They’re sitting together. Just on the other side of this open space. Nothing in the way but me.

Will I fit in? Will they invite me in? What if this shared secret that bonds us together isn’t enough to overcome our differences? I can see they’re having fun, and I want what they have. But I don’t know them yet. And worse, they don’t know me yet. They haven’t had the chance to accept or reject me, and that’s the part I fear the most.

What if they only let me join them because they pity me? Then they’d all be in on the joke and I’d never know.

What if they let me in out of kindness, but I don’t make the right impression? What if I invest my hope in them, and tomorrow they don’t even remember me?

There are so many reasons to just stay here where it’s safe. I’m used to being alone. I can just listen to the music playing in the background. Or I can look for some other group to join; one that doesn’t require any commitment or vulnerability. I’ve got other options.

But that group. That’s the group where people are trying something a little different; maybe a little uncomfortable or unconventional. That’s the group that’s slipping past what’s easy and into what matters. That’s the group I came here for.

I came here to reach out to others. I came here to let people reach out to me. I came here to feel what it’s like to not be alone like always. None of the other groups offer anything I can’t sample in any arbitrary social situation. That group is the only one that’s really special.

Somehow I’ve closed the gap, and without any guile or conditions, they open their arms to let me in.