Note: Well I won't tell you too much about this chapter except that things get interesting. I'll have one heck of a challenge writing the next chapter I can tell you that.

" We're back!" a familiar voice yelled.

" While you were at home with your feet up , we were getting food for everyone!" said a still all too familiar rambunctious voice .

In short , Madison and Lavender. Though to this day , I really can only guess at their real names.

Madison has long red hair , usually tied in a ponytail holder just above the end. She had green eyes. But if I had looked closer I would have seen the brown outlining them.

Lavender looked as she always did , with her short black hair , and dark brown eyes. They were lined with a darker green than Madison's.

I almost couldn't see her face over the brown paper bag she was carrying that smelled of Chinese take out.

Madison , who is taller than Lavender could see me over the bag and she froze in her tracks. She stared first at me , then Sabrina.

Lavender walked right past us , and into the next room , still talking about the food.

I met Madison's gaze again and tried to smile. She looked like she was trying hard not to panic , or burst out.

Obviously deciding on a calmer approach , she said to Sabrina , " Is there something we need to know about?"

Lavender walked back into the room , " So come on! Everyone grab their chop -" She paused and gawked at me. ' - sticks." That last line came out strained. " Er , hello."

" Before anyone freaks out," Sabrina said in a very calm , very reasonable tone , " Melissa will be staying with us. Yes, she knows pretty much the whole truth , but no worries , she's one of us now."

She glanced at Lavender , a little shocked. " You don't seem surprised."

Lavender shrugged. " Hard to be shocked by something you were already half expecting. Welcome."

She held out her hand to shake. I took it.

Madison wasn't as quick to adjust to the situation. " Wait , Lavender knew this would happen? Wait. Just what DID happen?"

" Well .." Sabrina fidgeted. " It's really my fault." I said. " I suspected something was up with my parents for a long time. I went to that strange room in the basement looking for answers. Problem is , I got caught."

Madison looked impressed. " That was admirable. So how did you end up here?"

" Well they wanted to have me infested." I said , now very familiar with the term. " And I probably would have been if Sabrina hadn't showed up and kicked that Visser guy's -"

I stopped when I felt a sharp kick to my ankle bone.

" Wait , you fought Visser Three?" Lavender sanpped.

" Why shouldn't she?" Madison asked. " He's an evil fiend. I think it was honorable."

" Well I think it was reckless." said a new voice in the room .

A light red headed boy stepped into the room. He always had it tied back in a short ponytail. His name was M.C. . I'd seen him at school with Sabrina sometimes.

" Geez , doesn't anyone believe in bravery anymore?" Madison wondered aloud , clearly annoyed.

" He means he doesn't want Sabrina sent home in little pieces in a card board box." said a deeper male a voice. A boy known as Matt , stepped into room also.

" How long have you two been there?" Sabrina asked , exasperated.

" Long enough to paint a pretty good picture of what's going on." he smiled one of his rare smiles.

" Well at least that leaves less to explain." Lavender said dryly.

My stomach growled very audibly. I blushed when everyone looked at me.

" Well , I for one , agree with her stomach." Sabrina said smiling , trying bring some calm and normalcy back into the situation. " If we have more to discuss than lets discuss it over some hot food."

There was murmur of approval at that. I'm under the impression Mendelites like a good meal.

" Is there enough for me?" I asked , timidly.

" There's enough for an army. Eat." M.C. said kindly , shoving some sweet and sour chicken at me. " Put as much as you like into your plate , and eat until your full. That's what we do."

He winked at Sabrina. She rewarded him with a 'what are you implying?' glare. Thus she stubbornly shoved another piece of teriyaki into her mouth as if to prove she didn't care.

M.C. laughed.

I noticed then , I think that M.C. and Matt were very handsome. Then I looked at the faces around the table and I noticed the Mendelites were not bad looking any way you looked at it. The skin was flawless , the hair had luster , the eyes were bright. Kind of made me jealous. That's not good , but that's the truth. I couldn't believe I had never noticed.

We ate until were full , and maybe even a little more than full. The boys had gotten up before we did , preferring I suppose , to let us have 'girl' talk. Lavender finally stood up.

" Well , I'm going to see what the word from Aximili is." she said. " We need to be prepared to have Yeerks skulking about. Maybe Tobias has seen something."

I felt a pang of guilt. It was my fault the Yeerks were in the forest. Could they find the Mendelite's home?

" Are Aximili and Tobias Mendelites?" I asked casually as I could.

" Aximli is an andalite. He has a scoop not far , which is really to say he lives in a hole." Lavender replied.

" Lavender!" Madison snapped. " Actually Melissa , it's thanks to the fact when ran into him when we first crash landed here , that we met humans and learned how to survive here."

" You see ," said Sabrina , " we already knew him. We had met so of our andalite compatriots before leaving the home solar system , he was one. So he introduced us to our friends , Jake , Marco, Tobias, Cassie .and.Rachel."

It's hard to describe how I reacted. It fitted Jake. He always struck me as leaderly. Cassie was too quiet to tell. Tobias I didn't know well enough. And Marco , I laughed at the mere thought. I guess I can say it fitted Rachel. I was too angry then to think much on it.

My best friend had known for months. And she had never said a word to me.

Lavender sensing an uncomfortable moment , choose then to leave. " I won't be long." " Try not to be upset." Madison said , sensing how I would feel. " It was tough for her."

" At least now you know why she was so distant." Sabrina added. " It wasn't like you had anything to do with it."

What? It had everything to do with me. At least you know 'why' , one says. It was tough for 'her' another says. Tough for HER? She knew that now more than ever if possible people were not as they seemed. Knew they could be Yeerks.

She could be on guard. She could defend herself. I hadn't had either of those tools.

I want to say I was angry and feeling betrayed. And for a moment I was. But then it's like it just kind of numbed out. I felt empty.

Sabrina reached out for me , but I backed away. I didn't want to be touched. Why were they looking at me like that? What was I supposed to say? Gee , it's ok my best friend decided I was too fragile to deal with reality , rather than let me help her and possibly help me , didn't trust me..or could she?

" Did she know I wasn't a controller?" I asked.

The way their eyes kind of went strange told me she did. She knew this whole time. And instead of trusting me , she blocked me out.

" I think she meant to protect you , Melissa." Madison said. " Isn't that the best a friend can do?"

I appreciated that Madison was trying to make it better. She wanted to help patch it up before Rachel and I saw each other. But it just wasn't going to be that easy.

" Has it protected me?" my voice came out a lot colder than I thought it would.

It bothered me the most that she'd assumed I couldn't deal with the truth. Okay , maybe I'm not as strong as Rachel. I do tend to be a crybaby. But I would have shed less tears over these past two months if I had just known that it wasn't really my parents that started distancing themselves from me.

I wanted to walk away , but then I realized that I didn't exactly have a room to escape to here.

But M.C. and Matt had good timing.

" While you guys talked , we fixed a place for you. It was a storage room , but -" Matt begin.

" You guys didn't have to." I said , but really I was grateful. " Oh don't worry , we didn't have much to store there anyway." M.C. said , with a shrug. " But Matt fixed up the place , I'm not really good at that stuff."

Just then , Lavender charged back in through the door some fast I hardly had to time to register it was her. Her eyes were wide. She was freaked out about something. Her face was bathed in sweat and she was breathing hard.

" We have a real problem." she said seriously.

She looked so ominous. I felt a trickle go down my spine. I already knew I wasn't going to like this.

" Whatever happened , it wasn't me." M.C. said.

Matt snorted. And as bad as the situation may have been I couldn't help smiling.

" Will you be serious?!" Lavender snapped. " This is not funny at all!"

I think that took everyone by surprise. Lavender is never that frantic. Anyway , she had our attention.

" It hasn't reached us yet , but Tobias has seen it." Lavender went on anxiously. " But - the Yeerks didn't waste any time. The entire south forest ...is burning."