As she ran through the front door, Lydia felt both enraged and frightened at everything she had both learned and suspected. Please let this just be a bad dream or something, she pleaded as she ran up the stairs to Malcolm's room. But when she saw him sitting at his computer, lights out, she felt her rage take control. Throwing his door wide open, she instantly grabbed his chair with him still in it and spun it around. "Who or what is Kilokahn, Malcolm?"

"What happened to your private concert at Collins' house? Let me guess; it sounded like a bunch of dying cats," he replied, unfazed by her in the slightest.

"Kilokahn, Malcolm! Tell me who Kilokahn is!" she was yelling now, standing over him.

Malcolm looked up at her and swallowed loudly. "Why do you want to know about Kilokahn?"

Lydia knew why he was dodging the question and it only made her angrier. Grabbing the front of his shirt, she pulled him to a standing position. "Answer the question!"

"Alright, alright; don't get pushy. Kilokahn claims to be the master of the digital world. He was looking for my help about a year ago. Why?"

Lydia pulled one of his drawings off the wall. "And these drawings aren't just monsters, but viruses Kilokahn uses to cause electronic devices to malfunction?"

She could tell Malcolm wanted to stall, but she made sure her facial expression and body language warned him not to. She knew the truth now, but she still needed to hear it from him.

"Yes! Kilokahn uses my drawings to bring these mega virus monsters to life because he can't create his own! Why are you suddenly asking all of these questions?"

"So I guess I can assume that you and Kilokahn created a virus to destroy my time machine, then? You purposefully wrecked my only way home?"

Malcolm laughed nervously. "Now what on Earth would make you think I did that? You were working on fixing it, supposedly."

Still holding him by the front of his shirt, she slammed him up against the wall. She knew she needed to control her anger, but she was too far gone now. "Don't lie to me, Malcolm! I want the truth! Did you or didn't you?"

"Okay, okay! I-I did it. I told Kilokahn to bring multiple clones of one of my viruses to life and send it to your time machine, but I—"

Lydia let him go, tears filling her eyes. He said the one thing she hoped he wouldn't. He had betrayed her in the worst way possible. After all she had done for him…after all the things she said. "I hate you, Malcolm Frink!" she spat, turning on her heel to leave.

"No; Lydia, wait—," he began, gently touching her hand, but she harshly shrugged it off and fled.

"I wish I'd never met you!" she wailed before she slammed the front door.

I wish I'd never met you! I hate you, Malcolm Frink! The words kept reverberating over and over in his mind, each time sending a stabbing pain into his heart. He had no idea how long he had been driving, but the sky was beginning to turn into dusk. He had to find her. He had to make her understand. "But where could she be?" he wondered aloud. He had first begrudgingly driven to Sam's house, but neither he nor his friends had seen her since she left. He tried the art gallery, the park, the coffee shop at the mall, and even the local eateries, but no luck. Now he was driving towards the school, the last place in the world he figured she would be.

As he pulled into the parking lot, he breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw her at one of the round cement tables by the front doors. While he was glad to see her, he also felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. What if she wouldn't listen to him? What if she treated him like most of his other peers? He wasn't sure if he could take it. "Come on, Frink; man up. You didn't come this far to lose her now," he told his reflection in the rear-view mirror before he got out and hurried across the street. Thankfully, she didn't see him, but his heart ached when he saw why: she had her head down atop her crossed arms on the table, sobbing. "Lydia, there you are. I've been looking all over—" he began.

"Go…away," she hiccuped, not moving.

"No. Not until you hear me out," he replied, sitting across from her.

Lydia looked up and wiped her eyes. "What is there to hear? I've heard enough! In between what you and Kilokahn do and what you've done to me, I can't deal with it and I can't deal with you!" Lydia suddenly shot up from the table to walk away and Malcolm felt panic rise in his throat.

"I did it because I didn't want you to leave! I wanted—no, I needed you here—and I still do."

Malcolm gulped as Lydia stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around. But he couldn't stop. The truth began pouring out of him like a fountain.

"At first I really did want you gone. I thought you were just like all the other obnoxious morons I have to associate with every day at school. But you weren't; y-you defended me to the others and you saved my life! You made me laugh and I felt, dare I say good when I was with you. I couldn't bear the thought of you leaving. Not after I finally felt I had a…a friend; possibly more."

Lydia walked back over to the table and sat down again. "You destroyed my time machine because you didn't want to lose me? I thought you just wanted to make me miserable. You really seem to enjoy making others' lives miserable, so why not me?"

"Because you're different! I want to make Sam's life miserable because he stole Jennifer from me and because he thinks he's so perfect with his perfect little life and perfect friends!"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Malcolm, jealousy is not a reason to befriend a computer program hellbent on world domination. He's using you and he'd throw you under the proverbial bus the first instant he sees an opportunity. Sam might have the girl you obviously like, but he's tried over and over to be nice to you. You just can't see past the end of your green and envious nose. And at first, you made it extremely difficult for me to defend you, but I knew there was more to you than just a bitter disposition. You are a brilliant computer programmer, an amazing artist, and yes; you can even be a great person to be around."

Malcolm looked down so she wouldn't see him blush. "Look, I know you have to go back home; I do. I'm just not ready for you to. Besides, you still haven't taught me how to make those special tacos yet."

Lydia giggled. "I could never reveal my secret recipe." She then looked away from him, her face and demeanor changing. "The fact still remains that I have to go home soon and I still have viruses infecting my machine."

Suddenly, Malcolm had an idea. As much as he hated the Servo program, he knew it was the only thing that might defeat the viruses. He had to tell her. "I have an idea on how to fix it, but I need you to come back with me. I'll explain it on the way." He stood up, hand outstretched for her to take.

After a few seconds of hesitating, Lydia took his hand and stood up. Malcolm felt a warmth go through his body as she continued to hold his hand while they walked to his car. I'm going to hate seeing her go, but this moment almost makes it worth doing the right thing.