Though I insist to Ulrich that he's so different to me when his friends aren't around, I've recently discovered there isn't much of a difference. Sure, he's definitely more pleasant to be around without Odd egging him on to poke fun at me. Sometimes, on his own, Ulrich will even drop a friendly, yet detached, "Hey, Sissi." I used to swoon these small displays of affection, but now I know they're really not much of a change.

But there's one person who does a complete transformation on me when we're alone. Well, I did know Aelita was this nice to begin with. Then I happened to joke with her. You'd think she'd never been to a school before, or even interacted with other human beings with how gullible she was. Can't trust everything, or everyone. The sight of her next to Ulrich and Odd, both in towels, was just has hilarious for me as it was humiliating for them. Can't blame me for laughing at a funny sight.

And she didn't... Or at least, she didn't hold a grudge. She might play along with her friends' animosity towards me when they're around, but when we're alone it's another story. She stares at me in a way no girl has before.

"What are you staring at?" I finally asked her one day to get her to stop.

Aelita only smiled and giggled a bit.

"Wh-what?" I asked, taken back by this reaction. It was usually enough to get any guy to stop, and those were usually the ones who gave me those kind of looks.

"You're beautiful, you know?" Aelita said.

"Of course. I am the prettiest girl in school after all," I said. Was this part of a trick? Were the boys watching from somewhere? I prepared myself to keep up a good front no matter what they were throwing at me this time. Aelita of all people wasn't going to score a point against me in the rivalry between me and their group.

But I still showed surprise when Aelita touched my face, and leaned forward, as if to kiss me. She then stopped, smiling slightly. "I'm sorry... I know it's too soon for that. But, would it be alright if I held your hand?"

"Yeah," I said without thinking. Aelita warmly look my hand and smiled, looking into my eyes. I'm sure that I even became red in the face, what a sight this would be for Millie and Tamiya's cameras. I even considered this at the time, but somehow I didn't care. I was starting to realize that Aelita was kind of pretty too. Maybe not as much so as me, but certainly more than the other drab girls in our class.

Aelita giggled as if she knew what I was thinking. I was surprised she had the nerve to do something like this. Ulrich hadn't ever. Though boys had flirted with me before, I never felt like this at all. I was excited as well as nervous and embarrassed of my feelings. I wanted to say something, maybe to make it more romantic, but somehow couldn't get anything out. And who's to say I wasn't misinterpreting things somehow?

No, there was really no misinterpreting things here. Aelita had a crush on me. She started to talk to me like I was really a person, not only the pretty one to drool over, the airhead to jeer at, or the principal's daughter to make nice to or avoid. Though it was just meaningless chatter at first, the weather, classes, my family, it allowed me to grow more comfortable around her as the days went on. I knew they wouldn't spend this long on a joke.

Then it turned from random meetings to her actually coming to visit me late into the afternoon. The conversation got deeper. She talked about how lonely she'd been before and even after coming to Kadic. She talked about how it was sometimes difficult hanging around only boys. Or mostly boys if you count Yumi as a girl.

Of course it wasn't all about her. I told her how I felt so isolated in the school. When Aelita pointed out I was always surrounded by admirers and friends, I told her how they weren't really friends, more like lackeys, and I could care less about my little fan club. I really envied the bond that Ulrich's group, including her, seemed to share.

"They are very good friends to me, and with each other," Aelita said. "But I don't want to limit myself to just their world. Besides," she continued quickly. "It might be selfish of me, but I'm really happy I have you all to myself."

My first reaction was to protest, because I thought often that don't belong to anyone, unless Ulrich is ever interested. But then I thought about Ulrich's small affections, the crush I used to have on him, and how those feelings couldn't really hold a candle to what I had now with the charming Aelita. I was so surprised at my revelation I didn't notice Aelita leaning closer to me until she took the kiss she'd held off on before. "Oh!" I exclaimed. "You're such a sneak!" I said.

Aelita only laughed happily, figuring right that I wasn't really angry. "I figured now was the right time," she explained. I then returned her sneaky favor with a surprise kiss of my own. Of course it had been.

When I see her in the halls and in class, she acts differently. I don't really mind. We both have appearances to keep up for now. We both know that when geeky Jeremy and Odd aren't at her side, and the ever obnoxious Herb and Nicolas are gone from my sight, things can be completely different between us.