The wind blew, swirling my hair around my face, I reached up and shoved it away with a sigh, gently kicking my legs. My hand came back down and I gripped the rough branch I was sitting on, adjusting my position as I looked out through the branches, between the leaves and I smiled. Ever since mom and dad died, I would come here, to this old maple tree in the middle of the park down the street from my aunt’s house. I would climb the thick limbs, making my way to the middle where there was a particularly wide branch, perfect for sitting. I loved the view from up here.

The tall tree was directly in the middle of the park, right behind the playground. I would come here and just people watch. It was fascinating, watching all the different people walk through, some stopping, letting their children play, others continuing on, chatting away on their cell phones, just living their lives. It was a weird thing to comprehend, my world had all but ended, my parents dead, leaving me and my brother to live with my aunt, who didn’t want us there about as much as we didn’t want to be there, yet the world kept spinning. People woke up, went to work, went home. They lived their lives. Life went on.

I sighed again, wishing Fin was here with me. He would have loved to be here, taking in the views. He was at Jake’s though, working on their music. Ever since mom and dad died, it seemed like he was always at Jake’s now, always working on their music. He had been telling me about it, apparently they met some boy, Chase, and I guess he was really good at bass. They were in talks of maybe adding him to their band, which I found funny considering it was hardly a band at the moment, just Fin and Jake, two boys who loved playing the guitar and Jake had an amazing voice, and that was really all it was.

Every day after school Jake and Fin would rush over to Jake’s house where they would cover Blink-182 and The Used songs until dinnertime and then Fin would come back to our house, help me with my homework, ask me about my day and then go to sleep and the next day would be the same. Except the weekends, then Fin spent the whole day at Jake’s, sometimes not even coming home, leaving me alone. I guess that was how I found this place, my own little retreat. I hated sitting at Aunt Karen’s, doing nothing. Karen would always try and get me to do something with her, asking if I wanted to play a board game, or help her with her coupon clipping, though after me constantly turning down her offers I guess she got the hint and started leaving me alone.

One day I couldn’t take it anymore and jumped up from my spot on the couch quickly, startling Karen who was at the table, clipping coupons.

“You alright sweetie?” she asked, setting the scissors on the table.

“Um, actually, is it okay if I take a walk?” I practically begged, I needed to get out of the house.
Karen pursed her lips, thinking, before sighing.

“Well, I guess so, but don’t go past the park down the street, okay?” she picked up the scissors again.

I nodded and practically ran out of the house. It didn’t take me long before I ended up at the park, noticing the big maple tree almost immediately. I wasn’t sure what motivated me to climb it, I had never climbed a tree in my life, but I just had this overwhelming urge to at least try. So I did and I found the spot I was currently sitting in, noticing how it offered the perfect view of everything. Time seemed to change as I was sitting there, up in the tree as I watched the world go on below me, because what seemed like only minutes later, I heard Fin’s frantic voice, shouting my name and I noticed him running toward the park.

I jumped down from my spot, landing with a thud as I lost my balance. I brushed myself off and started heading towards Fin, waving my hand to get his attention. He noticed me almost immediately and started running toward me, a look of relief of his face. He engulfed me in a hug, surprisingly, before he leaned back, keeping his hands on my shoulders.

“What the hell Scottie, where were you?” he asked, a little breathless.

“What do you mean? I told Karen I was going for a walk?” I was more than confused.

“Yeah, and that was almost four hours ago Scott! She called Jake’s in a panic, she thinks you ran away!”

“Oh.” I muttered, had I really been sitting in a tree for four hours?

“What were you doing anyway?” Fin asked, turning me around and placing his arm around my waist as he started guiding us back to Karen’s.

I shrugged. “Just sitting in that tree,” I turned a little, pointing toward the maple tree.

Fin stopped us for a moment, turning to give me a look before he started walking again. “You know, you’re pretty weird sometimes Scottie,” he said, chuckling. I smiled and shrugged as we continued to walk back home. Fin shook his head.

That had been almost a month ago, and ever since that day, coming to the park and sitting in my tree had become routine. Every day after school, Fin would head to Jake’s and I would go the opposite way, heading to the park and both of us would return home at dinner time. It was nice, having a place to go to, where I could clear my head and just watch the world in silence, no one asking if I was alright, or asking if I wanted to talk about my parents. I could just be alone, something I was starting to both enjoy and hate at the same time. I missed the company that Fin offered, sure we would spend the nights together, doing homework and checking in on each other but all Fin ever really talked about any more was music and I just didn’t want to hear about how Jake was really starting to get all the pitch shifts down.

And while I did miss my brother, I would never take him away from his music, I would never make him choose, mostly because I was scared of what his choice would be. A noise below me startled me from my thoughts, causing me to jump and I had to grip the branch before I would have tumbled to the ground below. I muttered a curse word, a bad habit I was starting to pick up off of Fin. I was able to steady myself and I looked down, noticing a boy about my age looking up to me.

“Hey, what are you doing up there?” I heard him ask.

“Just sitting here, thinking,” I responded and noticed how the sun was starting to set, meaning it was almost dinner time, I started to climb down.

“Thinking about what?” the boy asked, curious.

I jumped down, sticking my landing, and shrugged. “I don’t know, about everything I guess.”
The boy nodded, smiling, seeming pleased with my answer. I looked up at him and offered my best smile. Looking back I remember that I would have found the boy quite cute, if I had been interested in that kind of thing but I was only thirteen and I wasn’t like most girls my age, I was surrounded by boys constantly growing up, Fin always had friends over, crushes weren’t really my thing. The boy in front of me had shaggy brown hair that would constantly fall in front of his right eye, though he would either jerk his head to the side, or reach up and attempt to comb it away. He had freckles lining his nose and a dazzling smile but the one thing that really stuck out to me were his eyes.

They were a bright, vivid blue. A color I had never seen before, I remember thinking about how I was pretty sure I had a crayon back home that would match it, the name escaping me though. I couldn’t help but get lost in his eyes, taking in the color and the long lashes that framed them. This boy was beautiful, not that I realized it at the time.

“I’m Dean,” he said, smiling wider and holding out his hand.

“Scottie,” I responded, placing my hand in his and we shook.

“Do you like the moon Scottie?” he asked suddenly and I remember how the question had caught me off guard. Such a weird question to ask someone you just met.

“Uh, yeah sure, I guess so,” I said awkwardly, I mean did I like the moon? I guess there wasn’t anything to not like about the moon.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard Dean laugh and it was weird because I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed in the past few months, yet, just hearing his laugh made me want to laugh with him. So I did, and I remember just smiling and staring at this boy and thinking, wow, I’m laughing. I was happy. I was also terrified though, I barely knew this boy but he was already making me smile and laugh and it wasn’t even the fake kind that I had been doing since the moment my mom and dad died, I actually found this situation amusing and it made me happy.

He continued laughing and I just smiled, staring in amusement as he spoke again. “I’m sorry, it’s a weird question I know.” He shook his head and looked me in the eyes and I was once again lost in the ocean of blue. “But, hey, there is going to be a lunar eclipse tonight, I’m coming here later with my cousin, to watch it, you should come and watch it with us, we will be here,” he gestured to the area around us and looked up and me expectantly.

“Um, okay, I just have to ask my Aunt for permission I guess, but I will try and come,” I smiled and started walking away.

Dean flashed me a warm smile. “Awesome, hopefully I’ll see you later Scottie.”

I smiled back at him. “Yeah, maybe I’ll see you later.” I looked up at him, his bright blue eyes the last thing I saw before I turned and headed home.

I woke up with a gasp, my head nearly hitting the low ceiling in front of me. I cursed, taking in my surroundings, suddenly remembering where I was, my mind immediately going to Jace. I quickly jumped down from Fin’s bunk, and after noticing my bunk empty, I rushed toward the front of the bus in a panic. I quickly slowed as I heard Jace’s muffled giggles. I stepped out of the bunk area and smiled at the scene in front of me. Jake and Chase were sitting at the table, eating cereal, Frank was on the couch, typing away at his laptop and Fin was on the ground, hovering above Jace who was lying on his back, blowing raspberries on his belly.

I leaned against the doorframe, smiling as Jace giggled uncontrollably, his little hands trying to push Fin away. I noticed Jake and Chase watching, small smiles forming on their faces, laughing occasionally between bites. Even Frank couldn’t help but crack a smile here and there and I couldn’t help but laugh too. Jace’s laugh was contagious and it brought a feeling of happiness between us all.

Fin looked up and grinned. “Well look who decided to join the living,” he said, leaning back on his knees, allowing Jace to get up; he noticed me and started running towards me, “Mommy!” he squealed and I bent down, scooping him up in my arms, placing kisses all over his face as he continued laughing.

“Oh, please,” I scoffed, setting Jace on my hip. “I was only out for a couple hours.”

Fin gave me a smirk and all the other guys looked my way, their faces a mix of confusion and amusement.

“What?” I asked, walking toward the table and setting Jace down, pouring a little dry cereal on the table for him.

Fin laughed, getting off the ground. “You’ve been asleep for almost fourteen hours Scott; you missed our show, everyone else’s shows, and slept all the way through the night, we’re already at the next venue.”

“Wait, what?” I asked shocked.

“Yup, speaking of which, Tony said to call him when you wake up,” Jake answered, offering me a playful wink which caused all the other guys to laugh and Fin gave me a nudge as he walked by.

I rolled my eyes, picking up Jace again as he reached for me. I spun him around, kissing him and plopped down on the couch next to Frank. He gave me a glare and I shrugged, grinning and I looked down at the beautiful little boy in my arms. Jace was playing with the little silver necklace around my neck, his floppy brown hair a tangled mess from his sleep and his little nose and chubby cheeks were lined with tiny adorable freckles. I bent down and kissed his nose. He giggled and looked up, his bright blue eyes looking into mine with so much love it made me smile. I laughed as he reached up and grabbed my nose and I shook my head, snuggling down to nestle my head in his neck and I closed my eyes as his contagious giggles filled the bus.

Notes