To clarify for this chap and the next ones: This chap is on Mon. Feb. 9. Chap 26 will be on Feb 11, and the three after that will be 12, 13, and 14.

"DUDE!"

"What?!" I exclaimed. Al, Artie, and I were in English, waiting for the bell to ring.

"Guess what's gonna happen this Saturday?!" Al yelled, grinning.

"We're not gonna have school!" I guessed.

Al stared at me. "Oh. Uh, well, that too, but—no, this is something cooler!"

He grinned expectantly.

"Um . . . is it someone's birthday?"

"Nope, something even ice-r," he said, still grinning. Artie muttered something under his breath and got a book out of his backpack to read.

"Hm . . . oh!" I exclaimed. "It's Valentine's Day!"

Al looked to the side thoughtfully. His eyes suddenly widened. "Holy shit, you're right! I totally forgot!"

"Am I the only one bothered by the fact that Valentine's Day was on a Thursday the past two years," Artie said, not looking up, "which didn't make any sense in the first place, and now it makes even less sense that it's on a Saturday this year?"

"Yes," Al and I said together.

"Right, just checking. I've come to realize all of you are hopeless."

"You're the one who's a magic nerd," Al muttered.

Artie looked up and grinned. "Yes, I am," he said, sounding a bit pleased.

"Whatever. Anyway, Feli, you're right about V-Day, but that wasn't what I was thinking of," Al said, turning back to me. "Don't worry, we can chill here until you get it."

I frowned. "Um . . . hm . . . I can do this . . ."

"It'll be an ice time . . ."

"That's the second time you used 'ice' in those inane puns," Artie said, looking back down at his book.

"Shut up, dude, that's cold!" Al exclaimed.

"I give up," I declared.

"Man, really?" Al said, sounding disappointed. "Well, okay. They said it's gonna snow on Saturday!"

"Oh!" I exclaimed. I thought for a moment. "Oh, that's why you were making puns about the cold!"

"Hell yeah I was!"

"So . . . is there something special about the snow?" I asked. "I mean . . . it's cool, but . . ."

Al grinned. "It is cool, yeah. I'm just excited 'cause I got an idea. What if we have—"

"—a snowball fight?" Francis said in surprise.

"Hell yeah," Al said determinedly. "And just for the record, I totally didn't think of this part only after Feli mentioned V-Day, but it can be a big V-Day thing with all of us, yeah? I mean, since it's on a Saturday, so we can't meet up at lunch or anything like usual, but like we can totally have a snowball fight!"

"I already agreed," Artie said.

"So did I!" I said.

"If this is a Valentine's Day thing . . . we should team up with our significant other, shouldn't we?" Francis said. "So . . . as much as I'd rather not mess up my hair, I'll be teaming up with Arthur."

"Hush, you can take a shower afterwards," Artie muttered. "Oh—I mean, uh—your hair looks good no matter what!"

"Too little, too late, but I appreciate it, darling," Francis said, smirking.

"Feli, we'll team up, too," Ludwig said quickly.

"Yes! We can win! Or surrender!" I agreed.

"We're . . . not surrendering."

"It sounds like fun," Mei admitted, "but I've never been in a snowball fight before."

Al gasped dramatically. "You poor thing! Don't you worry, this is gonna be fun, and it's real simple! We just gotta chuck snowballs at each other!"

"If you . . . say so."

"Well, me n' Mattie are gonna be unbeatable," Gil declared, throwing his arm around Matt's shoulders. "Ain't that right?"

"No, 'cause me and Lovi are gonna win, right, Lovi?" Toni said cheerfully. He glanced at Lovi. "I mean, if you wanna do this."

"I guess," Lovi said, shrugging. "Anyone care if I bail early? I mean, I'll do it anyway, so . . ."

"Whatever you want, dude, but you're missing out," Al said.

"Hercules, we will win," Kiku said, a determined gleam in his eyes.

"Wow, someone got intense fast," Al remarked.

"If . . . you say so," Herc said, shrugging.

"Question," Ludwig said. "How do we determine who wins?"

Al looked thoughtful. "Good question . . . y'know, maybe we could just chuck snowballs at each other. Try to destroy forts for bonus points, and just have a good time. Y'know?"

"That's . . . uncharacteristically uncompetitive of you," Francis said.

"Yeah, well, that's only 'cause I can't think of a good scoring system," Al admitted. "But if there was one, me and Mei would win hands-down."

"Pardon me, but you're wrong," Kiku said. "Hercules and I would win."

"I have a question, too," Artie said, raising his hand. "Is—"

"Put your hand down, nerd, we're not in class," Al muttered.

Artie leaned over and hit Al's head before putting his hand down.

"Proceed."

"As I was saying, would using magic to assist in the fight be considered cheating?"

Al snickered. "I mean, if you wanna use magic . . . no one's gonna stop you."

"Good," Artie said. "There's someone in this group—I won't say his name—who I would love to pelt repeatedly in the face with frozen ammo."

He stared at Ludwig menacingly.

"What did I do?" Ludwig muttered.

"Speaking of cheating," Gil said, "what counts as cheating here?"

Al shrugged. "Uh . . . I guess using anything outside of snowballs to hit people? Like you can't go over to someone's fort and start punching the shit out of them, and you can't, like, throw a wheelbarrow."

"A wheelbarrow—?"

"First thing that popped into my head."

"Right, right, whatever," Gil said. "So stealing other people's snowballs doesn't count as cheating?"

"I guess if you don't get caught, go for it," Al said.

Gil grinned. "Awesome."

"So we all cool for Saturday?" Al said. "We can meet . . . where do you guys wanna meet?"

"My yard's no good," I said.

"I don't think the landlady would appreciate a snowball fight in front of the building," Lovi muttered.

"Our yard's pretty small," Gil said.

"Mine is, too," Kiku said.

"How about somewhere within walking distance?" Artie said. "For all of us, I mean. Also, my place is out. I'm pretty sure my brothers would crash the gathering."

"Is there somewhere within walking distance for all of us?" Francis muttered.

"Anywhere's within walking distance if you try hard enough," Al declared.

There was some more arguing and debating. Finally, we all agreed to meet at a park on the way to school. It was usually pretty empty, so hopefully there wouldn't be people there this Saturday.

"Sweet, that's settled," Al said. "Remember, no wheelbarrows."