"Uh, miss?" The man spoke out as he approached the two.
Julia looked back to see who was calling. It was another man who had been seated in the patio, and overheard the conversation.
"Hi, I'm Keith, a writer for a college newspaper, and was curious about this nude project you talked about?"
"Um, no. She can't talk right now!" Julia answered.
"Uh miss? I was just thinking it might make for a great feature in the paper." He tried to go around Julia.
"She can't talk right now. Can you please leave us alone!" Julia insisted.
"It just sounded like a really interesting project, that's all!" He added.
"You want to do a feature?" Lara finally asked quietly, able to break out of her alter after hearing something positive.
"Yes! A feature! I mean, this sounds great!" Keith answered.
Julia rolled her eyes and looked frustrated. She finally let go of Lara and continued to set her danish and drink down inside the car. She watched and listened, making sure Keith didn't take advantage of Lara.
"Yeah, OK." Lara acknowledged.
Keith fumbled around in his jacket, and finally pulled out a business card and handed it to her.
Lara looked at the card.
"Oh, Trident Technical," She read aloud. "I thought about going there!" Lara said.
"Really?" Keith asked. "You go to school now?"
"Um, yeah. College of Charleston. We're doing the project there."
"Wow, amazing! So what kind of project is this?"
"It's to travel from coast to coast to California completely nude with no money, and see how other people react."
Keith acted surprised and excited. "Oh my God! That's crazy!"
"Naked, all the way to California?"
Lara nodded, "Yup!"
"Wow, that's crazy! What is this social studies? Or behavioral... whatever?"
Lara paused, unsure what he was talking about.
"It's Women's Studies." Julia chimed in, trying to cover for Lara.
Keith opened his mouth and nodded his head. "Oh, women's studies. Yeah, that makes sense! Right!
Keith opened up a notebook to start jotting down notes.
"Wow, that's awesome. Both of you are driving all the way there?"
"No, Julia's driving to Fort Wayne. I'm just tagging along."
"Then how will you get to California from Fort Wayne?" Keith asked.
Lara smiled, looked back at Julia, and then looked back at Keith.
"Well, I don't know right now! That's part of the study. It's just to see what a woman can do with literally nothing!
Keith shook his head again in disbelief, smiled, and wrote down in his notebook. Meanwhile, Lara seemingly had fully left her traumatized teen alter and was back into "real Lara".
Lara chimed in again. "It's also about how other people will react to a naked woman in public."
"Right, right! That makes sense! So, did you start here in Charleston, or where?"
"Yeah, right here in Charleston. We just left today, actually." Lara replied.
"And a great today too, right?" Keith added. "And you're really going to go naked all the way to California?"
"Yup, that's the plan!" Lara smiled confidently.
Julia took a sip of her coffee, watching to make sure this guy would not do anything dumb with Lara."And how long do you think it's going to take to get to California?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe sometime this year?"
Keith continued taking notes.
"I mean, the plan is be spontaneous and use whatever resources I can find, and take whatever people can offer. The point is to see, like what Julia just said, how people will react to a naked woman in public."
"That's amazing!" Keith said, still shaking his head in disbelief. "So what made you decide to do this?"
"Oh, well I've been a nudist since I was little, and I just..."
"She was the best candidate for the study!" Julia interrupted Lara, sensing she was about to give too much personal information. "The other women involved just don't have the experience with nudism."
"Oh, so you're nudist in real life too?" Keith asked.
Lara smiled and nodded her head, "Yup!"
"Like all the time, or...?"
"All the time! Yup!" Lara continued to smile.
"What about the stuff in the car?" Keith asked, noting suitcases, dufflebags, and plastic storage boxes.
Lara looked back at the car, and then looked back at Keith.
"Oh, that's all Julia's stuff."
"Well what about a purse, or a wallet, or a cellphone?"
Lara shook her head. "I'm only allowed to have whatever people give me."
"Not even any identification?"
"Nope!" Lara said with a laugh.
"Wow, that's crazy! And this is women's studies? Do they do this?"
"Well why not?" Lara asked.
Julia felt the need to chime in again.
"It's a lot about how people objectify women, or make assumptions when they see a naked woman."
Keith nodded his head, trying to understand, but having difficulty.
"Wouldn't you need video cameras to document people's reactions and stuff?" He asked.
"We're on a small budget." Lara explained.
"Ahh! Yeah, totally understand. So, when you get to Fort Wayne, do you already have someone there to continue driving you, or are you just going to wing it and find some random stranger?"
"We don't know!" Lara said, smiling. "I mean, if I can find someone to meet me there, or maybe I have to just wing it!"
"Crazy! I mean crazy! Well, I can't wait to see the result of the study!" Keith commended. "Do you mind giving me a call every week or so to give me an update?"
"Yeah, of course!" Lara said. "If I can get to a phone!"
"Right!" Keith acknowledged. "Hey, can I get a photo of you two for the article?"
"Uh, well..." Julia chimed in again.
"It's OK!" Lara argued, turning her head to look at Julia.
Keith grabbed his cellphone and held it up. Lara put her hands on her hips, presenting herself with pride with Julia behind her.
Keith reached for his wallet and pulled out a Starbucks card. "Here, take my Starbucks card. There's about $25.00 left on it. You can get yourself something to eat or drink."
Lara accepted it.
"Oh, Thanks! Yes!" She cheered.
"Well, I'll let you two go. Good luck OK?"
Lara walked up to Keith and gave him a hug. Julia waved her hand goodbye, and then got into the car, with Lara following her in. Lara showed her the gift card.
"You see, I said I would figure something out!"
