Birds were chirping, sun was shining, the day was bright and new.

With all that acknowledged, Pim Diffy lay her head down on the breakfast table with a thud.

"Morning, sweetie," her mother, Barb, greeted her, setting a pitcher of juice on the table. She eyed her daughter quizzically.

"Oh," Pim mumbled into the tabletop, "is that what you'd call it?"

"Well… yes, that's what I'd call it," Barb said, setting a glass next to the juice for Pim.

"Mmmmmmffff."

"What's going on with you this morning, honey?" Barb asked her. "It's another day of summer vacation. Another day of freedom and possibilities! Aren't you excited?"

Pim finally raised her head from the table, simply for the purpose of giving her mother a look.

"Oh, yes, Mom. So very excited." Her eyes were bright with what you would think was enthusiasm…if you didn't know Pim Diffy for beans. "Excited about another day of watching my replicates have wrestling matches, of playing fetch with Curtis for two straight hours, of watching Hackett water his backyard tomato garden…"

Her mom raised her eyebrows.

"…in his underwear…"

Barb looked weirded out.

"Yeah. So, as for all this freedom and all those possibilities…well, I'm running out." She sighed. "Why does summer vacation have to be so long around here?"

"Hey, now." Barb poured a glass of orange juice for herself. "Watch your complaints about 21st century life, Pim. It's no secret anymore. We know you like it here." She nudged her daughter.

Pim's blue eyed gaze fell onto the table.

"Do I have to remind you how unenthusiastic you were when it came down to going back to 2121, at the end of the last school year?" Mrs. Diffy asked.

"No," Pim answered obediently. "I remember."

Barb smiled, and ruffled her daughter's hair. "And you know, that's wonderful, sweetheart. I'm so glad that you ended up finding such good in the 21st century. We all did...we couldn't deny it anymore. That's why we're still here."

"Yeah." Pim poured herself a bowl of cereal. "Speaking of which…Phil and his 21st century 'goodie' had me awake for an hour last night."

"Um…goodie?"

Pim rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile. "Keely."

"Oh." Barb nodded knowingly. She laughed. "Up late talking again, huh?"

"Yes. Probably the reason why the sunshine seemed a thousand times brighter when I got up this morning."

"Well…Pim, you know them," Mrs. Diffy reasoned with her daughter. "They're Phil and Keely. They just never run out of things to talk about. It's kind of what happens when you've fallen that hard for someone." She smiled.

"Mmmhm." Pim poked at her cereal. "As if they ever ran out of things to say before that." She paused.

"Oh, wait. There was no before. He pretty much had it bad the second she walked by the time machine." She rolled her eyes and exchanged a grin with her mother. "At least it didn't take him forever to do anything about it…" Her words dripped with sarcasm.

"And that was where it all began," Barb recalled. "Two years ago. Now look at them. Peas in a pod. Where there's Phil, there's Keely…"

Pim smirked. "Well," she concluded. "At least since they've got each other, their summer has been productive." She stood up to place her bowl in the sink. As she did so, she came to a sudden realization. "Hmm. That could be my problem."

"What do you mean, honey?"

"Well," Pim shrugged, trying to find the right words. "It gets old after awhile, you know, just coming up with my own stuff. Future technology on its own can't keep a girl entertained forever. For pretty darn close to forever, maybe, but not actually forever." She drummed her fingers on the countertop boredly. "It helps to, you know, have more people around to take care of some of the entertainment for you. Like at school. But during summer vacation…it's different. People without all this junk to play around with—they actually…go places."

"Are you saying," Barb began, "that you'd like to find the kind of …'friend'…that Phil has in Keely…?"

Pim raised her eyebrows. "You mean, 'friend'?" She put air quotes around the word.

Her mother looked curious.

"I don't think so!" Pim exclaimed. "I mean…I don't know." She shook her head. "Whatever. I'm just talking about regular friends here, Mom."

"Oh…" Barb nodded. "Well, then, you mean just someone to hang out with?"

"Well…" Pim gazed around the kitchen, stalling. "Yeah. Pretty much." She leaned against the counter, folding her arms. "Someone who shares my interests, someone who wouldn't have me, you know, ripping hair out of my head after five minutes…" She faked a cough, slipping "Berwick" into the middle of it.

Barb didn't seem to notice. "Well, then. Your old mom could probably help you with that one. What about your Danny friend? He's a sweet kid."

"Dawkins," Pim muttered, sighing. "Yeah, forgot about him. Maybe because he decided to bail on me for a month and just take off to Seattle with his family for some summer thingy. Why Seattle?" She threw her hands in the air.

Realizing that she was getting melodramatic over Danny Dawkins, she quickly folded them again.

"Besides, um…he's a little too friendly," she added quickly. "Anyway, he's out of the picture for now."

"Well…there's always someone else," Barb said. "Hey! You never hear from Debbie anymore. Why not?"

Pim's eyes narrowed. "You haven't heard?"

"Um…no. Heard what?"

"Well, then. I'll try to limit my discussion of Berwick to twenty words or less." Pim took a breath. "Basically, she was moved to New Mexico. Which means not Pickford. Which means, the end!" With an ear to ear grin, Pim broke out into a happy dance, finishing off with a curtsy, which was all met with a shaking of the head.

"That's a shame. Debbie really is a nice little girl. A nice girl." Barb shot Pim a look that reminded her there was no use in arguing with that.

"But you know, Pim, you're right," she agreed. "Some new close buddies to hang out with during the summer would be really nice for you."

Pim shrugged. "Anything to get me through the last month of vacation without having to chuck a tennis ball six thousand, four hundred more times for Caveboy's enjoyment…."

The back door opened suddenly, and Lloyd Diffy entered the kitchen speedily.

"Do we have duct tape?" he asked breathlessly.

"Why duct tape, sweetie?" Barb asked, exchanging glances with Pim as they cleared the table.

"Well…" Lloyd shot an uneasy glance out to the backyard. "Curtis got ahold of the hose while I was watering stuff. I got tangled up in it while I was unraveling it, and he thought it was attacking me…" Lloyd shrugged. "Now, it's kinda…hole-y."

Pim laughed to herself.

"Well, are you sure duct tape would help?" Barb asked. "Can't you use something more advanced to patch it up?"

"I would, but…Hackett's out back watering his tomato garden."

Pim and Barb looked at each other, unsure of whether to laugh or shudder.

"So…any tape? 'Cause the sucker's spraying so much water now, my plants…or possibly Curtis…might drown pretty soon."

"Ooh!" Pim spoke up enthusiastically. "I've got some."

She left the kitchen swiftly.

"Honey, you should probably turn the hose off if you don't want anything to drown out there," Barb advised her husband.

Lloyd, who had poured himself a glass of orange juice, looked out at the backyard sheepishly.

"Uh…I'll be back." He dashed outside.

So yeah, that was just some Pim plot for you...and some nice random crazy Diffyness.

Pim's in need of a new buddy ol' pal to hang out with this summer…Now who could that buddy be?

Hmmm…

And yes, Pheely fans, next chapter is Phil and Keely again. I just didn't wanna make this chapter really really long by putting their part in too. This story is about the whole crew together. Gotta include everyone. )