Arrival

Jonathon looked down at the ground. "thanks Jake...I can find my room from here."

He said this and walked off at a quicker pace to make sure Jake wasn't still there. He turned a corner to make sure he was out of sight before heading back downstairs and outside.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Jake told himself.  "He's acting strange."

"And, here we are." Jeremy told Liz, in front of her room.

Jonathon found a small corner to sit down in, it was reasonably dark and hidden so he felt it would the perfect spot to mope around. He just sat there and thought, he was sad, but he didn't cry. Jonathon hadn't cried in a very long time, sometimes he thought he had lost the ability, ran out of tears or something. He was always proud of the fact that if he really wanted to, no one could ever tell that he was upset, his parents had no idea, his brother hardly knew ever, the only people that ever knew he was upset were his closest friends, even then that was only because he let them know, otherwise, they would never find out.

Liz looked at what belongings she had and smiled. "Thanks, Jeremie. Hey, do you mind showing me around campus as well? I...want to get to know my way around....and get to know you better," she said, blushing.

"Uh, sure." Jeremy replied.  "But, you should settle in first."

Jake followed Jonathon when he ran off, tracing his steps.  He found him in a corner.

"Hey, need a hand?" Jake asked, offering him his hand to get him off the ground he sat on.

Jonathon let out a long sigh, he wasn't used to having someone follow him to his hideout spots...or care enough to do so.

"...yeah, thanks." Jonathon took Jake's hand and stood up. He looked down at the ground.

"this, uh....isn't what it looks like..."

Liz smiled as she began to unpack. She was beginning to think that Jeremie liked her back. "Really? You would do that?"

"I know, man." Jake told Jonathon.   "It's okay man."  He patted his shoulder.

"You're new." Jeremy told her.  "I love to help new students."

Jonathon wasn't used to the people around him actually understanding how he felt without him having to explain it to them.

"I just...I just thought I wanted to be alone...but I guess I was fooling myself."

"I guess you were." Jake said in reply.  "Now, c'mon.  I'll buy you a coffee or soda down at the courtyard."

"Thanks, man." Jonathon followed Jake as they both began walking off towards the courtyard. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot." Jake replied, walking Jonathon downstairs.

"Why did you follow me? Why not just let me mope around?"

"Moping around doesn't help anything." Jake replied, friendly.  "I figured it out a long time ago and moping isn't the answer.  No one should ever mope for any reason."   He turned to Jonathon and smiled.

Jonathon smiled back. "I see, thanks again, dude. I uh....probably would be still sitting there right now if you hadn't come along. I guess I just got a little...moody about things."

"Don't worry man." Jake told Jonathon.  "I got your back.  I always will."  He then continued to lead Jonathon to the courtyard to grab a drink or a snack.

"Thanks...if you ever need anything. Don't hesitate to ask. You got my back, and I got yours."

Liz finished unpacking and looked at Jeremie. "That's a sweet thing to do. At the other schools I went to, I had to find my own way around."

"Well, this isn't like the other schools." Jeremy reminded her, laughing.  

Jake escorted Jonathon down to the courtyard, approaching the vending machine and putting change inside.  

"Gonna get a soda." Jake said.  "How about you?"

"yeah, me too." Jonathon put a euro into the vending machine and selected a coke.

Jonathon laughed too and toasted with Jake. "yeah, today was an exciting day"

"So, what are you like in Lyoko?" Jake asked, drinking his coke.  "I'd love to hear about it."

Liz smiled at Jeremie and blushed. Why does he have to be so cute? "So, where to, Jeremie? The library? Tour of the classrooms?"

"Well, you know the comics about green arrow, right?"