to say.
This time she took it, & sat down on her bed. I sat down next to her & waited for her reaction.
"You what?" she asked. I waved my hand in a circular motion. Keep reading.
"First of all, you don't need to prove yourself to belong here. That's not how our world works. You belong here because you exist. Even when you were on Lyoko, you still belonged here because this is where you wanted to be." I smiled at that.
"Now, about the deal…I can't help but think that this is one of XANA's tricks. I'm not sure why, but for some reason, he wanted you to come here." She thought for a moment.
"I think we'll need to tell Ulrick & Od about this tomorrow. Jeremy loves you, but he's not super romantic. We'll need to come up with a plan."
"Well, Alita, what did you think?" Ulrick asked me the next day. I had just finished my first class at Kadic Academy. It had been a history class, & while I would have felt more at ease if it were a computer class, it was still exciting & wonderful.
I really like history. I wrote. But you gotta to admit, you fight a lot here. There are wars all the time.
The others glanced at each other, uneasily. "You see, Alita…um…well…the human world…" Ulrick faltered, unsure of what to say.
"It's a mess." Od said simply. Ulrick & Od hadn't been too happy when I confessed to them about my deal with XANA, but they were willing to help. I was grateful for that.
"You know, we should celebrate tonight." Yumi suggested as she walked with us to our next class.
"I don't know. I kinda want to go to the factory." Jeremy said. "Alita can't go without her voce forever."
"Oh come on, Jeremy. The fact that Alita is even here is a big achievement." Od said. "You can skip work for just one night."
"Yeah, let's take Alita to a proper dinner." Ulrick said. "We can sneak into town, & show her what Earth is really like."
"Sounds like fun." Yumi said as she broke away to go to her next class. "We'll figure out the details at lunch." As she turned away, we locked eyes for a moment, & she winked.
I didn't know what was going on, but it must be a part of the plan to get Jeremy to kiss me…
Yumi had texted me after the final class of the day. The plan was for the rest of my friends to be suddenly unavailable for dinner tonight…leaving Jeremy & me to go out on our own.
It was awkward, at first…Nether one of us seemed to know what say or do, now that we were spending time together without a computer screen between us. Eventually, I wrote down a theory for a program, & we passed the note book back & forth, writing a program on paper. It was just like all the other times we had spent together, but better, because Jeremy was right here next to me.
We left the café, & I noticed that the sun had already set. I only had one more day…
But, if everything went well, that should be more than enough time…
We were walking along, taking the long way back to Yumi's, when I felt a strange feeling come over me.
"Are you ok?" Jeremy asked. I nodded, but I must have still looked puzzled, because Jeremy went on to explain. "You shivered. It's how your body reacts to the cold." He thought for a moment. "We should probably get you a jacket…"
I waved my hand to stop him. I opened my note book to a clean page. I'm fine. I like feeling a little chilly. I didn't have that type of experience on Lyoko.
"Yeah, Lyoko only let you see & hear. You have all five senses now." Jeremy said. He plucked a flower from a nearby bush & gave to me. "Smell this."
I breathed in the scent deeply, & smiled. It was wonderful to be alive…
As we walked along, I saw something strange. It looked like a scanner. I tugged on Jeremy's sleeve, & pointed at it. What's that?
"It's a photo booth. Come on, I'll show you." He took my hand as we went inside, & took a series of silly pictures, which printed out for us. We each took a strip.
We took a detour through the park, & we found ourselves suddenly being followed by a street musician with a violin. Even as we quickened our pace, the musician kept up.
"Excuse me for just a second." Jeremy said, walking back to speak with the musician. After they spoke, Jeremy gave him some money, & then walked back over to me.
"Watch this." he said, & we sat down on a bench, watching the street musician walk away. We herd him begin to play again, but this time a very embarrassed Yumi & Ulrick were being followed. Od ran off, laughing hysterically at the turn of events.
"Seems like the others were free tonight after all." Jeremy commented with a laugh. "I think we've been set up."
Oh no, he knew. He knew what I had done, he knew how I gotten here, what if he doesn't like me anymore, what if he refused to kiss me, dooming me to an eternity on Lyoko?
"Od's idea of a practical joke, I guess…" Jeremy said. I let out the breath I didn't realize I had been holding. I mean, I was going to tell him the truth…once this was all over…
We slid a little closer together on the bench. "I had a really good time tonight." Jeremy said. I nodded, to let him know that I felt the same. We moved in a little closer, our heads almost touching.
"Alita, I…um, did you…I mean, can we…uh…" Jeremy couldn't seem to phrase his question, but that was ok. I knew what he was asking. He wanted to kiss me, & I wanted to kiss him too.
I nodded. This was it! The moment I had been waiting for. We moved in close, our lips almost touching…
…Suddenly, there was a crack above our heads, followed by a scream as something big fell behind us. Jeremy & I jumped to our feet, with Jeremy standing slightly in front, protecting me.
Od was lying on the ground, with a large tree branch beside him. He had fallen out of the tree above us. His camera phone was still clutched in his hand.
"Od?! What were you dong up there?" Jeremy asked, blushing. My own cheeks felt hot, as well…
"Um…bird watching?" Od said. Yumi & Ulrick emerged from their hiding spots nearby. They must have slipped away from the musician.
Jeremy didn't believe him. He turned to me. "I guess, uh…It…It's getting kind of late…We...We should probably walk you girls home…" He was so embarrassed that he had difficulty looking me in the eye.
I nodded, sadly.
I had less than 24 hours to get that kiss…or I would have to go back to Lyoko…
Forever.
Alita's task is about to get a lot more difficult…XANA's not gonna go down without a fight…
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