Caleb's face flushed. "I have absolutely no idea what you mean, Mrs. Scottlesbee, I'm definitely NOT very gay!" he yelled a little too loudly. 

Fortunately for him, Mrs. Scottlesbee had already walked away. "I'm great at conversations," Caleb muttered to himself.

…

Caleb noticed that his shoelaces were untied, and bent down to tie them. After he finished tying his shoelaces, he stood back up, and jumped in shock when he saw that Mark was standing in front of him. 

“Gahhh!” Caleb yelped. “Ah, sorry! I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mark sounded genuine, even his face looked apologetic. “No, it’s fine, I just...didn’t expect to see you there,” Caleb mumbled, embarrassed. 

After a moment of awkward silence, Caleb tentatively said “Um, Mrs. Scottlesbee said you wanted to see me. Or maybe it wasn’t you, I don’t know! She just said the person was...a handsome young lad,” Caleb murmured incoherently. 

“I’m sorry, what was that last part?” Mark asked. “A handsome young lad! She said there was a handsome young lad down the road that was desperate to see me! Not that you’re the only handsome young lad in town, because you totally aren’t! There are much better looking people than you that I know!” Caleb rambled. 

Mark laughed. “You’re funny.” He ruffled Caleb’s hair. Caleb blushed furiously as he felt the part of his head Mark had touched burst into a thousand sparks. "Heh, yes, me is funny, I mean I is funny, I mean I am funny! You know, this would be excusable if English wasn't my only language." Caleb stammered. 

Mark smiled ruefully. "It's alright, buddy, we all have our moments. Your moments just happen a lot more than most people's." "Ugh, shut up," Caleb said while playfully punching Mark in the arm. 

Mark grinned. "You know I'll never shut up unless I want to." "And you never want to," Caleb added drearily. "That's not always true," Mark said, winking. Caleb simply stood still, mouth open, unable to move from his place on the pavement. 

Mark laughed. "Anyway, yes, I did want to talk to you, and it is a matter of utmost importance." His face suddenly became serious. Caleb began to grow nervous. What could Mark possibly want to talk about?