-Sky-

I was in our backyard, holding my phone in front of me. It was Tuesday morning, and I had the feeling I was supposed to be somewhere, but I was too busy trying to take a picture of a baby hedgehog that had strolled right in front of me. He was carefully coming closer, and I held my breath in excitement, but then...

"Skyler! What are you doing?!" My mom's voice interrupted me.

The baby hedgehog scurried off to his mom, and I sighed.

"I was trying to take a picture," I muttered, getting up on my feet and hoping I had managed to get at least one good shot.

I took a step back and nearly tripped on a bag. Why was it there?

"Crap!"

I was supposed to be on the school bus already!

"Are you kidding me?!" Mom yelled. "I told you to go straight to the bus stop! You're going to be late!"

"Sorry, Mom!" I grabbed the bag, ready to run all the way to school if I had to.

"Come on! I'll take you!" she yelled at me with a frown. "You'll just end up getting distracted again..."

I gave her an apologetic grin as I ran to her on the porch. She hurried to get her keys and a jacket.

"You're lucky that I'm sick and not at work! But if I vomit in the car, you clean it up!" she joked – at least I hoped she was joking.

I followed her to the car and hopped in while she sat down behind the wheel. She did look a little pale after a sleepless night.

"I'm sorry, I really am," I told her, feeling bad for making her give me a ride when she wasn't well.

"Don't worry, I'm feeling better already," she said. "But you've got to start paying attention. We've been living here for a month and you've already had detention! Twice!"

I nodded in misery. My teachers thought I was skipping classes on purpose, but the real reason was that I got easily distracted. I liked school and wanted to study, but it was hard for me. I just forgot where I was and what I was supposed to be doing if I found something interesting.

And to make things worse, I was still new to this place. It had been hard to start in a new school as the new kid. I was shy, so it was hard for me to make new friends. I was kind of a geek too, so I wasn't exactly the most wanted friend either. I missed my old high school. I had friends there, people I had known all my life, but now they were at the opposite end of the country.

All because Dad got a promotion... I was happy for him, of course, and proud, but...

I sighed and looked down at my lap. This new school was different. It was filled with popular kids who only seemed to care about fashion and trends and celebrities. I was the only goofy kid who crawled in mud or climbed trees. I liked nature, but I guess that made me a weirdo because all the kids here only saw their smartphones. Why did they even need so many selfies?

I didn't even have a smartphone anymore since I lost it a few weeks ago. I always lost things. I had my brother's old phone now, but I'd lose it soon enough – it was inevitable.

"Here we are!" Mom said, looking at her watch after stopping the car. "Just in time too."

"Thanks, Mom. I try to be better," I told her and got out of the car. "Bye!"

"Don't forget your bag!" Mom shouted when I was about to slam the door shut.

I frowned at myself and grabbed the bag from the floor. "Sorry..."

Mom sighed, shaking her head with an amused look in her eyes. "Try to get through the day without losing anything, okay? And don't forget to go to your classes!"

"Yeah, I'll try..." I muttered.

We both knew that wasn't going to happen.

I took a deep breath and started walking towards the entrance. It was a warm day even though it was fall already. It never seemed to get too cold around here. The other students were wearing their fashionable summer clothes while I stood out in my saggy blue jeans and an old, yellow T-shirt. I had a brownish-red hoodie wrapped around my waist and a green backpack with a picture of a turtle on it hanging on my shoulder. I definitely didn't fit in.

I saw people snickering at my looks. They eyed me out and turned to whisper something to their friends, but I was pretty used to it by now. I just didn't care about looks. I did my best to ignore them as I walked through the crowded yard, reaching the entrance just when the bell rang.

It was a long day for me. I tried to concentrate on my studies, but I was still sad. Ever since we moved, I'd been feeling a bit down, but now it was growing worse. I tried to stay focused, but during lunch break, I found myself wandering around the schoolyard, picking up trash and not eating like I was supposed to.

People were pointing at me, laughing. Everyone always seemed to laugh at me. I just wanted to keep our world clean, even if the best I could do at the moment was to keep the schoolyard clean.

But even that wasn't easy today. There was a group of jocks in front of me, and they were giggling at me, too. And they were flocking the only trashcan on this side of the yard.

One of them was eating a candy bar, and as soon as my eyes met his, he dropped the wrapping on the ground, keeping his eyes on mine. He did that on purpose. The trash can was literally one foot away from him! I stopped to a halt, feeling miserable. I noticed a few of his friends following his example, dropping their wrappers on the ground as well.

I had picked up a lot of trash already, and I needed to get to that can. The jocks were big and looked mean, and I was almost too scared to walk through them. But did I have a choice? If I wanted to keep at least some of my dignity, I had to walk past them. So, I took a few hesitant steps towards them. There was a big possibility that I'd get tripped, but I kept going. It was almost like the whole school had stopped to watch me...

I was only a few feet away from the trashcan when I dropped a paper cup. I heard the light snickering around me when I tried to grab it again, but ended up dropping more trash. The snickering turned into laughter. I blushed in embarrassment but tried to stay calm as I hurried to pick up everything I'd dropped.

"Don't just stand there. Give him a hand, will you?" someone with a soft voice spoke right behind me, and the laughing stopped. "Here – let me help..."

I looked up and saw him. The king of the school. The guy everyone wanted to be friends with. The one everyone from students to teachers adored.

Max Peterson.

He was tall and toned. He was great at school and even greater at sports. He was the handsome one out of all the handsome people in existence. He had kind blue eyes and a warm smile, and I always felt breathless when I saw him. I knew every girl in the school wanted to date him, and a lot of guys were willing to turn gay for him.

I could only stare as he kneeled down next to me and collected the trash. When I snapped out of it, I spotted the big jock picking up the wrapping he'd dropped and hurried to put it in the trashcan before Max would notice. Even his friends looked around like they wanted to help.

"I think that was all of it," Max said, giving me a warm smile. "It's great you want to help keeping the yard clean. It looks so much nicer now, doesn't it, guys?"

The jock nodded rapidly in agreement. Even those who had littered just to annoy me.

"Well – I'll see you around," Max spoke to me, and got up.

There was no way he didn't know his friends had tried to pick on me. He waved at me before walking towards the entrance. His buddies followed him like they were his personal lackeys. It was quite funny to watch, really. He was a sophomore, just like me, but even the seniors tried to suck up to him.

I watched him until he stepped inside the school, vanishing from my view. I snapped awake from my trance and noticed the trash I was still holding. I hurried to put them into the trash can. I was still thinking about him when I started walking towards the empty tables close by. He was the first one to treat me with kindness...

Then I realized I hadn't said a word to him, and I nearly died of embarrassment. He and I had the same classes, but this was the first time he talked to me, and I didn't even thank him! Max Peterson was nice to me, and I did not even thank him!

I was such a loser...

I sat down at the table and took my lunch out of my bag. I nibbled the food without even noticing what I was eating. I could only think about him. I almost wished I was gay, but then again, he would never, ever consider going out with me, even if he was gay, which he was not.

I shook my head and almost laughed at myself. What was I thinking? One kind word, and I already had weird stuff going in my head. I had never been in a relationship with anyone before, and to be honest, while everyone else seemed to have their boyfriends and girlfriends, I had never thought about dating.

It just wasn't for me. I didn't need anyone, and besides, who would go out with a geek like me?

*****

I had math after lunch. I'd never been good at math. I actually sucked at math, but at least I tried. It was hard to concentrate, but this time it was because he was sitting right in front of me.

Max had his head bowed down while he was taking notes. He had long, brown hair, and he let them hang loose around his broad shoulders almost all the time. He tied them up only when he was on the football field. I should know since I'd been watching him way too often. His voice was soft and kind. I had never heard him cussing, and he was never mean to anyone. He was funny and smart and yes, I was slowly turning gay while thinking about him.

I tried to concentrate on my schoolwork, but I stole glimpses of his strong back every now and then. I was wondering if I should ask him to help me, and I had almost gathered enough courage to tap his shoulder, but then the bell rang. It was the very first time I was disappointed about the class being dismissed.

I sighed and collected my stuff. I pressed the books against my chest when headed to the door, but then I realized I left my backpack behind. When I returned to get it with a faint blush on my face, I brushed past Max. For a split second, I felt the warmth of his skin against my arm, and his sweet scent filled my senses.

He didn't turn to look at me. I knew that because I turned to look back at him. He hadn't even noticed that I had almost run straight into him. I was about to go after him, but fortunately, I remembered my bag again. I cussed at myself and hurried to get it before running out of the classroom.

I saw Max walking further down the corridor with his friends, chatting about some game. I followed them a few steps behind, listening to every word he said. I liked his voice. I liked it a lot. I tried not to look too suspicious while following him, but I suppose no one would find it odd since we had the same class next. I just really liked his voice...

Once we were at the next classroom, he leaned against the wall next to the door. I tried my hardest not to look at him. Instead, I stared at my run-down shoes. Maybe I should pay more attention to what I was wearing. Maybe if I didn't look like such a dork, he would notice me. Mom had been threatening to take me shopping for months, so I was sure she would gladly get me something more fashionable than my saggy jeans.

I was well aware of my thoughts. It wasn't odd for me to think like that about other guys. I had a few gay friends in my old school, and my aunt was a lesbian, so I'd learned to focus more on personalities rather than genders. I liked Max's personality. It was sad to think most of the people around me believed in strict rules about who they could date, and I feared Max was one of them. I was afraid that he would find gays disgusting.

When the bell rang, our teacher, Mr. Jones, came to open the door for us, but he didn't let us in just yet.

Instead, he spoke, "Today we'll start with the projects I talked about last week. When I let you guys in, go find your own seat – I have taped your names on them. The person who sits next to you will be your partner. Don't switch the names because I already know who is sitting with who."

When he was done talking, he moved away from the door so we could step in.

I heard groans all around me when my classmates were finding their places. It was quite chaotic for a few moments when we all tried to find our own seats. I managed to find my seat after most of the other students had already found theirs. The seat next to mine was still empty, but I didn't have time to read the name before my partner-to-be already sat down.

I didn't have to see his face to know who it was.

"Hey, it's you," he spoke with his soft voice, and I slowly turned to look at him.

Max gave me a small, encouraging smile and nodded as a hello. I nodded back at him, unable to find any words to speak. I must have been dreaming! He was my partner?!

"All right! Settle down everybody!" Mr. Jones shouted, and once everyone had stopped talking and complaining about their partners, he continued, "So, like I told you last week, this project is about the environment. Our environment. Pick a subject you study for the next two months with your partner. It can be birds, animals, insects, plants, fish... Anything, as long as the subject is here in our area. Your task is to find out everything there is to know about your subject. This project affects your grades, so be thorough with it."

After that, some of the students tried to beg him to let them change their partners, but he didn't budge. Someone was trying to be funny and asked if his little brother counted as an insect, and people snickered while Mr. Jones rolled his eyes.

He took some time to pass out the forms and guides while telling us more about what we were expected to do with the project. I was thrilled while listening to his speech. This was the best possible project for me! I couldn't wait to get started with it!

But then, I remembered who I was supposed to do the project with.

I carefully peered at Max. He had a disbelieving look in his blue eyes while he flipped through the pages. When he looked up, he saw me staring at him, and turned his attention to me.

"I don't think I know your name," he said, and the smile returned.

I could only stare at his eyes. I'd been wrong about the color of them.

"I'm Max," he said, and offered his hand for me to shake.

His left eye was blue like the midnight sky, but his right eye was brown like a warm, sunny day. I took his hand hesitantly, finding my voice again, and I spoke,

"I'm Sky."