Code Lyoko: The New Girl (BK 1)

Chapter 28

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Saphire's vision blurred as she stared at the board where Ms. Hertz was scribbling away. Saphire's mind was elsewhere, trying to piece together the best way to approach Principal Delmas about his time spent at Kadic. She would only have one shot and her options for broaching the topic were limited. She couldn't befriend him and charm him up like she had with Theo — not that he made it very hard. Saphire wasn't quite sure what their relationship was now — friends or something more — but he had made it his mission to talk to her every opportunity he got. Nor could Saphire entice Principal Delmas with her knowledge of a virtual world existing — not with bringing harm to Aelita and the rest of the group.

An elbow knocked into her arm, jolting Saphire out of her daydreams. She blinked and returned to reality. It was Theo, giving her a warning look. He had beaten her to Ms. Hertz's classroom and promptly taken the seat next to her that was usually reserved for Odd. He wasn't the only one mad about Theo's new seating choices. Sissi had marched right up to him, full out ignoring Saphire, and demanded to know why Theo had left their cushy seat in the back of the classroom for the one in the front.

Theo plastered on a fake smile and shrugged, saying, "I think I'll learn better by being up here."

"Since when do you care about 'learning better'?" Sissi fumed.

"Since I decided I didn't want to go through summer classes again."

Saphire didn't know what their story was but from the red-hot face Sissi was sporting afterwards, she could tell Theo had said the wrong thing. Saphire hoped she wouldn't be the brunt of their childish Human drama. Odd, on the other hand, grumbled something incoherently and took a seat behind Saphire, leaving Ulrich on her other side.

"I'm glad to have your attention back, Ms. Stonez." Ms. Hertz said to her, though Saphire could tell she didn't mean it in a pleasant way.

"I apologize, Ms. Hertz. I was simply lost in thought over..." Saphire's eyes searched the board, trying to pick up on the topic she had been discussing before getting sidetracked by Saphire's short attention span. "...the biological differences between Humans and other species."

On the board, Ms. Hertz had highlighted the different cells found in the DNA of a Human body versus various Earthian animals. As interesting as the color-coded diagrams had been when Ms. Hertz first started her lesson of the day, none of the information discussed in the class would come in handy for Saphire at any point.

"Ah yes, it can be quite a tricky topic to keep in mind." Ms. Hertz thankfully went back to her lecture, but Saphire could tell she wasn't going to forget to keep her eye on Saphire. Saphire was trying to take Yumi's advice and be "invisible" but blending into her surroundings has always been difficult for her. Her curiosity always got the best of her.

"As evolved and superior as humans have proven themselves to be over the years, scientists have discovered various species of having greater traits." Ms. Hertz added.

A strange feeling zapped in Saphire's head.

"Does that mean that they would fare better in different locations, say, other than the planet Earth?" She blurted out the question before she could vet it properly for normality.

Ms. Hertz's hand hovered away from the board. "That is an interesting question. A recent European study has actually discovered tiny invertebrates known as 'water bears' to be able to survive in the vacuum of space despite the harsh combination of low pressure and intense radiation found in the air."

Saphire stored her words away for later. Not everything about her explanation made sense, but for someone reason, her brain was sticking to that topic like it was something worth knowing. Her brain had a habit of latching onto what seemed like useless information and then later on attach it to other pieces until it formed a whole puzzle. Not that the puzzles ever made much sense either.