“So… Sky isn’t coming to school today?” Troy asked me the next morning after I sat down next to him on the school bus.

“He is, but his brother is giving him a ride,” I said. “His doctor said he sprained his ankle, but it should heal in a few weeks.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah…” I muttered. “He’s still bummed.”

“Why?” Troy asked.

“Who cares?” Luke muttered behind him – I hadn’t even noticed him sitting there.

“Sky is a nice guy,” I told him. “You’d see that if you weren’t such an asshole to him.”

Everyone around us fell silent. I saw people gaping at me and Luke, who stared at me angrily.

“What about us? We’re your friends, but lately, you haven’t had any time for us,” Luke said and pointed at our teammates. “You didn’t even show up this weekend!”

“Show up?” I repeated.

“Yeah. We were supposed to meet at the park, remember? You’re supposed to be on the team, but you’re just having fun with your geeky little friend,” Luke spoke.

I could almost remember I had promised to hang out with the team. I had forgotten all about it when Sky asked me to go see the owls.

“I’m sorry I forgot, but it’s not the end of the world! It’s not a good reason for you to hate Sky,” I told him calmly, even though I was getting pissed, too.

“Why would I care about some whiny little bitch, who still should be in the kindergarten?” Luke asked in a challenging manner.

I stared at him, trying to keep myself calm so I wouldn’t start yelling at him. Or worse. I really wanted to strangle the guy, but I knew not to get angry with him.

Luke was a big guy, and he had a temper. He was kind of a douchebag sometimes, but he wasn’t a bad person. I was sure he had problems at home, even though he never spoke about it. He never mentioned his family, and never invited any of us to visit his home, so… I wasn’t sure if someone else had noticed it, and I didn’t know if I should ask him if everything was all right, since he was quite sensitive about his personal issues – in a bad, aggressive way.

He wasn’t even being himself. He was more of the quiet, broody type, so him using so many words meant he was abnormally agitated for some reason. So, I just turned my back on him. Everyone else kept peering at us, but no one was stupid enough to get involved. Luke was also popular, and as long as he and I were on good terms, everything was fine with everyone else. The moment we started fighting, no one knew what to do, or whose side to pick.

I just hoped Luke would warm up to Sky. Sky hadn’t done anything to deserve the hate and teasing, and all I wanted was him to be happy. I wanted to be around him, but I also wanted to keep my friends. It would be for the best if everyone would just get along.

After arriving at school, I saw Sky in the parking lot. He had crutches and was struggling to get his bag from the car. While I was jogging to him, he nearly fell twice.

“Here, let me get that for you,” I said, and grabbed his bag.

“Thanks,” Sky said with a tiny smile.

“I’ll carry this for you,” I offered, and he blushed lightly.

“You don’t have to…” he muttered.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a reassuring smile. “Is your leg hurting?”

“Not that much. I have a splint…” he muttered. “I’m sorry I ruined our camping trip,” he added quietly.

Sky wasn’t allowed to strain his ankle in three weeks, meaning that he wasn’t allowed to go hiking. Meaning we couldn’t go see the owls together until he was well enough to walk without aid. I didn’t know anything about camping, so…

“You should ask for a new partner for the project,” Sky said before I could speak. “I heard there’s a group of three people doing their project, so maybe you can–”

“I want to do it with you,” I said before he could end his sentence. “We should ask if we can change the subject. We could pick something easier. Maybe a tree or something that is in the city, so we don’t have to step a foot into the forest.”

Sky gave me a smile, but I knew he didn’t like the idea of giving up on the owls. Even I had started to like that subject. I’d carry Sky to the barn and back if I could, but I wasn’t strong enough, and it was a long way to walk.

“What if I try to find us a different road? There must be one leading straight to that place,” I said.

“There isn’t,” Sky said. “The road that once led there is long gone.”

“How can it be gone?” I asked.

“Nature took back what belonged to it,” Sky said. “A cliff collapsed on it years ago.”

I sighed and looked around. Troy was waiting for us at the entrance of the school. “We’ll think of something,” I said. “But in the meantime, we’ll be late from class if we don’t get going.”

Sky nodded, still looking sad. I felt bad for him as I watched him struggle to keep up with me. I walked as slowly as I could so he didn’t have to hurry.

“Where did you get the crutches?” I asked.

“They’re mine – I broke my leg once…” he huffed.

“Oh…” I wasn’t really surprised. “How did that happen?”

“I climbed a tree and fell,” Sky muttered.

That wasn’t a surprise to me either.

“You like to live dangerously then,” I tried to joke to cheer him up, but it only seemed to make him feel even worse.

“Like my mom says, I never think before I act,” he said.

I had no idea what to say to make him feel better. I just kept making the situation worse, so I kept my mouth shut. Then I remembered something stupid I had done when I was a kid.

“See this scar?” I asked, showing him my hand. There was a tiny dot right in the middle of my palm. “I stole my dad’s nail gun. He was looking in another direction for like a second. Guess what was the first thing I did with it?”

“You shot yourself with it?” Sky guessed with a horrified look in his eyes.

“I nailed my hand on the wall.” I chuckled and looked at the small scar I still had. “And I did that on purpose. I just didn’t know it would hurt like hell.”

“Why did you do that?” Sky asked with wide eyes.

I laughed lightly. “There’s a big difference between not thinking before acting, and just being plain stupid. And my God I was a stupid kid.”

Sky looked away from me, but I did see a glimpse of an amused gleam in his eyes.

“It’s all right to laugh. I’m laughing too,” I told him, and he turned to look at me again.

“It’s not funny,” he said as he was trying to hold back his laugh. “You could’ve gotten yourself badly injured or killed.”

“I’m still alive,” I chuckled. “And so are you.”

Sky’s smile faded a little before he nodded. “I’ll try to think before I act from now on.”

“And if that doesn’t help, I’ll come running to save your ass,” I told him.

Sky’s smile grew wider again. “And I promise to hide the nail guns from you.”

I laughed cheerily at his words. “Sounds fair,” I told him. Sky chuckled, too. I was happy to see him happy again. “And we will find a way to continue our project with the owls,” I continued. “It will be the best damn project anyone has ever done.”

“I like the sound of that,” Sky said, and I knew I would keep that promise, even if I needed to carry him all the way to the barn.