17. Flammable Friendships

-Sky-

I was really happy that Max didn't want to let go of the owls, but no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't come up with a solution to our problem. My ankle was not getting any better in such a short time, but Max refused to listen.

I gave up on trying to change his mind for now. We still had a week left to decide what to do, and I didn't want to spend our time together arguing. Thursday was a long and boring day. It was such a nice day outside! The weather was perfect to roam the forests, but no, we were stuck inside in the musty classrooms.

When the last bell rang, we all sighed in relief.

"Finally!" Troy groaned, slamming his books shut.

"I hate Thursdays," Max mumbled as he put his stuff away. "All these boring classes..."

"The weekend is so close I can almost taste it, but nooo! There's still Friday," Troy added.

I wasn't actually sad about having to stay in school one more day before the weekend, but I wasn't going to say that out loud. The reason why I liked being in school was that I got to hang out with the two of them. I didn't even dare to ask them to hang out with me outside school. Right now I wanted to ask if they'd like to come with me to the forest, but one, I didn't have the guts, and two, how I was going to walk in the forest with my crutches?

I'd had so much fun playing the video game yesterday with them, but neither of them were bringing it up, so... I guess I just had to go home and think of something else to do.

"We should go to the mall after practice," Troy suddenly suggested, and I almost got excited, but then I realized he probably wasn't talking to me.

To hide my embarrassment, I turned to grab my books and started putting them into my bag without saying anything.

"I suppose," Max spoke, and grabbed my crutches from the floor, giving them to me.

I gave him an appreciating smile. At least they still had their practice, so I could stay and watch it before heading home. "I've been reading about football. I think I understand it better now!" I told them, feeling proud.

"You've been reading about it?" Troy repeated my words as we started walking out of the classroom.

"Yeah – Max has been trying to teach me," I explained, getting all excited again. "I want to watch you guys play today! If... if that's all right, I mean..."

Oh goodness, why was I so embarrassing...?

"Sure!" Troy said without hesitation, bringing my mood right back up. "We both can teach you."

"Awesome!" I smirked.

"For your information," Max said, acting all high and mighty, "I am an excellent teacher who needs no help!"

Troy snorted loudly. "Sure, bro."

"Anyway, do you want to come with us to the mall afterwards?" Max asked me, and I nearly exploded in happiness.

"Yes!" I practically shrieked before I managed to get a grip of myself. "I mean I need new notebooks since I lost my old ones. And I don't have anything else to do so... With my leg and all."

Why was I such an embarrassment...!

"How did you lose them?" Troy asked.

"I probably forgot them somewhere," I said with a shrug. "Happens all the time..."

"Well, now you get new ones," Max said cheerily. "And I'll make sure you won't lose them anymore."

I smiled widely at him. His words really made me happy. He was just so great.

"We should start heading to the field or we'll be late," Troy said.

"You should go ahead," I said, feeling bad. "I'm so slow with these..." I continued, looking down at my crutches.

"Oh, no! I didn't mean it like that," Troy hurried to say. "I just... We... I mean..."

"We're not actually in a hurry," Max said with a smile.

"Yes, you are. I need to go to my locker, anyway. You should hurry, or you really will be late," I said.

"We still have ten minutes," Max said with a shrug.

I shook my head, but again, I was feeling better. Then I realized something, and congratulated myself for actually remembering Mom's new rule: I had to inform her or Dad if I wasn't coming straight home after school. I deserved that rule.

"You two really should go ahead," I said. "I need to call my mom, or she'll get worried."

"We can wait for you," Max said quickly.

"I'm calling Mom," I said with a chuckle. "There's no way I'm letting you guys eavesdrop."

"Oh," Max said with a smile – his smile was contagious. "We can wait for you further down the hallway if you want."

"It's all right. I should survive without you two for a couple of minutes," I joked.

"Are you sure?" he teased with a smirk.

"Just go already," I said as I stopped in front of my locker.

"I'm sure he'll be fine – the door is right there," Troy chuckled, grabbing Max by his arm.

"Okay, if you insist," he said hesitantly, and followed Troy.

I chuckled a little as I watched them go and then turned to put my books into my locker. Then I grabbed my phone and called mom, explaining that I wasn't coming home right away.

"I don't know how late I'll be," I sighed on the phone when she asked about it.

Mom didn't like my answer and demanded that I text her as soon as I knew how long I would be hanging out with my friends. I told her to stop worrying; that I was going to be just fine with Max and Troy, but apparently she hadn't forgotten about my little adventure in the forest during the storm.

"I'll call you later. I have to go now," I said, and hung up.

I sighed again, put my phone away, and started limping to the exit. My ankle was still sore, but as long as I didn't put any weight on it, it hardly hurt. I still had to walk slowly and concentrate on the crutches so I wouldn't trip myself with them, but I was getting the hang of it.

When I stepped outside, I spotted Max and Troy further down the path to the football field.

I was about to shout at them to get their attention, but I stopped to a halt and stayed silent when I noticed the atmosphere around them. Troy was clearly annoyed with Max.

"Yeah, well, weirder things have happened," Troy was saying.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Max asked.

"Nothing," Troy said, opening the door to the sports hall.

"Troy?" Max said and stopped him. "What did you mean?"

"I didn't mean anything! I just said that weirder things have happened!" Troy nearly shouted at his face and vanished inside the sports hall.

I just stood there for a moment, not really understanding what had gone wrong during that minute I'd stayed behind. I hoped things were all right and that Troy only got annoyed with Max's overwhelming worry over things.

When a group of people pushed past me, I remembered I was standing in the middle of the doorway. I hurried to continue my way to the bleachers. By the time I found a seat for myself, some members of the team were coming out of the locker rooms and started their warmups. Max and Troy joined them a moment later, but they were clearly avoiding each other.

I let out a sad sigh. I wished everything was all right... When Max spotted me, he waved at me shortly, but his smile seemed a little forced.

After that, it was one full hour of pure insanity on the field. I tried to concentrate, I really did, but I couldn't make any sense of their game. It looked like they were just playing tag with the ball and yelling weird things. I understood basketball better, even though I couldn't actually play the game.

To be fair, I was busy keeping an eye on Max and Troy. They still weren't talking to each other. They weren't even staying close to each other. I wanted to believe that they were just focusing on the game, but when they did interact, they did it in a freezing manner. They never had any quarrels, so it was weird to see them being so cold to each other.

After their practice, I waited for them to go get changed, but Troy was nowhere to be seen when Max walked out of the doors.

"Is everything all right between you and Troy?" I asked hesitantly, when he stopped right in front of me.

"I have no idea," Max sighed. "Do you still want to go to the mall?"

"If you want," I said quietly.

"Of course I do," Max said, and smiled. "You need new notebooks, right?"

I was about to say yes, but then I spotted Troy walking out of the doors with Luke and a couple of their friends. Troy stopped and stared at us with a weird expression on his face. Max noticed I was staring at something behind him, so he turned around. When he saw Troy, he quickly turned his attention back to me.

"Let's get going," Max muttered, gesturing for me to follow him, but we didn't get too far before Troy called for Max.

"Bro, wait up..."

Max stopped and turned around to watch Troy walk to us with an apologetic look on his face.

"What do you want?" Max asked in a slightly hostile voice.

It was really weird to see them two on bad terms. I stayed quiet, trying to turn invisible. Whatever was going on between them, it was none of my business.

"I'm sorry, all right?" Troy said.

Max was silent for a moment before he sighed. "You didn't need to snap at me like that."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, it's just..." Troy trailed off and looked over his shoulder, like he was making sure no one was hearing us. Luke and the two others were talking by the doors, paying no attention to us. "I... I..." Troy stuttered and fell silent again.

Max waited, but when Troy wasn't saying anything, he nodded shortly. "I just hope you know you can tell me anything. I'm here for you if you need someone to listen. Did something happen to you?"

At that point, Troy looked at me. It was just a short glance, but I could tell that whatever was on his mind, he didn't want me to hear about it. I guess Max noticed it too, since he dropped the subject.

"Are you still coming with us to the mall?" Max asked.

"Sure. Ben, Luke and Cain want to come too," Troy said. "More the merrier, right?"

Max turned to look at me, like he was waiting for my opinion. I was so stunned about it I didn't answer him at first.

"Oh, sure!" I hurried to say when they both looked at me.

"Great," Troy said with a smile and turned to wave at his friends, who joined our group. All three of them glanced at me shortly and nodded politely, like saying they had noticed my presence. I returned their gesture.

"Ben, Cain, you know Sky, right?" Troy asked.

"Sure," Cain spoke in an unimpressed voice.

"Let's go," Luke grunted.

I was still scared of him, even after we talked about dogs. He had apologized for attacking me, but I feared it didn't mean he wouldn't do it again. I had seen him staring at me a couple of times, and I couldn't describe his look as friendly. If I didn't know better, I would've said he was jealous because I was hanging out with Max. They had been friends long before I showed up, so maybe he really was angry because I was spending so much time with Max?

"Should we go get a wheelchair for the kid?" I heard Ben speaking to Cain, who laughed at his remark.

"Guys..." Troy muttered in a warning tone. "You promised to be nice."

"I never said that," Cain scoffed.

"You can go ahead," I said quietly, "I can't walk any faster."

"Yeah, you guys can go ahead," Max said with a disapproving frown. "No one is forcing you to come with us."

I really didn't belong in their group. They all were getting angry because of me.

"What's the hurry, anyway? Stop being so mean to Sky," Troy spoke, trying to calm everyone down.

"To that brat?" Cain muttered, making me feel even worse.

"Who are you calling brat?" Max and Troy spoke at the same time, but it was Troy who took a step closer to Cain. "What the hell is your problem?" he continued, while Max looked too pissed to find any words.

"My problem? What's your problem?" Cain asked, and shoved Troy a little.

"Knock it off!" Luke boomed, startling us all, and grabbed Cain from his hood. He looked really angry. "Don't be stupid!"

Cain yanked himself free from Luke's grip and retreated a couple of steps.

"You know what?" he said with a pissed look on his face. "Fuck you!"

And he stormed away. Ben looked after him, then at Luke, and decided to follow his friend. I was on the verge of tears, but I tried my hardest not to start crying in the middle of the schoolyard. I just felt so unbelievably miserable. I had no idea why everyone seemed to hate me so much.

"Don't worry about them," Max said reassuringly, placing his hand on my shoulder. "They are idiots for not seeing how awesome you are."

I looked up at him. He was smiling at me, and it did make me feel a little better.

"Yeah, they're just being assholes," Troy growled and turned to look at me. "Are you all right?"

"I'm... I'm fine..." I mumbled and looked down.

"Are you sure?" Max asked worriedly, and I had to smile a little.

"You keep asking that a lot," I said in a tiny voice.

"I just want to make sure you're all right," Max said. "They're just stupid jerks."

"Yeah, I never liked them anyway," Troy said, and I felt his hand on my other shoulder for a moment. "Come on, I'll buy you ice cream at the mall."

I had to laugh at his words. "I'm not a little kid," I said and looked up after I was sure my eyes weren't watery anymore. "You all keep treating me like I'm your little brother."

Troy laughed as well. "You are our friend – not a little brother."

I glanced at all of them. Troy and Max had encouraging smiles on their faces, while Luke had a calculating look in his eyes as he watched me. I was surprised he'd stayed.

"Let's get going then, shall we?" Max asked, and turned to look at Luke. "Are you still coming...?"

"Yeah," he said without hesitation, and turned to talk to me. "I'm sorry about what they said."

I shrugged a little. "I know most people don't like me–"

"They are stupid people," Max said sternly.

"Still. I'm a geek. I'm an easy target," I said quietly.

"Well, they need to come through us, so you're not an easy target anymore," Troy said with a serious look in his eyes. "Right guys?"

Max nodded before they both turned to look at Luke.

He sighed and shook his head before he muttered, "Fine, fine..."

"Now. Ice cream," Troy said and clapped his hands.

I smiled when we continued walking to the mall. I had friends. I really had friends who stood up for me. That was one of the best feelings I had ever experienced after moving here. How amazing was that?