The night was colder than expected as gusts of wind chased them around, tailing them, pushing against them- in short- freezing their posteriors. Joe had no idea why he could take winter in Bayport and not the wind in a tropical island which was the epitome of what he would call a paradise on Earth. He guessed it had a lot to do with expectations. He had anticipated that the weather in the equatorial region to always be nice and warm and it was a theory that had already been processed in his mind as facts. Thus, when he encountered a temperature beyond, or rather in this case, beneath his expectations, the rude shock made the cold wind even more unbearable.

Must be something Holly said. I can't think of such things by myself. Expectations- rude awakenings…what else did she say?

Holly was rather secretive about the group of people she wanted them to meet and throughout dinner, despite some guess-pointing on Joe's part, she kept her lips sewed shut. In fact, she seemed pretty nervous that the brothers actually remembered she mentioned something about bringing them to meet her friends. When Frank casually remarked about the tea party and whether it was really a tea party at teatime tomorrow (quite a redundant question for Joe who thought that tea parties were not called tea parties for nothing and was quite amazed that Frank could ask such a silly question) Holly dropped her fork immediately.

"Hmm… well…" Holly let out a short, tensed laughter. Frank pretended to dig into his rice with gusto but Joe could tell that behind his brother's quiet, darkening eyes was a set of radar roaming to pick up any other suspicious signals.

"So it's not tomorrow?" Joe jumped on his brother's question. Holly was being too evasive for his liking and even though he could sense a new closeness between Holly and Frank, and that she was sporting enough to play along with him earlier in the evening to annoy Frank, Joe still could not fully trust Holly.

"No… actually…I… forget I even mention the party…"

"No, Holly. We can't… wait… the soup's tickling my throat. It's hot… as in really spicy…the last tom yam I've tasted wasn't so potent…" Frank rubbed his throat and tried to clear it. Joe sniggered for he could handle the tom yam very well indeed, liking spicy stuff very much. Frank loved it too but Frank had a weak stomach for these things and Joe knew the Gents would be Frank's favorite spot very soon.

"You should drink some more water… here…" Holly passed him her glass when she noticed his was already emptied. Joe was feeling more and more like a third tire- like that extra flab around the belly which nobody wanted.

Frank almost choked on the water and Holly patted his back instinctively. Joe sank deeper in his seat. If Godzilla came and ate him up then, he would bet a million dollars (on credit of course) that Frank and Holly would never notice.

"Ok. Holly. Why aren't... you terribly…phew! That damn cough. Anyway, why aren't you excited about us meeting your friends now?" Frank persisted in between coughing fits. Joe drummed his left hand's fingers on the table while his right hand held on to a fork which was hovering threateningly over the dishes, ready to be impaled in another tasty morsel.

"It's not…" Holly sighed and hunched her shoulders in defeat. "Ok. We are trying to keep the group small because it takes a whole lot of trust to keep the group going. We talk about everything under the sun and sometimes, things get too sensitive. So, none of us are to invite anyone else without a valid reason… Gavin had this romantic notion that we are kinda like the Dead Poet's Society…"

"So you guys talk about… hmm… why strawberries are not sweet but extremely sour?" Joe interrupted Holly and Frank scowled at him. Ignoring his censorious brother, he gazed into Holly's face with innocent looking eyes.

Or what he imagined to be innocent looking eyes.

Holly threw her back and laughed merrily, an action which seemed displaced with her nature. But he reminded himself that though he only re-acquainted with her for a short period of time, he saw enough of her to know that something wonderful must have happened in her life to make her less frail and melancholic than she once was.

"Yes… but usually, that kind of guileful question will lead into a topic… say… the perceived and the reality of things… maybe even expectations versus rude awakenings… I don't know. I'm not the master. We aren't, really. We're just philosophizing for the waves to propagate our thoughts out for the world to thrash."

"Sounds interesting." Frank lost all pretense of being hungry and raised a brow at Holly with a half-smile lazily creeping up one side of his lips (which Frank probably thought was sexy to the girls but Joe thought was so cliché. He would have to teach Frank some other tricks on how to tug on a girl's heartstrings). Holly locked eyes with Frank for a moment and Joe wondered if he should take out a pen and paper to start transcribing the silent messages that was being shared between the both of them then.

Frank: Man likes Woman.

Holly: Woman likes Man.

Frank: But Man thinking of another Woman too.

Holly: Oh, hell with that Woman. I am Woman enough for you.

Frank: Ok.

Joe giggled and this time, it was he who choked. A single grain of rice hinged itself somewhere down his throat and he was glad it went down without too much fuss. Just as he guessed, Frank and Holly did not notice his discomfort either.

"You know what Frank? I think you should meet them! You'll blow them away… really. All my misgivings are for nothing." Holly threw her hands up in the hand and beamed at the dark-haired young man. Frank contemplated for a moment, resting his chin on his fist.

"When are you guys meeting?"

"Tonight."

"Cool. Let's finish up dinner then." Frank started heaping food on Joe's plate until Joe had to move it away before Frank dumped the whole table onto the overwrought platter.

"I'm not a glutton… besides… Holly may want some more." Joe grumbled and Frank blushed. Joe's inquisitive nature was sparked then. Frank hardly blushed. Frank could look at pictures of naked women accidentally and not blush because he would see it all as just biology, nothing to be excited about.

"I'm sorry. Joe's right. Do you want some more, Holly? I noticed you stopped eating a while ago…" Frank was now fawning over Holly again. Joe looked around, wondering if there was a pretty girl whom he could fawn over as well.

"I got to watch my figure and that was so observant of you." Holly remarked, bringing a wide smile to Frank's lips. Joe rolled his eyes and stuffed his mouth with more sweet and sour prawns.

Give me a break… please. GOD! PLEASE. TAKE ME OUT OF HERE!

"Sholly, amf I infhited?" Joe asked between chews. Holly looked at him with a baffled expression, as if realizing he was present at the table she was sharing with Frank for the first time.

"Huh?"

"He asked if he was invited." Frank translated his gibberish immediately. Joe nodded, smiling with satisfaction. He had trained his brother well.

"Oh, of course. You are invited."

But just keep my mouth shut right? Philosophy? Philosophy still can't tell me why are strawberries are not sweet when they are supposed to be.

"Shanks Shew."

"He means, 'thank you'." Frank automatically translated. Holly giggled again but it was not out of nervousness this time. It was the kind of giggles girls employed to charm the man of their dreams.

"I got that." Holly finally replied. Frank shrugged and drank more water. Joe went back to attack his food.

"So, Frank… Joe… welcome." The lanky young man who had introduced himself as Gavin languidly greeted them. Something about Gavin did not sit well with Joe. He had intelligent eyes that were almost as intense Frank's, and that arrogant air which Joe associated usually with intellectuals who were not geeks. Somehow, his greeting was colder than the wind- he had the knack to make Joe feel really excluded with his tone.

Frank was not daunted by the lukewarm response though. But he was in a better position- after all; he was sitting just next to Holly who kept patting his knees, touching his arm or whispering in his ear. Joe had no one to lead him into the group.

Owing to the lack of light, everyone had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes to Joe.

"Forget about Gavin's tone… the both of you are more than welcome. Our ideas are getting a little stale… fresh blood will only infuse more life into our creative consciousness." A girl next to Gavin spoke up for the brothers and Joe was thankful for that, though he thought the girl had really dead eyes. As she stretched out her hands unsteadily to shake theirs, understanding dawned on Joe.

The girl was blind.

"Yah, yah. Whatever. Guys, this is Blind nun. Next to her is the Communist. Then we have the Wonder Twins. When they put their heads together, their IQ adds up to 180, each contributing to it equally. I guess all of you know Holly the Hair-Tucker." Gavin sweepingly and caustically introduced the rest of the small group. Joe could see everyone throwing him acid glares and wondered why Gavin had not corroded yet- his own acerbic words would have dissolved his tongue already.

"Like I said before, ignore Gavin the Stupid. My name's Celeste." The blind girl spoke up confidently and Joe reached over to take her still outstretched hands which were frozen for a moment during Gavin's downright rude display of disrespect.

Joe guessed she was probably shocked.

"Hey! Celeste! Great meeting you! I'm Joe."

"I can recognize your voice from just now… yup… I'm blind in case you and Frank are wondering!" She informed them cheerfully and Joe could not detect any hidden anguish or regret behind her words. It sounded like she was telling everyone she had brown hair- setting the stage for the right kind of treatment she wanted from everybody- that she was normal and her handicap was so insignificant that no one needed to raise any brows over it.

Frank shook her hand next firmly and with that gentleness in the smile that Celeste, sadly, could never see. "My pleasure to meet you, Celeste."

"You must be Frank then. You have strong hands. They sure make a girl feel safe." Celeste remarked and Nicole, a girl of Chinese heritage, put an arm around her genial friend before waving enthusiastically at the both of them.

"I'm Nicole. You shouldn't mind Celeste commenting about how our physical attributes feel to her. It's her way of giving us feedback about what she sees with her hands- her sight is so much more accurate than some of us with eyes."

"Nic…" Celeste drawled before jibing her friend in the ribs. Joe had no reason why he could look at everyone, even Celeste, straight in the eyes except for Nicole. To look at Nicole, he had to steal glances. Probably it was because he did not want her to think of him as a country bumpkin gawking at her ethnicity- he had plenty of Asian friends back in Bayport. Iola's face floated up from the seabed of his consciousness to the surface and he finally knew why. Nicole had really short hair that gave her pretty elfin features an even more impish quality- the aura she had around her reminded him very much of Iola.

The old familiar guilt settled down on his heart which was already very weary from the long trip.

"And I'm Adam. This is my twin, Adam's Clone." The guy next to Holly reached over to shake Frank's hand. He did not extend his handshake to Joe but Joe did not care either. Without a proper nap before reasoning with Frank and then jumping straight into an energetic play of beach volleyball, Joe was all tired out and ready to doze off. The sumptuous dinner and lulling percussion of crashing waves did all they could to push him into a comatose state as well.

"No… I'm AC, which stands for Andrew Clark, not Adam's Clone. I hate both my given names so, just call me AC." AC was quick to clarify. He had his hands firmly lodged in his pockets and Joe could not help but noticed the stark differences between the twins. While Adam was open and friendly enough, AC seemed reserved- his speech much less confident and more guarded than his brother's booming rendition of the similar vocal traits. Adam had his jet-black hair gelled up in spikes and was wearing only a pair of board shorts like Joe, Frank and Gavin while AC was more dressed in a checkered short-sleeved shirt and the longest pair of board shorts Joe had ever seen.

From the way the moonlight glinted off Adam's hair- reflected and absorbed by alternating streaks, Joe could tell his hair was highlighted. The lack of light was really making it difficult for Joe to ascertain the finer details of their physical attributes.

"AC's a hypochondriac. Don't pass him any germs or we'll have hell to listen to." Gavin smirked while AC fumed quietly. Adam turned and coolly faced Gavin.

"Shut your mouth, freak."

"Speak for your brother." Gavin shot back. Adam started cracking his fingers and jerking his neck.

Joe exchanged a wary glance with Frank who placed a finger to his own lips and nodded slightly towards Celeste.

"I heard that Adam. Gavin, shut up." Celeste commanded- the conviviality in her voice was replaced with hardened authority. Surprisingly enough, both infuriated young men obeyed wordlessly though Joe could see Gavin shaking with anger.

"Ok, with the introduction over, let me cordially welcome you to our tea party." Gavin almost snarled at Frank and Joe but both of them were impervious to his antics. With his anger subsided, Gavin seemed to keep glancing sidelong at Frank with some venom, causing Joe to wonder if intellectuals could actually smell their own kind and feel threatened. Because no one was looking him, Joe felt extremely dispensable.

"Why would you call this a tea party?" Joe blurted out when a tensed silence followed Gavin's hostile greeting. He could not keep his question to himself since he found it weird that they named a small gathering in the middle of the night a tea party

"Why not?' Gavin countered before looking away again, giving Joe the impression that Gavin did not meant for him to elaborate upon his query.

"Because it's not tea time and neither are we drinking tea… I don't know. It just feels weird to have a meeting in the middle of the night and call it a tea party." Joe, unfazed by Gavin, carried on. It was a perfectly valid question and he knew he was asking to seek clarification, not to make a point or to make Gavin look bad.

"Who's to stop me from calling an apple, orange?" Gavin now openly exhibited his displeasure and Joe shrugged as his tongue tasted something unpleasant. Now, he knew why he only went to Frank if he had questions of those sorts to ask. Frank would patiently explain and not just let the answer be any sweeping variations of "Because it just is!" If Frank had no answer, Frank would honestly say he had no idea.

"I guess it has always been this way… we just took the idea from Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter's tea party! It's just that to sit around and talk about these things during daytime would be to waste the charms of the beach that smells so wonderful! So, we have it at night but the name is still adopted in honor of a great book, perhaps the best book ever written for children that can still fascinate adults." Celeste spoke up, smiling at Joe's direction very accurately now. Her smile warmed Joe's heart and he beamed back at her though she could not see.

But he hoped she could feel it.

"Thanks, Cel! Now, that explains it." Joe remarked happily now that he had an answer. He knew his question was insignificant to them but the fact that Celeste took the time, consideration and effort to try and satisfy his curiosity made him feel very honored and welcomed, more so than mere words ever could.

"Stupid question." Gavin muttered dryly. Joe's happy mood immediately plunged into the depths of frustration and he was just about to stand up and walk away had Nicole not unwittingly halted him with a gentle touch that tingled his arm.

"Come to think of it, this is not a stupid question. You see, we all meet up and call our little group a tea party without really questioning why or being aware of how weird it seemed to the outside world. Now, Joe, with no foreknowledge of us, came in immediately and presented a side we have never thought of before. It's almost like those in a certain group, club or even a large society would grow contended with the way things are such that their minds dull and they cease to see fundamental flaws or they are reluctant to challenge the way things are, even if those ways are erroneous, just because they are so comfortable with where they are." She defended him eloquently and he threw her a grateful look, catching that split second in which Nicole threw Gavin a condescending sneer. A hunch twisted his guts- there seemed to be some form of power play between Nicole and Gavin.

Or rather, Gavin against everyone.

"Takes a stranger to see the obvious loopholes we are so blind to." Adam commented and AC nodded. Holly chewed on her lower lip before pointing her index finger up in the air like she had suddenly hit on an idea.

"Or someone who can step out of the frame, step out of his role and comfort zone to look at his surroundings with a detached and impartial mind to seek the truth. Emotions and sentimental feelings can mar our opinions of what is right and wrong, true and false…"

"But feelings are part of truth, aren't they? How can we be so sure that our logical deduction will always lead us to some truth? Some people have pretty sharp hunches and human beings can never be separated from their feelings- their emotions. Without feelings or a soul, we're not human beings anymore." AC chimed in. Gavin snorted.

"Hah. Feelings. The day we depend on your feelings to come up with any form of truth, the whole world would be diseased."

Joe could saw Adam's eyes blazed with unbridled fury at Gavin but once again, a voice stopped the two feuding young men from killing each other. Frank's soft voice, sorely missed during a good part of the exchange, made its reproaching and yet, stately debut.

"I'm sorry, but this is turning out to be extremely tedious. Joe and I are returning to our hut. Thanks and it is great meeting all but one." Frank stood up and patted Joe's shoulder. Glad for the rescue attempt, Joe immediately sprang to his feet and threw a dazzling smile at all the girls.

"Ah, Thus Spoke Frank Hardy…" Gavin could hardly begin when Frank shut him up.

"Better me than some hot air. Nietzsche was misunderstood enough; I don't think he needs association with you- fancy adulterating the title of one of his works without the semblance of wit." Frank spoke almost politely and started walking away with Joe scrambling in tow.