“Tamiya…..come check this out” Millie said in utter shock. She couldn’t help but stare at the horrible sight.

Tamiya stood up and looked in the direction Millie was facing. “No way, is that Odd…..with Sissy?” Tamiya couldn’t believe it either, “Are they holding hands?”

Millie just stood there, completely dumbstruck, this couldn’t be happening, no way they were a couple. “Uh huh” was all she could think to say. Her eyes got wide as she made a huge realization, “Tamiya, get the camera, this is what we’ve been waiting for all summer. Go hurry” she said as Tamiya ran off.

“Wow, you like Noam to” Odd said, a playful smile on his face. He didn’t think she had such a good taste in music. He sat down on a bench and motioned for her to join him; she accepted the invitation and sat down. “You know, we’ve got more in common then I thought we did.” He took her hand and looked in her eyes, she deserved at least that for what he was about to say. “I’m really sorry for the way I’ve treated you in the past, can we forget it ever happened” he said hopefully. This subject matter had been bugging him since they left the café, and he really needed to set things right with her.

She edged closer to him, squeezing his hand tenderly. “I’m sorry to Odd” she said. “I shouldn’t have been such a pest to you and your friends…..but I suppose they need to hear this to, don’t they” she asked.

“Yeah” was all he could think to say. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her close. “Sissy, I’ve got to ask you this and you’ve got to be honest with me ok” he said as he turned his head to look her in the eyes. She nodded her head and waited for him to continue. “Do you…..do you still like Ulrich” he asked, a little downhearted.

She could see how much he hated asking this, she knew he really liked her and she knew he despised the thought of her still liking Ulrich. She lightly kissed him on the cheek and brought him into a warm hug, “No, I don’t like Ulrich like that anymore” she said confidently. “I like Odd Della Robbia” she said, kissing him again. “I like him a lot.”

Odd just smiled contently at this, he felt an intense feeling of tranquility wash over him. He held her even closer now and just took in everything. He couldn’t remember the last time he had heard birds singing. He closed his eyes and stroked her cheek gently.

“So how long have you two been a couple?” Sissy opened her eyes to a camera in her face and a microphone to her mouth. She was never comfortable in front of a camera; “Um….why are you asking” was all she could think to say. This had caught her completely off guard.

“Because this is the biggest news that this school has seen all summer, that’s why” Tamiya said eagerly, never taking the camera off of Odd and Sissy on the bench. They still had yet to let go of each other.

Odd was none too happy about having another moment interrupted, and these were his friends this time so he had to calm himself down now. “Come on Millie, this isn’t that big of a deal” he retorted.

Millie almost dropped her microphone at this, “Are you insane, the whole school is under the impression that you hate her.” Tamiya still had her camera locked on the couple.

“Hey, I want to get a few things straight with the school then” he said directly to the camera. “1…. I do not, in any way or form hate Sissy. I don’t see how anyone could hate her. 2….I’m going to the summer dance with her, and I’m going to thoroughly enjoy her company.” He was trying to use proper English to further his point, not many had seen Odd talk like that. “And 3….” He didn’t say anything for this statement. Instead he leaned towards Sissy and caught her in an intense kiss. He pulled away, leaving Sissy wondering what had just happened. “Do I make myself clear” he asked the girls. They both nodded, that was all they could think to do. They stared at Sissy, and then at Odd, back and forth with mouth’s agape. This was just too much for there brains to process at the time. “Good” he said in a tone signaling that he was done with this interview.

Millie and Tamiya ran off in a hurry, they needed to get this in the school paper and in the weekly news update. This would be old news in 5 days, but they didn’t care, it was too good to pass up.

Sissy looked at Odd again with a flattered smile. She hugged him lightly, “That was sweet” she said as she leaned into him. He turned slightly so she could lean into his chest and not into the side of his arm. She was almost lying on Odd as they sat in the bench.

“What was” he asked, gently rubbing her stomach. He always thought this was a sweet gesture, but most girls didn’t find this sign of affection too appealing. Sissy seemed fine with it though, and it appeared that she wasn’t ticklish, Odd wished he could say the same.

“You said you don’t know how anyone could hate me.” She smiled slightly, closing her eyes once more.

“It’s the truth; I don’t know how anyone could hate you.” He closed his eyes as well. “You’re sweet, you’re funny, and you’re beautiful.” He could feel her flinch slightly as he said this.

“You…you really think I’m beautiful” she asked. She opened her eyes slightly, just to take in her surroundings.

“I don’t think you’re beautiful….I know you’re beautiful” he whispered. He kissed the back of her neck and rested his head on hers. “Don’t let anyone make you feel any different. You are a good person; you just have to show the world the wonderful person that you’ve shown me.”

“Odd” she said as she closed her eyes again.

“Yeah” he replied.

“Thank you” she whispered. A tear trickled down her cheek and she hoped that Odd didn’t notice. No one had ever made her feel so special. She took one of the tender hands that was wrapped around her and kissed it gently. She could care less if anyone saw this moment; all she cared about was Odd right now. ‘Why am I so open to him this early on’ she wondered. She didn’t pay it any mind after that though.

--------------------------------------

Jeremy was making his way to Aelita’s room on the 3rd floor; he was deep in thought the entire way there. ‘Where did she learn to kiss like that’ he thought. ‘Where did the sex thing come from?’ He had to figure that out later, he stopped at her door and knocked lightly. He knocked again when he got no response, and then he turned the knob. It opened slowly and he saw Aelita on her bed with headphones on. She had the music playing loudly; Jeremy could actually hear the words, which were few for the amount of techno she listened to.

She noticed him enter the room and she removed the headphones. She placed them to the edge of her bed and patted on the spot next to her.

“So, did you find the info you wanted” Jeremy asked, hoping she wouldn’t ask him the question.

“It’s a lot to take in all at once” she said, re-reading the text in her mind. Someone you deeply love and care for. “Jeremy, have you ever thought about having….you know……with me?”

‘Damn it’ he thought to himself. He knew this was coming. “You see Aelita, you and I are still virgins, and this stuff requires a lot of consideration. You could get pregnant, I could hurt you somehow, there are all kinds of risks we would have to take into consideration.” He thought he did a good job of dissuading her from furthering the topic.

“You didn’t answer my question though, have you ever thought about it?” She was determined to get an answer.

It looked like he’d have to try harder in the future because it didn’t look like he did a good job of dissuading her. He sighed, knowing he couldn’t win this one, “Yes…I have thought about it, and I’m assuming you’ve thought about it to.” She nodded her head, “But you know we don’t have to have sex to prove we love each other.”

“I read that if one of the two people aren’t ready, it doesn’t mean they don’t love you, it just means that it’s moving a little too fast for them, is that the case here” she asked.

Jeremy looked so relieved at this, finally she understood. “That’s exactly what it is, I do love you” he said, taking her hands. “I’m just not ready for that right now.” He looked her in the eyes; he looked almost as if he was expecting her to be mad. “I love you” he said.

Aelita smiled and rolled her eyes jokingly, “I love you to” she giggled.

“What’s so funny” Jeremy asked, his own grin forming.

“Nothing, come on” she said excitedly. Let’s get ready for the party tonight. You call the others and I’ll get dressed.” She nudged him out the door and flashed him a sly and toothy smile as she shut the door slowly.

“Girls” he said as he rolled his eyes. He got out his phone and began to punch in numbers.

-------------------------------------

“So…..any ideas” asked Ulrich as he opened the door to there room. He allowed Yumi to enter first and locked the door behind him; he knew she didn’t want to be interrupted during this talk. He took a seat in front of the computer and Yumi sat on Ulrich’s bed.

“Um….I was thinking we could eat dinner at my house one night and...we could tell her then.” Yumi didn’t look too excited about this, but she knew it had to be done. “Does tomorrow sound good” she asked.

“Yeah, whenever you want” Ulrich said with a warm smile, trying his best to be as comforting as he could. He noticed that she was still unusually pale and she had dark rings under her eyes. “Yumi, are you gonna be alright, you don’t look so good.” He got up from his seat and sat down next to her, staring at her concernedly.

She moved the stray hair from her face and smiled weakly at him, “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ve just been thinking a lot lately.” She hung her head once more, “I’m sorry I drug you into this, it really isn’t your problem.” She just stared at her feet, feeling ashamed.

“Hey” he said as he put his hand on her knee. He knelt down in front of her and was able to see her face now, she looked so sad. “If anything makes you this upset, it hurts me just as bad as it hurts you.”

Yumi lifted her gaze from her feet to his eyes, and she could see them begin to water slightly. “You don’t deserve to feel like this Ulrich” she said, almost defensively.

“And neither do you” he retorted. His expressions went from sad and caring to strong and determined. “You’ve got to understand Yumi, you didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

She could tell he was hurting with her, but he was trying his very best to hide his pain. He didn’t need her feeling like she made him sad.

“I’m gonna go in the hallway for a bit, ok” he said as he stood up. He kissed her on the cheek lightly and as he walked out he said “I’ll be right back.”

Yumi was left in the room, obviously confused. ‘What was that all about’ she thought. She shrugged it off after a few moments and went to the computer; she pulled up her iTunes and put on her headphones. ‘Cold would be good right now’ she thought. Cold always made her feel better; it was like someone shared the pain.

She was only seventeen

And forced to blame it on herself

As she hides away to tame the pain she feels

She was thrown into a scene

A drunken man without a will

And a God that makes mistakes and still pretends

She felt like they wrote this song just for her. The tears began to pour from her eyes and she just sat there, wallowing in the pain. She removed the headphones after a few minutes; she couldn’t take the vivid memories anymore. ‘Ulrich’s always been there for me’ she thought. ‘I don’t deserve such a wonderful person.’ The thoughts were so bittersweet, she loved him so much and she knew how much he loved her, but she was bewildered with guilt knowing she had no way to return his kindness. She hung her head in shame, finally giving in to the guilt. “Maybe he’s better of without me” she said quietly, the hot tears flowing from her sad eyes. After she had calmed herself down to the point where she could think clearly she crawled up into a ball on Ulrich’s bed. She took his pillow and buried her face in it, it was so cool against her hot cheeks and it smelled heavenly. She just laid there for a few minutes. She lost track of time as she let her mind wander.

Knock….. ‘I’m not here’ she thought. Knock…. “Busy” she said loudly.

“Yumi, it’s me. Can you unlock the door please” asked Ulrich.

She got up quickly and wiped the stray tears form her eyes. She brushed her shirt clean and ran her fingers through her hair; she knew she had to look terrible because she knew she felt terrible. “Just one minute” she said. She looked in the mirror to see how she looked. Good, she didn’t look as if she had been crying anymore. She opened the door to find not only Ulrich, but the rest of the gang including a smiling Sissy. A small smile formed on her face, “Hey guys, I thought we were gonna meet at the spot” she said.

“Yeah, we were but you know Ulrich being the nice guy that he is” said Odd as he caught Ulrich in a playful headlock and gave him a noogie, “He told us it would be a nice surprise if we hung out here for a while.” Aelita was smiling sweetly, holding Jeremy’s hand and a box of chocolates…..wait chocolates.

“What’s the candy for” asked Yumi. They were in a dark purple box and the words “CHOCOLATE” was printed in dripping red colors on the front.

“They’re actually for you” Aelita said, handing the box to Yumi. The entire group smiled as Sissy pulled out another box, this particular one was wrapped in traditional birthday wrappings. She handed it to Yumi as Ulrich led everyone into the room. He gave her a small kiss as he walked past.

Yumi unwrapped the gift to find a small box inside; she carefully lifted the top off the box to find a little music box. A huge smile appeared on her face as she lifted its lid. It played a cute Japanese nursery song, it was the same song her mother used to sing to her when she was a small child or when she needed to be comforted. “Oh my God” she said when the music stopped. “Thank you Sissy” she said, she pulled Sissy into a huge hug and smiled cheerfully. She led her into the room when she felt the hug had gone on long enough. “This was really sweet of you guys” she said, taking a seat next to Ulrich on her bed. Jeremy had seated himself in front of the computer, naturally, and Aelita was sitting on his lap. Odd was joined by Sissy on Ulrich’s bed. “What is all this about” she asked, the surprise still evident on her face.

“Well,” said Jeremy, “We were gonna meet at the spot like we said we would.” He motioned towards Ulrich, “But then Ulrich called us up and said you were feeling kinda down.”

Odd couldn’t resist the urge to get in his part of the story, “But when he called me up I said ‘Why don’t we get her something, that always cheers people up.’ So me and Sissy ran down to this store in town and bought you the flowers, and Sissy found that little music box on the shelf behind the counter.” Odd gave Sissy a playful hug and fell backwards, staring at the ceiling. “Sorry about the birthday wrapping, it was all we could find.”

A childish smile crept onto Yumi’s face when he said that, “You know Odd, it plays the song that my mother used to sing to me. It’s a Japanese lullaby.” Everyone just stared at her wide eyed.

“Is it really” asked Sissy. She couldn’t believe it; this was a weird coincidence to say the least. After a few minutes of playful laughter and childish jokes, Sissy spoke up again. “Um, you guys” she said, slightly embarrassed. She stood up so she could look at everyone at once. “I want to apologize for all the times I was nasty to you” she said sincerely. “Can you forgive me?”

Odd was the first to respond, “I do” he said standing up.

“Me to” said Aelita. She stood as well.

Jeremy stood up and took Aelita’s hand, “No point in holding a grudge” he said, outstretching his hand to shake hers. She grasped his hand and they shook confidently.

Yumi, on the other hand, stood up and gave her a welcoming hug. “It’s cool” she said. She took her seat next to Ulrich, and they all waited on him.

After a few short moments he stood up and took a deep breath, “I’m sorry for all the times I made fun of you” he said. Sissy looked shocked to hear Ulrich apologizing to her; she thought she’d be the one doing all the apologizing. “And I’m sorry for all those times I never gave you a chance.” He stretched his hand out and waited for her to return the gesture.

Sissy, in fact, pulled him into a tight hug, “Friends” she asked.

The corner of his mouth rose as he smiled tiredly, “Friends.”