-Sky-

Friday was arriving surprisingly fast, after all. The past couple of days were filled with tension, mostly between Troy and Luke. It was actually quite interesting to watch those two, how they behaved around each other. It was kind of like watching two animals interacting with each other, except Troy and Luke could speak.

On Wednesday, I didn't see Luke around, until it was time for their football practice. He showed up looking just like he had in the morning: really sick. And he was ignoring Troy and Max – even I noticed that. He treated them both like air. It didn't make any sense to me. If he liked Troy, why didn't he even try talking to him? And why was Max getting the same treatment?

What I could tell, the practice didn't go so well, mainly because Luke kept making mistakes, stumbling on his own feet and at some point, I thought I saw him limping, but when I tried to look closely, he was walking just fine. I wasn't sure what was going on, but it was obvious he wasn't well. Their coach was furious, but Luke didn't explain anything to him. He was obviously too stubborn to admit he was sick, and no one else was stupid enough to say a word.

Things seemed a little better on Thursday. Luke looked a lot better, but he wasn't hanging out with us. He wasn't ignoring us exactly, but he didn't stay to chat with us either if our paths crossed. It was safe to say his behavior was confusing Troy. He wasn't even sure if they still had a date on Friday.

I felt bad for him. I had the feeling Troy was looking forward to their date, but Luke seemed like he couldn't care less, and I was sure that if I had noticed it, so had he.

But, it turned out that I had been completely wrong.

We had a free period later that day, and Coach Perry wanted to see Troy and Max among other teammates. I decided to wait for them in the library since they were just going to talk about strategies and stuff.

To pass the time, I chose to read a book about sea life. The book was old, a lot older than me, and I hadn't read yet, but soon enough I found out it had a lot of mistakes – I wasn't surprised, because we had learned a lot of new things about nature in the past two decades, but I was disappointed our school still had it in their collection. I was among the very few in our school who knew the facts were inaccurate, but almost everyone else would use that book in their studies without knowing it had mistakes.

I stood up and pressed the book against my chest, and made my way to the librarian, who was sitting behind her desk and talking to another student. I was so deep in my thoughts, thinking about all the mistakes I wanted to point out to the librarian, so it took me around ten steps to vaguely notice that the guy was wearing the football team's jersey. I was ashamed to admit that it took me even longer in my absentmindedness to realize it was Luke.

I stopped to a halt before he could see me. It was actually weird to see Luke in a library. I assumed he needed something for school work, but it became clear to me I had no idea who that big jock in front of me really was. I had missed the beginning of their conversation, but what I heard was enough to convince me that Luke was definitely someone I wanted to know better.

"... and I can assure you I didn't expect that," Luke said, and the middle-aged librarian laughed lightly.

"I hope you liked it," she spoke with a pleasant voice.

"You know I don't read stuff like that," Luke said, but his voice was amused, not angry. "You set me up."

"You gave me no choice!" the librarian said theatrically. "You are too stubborn!"

Luke shook his head and I could have sworn he chuckled a little. "You told me it was a mystery novel, not a chick flick."

"But did you like it?" she asked, leaning towards him like expecting him to reveal a big secret.

Luke sighed, and I was certain he rolled his eyes, even though I couldn't see his face. "Yes..." he muttered.

"I told you!" the lady said triumphantly and clapped her hands together. "Gals in the book club will love this!"

Now Luke definitely laughed! It was really weird to hear him do so. And things got even more weird, when he spoke, "Oh – tell Sofia I'll return her book next week. I... I might not have time to read it this weekend."

"She will understand – you have the big game and exams coming up, so you must be busy," the lady spoke while nodding.

"Yeah... right... the exams..." Luke muttered, and at that very moment the librarian noticed me, and gave me a sweet smile.

"May I help you?" she asked, and Luke turned to see who I was.

His expression dropped immediately. He looked almost angry just before he turned to grab his stuff from the counter.

"I'll come by next week," Luke told the librarian before he stepped away to give me room.

The lady nodded to him and turned her attention back to me. "Is there something you need, dear?"

"I – uh – I..." I muttered, keeping my eyes on Luke, who vanished behind one of the huge bookshelves. "No – I'm fine," I turned to tell her.

She didn't seem like she believed me, but I ignored her questioning expression. Instead, I followed Luke. I wasn't quite sure why I did that – maybe I was worried, or maybe I wanted to tell Luke he was being weird, and it was making Troy nervous. Whatever the reason was, I followed him, and found him browsing through some old novels at the back of the library.

"Luke?"

"Shrimp," he grunted without looking at me.

I stopped a few feet away from him. I had no idea what I should say, but since he clearly wasn't going to start the conversation, I just blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

"So, you read books."

Luke gave me a disbelieving look before he shook his head in irritation and turned his back on me to continue skimming through the books.

"I – I read too," I spoke hesitantly. "But not these books, obviously..."

"What's wrong with the books I read?" he asked angrily and turned to look at me with a hostile gleam in his eyes.

"Nothing! N-Nothing – I swear," I squeaked. "I just... These are too scary..." I said and blushed while pointing at the mystery novels. "... for me..."

Luke's expression changed, and he looked like he was trying to decide if I was being serious or not. I guess – thankfully – he believed me.

"What do you want, Shrimp?" he asked with a sigh.

I shrugged a little, trying to find the courage to speak up my mind. "It's Troy..."

"Come again?" he asked and this time he looked furious when he glared at me.

"No!" I gasped. "I didn't mean I want him! That's totally not what I meant!" I tried to explain, and he took one threatening step towards me. "I swear!"

"Then what the hell do you want from me?" he growled.

"Troy is sad!" I managed to force the words out of my mouth, and his attitude changed completely.

"What?" he asked, and even his harsh voice had turned soft.

"Y-Yeah..." I whispered while recollecting myself. "He thinks you are avoiding him."

Luke stared at me for a long moment before his posture dropped and he turned to grab a random book from the shelf. "He's not wrong."

"What?" I asked in disbelief and stepped closer to him. "You are... avoiding him?" I repeated, but he didn't say anything – he just looked miserable. "Why?" I asked quietly.

He really was bad at sharing what he had in his mind. He peered at me from the corner of his eye, and I was sure he wouldn't say anything to me, but then he opened his mouth.

"I can't screw it up if I'm not near him," he spoke, and there was no strength in his voice. "Right?"

"Well – to be honest – I think you are doing more harm now," I said. "He's confused about everything as it is, and now you're not even talking to him."

"Oh..." Luke uttered.

"Are you... afraid... that he might change his mind?" I asked carefully.

"I'm surprised he already hasn't," he mumbled.

I took a deep, silent breath when he wasn't looking. That guy was clearly as insecure as I was. I had no idea that a guy like him – a popular quarterback – could be so insecure. But then again, he was just another seventeen-year-old guy with a crush on someone who he thought he could never have.

"It's actually pretty horrifying, isn't it?" I asked quietly and leaned against a pillar. "Look at me, and then look at Max. I was pretty sure he wouldn't even talk to me."

I waited in case Luke wanted to speak, but when he didn't, I continued, "I'm still afraid this is just a fantastic dream, and I'll wake up, and he doesn't know who I am, and I find myself all alone in this place once again."

Luke scoffed, and I turned to look at him. He took another book and stared at the cover, but his eyes weren't fixated on it. I was sure he was seeing something I could never see.

"Troy and... I... It's different," he finally spoke, but he didn't care to explain why, so I asked. I had to wait for a long time before he decided it was safe to speak to me about it. "I'm not like you. I'm not... Why would anyone want to date me? Because this is who I am, this is all I can give. I can see why Max likes you, but I'm different. I'm not lovable. Hell, I'm not even likable."

"That's what you want us to think," I said carelessly, and earned an angry glare from him. "Don't give me the stink-eye! I'm sorry, but I'm not buying that, not after I heard you talking about chick-flick books with the lady at the desk."

Luke's expression turned even angrier, but I held my ground. I refused to show him I was still afraid of him. I knew he had a good heart. Something or someone had made him act all angry and intimidating, but it was time that someone showed him there was no point in acting like that anymore.

"I've seen enough neglected animals who lash out at anything that moves in order to protect themselves, but with love and good care they have opened up and learned to trust and love again," I told him.

"What does that have to do with me?" he grunted.

"It's up to you to decide if it does," I said with an encouraging smile. "If you want my advice, I think you should go talk to Troy. Let him know that you still want to go out with him, or he will lose his mind trying to think if he did something wrong."

After that, I waved him goodbye and walked to the table where I had left my bag. I was surprised to hear Luke following me, so I turned around to hear what he wanted to say, since he obviously had something still in his mind or he wouldn't have followed me.

He stopped in front of me, but he wasn't looking me in the eyes. He was hesitant to speak, but I waited patiently. I kept waiting while he opened his mouth a few times, only to close it again, like he wasn't sure if he should say anything.

"You know you can trust me, right?" I asked silently.

He grit his teeth together and he shook his head, but to me it looked like he did that to clear his mind, not because he didn't trust me.

"I... don't... know..." he spoke slowly, forcing every word out of his mouth. "...what to do... on a date."

"You don't?" I asked in surprise, although I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise. "Well, I don't know if I can help you with that – I haven't been on a lot of dates."

"Oh... Right..." He muttered and looked away. "Forget that I said anything."

"No! Please – I think I know what Troy would like," I spoke hastily, and he turned to look at me again with hopeful eyes. "I think you know too – I mean we all know what he loves to do, right?" I smiled at him.

"Yeah, but that's not a good way to have a date," he frowned.

"Depends on where you go," I smirked and grabbed his arm. "Come – I actually know a place where you should take him."

"How on earth would you know something like that?" he asked.

"Max loves old buildings – he has told me a lot about the city," I explained. "He also mentioned where Troy loves to hang out."

Luke seemed convinced and relieved, and he followed me without objections. I was happy to help him out, and I wished Troy didn't mind that the idea came from me, and not from Luke. I just wanted them both to have a great night out – they both deserved it.