The Life We Had | Gay BxB |

16. Grouches and Cowards (NEW)

"I think we should just change our subject," Sky said. "It's easiest that way."

"Sky, no..." I muttered, but he shook his head.

"There's no way I can get there. Besides, the owls could've moved already – it wasn't the best subject to begin with," he spoke quietly.

"We'll... just... We'll think about it, okay? We have a week," I said, still refusing to even consider dropping the subject.

Sky let out a sigh but smiled. "Fine – we'll think about it."

"Thanks," I said. "We will find a way."

"You're too stubborn," Sky chuckled and turned to speak to Mr. Jones. "I guess we'll think about it."

"All right. Let me know what you come up with," Mr. Jones said, and walked us out of his classroom. "I'm rooting for the owls," he said before waving us goodbye.

"See? He wants to see the owls too," I told Sky, as we started making our way to the exit.

"We need a miracle to take us to them first," he chuckled, but his mood was rising by the second.

Troy was waiting for us by the main entrance with a few of our teammates. Luke was there too, and even though he had been friendly – in his own way – to Sky, I still wasn't sure if I could trust him to act nice. I mean, he had a temper, and Sky definitely did not deserve to be the receiving end of it.

And, lo and behold, when we stopped next to them, Luke glanced at Sky and let out an annoyed sigh with a roll of his eyes. I hoped Sky didn't see that. At least Luke didn't say anything, but it was obvious he didn't want Sky there.

"What did Mr. Jones say?" Troy asked.

"He gave us one more week to decide if we want to change our subject. Which we don't," I said, playfully glancing at Sky.

"I feel like we have to – my ankle won't get much better in a week," Sky said.

"Don't say that! A week is a long time," I said.

"Uh-huh," Sky said, but he clearly didn't share my optimism.

As we continued telling Troy what Mr. Jones had said, I couldn't help but notice how annoyed Luke was. I wanted to believe he was annoyed only because he was bored with the subject, but he glanced at Sky a few times like he wished he weren't there. At least he kept his mouth shut. I suppose it was an improvement, but if Sky noticed his attitude, he'd feel bad.

I just couldn't understand why having Sky around was such an issue to him. Our friend group was big and full of all types of people, and Luke usually just ignored those he didn't care about, but he'd been openly hostile toward Sky from the get-go. Everyone had noticed it. I suppose Luke didn't hate him, since he had apologized for his behavior and all, but it was getting clear he had some other issues with him.

"Apparently, there's an old spruce somewhere right there," Sky was saying, pointing to the forest behind the street. "I'd be able to–"

"The bus is almost here," Luke interrupted him in a cold manner. "Better get your asses moving."

And he just walked away. I wanted to throw a book at him. If Sky hadn't noticed Luke's behavior, now he certainly did. He was watching after Luke, his good mood fading fast.

"He's a jerk," I told him. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay..."

"What were you saying about the spruce?" Troy asked kindly as we started walking.

"Just that it's an option..." Sky said shortly with a shrug.

"We will find a way to get to the owls," I said as cheerfully as I could, but that didn't help much.