The weekend was boring. The time went by way too slow, so when the Monday morning finally came, I couldn’t have been happier. All I’d managed to do over the weekend was my homework, though I did spend some time with Troy, but that was about it. Whatever I was doing, I always ended up thinking about Sky.

When the bus came, I practically jumped in. I was eager to see Sky again, but for my disbelief and disappointment, he wasn’t there. I walked past his usual seat that was now empty and my mood dropped as I continued my way to my friends.

“Max! What’s up, bro?” Troy gave me a wide smile.

I tried to return the smile while I sat down next to him, but I guess I failed. I didn’t even reply to any of them. I was still too busy thinking about Sky and feeling bad because he wasn’t there.

“Someone’s cranky...” I heard Luke muttering, and they all turned their attention to me.

“It’s not normal for you to hate Mondays,” Troy noted. “Did something happen?”

“I’m just tired,” I told him.

“And the universal translation for ‘I’m just tired’ is that something is definitely wrong,” Troy said. “My girlfriend said that when she was feeling down.”

“I really am tired, seriously,” I told him. “I didn’t sleep almost at all last night.”

It was a lie, but I wasn’t going to tell them I was feeling bad because Sky wasn’t coming to school that day. I’d spend the entire weekend waiting to see him, and the possibility of him not showing up hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“Uh-huh,” Troy uttered, sounding like he didn’t believe me, but thankfully, he didn’t continue asking questions.

When the bus arrived at school, I followed my friends outside, trying to recover from my disappointment. I didn’t want anyone to think that there was something wrong with me. I couldn’t tell them about the feelings I had for Sky. Being bi-sexual was something that even a popular guy like me couldn’t just blurt out.

“Did you do your homework? I couldn’t get the number eight in that math assignment right–” Troy spoke, but I wasn’t listening to him anymore.

I saw Sky. At least I thought it was Sky. He was getting out of a car at the parking lot, and I stopped to stare at him.

He was wearing black jeans and a mossy-green hoodie with black decorations, and it hugged his figure perfectly. His blond hair was shorter now, hanging partly in front of his eyes. I swear, the sun was shining upon him like the God himself was watching over him, illuminating him with warm, golden light.

He took a few steps away from the car, but then he suddenly turned around and hurried back, opened the door, and grabbed his backpack from the front seat.

“Max?” I heard Troy calling my name, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Sky.

I had seen Sky as a cute boy, and he still was, but the clothes he was now wearing... His old clothes had completely hidden the fact that he had a smoking hot body. When he was wearing his new, tight clothes, I could see his nice set of thighs and a perfectly round butt.

“Max? Max! Where are you going?” Troy yelled after me when I started walking towards Sky without even noticing it.

Sky spotted me, and as soon as our eyes met, he looked down at the ground. When I stopped right next to him, he peeked at me, blushed lightly and turned to look away again.

“You – you look...” I tried to find the right words without sounding absolutely gay. “I like your new haircut,” I managed to mumble.

“Oh? You don’t think it’s weird?” Sky asked shyly, and I had to fight back my urge to kiss him.

He truly was a perfect combination of cute and hot, and I knew I was being gayer than ever.

“I think it looks really great on you,” I said with a smile, and built up some courage to move his hair away from his eyes.

Even his hair felt soft and cute against my skin. I wasn’t sure if something could feel cute, but if it was possible, then Sky’s hair definitely felt cute.

“My mom took me shopping on Saturday...” Sky muttered and fiddled with his sleeve. “I don’t care about clothes, but Freddy said I should wear these.”

“You look good,” I said before I could stop myself.

Sky looked up at me, and his eyes were sparkling again. I couldn’t help but smile when he looked at me like that. It was like he was the sun now, shining his light on me.

“We’re going to be late,” someone spoke, and I turned to look at a guy who looked a lot like Sky.

I hadn’t even seen him standing there right next to us with a girl who had a massive hair.

“This is my brother,” Sky muttered. “And his girlfriend, Stacy,” he pointed at the girl who was with them.

“Did you miss the bus?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Sky giggled a little.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Freddy smirking at us. When I turned to look at him, he hid his smile and grabbed his girlfriend’s hand. “We’ll give you guys some privacy. And Sky? I think you nailed it,” he said with a grin.

“Shut up...” Sky hissed and practically pushed him away.

Freddy laughed cheerily, and he and his girlfriend started walking towards the school.

“What was that about?” I asked.

“He’s just messing with me,” Sky murmured. “I think we should go too, or we will be late.”

“Okay,” I said, and followed him.

“Max! Bro! Wait up!” Troy yelled and ran to us. “Jeez man...” he sighed and looked at Sky. “Wow, is that really you, Sky?”

Sky blushed again and looked at the ground. I was still staring at Sky when Troy looked at me. I could see he was about to say something, but I guess he changed his mind.

“So, Sky? I haven’t had the opportunity to talk with you yet, but Max here has told me a lot about you,” Troy spoke to him.

“He has?” Sky said and looked at me again.

“Yeah,” Troy chuckled. “I heard you like animals. You know, I once had a turtle. I liked that old backpack of yours.”

“You did?” Sky said with an enthusiastic voice and turned to look at Troy.

I turned to look at him as well and nodded at him as a thank you. Troy patted my shoulder shortly and then turned his attention to what Sky was saying. There was a reason why Troy was my best friend. He was kind to others, and he clearly already knew I liked Sky’s company, so he wanted to make Sky feel welcomed in our little group. There was nothing I couldn’t talk about with Troy. I wasn’t sure what he thought about gays, but I hoped that someday, when I’d find the courage to tell him, he would accept it and keep it a secret.

Once we were inside the school, Sky turned to look at me.

“I need to go get my books from my locker. I’ll see you later?” he spoke with a tiny voice, his expression turning sad.

“We have the next class together, right?” Troy spoke before I could even open my mouth. “We’ll wait for you at the door.”

Sky immediately smiled. “Okay! I’ll be fast!” he said, and dashed away.

Troy chuckled and turned to look at me. “You seem happier now,” he said with a smirk.

“You can’t say that he doesn’t have that effect,” I said vaguely as I started walking towards our classroom.

“He does bring a smile to one’s face,” Troy chuckled and nudged me. “Yours in particular.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said nonchalantly.

“Bro. I know you like him. Like really like him,” Troy said. “And I’m cool with it, so you don’t have to pretend that you’re not g–”

“Don’t say that out loud,” I hissed quietly with a warning tone.

“–g-going to enjoy your project.”

“Nice save,” I chuckled, but then I sighed. “It doesn’t matter since I can’t do anything about it.”

“Why not? He likes you,” Troy said.

“As a friend,” I sighed, as if the word ‘friend’ was a profanity.

“Well, maybe you’re wrong,” Troy spoke. “I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t want to go out with you.”

“Shut up. I’m not that special,” I said.

“Well, you’re the only one who thinks that way, my friend. My best friend in the whole wide world,” Troy cooed and tried to hug me.

“Oh God, stop that,” I said, but I had to laugh when he tried to give me a kiss. “You are my friend only because you get to bask in my glory.”

“True. And I get all the girls you turn down. It actually makes sense now,” Troy chuckled. “I’ve been wondering why you’re still single.”

“And it is obvious why you are still single,” I joked.

Troy gave me a slap on the back of my head, but he was laughing too. We stopped next to our classroom, and it only took a minute before I saw Sky running towards us.

“And here he comes, your future husband,” Troy muttered in my ear with a cheery voice.

“Stop that,” I muttered. “I’m serious. It’s never going to happen.”

“I wouldn’t bet my money on that,” Troy said. “Sky! You made it!”

Sky smiled at us when he stumbled to a halt, just before our teacher opened the door. When we walked in, Troy asked Sky about his favorite animal. Dogs, apparently. I had a small smile on my lips when we walked to our usual desks, and Sky sat down in front of us. He and Troy were still talking about dogs when the class started.

It felt really good that Troy accepted me the way I was. It meant the world to me to know that there was at least one person who would stay by my side. I knew I would be needing a friend to talk to in the future. Someone I could talk to about Sky, and how much I wished we could go out on a date.

I’d never be able to tell Sky how I felt about him, and I was sure my crush on him would turn into a painful heartache at some point since it already was painful to see him. It was good to know I could talk about it with Troy when that time would come.