Code Lyoko: The New Girl (BK 1)

Chapter 37

Thank you for reading and voting!

"What, slow down, I can't keep up with your rambling, Odd."

Odd gave Jeremie an exasperated look. Jeremie mirrored it and sent one back. He had just finished with his last class of the day and was ready to get started on his homework when Odd came bounding over talking a mile a minute. He was sitting up on Jeremie's bed with his shoes on the sheets once again, but Jeremie couldn't even mention it the way Odd was talking non-stop, not even bothering to breathe in between.

All Jeremie could tell was that he was going on about Saphire attending Theo's party.

His mood soured as soon as he made the connection. He was still mad at her about that. The group hadn't gotten around to talk about it what with Yumi's absence the whole day and Saphire ditching lunch for the library. She really needed to stop doing that. The purpose of her attending Kadic was to be with the group whenever possible so they could stick together when a X.A.N.A. attack came through. Otherwise, they'd all be left scattered around the school, having to waste time locating one another instead of heading to the factory or having a definite game plan. Like during the last X.A.N.A. attack when Saphire ditched them to attend a party.

Jeremie was surprised to find Saphire at breakfast, to be honest, but Aelita wanted her there and Jeremie didn't want to blow up on Saphire in front of her. It was nice to see Aelita happy after so long. Just being near Saphire made her mood brighten. She sat so close, her hand automatically reaching out to hold her.

The other reason why Jeremie couldn't bring himself to reprimand Saphire was because when he caught sight of her tired eyes and sunken cheeks, he realized he'd just sound like a jerk if he brought up something that was ultimately resolved anyway. She didn't say much, didn't bring up the X.A.N.A. attack, she barely even looked at them. Only after some prodding from Aelita did she take a nibble of brasillé. Brasillé was an amazing French delicacy, but all Saphire had to offer in return was a short nod and half-smile that was more so directed at Aelita than the food.

It was obvious Saphire wasn't adjusting as well on Earth as she and the rest of the group had hoped, and the constant confrontation and questioning from other people probably weren't helping either. The cover story she had borrowed from Yumi couldn't have been easy to sell, but still, she kept up the act of being an orphaned girl attending Kadic simply for a better future.

"I know Saphire shouldn't have gone behind our backs to go to Theo's party after you and Yumi said no." Odd repeated. "However, you and Yumi were wrong about Saphire's 'intentions with the Earthians' or whatever."

"Yeah," Jeremie stopped working on his History report and directed his full attention towards Odd. "how so?"

"When I got to the location of the party, it was...a wreck. There were bodies everywhere." Odd went through the events as he remembered them. "It looked like half the party was under X.A.N.A.'s possession, and fine, when I came across all the bodies, I thought they were all dead and I confronted Saphire about it."

Jeremie felt anxiety spreading through him. He hadn't known about any of this. When Saphire had requested Odd for backup, he figured she was cornered or overwhelmed, but he couldn't have suspected her to lose all control and call Odd over to help with clean-up duty.

"What did she say?" Jeremie asked, afraid to hear the answer. In reality, he wanted to ask: what in the world did she do? But Jeremie didn't want to get ahead of himself.

"She told me they were all unconscious. I didn't check but-"

"Then how can you be sure?" Jeremie got to his feet.