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her way to find Ella was when she needed something. “Ella, can you take the boys to practice?” Or “Ella, can you pick up groceries on the way home?” Or “Maybe you could get the boys after the game?”
    Ella forced her family life from her mind. As she rounded the corner back to the lunch area, most of the tables were empty. Kids were tossing trash and collecting backpacks, heading off to class before the bell rang. Her girls were gone, but she spotted Jake and the other football players, just getting up. Jake hadn’t spotted her, so she slowed her pace. Classes were this way, so maybe if she waited Jake would walk with her.
    But the players gathered in a circle, laughing and giving occasional punches at each other’s shoulders. As the group started tobreak apart, Ella saw a guy walking toward them from the other side of the lunch area. He was a strange sort of kid. Ella had seen him before, but she wasn’t sure of his name. He usually hung in a group with the special-needs kids. Ella leaned her shoulder against the brick wall and watched.
    Just as the guy was about to pass the football players, he stopped. It wasn’t like he looked at them, but he must’ve known they were there because he quickly folded his hands and brought them up near his chin. He popped his elbows straight out to the sides and moved them up and down a little. Like a bird or something. He kept doing that as he tried to pass the guys.
    Jake was the first one to notice. He gave Sam a shove. “Look at this.” He moved to block the kid’s path. “It’s the freak.”
    “What?” Ella whispered to herself. A sick feeling spread through her stomach. That didn’t sound like Jake. She inched closer. The football players had their backs to her, and Ella was glad. She didn’t want Jake to notice her. Not yet, anyway. Maybe they were just playing around. When she was closer, she stopped again. Jake and his friends had created a blockade so the kid couldn’t pass.
    They weren’t having fun. They were picking on him. She felt her heart racing within her, and anger rushed hot into her bloodstream. Why would they bug the poor kid? She studied the boy. He was tall, but not as tall as Jake. Six feet or six-one, maybe. The guy lowered his hands to his side and looked beyond the football players straight at —
    Ella caught her breath. He was looking straight at her. And for the first time she could see what she hadn’t seen before. Despite his strange behavior, he looked like a normal guy. Muscled arms and shoulders and a tanned, handsome face. But that wasn’t why she gasped. It was his eyes. Baby blue and clearer than water around Tybee Island. His eyes were deep and pure and … Ellablinked. Something else. They were almost familiar, like she’d looked into them this way before.
    But that wasn’t possible. The special-needs kids had their own building. They never mixed in, except for maybe a class or two, and even this fall the guy with the blue eyes hadn’t been in any of her classes. Ella would’ve remembered him.
    Sam and Jake must’ve noticed that the kid was looking at Ella. Sam took a step closer and slapped the guy on the back of his head. “Don’t look at Jake’s girl, freak. Stick to your own kind.”
    Immediately, the kid started moving his arms again, his folded hands close to his chin. Ella’s anger doubled. Enough. She walked up and pushed her way through the football players until she was at Jake’s side. She looked at Sam and then at Jake. “Leave him alone.”
    “Baby!” Jake laughed, but he sounded nervous, like he’d been caught. He looked at a few of the guys around him for approval. “What? We were just having a little fun.” He raised his hands like he was innocent. “No big deal.” He took a step past her and gave the kid a little push. “Just messin’, right?”
    The kid stopped flapping his arms. He didn’t respond to Jake or act like he’d heard a word. Instead he stared at a spot in the sky just