-Sky-
Out of all the stupid things I'd done, running out during a tornado warning and spraining my ankle was definitely in top ten. For my defense, I never heard about the warning. Even though multiple people had tried to tell me about it. Okay, yes, it was still my fault.
Truth to be told, I really was disappointed in myself. I kept living in my daydreams and ignored people way too often. I'd ignored my dad completely when he tried to make sure I knew about the tornado. I'd apparently ignored dozens of people talking about it at school. And I had completely missed several announcements during classes.
What on earth was wrong with me? I really needed to start paying attention or I would get myself killed. I'd probably ignore a bunch of cop cars and walk straight into a bank that was being robbed if I didn't learn to pay attention. Why was it so hard for me to focus?
At least the leg wasn't badly injured, and I got out of the storm in one piece. I still started smiling widely every time I thought about Max and Troy, who had come looking for me. When I saw them running towards me, I nearly started crying from relief. I'd been scared, exhausted, tired, hungry, and in pain, but it all got washed away when they found me.
But even though my leg wasn't badly injured, it was still a problem, and I was really angry with myself for it.
I mean, I had ruined the project before we even started working on it. Max was spending a lot of time trying to cheer me up, telling me we would find a way, but the barn was just too far away. Besides, the owls might've left already. In that case, it could take days before we could even find them again, but with my injured leg, I couldn't do that.
"I'm so stupid..." I muttered to myself.
Choosing the owls was a stupid idea. We should've picked something else, like ants or something. That would've been easy. But no, let's take owls, birds who slept during days and flew away during nights. Good thinking.
And now I had a sprained ankle and crutches. My ankle was still hurting, and it was so swollen my shoes didn't fit. The doctor said it wasn't bad, but it would take weeks, maybe even a month, before it was fully healed.
I sighed as I turned to look for Max.
Of course, we had PE. Well, the others had. I was just sitting alone on a bench at the corner of the gym. I watched Max, who looked good in his red shorts and a loose, gray tank top. He had his long hair in a bun, and he laughed cheerily after tossing the ball through the hoop. I wasn't complaining about not being able to participate in the game since they were playing basketball. I sucked at it, just like I sucked at every other game there was, but basketball was the worst. I couldn't get the ball through the hoop even if I used ladders.
But Max was amazing at it. He was amazing at everything. There was a group of girls on the other side of the gym, peering at Max in every turn. One of them got hit by a volleyball when she was too busy drooling over him. I sighed and turned to look at Max again. I was such a disappointment compared to everyone else. I'd finally had the chance to be alone with him, but I stupidly injured my leg just before our first camping trip.
I let out an even longer sigh. Maybe we should ask our biology teacher if it was all right for us to change our subject after all. Maybe we could follow the hedgehogs in my backyard. Or maybe Max should just find a new partner. I'd only drag him down with me if he continued being my partner.
When the class was dismissed, I followed others into the locker room. I grabbed my bag while Max and Troy were changing clothes and tried to sneak out before they noticed me. But of course, I didn't have such luck because I forgot to focus on where I was going – again.
I turned to see if Max would notice me leave, but he'd stepped behind lockers. Only a mere second later, I walked straight into someone who was trying to get into the room.
"Watch where you're going, dimwit!" that someone hissed at me.
I froze in fear when I realized it was Luke, the biggest of them all. I tried to mutter my apologies, but he was too pissed to listen. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, lifted me up from the ground, and pushed me hard against the lockers. I didn't understand that I'd hit my head on the door. It was happening so fast.
And my bad luck didn't end there. I was alone with him behind the last row of lockers, where no one could see us. No one seemed to even hear us. If they did, they stayed out of it. I was scared of Luke, and I was sure he'd hit me. He clearly hated my guts, but I couldn't understand why.
"I'm s-sorry," I whispered.
"Hit me with those fucking sticks one more time, and I swear, there will be nothing left of you for the coroners to identify," Luke growled, and to my surprise, he let go of me.
When my legs hit the floor, I lost my balance and fell. Luke was already marching away from me as I took the first shaky breath, and I didn't even have time to get up when I heard footsteps already approaching me.
"Sky?" Max called for me, and he stepped around the corner just when I got back on my feet. "Why are you hiding here?" he asked.
"Oh, I uh... There... there was a spider," I said with a shrug, trying to act like nothing had just happened, even though I was still full of fear.
"Oh Lord..." Max muttered and retreated towards the door.
I tried to smile at his reaction, but I was still shivering. My ankle was hurting more from the impact, and I couldn't really understand what had even happened.
"What's wrong?" Max asked, walking to me. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"No, no, I'm fine," I said, faking a smile.
"Are you sure? You don't seem fine," Max spoke with a worried frown.
"Let's just go," I said, taking a firm grip on my crutches.
"Sky?" Max's voice was even more worried when he continued, "You know you can talk to me about anything."
"I'm serious, nothing's wrong," I said, trying to move faster.
"Why would something be wrong?" I heard Troy's voice right behind me.
"I said I'm fine!" I sighed in frustration.
I didn't want to tell them about Luke. I was afraid he'd only get more pissed at me. Besides, he was Max's friend. If Luke denied scaring me, Max would believe him. He'd think I was lying to him. On the other hand, if he believed me, things could get bad between them, and I didn't want Max to be mad at any of his friends because of me. I didn't even know the reason why Luke did what he did.
"Sky?"
"I am fine," I said. "My ankle is just hurting," I continued, hoping they'd leave me alone, but apparently that wasn't going to happen.
"You should sit down," Max said. "Do you have any painkillers? Maybe we should take you to see the nurse?"
"Max, for crying out loud," Troy sighed. "Would you just please take a breath and calm down?"
"But he said–"
"I heard him. Sky, do you need to sit down?" Troy asked.
"I'm fine, like I told you already," I muttered.
"See? He'll tell us if he needs something, right Sky?" Troy asked me.
"Yes," I said gratefully.
"But–" Max tried one more time and earned a slap to the back of his head from Troy.
"You are killing me..." Troy muttered in annoyance.
I let out a light chuckle and looked at Max, who was rubbing the back of his head with an angry expression on his face. Troy seemed pretty pleased with himself and ignored Max completely.
"Should we stay inside or outside?" Troy asked.
"Inside," Max said. "It looks like it's going to rain soon."
I looked out of the windows. Max was right. The sky looked gloomy, and the wind was getting strong again. The yard was still covered with broken pieces of fences and other trash from yesterday. The tornado had luckily avoided the city, but the storm had done pretty heavy damage to the buildings and forests.
I followed Max and Troy to our next class. The hallways were crowded and noisy, and my head started hurting too. Luke had lunged me hard against the lockers, and now I could feel it in my entire body.
When we stopped next to the right classroom, I let out a long sigh and leaned against the wall. Max looked worried, but this time it was Troy who spoke first.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine," I sighed once again. "Stop asking me that."
I saw Luke behind Max and Troy. He glared at me for a moment before he turned to talk to his friend.
"You don't look too good," Troy said. "Is your leg hurting that bad?"
"I told you we should take him to see the nurse," Max said. "Sky? Are you with us?"
"I – am – just – fine," I articulated loud and clear. "Stop asking already."
Luke glanced at me again. There was something weird in his eyes when his gaze met mine, but I turned to look away before he'd get mad at me again. There was something really ominous about the way he kept looking at me.
"I think you should get a new partner for the biology project," I told Max to get something else to think about. "Maybe he'll let you do it with Troy and his partner."
"No. You're my partner," Max said. "I don't want anyone else."
I blushed at his words and looked down to hide it. I could only wonder if he knew how much those words meant to me.
"Then we need to come up with another subject," I continued. "I can't go looking for the owls like this."
"We will find a way," Max said reassuringly.
"Max, you know there's no way I can walk to the barn, and you can't carry me there. We need another subject," I spoke quietly.
Max looked sad, but I guess he was too stubborn to admit I was right.
"We could also ask if we can change the subject," I suggested, since his sadness started eating me up pretty fast.
"I don't want to change the subject," Max murmured. "I have my hiking boots and all."
"I'm sorry you wasted your money," I said, now feeling even worse.
"We could ask if we can have more time with the project," Max suggested. "I'm sure he will understand."
I gave him a smile. "Yeah, we can try that," I said, mostly because I really didn't want to see him so down.
The conversation ended when two of our classmates started talking to Troy. Max didn't seem to be listening at first, but soon he forgot my presence and joined in on their conversation. I let my eyes wander in the crowded hallway, and I noticed Luke staring at me again.
I sighed and looked down at the ground without looking up even once until the bell finally rang. Our teacher came to open the door, and I waited while the rest of the students walked in first – I didn't want to get tackled or hit anyone else with my crutches.
Max and Troy were already inside, walking to their desks, when I started following them. I had that horrible feeling of loneliness rising inside me, just like I had the day before. This time, I tried my best to ignore it, and I took the first step towards the door. I had my injured ankle as a reminder of what could happen if I ran away again.
But when I was about to step in, someone grabbed me by my shoulder and yanked me back.
"You didn't tell Max."
I shivered when I turned to look at Luke, who was holding me tightly by my hoodie.
"N-No," I whispered.
He squinted his eyes at me, but surprised me again by letting go of me. Then he just left. I watched in confusion as he walked to the classroom next to ours without saying another word to me.
"Mr. Jenkins? Are you planning on joining us anytime soon?" our teacher asked, waking me up from my shock.
"Yes..." I muttered and hurried in.
I took my seat at the front of the classroom and put my crutches away, still thinking about Luke. Why did I have a feeling that Luke had been surprised I hadn't told Max about what happened in the locker rooms?
"What did Luke want?" Max asked in a whisper, but I shook my head when our teacher gave us the stink eye.
"May I have your attention please," he said, and I hurried to nod. "Thank you," he said and started the class.
I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying during the whole class. My head was still aching from the hit, and it was hard for me to concentrate. The white pages of my textbook were too bright to look at, and I wondered if I should've visited the nurse after all. Thankfully, by the time the class was dismissed, I was feeling better. There was still dull pain around the area where my head had crashed into the locker, but at least the headache was easing up.
When I stood up, Max hurried to pick up my crutches and the bag from the floor.
"I'm starving," I told him, before he could start asking if I was sure I was all right. "I even remembered to take my lunch today," I continued.
"That's good," Max said with a smile. "Are you–"
"Do not end that sentence," I told him sternly, and started making my way to the door.
"Is that the same shy kid who was too afraid to talk to you a week ago?" I heard Troy chuckling behind my back.
"I told you he's a fun person to hang out with," Max answered him.
"Yes, you did, buddy," Troy said. "Yes, you did."
I rolled my eyes and continued walking. Max and Troy caught up with me, and together we headed to the lunch hall.
"What did Luke want?" Max asked again, and I knew the only way I could get him off my back was to give him at least some kind of answer.
"I almost tripped him, and he got annoyed with me, that's all," I said – pretty much truthfully.
"He has no right to get annoyed with you," Max said almost angrily. "I don't understand what his problem is."
"It's fine," I muttered. "Let's just forget it."
I really didn't want to even think about Luke, but nothing was going my way today. When we stepped into the lunch hall, Max stopped to a halt for a moment, then turned to speak to me.
"Come. I want to introduce you to the others," he said, nodding towards one of the tables.
There were a bunch of his teammates sitting around it, including Luke.
"It's fine – really," I tried to say, but he ignored me.
"It'll be fine. They need to see how awesome you are. If they don't, then honestly, I don't think I want to be friends with them anymore."
What could I do? I didn't want him to break his friendships because of me.
"O-Okay," I muttered, and followed him reluctantly, hoping I wouldn't be getting into any more trouble with Luke.
-Max-
My friends were looking at me in curiosity when I stopped in front of them in the lunch hall.
"Guys – this is Sky," I said, needlessly pointing at him.
They muttered hello and returned to their conversations. Troy peered at me with a questioning look on his face, while Luke was clearly angry at me for inviting Sky. What on earth was his problem? I'd seen him grabbing Sky just before the class, and I really didn't like that.
"Sit down," I told Sky, pointing at an empty seat on my left.
Sky hurried to take the seat as I sat right next to him, hoping he wasn't feeling bad about the situation. My friends weren't going to say anything negative about him, but they weren't too happy about him sitting with us, either. I didn't care because they needed to stop being jerks to Sky right now.
Their reluctance to have Sky around probably had something to do with Luke, though. It never was a good thing to piss him off. Everyone knew he didn't like Sky, but they also knew I liked him. It was like a battle between the two of us, but I had a plan.
It was true that Luke didn't speak much about what was going on at home, but I knew one thing about his life outside the school. Something he really loved to talk about.
"Hey Luke – why don't you tell Sky about your puppy," I said innocently. "Sky loves dogs."
"You have a puppy? What's his name?" Sky turned to look at Luke.
Luke glared at me angrily for a second, like he was trying to determine if I was mocking him or something, but then he turned his attention to Sky. Sky, on the other hand, looked suddenly timid when Luke stared at him.
"Her name is Bella," he said in an annoyed tone.
I was sure he thought he could scare Sky away with his hostile appearance. It was obvious he didn't like talking with Sky, and everyone else was looking at me like I had gone crazy. They didn't believe it was a wise move from me to make Luke talk with Sky.
"She has a pretty name," Sky said quietly, and hesitated for a moment before he continued, "How old is she?"
Luke squinted his eyes in irritation and glared at me when he said, "She's seven months old."
Oh, Luke hated my guts, but I knew something my friends didn't: Sky was really awesome to talk to, and I was sure Luke would warm up to him. Eventually. He normally wasn't a douchebag, but for some reason, he felt threatened by Sky. And he really didn't need to be.
"Do you have a picture of her?" Sky asked with a tiny voice, like he was scared to talk to him, but too intrigued to pass on the opportunity to talk about dogs.
Luke's expression trembled a little. He had tons of pictures of Bella on his phone. I knew he was dying to show them all to Sky, but he had his reputation to protect. He knew I had mentioned Bella on purpose. He knew everyone else knew that, too. They were all watching him closely, eager to see what he would do next.
"Come on, Luke – show him that video you have of her. The one with the beach ball. That was hilarious," Troy said to him, and then turned to talk to Sky. "She really is a cute little puppy."
I wanted to hug Troy at that moment. He always seemed to know exactly when to step in and what to say to break the ice.
"Can I see it?" Sky asked, looking like he was too excited to even sit still in his seat now. His fear of Luke seemed to be already gone.
Luke stared at him for a few seconds before he hesitantly took his phone from his pocket and searched the video. Then he gave his phone to Sky, who had a big smile on his face while he watched the screen.
"She's a Boxer!" Sky breathed out in awe. "She's really pretty too. I love that color."
Luke seemed to have forgotten he wasn't supposed to be friendly to Sky. "Yeah, the color is called brindle, or more commonly–"
"–tiger stripes!" Sky finished his sentence with a cheerful nod. "She really is a pretty dog. You are really lucky," he continued, giving back the phone.
Luke looked at it shortly before putting it away, turning to look back at Sky. But then he remembered he disliked the guy. He turned away from him, and the annoyed look returned on his face.
Sky looked at me timidly, like asking if he had said something wrong. I shook my head with a smile and patted his arm encouragingly. I knew Luke had started warming up to him, even if he was too stubborn to admit it yet.
We ate in silence for a moment. The atmosphere was tense around the table, and my friends kept peeking at Sky and Luke like they expected something to happen. I changed looks with Troy, but he just shrugged, like saying I shouldn't worry about anything.
"I'm sorry," Luke suddenly muttered, and looked at Sky for a brief second. "About... You know..."
Sky smiled at him. "It's all right. No hard feelings."
Luke tried to smile, too, but it looked more like a forced, ugly grin. Luke wasn't the kind of person to ask forgiveness, so I knew he was being genuine. I assumed he was apologizing for grabbing him before the classes.
"Does she know any tricks yet?" Sky asked, leaning closer to Luke.
"Yeah," Luke said with a natural smile, "she does."
"Here we go again..." Troy chuckled when Luke and Sky started talking about Bella.
I patted Sky on his back before I started eating my lunch. He sure knew how to charm everyone. Even the grumpy Luke found a reason to like him.
And I was falling for Sky harder than ever.