Now comes the weirdest segment of that "summer". I mean, I think about it, and I still can't figure out why three adult males, parents to 3 of the kids, even let the situation occur.

Nothing bad happened, let's start with that, but honestly? If any of the mothers had been there, it wouldn't have gone down like that.

Ok, so remember when I explained that the creek, the stream portion of it, sometimes split off from the bike trail? Usually to follow irrigation channels?

On one of those splits, we actually followed the creek down rough terrain. Nothing serious on foot, but harsh enough to avoid at all cost on a bicycle.

It led to one of the fields, with tall corn stalks. They are tall enough to go well over our heads.

"This is where the corn maze is built", announces Peter. "I think they already began carving it out."

I am not sure who suggested it, but it was decided we would explore it, but not as a group, for more fun.

This is the bad idea I mentioned.

Take two pairs of nude teenagers and leave them without any adult supervision. No mothers would have ignored that.

The three fathers ran to the middle in a race to reach the end, while not even knowing how complete the maze was.

Honestly? My feeling was that they were like little kids and discovered a hidden treasure. They weren't responsible for us anymore, they were gone, first mentally and then, physically.

Billy and Mindy followed, but slowly and as soon as they lost visual contact with the last father, they held hands. They weren't out of my sight yet.

I turned around, and saw that Lucy was now sitting on a rock, next to the maze, and Clark was by her side, his arm around her waist. They were close. Closer than they usually sit at the resort. In fact, I had not seen them that close, or well, any naturist couple that close. At least, not for a continuing time.

I had seen couples hug, but that was a brief moment. This was stable.

Both were looking at me.

I knew what they wanted. I knew what Billie and Mindy wanted. I knew what the whole world wanted. Everyone wanted me gone. Away.

If I just vanished from the planet, the world would be in a better place, for the next few minutes.

I couldn't go into the maze, that's where my friend was, and she wanted some time alone with the boy she had a crush on.

I was unable to go sit on a rock, that's where Lucy and Clark were, and I knew what a teenage couple wanted.

So, I just stood there.

Looking nowhere in particular.

"Hey, Ji", says Lucy

"Yeah, I can go in the maze, if you want me to"

"What? No, come here", she says. I look her way. She uses her finger to get me closer.

I didn't know what to say, so I get closer, if only for her to lower her voice. The last thing I want is for Mindy to realize that she would prefer to be close to Lucy, her idol, and grab Billy with her so that I would feel even more crowded.

I stand in front of them. For the first time in a while, I can feel my nudity. I mean, I always do, but it's usually a liberation, not this feeling or shame. No, not shame... Well, I don't have a better word. Inadequacy?

Both Lucy and even Mindy had the body to attract a boy, and I am here, standing next to them without what I need to feel like a lady.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure of where to go"

"I doubt that's your problem, Julie", she says, using my actual name. It's weird. I didn't have the Ji nickname until very recently, and her use of my first name almost stung me.

"Who said I had a problem?", I snapped back

"Your entire body language? And don't try to hide it. You are as nude as we are. You could tell what our body language was saying as much as I can tell what yours was", she says

I scoffed.

"Hey, I am talking to you. This is important, Julie. Becoming a woman is two things. One of them is building your body. I did that. Mostly. Mindy is doing it, and you will do so soon. But it's also building your mind, and on that level, Mindy has nothing on you."

I look at her.

"Don't give me that look. You know I am right. Oh, it's not final. You are still a child, you'll say. But in many ways, I see through you. You have a level of maturity just under the surface. You see things that others don't. And do you know why I know that?"

I look at her, with wide eyes.

"Because you are me, 3 or 4 years ago. Sure, we have differences, but if you think I didn't hate that the other girls had filled up and not me, you are so mistaken"

"You have issues with puberty?", I ask

"Well, I don't know if I could call them issues. I turned out great, and I was only a little late. I think my problem was that I didn't accept my lack of popularity. At least, with the boys"

"You had me", says Clark

"Not then. We were just friends at that moment"

"I wanted more", he says

"Well, you should have said something, dummy. Anyway, my point, Julie, was that I felt like if I was gone from the world, no one would notice. I felt like I was useless, superfluous. And yet, I could see things others couldn't. Things I bet you see too. Things like, why did those three adults, parents even, decide to go run in a corn maze when they are responsible for 3 and perhaps 5 teenagers. Two of which are weirdly horny for each other, and I don't mean Clark and I."

"I wouldn't say horny. Maybe smitten?"

"Yeah. Good word. Julie, I'll tell you a secret. A big one"

"Really?"

"You and I have something that many other girls don't. Certainly, not Mindy. Your mother doesn't seem to have it. My mother and my mother-in-law certainly don't. Clara is on the fence"

"What is it?"

"You, and I, are introverts, Julie."

I look at her.

"No, it's not a bad thing. It's a good thing. Society tells us that introverts are bad people. But we are not. Our differences are not that big. I mean, we can still function socially, it's just. Ok, Mindy is an extrovert. She thinks that she says, and says what she thinks. There is no surprise with her. She is fully transparent and that's fine. Mindy, when she is with people, comes alive. You don't see her alone, but when she is, she fades like a flower. She turns inward and becomes sad."

I must have felt pity for her, since Lucy reacted.

"No, don't feel bad for her. At school, she probably makes friends easily. She talks to everyone at the resort, and everyone likes her. I certainly do. Clark does. But Mindy is Mindy. She loves naturism, and now a naturist boy, and making friends, and... that's about it. That's her. "

And she adores you, Lucy, but no need to spoil that for her.

"But I am not just a naturist. I am not just a cool girl. I have a full internal microcosm, and it's almost never ending. Mindy recharges with people, I recharge when I am alone. Well, almost alone. Clark can be there. And I suspect you could too. Because you probably recharge alone, too. So that if we were to hang out, say, in my room, for 3 hours, reading books, playing video games, our social energy wouldn't exceed my tolerance. But Mindy? If she isn't busy, she will talk your ears off. It's nice. I mean, I enjoy her company, but in a limited amount. You, I could see inviting you over for a sleepover and actually resting. I suspect we would talk a little, but not that much''

"And you sense all of that from seeing me so little?"

"I know because of how you make me feel, Julie. I feel relaxed in your company. Unguarded. Calm."

"Maybe because I am still a kid"

"No, you have the look, in your eyes, of an adult. I feel like I could open up to you, and yet, you do look like a child, no offense meant"

"None taken. I thought that being naturist meant being true to oneself, and well, I am completely nude, except for shoes, and can't hide that without my 5 strands of pubic hair, I would look like a child"

"And yet, you don't think like one. Extroverted people aren't more full or emptier than us. Imagine that we are pools. We have the same amount of water, and an extrovert has a large, shallow pool that allows plenty of people to have water to their hips. Great for parties. Space for everyone, don't try to dive or swim"

I laugh. I imagine a large pool for kids.

"Introverts have a much smaller surface, but the bottom is deep. You can fully swim under the surface and even hide in it. And yet, the same amount of water. Now, in reality, everyone is like the main pool here. A shallow surface to talk and mingle, and a deep one to explore and swim. The difference is in the dept of the deep area and the width of the shallow one. Mindy still has a deep end, but not as much as we do. Clark, here, is more balanced"

"Hey, you influenced me to be more introspective", he says

"I did. But you were never the beast of the party like your friend Malcolm."

I think of Edith. She doesn't seem to have a filter and seems to get along with everyone. She also talks a lot. I wonder if Mindy doesn't need two friends, an introvert and an extrovert. That she calls me her best friend is a good sign, then.

"It makes a lot of sense", I tell her.

"So don't feel like an extra. You are important, Julie. The world is slowly changing to give more room for people like us, but for decades, introverts were rejected and mocked."

"That's sad"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Always", I tell her. I smile. I like being in the know...

"It's part of why I am so popular. I look like I don't care about anyone. The reality isn't that I don't care, it's that following gossip and rumors is just too tiring for me. So I just focus on what I have to do"

And that, ladies and gentlemen. Is a rule of cool. Cool people don't waste energy on futile things. Or something like that.

"That is wise", I tell her

"The irony is that I am going to need all these people in my internal universe"

"Huh?", I say

"I want to become a writer. I would like to write murder mysteries, but to accomplish that, you need characters. My first novella had Clark as the investigator and the girl I hate the most as the murderer."

"I liked it", says Clark

"Of course you did, you are in it, and get to have sex with one of the suspects"

"With your avatar in the story!", he says

"I will neither confirm nor deny that Amanda is based on me", she says, smiling

"It's so cool that you wrote a novel"

"A novella. It's like a short novel"

"I think I'd like to write a book one day. But I don't know if I have what it takes to be a writer"

Well, I guess I do, in some way, even if what I write is non-fiction.

"Don't wait. Start writing, like, now. Even if it's garbage. Even if it's just a diary. Writing is like a sport. At first, you suck at it, but then, you get better. My first novella sucked. My second was better. My current one should be adequate"

"Which one did I read, again?", says Clark

"The second. No one read the first one"

"Why?"

"I just told you. It sucked"

"But... I want to read it. And why didn't you tell me more about it?"

"We weren't dating at the time"

"Oh, that novel. I see"

"Novella", she corrects him.

"I am missing something, aren't I?", I say.

"Lucy, decided to write a novel, no, sorry, a novella, of how horrible I was as her boyfriend"

"I did not", says Lucy, laughing

"It's what you told me. I didn't read it, remember?"

"No one did. And I told you that because I was angry at you"

"So it's not about me?"

"I didn't say that", says Lucy, laughing

"Wait, you are laughing? I was insulted"

"Ah, poor you. Having your ex and future girlfriend pretending to write about you in a novella to try to get you to react"

"Wait, you did?"

"I never wanted to be apart from you"

"You left me!"

"No, I told you that until you grew up, I was done"

"But... Aah. That was a sign for me to grow up"

"I thought I was clear"

"I thought you were breaking up with me"

"I got that.", she says, laughing. "Loud and clear"

"And you find that funny?"

"Well, now I do. I didn't, then. I was truly convinced we were done, and for good"

"So, how did we reconnect?"

"My mother's birthday party", says Lucy

"Right, we went to your house, we were all nude, and I couldn't stop looking at you"

"Don't finish the story in front of her", says Lucy

"Hey, I have an adult mind, you just said so", I protest

"Fine, he couldn't stop looking at me, and it made me realize how foolish I was being. I knew that boys mature slower than girls, since we were the same age, it was bound to be a problem. We ended up talking"

"And before the night was over, kissing", says Clark

"Awww", I say, happy for them.

"Every time he gets on my nerves now, I remember who I was 2 years before and if he isn't more immature than I was, I stay with him"

"Hey, you didn't break up with me so far"

"The key word is so far!", she says, laughing

"Hey", he says, protesting

"I love you, big dummy. You would have to do something really stupid for me to dump you"

"Good."

"The thing is, Julie, that Clark isn't an introvert. He isn't really an extrovert. He sort of shifts. He's like on the border"

"It depends on the people around me", he says

"See, a good test is the number of people. An introvert is good in groups of 3 or less. Perhaps 4. But an extrovert prefers a large group. So, if at a party, you mingle with everyone, you are most likely an extrovert. If you prefer a small group of a few party goers, and you talk to them all night, you are probably an introvert. The other test is how deep each relationship is. If you have only a few deep ones, you are an introvert. If you have many superficial ones, you are an extrovert", Lucy explains.

"And I actually have both. I have a few close friends I talk to about everything. You are almost one of them, Julie. Even the non-naturist ones know about our lifestyle and quite a few saw me nude, like if I invited them over"

"Most of these guys have fewer problems with Clark's nudity when I am also there, go figure!", says Lucy, laughing.

"But I also have a gang of friends, who know almost nothing about me.", says Clark.

"Well, they know about naturism", says Lucy.

"Because of you, I never told them", says Clark

"Wait, you are open to everyone about naturism?"

"No, but I am with my friends. And Clark's, I guess I messed up on that"

"No harm done. I think it passed easier coming from you, than from me"

"I have no doubt of that", says Lucy, a little sad.

I sort of have an idea why.

"We do get invited to pool parties a lot more since then", says Clark

"I think these immature guys hope I don't own a bathing suit.", says Lucy

"But don't think all guys are. When we hang out with my best friends, we can be nude, well, Lucy can be nude, and they respect her."

"Some even skinny-dip with us. It's nice"

I bet!

"I think you are right, Lucy"

"About what?"

"About everything. I think I am perhaps 90% introvert with some extroverted moments"

"Hey, I have my moments too", says Lucy. "Remember when we played hide and seek by Richard's house", she said

"Right. I could almost not recognize you"

"I was in full extroverted mode. Talking to everyone about almost nothing, and having a ton of fun. I touched people more, I laughed at stupid jokes"

"Really?"

"I don't know what took over me. I just felt like it."

"It was a pretty epic evening. We had won a match we weren't supposed to, you won a math Olympiad match you were supposed to. And almost everyone was drunk"

Lucy makes a weird face, turns to face me, and puts her hand on my shoulder. "Not us. We don't drink. Ever. Well, other than the stupid champagne at Clark cousin's wedding and the wine sips Clark has to drink sometimes to get used to wine"

"I hate that."

"Your dad pushes you?", I say, remembering that when he drinks a little too much, he is weird with Lucy.

"No, my mom! She says that if I learn to drink wine, like a respectable man, I might not drink beer like a drunken idiot"

"Wait, she says that?", says Lucy

"You never heard her say that?"

"Oh my God, she knows", says Lucy, putting her hands on her mouth

"What?"

"That her husband checks me out when he is drunk. I told you, I always suspected that she hated me"

"She doesn't hate you. She is glad when you are there"

"No, she is glad when we are in your room, or with her. Holy shit. Wait, sorry, Julie. That was a bad word"

"I am not a fucking kid", I say, deliberately, but Lucy is preoccupied.

Now, if this were a novel, you would get developments on this, but the reality is that if there were. If Lucy did something or if Anna did something, I didn't hear about it, and with Lucy in France, I suspect that Robert's wandering eyes when drunk are far from her memories.

I can tell you three things I noticed.

One, Anna and Robert, whom we still see occasionally at Mindy's resort, are still together and if I know anything about relationships, I would say that I think they are in a better place and closer to each other.

But two, Robert stopped drinking. Not completely. He sometimes drinks a beer, but a single one, and usually under the watchful eye of his wife.

But third, I also noticed that Lisa and Jake seem to be even better friends with Anna and Robert.

I have a hypothesis. For some reason, Robert became aware of looking at Lucy when drunk and decided to just stop drinking (or his wife made him do it). This helped him get closer to Anna, and perhaps help Anna accept Lisa more now that she was more secured in her marriage.

Now, I didn't know any of that back then, but I am more mature now. Yeah, right, as if...

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