It was a typical Sunday dinner at home near the end of June, well into her first semester at summer school. The family home was in Linfield, a small town only about ten miles from Sencarle where the community college was located. Lidda was planning to leave early and skip dinner with the family to spend the afternoon with the Tollsuns instead. This break in tradition was not setting well with her parents.

Lidda had been adopted as an infant and could not have asked for more loving, doting parents. She was finally was making new friends in college and thought her parents should be happy for her, but it was as though they didn’t want her to grow up.

Lidda’s mom, Barbara was an attractive woman in her mid-forties with short, permed hair and a trim figure which she kept under control with regular trips to the gym. "Hey, wait until dinner, Charlie!" Lidda’s mom scolded as her husband took a piece of chicken off a serving plate on the counter. Her father was a distinguished looking man with just a sprinkle of grey around the temples. He gave his wife an impish grin and walked away with his prize.

"So Lidda, tell us more about these new friends of yours. Where did you say they are from?" Barbara asked while whipping butter and cream into a pot of mashed potatoes.

"Uh, I didn't, I don't really know. They travel a lot. I understand they are staying at a nursery farm near the college. Casra wears a lot of tropical looking clothing. Definitely not from around here." It was a simple question and Lidda realized she didn’t have a clue where they were from. It had never come up. She could depend on her mom to pick at every little detail and as suspected, the questioning continued.

"Well, you certainly are spending a lot of time with them. Between the Tollsuns and school we hardly see you anymore," her mom said with a petulant frown.

"It's college, Mom. You knew things were going to be a lot different,” Lidda said. “I was hoping to steal a little of your chicken for our picnic lunch."

"I suspected as much. That's why I'm cooking two chickens. You should invite your friends over to eat with us sometime so we can meet them."

"I will. I'm sure they would love to come over," Lidda replied but her stomach churned at the thought. She couldn't see her family approving of the Tollsuns.

"You said they were members of the Ring of Sora,” Charlie said looking over the top of his reading glasses. “Sounds like a strange bunch. Are they missionaries of some sort?"

"No. I don't think so. They never mention their religion really. I didn't ask," Lidda said. It was definitely not a good idea to invite her friends to her parents' home.

"Well, be careful that you don't go running off anywhere with them," Charlie warned.

"I won’t, Dad. We hike the trails around campus,” Lidda said. “You worry too much."

"I simply can't see why you suddenly are spending so much time with these people, that's all." Barbara chimed in.

“I don’t have friends in Linfield anymore since they all moved away. Besides, the Tollsun’s are a lot of fun, Mom,” Lidda said. ‘We started out as study partners and got to be good friends.”

"Good friends? You don't even know where they come from or what they believe in," Barbara protested.

"I’ll admit they are a little mysterious and I like that about them. But I don't know what you and Dad really believe in for that matter." Lidda crossed her arms defensively.

"You know very well what we believe," Barbara said dishing up the potatoes in a serving bowl.

"I know what you don't believe." Lidda replied. She didn’t accept their flat denial of everyone else’s beliefs to be a philosophy of life. She figured her parents were atheists and just too polite to come out and say it.

"I just don't want you to get distracted from your studies dear," Barbara added.

"I won't. And I'm adopted, so I don't really know where I come from now that I think about it." Lidda had attempted to unseal her adoption records before. To their credit, her parents had tried to help, but it was as though she never existed prior to being delivered to their doorstep at the age of six months.

"Oh really, Lidda! Don't be silly. You know what I meant."

"So what exactly do you talk about besides school?" Charlie asked, as much to diffuse the situation as from curiosity.

Lidda didn't like being interrogated and was offended by their implications that the Tollsuns were anything but what they appeared to be. She couldn’t deny they might be right. Reddge and Casra did steer their conversations away from anything about their personal lives beyond school.

"Just the other day we were discussing the Transoceanic Treaty for instance,” Lidda said. “We decided it probably wouldn't hold up over time, human nature being what it is. We should have a moon base by now, but we can't even figure out how to share Earth's orbital space."

"Why on earth are they living at a nursery farm?" Barbara interrupted. “I find that rather strange.”

"To study horticulture, Mom. They have an eclectic curriculum."

"Eclectic. Now that's a word." Charlie said.

"They're different. I like them and they're my friends. Give it a rest, please.”

Lidda bundled up the food and quickly made her exit. She knew they were right about one thing. She didn't know very much about the Tollsuns. Lidda figured her mom would soon guess that she had a romantic interest in Reddge. It would show right through if she talked very much about him. Lidda wasn't ready to share that with anyone yet.

She wasn't sure where it was going and Reddge would be leaving soon. She feared it would probably go nowhere and wasn't ready to face that either. Lidda was never alone with him and it seemed awkward to talk about personal feelings in front of Casra. Reddge had ample opportunities to ask her on a date. The fact he never did pointed to the painful truth he might not be attracted to her in the same way.

On the other hand, she felt the raw animal magnetism every time she was around Reddge. Just the thought of looking into his eyes made her doubts evaporate and emotions surge. How could Reddge ignore these feeling? He seemed to be avoiding being alone with her and Casra was making sure it wouldn’t happen.

When she got back to the campus she found Casra waiting for her.

“Reddge couldn’t make it today,” Casra said.

“Sorry to hear that. He’s missing out on a real feast,” Lidda said. She wondered what might have come up, but decided it would be rude to ask for specifics. Redgge could tell her later. “I hope he’s not sick.”

‘No, nothing like that. He’ll be sad to miss out. That chicken smells delicious,” Casra replied.

Lidda tried not to look terribly disappointed as she did like Casra and enjoyed her company immensely. She could still enjoy the picnic and the idyllic afternoon. They hiked a familiar path which came out to an overlook with a splendid view of the town of Sencarle. The valley was green and fertile, the outskirts of town dotted with orchards and row crops which faded into low woodlands and gentle hills.

It was the perfect place to enjoy their meal. After eating their fill, they packed everything up. Casra led the way down from the hilltop to an overgrown path Lidda hadn’t ever noticed being there before. She couldn't help but think of what her dad had said about not running off with her new friends. The trails around the college were all well maintained whereas this one was wild and untamed. They had soon left the campus entirely.