2. The Project

-Sky-

"So, what should we pick as our project?"

I heard the question, but my brain had temporarily shut down. There was only one thought in my head.

Max Peterson is my partner! Maximus Peterson himself is my freaking partner! I get to spend two whole months with him!

"Sky?" Max spoke my name, waving his hand in front of my eyes.

"Sorry," I muttered with a blush, and looked down at my desk.

"You seemed like you were deep in your thoughts," Max said with a smile. "What were you thinking about?"

I turned to peek at him shyly. The look in his eyes was curious, not mean or mischievous like I'd feared. Obviously, I couldn't tell him the truth, and since I was bad at lying, I decided to change the subject.

"Your eyes – I never realized they were different colors," I stammered.

"Oh, it's called heterochromia," Max explained. "I was born with them."

I nodded and stared at his eyes for a long time. They fascinated me. They made him even more interesting, if possible. I didn't realize what I was doing until Max cleared his throat, and I snapped awake. I quickly turned to look away in embarrassment.

"Uh... Sorry... I didn't mean to stare..."

"Don't worry. You're not the first one to do that," Max chuckled, turning his attention back to the papers in front of him.

If he thought people stared at him because of his eyes, he was horribly wrong. I was receiving ugly looks from pretty much everyone in our class. I had the feeling my life wasn't going to get any easier from now on. I was the weirdo of the school, and even I knew I didn't deserve to be Max's partner.

"What subject should we pick?" Max asked again.

"I – I don't know. What do you want?" I asked nervously.

"I have no idea what is interesting enough. I don't know much about animals," he said with a grin. "I like dogs, but I don't think Mr. Jones lets us pick them."

I had a few options already, but I wasn't sure if Max would like them. I was losing my courage to speak to him since the other students were getting pissed at me for getting his attention.

"H-How about owls?" I asked quietly.

"Owls? Aren't they nocturnal?" Max frowned.

"They can be awake at dusk or early in the morning," I said. I got my excitement back as I started talking about the owls. "I saw a pair when I was hiking around a week ago. I think I can find their nesting site. They were barn owls. It could be fun to follow their life."

Max was about to say something, but I was on a roll already.

"I found this abandoned farm not far from here. I bet that's the center of their territory. We can spend several nights there and study them as much as we want, but we need to be careful not to spook them away. There's an old barn we can use, or we can bring a tent and sleep outside and–"

"Wow now, hold on," Max chuckled. "I thought you were too shy to speak."

I snapped my mouth shut. "Sorry, I like nature..." I muttered in embarrassment.

"I can see that," Max said cheerily. "So, owls? I think I can do that. I don't have much time during the days with football practices and homework, anyway."

"Are you sure? We can pick something easier..." I said quietly.

"Let's take owls," Max said and raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Peterson?" Mr. Jones said when he noticed Max.

"We have a subject," Max said. "We're picking owls."

"Owls? That's a great choice," Mr. Jones said with a smile. "Is there a particular species you are thinking about?"

Max gave me a questioning look, and suddenly, all eyes were on me.

"Barn... owls..." I muttered, knowing our teacher couldn't hear me. I just couldn't speak any louder, not with everyone staring at me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that, Mr. Jenkins," Mr. Jones said, and Max smiled encouragingly at me.

Max must've heard me, but it seemed like he wasn't going to speak on my behalf. I had no choice, so I cleared my throat. "I know a pair of barn owls close by," I spoke with a high-pitched voice, but at least everyone heard me this time.

"Barn owls. They are pretty birds. Good choice," Mr. Jones praised and turned to write it down on his papers. "Max and Skyler are taking barn owls. The rest of you still have a week to decide what you're going to choose."

The others turned to their partners to discuss their possible projects, and I sighed in relief when they lost interest in me. I glanced at Max, who was still smiling at me. He patted my shoulder and turned to write down barn owl as our subject in his papers.

I was close to a melting point at that moment. Max touched my shoulder! He was being friendly to me! I knew he was friendly to everyone, but he was way too good to waste his time with a geek like me!

"So – when do we start with this project? Do we really need to go camping?" Max asked, and turned to look at me with a hint of worry in his eyes.

"We don't have to if you don't want to. But, like you said, they are nocturnal." I spoke, trying my hardest not to start throwing all the information I had about owls at him.

"Aren't there wolves and bears in the woods, though?" Max asked cautiously.

I stared at him in disbelief before I bluntly blurted, "Not in this area."

It was sometimes hard to remember that not everyone was interested in nature. I knew there weren't any dangerous animals living in our area – close to the city anyway – but that didn't mean everyone else knew that.

"Are you sure?" Max asked.

"I'm sure," I nodded. "There's nothing dangerous in the woods."

"Oh, all right," Max said, looking relieved. "I've never been camping before."

"You haven't? But camping is awesome! When I was little, my parents started taking me camping once a month," I told him.

"Oh? So why did you stop?" Max asked curiously.

"We didn't, I just prefer camping on my own now. My parents are too noisy. They scare the animals away, so I go alone."

"You seem to take camping seriously," Max chuckled without even the slightest hint of mockery in his voice.

"I just really like animals... And nature," I mumbled.

"Well, in that case I believe I'm in good hands," he smirked just before Mr. Jones asked for our attention again.

I spent that entire class high above the clouds. I was feeling super encouraged by his kindness, and it was really fun talking with him. Although he did look spooked every time I started ranting about nature... I was embarrassed, but the fact that he was still nice to me made me feel better.

I had a smile on my face when the class ended, and I followed Max's example when he started gathering his books. It seemed like some of my classmates had chosen their subjects as well, but most of them were still arguing with their partners as we left the room. Hearing them made me so happy that Max liked my idea.

And that he was my partner.

Once we were outside in the hallway, he spotted his friends and turned to me. "Are you free after school? I think we should start planning how we're doing this project," he said.

I saw the annoyed and impatient looks I was receiving from his friends, and suddenly, I didn't have any courage left.

"Sky?" Max waved his hand over my face.

"Uh, yeah, I'm free," I stammered, turning to look away from the group.

"Cool! I'll wait for you by the entrance. We can go to a coffee shop or something," he suggested. "See you after school!"

"Sure, that sounds–" I began, but he was already walking away, "–good," I finished, even though he couldn't hear me anymore.

I watched him as long as I could, but soon, he vanished behind a corner. I could still hear him laughing with all his friends while I was left alone in the corridor, squeezing my books against my chest.

My loneliness had never felt as bad as it did at that moment.

*****

I never thought I could be depressed. I'd never felt like that in my entire life, not until we moved here. It was never this hard to connect and talk with people back in my old school. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to make friends with people who only gave me up-and-down looks and snickered at my turtle backpack. Yes, I probably looked more like a five-year-old, but back in my old school people looked more like me and didn't really care about what people were wearing.

Or about those annoying smartphones...

I listened in on the conversations the people had as I passed them by, but mostly I could only hear the dull beeping of their phones and absentminded replies whenever someone tried to talk to them. Sometimes one of them looked up to show their screen to a friend or to read something out loud. I was amazed they could even see me behind their phones. How did they have time to mock my appearance while taking dozens of selfies?

I was an outsider in more ways than one. I didn't like electronics. I had a phone that was half my age, and it was enough for me. I loved nature, but here people seemed disgusted about crossing a well-kept lawn. I didn't know anything about fashion, sports or celebrities, and those were the top three things people here seemed to care about.

I let out a deep breath when school finally ended. I'd managed to not miss a single class, and it was obviously a good thing, but I was too sad to be happy about it. I made my way to the entrance to wait for Max, but I wasn't sure if he even remembered me anymore.

While I waited outside the doors, I texted Mom to let her know I wouldn't be coming home right away. My parents were always cool with everything I did as long as my grades were good. They knew the worst thing I would do was to wander into someone's property while following insects, so they trusted me.

I was honestly surprised when I suddenly heard Max's voice coming from inside the school. I took a few steps closer to the doors in my excitement, but his words stopped me.

"I already promised to hang out with him," he said.

"Come on – why would you hang out with that nerd?" someone replied with an annoyed tone.

"He's my partner in biology, remember? I told you about it," Max said, his voice coming closer this time.

"You can do your little project later. The whole team is going out to eat! You need to come!"

"I'll join you guys next time. This project affects my grades, so I'd like to get it done sooner rather than later."

"Fine. You're such a nerd, always obsessing over homework."

"That's why I'm getting a full ride to college," Max said cheerily.

"You're way too confident about that," his friend chuckled. "Fine, go with the geek. You'll ruin your reputation though – I'd hate to be seen with him."

My heart dropped when I heard that. His words made me feel horrible, and I wanted to run away, but there was an odd moment of silence in the hallway that made me stay still.

"He's not that bad," Max suddenly said. He didn't sound happy anymore.

"Not that bad? He dresses like a toddler!"

"So?"

There was even a longer pause this time. I wasn't sure who was more surprised about Max's reaction: me or his friend.

"I uh... No... I guess it doesn't matter..." the guy muttered.

"That's what I thought," Max said with a cheerier tone. "I'll see you later."

I didn't have time to hide from Max when he stepped outside and noticed me, stopping to a halt. Then, he peered back inside with an embarrassed look in his eyes. He knew I'd heard them.

"It's all right – I am a geek," I told him.

"No, you're not," Max said. "Cain is just... Cain."

"Right," I mumbled, and an awkward silence surrounded us.

This was starting so well... But I was happy, nonetheless. His reaction to Cain's words had brought my mood right back up.

"So, uh, I know this coffee shop," Max broke the silence, looking nervous. "It's not far from here."

"Sure," I said, trying to act cool even though I was feeling giddy just by standing next to him.

He was so great...!

I followed him through the yard, but once we stepped out of the gates, I noticed a pigeon close by. It was staring at us with one eye, clearly expecting us to give him food. I didn't even notice I slowed down to take a closer look.

I also forgot I had company.

"Sky?"

With a blush, I hurried my steps to catch up with Max. He frowned at me, and then at the pigeon.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, nothing... His feathers have a nice pattern..." I murmured.

Max's frown grew deeper when he glanced at me. "It's just a pigeon. There's plenty of those in here."

"I... I know..." I nodded, feeling embarrassed.

As we continued walking, I kept my head down. I had no idea where we were going since I didn't dare to look around anymore. I didn't want to seem like a freak in Max's eyes. I didn't want him to know how easily I got distracted by animals.

We walked for a few minutes in silence, but all of a sudden, Max grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said, taking me completely by surprise. "I didn't mean to be rude."

"When?" I asked with wide eyes.

"Just now. The pigeon. I didn't mean to offend you. I just didn't think pigeons could be that interesting," he said apologetically.

"You didn't offend me at all," I said, giving him a small smile. "I know no one thinks they're interesting because they are everywhere, but I think they are. Like, did you know wild pigeons are offspring of domestic birds? Or that doves were used as messengers during wars? Oh, and the word 'pigeon' is French and derives from a Latin word, pipio – it means 'to chirp' or 'tweet'. There are all kinds of pigeons around the world, and some are almost extinct."

"Oh, wow. You know a lot about pigeons," Max said with a shocked look in his eyes.

I shut up again. I wished the ground had swallowed me whole at that very second. Max stared at me like I was a freak – which I was.

"That's quite impressive," Max continued when I didn't speak. "You really do like nature."

"I do, yeah," I said sheepishly.

He gave me a smile and gestured at me to follow him. "So, what else can you tell me about pigeons?"

I tried to guess if he was messing with me, but since he seemed actually interested, I found my courage to speak.

"Well, they have long-term relationships, but they don't mate for life like people think. Sometimes they find new partners. When they're nesting, both of the parents take care of the babies, and they like to build their nests in abandoned buildings, like warehouses. There can be hundreds of pairs nesting in the same building at the same time."

I told him a lot more about different pigeons and doves, and he listened quietly while we walked. When I finally stopped speaking, I found myself sitting in the coffee shop with a cup of tea in front of me. I had to stop and stare at our surroundings for a moment. I had no memory of ever stepping into the shop!

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to talk so much," I gasped.

"It's all right, I learned a lot," Max said with a chuckle. "If you know as much about the barn owls, I think we'll get A plus."

I blushed at his words. No one had ever listened to me as long as he had just now. I had no idea if he'd paid attention to my blabbering, but I didn't really care. He had let me talk without getting annoyed.

"So, how are we going to do this project?" he asked.

"We need to find their territory first," I said. "Then we just need to keep an eye on them. I can dig up everything there is to know about the breed, like where they live, where they came from and so on, and–"

"Nope – we are going to dig up everything there is to know. I'm not going to make you do all the hard work," Max said with a stern voice. "We are supposed to do this together, remember?"

I could only stare at him. How wonderful could he be? Max was digging his schoolbag while I admired him. He pulled out the thick pile of papers our teacher had given us and put them down on the table.

"Are we trying to get everything listed here done? There was something about interviewing an expert – it's not mandatory, but I think we could earn extra credit if we did that," Max spoke.

I snapped awake from my trance.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I said with a smile. "I might know someone who can help us."

"Good, because I got nothing," Max laughed lightly.

I smiled too. "So, are you fine with camping in the woods?"

"Only if you promise I won't get eaten by a bear," he joked playfully.

"There hasn't been any sightings in this area in years – I've checked that already," I said reassuringly.

"Then it's settled. When are we going?" Max asked.

"I think we need to do some groundwork first," I said. "But maybe next weekend?"

"We can think about that later," Max said, turning his attention back to the papers. "I need to go buy a sleeping bag..." he chuckled.

"You don't have one?" I asked with wide eyes, and he shook his head.

"I've never been on a camping trip before," he reminded me with a smirk.

"Well, that's about to change," I smiled.

He gave me a long, suspicious look, but then he shook his head in amusement.

"This project should be interesting," he laughed cheerily. "Who would've thought I'd have to follow some owls through the forest in the middle of the night for a school project."

"Stranger things have happened," I shrugged.

Like me getting Max as my partner for the project.

And maybe – hopefully – as a friend.