They were on his desk again, like they'd been for the last month. Small, origami cranes had taken over the wooden surface, forming a picture.

"The beach today, huh? The theme continues...I wonder if she's tired of the cold? It's already November..." James mumbled softly under his breath as he pulled his chair out, sitting down and unzipping his bookbag. James had a small smile on his face as he slowly, carefully put each of the paper birds inside. It was lucky English was the last class of the day, or else they'd all likely be crushed before James would be able to get them home.

"She did it today too?" The question came from his left, the speaker being his friend Toni. The young brunette gave a soft huff as she sat in her seat, her green eyes holding annoyance as she spoke. "This is getting creepy, like the start of a stalker based horror movie." She paused speaking for a moment, but not long enough for James to reply. "Scratch that, this situation has passed that point. I'm going to find you dead in a basement."

"It isn't creepy Toni." James shook his head, "Doing this makes her happy, and I like the cranes. They're well made."

"You've talked to Skylar once. Just one time, and she's been littering your desk with those things for the last month.  If it was one of your actual friends, it'd be fine...It's creepy because she's creepy. Skylar doesn't talk to anyone, she doesn't have any friends either. All she does is sit around, making those things."

James sighed, looking over at the girl being spoken of.

Skylar Drews.

It was no secret that she was the school outcast. Even though she'd been with the rest of the juniors since kindergarten, those who even noticed her, noticed that she had never seemed to have a friend. Skylar was always alone, but she never seemed to mind that.

James hadn't noticed her before either, until earlier that month. The male had been walking down the hall when he'd noticed the girl had dropped her things.

No one else seemed to be helping her, so James felt pretty bad for her. Of course, he started to help right away. Since he didn't recognise her, James had assumed that she was an underclassman.

Skylar was plain looking, but she was still cute, at least to James. She had long, curly, light brown hair. Her eyes were a dark blue, though James didn't see much of them since she was constantly looking away.

Skylar hadn't spoken at all as they'd picked everything up. However, James had noticed something around her neck. It was a silver necklace with a matching charm. The charm itself was an origami crane.

Seeing that had prompted James to tell Skylar that he liked them. She hadn't replied verbally, or right away, but the next day, James walked into English to find his desk covered in them, along with a note.

The note was simple enough, and the hand writing was easy to read.

'Thanks for yesterday. I like them too.'

And, that's when two things happened. Firstly, James realized that Skylar was both in his class and grade, which he'd never noticed.

Secondly, it began a regular form of communication between James and Skylar. James would take the cranes home, and put his favorite ones from the day in a shoebox. He never wanted to throw all of them away, since it was clear to him that Skylar spent a lot of time to make each one.
The ones he liked most were the ones where she'd drawn little faces on.

But, then, for the first time since they'd met, Skylar didn't come to school.

Since James didn't have class with her until the end of the day, he didn't notice Skylar was missing until he walked into class, spotting first that his desk had nothing on it, then that her's was empty. Somehow, it gave James a rather lonely feeling as he sat down.

"James, what's with that face all of the sudden?" Toni asked, tapping his shoulder, smiling as she did. In contrast with James's disappointed expression, Toni couldn't seem to have been in a better mood.

"I'm fine." James shook his head, trying to give a reassuring smile to match his words. It made no sense for him to be upset over a single absence. Pretty much everyone missed at least a day of school, Skylar included.

The walk home with Toni seemed to take less time then normal, and James's bookbag felt lighter, dispite only missing paper out of it. Still, James talked to Toni and smiled like always, before they parted ways upon reaching her house.

The next two weeks went by like that. Some days, Skylar would show up to school, though she seemed distracted, and still didn't leave any origami cranes. Other days, she didn't show up at all, or would leave early. When James would see her in the hall, she seemed tired and distracted, as though she was in deep thought.

It really had James worried, though he still didn't know if talking to her about it was a good idea. They'd only spoken once, and then she'd only conveyed her thoughts in notes. Skylar had never said a single word to James, so he didn't know if she even wanted to speak with him.

But, all seemed normal on the Monday of the third week. James walked into English, and found his desk covered in the cranes, this time's pattern being a simple rainbow. Among the cranes was a note.

"Really? She's doing this again?" Toni asked, using an annoyed tone she hadn't broken out for the last two weeks.

"Yup." James nodded happily as he made his way over to his desk, taking a seat.

"You're back on cleanup duty then." Toni sighed, flopping down into her seat, looking at James. "You seem pretty happy about it though..."

"Because I am." James replied, starting to clean up the cranes, leaving reading the note for when he got home, since it seemed like a long one.

"You aren't supposed to be so happy." Toni replied. "It's strange...Neither of you talk to each other, right? But just seeing those makes you so happy, and she keeps making them for you...So, why is that?"

James couldn't think of an answer to that, so he simply shrugged as the lecture started. Toni fell silent and seemed to be paying close attention, so James did the same. He wondered if something was upsetting her, but when the bell rang, she stood up with a smile.

"Hey, are you going to watch PriPri tonight?" Toni asked as she grabbed her bag, seeming as though she'd forgotten all about the conversation, either that or she didn't care.

"Yeah, with my sister. Aren't you going to come over?" James asked, confused. They always watched PriPri together, since it started it's run back in middle school.

Toni shook her head, "Not today, sorry. Something came up so...Can you just record it for me?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course. I won't spoil anything for you either." James grinned widely, picking up his bag. He could hear the cranes shifting around inside, adding just a little weight to it. Things seemed normal again now.

"Thanks. Come on, I'll still walk home with you." Toni returned the grin, beginning to walk. James followed behind her and they started to head home.

Once they parted ways, James went into his house, heading for the living room first. He wanted to make sure to record PriPri before he forgot. As soon as that was done, he went up to his room to take care of the cranes.

James closed his door, heading over to his closet and getting out the shoebox. It was rather heavy in his hands, and he wasn't sure how many more cranes would be able to fit. But, a few more would be fine before he'd need a new one.

Walking over to his desk, James set down the box before taking a seat himself. Once he took the lid off the box, he was greeted with all of his favorite cranes from the last month in a half. Most of them had smiling faces, and quite a few were different shades of blue.

Humming happily, James unzipped his bag and dumped the cranes onto his desk, starting to sort through, picking out his favourites like normal. As he did, he remembered the note, searching for it. It didn't take too long to find, and James pulled it out from the rest of the paper.

The "note" honestly was more of a short letter, being just a little over a page. James leaned back in his chair a bit, he started to read.

'Hey James. Sorry it's been so long since the last time I made you these. Were you worried? If you were, or still are, I'm again sorry, but don't be. I'm fine! I've just been getting ready to move lately, and it's a lot more work then the movies make it seem. I've never moved before, and I'm not sure if I'm excited or nervous. Honestly, the new house is pretty far, but my mom seems to love the location a lot, and she's sure I'll make a few friends. I know I won't be missed here at least. But, I'm not sad to leave at all. My new home should be warmer! You might have noticed, but I can't stand the cold. The move date is this Friday, so there isn't much longer left for me to wait.'

James had to read the note twice to let the words written fully sink in. Skylar was moving, and she was moving far away. She seemed excited for it at least, but James couldn't help but feel a pit form in his stomach.

But, it wasn't like anything he could do to stop it. It would be weird if he even tried to protest, seeing as he and Skylar weren't really friends. They weren't even pen pals since James never actually replied to her notes.

He looked over at the box, practically overflowing with origami. If he couldn't stop Skylar from leaving, the least he could do is say goodbye properly.

The next day, James went to English was quickly as he could. Slowly, he poked his head into the room, glancing around. It didn't seem like anyone was in there yet, not even Skylar. That was good.

Quickly, he made his way over to Skylar's desk, clutching the shoebox tightly in his hands. He needed to work fast, so that he'd at least get mostly done before Skylar got to class. He just hoped she was present today.

Unlike Skylar, James wasn't creative. He couldn't fold origami, let alone arrange it into an image. Rather, all he could do was take his favourites that had already been made, and put them on the desk in a way that at least looked okay.

People started to come into the classroom when he was about halfway through the box. It seemed like he wouldn't be done before Skylar came in, no matter how quickly he worked. After all, she was always one of the first people to class.

Already, James could feel her eyes on him. "Hey, sorry Skylar. Can you please not look over here?" He asked, "I'll be done in a second, then you can look."

James didn't check if she was still looking or not, he just continued placing the cranes as fast as he could. Once he was done, he stood up. "Alright, you can look now."

When he turned around, he saw Skylar turning back around as well, looking at her desk in confusion. Slowly, she walked over by James, looking at them, before she picked one up in her hands.

"This is my goodbye. It was the only way I could think to do it properly..." James replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Goodbye?" Skylar asked, her voice was soft and very feminine. "You're leaving?"

"No?" James replied, slightly confused. "But...Aren't you? Your note said you were moving, right? Far away?"

Skylar stared at him a moment, before she started to laugh. "Oh, wow, I must have worded that note horribly. I'm not leaving, I'm actually moving closer to the school. Right now, I live out in the middle of nowhere. My house is really old, and it's hard to heat everywhere. Besides that, I don't have any neighbors for miles, so my moms worried that I don't have any friends because of this...Besides, even if I was leaving, I wouldn't want you to give these back. I made them for you, and I'm really happy to have found someone who likes them as much as I do." She explained, moving her hands as she spoke.

"So, you're not leaving, and I panicked and made a mess of your desk for nothing?" James asked, feeling both foolish and relived.

"Essentially." Skylar nodded, keeping her smile. "Well, I guess I wouldn't say it was for nothing. It gave me a reason to actually talk to you."

"You could talk to me any time you wanted. I mean, you still could." James replied.

"Well, I can't right now." Skylar replied, her voice suddenly softening as she sat down. James felt worried right away, feeling as though he did something wrong.

"Why not?" He asked quickly, making Skylar look up at him.

"James...The bell rang and class is starting...Everyone is looking at us." Skylar replied, nodding towards their glaring teacher.

James took a quick glance around, realizing everyone was in fact looking at them. He practically ran to his seat, feeling his face heat up. But, he was grinning still.

The rest of the day went by quickly. After the bell rang, James went over to Skylar and exchanged numbers. Then, like always, he went home with Toni. The two of them watched PriPri, then Toni went home, and James's life continued as normal.

And, like normal, James went into English the next day. On his desk, there was his shoebox.

It was now overflowing completely with paper cranes.