Chapter Text
Odd had earned himself a new reputation.
The former Casanova wannabe was now the wildest party animal in the whole school. Whether that made him fun and exciting or obnoxious and shallow depended on who you ask.
Even when he wasn’t actually invited to a party, he managed to find out about it and show up anyway. Especially if there was going to be alcohol there.
Truthfully, Odd couldn’t stand to be alone.
Sure, he was a massive extrovert and going too long without social interaction left him feeling lethargic, but he had always been able to be alone, at least for a while. He’d always been able to find some way to occupy himself.
But ever since Lyoko, things were just… different.
The lights seemed to make Odd's pounding headache even worse. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, momentarily wondering where he was. Somehow, the fact that he was in his own bed made him even more confused.
“Are you finally awake?” came Ulrich's voice, much too loud and distorted.
Odd could only groan in response.
“It's almost lunch time already,” Ulrich said.
Odd wasn't sure if he was even up to eating right now, but maybe it would be good for him to try. He slowly managed to maneuver himself into a sitting position.
“Why am I here?”
“Why?” Ulrich asked, confused about what Odd was trying to ask.
Odd groaned again. He was too hungover for this.
“How did I get back here? ” Odd rephrased.
“Aelita.”
“Ah, she's always got my back!” Odd replied, too weak for his full enthusiasm.
Ulrich directed a sharp glare at him.
“She said when she found you, you were trying to do an interpretive dance in the street, but you could barely stand.”
Odd furrowed his brows. Most of last night, after a certain point, was pretty hazy.
“I don’t remember that part.”
“That’s not the point,” Ulrich said. He wasn’t speaking loudly, but there was an inflection in his voice that would have frightened most people, but not Odd.
“Ugh, can you be quieter? I’m still hungover, ya know!”
“You could have been hit by a car or something.”
“We’ve both been through worse,” Odd said flippantly, before realizing exactly what he said.
He glanced over at Ulrich to see that his entire body was tense. The two of them just stared at each other for a moment, both seemingly frozen.
Without a word or a sound, Ulrich turned and left the room. Once he was gone, Odd took a deep breath.
I forgot how much Ulrich hates talking about that.
Odd pulled himself out of bed to close the door that Ulrich had left open. After pausing a moment to gather himself, he started to pull out what he needed to take a shower.
There better still be time for lunch when I get to the cafeteria.
“What’s wrong, no plans tonight?” Jeremie asked.
“Would you believe that out of all my contacts, not one of them knows of anything going on tonight. Nothing!” Odd cried dramatically as he flopped on Jeremie’s bed.
“Probably because finals start tomorrow,” Jeremie replied, not even glancing away from his computer.
“And my fake ID got confiscated by Delmas so I can’t even get into a club.”
“How tragic that you got busted doing illegal things,” Jeremie said sarcastically.
“It is tragic!”
Jeremie sighed. “Why do you even need to go out tonight, anyway?”
Odd twisted himself around to look at the back of Jeremie’s head. He’d had a protest in his mind, but at the last moment he thought better of saying it.
“I forgot you don’t… you wouldn’t understand,” he just said dejectedly.
“Not at all,” Jeremie agreed.
They were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Aelita’s here, time for you to leave,” Jeremie said.
“Can’t I stay a little longer?” Odd whined.
“I don’t mind,” Aelita said as she entered the room.
“He’s just going to distract us,” Jeremie responded.
“But you guys are going to have all the fun without me!”
Jeremie pushed on the bridge of his glasses. “We do have an exciting night planned. We’re studying for the science final, starting with the discovery of-”
“You know, on second thought maybe I’ll see what Yumi is doing tonight.” Odd pulled himself off of the bed and moved toward the door.
“Can’t you just hang out in your dorm with Ulrich?” Aelita asked.
“He told me, in no uncertain terms, that he needed to study at the library and I was not to interrupt him under any circumstances unless someone was dying.”
“Are you sure you’ll be ok, Odd?”
“Aelita,” Jeremie spoke in a hushed tone. “We’ve discussed this. You’re not responsible for taking care of everyone.”
Jeremie’s right, Odd thought to himself. Aelita’s already done a lot for me recently.
“I'll be fine. Besides, I wouldn't want to interrupt your hot date anyway.”
Jeremie and Aelita both blushed and awkwardly shifted, causing Odd to laugh loudly as he exited the room.
Once he was out in the hall, he quickly pulled out his phone and called Yumi's number. It rang twice before she answered.
“What is it?” Yumi asked.
“What are you doing tonight?” Odd asked.
“I'm studying.”
“Sounds boring. Would you like me to come make it entertaining for you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?"
“Is that the only reason you called?” She sounded more agitated than normal.
“Well yeah, but-”
Suddenly, all he could hear was the dial tone.
I can’t believe she just hung up on me!
Not a single person wanted to do anything fun tonight.
That’s alright. He could just head back to his room and try to study.
All alone, with no one to keep him company. Only silence.
It’s fine.
Really, it's fine.
Once in his room, he glanced at his desk.
Honestly, the others are right. I'm in danger of failing my classes.
I should study…
Just the prospect of having to sit and try to focus just seemed… impossible right now.
I guess I could take my books to the library. At least there would be people around there, maybe that will help me focus.
It was a good idea. Really, that’s exactly what he should be doing tonight.
Just grab my books and go. Easy.
But instead of gathering up his books, he just stood there, staring into space and trying to catch his breath.
…strange. He's never had trouble breathing before.
Except for that time when…
Odd stopped himself from finishing that thought.
X.A.N.A. is gone.
The world is safer now.
He heard a whimper and looked down to see Kiwi staring up at him.
“Good dog,” Odd said as he picked him up.
Maybe I just need to lay down for a little while.
Odd set Kiwi down on the bed and allowed him to adjust himself before moving to lay down also. He curled into himself as he felt his chest tighten.
There were too many of them. Too many thoughts and feelings and memories, all demanding attention at the same time.
This is why he hated being alone - this always seemed to happen if he was alone for too long.
He wasn't even sure how long it had been until the feeling passed. An hour? Two hours? It was dark outside now, and he was too thoroughly exhausted to even greet Ulrich when he heard him returning.
Half of the lights flashed a series of different colors, filling the room with an ever-changing ambiance. The other half of the lights were white lights on a string hung in various places throughout the house.
The music was loud and he could feel the beat reverberate throughout his entire body.
Whose house was this again? Where was it located?
And, how many drinks has he had?
The fact that he couldn't remember the answers to these questions should concern him, but somehow it didn't.
It seemed like there was something else he was trying to forget and, well, apparently he succeeded. If he forgot a few other things along the way, did that really matter?
All that was real to him what whatever was going on in the present moment - the lights, the music, the people, the dancing…
Everything else was for future him to figure out.