My peripheral vision landed on a girl, sitting near the pavement, munching and viewing the altercation. 

My next few steps brought me closer to the people fighting. With a light far behind them, even upon closer inspection, I couldn't make a head or tail of their faces.

"Hey..." I suspended my hands up as I approached. "Is there a problem?" 

I spoke gently but firmly. My left thumb clutched the outer rim of my phone, thumb contacting the speed dial just enough to light up the screen with the number on display.

The tall man turned, then the entity beside him who wore a dress. 

Ensuring I wasn't stepping into a family feud, I turned to the girl. Opposite to the light, her shadow was cast onto the ground. 

Standing still, her arms crawled over her chest.

"Ma'am, are you okay? Is this man troubling you?"

I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. 

Inside my chest, my heart thundered. 

I was ready for a scenario where they would say it was just a fight. But I wasn't ready to see some drunk loser thrashing a girl around me because he couldn't get it up. 

The hooded figure walked towards me. It was her again. Her.

My mouth dried up. Her stance siphoned my words and thoughts.

"You can talk?" Her voice intonated. She leaned closer, her narrowed gaze scanning me from top to bottom before slanting back and unclutching her arms to her side.

Did I at some point portray I was a mute?

"Of course, I can talk."

"No, I mean...You..." All she could do was stutter at my response. Her body froze, with her hand in the air as if someone paused it onscreen.

Irfan, the guy who rescued her from the party, moved to her side and wrapped his muscular arm around her slumped shoulder. 

The hot question ratting my mind was how the captain of the cricket team knew her.

Irfan and I ran in different circles. Different courses at Uni too. 

His star performance brought him laurels and fame. 

A whole year senior, Irfan was the heartthrob of many. I had idolized the boy for his leadership skills, followed his games and hoped it imbibed in me.

"Do we have a problem here, mate?" He asked me, still securing the girl beside him. 

The funny hair-coloured friend too got up from the sidewalk and stood beside them.

It was my turn to look like an outsider. The intruder in their conversation.

"No, no problem. I thought you were abusi..." Running my hand through my set hair, I clarified. "I thought you were fighting."

I heard a scoff. 

Mia's distanced herself from her group, a step closer to me. "That's wrong of you to presume."

"What is wrong in thinking two people arguing in the middle of the deserted street could turn out to be bad?" Mimicking her action, I crossed my arms across my chest. "At least I didn't presume you to be a mute."

Her mouth opened and shut a few times but words didn't emerge. Only a grunted, "Hey."

My lips curled upward, watching her ball her fists. Still, no words.

"Mate, your friend..." Irfan intervened, directing his index finger towards the area where Felix sat.

I saw Felix lean nearer to the pavement, ready to embrace the floor. 

He was going for his slumber. I coiled my right arm around him, clasping his left hand over my shoulder. Locked in position, I lifted his spent body from the ground. 

It was like weightlifting only instead of a steel bar with proper weights on both sides, I had a hundred-and-fifty-pound lump hanging from my right, ready to drag me down anytime. 

This gunnysack would be the end of my life.

Irfan was kind to help. He held Felix from the other end. I stood up and stabilized. Irfan gave me a tight nod before letting go of my drunk friend. 

I could hear the funny-haired girl whispering something to Mia.

"I am telling you, he never talked. So I presumed.." Then Mia went silent. 

My peripheral vision could see, her hand Muppets playing up signs to depict her assumption.

"Excuse me." I turned to her, slowing my stride. "I don't know what gave you the idea but next time, please check. Don't presume."

I turned around, trying to make Felix walk when a softer grunt emerged from behind me. 

I couldn't help but bite into my lips to avoid smiling. 

Mia's assumption that I was a mute boy had cracked. It was fun watching her react as if someone told her she had interacted with a ghost.

Having regained a minuscule of consciousness, Felix attempted a successful walk. It was like seeing Bambi take its first step. 

Irfan walked in parallel to us. His left hand hovered over Felix, in case the walking snake fell. 

The girls walked behind us in silence. Occasionally, Irfan would turn to check on them. The same concern I had for Felix, danced in his eyes. A guardian's concern.

I wasn't sure if he was indeed her friend. 

For all I knew, she was dating him and I was the idiot to think he was her brother or friend.

When I turned to the main street, the girls overtook me. 

Mia cleared her throat and shifted her weight from one leg to another, then back. 

She inhaled a deep breath, exhaling it out through her mouth. Not everyone could confront and Mia seemed to be one of them.

"You were so silent in the meeting, I thought you were mute," she said in a faster tone and pace. 

Her pink-haired friend, nodded like she was also at the meeting and agreed to Mia's words.

"Not everyone who is silent is mute."

Her friends questioned about the meeting reference. She shushed them, turning to me. 

Irfan and the other girl paced ahead, holding my phone from which I had ordered an Uber.

"But you..." Mia looked up at the darkness above, channelling her next words. I could see her doe eyes widening further. "Fine. I presumed. I am sorry. But you can't blame me for thinking. You barely said a word."

"I guess I should do the same, motor mouth." I secured my loosened grip over Felix, who mumbled something before falling back to sleep, standing. "Doesn't your jaw hurt with all the yapping?"

She struck a Superman post, her nostrils flared at my response. 

My chest rumbled with laughter. I stifled it, deriving pleasure in riling her up. 

Mia ran her palm over a few rogue strands of hair which flew up in the statically charged air. 

Unlike the first day, her hair was straightened and looked fuller and darker. 

It was now, in the calm of the night and the middle of nowhere, where I observed her white dress and the side of her dewy face stained with of smidge of dirt. 

She must have wiped her face after tossing the rock.

It was also at that moment when I felt the sudden urge to thank the doe-eyed girl for her kindness. 

I wanted to tell her what she did had a profound impact on me. On my thoughts about her being at our meeting. 

A girl who was considerate about the safety of a stranger might not necessarily be wrong for the group. 

So what, if she didn't suffer what we did. She did seem to care more than anyone else. 

And if today was any precedent, I should unlatch my mind off the inhibitions to accept a neutral party at our meetings.

After all, if Doctor Murphy inducted her, it must be for a cause.

"Ivan..." Irfan jogged up, picking up Felix's slanted body from the opposite side. "The cab is here."

Mia's friend held the door open while Irfan and I slid Felix into the backseat. It was difficult with him almost asleep in his stand.

I shook her friend's hand. "Hi. I'm Ivan. Hope we've met under better circumstances."

Her smile widened. "I'm Lily. But it was fun though, meeting like this."

Then she moved back, resting her chin over Mia's shoulder, curling her arms around her. 

I felt tingles of distress sliding over my skin from their un-waivered gaze. 

After Irfan and I shared a handshake and a cursory hug, I pulled the door on the passenger seat up front.

The driver was punching his code, checking the destination. I turned my head out like a dog who didn't want to leave the new company. 

Mia's soft smile was visible even in the lost lights of the streets.

"Hey," I called her out.

She approached me with longer strides, leaning closer and ready for my next words. Her impassioned glance halted my words. 

I could have taken the route my heart directed, thanking her for risking her safety to keep me safe. 

But the mind was a powerful entity on its own, which had a different plan.

I poked my head out as the cab steered off from parking. 

"I had to stay silent. We all had to. You talked on behalf of the entire class."

My last words were yelled into the night. 

I could only imagine her reaction, not having the last say.

~

And there we have it. Their official interaction.

Gosh, it took them so much time to talk...

And now that they did, let's see if it's always going to be this bantery...

What do you think?

Let me know in the comments

Or just love me with your emojis ;) <3