june 07 1:13pm

"you're really going alone?" raya questioned, as she watched lydia move swiftly and gracefully down the stairs.

"yes, i want to go today. what if it rains tomorrow? bugs don't like when it rains. and neither does lydia."

lydia said with a pout, thinking of bugs drowning when the rain pours over the city.

"lidie, you don't like going places alone. why is this fair so important to you?" raya pushed, eyeing her daughter down with a questioning gaze as she thought about lydias previous silly comment about bugs.

"i want to see the butterfly exhibit!" lydia whisper yelled, trying to contain her excitement.

she had always had a soft spot for bugs, especially butterflies. when her and her mother visited the fair a few years back, lydia was absolutely fascinated with the butterflies that flew about in the exhibit. ever since, she has made it her mission to go back.

receiving an understanding nod of approval from her mother, lydia headed to the front door. but of course, not before grabbing her car keys from the key rack in the kitchen. she was walking with some joy in her movements now, her mother smiling quietly to herself as she watched her daughter walk out of the front door.

raya trusted lydia. she had sheltered her daughter for her entire life, putting her into homeschooling and teaching her life skills on her own with the help of her husband. raya and lydias father had agreed that it would be the best of all moves to keep her out and away from places she wasn't comfortable in. they enjoyed their babygirl as innocent, and kept away from the harsh realities of the outside world. while keeping her inside the house had done its job of protecting her, her father was not as accepting of lydias development as she grew older.

he knew that keeping her away from unfamiliar faces would only grow her curiousness to what the rest of the world was like, but he didn't know that she would lack social skills in the form of being less mature than others her age. he adored her until the end of time, yes, but he was secretly a bit vengeful towards raya for sheltering her for as long as she did. rayas husband, also lydias dad, mark, always pushed lydia to make her own decisions and not rely on someone to do things for her that she would later need the skill of knowing.

as lydia drove, she surveyed every glance of her surroundings she could get. she has always been so fascinated with what other people do with their time, and what they chose to do that brought them joy in their spare minutes. she enjoyed going out for drives, studying the buildings and cars that crowded her. her little eyes were very observant, and she liked to think that nothing could get past her happy gaze as she always formed her own opinions on those around her.

nothing upset lydia more than to see someone struggling. and when she caught sight of it, she would do everything in her power to fix and uplift that persons spirits. she hoped that if she were ever in the situation herself, someone would help her too. and as she grew older, her heart began to trust everyone around her. she believed that no one had ever had ill intentions with herself, or others. and this belief, is what caused her trouble.

arriving at the fair gave lydia the biggest of smiles. she was so excited to finally be back in one of her favorite places that held her butterflies that she loved so much. obviously, she would have much rather gone with her mother, but overall she was in a euphoric state about her current location.

as she hoisted herself out of her sedan, she noticed how packed the event was. so many people were everywhere, laughing and screaming on the rides. she could not spot a single person in her sight that seemed unhappy.

she stood at the entrance of the event gates, waiting her turn to be let in. while in line, she noticed the group in front of her was now checking in and paying for tickets, meaning she was next. as she watched them grab their "dizzy passes" she noticed a feeling in the pit of her stomach. for a reason that she could not pin point, she was nervous. she had never been somewhere so large and frequented by herself. she wasn't scared, just a bit antsy.

as she heard the ticket bouncer pronounce a rather loud "next!" she directed her attention at the man and walked up to the booth. she noticed the mans intimidating gaze as he watched her approach with her pre-paid ticket in hand. his expression made her uncomfortable, as he was eyeing her down very slowly from top to bottom, with lust written all over his face. lydia was not one to notice men's gawking, but this time she had, and although she did not know the mans expression as lust, she was generally not excited about speaking to him.

"hi," lydia softly spoke. "i really hope this is not too much of an inconvenience, but i have a free dizzy pass! i don't know how to get a access bracelet for it though, because it was given to me by a fri-" she was cut off.

"you don't need one. go ahead behind this counter and i'll give you a bracelet" the man sheepishly stated as he looked at her beautiful features.

walking around the counter of the booth towards the man she had spoken with, he met her halfway and swiftly grabbed her hand leading her back towards where he was originally sitting, helping customers. lydia was taken aback as he quickly shouted a "next!" while she was still by his side. she looked at the man, a bit confused. she watched as he continued on his job of ringing up tickets and giving out access bracelets, almost mesmerized by how fast he was with his job. by the looks of it, for a summer job, he took it pretty seriously. after he had finished ringing up a few more customers, lydia just stood there. she held a confused yet fascinated look on her face as she watched the man finish ringing up another customer.

"aren't you going to give me my bracelet?" she softly asked him while poking the side of his arm where his hand still interlocked with her small one.

he looked down at her and flashed a grin.

"why? you don't want to watch me do my job?" he asked.

"w-well it's very interesting to watch but i wanted to get my access wrist band so i could go explore stuff inside, if that's okay" lydia mumbled as she looked up at the man. the man made her feel uneasy, and he did not appeal to her very much. although she wanted nothing more than to go inside and walk around, she didn't want to upset the man by asking him. he didn't seem threatening, lydia was just very polite.

"i suppose, i just wanted to be around a stunning girl a bit longer than a quick access bracelet and go," he began, cutting himself off as he tightly clipped the bracelet onto her wrist. she almost felt bad, but as she focused her gaze back up and onto the man she quickly realized he wanted more than just to be in her company. flashing a hurried smile, she said a quiet "thank you" and headed into the fair with her newly granted pass.