"Guys! I'm home!" Matthias shouts from the front door. 

"Hey." I wave at him absently, too focused on my math book in front of me. 

"Hey, didn't expect for you to be down here." Matthias smirks a little bit when he sees me. "I see you joined Save the Planet today." 

"Yeah. I did. Gayle gave me a few shirts and jackets and stuff for when I'm handing out pamphlets, for something like that." I say. 

"That's great." 

"Hey, Matthias. Where's Abigail?" David asks, once he gets down stairs. 

"Working an extra shift. She'll be back by... 8, I think." Matthias nods. 

"Okay, but why? She doesn't need to." David says. 

"Thanks to the storm today, a bus full of people drove off of the road and into the woods. A lot of people got hurt, they're even calling in the people who aren't scheduled to work today. It's really bad." 

"That's so sad." Emma says as she emerges from the top of the stairs 

"But, hey, I don't see why we couldn't eat dinner out here tonight, and watch a movie." Matthias suggests. 

"I love movie nights." Emma says. 

"My vote goes to Remember the Titans." David says. 

"You're vote always goes to Remember the Titans." Emma whines. 

"What about you, Canada? What sounds good to you, tonight?" Matthias asks. 

"Oh... well, Gayle invited me to go hand out fliers around town today, something about how it was the perfect weather for it, or something." I say. 

"Huh. That is one strange boy." Matthias says. Even though he's saying it about Gayle, I can tell he's mainly teasing me. Watching to see how I'll respond. 

"He isn't strange." I say while retreating back to my old habit of mumbling. 

"I know." Matthias nods. 

"Anyways, I should probably pack a bag to take with me. He says we'll be walking a lot." I say. I get up from the couch, and walk up to my bedroom. I pack a jacket, some granola bars, and an extra thermos of blood. Just in case. A full moon isn't for a while, but just in case. I slide on check the sweat shirt in my mirror. It still looks good. I throw on some rain boots, and walk back downstairs. 

CANADA:

Where do you want to meet?

GAYLE:

Meet me at head quarters. I'll send you the address.

CANADA:
Thanks

"I'm heading out now. I should be back in a few hours." I announce as my hand rests on the front door. 

"Okay, have fun." Matthias nods. "Oh and uh, do me a favor?" He asks. I take my hand off of the handle, and turn to face him. 

"What?" I ask. 

"Control yourself." He says. 

"I will." I nod. "See y'all in a bit!"

"See you in a bit." Matthias nods. 

I walk out of the house, and think the address. I think of it over, and over, and over again. Then, I find an imagine, my brain shows it to me, and my limbs, and my instincts. I take off, letting my instincts make me practically fly over to the hut. 

I'm free as a bird. Free because I am flying. Only my fear has a hold on me, but even he doesn't want to take over me at this point. My feet occasionally brush the wet leaves of the forest. A few deer run about. I'm going so fast, that they don't notice me, and don't run away. 

I go faster, and faster. A smile grows on my lips. That rare, wide smile. I run, and run, and run, and run, and-

Thud

With one wrong step, I'm sent sliding onto the ground, landing right on my arm. Great. Of course, it is at this time that rain decides to go from a mild drizzle, to a full fledged down pour. I get back up, and limp the rest of the way to the head quarters. 

I finally see the small little lodge, and quicken my limp. Well, as fast as I could in a public place without being caught. 

"Canada! There you are!" Gayle says, running over to me. "What's wrong? Why are you limping?" 

"I tripped on my way here." I say. 

"Here, I'll help you inside." Gayle says, putting my arm around his shoulder, and letting me use him as a crutch to enter into the building. "You're soaking, and freezing Canada." 

"Yeah, it started pouring when I tripped, of course." I say. 

"Hey, it'll all be okay," Gayle says. Looking into his, eyes, I believe it, I truly believe it.

 He opens the door, and helps me inside. There's a small room, that leads to a much bigger room. Two green couches sit in the center of the room, and desks go along the walls. To people work at desks right next to each other. Two doors sit on either side of the room. 

"Oh! You must be Canada, it's so nice to meet you!" The first woman says, standing up and shaking my hand. "I'm Bernice, and that's my wife Maggie." Bernice shakes my hand, with nothing but joy in her eyes. 

"Hello!" Maggie says, waving to me, but quickly resumes working on her computer. 

"Maggie's in the zone right now. She's creating some amazing new graphics for Save the Planet." Bernice explains. 

"Canada, these are my Mom's. Yes, I have to of them." Gayle says. His eyes look like they're waiting for me to delver a blow, but I don't give it. Why would I?

"Okay." I nod. 

"Oh! Thank God! She's not a homophobe!" Bernice calls out. 

"I'm not." I say, smiling a bit. 

"Anyways, Canada, let's get you an ice pack." Gayle says, helping me to a couch, and walking over to a small kitchenette. 

"Why do you need an ice pack?" Bernice asks, sitting across from me on the other couch. 

"I tripped on my way over here." I say. 

"Let's have a look." Bernice says, taking off one of my rain boots, and rolling up my pant leg. I don't object. Somehow, I trust her. She gives off the same aura as Gayle. I wonder if Maggie does, too. "Oh, it's bruised, that's for sure. But by some miracle, it doesn't look sprained or broken."

Don't read further into it. Don't read further into it.

"Thank you." I nod. 

"No problem." Bernice smiles a bit. 

"Here's the ice." Gayle says, placing the ice on my ankle. "A hot chocolate should be coming out of the Keurig any minute now." 

"Aww, my boy knows first aid," Bernice pinches Gayle's cheek a little bit. Gayle face becomes one of embarrassment. 

"Mom," Gayle whines. 

"Okay, okay," Bernice says. "Since you know everything about first aid, what's the next step to keeping this nice girl warm?" 

"Giving her a set of dry clothes." Gayle says. 

"There's some in the closet. Get it from Maggie's. I think Maggie's more of your size." Bernice says. 

"On it." Gayle says. 

"Thank you, for helping me get into some dry clothes, and helping me with my ankle. I promise, I'll stay out for the extra time I missed, I promise." 

"Oh, how sweet are you. That won't be necessary. It's already cold and rainy." Bernice says. "Which means that it's going to be heck for both you and Gayle. The non believer's will ask why it's so cold. But you tell 'em that it's just the changing seasons in northern Michigan." 

"I will." I nod. 

"Found some!" Gayle announces as he comes out of one of the doors with a new set of jeans, socks, and a sweatshirt. 

"Thanks." I say. I stand up from the couch, and limp my way to the bathroom. 

"There's some towels in there if you want to dry off further!" Maggie calls out after me. Finally, some words out other than 'Hello'. I was worried she didn't like me. I put on the clothes to find that they're a perfect fit. I dry off further, and walk back out. 

"You look wonderful." Bernice says, smiling at me. 

"Done!" Maggie shouts, wheeling her chair away from her key board. 

"Let me see!" Bernice says, running over to the computer. "Oh, Maggie, it's perfect." 

Maggie just sheepishly rubs the back of her neck. "Thanks." 

"No problem, my love." Bernice says, laying a kiss on top of Maggie's forehead. I can't help but smile a bit. They're so happy. 

"Are you willing to start our foot post? It's totally okay if you're not." Gayle says. 

"Yeah. It's fine."

"I put your hot chocolate in a travel mug." Gayle says, handing me the cup.

"Thanks." I say. 

"No problemo." Gayle nods. He then cringes at his word choice. "I uh, hope you like the caramel flavor in hot chocolate. If you don't, it's totally fine, I have no issue with making another one." He rushes through the last bit. 

"No, caramel flavor is perfect." I nod. 

"Great." Gayle says, now chuckling a bit. I don't know why, but I join in for a brief second. "Would you like to go now?" 

"Yeah." I nod. 

"Wait! You should show her something in the entryway!" Bernice calls out. 

"Oh! Right! I almost forgot." Gayle says. "My bad. Come on, let's go," He says, dragging me through the door into the little small mud room. He shows me to a series of hooks and hangers, all labeled with different names. "Here's yours." He says, pointing to one. 

"It awesome. Thank you." I say. 

"No problem." He says. His smile somehow grows. "You ready to go?" 

"Yeah." I say. We both walk out the door, and down the sidewalks, looking for anyone walking through. He tales smaller, slower steps, so he's in line with me as I limp a little. 

"If you need a break, just let me know, okay?" Gayle says. 

"Of course." I nod. We keep walking around. "Gayle?" I ask, breaking the silence. 

"Hm?" He asks. 

"When you told me that today was the perfect kind of weather for telling people about the cause, what'd you mean? It's raining out. No one wants to be out in this weather." 

"Well, first of all, about the weather that no one wants to be out in, the people of Clair are either farmers, or hunters, or something that involves dedication to the land. They won't let something like rain stop them from doing anything." Gayle says. 

"Still didn't answer my question." I say. 

"I was getting there." He says, putting his hands up in defense. "I take it you heard about the bus crash?" 

"Yeah, I did. My mom's a nurse at the hospital." It's always weird to address Abigail as my mom. 

"Well, then you'll know it was because of the slippery roads. The weather has just been becoming more and more severe over the past few years. High highs, and low lows. Harmful hurricanes, and turbulent tornadoes. This also means, more severe storms. We'll just keep getting harder and harder hit."

"Because of climate change?" I ask. 

"Exactly. If we don't stop now, the whole city of Clair could become the next Great Lake." Gayle says. I can hear all of the pain, and passion, in his voice. This means something to him. "And quick." He says, pointing me down an alley way. 

"What's down there?" I ask. 

"I'm not pulling any funny business, just look for yourself." He says. I walk down the way, and see at least half my height in water. 

"Woah." I say. 

"I know." 

"And this is all because someone doesn't want to use wind or solar power?" 

"You know there are more things in this equation other than non-reusable resources." 

"I do." I say. 

"So, when one of these storms roll around, we can remind people who's fault it is." 

"Ours." I say. It's our fault. It's all our fault. Guilt washes over my whole body. 

"Hey, don't worry. You're part of the solution." Gayle says, he smiles just a little bit. I smile back. I think I've smiled more with him than I ever have with David, Emma, Abigail, or Matthias.

"Thanks." I nod. 

"No problem, now, come on, let's get back to helping people save the planet." Gayle says. We walk back up and onto the sidewalk. 

"There's still no one out here." I say. 

"I'm sure someone will be out soon. It's a Friday night." Sure enough, once Gayle finishes saying this, two people appear on the end of the Sidewalk. "See, I told you." Gayle says. 

"Moral of the story is to listen to you, then?" I ask, smirking a little bit.

"You can listen to me if you want to, but you can always listen to yourself. It's usually the loudest voice." Gayle says. 

"Steal that off a Hallmark card?" I ask. I find myself trying to shrink down. I went to far. Now he thinks I'm evil, and hates me. This is why I should never make friends. 

"No, actually. It was an old slogan from last year." 

Thank God. He didn't take offense. He took it in stride. 

"Oh." I say, laughing a bit. The couple is now closer. "We going to talk to them, or what?" I ask. 

"Why don't you try?" Gayle says. 

"No, I don't even know what to say, or how to act, or engage, or-"

"Hey, calm down. I wouldn't ever do that to you." Gayle says. 

We stop walking, an just sort of stare into each other's eyes. He has these little golden flakes that remind me of looking into the sun. If the sun wouldn't burn my retinas. He's probably thinking I'm being creepy, so I look away as quickly as I can. We both sort of laugh. I know my cheeks are red, and when I look over, his are the same. 

"I should probably talk to them." Gayle says. 

"Yeah, I'll just learn." I say. 

"Hop in with some facts if you want to, though." I say. 

"Excuse me, folks, hello." Gayle says, the couple stops, and looks at Gayle. "Hi, I'm Gayle, I'm with Save the Planet. Can I talk with you all about our current initiative, called 'The Little Things?'" 

"We don't have to for-"

"Go for it, man," The guy says, cutting off his girlfriend. 

"Thank you, so much. So the Little Things are every day things we can do to save the planet. This includes using LED, or Eco-Friendly light bulbs, recycling bottles, boxes and paper, wasting the minimum amount of water, and making sure we don't over hunt our animals." Gayle explains. 

"Oh, cool." The guy nods. 

"Can I interest you in a pamphlet?" Gayle asks. 

"Sure, bro." Gayle hands the couple a pamphlet, and they move on. 

"Have a nice night!" Gayle calls after the couple. "Did you learn anything?" 

"Yeah." I nod. "That lady didn't seem enthusiastic about it." 

"But the guy did. I take it where I can get it." Gayle says. We keep on walking, and Gayle keeps on handing out fliers. You would think with the small population, that everyone would know Gayle's spiel by heart, but they don't. Some people are just plain clueless. 

"It looks like the end of our shift." Gayle says, peeking at his watch. 

"Oh? It is?" I ask. 

"Yeah. Would you like us to drive you back home?"

"Oh, I'll be fine. I think that my mom should be able to pick me up."

"Okay then, do you want to text her?" Gayle offers. 

"Yeah." I pull out my phone sending Abigail a quick message. It gets marked as read, and soon a car pulls into the parking lot.

"There she is." I say. "I'll see you at school."

"See you then, Canada. Thanks for your help!" He waves at me enthusiastically.

"No problem." I say, hopping into Abigail's car, and close the door behind me.

"I thought you would run back home." Abigail says. 

"I hurt my ankle running here. Gayle's mom's helped make it better, though." I say. 

"That's great." Abigail says, smiling a little bit. "It was nice to finally see Gayle. He seems like a nice boy, isn't he?"

"How was work?" I mutter, in a final attempt to divert the conversation away from me.