It had been two days since Lydia had arrived at Elm Tree House. She hadn't really spoken to anybody but Kitty, since they had arrived together. Everyone was in the living room, discussing this.
"I'm glad Kitty is fine about people touching her and everything, but why is she the only one Lydia talks to?" Lily asked.
"She probably only feels comfortable around Kitty, that's why." Carmen said.
"Well, we have to make her comfortable around us too, right?" Tee said.
"Yeah, but how?" Johnny asked.
Kitty entered the room at this exact moment. "Oh, sorry…did I interrupt?" she asked.
Johnny seemed to go slightly pink and he shrugged, letting his blush fade before he spoke. "No, you didn't."
"Actually, Kitty…" Rick began.
"We could use your help." Tee finished.
Kitty sat down beside Carmen and tilted her head curiously. "How come?"
"Well, you know how Lydia only talks to you?" Johnny said.
"Well, we want to make her more comfortable around us." Lily said.
"Let her know that we want to be friends." Jody added.
"Will you help us do that?" Carmen asked.
Kitty nodded. "Sure, I'd love to help you." She agreed. "She did explain to me that she's a little…nervous to speak to you."
"How come?" Carmen asked.
Kitty shrugged. "I asked her why, but she didn't tell me."
"Could be private." Rick said.
"Probably is something to do with her past." Frank said.
The others began to plan, but what they didn't realize was, Lydia was heading towards the living room.
As soon as Kitty saw her, she shouted over the noise. "Hi Lydia!"
Everyone stopped talking and looked up at her.
Lydia smiled shyly, tucking her brown hair behind her ears as she surveyed everyone with her blue eyes. "I didn't mean to interrupt. Sorry." She said, and before the others could protest, she disappeared into the kitchen.
"That was close." Lily whispered.
"Someone might have to distract her." Kitty said.
All eyes swiveled to Tyler.
"Why me?" he moaned.
"Because you're best at it." Carmen said.
"Ugh. Fine." Tyler said, getting up and leaving towards the kitchen, while everyone else discussed the plan.
"Uh, um, hi Lydia." Tyler said, as he caught her rummaging in the cupboards.
Lydia looked towards him, and surprised both Tyler and herself. "Hi, Tyler." She said.
"You spoke to me!" Tyler said, surprised.
"Y-yeah…I did." Lydia said, blushing a little and going back to raiding the cupboards. She pulled out two chocolate bars and threw one to Tyler.
"This is my favorite type! Thanks." Tyler said.
"I knew it was your favorite." Lydia said quietly.
"Huh?" Tyler blinked.
"I mean, um, you're welcome." Lydia said, her cheeks turning red once more.
"Hey…Lydia?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"Why don't you like the others?" Tyler asked her, as they both began to eat the chocolate.
"I do like them. They seem nice. It's just…" Lydia sighed and trailed off. "It doesn't matter. It's just something that happened to me." Lydia said.
"You could try talking to them, you know, they're really nice people." Tyler told her.
"I will try at some point, just…I need some time to get over what happened to me. Trust me, one day, you'll all find out and maybe then you'll understand." And with those words said, Lydia headed out into the garden, leaving Tyler somewhat speechless.
He made sure she was sitting on the swing tied to the garden tree before he rushed back upstairs to the living room. Tyler told them what happened, before they all shrugged it off and went back to planning. After all, they wanted to make Lydia as happy here as they possibly could.