Alan

Toni pulled away from Chris, wiping her eyes. Slowly, with her head down, she walked over to stand in front of Alan. "I'm sorry," she said, embracing him in a huge hug. Alan stood there a moment, a little unsure, then slowly patted her on the back. She stood there in the embrace for a moment, noting that he wasn't very...squishy...underneath his shirt.

"It's ok."

"No, it's not," she sniffed, pulling away from him. She looked up at him, and then turned to face the group. "I'm sorry you all had to see me act like a 6 year old girl. And scream like one. I've been phobic about snakes my entire life. I can't stand to see them, or even go near them, as you might have guessed." There was a small round of laughter. Chris just looked dourly at the ground.

"Hell of an introduction, Toni!" said Arnold.

She smiled. "I promise, I won't have a meltdown like that again. Unless...there's a snake or something."

Alan put a hand on her shoulder. "It's OK. There's not a lot of them around here, and I saw the hole in the floorboards that he must have come through. I'll patch that up today."

She turned and faced him again. He wasn't especially good looking, but he was her hero. She motioned him to bend closer. When the tall boy leaned down, she quietly said "Thank you." and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Alan immediately stood up and blushed a bright red. "OK! Excitement's over! Everyone get in their work clothes and meet at the fork in the road. We have some work to do before lunch!"