Hey all, it's me, Neostar1, authoress of Strange Triangles. Before I do anything else, I would like to say to you guys that I am really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really sorry it took, like, five months for me to update. It's been one Heckuva of a semester for me at school, and I've suffered from one of the worst cases of writer's block I've ever had.
The school thing I can't really control, though you can blame most of the writer's block from me writing myself into a corner during chapter 10. Seriously, at one point, I went on a two-month hiatus. The other three months have just been me "grazing" on the story. I'm sorry if chapter 10 sucks, but frankly, about a week ago I figured that I really didn't care anymore and I'd just finish it so I could move on.
On a lighter note, this is the first time I've ever done a "Greetings from the Author" things at the beginning of a chapter in the middle of a story (unless you count the really short, factual ones I did at the beginning of Rock on, Goggle Boy). I've decided that I'm going to start a "Ask the author" thing here, so if you've got a question about the story, or you want to point out a mistake (spelling, grammar, or any other mistake that's too big to ignore), just shoot me an e-mail at purple-angel@charter.net. I won't answer spoilers like: "Who's Logan gonna fall for?", but I will answer smaller ones like: "How many pages long is the story?"
I think that's about it, so I'm just gonna shut my yap and let you continue the story. Thanks for reading, and remember to write a review!
****
Chapter Nine:
Wicked Strange
January 25
"Ya know…" Keri commented that Wednesday. "The institute just isn't as fun as it used to be…"
"You said it," Kitty agreed.
It had been three days since Logan and Rogue had gotten in to their argument, and things hadn't been the same since. The two weren't speaking, and the problem was that Logan and Rogue were probably the two most stubborn people at the institute. Rogue was still angry, and after the apology that he had tried to give her that night, it seemed that Logan had just given up. And since no one really knew what they were arguing about, rumors were flying. This made the two angry, to a point where Logan, after overhearing Ray talking to Sam about how maybe it was a secret love affair, snuck up behind him and ejected his claws about a quarter of an inch away from his face. Ray wasn't actually hurt, but the thing whole startled him so much he nearly wet himself. And Sailor Chicks, who cared about her kitten's well-being, snapped at anyone who tried to pet them, and was constantly in a bad mood from not being able to leave them for very long.
"I sure hope this whole thing, like, blows over, ya know?" Kitty said, playing with her brown ponytail.
"Uh-huh…" Kurt nodded, flipping channels on TV.
Shaina walked in and sat down on the couch. "I don't mean to butt-in, but I hope that they make up soon, too. If anything, she should be mad at me, not Logan. I was the one who popped the question."
Keri looked at her. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Logan didn't have to tell her, either. Besides, they're friends. Even though they're as stubborn as mules, they'll make up soon."
"I hope you're right." Shaina sighed.
"Vhat's zat?" Kurt asked, pointing to a catnip mouse in Shaina's hand.
Shaina looked down at it, and her eyes lit up. "Thanks for reminding me; I forgot what I was doing for a minute there. Sailor Chicks left this down here, and she wanted me to go get it for her. 'Bye, all." She stood up, and walked away.
Kurt turned off the TV. "I'd vetter go, too. I just remembered zhat I have math homevork to do." He got up and walked away, too.
Kitty looked down at Keri. "And I've got a book I need to read." Kitty departed, as well.
Keri looked around at the empty room, and announced, "Hey! Is it just me, or is it just me?"
***
January 26
The third-grade girls at Bayville Elementary had two things to celebrate that Friday. First off, it was Friday, which meant that at 3:00 P.M., they had the weekend ahead of them. And second, it was the last day that they would have to watch that God-awful movie in P.E. class.
It was the end of movie, which usually means the most exciting part. But not this movie. This was the most stupid and boring part. Some kids had even covered their ears, in case their brains began to leak out.
Keri had stayed up late watching a scary movie, and then the three-hour special of What's Cute and Cuddly, a TV show, and had gotten about five hours of sleep the previous night. Needless to say, she was exhausted.
Just as she was about to doze off, she noticed a bad scent lingering in the air. At first it was just a hint, but then, it became too strong to ignore.
The kids moaned groaned, and gagged, deprived of precious oxygen.
Paige, the girl Keri and Miki hated, clawed at the ground feverishly. "THE SMELL! THE SMELL! IT'S OVERPOWERING! I'M GONNA—" That was as far as she got before she exploded, and her organs scattered everywhere.
The next thing Keri knew, Miki was shaking her. "Keri, wake-up!" She pleaded. "You fell asleep! And Miss Hope is giving you a look!"
Keri looked up, and saw that Shaina was indeed giving her a look that said, If I have to watch this and risk brain liquefaction, so do you.
Keri looked around. She could still smell the strange scent lingering in the air, but it wasn't so strong that the children were gagging. And, much to Keri's dismay, Paige was chattering about her hair and the upcoming Valentine's Day Dance, instead of lying in pieces around the room.
When Paige began talking about how she was going to ask James Turner, Keri's boyfriend (or at least as close to a boyfriend as you can get in third grade) to go with her to the dance, Keri groaned and rolled her eyes. "I wish she really had exploded…" She whispered fiercely to Miki.
"OK, I'll bite: what are you talking about?" Miki asked.
"I had a weird dream where there was this really bad smell filling the room and no one could breath and Paige exploded," Keri answered simply.
Her friend sniffed the air. "Ya know, now that you mention it, I do smell something…"
She wasn't the only one who noticed the smell. Several students began smelling the air and making comments.
Shaina smelled around, and turned off the movie. Then, she pumped her arms in the air, signaling a triumph. "This must be a divine sign from above! Either that, or a mouse got stuck in the heating vents again. But either way, we're not watching the movie anymore!"
The class cheered, although it quickly turned to groans by the scent.
Shaina ushered them out of the gym. "Alright, let's just go out in to the hallway until I get to the bottom of this."
However, Keri was surprised to see that almost every class in the school had gathered in the hall. James was across the hall from her, and their eyes met. Keri mouthed, What's going on? James just shook his head and shrugged.
"Stay here," Shaina ordered her class, and headed towards three other teachers who were discussing the school's smelly problem.
Miki leaned over and whispered to Keri, "Maybe it's Magneto and the Acolytes! Or the Brotherhood!"
Keri rolled her eyes. "Or maybe it's just a very unlucky mouse…"
***
Shaina met up with three teachers who were standing there, talking about the problem. "So…uh, what's going on?"
Karen Hyatt, the Librarian, turned to her. "I dunno…It smells terrible, though…"
"It's like something's burning…Do you think it could be a mouse in the heater or something?" Said Birdie McGuire, Keri, Miki, and James's teacher.
"Oh, the poor thing!" Moaned Miranda Green, the vegetarian, animal-rights activist, and Jamie's teacher.
Shaina put her hand on Miranda's shoulder. "Relax, Miranda. It's probably not a mouse. I bet Amanda just burned something in the cafeteria." Amanda Glass was the lunch lady.
"You know what it smells like?" Piped up Michael Clowski, the computer teacher. "A stink-bomb!"
Birdie looked at him. "A stink-bomb?"
"Yea! My friends and I used to set 'em off all of the time when we were kids! They're pretty easy to make, and they smell terrible," He said.
Abruptly, they were interrupted by Principal Alex Cracken. "Alright, why does the school smell like cow dung?!" He demanded.
The five of them suddenly heard Keri's voice squeal, "Cow dung! That's it! Thanks, Principal Cracken! It didn't know what the scent was, and it was driving me crazy!"
"Quiet, Miss Smith!" Snapped the Principal.
Shaina hid her face in her hand, so no one could tell how close she was to laughing. When she had fully restrained herself, she looked up again, and saw that Michael was talking to Alex.
"Stink-bombs? In this school?!"
"That's what it looks like, sir."
"Who could do something like this?"
Shaina sighed. "Listen to see who's bragging. But that's for another time. For now, I think that we ought to just do something about the smell."
As if on cue, what seemed like a second wave hit, and the smell increased drastically. Kids started moaning, and several looked as though they were going to be sick.
"Maybe we ought to move the kids outside!" Birdie suggested quickly.
"Maybe we ought to send them home," Miranda suggested as well.
"Birdie, yes. Miranda, not unless it comes down to that," Alex replied. He strolled in to a classroom, dialed a number on the phone, and suddenly, his voice came over the intercom. "Attention, students and faculty! Due to the air problem, we have decided to move the students outdoors until further notice. Teachers, please make sure your students have their coats on outside."
Keri turned to Miki. "Ya hear that? We got leprechauns!"
Miki looked at her. "What?"
"Leprechauns! Principal Cracken just said it over the intercom!"
Miki gave her an odd look. "He said, 'until further notice,' not, 'leprechauns'!"
Keri cocked her head at a quizzical angle. "Really? I could've sworn he said something about leprechauns…Or maybe that was Tim O'Rilley, who's standing right next to me and talking really loudly…"
Miki grabbed her friend's arm. "Whatever. Right now, we need to go get our jackets."
As she led Keri away, Shaina could swear she heard Keri announce, "Milk cows!"
Shaina watched the two go, and wondered if Keri was dropped on her head as a child…repeatedly.
***
It had been 20 minutes, and the students were still outside. Since they weren't allowed on the playground, they were just sitting on the massive field behind the school.
Keri and Miki were currently playing 20 questions.
"Animal, vegetable, or mineral?" Asked Keri.
"Animal," Answered Miki.
"Are you a mammal?"
"Yes."
"Are you human?"
"No."
"Do you live in a certain part of the world?"
"Yes."
"Do you live in Australia?"
"Yes."
"Are you a marsupial?"
"No."
"Are you a platypus?"
"Ding-ding-ding! That's correct!"
Keri yawned. In the excitement that was the smell ordeal, she had forgotten how tired she was. Now that they were sitting outside, she had remembered, and was fighting to stay awake.
"So, do ya think that they'll close down the school and send us home?" Miki asked.
"If they do, then I'm going to take a nap," Keri sighed. She probably wouldn't be so tired if she hadn't stayed up for the What's Cute and Cuddly special, but after watching that scary movie, then she really needed those three hours to regain her senses.
Keri wasn't the only one who uncomfortable. Several students were complaining that they were cold, or tired, or hungry, etc.
James strolled up to them. "Hey, Keri. Hey, Miki," He greeted, sitting down with them.
"Hi James," The two girls chorused.
James sighed. "Stink bombs…who'da thunk it?"
"Not me…" Keri replied. "I just hope that the teachers do something soon."
***
"Hey, I just realized something…" Shaina commented.
"What?" Asked Miranda.
"I really hate the boiler room…!" Shaina replied, ducking to avoid a pipe.
Miranda looked down, and her eyes lit up. "Oh, look! A mouse!" It ran up to Shaina and began crawling around on her shoe.
Shaina looked down on it, took a deep breath, and squeaked, "Miranda? I'm gonna need you to get that for me…"
Miranda strolled over, and the mouse just scurried away. "It was so cute!" Miranda sighed.
"Yea, whatever…" Shaina mumbled. She looked around. "So…if I were a stink-bomb, where would I be? Somewhere where the smell would spread quickly…and I'd hit 'em where it hurts…The ventilation system, of course! Miranda, that's it!"
"What's it?"
"That's how they smell is spreading so fast! But the question is, 'Where are the stink bombs stationed'?"
"I thought you figured out that it was the vents…"
"I know, but where exactly in the vents? Hmmm…maybe if we figure out where the smell is the strongest, we can find the bombs and make sure that there aren't any more…C'mon, Miranda. Let's go find the others before—"
***
Keri was dreaming about leprechauns and pastries when she was rudely awaken by Miki standing up. "You paid that red-bearded green man to turn the cupcake in to a traffic cone?!" She snarled as she sat up.
"What does that mean?" Asked James.
Keri looked at him solemnly. "I…don't…know…" She crossed her legs. "So, what's up?"
Miki drew a spiral in the dirt. "The teachers are still inside, checking for stink bombs…We're still outside, sitting on the ground and freezing our rears off."
"Why don't they just send us home? We've already been out here for 30 minutes…" James groaned.
"Oh, well…keep me posted," Keri curled up in to a ball and rested her head in Miki's lap.
Suddenly, an explosion-like sound erupted from the school, and the air was filled with the most foul scent you can imagine.
The children covered their faces with their coats to try to filter the air. Keri, who was snapped back to attention, could feel her breakfast working its way back up. Luckily, she managed to force it back down. "GOOD LORD, MAN!" She shrieked.
The student's attention was brought to the back door of the school, where several teachers and the Principal were staggering out, looking nauseous.
James eyes widened. "Gah, and I thought we had it bad! They were actually in the building when it went off!"
Principal Cracken wasn't at all pleased. "GOD**** STINK-BOMBS! WHEN I FIND THE LITTLE **** WHO SET THOSE, I'M GOING TO WRING THEY'RE ****ING NECKS, AND THEY'LL NEVER SET A ****ING FOOT IN ANOTHER BAYVILLE SCHOOL! THIS SUIT IS DRY-CLEAN ONLY, ******! DRY-CLEAN ONLY!! THOSE LITTLE ***HOLES!"
Karen Hyatt was frantically trying to calm him down. "Principal Cracken! The students! They can hear you! They're standing right there!"
Cracken looked around at the surprised students. "Uh…hello…" He said nervously.
A kindergarten girl piped up. "Pwincipal Cwacken? What does '****' mean?"
He ignored her question, and then announced professionally, "Students, we've decided to close the school early to let it…air out…Please quickly go in and retrieve your belongings, and return to the field."
Everyone went in, breathing through their mouths and covering their faces with their jackets. Even then, they couldn't ignore the smell.
Eventually, when everyone had brought their things outside, the field started smelling awful from, what Keri called "second-hand-stink", on the items. While the students complained about how miserable they were, the teachers were hard at work, finding rides for the several hundred children at Bayville Elementary.
After about 40 minutes, a teacher called out, "Jamie Madrox and Keri Smith: your ride's here!"
"See ya, guys!" Keri called to Miki and James as she picked up her backpack and headed off towards the teachers.
"Hey, Keri!" James walked up and stopped her.
"Yea?"
"Um…would you go with me to the Valentine's Dance on the 13th?" James asked nervously.
Keri blushed happily. "Sure!"
"Okay…uh, see you Monday!"
"Bye!" Keri skipped off happily, once again forgetting tired she was. She walked up to the teachers, and met up with Jamie. They then walked over to the street, where Ororo was waiting for them. "The Professor told me to come and get you," she explained simply. She smelled the air, and wrinkled up her nose. "Your backpacks are going in the trunk!"
"Sure thing!" Keri did as Ororo instructed, and hopped up in to the front seat.
"Hey, how come you get shotgun?!" Jamie demanded.
"'Cause in the real world, the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest!"
Jamie grumbled something, but got in to the back.
Just as they closed the door, they heard that same kindergarden girl happily repeating her new word over and over again.
***
When Logan got back from a motorcycle ride he had been on, he was surprised to see Keri was at the institute, watching TV.
"What the…what're you donin' home? It's…" He checked his watch, "…11:30! Are you sick or somethin'?" He demanded.
"We had a 'stink-day', so they sent us home," Keri replied casually, as if this kind of thing happened often.
"A 'stink-day'?" Logan asked, obviously not comprehending.
Jamie strolled by, carrying a bowl of popcorn. "Someone set off stink-bombs, and since everyone could barely breath, they closed the school so it could air-out. By the way, when did you start wearing a watch?"
"I have no idea. But you're jokin' about the stink-bomb thing, right?"
"If you don't believe us, then smell our backpacks." Keri didn't even look up from the TV.
"I'll…pass…Is Shaina home, too?"
"Nah, she had to stay and call the parents to come and get their kids." Jamie sat down on the couch next to Keri and began eating his popcorn.
Logan rolled his eyes, and walked in to the kitchen. "Stink-Bombs, huh?" He asked Professor X.
"Yes, as odd as it sounds," Replied the Professor, an amused smile on his face.
From the other room, Jamie let out a yelp. Logan rushed in, and saw that Keri had fallen asleep, and her face had landed in the popcorn bowl.
***
Stink-Bombs, two hours worth of whining kids with clueless parents, a trip to the pet store, and to top it off, I have to wear perfume to hide the fact that I smell worse than a two-week-old egg-salad sandwich…Shaina thought bitterly.
It had taken about two hours to find rides for the students, and it probably wouldn't have taken so long if the parents had been a bit more firm with their children, namely grabbing them by the scruffs of their necks instead of calling them for five minutes when they refused to come.
Shaina really would've liked to just go straight back to the Institute, but Sailor Chick's catnip mouse had torn, and she really wanted a new one. And since Shaina was the one with a car and didn't have four kittens who constantly needed her attention, she was the one who had to go get the toy.
When she got to her car, she noticed something on its hood. It was small, purple, and shaped like a rounded rectangle. She picked it up, and flipped it over.
It was a playing card. Four of clubs to be precise.
Shaina examined it closely, but came to the conclusion that it was just a normal playing card. Anyone could have dropped it. But who walks around carrying a deck of cards?
Shaina thought for a minute. The Professor had told her to watch out for the Acolytes, Magneto's henchmen. Hadn't he mentioned one who used cards? She abruptly shook her head to clear her thoughts. She was probably just being paranoid.
***
"…And then, it was like an explosion! Except this particular explosion didn't destroy things; it just spreaded deadly waves of stink!" Keri rattled off excitedly.
"Spread," Beast corrected.
Keri passed him the butter. "Next time, say 'please'."
It was dinner time at the institute, and Keri was telling the tale of the stink-bombs. Jamie cut in every so often, but mostly just let her do the talking.
Keri turned to Shaina. "You were in the building when the really bad one went off. What was it like?"
Shaina folded her arms across her chest. "It was…unpleasant…" She replied, showing that she didn't find the situation as funny as Keri did.
Logan playfully hit her on the arm. "Lighten up, Shaina. It couldn't have been that bad!"
Shaina then proceeded to tell everyone how horrible it was, but Logan wasn't listening. He was focusing all of his attention on Rogue. She had glared at him when he had hit Shaina on the arm, and was now eating her food angrily without looking up at anyone.
How long had they been fighting for? Four days? It had seemed like a lot more, probably because Rogue was good at acting like they had never been friends. Really, he wanted to make up with her, but two things were keeping him from doing so: (1) His stubbornness, and (2) the fact that she often left the room when he entered it.
He decided to give it a week, and if she was still angry at him then, then he'd simply corner her (using force, if necessary) and telling her that he was sorry and she should just get the over it.
When everyone was done eating, Logan checked the chore-chart to clarify that he had dish-duty that night, since he had checked the night before. To his surprise, he had it with Rogue.
It wasn't that dish-duty wasn't usually a two person job, but he could've sworn that last time he checked, the chart had said that he had it with Kitty that night. However, the chart said Kitty was stripping beds the next day with Keri, but wasn't Rogue supposed to do that? It was as if some one had changed the chart…
Abruptly, his nose picked up the scent of Keri and Kitty, watching him. However, when he turned to look at them, he couldn't see them. Apparently, Keri had turned them both invisible.
Oh, whatever. He could sort this out later. He found Rogue in the living room, reading a book. "Hey, Rogue, you an' I've got dish-duty tonight."
Rogue put down her book. "No, Ah have to strip beds tomorrow."
Well, at least she wasn't snapping at him. "That's not what the chore-chart says."
Rogue gave him an odd look, and then checked the chart. She gave it an even odder look. "That's strange…Ah thought…" She rolled her eyes. "Oh, nevermind."
When they got in to the kitchen, Logan asked her, "You wanna wash or dry?"
"Ah don't really care." She sounded as though she had suddenly remembered that they were fighting.
"In that case, I'll wash." Logan decreed. He turned on the faucet, and water poured in to the sink.
"Whatever…" Rogue commented as she picked up a towel.
They worked in silence for a while, him washing and her drying. However, the quiet was suddenly shattered when Rogue dropped a plate and it smashed on the floor.
Logan jumped slightly from the crash, but regained his composure and got on his hands and knees and began picking up the broken pieces (who needs a broom, anyway?). Rogue did the same.
About five seconds later, Logan noticed twin drops of something dark and wet on the floor. He didn't know what it was, but when he looked up, he saw that Rogue was crying, and her tears were mixing with her dark eye makeup and running down her face. Then, they fell on the floor, thus creating the spots.
"Rogue? You OK, kid?" He asked awkwardly, letting the pieces of plate that he had been holding fall back down to the ground.
Rogue sniffled, dropped her pieces of plate, and wiped her eyes on her transparent sleeve. "Ah…Ah just…"
"You what?" He sat up, so he was now on his knees.
Rogue sniffled again. "Ah just can't take it anymore…not bein' able to touch people, an' fightin' with you, an'--an'…stuff…"
Logan scooted in close to her and put his hand on the back of her head. "I'm sorry, kid. I wish I could tell you somethin' better than, 'life's tough, then you die', but I really can't. Honestly, though, I hate us fightin', too."
Rogue looked at him. "Then can we stop? Ah know Ah've been actin' weird, lately, but it's…it's hormones, Ah guess…"
"Right. As of now, you an' I've officially made up. But hold on, why're you suddenly upset about not bein' able to touch people?"
She sighed. "Ah guess not talkin' to you made me think. But Ah'll never really be able to get close to someone, or have kids…Ah just wish that ah could control mah power! Kitty doesn't go through every object she comes in contact with, an' Shaina can control what she cracks and what she doesn't, an' Bobby doesn't freeze everything he touches, so why does anyone who touches mah skin faint?! It's not fair!"
Logan silently watched Rogue rant, and when she paused, he cut in. "Life ain't fair, kid. Yea, your situation sucks. But you can go around it. You wear gloves, an' long sleeves, so it's not too bad…"
"It's just not the same…Ah just miss…the touch…"
Logan scooted in closer to her, and with a jolting feeling, he realized that their knees were touching.
Rogue seemed to notice too, and she looked up at him, confusion in her eyes…
***
Meanwhile, Keri and Kitty were in the living room.
"I've reached a conclusion!" Keri announced, while Kitty braided her hair.
"And that is…?"
Keri sighed. "That changing the chore-chart was either my best idea ever, or the worst thing that I've ever done. I mean, what if instead of making up, they—ouch, that's pulling!—just get in to another fight and hate each other even more?"
"I doubt it," Kitty replied. "Like, hand me the elastic, will you?"
Keri handed it to her, and then said, "I suppose you're right. Not speaking is just killing them both, you can tell. Oh, and thanks for helping me change the chart."
"It's no problem. All I had to do is, like, get a blank document on the computer, retype the list with your changes, and match the fonts. Nothing to it. Do you want me to braid the other side?"
"If you please…" Suddenly, Keri stood up. "No, hold that thought. I'm just gonna go check on them. Ya know, just to make sure that they're not destroying everything in the kitchen." She walked off, singing to herself, "Barbie.com! First ask Dad or Mom!" As she passed, Scott gave her an odd look, but Keri just kept walking.
Finally, she reached the kitchen. She took a deep breath, went invisible, and poked her head in.
Logan and Rogue were kneeling on the floor, with pieces of what seemed to be broken plate strewn about. However, Keri was shocked to see that the two's knees were touching, and they were staring in to each others eyes.
Keri yanked her head back, and leaned against the wall with a dazed look on her face. It seemed that her plan had worked (although she didn't know what the deal was with the broken plate)…
Now, her only concern was that it had worked to well, and Rogue was going to reveal her secret.
***
Rogue didn't know what to do. One minute, they weren't speaking, then she was pouring her heart out to him, and suddenly, they were so close that their knees were touching.
It occurred to her that now was a good time to tell him what she had wanted to tell him on New Year's day. They were alone, they had just made up from a big argument, and they were staring at each other.
But when she looked in to his brandy eyes, she just couldn't. It as if her tongue was numb, and if she attempted to talk, she would babble incoherently. She guessed her wish hadn't worked.
Logan scooted backwards slightly. "Uh…"
Great, there goes mah chance! Rogue thought furiously. It was then that she noticed that the sink was overflowing, and a mixture of water and suds were cascading downward and onto the floor.
Rogue's jaw dropped. "Logan! Ya didn't shut off the water?!"
"The water?" He asked. He looked upward, and saw the mess. "Oh, GAH!" He snapped up, and shut it off. "Great. Now, all we have to do is clean up the—" He was interrupted when he shifted his weight, and slipped. He landed hard on his butt. "OW…"
Rogue giggled, and stood up. She slipped, as well, but Logan caught her.
"I thought vampires could walk on water," He commented.
Rogue giggled again. "That's witches."
Logan tried to stand up again. This time, he managed to grab on to the sink to steady himself. Chuckling about the stupidity of the situation, he grabbed Rogue's hand and pulled her up. "So, whaddya propose we do now?" He asked her.
"Me? Ah'm not the one who left the water on! But Ah guess that we should just clean it up now."
"Right."
The two let go of each other, and turned to get a towel for the floor. They made it about one step before they slipped once more.
They were friends again.