Tiptop Shape

                                    

                                          
Sissi sat on the Infirmary floor as noisy students crowded around her. She was too busy typing at Jeremie's computer to notice, but her eyebrow rose at Odd doing push-ups against the wall. She didn't stop or glance, just sighing, "What are you doing?"

                          
"I'm working out. What does it look like?" Odd strained.
                          
"Like you're trying to get the wall to move. Why are you doing that?"
                          
"I'm tired of Nurse Yolanda calling me scrawny."
                          
"But you are."
                          
"I'm not scrawny. I'm svelte."
                          
Sissi rolled her eyes, pausing her typing. "Odd, do you even know what that word means?"
                          
"Uh... kinda."
                          
"It literally means slender and elegant. Synonyms: willowy, slim."
                          
"But that's better than scrawny," Odd remarked.
                          
"And less true," Ulrich laughed as he sat beside Sissi. "What are you doing?"
                          
"I'm trying to double-check Jeremie's work. You'd think he'd be organized with code," The Dragon Queen grumbled.
                          
"Yeah, Einstein's pretty messy. Haven't you seen his room?" Ulrich smiled.
                          
"Well, hopefully, it will help him not worry as much," Sissi glanced at Jeremie and Aelita at the other corner of the hall. "I mean look at him."
                          
"What do you expect? He's Jeremie," Odd grunted.
                          
"Still. He needs a break. I mean, possessed wolves, the ice age, and Aelita's nightmares, XANA's really been hitting us hard. And I barely had enough time to finally finish your weapons. He needed a break."
                          
"Doesn't look like he's taking one," Ulrich noticed. A large frown hung on Jeremie's face.
                          
Aelita offered a small smile. "Don't worry about it, Jeremie."
                          
"What's not to worry about? You have no health records. If the nurse finds out, she might figure out that you're not human," Jeremie mumbled.
                          
Aelita's smile broadened, "You don't think I'm human enough?"
                          
"You know what I mean."
                          
"Relax, Jeremie. I'm sure everything will be fine." Just then, Nurse Yolanda stepped out of her office with her clipboard in hand. Her kind smile and short cut blonde hair lit up the talkative room.
                          
"Jeremie, Odd, and Julian," She called out.
                          
As Jeremie and Odd went inside, Aelita sat next to Sissi, looking over her work. "How is it going?"
                          
"Your boyfriend needs to learn how to make code that isn't cumbersome," Sissi grumbled. Silence, why? She glanced up and saw Aelita's red cheeks.
                          
"He's not my boyfriend."
                          
"Okay, what do you want him to be?" Aelita's eyes wandered to the floor. Her finger hovered to her lips as her body stopped. Sissi could hear the mumblings from her lips, and she glanced at Ulrich. Her toothy frown made him roll his eyes.
                          
"What Sissi is trying to say is that we won't judge you. We know you care a lot about Einstein."
                          
"I do. It's just... It wouldn't be good for us," Aelita said, hugging her knees to her chest.
                          
"Why?" Sissi asked.
                          
"Because... Jeremie shouldn't have a girlfriend that's not human." Sissi and Ulrich shared an uncomfortable glance. Just then, Yolanda called Aelita and Sissi in. Sissi handed the computer to Jeremie and walked inside with her pink-haired friend.