Several minutes passed while Sophie rummaged through the violin case. All she found was some rosin, a cloth, and a spare bow. She closed the case and stood up, stretching. "Katie? I don't think he's coming back."

"Nonsense," Katie replied. "He left his violin here."

"Well, he's pretty sneaky; he could come by at night and pick it up."

Katie jumped down from the tree, wiping her dusty hands on her pants. "Then let's go find him," she decided. "Which way did he go?"

Sophie reluctantly started walking in the direction she saw Aiden walk off. In her mind, they were much better off far, far away from Aiden. But Katie was the leader of the two girls, so Sophie went along with her decisions.

They walked for some time, never once coming across a hiking trail. Sophie had just begun to doubt that they were heading in the right direction when they passed over a small knoll and came upon a lake. They saw a wet glob of brown hair pop up above the water.

Katie gasped upon seeing the lake and immediately began jogging down towards it. Sophie followed, and noted a pile of clothes at the edge of the water with a blush. "So this is where you went off to," Katie called as she saw Aiden's head come above the surface.

Aiden turned his head at the sound of Katie's voice and disappeared underwater at once.

Sophie grinned, "He must be embarrassed."

Katie nodded, "But surely he didn't think we'd just sit around and wait for him to come back."

"Maybe he thought that if he was gone long enough, we'd give up and go home," Sophie shrugged.

Katie sniffed, "He obviously doesn't know us very well if he thinks that."

"We don't know him at all, either," Sophie pointed out.

"You're right. I still want to find out about him."

"But didn't he say he didn't trust us enough to tell us anything?"

"Yes. So we need to win his trust. Come on," Katie said as she began rolling her jeans up past her knees and kicking off her shoes.

Sophie followed her examples halfheartedly. He's going to have to earn my trust first, she thought firmly.

Aiden appeared again, closer to the girls than before. His chest was above the water too, and he was close enough to talk in a normal voice. "What are you doing here?" he asked cautiously.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" Katie said with a flirtatious swing of her hips.

Aiden gave no acknowledgement of the suggestive movement and replied, "That's why I asked."

Sophie began to wonder if Aiden was slightly autistic. No, she answered herself. Autistic kids usually have short attention spans and little imagination; he can't be that good at violin is he's autistic.

"We just wanted to spend some time with you, get to know you better and stuff," Katie said.

Speak for yourself, Sophie thought bitterly.

Aiden shifted uncomfortably, "I already told you, I'm not talking about it."

Katie laughed, a little too superficially for Sophie's liking, and replied, "That's not what I said; I just want to be friends. Is that too much to ask?"

Aiden didn't reply for a minute. He continued to stand in the water, watching Katie and Sophie wade into the lake. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

Katie had a sultry smirk on her face when she replied, "Don't you want to have some fun?" She splashed him playfully.

Aiden put up a hand to block the splash. Wiping his eyes, he answered, "I'm not entirely comfortable with this."

Sophie looked away when she guessed why. I don't blame him, she thought. "Come on, Katie. Give him some privacy."

"Oh. Right," Katie's eyes flickered with understanding as they met Aiden's.

Aiden broke away his gaze, "If you wouldn't mind, please."

Sophie marched out of the water and turned her back on the lake. She had no desire to see what was behind her. Katie soon appeared at her side, stifling a giggle. Sophie heard a bit of splashing and then the soft rustle of clothes being put on.

After a minute, Aiden said, "Okay."

Sophie and Katie turned around. Aiden now had his dark khaki pants on. Katie walked up to Aiden. "Now we can have some fun!" she said, putting her hand on his shoulder as she steered him toward the water.

Aiden shied away from her touch, but said nothing.

Sophie mentally put up a tally mark supporting the theory that Aiden was autistic. Autistic children usually do not like being touched. She ran down into the water and splashed through until the water was past her waist. "Brrr! It's cold!" she exclaimed.

Aiden walked in without so much as a flinch, "Just do a few laps and you'll warm up."

Katie followed him in, taking slow steps as she adjusted to the temperature of the water. "You must be quite the swimmer," she praised.

Sophie admired his strong shoulders and arms as he waded by her. For some bizarre reason, Sophie wanted to appear just as playful as Katie, so she began pelting Aiden with a series of splashes.

Aiden sputtered, but Sophie thought she heard a laugh over the splashing. A hand caught hers. Aiden had grabbed her hand to stop the splashing, his powerful muscles preventing her from moving her hand.

Fear flooded Sophie. What was she thinking? She had read a book about an autistic boy, and he was quick to do violent acts when provoked. Sophie stared up into Aiden's dark and mysterious eyes, stomach knotting in preparation for the worst.

But all that changed the second she saw the lopsided grin break out on his face. A huge wave hit her. The force of it knocked her underwater. She stayed underwater as she grinned, thinking about how endearing Aiden looked with that lopsided grin of his. For in that moment of bliss, Sophie's life goal changed from being a famous musician to making Aiden smile. Sophie blinked, bringing herself back to reality. So he's cute, she thought. I still don't know him very well. I can't judge him based on his looks. He's still really creepy.

A hand wrapped around Sophie's waist and her head was brought above the surface of the water. Aiden adjusted her so he was practically carrying her. He had a furrowed brow and an intense gaze as he lifted her. "Don't frown," Sophie said, blinking the water out of her eyes and looking up at him.

The look of consternation on Aiden's face faded into one of relief. "You're okay!" he said, letting go of her. "I thought I had splashed you too hard when you didn't come up again."

Sophie blushed. He was concerned for me, she thought. Maybe I was wrong about him. "I'm fine. I thought I had pestered you too much when you stopped my hand."

Just then Katie splashed them both with a huge wave. The three began the largest splash war ever, laughing and diving underwater to protect themselves. Shouts of protest were issued and muted by waves. Sometimes two of them formed an alliance to soak the other, but these treaties always ended in betrayal and more splashing.

Sophie's doubts about Aiden began to fade as they wrestled and splashed each other. She laughed as Aiden shook his head free of water, causing his hair to poof out. "You think that's funny?" he splashed her.

"You should look at yourself!" Sophie snorted.

Aiden took a handful of Sophie's long brown hair and tried to make it stand up too.

Sophie giggled, pushing him away. "It won't work on me, just you," she said, adding a splash to make her point.

Katie grinned, "You're right, Sophie. He looks like a clown."

Aiden pretended to pout, turning his back on the girls and burying his face in his hands. "You're a meanie!" he said in a false juvenile voice.

Katie grinned, "Aw, there there." She splashed his back. Aiden turned around and sent a huge wave in the girls' direction. Sophie stared at his lopsided grin as the wave hit her.

Aiden saw Sophie staring at him, "Do I really look that weird?" he asked, feeling his hair.

Sophie caught herself and nodded, "Yup."

Katie yawned, "I'm tired. I'm going to dry off. Don't you dare go back to the oak tree for at least ten minutes. I'd murder you only after I ripped you eyes out and cut off your limbs." Katie waded out of the lake, pulled her shoes on, and walked up the knoll to the oak tree.

Aiden called after her, "Don't worry about us!"

Sophie waded to the shore and sat down, wringing out the bottom of her shirt. "This water is freezing, but you're right; we did warm up after a while." Warmed up to each other, too, she added in her head.

Aiden sat down beside her, "Was it you or Katie who sang last night?"

"That was Katie. She sings, I play guitar. I loved your violin playing, by the way."

Aiden grinned, "Thanks. We should play a duet together sometime."

Sophie replied, "I could play chords and you could make something up, or something like that."

"Chords sound so hard. Violin's way easier."

"Nuh-uh! On guitar, there're frets, so you're always right on pitch. Chords are simple."

"Too many strings on guitar. I couldn't keep up with it."

Sophie didn't reply, she was watching Aiden's face. Aiden caught her staring and looked confused, "Is my hair still being all weird? Stop staring!" he pressed his palms on his head, covering his hair.

Sophie laughed, "No, I like your hair! It's drying now."

"Yours is too, it's getting all frizzy."

Sophie gave a mock cry of alarm, "No!" she combed her hair with her fingers, ducking as Aiden tried to mess it up again.

Aiden laughed, "Girls care so much about their hair. You look fine, really."

"Thanks," Sophie replied, grinning up at Aiden.

Aiden smiled back, and Sophie's heart was warmed. He's so cute! Sophie exclaimed in her mind. I wonder if he likes me. Then Aiden looked out at the lake and his eyes unfocused, he was deep in thought. Sophie was deep in thought, too, wondering what Aiden was thinking. He's so mysterious. I wish I could get to know him better. After a few minutes, Aiden turned back to Sophie, "Do you think it's been ten minutes? I'm getting cold." He stood and picked up his shirt. "Let's go back," he said.

Sophie said, "Okay," and pulled on her shoes.

"I'll race you," Aiden said, running up the hill to the oak tree.

"Hey! Wait up!" Sophie yelled, in hot pursuit.