Toby got changed out of his PE uniform as slowly as possible. He was hoping that if he moved slow enough, that Marc kid would give up and go home. Unfortunately, Toby wasn't that lucky. As he was walking out of the locker room, he ran into someone that was walking really fast, knocking him and the other person over.

     "Hey, watch where you're going!" A voice growled at him, causing Toby to wince. "Hey, it's you! I was just on my way to the front to meet you! I got held up by a teacher and was hoping you didn't decide to leave because I wasn't there. What luck running into each other!" Marc stood up and offered his hand to Toby, offering to help him stand up.

     Toby opened his eyes up and stared at Marc for a second, before realizing he was acting awkward and shyly accepted Marc's extended hands. His hands are so soft and small Toby thought as Marc pulled him up off the ground. Now fully standing up, Toby kept his gaze down, not knowing what to do or say.

     "Soooo…. Just finished PE?" Marc asked awkwardly, trying to get a conversation going. Toby nodded in response. When he was younger, he used to talk people's ears off, but ever since middle school, he slowly lost that ability. "Ugh, that sucks. I hate PE. Why is it even necessary? Like, the teachers only care about the students that are good at sports and the rest of us just get swept along." Marc continued, but when Toby didn't say anything he stopped, leaving the two of them standing outside the locker room in awkward silence.

     Suddenly, a book entered his field of vision, and Toby looked at it shocked, before grabbing it slowly. He realized it was the next book in the series he was reading yesterday, and he looked up at Marc for the first time since they ran into each other.

     "I noticed you were reading the first book yesterday, and I already finished the series, so I figured I could give you the rest of the books, if you don't have them already?" Marc said, slowing down at the end, his voice rising slightly.

     Toby looked down at the book, then back up at Marc, then back at the book, thinking before responding "... Thanks. I just finished the first book and don't have this one yet. I can give it back in a few days?" He said, looking back at Marc.

     "Oh, I don't need it back, I actually have a couple of copies. My cousin works with the author and got a few copies of it for free."

     "Really? That's so cool!" Toby said, eyes wide with excitement. Seeing the shocked expression on Marc’s face at his outburst, his cheeks began to heat up with a blush. Toby turned his attention back to the ground,

     "Yeah! He's a really cool guy. He comes and hangs out at our house all the time. You… could come hang out and meet him?" Marc said, with a hint of nervousness.

     Toby looked at Marc again, thinking about the offer. He didn't think that Marc was a bad person, and he certainly didn’t think that he would hurt him, but Toby has also been tricked before, so he wasn't sure he wanted to trust Marc. As he looked at Marc, he took in his appearance. He was wearing a loose shirt again, this time it was a black shirt for a band he didn't recognize. He had a sweatshirt he was carrying, and his pants were once again so tight that Toby couldn't tell if they were pants or leggings. How can he be comfortable wearing something so tight? Toby wondered, knowing he was also wearing skinny pants, but they were starting to get loose on him. He had begun skipping meals too often and it was starting to show. He just wasn’t usually hungry, choosing to sleep instead of eating.

     "Um, you don't need to come hang out if you don't want to?" Marc said quickly, taking Toby's silence as rejection.

     His cheeks tinting red in embarrassment again, he said " No! Ummm… " Sighing and running his hand through his hand nervously he said " It's not that… I just… why… are you being nice to me?" Toby said, finally meeting Marc's eyes, but quickly looking away.

     "Oh…um…. well, I'm new to this school, and I don't really have friends here yet, and it looked like you needed someone on your side yesterday… soooo… I… want to be friends?"

     Toby took a moment to think about it, before responding "Oh… ok…" he nodded slowly, the slight skepticism still clear in his voice.

     " Its ok if you don't want to be friends with me I know I'm new and kinda weird and I can be pretty loud too and…" Marc kept talking, but he was talking too fast for Toby to understand him. Toby didn’t really know how to react to Marc’s nervous talking, so he just stood there and stared at Marc with wide, surprised eyes. Marc finally noticed, took a deep breath and said “Sorry. I know I talk too much, and it gets worse when I’m nervous.”

     Toby nodded in understanding. “Its ok.” Toby looked at the book that he was still holding in his hands. Deciding that maybe Marc wasn’t like most of the people’s he’s met at this school, he looked up at Marc and said “We can try to be friends.”

     Marc took a deep breath, then looked at Toby and grinned a large, cheesy smile. "Great! Then let's go!" He linked his arm around Toby's and began walking, pulling Toby along with him. They walked out the front of the school, past the tree they were supposed to meet at, and down the street in the opposite direction of where Toby lived.

     Throwing a look over his shoulder towards his house, Toby thought to himself, what did I get myself into?