"So – what should we choose as our subject?"

I heard the question, but my brain had temporarily shut down. There was only one thought in my head:

Max Peterson is my partner! Maximus Peterson himself is my freaking partner! I get to spend two whole months with him!

"Sky?" Max spoke my name, waving his hand in front of my eyes.

"Sorry," I blushed and looked down at my desk.

"You seemed like you were deep in your thoughts," Max said with a smile. "What were you thinking about?"

I turned to peek at him shyly. The look in his different colored eyes was innocent, not mean or mischievous like I had feared. Obviously, I couldn't tell him the truth, and I was bad at lying, so I decided to change the subject.

"Your eyes – how do they look like that?" I stammered and blushed harder.

"Oh – I was born with them. It's called heterochromia," Max explained.

I nodded and stared at his eyes for a long time. I was fascinated about the different colors. They made him more interesting, if possible. At some point, Max cleared his throat, and I snapped awake. I felt embarrassed and turned my eyes at my desk again.

"Uhm... Sorry – I didn't mean to stare..." I muttered.

"Don't worry – you're not the first one to stare at me," Max chuckled and turned his attention back to the thick pile of papers our biology teacher had given us.

If Max thought people stared at him because of his eyes, he was horribly wrong. I saw the ugly looks I was receiving from pretty much everyone in our class. I began thinking that my life would not get any easier from now on. I was the weirdo of the school, and even I knew I didn't deserve to be partners with Max.

"What subject should we pick?" Max asked again while studying the papers.

"I – I don't know. What do you want?" I asked nervously.

I didn't think I had a say in the matter.

"I have no idea what is interesting enough. I don't know much about animals," he said with a grin. "I like dogs, but I don't think our teacher lets us do a project about them."

I had a few options already, but I wasn't sure if Max would like them. I was losing my courage to speak to him, since the other students started to look really pissed at me for getting all of Max's attention.

"H-How about owls?" I asked quietly.

"Owls? Aren't they nocturnal?" Max said with a frown and looked at me.

"They can be awake at dusk or early in the morning," I said. I was getting my excitement back when I started to talk about the owls. "I saw a pair when I was hiking around a week ago. I think I can find their nesting site. They were barn owls. It would be fun to follow their life."

Max was about to say something, but I was on the roll already.

"I found this abandoned farm not far from here. I bet that's the center of their territory. We can spend nights there, and study them as much as we want, but we need to be careful not to spook them away. There's an old barn where we can stay at, or then we can take my tent and sleep outside, and –"

"Wow now, hold on," Max chuckled. "I thought you were too shy to speak."

I snapped my mouth shut and wrung my hands together. "Sorry – I like nature..." I muttered in embarrassment.

"I can see that," Max said cheerily. "So – owls? I think I can do that. I don't have much time during the days with football practices and homework, anyway."

"Are you sure? We can pick something easier..." I said quietly.

"Let's take owls," Max said and raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Peterson?" our teacher said when he noticed Max.

"We have a subject," Max said. "We want to study owls."

"Owls? That's a great choice," the teacher said with a smile. "Is there a particular species you are thinking about?"

Max turned to look at me with a question in his eyes.

"Barn... owls..." I muttered, knowing our teacher couldn't hear me. I just couldn't speak any louder, since everyone's eyes in that class were glued on me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that, Mr. Jenkins," our teacher said, and Max smiled encouragingly at me.

I knew Max had heard me clearly enough, but he looked like he wasn't going to speak on my behalf. I had no choice, so I cleared my throat. "I know a pair of barn owls close by," I spoke with a high-pitched voice, but at least everyone heard me this time.

"Barn owls. Those are pretty birds. Good choice," our teacher praised and turned to write something down on his papers. "So, Max and Skyler are taking barn owls. The rest of you still have a week to decide what you are going to choose, but please come tell me as soon as you can before someone else picks it first."

After that, the others started to talk with their partners, trying to think of a good subject for the project. I sighed in relief when people lost their interest in me. I turned to look at Max, who just kept on smiling all the time. He patted my shoulder a few times before he turned to write 'barn owl' as the subject in his paper.

I was close to a melting point at that moment. Max had patted my shoulder! He was friendly to me! I knew he was friendly to everyone, but he was way too good to waste his time with a geek like me!

"So – when do we start with this project? Do we really need to go camping?" Max asked, and turned to look at me with a hint of worry in his eyes.

"We don't have to if you don't want to. But, like you said, they are nocturnal." I spoke, trying my hardest not to start vomiting all the information I had about owls.

"Isn't there wolves and bears in the woods though?" Max asked cautiously.

I stared at him for a moment, before I spoke: "Not in this area."

It was sometimes hard to remember that not everyone was interested in nature. I knew there weren't any dangerous animals living in our area, not close to the city anyway, but it didn't mean everyone else knew that.

"Are you sure?" Max asked.

"I'm sure," I said with a nod. "There's nothing dangerous in the woods."

"Oh, all right," Max said, looking relieved. "I've never been camping before," he added.

"You haven't? When I was little, my parents took me camping once a month," I told him. "It's so awesome."

"Then why did you stop going?" Max asked curiously.

"We didn't. I just prefer camping on my own now," I said. "My parents are too noisy and they scare the animals away, so I go alone."

"You seem to take nature seriously," Max chuckled, but there wasn't even the slightest hint of mockery in his tone. "Well – I believe I'm in good hands then," he added just before the bell rang.

I had a smile on my face when I followed Max's example and started gathering my things. The teacher reminded the class to come see him as soon as everyone had their subject selected. A few had already chosen their subject, but most of them were still fighting with their partners about what they should do.

I followed Max out of the classroom, and he turned to look at me.

"Are you free after school? I think we should start planning how we're going to do this project," he said.

I saw his friends waiting for him impatiently further down the corridor and got distracted by their annoyed looks.

"Sky?" Max waved his hand over my eyes again.

"Uh – yeah, I'm free," I stammered.

"Cool – I'll wait for you at the entrance. We can go to a coffeehouse or something," he suggested. "I'll see you later."

"Sure – that sounds –" I tried to say, but Max was already walking to his friends. "- good," I finished what I was saying, even if he couldn't hear me anymore.

I watched him as long as I could see him, but soon, he vanished behind a corner. I could still hear him laughing with all his friends, while I was left alone in the corridor, squeezing my books against my chest. My loneliness had never felt as bad as it did at that moment.