A/N: Once again, I apologize for the wait. I actually got the idea for the second half of this chapter from one of my reviewers, called Niker. Thank you, sir/ma'am, for saving me from chronic writer's block! And as usual, thanks to everyone who's been supporting me and has been willing to overlook my slacker tendencies!

"Riley, were you the one who swore?" Coach Evans asked.

"Yes, coach," Riley replied, refusing to make eye contact out of shame.

"You know I don't condone that sort of language, right?"

She nodded. "I didn't really mean to...I mean, I just got scared and then I fell. It was just an accident...I'm really sorry."

The coach's glare softened. "Well, since this is the first time you did it and you didn't really mean it, I won't hold it against you."

Riley raised her head and looked hopeful. "Thanks."

"He forgave us! Nice job, Sadness," Joy whispered, giving her friend a thumbs-up.

"I think I'll try for a little more sympathy," Sadness said.

Behind her, Anger slammed the latest issue of The Mind Reader, BOMBS DROPPED AT PRACTICE! down on the sofa. "Oh, come on, already! Tell 'im the truth! It's 'cause of that Sanchez chick! She wrecked everything for us!"

"I said I wanted sympathy," was the blunt reply. Anger crossed his arms and muttered something about touchy-feely whiners never listening to him.

"I guess I'm just not used to playing anything but right wing," Riley sighed.

"Sadness!" Disgust scolded. "You made us sound weak!"

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"Do you want me to switch you to a different position?" Coach Evans asked.

"You bet, big guy!" Anger shouted. "You can switch us back to right wing again! And while you're at it, you can go tell Sanchez to take a nap on a highway!"

"Hey, relax!" Joy said. "It'll be fine! If anyone can handle a big switch like this, it's Riley!" Her hands flew over the console's surface.

"No thanks, coach. I'll get the hang of it," Riley said, trying to smile.

"That's pretty brave of you, Riley. You ready to head out there again?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Get out there, kid."

Riley nodded and went back out on the ice.

A blue-and-yellow-coloured memory rolled in and clunked against the blue one that had come in before it.

Joy clapped her hands and hugged Sadness. "We did it!"

The blue emotion smiled. "He thinks we're brave."

"It's certainly an improvement," muttered Anger, glancing at Fear, who was rubbing his sore nose.

'Get the hang of it'? Fear shook his head. What are they thinking? There's no way! We'll lose the game at this rate! He looked over at the two at the console and met eyes with Sadness. There was a look in her eyes that seemed to ask him if he was truly alright.

...

"Hey, Riley, are you okay?" asked Mandy as soon as Riley returned.

"Was Evans mad?" Brett wanted to know.

"Not really," Riley assured them. "I'll be alright." She got back into position.

The whistle blew, and the Fog Horns went back to practicing. After they were done, though, Riley and her emotions kept hearing snatches of conversation about her. Things like "Is she really okay?" and "She never swore like that before. What's with her?" and "I've never seen anyone so jumpy," not to mention "Let's hope she shapes up soon," and even "Just watch. She'll screw it up. We're dead this Saturday."

Disgust crossed her arms with a huff. "Ugh. Rude much?"

Anger cracked his knuckles. "If they keep sayin' crap like that, they're gonna be dead before this Saturday!"

Sadness slumped over on the console, her face landing on some buttons. Her lip trembled. "They've lost faith in us!"

Fear jumped up. "You're right, Sadness! They have!" He bolted over to the console like a streak of purple lightning and pressed several buttons at once. About three or four purple-and-blue memories rolled in.

Anger threw his newspaper at Fear. "Hey! I thought I told you to-"

"Don't you think you guys are reading into this a little too much?" asked Joy.

Disgust pinched the bridge of her nose. "Joy, do we really have to spell it out for you? They don't think we're good anymore!"

"Well, even if they don't, we gotta prove them wrong. We still have until Saturday, after all."

Riley's phone rang. It was a text from her mother, letting her know she was outside. She said goodbye to the usual people, went out into the parking lot, and got in the car.

"How was practice?"

"Good."

"Finish your homework?"

"Almost done."

They made small talk until the car pulled into the driveway. Riley didn't mention anything about her fall or the discussion with the coach.

...

Once Riley was asleep and Joy had reminded everyone of how the plan would work, she took Dream Duty. But as the only thing Dream Productions could come up with was some ridiculous story about Dad and Coach Evans having an endless argument about whether Mia Sanchez should stay in the game, she got bored pretty quickly. So naturally, she felt somewhat relieved when Sadness came down the stairs and said she wanted to talk.

"Hey, Joy," Sadness said as she dragged herself over to the sofa and sat down.

"Hi, Sadness," said Joy. "What's up?"

"Well, I hate to bother you, but..." She looked up at the screen. "Is that seriously what they're showing tonight?"

Joy shrugged. "'Fraid so. Those political debates on TV are more interesting than this," she said with a giggle. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Actually, it's about Fear."

Joy was taken aback. "What about him?"

"Don't you think he seemed really upset today? I mean, he wouldn't come out of his room because of Anger, he made Riley swear at practice, and then Anger started slamming him against the wall...do you think something happened between them?"

"That was pretty cruel," said Joy. "As much as they fight all the time, Anger's never done anything like that before. But don't you think that if something happened that was bad enough to keep Fear in his room for half the day, he'd tell us about it?"

"Would he?" was all Sadness said back.

Joy looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"This is Anger we're talking about here," Sadness said gravely. "You know how Fear feels about him and his temper. What if Fear's not telling us the whole story because he's scared of what Anger might do?"

The yellow emotion sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Joy?"

"Yeah?"

"Come to think of it, Disgust was meaner than usual, too."

"You think she could be involved?"

"I don't know. I just feel so bad for Fear. I wish I knew why they were treating him this way." A tear of sympathy trickled down her face and landed in her collar.

"Maybe they really do think we don't need him," Joy suggested.

"But why?" Sadness's voice was choked. "Riley needs all of us. We both know that."

"Look, Riley's thirteen now. She's growing up. And she's just not scared of the things that scared her when she was a little kid anymore. But I think Fear just won't let them go. Like, uh...Grandma's vacuum, for example. Is Riley scared of that anymore?"

"No," said Sadness. "Disgust took that fear over, and now Riley can't believe that she used to be afraid of a vacuum."

"And what about the stairs to the basement?"

"Well, we don't live in our old house anymore, so there's no need to be scared of those stairs."

"And then there's that old movie about a toaster with a mind of its own," Joy continued. "Remember how creepy the big computer character was?"

"She's too old to be scared by that. You took that one over, so now it's a fond childhood memory."

"Exactly. The list goes on and on. Those things don't scare Riley like they used to. I guess that's why Anger and Disgust figure that they don't need Fear around anymore."

More tears prickled in Sadness's eyes. "But that doesn't make it okay for them to be so cruel! And if Fear won't tell us what's wrong, then what are we going to do about it?"

Joy patted her friend's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. First thing tomorrow, I'll go talk to them. Promise."

Sadness took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. "Thanks, Joy."

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please review!