-Max-
After the last class of the day ended, Sky and I hurried to see Mr. Jones, our biology teacher. Sky told me to go ahead several times, but I refused to leave him behind, even if that meant we'd be too late. But we were in luck – when we arrived at his classroom, he was still there, collecting his papers.
"Hey guys," he greeted us cheerfully, glancing at Sky and his crutches. "What happened to you?"
"I fell and sprained my ankle," Sky explained, looking embarrassed. "Which is why we're here."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Our project," I spoke as we stepped in. "We chose owls as our subject, but Sky can't get to the barn where they live."
Mr. Jones stared at us for a second or two, then he seemed to realize our problem. "Ohhh, right... Hiking with crutches is a bit of a pain," he agreed. "Let me guess, you want to change your subject? It's completely fine since we haven't even started yet."
"Actually, we were hoping you could give us more time with it," I spoke, before Sky could take the offer – I knew he'd be willing to change it even though we already talked about it.
"More time..." Mr. Jones muttered, looking at Sky again. "Well, I can give you guys a week, but after that the project has to be handed in or I can't grade it. How long do you think it'll take before your leg is healed?"
"About a month," Sky said quietly, and Mr. Jones grimaced apologetically.
"A week is all I can do, really," he said. "Injuries are really unfortunate, which is why I suggest you choose something different – something you can easily get to. I mean, it wouldn't be fair to others if I let you guys get off the hook. Everyone is required to visit the subject once a week, eight times in total. There's the forest just across the street. You could go check it out and pick something easier – like that old spruce that's just a few feet away from the sidewalk. No one has picked it yet."
My mood kept on dropping while I listened to him speak. A spruce...? I turned my attention to Sky, who looked back at me with a small frown. He seemed just as disappointed as I felt.
"I'll tell you what," Mr. Jones said when neither of us replied. "I'll give you time to think it over until next week. You don't have to start with the project until then, okay?"
"Okay..." I muttered, and Sky nodded.
"Who knows, maybe your leg is much better by then?" Mr. Jones said, clearly seeing how miserable we were. "I have to admit, I was really excited to see your project – no one in my entire career has had owls before. Is there no way to get to them without walking?"
"Not really – the closest we can get is about a mile," I said.
"That's really unfortunate. A mile huh..." Mr. Jones said, and rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression.
"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.
"I just can't see how we'll get there..." he said quietly.
"Well – let's not think about that today," Troy suggested with a smile. "It's time for Detroit!"
"Detroit...?" Sky asked with a frown, but almost immediately remembered the video game. "Oh! Yes!"
I wanted to hug Troy. He was so great with people. I was a little jealous too, since he just always knew what to say to bring up the mood while I usually just made things worse – if I knew what to say at all.
I spent the entire ride home watching Sky in secret. He was just the cutest and sweetest... He definitely didn't deserve the crap some people were throwing at him. He had done nothing wrong! He was nice to everyone and just wanted to make friends. Why on earth did some people think it was all right to treat him badly?
It frustrated me. Sky did not deserve to be treated like that.
While we were on the bus, he wasn't acting completely himself. Luke was sitting further away from us and didn't talk to us at all, but Sky glanced at him a few times. He was more silent than usual and clearly tried his best to not get overly excited over anything. That pissed me off – seeing him excited was one of the best things about him. I feared that if people continued making him feel bad, he'd eventually lose all those adorable traits that made him the person he was. He was already trying to act like someone he wasn't, and I couldn't stand that.
I swore to myself that if people kept treating Sky like that, I'd make sure he didn't have to hang out with them ever again.
Once we got off the bus and started making our way to my house, Sky got excited again, and he wasn't trying to hide it. Listening to him talk about the game with sparkling eyes brought a smile to my face. Why would anyone find that annoying was beyond me.
A few moments later, we were settling down in our living room. Mom was already home, so she was making a huge fuss over having my friends over, asking if we wanted snacks or drinks or anything else, telling us several times she'd stay out of our hair while clearly not doing so, to our amusement. But eventually, she did leave us alone, and we fired up the game.
Sky got the honor to be the first to handle the controller, so he made himself comfortable on the beanbag and started playing. It was just as fun as the first time, and before we knew it, an hour had passed without us even noticing it.
"How about a small break? I need water," I told them – my voice was already hoarse from all the laughing and cheering.
They agreed, and I helped Sky up from the beanbag so he could give his spot to Troy, who was getting the controller next.
Since I had the habit of watching Sky, I noticed him turning quieter as we ate our snacks on the couch. His expression wasn't as glimmering as usual.
"What's up?" I asked him.
"Hmm?"
"What's on your mind?" I asked again.
"Oh, nothing..."
"Doesn't sound like nothing," Troy said, taking a better look at him. "You know you can talk to us about anything, right?"
"It really is nothing..." Sky mumbled, eating his chocolate bar halfheartedly.
"Is it the project?" I asked quietly.
"No, it's..." he trailed off, and we let him take his time. "Your friends don't seem to like me very much," he finally said, and his words felt like an icy knife in my heart.
"Of course they do!" both Troy and I said in unison.
He raised his eyebrow at us. "Yeah, clearly."
"It's just Luke who's being a dick," I said. "I don't know what his problem is, but you don't need to worry about him. He's just... He's a grouch."
He chuckled at my words, so at least he wasn't too bummed about it.
"He'll warm up to you. He's just... not that good at being social, so it may take some time," Troy said, and I laughed at his words.
"Not that good," I muttered, shaking my head.
"To be fair, people like to get on his nerves," Troy said, giving me the stink eye. "He's not all that bad if you don't act like a fool. He's always watching out for his friends. You've seen him defending our teammates."
"But that doesn't really give him the right or reason to act like a jerk towards Sky," I noted. "Sky has done nothing wrong."
Troy was silent for a moment, and then shrugged. "Like I said, he's just not that great at being social. He was really trying today so I think we should give him time."
"He has a really pretty dog," Sky said with a smile – of course the dog was on his mind.
"He's also been the captain of the football team for two years, and I can tell you, it's not easy to work with a bunch of buffoons like us," Troy snickered. "He needs to be tough. I think that's part of the reason why he comes off as rude sometimes."
"Yeah, I get it," Sky said. I was glad to see his mood coming back up. "I didn't know he's the captain," he added.
"How did you not know that?" Troy chuckled.
"I only know he's the quarterback," Sky explained, and added with an embarrassed smile, "I still don't understand the game."
"And it's perfectly fine if you don't," I said reassuringly. "This is the last year for Luke, though."
"Really?"
"He's a senior already," Troy said. "Everyone thinks Max should take his place after he leaves high school."
"Oh, really?" Sky asked, looking at me with wide eyes.
"Yeah..." I mumbled, cursing Troy for bringing it up since I hated that topic. "I don't think I want the honor, to be honest."
"Why not?"
"I don't feel like it. I just want to enjoy the game, you know? And like Troy said, I don't want to work with buffoons," I said.
"It's really not easy to be the captain," Troy said with a smirk. At least he didn't start acting weird, like he usually did when this conversation was brought up.
I mean, he knew I didn't want the job. I had said that plenty of times, but I still wondered if he was jealous because I was being considered. He was just as good as I was, maybe even better, but since I was more popular than him, people seemed to think it should be me who inherited the throne.
"I think Troy should be the captain," I said. "He's the fastest on our team."
"Thanks, but I don't want to work with buffoons either," he said.
With the atmosphere up again, we continued playing the game. Troy had the controller while Sky and I helped him choose the actions, though I wasn't paying nearly enough attention than I should have.
I was still watching Sky whenever he wasn't looking.
And it got me thinking... Being the popular kid at school had its perks, true, but most of the time I hated it. I didn't like the spotlight. I always felt like all eyes were on me, and it was suffocating. I just wanted to enjoy my time in school, just like I wanted to enjoy football. And now that popularity was making me really self-conscious over my sexuality.
If I were just a nobody, someone no one paid any attention to, maybe I'd have the guts to tell Sky how I felt about him. If he were a girl, it would be so much easier to just tell him I liked him. Even if I got turned down by a girl, it was just normal. No one would bat an eye.
I had always thought that I didn't care what people thought of me. Even now I kept telling myself I didn't care. Troy was the only person whose opinion mattered to me, and he already knew about it.
So why couldn't I just tell Sky how I felt?
I stole a glimpse of him and immediately knew why I couldn't say anything. I was just a coward. That's why. I hated it, but if I was being completely honest... I did care what people thought about me. Maybe I didn't care what people thought of my appearance or how I lived my life, but this was different.
Being turned down was one thing, but what if Sky was homophobic? What if the entire school was like that, too? My teammates? Teachers? My parents? What if Sky told everyone that I wasn't straight? I had worked hard for my future. All the plans, all my dreams... I could lose it all in a heartbeat. Just a few little words, and everyone around me could turn my life into a living hell.
I didn't have the guts to take that risk. I couldn't tell Sky that I liked him because I was a coward.
How I wished I could blame the society. I could blame them for giving me a reason to be afraid, but I had only myself to blame for giving in to that fear.
I turned to look at Sky once more, but this time he saw it. When our eyes met, he flashed a smile at me. I smiled back at him before we both turned our attention to the game.
Well, he did. I was still looking at him from the corner of my eye.
Maybe one day I'd have the guts to tell him...