They started yelling at him and he was confused as to why, and when they figured out that he didn't know what they were talking about, they clammed up and dragged him over to me.

Turns out... he didn't hear anything.

He's been avoiding me because his mom and dad told him he had to.

The whole jumping on top of the van thing got him in some serious trouble at home. And they were afraid for me, too. They told him it was better to have a 'clean break' and just avoid me.

We talked. He didn't want to avoid me, and he and his parents like my family, but they said he had to stop talking to me even. They're the ones that told him to turn around and go the other way if he saw me in the hall.

So, after school, after Aca-Deca practice, I found out that the four girls had kept him waiting for me.

They stood just out of earshot on the school front lawn to make sure we talked.

From his point of view, that day, he saw the weirdness happening and climbed a tree and called 9-1-1. He jumped onto the van and it took off. He tried to let go, but his backpack was caught on the vent/window thing on top. So he slipped off and... well, he didn't hear anything that I was worried about him hearing.

About that time, Mom pulled up.

I looked at her.

She nodded, and then turned off the car and pulled out a book.

I looked back at the boy sitting in front of me... the one that I had finally admitted that I was falling for...