I'm Scott Malkinson

25- Anxious

Friday Clyde slipped into the stands next to Scott as he was sitting at Sophie's practice. Scott looked up from his book as he noticed someone sitting beside him. "Hey Clyde," he greeted, "what's up?"

Clyde looked uncharacteristically nervous, as if he was having trouble bringing himself to speak. Scott had never seen him like this; he had always been so outgoing. Why was he behaving so strangely? What had caused this shift in his usual cheerful attitude. Clyde finally gathered his words and asked. "Did you have any plans when you were done with Sophie's practice?"

"We were gonna head over to Tweak Bros," Scott replied. "Did you want to come with?"

"Uh sure," Clyde replied. He didn't look too excited though. Did things not work out with that girl he liked? Was that why he was so sad looking? "After Tweak Bros, you doing anything?"

"I was just gonna walk Sophie home, why?"

Clyde paused and took a deep breath like he was trying to find the courage to say whatever he was about to. His nervous behavior was starting to worry Scott. "Did you want to maybe spend the night at my house? My dad's gonna be gone all weekend and it gets pretty lonely all by myself."

As Clyde was speaking, he nervously bounced one leg. He couldn't seem to sit still, and was avoiding Scott's eye contact. Was this some sort of cry for help? What kind of bad things was he scared would happen if he was left there alone? Scott briefly wondered if Clyde wasn't as happy as he let on. Maybe he was struggling in some way that he'd kept hidden.

"Yeah I can come over," he replied. If there was any chance that Clyde was struggling with something serious, he wanted to be there for him. That's what friends were for, right? To help each other out when they were going through shit. To be there through the good times and the bad. Scott found Clyde's hand and picked it up in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Are you alright?"

Clyde nodded, giving him a slight smile. "Yeah I'm alright."

After Tweak Bros and dropping off Sophie, Scott and Clyde walked towards Scott's house so he could grab a change of clothes and let his parents know he'd be spending the night at Clyde's. They were in and out rather quickly, as Scott's dad was still at work and his mom wasn't much of a talker. Before they knew it they were back at Clyde's place.

As they approached the front door they were immediately greeted with the sound of barking from Clyde's dog. Once the door had opened, they were nearly tackled by an excited black and white border collie. "Hey Harper, I missed you," Clyde told him, scratching between his ears. Harper flopped over happily on the ground and Clyde rubbed his belly while he happily rolled around on the floor.

Clyde set down his things by the door and stood up. He started walking towards the kitchen. "Let's get you some dinner buddy. I bet you're hungry." Harper followed enthusiastically.

Scott wondered if Clyde's previously nervous demeanor was all in his imagination. He seemed pretty much like his normal self now. There was no sign of the awkwardness or jittering Scott had seen before. Maybe Scott had just misread the situation; he had to admit he wasn't always the best at reading people.