Merlin, what was she doing? Making friends? What a joke! They weren't her friends, and they would never be her friends. They were children, and she had a job to do. They had each other. She needed to back off, remove herself cleanly from their lives. Her desire for affection and companionship could not be fulfilled here. Friendship wasn't for her. Her presence had already altered the future. What if she was still around by Halloween of 1981? She probably wouldn't even be able to save them, because something would inevitably go wrong. No, she needed to watch and not get involved, treat life here like a science experiment.