From the very next day, strange things started happening. The first was when Billy was playing in the garden with Mandy. He had his favourite yellow airplane and was running around the garden, making whooshing sounds as Mandy practiced Dodgeball. At one point, she even aimed the ball at Billy and shot it so hard that it made him fly across the yard and straight into his little pool. But they had to stop when Gladys called them in for lunch.

Meanwhile, Grim had remained outside relaxing on the deckchair and reading the newspaper. That was when Mandy's red dodgeball suddenly flew up and crashed straight into the kitchen window! Poor Billy was the victim as the ball bashed him hard in the nose and caused him to topple of his chair. Mandy just sat staring with her mouth open at the broken window, while Gladys fretted over her poor 'baby'.

A moment later, an enraged Mandy burst outside and pointed her finger at Grim: "What the hell was that for, bonehead?!"

"Hey I didn't do it! I'm just as surprised as you are!" Grim said defensively.

"Grim! Don't play dumb with me! You're the only one out here!" Mandy shouted as Billy emerged from the house, nursing his flattened nose.

"So?! That doesn't mean it was me! I didn't see who did it either! And you're one to talk Mandy! I saw you hit him with that dodgeball earlier!" Grim's temper was beginning to rise as he saw that Mandy wasn't going to give up the argument.

"Stuff it Grim! You broke that damn window! I didn't break anything! If I ever catch you doing that again I'll-"

"Heeeey! Where's my airplane?!"

Grim and Mandy's heated argument was interrupted as they turned to see Billy searching desperately for his toy.

"It was my favourite plane! Come on Grim, give it back!" He whined.

"Me?! I didn't even touch your stupid plane!" said Grim.

"Oh, you mean like you didn't touch my dodgeball?" Mandy said sarcastically.

"Griiiiiiiim! Please give me back my plane!" Poor Billy was close to tears now.

"I didn't touch your damn plane, man!" Grim yelled angrily.

"You're so mean Grim! You stole my favourite plane! What did I ever do to you to make you do that?!" And with that Billy ran sobbing hysterically into the house.

"Nice going, bonehead," Mandy shot Grim a menacing glare before following after Billy.

"Damn kids! Always blaming me for everything! Like I know who took Billy's plane or who broke his window!" But he still felt sorry for Billy, and so he decided to look for the missing plane. After ten minutes of rigorous searching, he found it in the trash can!

"How the hell did that end up in there?!" He thought.

Clueless as ever, he made his way back inside the house and up to Billy's room, where the boy was still bawling.

"I want my plaaaaaane!" He wailed. As soon as he caught sight of it in Grim's hand, he shouted: "Give it back you freak!"

"Well you're welcome!" Grim snapped as the enraged boy snatched his beloved plane back from the skeleton: "I found it outside in the trashcan, and where's the thanks I get?!"

"YOU THREW IT IN THE TRASHCAN?!" Billy screamed in shock.

"No no! Not me! I just found it in there, that's all!" Poor Grim was beginning to get desperate now when he saw the look of fierce rage on Billy's face.

"You...you TRAITOR! I HATE YOU! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Billy shouted fiercely.

"Billy! It-it w-wasn't me!" Grim tried to hold back the oncoming tears, but when Mandy punched him forcefully in the stomach, he ran off sobbing.

Throughout the whole day, Grim wasn't allowed in the house. Billy was far too upset and Mandy far too enraged, and after a wild Gladys had chased him out with a hammer, he didn't even dream of going back in there! He simply sat outside in the yard, brooding over his bad day.

It was dusk when Francesca was passing by. She had hoped she would catch a glimpse of Grim, and she wasn't disappointed!

"Hey Grim!" she called out cheerfully.

"Oh, hey Francesca..." he answered sadly.

"What's wrong hon-I-I mean, Grim...um, did something happen?" Francesca sat down beside him and inwardly cursed herself at almost calling him 'honey'.

"Its those kids! Billy lost his stupid airplane and blamed me for stealing it! And that wretched witch blamed me for breaking the kitchen window with her dodgeball, which I didn't even do!" Grim explained with annoyance.

"Gee, that's awful. Didn't you try to make them believe you?" Francesca asked, still bewildered by the unusual story.

"I tried, but they wouldn't believe me! Billy called me a 'freak', and Mandy...Mandy hit me..."

Francesca felt her heart clench painfully when she saw Grim breaking down into tears.

"Aawww come here," she said gently as she wrapped her arms around him. Grim leaned on her and cried softly, causing her heart to break. She didn't know which hurt worse: watching him cry or listening to him rant about how hot Eris was...

"Its not fair! I swear I didn't do anything, but they wouldn't believe me!" He sobbed unhappily, grasping her shirt as she hugged him lovingly.

"I believe you Grim, and I'll try my best to make them believe you too," she said as she stroked his skull.

She pulled him closer, desperately trying to calm him down. But he was inconsolable, crying and whimpering softly, burying his face into her shirt.

'Kiss him...Kiss him...People always feel better when you kiss them!' Her mind ranted. She wanted to, but what if...?

Oh damn the 'what if's! She couldn't know unless she tried!

And, gathering up her courage, she leaned down and kissed him soundly on his tear-strained cheek.

In an instant, he stopped crying. They both fell silent as he looked at her, reading the love in her chocolate brown eyes. As she stroked his cheek fondly, he smiled affectionately at her.

He was beginning to really like it when she touched him...

"Mandy...d-do you think we should forgive Grim?"

"I dunno Billy...maybe..."

The two kids were lounging on Billy's bed. Both were engaged in individual activities: Billy was reading his comic and Mandy was sharpening her nails.

"I mean...Okay, he was pretty mean, but we were kinda mean too, weren't we?" Billy admitted guiltily.

"Well he was the one who started it! But maybe I shouldn't 'ave hit him," Mandy replied.

Suddenly, the door opened and Francesca and Grim himself entered. Grim was looking pretty down.

"Guys, I was just talking to Grim. He wasn't the one who did all those things! Why won't you believe him?" said Francesca.

"Who else could've done it!" Mandy exclaimed impatiently.

"Well it wasn't me! I've tired of repeating the same thing over and over! If you're supposed to be my friends than I expect a bit more trust than that!" Grim said angrily.

"Alright alright bonehead, zip it. We're sorry," said Mandy.

"We were just thinking of coming to apologise..." Billy murmured.

"See? Friends forgive eachother!" Francesca told them sternly: "You didn't have to be so mean to him! He was really upset!"

"Really?! You were upset because we weren't friends?!" Billy looked overjoyed all of a sudden.

"Well...yeah..." Grim muttered shyly.

"That's so cute!" Billy cheered, hugging his best friend.

"Aww, was the big, bad reaper gonna cry?" Mandy taunted: "Now that we're friends, do my nails!"

"Even I am not that cold, Mandy," Grim glared at the little slave-driver.

"What's important is that everything's fine now, and maybe we can forget about this whole scenario," said Francesca.

But he didn't think so...