I never thought I could be depressed. I had never felt sad and lonely in my entire life, not until we had moved. Wherever I went, no one talked with me. They only gave me disgusted looks when I passed by them in the corridors. They were mean to me because I wasn't wearing the same clothes as they did. I didn't have a smartphone, and my backpack had a small picture of a turtle on it. I knew I looked like a tall five-year-old. Back at my old school, people had looked more like me. No one had cared of what the others were wearing. 

I tried to eavesdrop on the conversations the other students had, but everywhere I went, I only heard the dull beeping of their phones. Sometimes, one of them showed something funny to their friends, or read messages out loud.

I was wondering how they could even see me behind their phones. How did they have time to mock my appearance while taking dozens of selfies? I was an outsider in more ways than one. I didn't like electronics. I had my older-than-life phone, and it was enough for me. I loved nature, but here people seemed to grossed about walking across a well-kept lawn. I didn't know anything about fashion, sports or celebrities, and those three were the only things people seemed to care about around here.

I let out a deep breath when school finally ended. I had managed to get in each of my classes, which was a good thing, but I was too sad to feel happy about it. I made my way to the entrance, and waited for Max there, but I wasn't sure if he even remembered me anymore.

I had texted my mom, letting her know I wouldn't be coming home right away, and she had been cool with it. My parents were always cool with everything I did, since they knew the worst thing I would do was to wander off on someone's property while following insects, as long as my grades were good. I knew they wished I would get some friends soon, and whenever I came home from school, they asked if I had found someone to hang out with yet.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Max's voice nearby. He was still inside the school, while I was standing outside just behind the doors, so he couldn't see me. I was about to let him know I was there, when I heard him speaking my name.

"I already promised to hang out with him," Max spoke to someone.

"Come on – why would you want to hang out with a nerd like him?" that someone said with an annoyed tone.

"He's my partner for the biology project. Remember? I told you about it," Max said, and I hid deeper into the shadows.

"You can do your little project later. The whole team is going out to eat, and we want you to come!"

"I'll come next time," Max said, and continued: "This project affects my grades, so I'd like to get it done sooner than later."

"Fine," the other guy sighed. "You and your obsession of homework..."

"That's why I'm going to get a full ride to college," Max said cheerily.

"You are way too confident about that," the other guy chuckled. "All right – go with the geek this time. He might be good at biology, but I pity you for having to be seen with him."

There was a short pause, before Max answered to him.

"He's not that bad," Max said, and he didn't sound happy anymore.

"Not that bad? He dresses like a kindergartener!"

"So?" Max said.

There was even a longer pause this time. I was pretty sure the guy Max was talking with had just realized he had said something he shouldn't have.

"I uh – no... I - I guess it doesn't matter..." he muttered almost too quietly for me to hear.

"That's what I thought," Max said with a cheerier tone. "I'll see you later."

I didn't have time to hide from Max when he stepped out through the doors. He noticed me and stopped to a halt. He turned halfway to look back inside the school with an embarrassed look in his eyes. He knew I had heard them.

"It's all right – I know I'm a geek," I told him.

"No, you're not," Max said. "He didn't know what he was talking about."

I didn't want to start arguing with him. I was still too nervous to even talk with him, even though he was the only person who seemed to tolerate me.

"Don't worry about it..." I muttered.

He looked apologetic and embarrassed at the same time. Neither of us spoke in a while – we just stood there in awkwardness.

"So – coffeehouse?" Max finally broke the silence. "It's not far from here."

"Sure," I said and tried to act cool, even though I was feeling slightly dizzy. I followed him through the yard, but once we reached the gates and stepped out, I noticed a pigeon close by. It was staring at us with one eye, clearly waiting for us to give him some food. I didn't even notice that I nearly stopped walking, so I could take a closer look at the bird.

"Sky?" Max called my name, and I remembered I had company.

I hurried to him and he gave me an odd look before he turned to see the pigeon.

"What's the matter?" Max asked with a frown.

"Nothing, nothing... I just liked the pattern on his feathers..." I murmured.

Max's frown grew deeper when he stared at the bird. "It's just a pigeon. There's plenty of those in here."

"I – I know..." I nodded, feeling embarrassed.

We continued walking, and I tried to keep my eyes at my feet. I had no idea where we were going, since I didn't dare to look around anymore. I didn't want to seem like a freak in Max's eyes. I knew that every squirrel and bird and even ants could get me sidetracked if I would see any.

We walked for a few minutes in silence, but all of a sudden, I felt Max grabbing my hand and stopping me.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said, taking me completely by surprise. "I didn't mean to be rude."

"When?" I asked with wide eyes.

"Just now. The pigeon. I didn't mean to offend you. I just didn't think pigeons could be that interesting," Max said apologetically.

"You didn't offend me at all," I said, and gave him a small smile. "I know no one thinks they're interesting, because they are everywhere, but I think they are. Like, did you know street pigeons are the offspring of domestic birds? Or that doves were used as messengers during wars? Oh, and the word 'pigeon' is French and derives from a Latin word, 'pipio', which means 'to chirp' or 'tweet'. There's all kind of pigeons around the world, not just the street pigeons, and some are almost extinct," I blabbered on.

"Uh – wow. You know a lot about pigeons," Max said with a shocked look in his eyes.

I shut up again. I wished the ground would have opened under my feet and swallowed me whole. Max stared at me like I was a freak – which I was.

"That's quite impressive," Max continued when I didn't speak. "You seem to love nature."

"I do, yeah," I said sheepishly.

Max gave me a smile and gestured me to follow him. "So, what else can you tell me about pigeons?"

I tried to see if he was messing with me, but since he seemed like he was actually interested in hearing more, I opened my mouth again.

"Well – they have long-term relationships, but they don't mate for life, like people think. Sometimes they find new partners. When they are nesting, both of the parents take care of the babies, and they like to build their nests in abandoned buildings, like warehouses. There can be hundreds of pairs nesting in the same building at the same time."

I told him a lot more about different pigeons and doves, and he listened quietly while we walked. When I finally stopped speaking, I found myself sitting at a table, inside a coffeehouse with a cup of tea in front of me. I had to stop and stare at our surroundings for a moment. I had no memory of ever stepping into the shop or ordering anything.

"I'm so sorry – I didn't mean to talk so much," I said and looked at my cup.

"It's all right, I learned a lot," Max said, taking a sip of his drink. "If you know as much about this barn owl, I think we will get A plus."

I blushed at his words. No one had ever listened to me as long as he had just now. I had no idea if he had actually paid attention to what I had been blabbering about, but I didn't mind. At least he hadn't told me to shut up.

"So – how are we going to do this project?" Max asked.

"Well, we need to find their territory first," I said. "Then we just need to follow them from a distance. I can dig up everything there is to know about the breed – where they live, where they came from and so on – and –"

"Nope – we are going to dig up everything there is to know. I'm not going to make you do all the hard work," Max said with a stern voice. "We are supposed to do this together, remember?"

I could only stare at him. How wonderful a person could be? Max was digging his schoolbag while I drooled all over him. He found the thick pile of papers our teacher had given us and put them down on the table.

"There was something about interviewing an expert – it's not mandatory, but I think it would give us some extra credit if we could find someone who can tell us more about the owls," Max spoke.

I snapped awake from my trance.

"Yeah – that sounds good," I said with a smile. "I might know someone who can help us."

"Good – because I got nothing," Max laughed lightly.

I smiled too. "So, are you OK with camping outside in the woods?"

"Sure – if you promise I won't get eaten by a bear, then I'm in," he joked playfully.

"There haven't been any sightings in this area in years – I have checked that already," I said reassuringly.

"Then it's settled. When we are going?" Max asked, looking like he was warming up to the idea.

"I think we need to do some groundwork first," I said and continued: "Maybe next week, on weekend?"

"We can think about that later," Max said and turned his attention back to the papers. "I need to go buy a sleeping bag," he chuckled.

"You don't have a sleeping bag?" I asked with wide eyes and Max shook his head.

"I've never been camping before," he reminded me with a smirk.

"Well, that's about to change," I said with a smile.

He gave me a long look, before he shook his head in amusement and disbelief.

"This project should be interesting," he laughed cheerily. "Who would have thought, that I would have to follow some owls through the forest in the middle of the night for a school project."

"Stranger things have happened," I shrugged.

Like me getting Max as my partner for the project.

And maybe – hopefully – as a friend.