Adam Brown was the only seven foot tall redhead who could blend in with a crowd. The way he put it, he was too ordinary. Some believed that the only clothing he owned was khakis, polo shirts, nicer khakis and polo shirts, and relatively beaten up khakis and polo shirts. Nobody wears that kind of stuff all the time, but it never stands out. Standing on a crowded train, nobody looked quite like him, but nobody looked all that different. He was young enough that it seemed as though he could one day belong with the hoards of suits walking around, though he did not wear one yet. He also blended with people wearing jeans and tee shirts because he could look slightly more dressed up than they were. All in all, there was something uneasy about him. Something unrecognizable at first that could not be ignored once you got to know him. His demeanor was so polished, so calm, that there had to be something more complicated within.

It was not until a year after meeting Adam, that I had any opportunity to get to know him. We were standing at a train station one afternoon talking for no other reason than to pass the time, when I realized that we did a lot of the same things, and had a lot of the same friends. We spent much of the next fifteen minutes telling stories that had no points for no reason. When we went our separate ways four train stops later, I couldn’t help but think that there was more to Adam than met the surface, but it was so hard to tell what it was. While he did come across as being completely in control of everything about him, he never once mentioned himself in our conversation.

On a late autumn evening, I was sitting eating dinner alone with my homework, when I was approached from the side by Adam who was following Elizabeth, a close friend of mine.

"Can we sit here, or are you too deep in though?" she asked me, smiling because I would never turn her down. Elizabeth could probably make me do anything by simply asking. She and Adam were probably coming out of class, and wanted some company.

"Sure thing. I’ll just move these things. Gimme a sec." I said shoving my books and papers off of the table to make room for the two newcomers.

The conversation over dinner shifted from classes, where either Elizabeth and I would complain about papers or Elizabeth and Adam would discuss test results, to strange friendships we were part of. Adam said nothing for a while, and then began a rant about the awkward relationships.

"I never know who I can trust," Adam worried. "What happens when I trust somebody, and that person reveals my secrets? What about when they ruin everything because they don’t actually care about me, and just want to manipulate me?" He looked a bit embarrassed, and shortly thereafter excused himself to go study.

"Is he okay? He seems quite worried about friends." She asked me.

"How am I supposed to know? I’ve barely spoken to him before tonight. You see him every day." I shrugged.

"Well, make sure he knows you’re friendly when you talk to him," Elizabeth said. "You wouldn’t want him thinking you’re being insincere."

I knew she was right about that, even though she was joking when she said it. For that matter, Adam was right about getting to know people. It is very difficult to open up. All we needed was a plan – a way of getting him to come out of his closely built shell.

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