Tomorrow, I wake up and check on Feathers. Yes, I know the name is generic, but I think it’s cute. I give her more seeds and pet her gently on the head. She sings happily, then pecks at her food. I make my bag for the day and put on my usual blue T-shirt, purple shorts and green scarf. The scarf was a gift from my grandmother for my eighteenth birthday. I just love it so much that I wear it every day. Maybe I should give her a call today, to remind her how much I love it. Nah! I’m sure she is busy. I look in the mirror. My green eyes look curiously while I inspect myself. I look at my beard. It's not very big, but I like it. I remember the boy from last night. He had a similar beard, just that it was golden instead of dark brown. I blush a bit, but then I snap back to reality. I go downstairs.

“Goooood morning!” I say happily to my parents.

“Hey, Noah! What happened? You’re very smiley today!” my mum says happily.

“Don’t know.” I answer.

For real. I have no idea what’s up. Yesterday was not exactly the best day ever, but now I am feeling so happy. I guess today might be a better day. I eat my cereal, and then I say goodbye to my parents. After that, I take my bag and leave. This time I don’t forget, and I wait for Selena at the intersection we usually meet at.

“Hey! So today you didn’t forget!” Selena says when she meets me.

“Nope!” I say happily.

She hugs me, and then the two of us continue to school together. I tell her about everything that happened last night and about the mysterious boy.

“Ooooo! I think someone’s got a crush!” she says while laughing.

“Selena!” I say completely turning red.

She laughs all the rest of the way to school. Our first subject is again with Ms Smith. She is our favourite teacher, so we don’t complain. Yes, she may be strict, but she is really kind and nice. I try to concentrate on what she says, but I am in the sky, as Selena would put it. I am fully in my head. The way he looked so worried. I like that he cared if I was fine. It gave me a weird feeling in the stomach. Could it be butterflies? No! Impossible! He is a boy. But while I think about this, the classroom door is gently opened by someone. I look up to see who it is, then my breath is taken from me and my face burns red. A blond boy, with dashing blue eyes, enters the classroom. He smiles nervously at the class. Ms Smith greets him happily.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you yesterday! We’ll have a new student this year! Would you like to introduce yourself?” she asks the mysterious boy.

“Yes! Thank you! My name is Rafael Silva and I moved from Lisbon! I love cooking, reading and playing the guitar! I hope we’ll be friends!” he says while closing his eyes, blushing and grinning.

“We are so happy to have you here, Rafael! Will you tell us about Lisbon?” Ms Smith asks.

“Sure! It’s an amazing city, but windy. In the summer we do have lots of oranges, so that makes up for it! Or I guess… Used to have…” he says sadly.

“Thank you, Rafael! Now please go take a seat.” Ms Smith says fast, to save poor Rafael from being sad in front of the class.

Rafael looks around, then he comes towards me and Selena. Our bench is for three students, so he sits next to me. I am completely terrified. He is the boy from the woods! What if he recognises me?! But luckily, he says nothing about it.

“Hello!” he says as he shakes my hand. “I would introduce myself, but I think I already did!” he says with a grin.

I laugh and introduce myself.

“I’m Noah!”

“And I am Selena!”

“I am so happy to meet you two!” Rafael says while grinning again.

We talk a bit about what lessons we’ll have next, and then I make some courage and say:

“Hey, I wanted to say that I know how hard it is to move to a new country. I moved like ten years ago. I am from Sweden, you see. And I can tell you this. You’ll love it here! I am sure of it! And if you need someone to talk to about it, I’ll always listen!”

I am happy that I was able to say it. It took all my social strength to do it, but it was worth it. Although I know my face must be fully red.

“Thanks! I really appreciate it!” Rafael gives me one of his grins again.

I really like his grin, it like sends me this positive energy. I don’t know why. The rest of the day goes well. We decided to do the project together! Rafael even came up with a funny name for the team: “The Rain Team”, cause we all met on a rainy day. I know it’s silly, but I love it.

But now we have chemistry, and the teacher hates us. So yeah… Fun!

“Does he really hate you?” Rafael whispers.

“Yep! Especially me!” Selena answers.

“Why?! You are awesome!” Rafael says a little too loudly and the teacher hears us.

“If you don’t shut it back there, I’ll make sure you won’t pass this year!”

We get quiet for a few minutes because we know he means it.

“Because he is a horrible person!” I whisper.

“I observed. I don’t like him already.” Rafael replies while looking angrily at the professor.

“At least other teachers are nice.” I say in the hope of getting that frown off his face.

“Yeah, but still…”

“Hey! Don’t be sad!” I say without thinking. “I know what will cheer you up! One time me and Selena put a bucket of water on the door and when he opened it, it destroyed his favourite suit!”

“No way!” Rafael whispers amazed.

“Yes, way! We got like a month of detention, but it was worth it! He was mean that day to Selena, so he got what was coming to him.” I say with an evil smile.

“I agree!” Rafael says while laughing. “Hey! I also have a story to tell! At my old school, a bully was constantly trying to destroy my life, but when the teacher saw him, she brought cookies to school and gave everyone one, except for him, saying bullies don’t deserve cookies. Because of that he realised that what he was doing was horrible and apologised to me. We actually became good friends after that, and he stopped other bullies from attacking me. I miss him. I miss everything about Portugal. Especially the Pastéis de Natas! They were so good!”

“You also like them?” I ask surprised.

“They are my favourite dessert!” Rafael answers happily.

“Mine too!” I say, smiling, while he grins at me.

“Noah Karlsson! Are you unable to control yourself, you horrible pest? Get out of here immediately!” the teacher shouts.

I get up and leave the classroom. But when I am at the door, with a cruel smile, the teacher adds:

“You are a terrible student. My worst one in fact. Did you know that? Now get out of my sight!”

I start crying and leave the classroom. Tears flow down my cheeks while I run for the exit. Ms Smith comes out of a classroom to see what the ruckus is about, then sees me fly by.

“Noah! What’s wrong? Noah?” she asks surprised.

Ms Smith tries to catch up with me but fails. Immediately, she returns to the class and tells them to stay put. After that, Ms Smith goes to the horrible chemistry teacher and asks what happened.

“I’ve told nicely, to Mr Karlsson, to stop making noise, but then he made a whole scene and left. I am so sorry that he disturbed your class. I’ll have to…”

“That’s a lie!” Rafael says suddenly.

The whole class turns to stone, out of fear.

“You said that he is your worst student and humiliated him in front of the class. You are the horrible person here, not him! I am going to go find him!”

Ms Smith looks shocked and the chemistry teacher looks like he is going to have a heart attack from anger. Rafael gets up and leaves. Selena wants to do the same, but, Ms Smith, seeing the blind rage in her co-worker’s eyes, gestures for her to stop. Rafael exits the classroom. Ms Smith follows him.

“I’m very proud of you Rafael, but you shouldn’t have done that, he’ll hate you too now.”

“I know miss, but I couldn’t just sit and watch while he lies about my friend.” Rafael answers.

“I know. Would you like help to locate Noah?” Ms Smith asks politely.

“No, thank you. I talked a lot to him earlier and I have an idea where he might be.” Rafael says before exiting the building.

I am crying in front of the lake. Our school is near a park. I always come here when I am upset. The rain destroyed my clothes again, but I don’t care. I just want to drown in my sorrow. The wind is howling, and leaves fly by me. Today, the rain isn’t creating a beautiful song, but a terrible sound. Lightning strikes in the grey clouds above. The moon is out, and the sky starts to darken. I feel terrible. Suddenly, I hear footsteps.

“Hey!” I hear Rafael’s soft voice. “Oh, no! You’re completely soaked! You must be freezing!”

He comes near me and takes his blue jacket off. He sits down and then puts it on me. After that, he opens an umbrella. A purple umbrella…

“My umbrella…” I say barely able to speak.

“Yeah! Sorry, I didn’t return it. But from how you ran last night, I thought it might be best to not remind you at school.”

“So, you do remember…” I say, feeling my face getting red.

“Of course! How could I forget that lovely voice? You sang really pretty! I loved it!”

“Really?” I ask surprised.

“Yeah! It was like the voice of an angel!” he says with a beautiful grin on his face.

“It is a song my grandmother used to sing when I was little. She wanted me to remember to be brave. But I guess I failed at that…” I say looking down.

Rafael falls in thought, then says:

“Yes, you may not be the bravest, but what matters is that you try. And even more so, that you don’t give up. I’m sure she is proud of you! I know I am. Also, it’s not like you aren’t brave at all. I’ve seen you last night. You stayed in the middle of a storm to save a small bird. That is one of the kindest and bravest acts I’ve ever seen. How is it?”

“Thanks! She is fine. I was able to nurse her a bit, but it will take a while before she fully heals. Maybe a few weeks? It’s not very bad, but it must still hurt a lot” I say.

“She?” Rafael asks surprised. “My English is not perfect, but I thought you should say it.”

“Oh, that’s a me thing. I don’t want her to feel like she is an object or a lower life form. I want to treat her like an equal, so I call Feathers she.”

“Oh! That is adorable! I love the name by the way!” Rafael says while grinning again.

I blush and smile.

“Thanks!”

I want to hug him so bad. But would it be ok? I am afraid. No! I shouldn’t! He barely knows me! But he is so kind and gentle. I think I… No! He is a boy.

“Hey, about the teacher, I put him in his place! I told him what a horrible person he is! It felt good!” Rafael says.

“Oh my god! You did?! You’re awesome!” I say, and without realising I hug him, then I immediately pull back. “Sorry!” I manage to say while I’m basically dying of embarrassment.

“It’s no problem! I liked it! And I’m happy I could help” he says, while grinning again.

Suddenly I realise that he is trembling and his hand is cold.

“You should take your jacket back. You are freezing!” I say.

“Oh, no, it’s okay!”

I take the jacket off and put it back on him.

“You don’t give up, do you?” Rafael asks jokingly.

“Nope!” I say.

Rafael gets up and holds his hand towards me.

“Come. It really is getting cold. We should get out of the rain.” he says with a gentle smile.

I grab his hand and pull myself up. We walk together towards home while joking about the chemistry teacher’s angry face. On the way, we meet Selena. The three of us go home, but not before deciding to meet tomorrow for the photo project.