The rest of the week flew by fast. On Saturday, I woke up feeling excited and slightly nervous. It was time to go find the owls! Even though I still had plenty of time before I was supposed to meet Max, I jumped out of the bed and hurried to the bathroom. I was just too excited to sleep in.
After taking a shower, I dressed quickly and grabbed the huge pile of papers about our project. I had done a lot of research already, and I even wrote a long essay about the origins of barn owls, even though Max had told me we’d to do it together. I couldn’t help myself. It was the best school project I’d ever had, and I’d been bored during the week.
I was hoping we’d see a glimpse of the owls, but since they were nocturnal, our chances were slim. After moving in the city, I had been camping two times, and I found the abandoned barn just outside of the city on the second trip. I’d found feathers and droppings all around it, and after a few hours of waiting in the dark night, I finally saw them.
I went through all the papers again to see if there was something I could do before actually seeing the owls, but I found nothing. I sighed and put the papers away, grabbing my camera instead. My grandpa had given it to me for my birthday last year, and it was literally the only thing I hadn’t broken yet. I checked it one more time before putting it safely in my bag.
Then I exited my room, and heard my parents making breakfast in the kitchen, being loud and lively like teenagers. It was always nice to hear Mom giggling at something Dad was doing or saying.
I kept my eyes on the floor when I stepped into the kitchen, making loud enough sounds so they would notice me. It was a habit of mine to make sure they knew I was close by, so they’d stop doing things I wasn’t supposed to see. My parents sometimes forgot they had two sons in the house now, even after all these years. It was cute and gross at the same time.
“Good morning,” Mom said cheerily, and I finally lifted my eyes from the floor.
They were being decent, which was good.
“Good morning,” I told them both, and sat down at the table next to my dad.
“Are you excited?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes!” I smirked, grabbing a bagel.
Mom chuckled and patted my shoulder while sitting down in front of me.
“Do you think Max is excited too?” she asked.
I may or may not have talked about him a lot during the past couple of days. They knew all about him already, even though they had never met him.
“He’s not so interested in nature. He wants to be an architect,” I told them. “He has never been camping before.”
“Yes – I remember you mentioning that,” Dad said. “I hope he likes it, or it will be hard for him,” he added.
“I hope so too,” I said and took a bite of my bagel.
*****
By the time my dad stopped his car at Max’s home, the sun was high up in the sky, and there were no clouds anywhere. It was a really nice day, and my mood couldn’t have been better. I was practically jumping in my seat while waiting for Max to walk to us.
“Hey, Sky,” Max said with a smile after he opened the door. “Hi, Mr. Jenkins.”
“Hello. You must be Max,” Dad said politely, measuring Max from head to toe.
“Yes, sir,” Max said, sitting down next to me on the backseat.
“Are you as excited as Sky here?” Dad asked with a chuckle.
“Definitely,” Max nodded. “I don’t think I’ve seen owls before. I know nothing about them.”
“Well, good thing my son knows a lot. You’re in good hands,” Dad said, turning the car around. “Sky told me you’re in the football team.”
I tuned out when they started talking about football. My dad loved football, and I knew he was kind of disappointed that I wasn’t interested in any sports. Freddy was more into it, but not like Dad was.
I watched Max from the corner of my eye, and he looked as good as ever. He was smiling a lot when he talked about football, making him even more breathtaking. I had seen beautiful people before, but Max was definitely something else. I had never cared about love or relationships, but he made me think about those too.
He was too hot to touch for someone like me, but I had been thinking, what would it be like to have someone like him?
“Here we are,” my dad spoke, interrupting me in my daydreams.
I snapped my head towards the window on my side and looked around. How was it possible we were already out of the city?! Had I really been so deep in my thoughts for so long? It must have taken us almost twenty minutes to get from Max’s house to where we were!
“Just call me when you guys are ready to leave,” my dad spoke, and I turned to look at him.
I guess my expression was so confused it caught his eye, since he asked, “Are you all right?”
“I’m – yeah. I’ll call you when you can pick us up,” I told him, and turned to look out again.
I knew the place well. It was a small, abandoned gas station at the end of a popular hiking path, which led miles away, deep into the forest. The barn was just a mile away from where we were, and there was no way we could get any closer to it by car. I had checked, and apparently the only road leading to the farm had collapsed years ago.
“All right. Have fun, and be careful!” Dad said cheerily, and waited for us to grab our stuff and get out of the car before he backed away from the parking lot.
I turned to look at Max, who was looking at the forest.
“Are you ready for an adventure?” I asked with a smile.
“Lead the way,” Max said, and bowed to me like I was a king or something.
I let out a light laugh and blushed, turning my back on him. Why did he have to be so great?
Once I stepped onto the narrow pathway, I felt much better and calmer. I was at home in the forest. I loved the smells and the sounds of the place. It was absolutely beautiful too. We walked in silence for a moment while I was making sure we were going in the right direction.
“I’m so not used to this,” Max muttered, following me clumsily.
“Walking in the forest?” I said, and turned to look at him.
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“It’s a good workout. It’s a natural way to strengthen your body,” I said, but then blushed again. “But you don’t need that, obviously...”
“I clearly do,” Max laughed. “I’m getting out of breath already.”
“This is different from walking on a pavement,” I said, hopping over a small stone that was in my way.
“How is it possible that this isn’t affecting you at all?” Max chuckled, and took a deep breath.
“I come here often. If you want, you can come with me next time too,” I said, trying to sound casual, and not too hopeful.
“Sure,” Max said. “I could use the exercise.”
“Great!” I chirped, and turned around to see him.
I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to hug him. I almost did, but somehow managed to stop myself. Max frowned in a questioning manner, and I realized I was still standing in the middle of the trail, staring at him.
“I mean, it’s great you want to come with me. I mean – uh – I don’t have many friends, so... I uh...”
When I finally forced myself to shut up, Max was holding back his laugh. His eyes were sparkling in amusement, and he had the biggest smile on his face.
“Well, we need to come here quite often if we want to see the owls,” he reminded me.
“Oh – right,” I muttered in embarrassment, and turned around to continue walking.
“But since I am your friend, we can come here just to hang out if you want,” he added.
This time I couldn’t stop myself. I practically jumped on his neck and gave him a big squeeze.
“I do!” I said almost hysterically while hanging onto his neck. “That would be so awesome!”
Max laughed and hugged me awkwardly. “You’re right,” he said quietly.
I realized what I was doing and let go of him. I knew my face was all shades of red, and I couldn’t even look at him in my embarrassment.
“Sorry...” I muttered. “I’m so bad with people...”
“No, you’re not,” Max chuckled. “It’s okay to be so enthusiastic. You’re like the little brother I never had,” he smirked and continued walking.
Now that was a mood-killer. Little brother.
I tried not to feel so absolutely disappointed, but I couldn’t help it. I was just a little kid to Max. I looked after him for a moment before I followed him with a silent sigh.
I knew I was being childish most of the time, but I guess it was then that I realized just how much I resembled of a ten-year-old.
If I ever wanted people to treat me like the fifteen-year-old I was, I needed to change. A lot.
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