Chapter 9

Odd and Sasha quickly found their way to a bench in the middle of campus. The blonde-purple spikey haired Lyoko warrior sighed to himself about how he had been treated by the school about his new friend. No one seemed to care about Samantha, Claire, or even Naomi. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that, Sasha. I don't know what's gotten into the school. It just seems like everyone's on edge these days."

Sasha giggled, "Odd, I think it's because you proudly announced your affection for me in front of everyone that caught them off guard." She smiled at him, waving her hands through his hair. "Question, how did you get to spike up like this? What was the point you said, 'that's it, I'm spiking it up now!'" She asked as he she continued to play with his hair.

Odd smirked to her. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Let's just say I thought it was time for a change. I used to have it down, but after a certain day… I just said to hell with it." He laned back taking her hand in his. "So… the fact that you're not repulsed by my touch should mean something right?"

Sasha looked at him curiously and then nodded. "Yes, dork. I do happen to like you. Now, about those comic books…" She whispered to his ear as she placed her head on his shoulder.

Odd twitched at her whisper, feeling goosebumps crawl up his arm and neck. Sasha… you know we can't go now. It's in the middle of school. It's not like we can just up and leave." He placed his arm around her, looking around to see if anyone was watching them.

"Who says we can't? I'd bet 10 Euros that we can just leave right now, and nobody would notice."

Odd leaned his head back, retracting his arm. "I can't do that, Sasha. I'm already not the best student here, and besides if I'm gone and my friends need me…" He stopped himself, not wanting to say too much. While he did like her, Odd didn't fully understand what Sasha wanted. He knew he had to protect the supercomputer's secret. "I can't do that, I'm sorry."

Sasha huffed and got up from the bench. "I thought you were a little different than some of these other boys around here." She looked around to see Ulrich getting escorted by Jim towards the Principal's Office. "See, even Ulrich here has a rebellious streak. Looks like I was wrong about you Odd." She turned around and walked away towards the dorms.

Odd got up and yelled after her. "Wait! Sasha, I didn't mean to- "but she well out of earshot. Or so he thought. "Damnit Della Robbia! What the hell's the matter with you. The one time you want to stick to the principles of being a great student it costs you the girl!" He slammed his foot to the ground, contemplating his next move. What could he do that would impress her enough to give him a second chance? She obviously liked the same things he did, and he was sure she was the one for him. He swallowed hard: He would do whatever he could to win her over. Even if it meant a little bit of detention.

'I'm gonna do it, Sasha. I'll do it for you!' Odd walked briskly to his and Ulrich's room. Petting Kiwi, he sat down at the desk provided and continued to think of how he would get away with this. One thing kept him from pulling the trigger: guilt. He knew it was wrong to even think this way, and he was not about to risk it. As he continued pressing the confines of his mind, he heard what sounded like breathing. He turned around to look towards his drawer below the bed. Indeed, Odd had heard breathing coming from his bed. "Kiwi, is that you? You getting sick on me?" He got up and moved Kiwi off the bed, still hearing the breathing coming from the same area. "No… if it's not you… it's…" he opened the drawer, looking down to the black suit of his Lyoko gear.

There it was, the answer to his problem. But he had said he'd never use it again. He promised Jeremie and Ulrich. The two would never use their suits, they'd rather die. But he felt the call, the temptation to put it on and relieve the previous night. He picked up the garb, having it morph into a black shirt and long sleeve undershirt. He put it on and instantly felt better, sighing in relief. The guilt went away, as did his inhibitions. He grabbed his phone and sent Sasha a quick message.

Sasha, you were right. Let's meet outside the gates of the school. We're gonna head to the nearest comic store, and after that, we'll see what our day has in store for us.

He felt the phone vibrate as it registered a response.

Yay! You'll see! We're gonna have an amazing time!

Odd smirked to himself and walked out of the room, not noticing Ulrich's drawer was also open and missing a certain garment. Quickly running down the stairs, he opened the doors to the outside, soaking in the clouds covering the sun, it was a perfect drab day for a date that involved being truant. He didn't care, he was about to the have the time of his life, and he was going to make sure that Sasha would as well. Walking towards the gate, he saw Sasha, wearing a t-shirt with a white skull emblem, black jeans, and brown cowboy boots. "Well, don't you look stunning. I think I like this look on you." Odd said, eyeing up his girlfriend.

Sasha blushed at his remark. "Well, I certainly like the black shirt you have. It's a good color on you. Need to change your jeans though to match." She said as she took his and began their walk out into town. "We'll go shopping after the comic bookstore. You'll see, hanging with me is gonna be so much fun!" She smiled and wrapped her fingers around his.

Odd felt the rush of joy enter his system. He had never felt this feeling before, and he couldn't discern if it was genuine for what he felt for Sasha, or if it was the black suit that gave him the confidence boost. "Trust me, I've already got an idea for what we're gonna do after the store." He said as they crossed the street towards the Local Heroes comic store. Walking inside, he and Sasha passed by the Marvel section, heading to the DC and Vertigo line. Eyeing up what was current, Odd could see Sasha trying to reach for the latest issue of Hellblazer, and he quickly reached up to take it down for her. "Only the best of John Constantine for my queen." He gave a bow as he presented the comic to her.

Sasha accepted the comic, giggling in the process. "Oh, my dear, you shouldn't have. Now I am in your debt for sure." She said as she looked over to the collectible statues. "Ooh! Look at that! Dr. Shrank in the flesh! We should get it!" she hopped up and down, picking up the box that contained the statue of their favorite horror icon.

Odd snickered, he knew he had the perfect girl for him. He took the box and the comic and placed them up on the counter. "How much will it be, pops." He asked the clerk.

The clerk scoffed at the remark. "Pops? Shouldn't you be in school young man?" He asked as he totaled up the purchase. "That'll be 50 Euros."

"Odd, I have about 20, tell me you have 30… I want that statue!"

Odd dug around his pocket and pulled out a 20 Euro bill along with 5 Euro coins. "I've only got 25 Euros to go with it. I'm sure our clerk friend here wouldn't mind if that was all we had." He said as he slammed the money on the counter. "Would he?" Odd said threateningly.

The clerk took the money from the boy's hand. "No… if that's all you got, I suppose I could knock off 5 Euros, this one time. On the condition that you never come back here again."

Odd felt anger rise in his system. No one dared talked to him or Sasha that way. "You listen here. This is a free establishment that allows anyone to come in. If you know what's good for you, you'll keep letting us come back. It'd be a shame for the police to find out you've been embezzling on all your products and driving up prices." He grabbed the bag and took Sasha's hand, walking out of the store before slamming the door behind him, breaking the glass in the process.

Sasha took the boxed statue of Dr. Shrank and looked up at her boyfriend. "Odd, while I do appreciate the gesture, I don't know if it needed to go that far. I was perfectly fine that he was willing to not let us come back. There are other stores around here we can go to for our comic fix."

Odd scoffed at his girlfriend's remark. "You literally said to me, "I want that statue, and made it seem like you couldn't live without it. Make up your mind!" he shouted, gripping her hand tighter in the process.

Sasha winced. "Odd, you're hurting me. It's okay, I'm sorry I spoke up."

Odd relented. "No Sasha, I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have gotten so angry. Anyways, come on! I've got a surprise for you!" He said as he started running towards downtown. The sun started to set, and cars began piling the streets, horns blaring and lights flashing all around. Soon, the two lovers found themselves in a den of street racers.

Sasha looked around, feeling the excitement in her system begin to climb. "Odd, this is amazing! Are we gonna race?"

Odd smiled. "We're gonna do more than race, we're gonna race out of here with this." He pointed at a Ford Mustang GT that he quickly got in. Letting his suit work through him, he quickly hotwired the car and motioned for Sasha to get in. "Let's go! We got a date a jazz club tonight!"

Sasha climbed in and buckled up. Feeling the acceleration hit fast, she was thrown back with how fast Odd had pressed on the gas. She looked up to see some of the street racers follow them. "Odd, looks like we've got company!"

Odd smirked. Readying his suit, he felt his arm move up and pointed it at the lead car. "Laser Arrow" he whispered, and the dart flew out of his gauntlet and towards its intended target. The car smashed into a fire hydrant and created a pile up. "That takes care of that!" He looked over at Sasha and quickly took her face and brought his lips to hers. He enjoyed the kiss, feeling her tongue play with his as they continued to make out. Once air became a necessity, the ceased their impassionate moment.

Sasha smiled and put her boots up on the dashboard. "Wherever we go, as long as I'm with you, that's all that matters."

Odd smiled to himself, he had finally won. He felt his phone vibrate and gave it to Sasha to read. "Let me know what it says."

Sasha looked over it and read the message. "It's from Jeremie and Ulrich, we need to talk, now."

As Odd heard the words leave her lips, his happiness died, replaced by anger. He knew what it was about, but he didn't care. "Tell them I'm busy, we're going to the jazz club down the street from the school. They can meet us there with Yumi and Aelita."

Sasha nodded and sent the text. She saw odd rub his temples. Clearly something was wrong, and she started to feel guilty about what he had done.

Maybe Yumi was right in looking at me that way… maybe I am nothing good for anyone.

Odd felt his anger rise and knew what was going to happen. He would not give it up. Not without a fight.

No, they'll have to take it off my cold dead body.