Being Wrong | ✓

Part 28

By the time everyone was ready any awkwardness had faded, at least as far as Charlie could tell. He sat in the back of the car with Travis while Robby drove.

Charlie had lived in this city all his life, but most of what he saw out of the window as they drove was completely unfamiliar to him. He'd been such an over reactive child that his mum had made efforts to keep his daily life familiar and predictable, and his dad had simply hardly ever bothered to take him anywhere recreational.

He was well aware just how easily he could become like the little boy he once was, raw and panicked and overwhelmed, but he wanted more than the tiny world he'd been allowed. He wanted experiences and he wanted to live life. He was just glad to have Travis at his side, ready to jump in whenever things got to be too much.

Charlie slapped his palms against his knees as they pulled into the parking area, excitement and anxiety churning in his gut in a delightful, terrible mix. The markets were held in a large parking lot with stalls set up under big, umbrella-like structures that provided shade. Charlie wanted to explore what the stalls had to offer, didn't want to enter the heavy press of people. He took hold of Travis' hand as soon as they were out of the car.

Charlie didn't like having so many people close to him, didn't like having so many things going on around him at once, but the market stalls were a good distraction. There were just so many different things. Fruits and vegetables, which were pretty boring, plants, a stall selling fudge. He lingered in front of a stall selling flowers, taking in all the different kinds. They were much cheaper here than in the supermarket.

"He likes flowers?" Charlie heard Robby ask, and beside him Travis gave a one shouldered shrug.

"Colours!" Charlie declared.

"What's your favourite colour?" Travis murmured close to his ear.

Charlie pointed to a mixed bouquet.

"Your favourite colour is every colour?"

Charlie nodded.

They moved on, and Charlie discovered there were even more kinds of things. Jewellery, clothes, phone cases, toys. He wanted so many things. If there had only been one stall he might have spent some of his money, but every time he saw something he wanted he hesitated. What if there was something better in the next row of stalls?

It also didn't help that his brain kept insisting that he should only get things he needed. He probably wouldn't even wear a hat, no matter how brightly coloured and lovingly knitted. Did he need a bag? He had one for school, and it wasn't like he went anywhere else often. None of the pretty phone cases even fit his phone.

Robby was the first one to actually buy something, a plain black wallet that Charlie thought was boring. Charlie didn't want to buy something boring. Charlie wanted something exciting. The best thing. The first thing Charlie bought was bubble mixture. Then a little jar of rainbow boiled sweets. Then a tiny solar powered toy car.

They'd only gotten about half way through the market stalls when someone bumped into Charlie and he abruptly realised he'd had enough. He hadn't been paying enough attention to himself, but that small accidental contact jolted right to his core in a way he was all too familiar with. He needed to get away from the crowd, but he could no longer put his needs into words.

He bit down on Travis' upper arm, hard enough to make him flinch but with no real savagery.

Travis pulled him to the side, out of the flow of foot traffic. "What's up?"

Charlie made a sound in the back of his throat like he was trying to talk around a gag. It was all he had right now.

"All right," Travis said, and began leading Charlie through the crowd.