“Yumi, Yumi wake up” Ulrich said frantically. He shook her shoulders repeatedly, and now he was getting worried. She was in a cold sweat and was even paler then normal. She was mumbling incoherently, it sounded as if she was crying. “Oh come on Yumi, wake up. Come on Yumi, you’re scaring me now.” She was shaking on her own now and Ulrich immediately let go, “I’ve gotta do something” he thought. Then an idea hit him, unlike his old room, this room had a sink. He filled a cup with cold water and threw it into her face, she didn’t wake up. “Shit, what do I do now” he asked to no one in particular. He sat on her bed and put his arms on her shoulders gently, “Yumi” he whispered.

She shot out of her dream and into his arms, she could feel herself shaking violently and her clothes were soaked. She tried to speak, but it was all garbled and she could tell he didn’t understand what she was saying.

“Yumi, you have to calm down” he whispered so as to not upset her further. He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead. “It was only a dream,” he said in an almost fatherly tone, “it’s alright now, no one’s going to hurt you.” He could feel the shaking begin to subside, he stroked her hair gently as she began to cry.

“Ulrich….I think something is wrong with me. I…. keep having these dreams” she said in between deep breaths. “Please help me” she pleaded.

He pulled her head from his chest and lifted her face to his level, “Yumi, I promise, I will call someone tonight, ok. I’m going to get you help, anfd if you ever, and I mean ever, want to talk about it, I love you and I’m always going to be here for you.”

She was looking into his eyes as he said this, “I love you and I’m always going to be here for you” She could tell in his eyes that he was telling the truth, he had a fatherly look in his eye and a gentle tone in his voice. She was crying, yes, but she was holding back as much as she could. She finally let it go, burying her head deep into his chest.

He wrapped her in a tight embrace, “That’s it Yumi, just let it all out, cry all you want. It’s all gonna work out soon, I promise.” He felt his shirt becoming soaked, but he didn’t care, once she calmed down enough that she could have a conversation with, he began to speak again, “Come on, how does some hot chocolate sound?” She nodded her head in approval and he stood up. He helped her to her feet and made sure she could stand on her own, it appeared so. “First thing first, let’s get you some dry clothes and clean you up a bit, do need me help” he asked. She nodded her head in approval once more, knowing she was too weak in this condition to do much of anything. He began searching through her drawers, looking for her most comfortable clothes. He found a worn cotton shirt and a pair of sweat shorts, and held them up to see if she approved. When she nodded he went into one more drawer to pick out a clean bra and a clean pair of panties. He didn’t know what was the most comfortable for her, so he just guessed. He held those up and she approved of those as well. It seemed as though she wasn’t even paying attention, like she was somewhere completely different.

“Alright, lets get you out of these wet clothes before you catch something, they’re drenched.” He was trying to maintain a calm and collected attitude so she would feel calmer, it seemed to be working. He could tell she was too drained to do this by herself; he lifted her arms and pulled the shirt over her head. It came off rather easily, all going smoothly. She began to wobble a bit and Ulrich was quick to react, quickly supporting her weight and setting her on the bed. He really needed to maintain calm and collected now, he began to undo her bra in order to replace it with a new one. He had a bit of trouble at first, but he quickly figure out the complex puzzle. She was so beautiful, but he forced himself not to stare, the last thing she needed was to think Ulrich was anything like her father.

Knock….Knock…Knock. Someone was knocking on his door, and at the worst possible time. “Just one minute” he said loudly. He replaced her bra and shirt rather quickly. Now was the hard part, he had to replace panties and pants. He couldn’t appear aroused by this, although he knew he would be, and he couldn’t stare. Knock….Knock….Knock. “I said one minute.” He pulled her socks off and threw them with the rest of the clothes; he’d take care of those later. He could tell by her face that she wasn’t all there at the time; she was staring blankly at nothing, which made the task a bit easier. He unbuttoned her dark blue jeans and slipped them off her, such beautiful and slender legs she had, milky white complexion and such fragile skin. He always knew she was beautiful, but he never actually witnessed it. This was do or die time, he slowly pulled her panties off her hips and down her legs. Once they were off her tried as quickly as he could to replace them, his heart was racing and his mind began to wander.

He finally replaced them with a fresh black pair and slipped her into the sweat shorts. “Better” he asked, trying not to sound shaky. It seemed as if she just realized she was there, she shook her head a bit and looked in his eyes. “Thanks” she said extremely weakly. He got a warm wash cloth from the sink and wiped away the make-up that had begun to run. He got the sweat and dirt off of her face and gently kissed her, “All better” he said, as if he were talking to a small child that needed comfort. He heard footsteps of whomever was outside, they were walking down the hall, then the sound was gone.

“That hot chocolate sounds really good right now” she said with a hoarse voice. “I need something to drink. She got up from the bed, reassuring herself that her legs worked and slowly walked to the sink, she got a cup full of cold water and quickly gulped it down.

“Alright” said Ulrich, “can you walk?” He looked at her concernedly and waited for an answer.

She thought about it, “Yeah, yeah I can walk fine now” she said. “Let’s go get that hot chocolate now; I really need to talk with you.” He led her out of the room and he walked closer then normal to her, just in case she lost her balance.

He had the most terrible gut feeling, there’s something she wasn’t telling him about this whole thing. He would wait until she felt it was the right time, she didn’t need him prodding in her personal affairs, even if they were in love. She needed her space now more then ever.

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“I think I woke him up, so I just came back” explained Jeremy, Aelita didn’t look convinced. She looked at him skeptically and he couldn’t lie. “Alright, Yumi and him were in there and he was telling me to wait a minute, I heard someone dressing themselves so I just left. I didn’t want to deal with an awkward situation like that.” She looked like she was thinking about it, then she gave in.

“Ok, you win” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “So what do you want to do before we go to the club?” She sat down next to him on the floor and took out her book from under the bed, “Serial Killers” it read on the front in big white letters.

“I don’t know,” he thought about it for a few minutes, and he couldn’t think of anything creative. “You want to just go for a walk?” She set her book down and nodded her head.

“Ok, but I need to change first,” she said, “it’s too hot outside for me to wear this.” She had her heavy cotton night shirt and a pair of heavy jeans, not exactly the kind of clothes to keep you cool.

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“Alright, I’ll just wait outside for you” he said, he turned around to walk out the door but she grabbed his arm before he could leave. “Jeremy” he heard her say. He slowly turned around and looked at her. “Yeah” he said, a bit of a stutter in his voice.

“What does…..sex feel like” she said. She just blurted it out, like it was a normal question to ask you peers, let alone your boyfriend. She didn’t realize the kind of embarrassment a question like this can cause.

Jeremy looked for the words, but he had trouble finding them. “Um, yeah, it does. Do you know what…..that…means” he asked.

She nodded her head, “Yes, I know what the action is.” She looked at Jeremy, who seemed to be sweating a bit at this point. She tilted her head to the side out of confusion, Jeremy never acted like this when she needed something explained.

“No….no, I mean do you know…..do you know what it means….um,” he was looking for an intelligent word to use at this point, “Do you know what the symbolism of it is?” Yeah, that sounded about right, Aelita could always understand things better if they were explained to her intelligently.

She thought about it for a minute, she knew what the action was, what it produced, safety precautions, and health risks, but she didn’t think she learned what it symbolized in any text book. She shook her head; Jeremy normally explained things to her if she didn’t understand.

He was looking for the right words again, thinking of a way to explain this in a way that wouldn’t embarrass either of them. “Um…..here, come here” he said as an idea hit him, why explain it yourself when someone else can do it for you. He sat down at the computer and went to Google, searching SEX. He got hundreds of sleazy sites, searching through each description to find one that would explain it without turning it into something profane. He finally found one, “Ok Aelita,” he said, “just read this and it’ll explain it. I’m going to step out to get some air for a while; I’ll be back soon, ok.” He grabbed his bag containing his laptop and other belongings and kissed her goodbye.

“I love you Jeremy” she said after he kissed her, “be back before 7:45 so we can get a head start” she said as she read, never looking from the screen. The page didn’t contain any pictures, but it explained everything, exactly how the action was done, positions, laws. She finally found what she was looking for; it read “Sex is not something you should take lightly. It is a way to tell someone that you love them with all your heart and soul, it is a way to tell someone that you’d give your everything for.” She began to ponder this subject, then she realized why Jeremy was in such a hurry and she began to blush wildly

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Odd thought for a moment, could he really trust her, she did all those horrible things to him and the rest of the group. But she said those were just so they would pay attention to her, she must have thought bad attention was better then no attention, and he decided. “Sissy, the guys and I, we have this secret that we’ve kept for a long time. We’ve never shared it with anyone, but I think I can trust you.” Odd felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. This was the most well guarded secret any of them possessed, and he was about to reveal it to someone he hated just 5 days ago. “You see…..Sissy, we…...”

“Hi Sissy” yelled Herb, opening the glass doors and jogging towards them. He looked at Odd in a weird way, the same way he used looked at Ulrich. “Hey Odd” he said, not so enthusiastically. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything” he said, pointing at the both of them.

“No….not at all” Odd said through clenched teeth, trying not to lash out at her friend. He hated being interrupted, especially when he was having such a wonderful time. He looked at Sissy who seemed to be taking it much better then he was. She was wearing a smile and a warm, welcoming look on her face.

“Hey Herb, I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said, “How’ve you been?” She stopped leaning into Odd and sat regularly in her chair. She took a sip of her drink as Herb pulled over a chair from another table.

“Oh, you know, just working on some projects here and there” he replied, waving his hand dismissively. “The usual, you know.” Sissy nodded her head at this, he was always working on this or that, and occasionally the ideas that worked were pretty cool, but that was rare if ever. Herb looked at Sissy, then he glanced at Odd, “Um….I can come back at a better time if you’d like?”

Odd was cut off by Sissy instantly. She hadn’t known him for a long time, but she knew damn well what he was about to say. Sissy took her hand off Odd’s mouth and signaled for Herb to take back his seat, “Come on, I haven’t seen you in a while” she said.

As Herb turned around to take his seat he began to look confused, “Um….. are you feeling alright Sissy” he said, raising an eyebrow.

She just looked at him blankly, “I’m feeling much better…..thanks for asking, but where did that come from?” She looked just as confused as Herb did.

“Because...” he was searching for the right words, “you aren’t normally this….friendly.” He was hoping she didn’t take it the wrong way.

She just looked at Odd and smiled contently. “Well, I’ve been in a kind of ‘friendly’ mood all afternoon” she said, giggling slightly. She began to lean into Odd once more; he set his drink down and placed his arm around her shoulders to hold her closer.

Now this was something Ulrich would have to see to believe. Sissy….being sweet, caring, friendly, and giggling like a school girl, that would just freak Ulrich out. But Odd…..well Odd didn’t seem too surprised by it. In fact, he actually couldn’t think of anything else he would expect at this point.

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“Are you gonna be alright Yumi” asked Ulrich concernedly. She hadn’t said a word since they got into the cafeteria and she didn’t seem to be awake. She looked as if she was sleeping with her eyes open.

“Huh……oh yeah, I’m fine” she said, coming out of her daze. She took another sip of her hot chocolate and set it aside. “Ulrich, I have to tell you something. I haven’t told you the whole truth about my father.” The fragile mood she had been in earlier had faded, now she looked determined and serious. “You see, my father did use to…..” she couldn’t bring herself to say it, “but my mother….she really didn’t know.”

Ulrich coughed on some of the drink he was taking, he was curious to say the least now. “How did she not know” he asked.

“He….he never really did it when she was around,” tears were forming in her eyes from the memories, “and he would always threaten me, he said if I told her he would kill me. I should have stuck up for myself,” she was visibly crying now, feeling the full brunt of what she thought was weakness, “I should have told someone.”

“Yumi,” Ulrich said comfortingly, “that’s nothing to be ashamed of.” He moved from his seat across from her to the seat next to her. “Don’t ever make yourself feel like it was your fault.” He grabbed her free hand and held it tightly, “You do realize we have to tell your mother, right” he asked. She nodded her head and squeezed his hand, he was a good person, he only had her best interests at heart.

“Can you tell her for me,” she asked as she looked him in the eyes. “I don’t think I could bring myself to tell her.”

Ulrich wiped a tear away from her cheek and stroked her hair. “Anything,” he said, “anything to make this easier for you. You’ve been through stuff that I can’t even imagine, and if there’s anything you need I’ll be happy to help.”

“Hey, we’re trying to eat here, why don’t you guys get a room” yelled a random person from across the cafeteria, he wasn’t joking around like Odd. The boy stood up, he was looking for a fight in all the wrong places. The long time students knew how Ulrich got when confronted like this, normally they would have called the nurse by now, but this particular kid had been acting tough all summer, and they needed some entertainment.

“You wanna say that to my face” retorted Ulrich, standing up as well; Yumi didn’t need some punk yelling at her. Ulrich looked around the lunchroom: good….no teachers. He stomped across the room to the boy, he looked like a rising 6th grader, ‘Figures’ Ulrich thought.

“Why don’t you” the boy said, jabbing Ulrich in the chest with his finger, “and you’re little fuck buddy go get….” The boy didn’t get a chance to finish. Ulrich immediately punched the boy as hard as he could in the stomach, causing him to slump over in pain.

Ulrich picked the newcomer up and held him by his shirt in the air, “If you ever talk about Yumi that way again,” Ulrich said menacingly, “I swear to God, you won’t ever say anything about anyone ever again!” He threw the boy to the floor and walked away, he knew he had won. He brushed himself off and resumed his conversation with Yumi.

“Was that really necessary” she asked, she raised an eyebrow and looked at him with a scornful look.

“No one talks about you like that while I’m around” he said defending his actions. He took a huge drink of his coffee and slumped forward slightly.

“Thank you,” she said, “but could we keep those encounters to a minimum. It’s not worth it.” He nodded his head and stood up.

Ulrich took her hand and picked up her drink, “Let’s finish this conversation in the room, then we can call the guys to get ready, does that sound good” he asked. From the corner of his eye he saw the boy hurrying out of the cafeteria, his buddies laughing at his defeat, he was obviously not happy about getting beat up for the first time at Kadic.

She nodded her head as she got up from her seat, “Yeah, that sounds good.” She kissed him on the cheek and they walked out of the lunchroom. On there way to the room, Yumi saw Jeremy wandering the grounds looking bored. “Hey Jeremy, what’s up” she yelled, trying to catch his attention.

Jeremy looked up from the ground and saw Ulrich and Yumi waling hand in hand out of the cafeteria, “Hey you guys” he replied. He jogged over to them, he looked a bit embarrassed.

“Listen Jeremy, Ulrich and I have to go for a little while,” said Yumi, hoping to finish the disgusting subject about her father and get a plan set up before they went out that night. “Meet us at the tree at 8:30, I promise we’ll be there on time today.”

Jeremy laughed whole heartedly, “I hope you’re on time, you guys better not fall asleep or anything because we’ll leave you this time.”

As they watched Jeremy continue on his way, seeming to slip back into deep thought, Ulrich and Yumi continued on there way. Ulrich was thinking of a plan the entire way to the room, everything needed to be perfect if he was going to break this to her mother.