The new, geeky kid in school gets partnered with a popular jock in biology. He believes that geeks and jocks can't be friends until this particular jock proves him wrong. And there may be something even better in the air...
*****
After his family mo...
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-Max-
After the last class of the day ended, Sky and I hurried to see Mr. Jones, our biology teacher. Sky told me to go ahead several times, but I refused to leave him behind, even if that meant we'd be too late. But we were in luck – when we arrived at his classroom, he was still there, collecting his papers.
"Hey guys," he greeted us cheerfully, glancing at Sky and his crutches. "What happened to you?"
"I fell and sprained my ankle," Sky explained, looking embarrassed. "Which is why we're here."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Our project," I spoke as we stepped in. "We chose owls as our subject, but Sky can't get to the barn where they live."
Mr. Jones stared at us for a second or two, then he seemed to realize our problem. "Ohhh, right... Hiking with crutches is a bit of a pain," he agreed. "Let me guess, you want to change your subject? It's completely fine since we haven't even started yet."
"Actually, we were hoping you could give us more time with it," I spoke, before Sky could take the offer – I knew he'd be willing to change it even though we already talked about it.
"More time..." Mr. Jones muttered, looking at Sky again. "Well, I can give you guys a week, but after that the project has to be handed in or I can't grade it. How long do you think it'll take before your leg is healed?"
"About a month," Sky said quietly, and Mr. Jones grimaced apologetically.
"A week is all I can do, really," he said. "Injuries are really unfortunate, which is why I suggest you choose something different – something you can easily get to. I mean, it wouldn't be fair to others if I let you guys get off the hook. Everyone is required to visit the subject once a week, eight times in total. There's the forest just across the street. You could go check it out and pick something easier – like that old spruce that's just a few feet away from the sidewalk. No one has picked it yet."
My mood kept on dropping while I listened to him speak. A spruce...? I turned my attention to Sky, who looked back at me with a small frown. He seemed just as disappointed as I felt.
"I'll tell you what," Mr. Jones said when neither of us replied. "I'll give you time to think it over until next week. You don't have to start with the project until then, okay?"
"Okay..." I muttered, and Sky nodded.
"Who knows, maybe your leg is much better by then?" Mr. Jones said, clearly seeing how miserable we were. "I have to admit, I was really excited to see your project – no one in my entire career has had owls before. Is there no way to get to them without walking?"
"Not really – the closest we can get is about a mile," I said.
"That's really unfortunate. A mile huh..." Mr. Jones said, and rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression.
