At the Academy

Ten

Xuli stretched out her arm, which had recently been freed from the cast that held it for the last five weeks.

Five weeks of torture, so to speak.

For the first few, she was recovering in the hospital. After that deliberate crash, everyone thought she had lost her mind; she'd never do anything this bad deliberately to her vehicle. Skye, who had been one of the few people who saw her do it, had told everyone else in the morning, and by the time the sun went down that day, the entire Academy knew what happened. 

Xuli knew none of this, though, as she preferred not to. Her attitude to everyone was cold and aggressive, and she snapped at anyone who tried to spark a  conversation with her. She couldn't believe that in just a short matter of time, her life could be turned upside down with such unfortunate events between the layers. She hated it when anyone entered the wing, and preferred to be by herself most of the time, crying her eyes out until her throat was raw.

Soon, after a number of therapies, and support and comfort from everyone else, the smile slowly started to return onto her face. She apologized to everyone she was miserable to during those past weeks -with an exception of Kyan, who she still thought as a cheater-, including Dashi, Tweak, and the Fangirls, who all forgave her. She and Tweak had made proper amends, but sadly, she and Kyan weren't exactly a couple anymore.

Despite all the amends, however, she still felt really guilty about the events.

"I'm really sorry about this, girls..." she apologized again, "None of you deserved this...it was all my fault...."

Dashi smiled comfortingly at the pilot, as she took out a new batch of biscuits from the oven.

"It's alright, Xuli," she smiled, laying the tray onto the coffee table to cool, "we've already forgiven you."

"Yeah," Tweak agreed, "We can't let you hold a grudge forever."

Candy, Skye, and Neo smiled in agreement. Like anyone else in the room, they wanted to make Xuli happy.

Just then, the alarm went off. The girls got up from their sitting positions and ran to the Control Room, where Ubercorn was fiddling with the disco pannels.

"Ubercorn?! What's going on?!" Candy yelled.

"Kyan, Lars, and Foz went out exploring," Ubercorn started to explain, "but we suddenly lost communication with all three of them!"

It was then when he finished his sentence that the screen bleeped, revealing a voice message from Kyan.

It was very unclear, as there was a ton of static between Kyan's voice, but they were just able to make out:

"Ubercorn..!! Me...Lars...Foz...kidnapped...Glitch...Bonneville...danger...need...Xuli..!!!"

That was all the message said before the signal cut to black.

Nobody but Xuli knew how these words had an effect on her. For a second, the world swirled around her in a dizzying mist, making her unsteady on her feet.

They needed her?! After she betrayed them in such a way?! How could...how must...?

She didn't notice that Dashi and Candy were doing their best to keep her on her feet, and were gently setting her down on the nearby steps. The stars had started dancing in front of her eyes before she knew it. The world tilted. Everything seemed so faint that the thought occurred to her that she might...

"Xuli?! Xuli?!"

"Xuli, wake up!! They need you!!"

"Get up!! Come on!!"