People hold conversations at times when no one suspects it.
The party started moving into a trance.
The music was playing in the yard, and kids were laughing in the house of Shaw Donovan.
Some gathered by the bonfire; some were taking pictures under light lines hanging above.
Loid was standing at the corner of the garden holding a cup in his hand and quietly watching the night.
He couldn't even believe he had come.
"Are you also a runaway?"
He turned around.
Charlotte was standing a few steps away with her lemonade-looking like a flower
shimmering in the light breeze.
"I needed to escape."
"Me too."
For a moment, there was silence between them.
Not an awkward silence.
A blissful silence.
Charlotte was looking at the stars among tree branches.
"I don't like crowded places."
Loid smiled lightly.
"I thought I was alone."
She laughed.
"Looks like both of us have been pretending to have fun."
"Maybe."
They both walked to the old wooden bench at the back of the yard where the music had turned into mere sounds.
"It's much better."
"Yes, indeed."
Another moment of comfortable silence came between the two of them.
"You've changed a lot," Charlotte said at last.
"I have been trying," he replied to her.
"I can tell."
These two words meant more to him than any praise he ever received.
"When you started school, it looked like you wanted to disappear," Charlotte continued speaking.
Loid stayed silent and smiled a little.
"Maybe I did."
"But now…" She searched for the perfect words. "…you seem to be the person who feels good about himself."
Loid cast his eyes down.
All those times he raised his hand.
All the conversations.
All these hard won battles he fought.
It wasn't easy.
He just stopped allowing fear to determine his choices.
"You see," Charlotte said quietly. "I admire you."
His heart skipped.
He wanted to answer but laughter came closer.
Shaw and some of his friends entered the garden.
The smile disappeared from his face the moment he saw them together.
"What are you two doing here?"
"We are just talking," Charlotte answered him.
"Everyone else is in the house."
"But we wanted to get some peace."
Shaw gazed at Loid.
"Looks like you are getting relaxed."
"We are just talking," Loid replied calmly.
For a moment the air became tense.
Then, Jay showed up with two cans of soda.
"Here you are! I have been looking for you everywhere."
Subconsciously, he placed himself by Loid's side.
The pressure vanished.
Shaw constructed another smile.
"C'mon guys," he said to the others. "Let's leave the philosophers alone."
The members of the group laughed before dispersing.
It was after their disappearance that Charlotte got her breath back.
"He keeps doing this."
"Is it a problem for you?" asked Loid.
She faltered.
"...Sometimes."
His surprise at the transparency of her reply was evident.
They walked together toward the lights.
From the terrace, Ava watched them.
She barely smiled.
Shaw followed the couple with his eyes.
For the first time, he had an unpleasant thought.
Charlotte acted differently when she was around Loid.
He could not ignore what he saw anymore.
The evening was just starting, though the distance between the two became smaller than ever.