THANK YOUUU! You're the most wonderful people in the world. Yes, you. The readers.

So here it is, the big one-four. This time, your host is… RAY! As per the usual order of things. This chapter is probably a step down from the last one, since I am suffering from SEVERE WRITER'S BLOCK. I blame my Writer's Craft culminating assignment. :[

We haven't changed settings.

PS – Iced cap = iced cappuccino. Because we Canadians love ice.

PPS – The Raptors are a Torontonian basketball team. We like to use them as an ice breaker, especially since the Leafs suck.

PPPS – Sorry that the end is extremely abrupt, but I updated, that's what matters :)

XX

A blueberry muffin and a tea. What could be more wonderful on a Sunday morning?

Well if you ask Kai, just a black coffee will do it, but who asked him, anyway? Tyson's got a breakfast sandwich, a jelly doughnut and an iced cap.

"I see you're watching your calories," Kai said, watching Tyson munching steadily.

"What? This isn't even that much. Hey, Max."

Max threw himself into the chair across from Kai, not looking at anyone. Tyson had told me that when he arrived Max had gone running into the bathroom, which I'm sure is a mild exaggeration. I had gotten here minutes later. It had been fifteen minutes since then, but his puffy eyes answered our questions.

Except Tyson's. "Am I really that ugly?"

Max just smiled, but Kai nodded, earning himself a punch on the shoulder. Those two started arguing, so I touched Max's arm. He looked up at me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." His smile flickered out quicker than usual.

"I don't believe you."

"Then why ask?"

"To prove that you're a liar."

"Am not."

Tyson heaved a huge, sarcastic sigh. "Will you two please stop bickering? You sound like an old married couple." Kai glared at Tyson, and I kicked him under the table.

"Can you stop beating Tyson up now?" Max asked, sounding bored. He was stirring his coffee listlessly. "I'm trying to remember a double angle formula."

"Max, there's no room in my Sunday morning for trig identities," I groaned. "I haven't studied at all. Why do they put tests on Mondays?"

"Because they want us to fail," Tyson explained.

"Ah."

"Which one?" Kai asked Max directly, and he looked confused.

"Oh, um… Tan."

Kai started theorizing on what the numerator might include, so Tyson and I started complaining loudly.

"Kai, it's too early for this!"

"Don't encourage Max! He was doing so well!"

"Doing well at what, not caring about his grades?" Kai countered.

"But Kai!"

"No!"

"Please!"

"SPARE US!"

Max finally couldn't hold his laughter off any longer. "Calm down, I'll stop."

No one said anything. For a long time.

"So," Tyson said, breaking the silence. "How about those Raptors, eh?"

"It's not basketball season," Max replied.

"Basketball players don't just drop off the earth when it's not their season."

"But they don't do anything worth talking about, either…" Max trailed off, looking over my head at the door. "Ray, don't look around," he whispered.

I nodded and stared over Tyson's shoulder. I knew what Max was talking about; now that he'd gotten my attention I recognized the voices behind me, walking up to the cash.

Lee, Mariah and Gary were talking about the movie we'd planned on seeing this afternoon. Obviously, since Mariah was going to be there, I couldn't be, but no one had bothered talking to me about it. I kept my face set. Everyone at my table seemed to find it appropriate to stare at me.

Finally, I heard the door open again. "Are they gone?" I asked.

Max nodded. "What were they saying?"

"What?"

"They were speaking Chinese," Tyson said, rolling his eyes. "You really don't notice stuff like that?"

"It wasn't my main concern," I replied. "Nice of them to say hi, wasn't it?"

"Did they?" Tyson asked.

"Yes, it's Chinese custom to say hi to someone from the other side of the room without looking at them."

"Seriously?"

"Tyson, are you retarded?" Kai asked, quite seriously.

"Well you never know!" He looked back at me. "They could've just not recognized you."

"Yeah, I bet they saw him and thought he was the other guy we know with five-foot-long hair," Max said.

"Will you guys stop with the sarcasm?" Tyson whined.

"I wasn't being sarcastic," Kai said. He looked at me. "Just forget it, they're acting like children."

I nodded. "I know, I'm not really bothered."

Max raised his eyebrows, and I stared down at the table. "And you call me a liar?" He was smiling, at least. "Don't worry about it. They'll get over it soon."

"Just talk to them about it. There's no reason for them to be mad at you," Tyson said.

"Aside from breaking up with Mariah?"

"Breakups happen," Max shrugged. "It's no reason to stop talking to you. When my friends break up, we just divide time until everyone's cool again."

"Do your friends break up often?" Tyson was laughing, and Max grinned.

"Yeah, it's a tradition. Everyone dates within the group, but they never last long. Bit stupid, really."

"Just a bit," Kai said.

"Well anyway, if you get pushed out by them, you can always call us," Max said. "You're not in a bad place."

We hung out there for a few hours, just relaxing. Things have gotten a bit quieter between the four of us, but the silences are comfortable, and Tyson usually starts with something stupid to break them. The only real tension is between Kai and Max, which is expected, but not as bad as I would've thought.

I just about died from curiosity when Max subtly (but I always pick up subtleties) passed Kai a note before they went their separate ways. I have to call Kai later to interrogate him.

But firstly, there's someone else I have to talk to.

This time it was Lee who got disturbed. He had been napping on the couch when I slipped into the family room. On a whim, I decided that the best way to wake him would be to dump a glass of water and ice down his shirt.

He swore loudly, then tackled me. Laughing I pushed him off easily, leaning back against the couch.

"Are you pissed?" he asked, not totally ignorant.

"No, I just felt like doing that."

Lee growled and tried to attack me again, but I grabbed his arms and held him off. He swore until our parents started yelling for him to shut up, and then sat back down.

"You're so annoying."

I laughed. "Sorry. So am I not allowed to be friends with everyone now or what?" Lee sighed, not looking ready to answer, so I kept talking. "If that's how it has to be, then that's fine, I just wanna know."

"That's fine? Really?"

"I'll live," I amended.

Lee rolled his eyes. "Don't be a drama queen, Rei. You can be friends with everyone, but Mariah needs space. You've gotta take responsibility here."

"I am, chill. I just needed to clear that up."

"Don't talk to her yet. She'll talk to you when she's ready."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'm leaving now."

"Where the hell do you keep going these days?" Lee shouted as I got up.

"I'm going to my room," I laughed, throwing a pillow at him. "Don't be a drama queen."

XX

"Kai."

I heard a lot of noise. Crumpling, shifting. "Ray."

"What are you doing?"

"Homework."

"No way."

Kai laughed. "I am."

"You just laughed. This is weird. What was the note about?"

"Your face. I have to go."

"My – Kai! I wanna know!"

"Too bad. Bye."

"You bitch!"

He hung up. I put my phone aside, and it started ringing again.

"Kai!"

"No…"

It was Tyson. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, hey. Sorry, Kai just hung up on me. What's up?"

"Math."

He sounded miserable. "Shit, I haven't cracked a book open. Need help?"

"If you could."

"It's no problem. Where do we start?"