The Definition of Butterflies in the Stomach.

Charlotte walks past Robert as he is seated with people who are alien to her. And as she does this, she purposely brushes his shoulder. She doesn’t want to appear rude by ignoring him, and she also doesn’t want to intrude.

But Robert flips his head around and buries it into her stomach, groaning softly. His arms loosely wrap around her and he asks her how she is. She replies as she would to a grocer: polite and distant. The attention is making her a little uncomfortable. She tries to return to her table when she feels Robert pulling at her arm. He introduces her to one of the aliens.

“And who is Charlotte?” The alien asks in a tease.

Charlotte heaves her head over toward Robert, for she was curious as to how he would respond. She concentrates on his mouth as she sees that it is widening, and a dim beam of light is pulling itself through his teeth. She stares and watches as his skin begins to turn yellow and glow. And shortly after that, she feels the eyes of everyone at every table rotating toward them, searching out the blinding light source.

Once he has lit the night up, Robert raises his arms above his head. Leaning back, he tosses himself onto his glowing hands and flips his yellow legs over. He does this again. And again. And again.

Charlotte turns to the alien.

“I’m just a girl,” she answers after he has flipped himself into the sky, disguising himself as a star.