Chapter 2
Third Grade
I’ve been bummed since this weekend because the twins have been stuck at home sick with the flu.
Mom won’t let me go see them because she’s afraid I’ll get sick, so as soon as Hailey and I jump off the school bus steps, I run home and rush up to my bedroom.
Lifting open my window, I see Jayson and Julien are already at their window, waiting for me.
“How are you feeling today?”
I hope they say they are better because I miss them so much. Jayson starts coughing, so Julien answers me.
“Mom said our fever broke, but we have to stay home the rest of the week.”
He looks sad and then grabs a tissue to blow his nose. That just makes me feel even more miserable than I already am.
An idea forms in my head, and I tell them to hold on a minute.
I grab the card I made for them today at school.
There is a large oak tree between our houses with branches that span across and reach close to both of our windows.
I don’t know why the idea has never occurred to us since we climb trees all the time in the forest surrounding our backyards.
Without thinking too much, or else I know I will lose my nerve, I climb out of my window onto the sloped roof below it and grab a hold of the tree branch in front of me.
Placing the handmade card in my teeth, I carefully extend my left foot out toward another branch while holding on to a branch above my head with both hands.
The branches shake as I start to shimmy across.
“Liz, what are you doing?” Jayson and Julien both yell at me.
I can't answer back, since the card is clenched tightly between my teeth and hanging from my mouth.
I ignore them and navigate my way around the trunk before climbing onto the branch that leads to their window but stops short about a foot.
I wrap my legs firmly around the branch and sit down, then remove the card from my mouth.
Breathless, I say “hi,” to two stunned faces.
Behind me, Hailey calls my name. I tell her I’m going to visit with Jay and Julien for a bit and will come back inside later and not to tell Mom I’m out here.
She will definitely freak out if she sees where I am.
Dad has been gone for a few weeks with his band and won’t be home until next month.
We video chat with him several times a week and I think he said they were heading to Sacramento, California next.
Hailey’s head disappears from my bedroom window as she says she’s going to grab some cookies from the kitchen and wait for me downstairs.
Hailey is the best sister. She always has my back, just like I do hers.
We plan to go out to our fort later and collect some fall leaves to put in a jar.
It’s the beginning of November and the leaves on the trees have changed color, the forest a kaleidoscope of oranges, golds, and reds.
“I made you guys this today at school and got everyone in class to sign it.”
I proudly open the get-well card and show them the pictures I drew, including the one I drew of the three of us.
I even got almost all of our classmates to sign the card as well.
Samantha Winters refused to sign it which made me mad.
We got into an argument at lunch over it today and Samantha poured her milk all over my clothes.
Luckily, the teacher saw what she did, and Samantha was sent to the principal’s office.
Mom had to bring a spare change of clothes for me to school after the principal called her to let her know what happened.
Mrs. Wright, our principal, then made Samantha apologize to me.
Samantha was so not happy about that. I have a feeling that she’s going to try to get me back at some later time for it.
“I hate that you guys are still sick. Mom won’t let me come over,” I pout.
Reaching forward as far as I can, I hold out their card to them. Jayson leans out the window and takes it from me without dropping it. I want them to have it, so they can see how much they are missed.
I hear Hailey urgently whisper-shouting my name again from my window. “Lizzie! Mom wants you. You better get back inside before she comes up and finds you out there.”
Julien blows his nose again. “Window tonight before bed?” he asks.
The twins share a room together and have the coolest bunk bed. It has a bookcase and desk under the top bunk next to the bottom bed. We usually drape a sheet over the top bunk’s railing to close the space off and then watch movies on my tablet while sitting on pillows piled along the floor.
Jayson, Julien, and I always say good night to each other every evening through our windows, just like that first night after we met two years ago.
I’ve started to sing to them at night since I can play the guitar much better now, and they seem to like it.
Maybe I can try to bring it with me the next time I climb out onto the tree.
Daddy has me keeping up my guitar lessons, and we practice together during our video chats.
I like how we can still sing to each other over video, even though we are hundreds of miles apart.
Hailey anxiously calls my name again.
“I got to go,” I tell the boys. “See you later tonight.”
With that, I swing across the tree limbs, back to my bedroom window where Hailey waits for me.
The next morning as I take my place on the reading rug in our classroom, I daydream about last night.
When I went to my window to say goodnight to the twins, stars and a moon made from construction paper were taped outside my window, and each star had a letter written on it that spelled out “princess.” I saw the branch outside of my window move and that was when I noticed two brown-headed boys smiling at me through the glass, both balancing on top of the sturdy oak branch.
Startled, I jumped back before I regained my wits and opened the window for them.
I held out my hands to help as Jayson climbed through first, then Julien.
“What in the world?”
I stepped back so they could both stand up. “How were you able to put those stars up on the window? They’re beautiful.”
“We got bored being stuck inside, so thought that if our parents wouldn’t let you come over, we would come to you.”
Jayson helped me pull Julien over the windowsill, but Julien accidentally knocked over my small ladybug nightlight lamp from my bedside table. Jayson picked it up and placed it back where it belonged. Julien made an umph sound when his legs landed on the floor.
Hailey must have heard the noise because she came through the bathroom and her jaw dropped open. “Mom is going to be so mad at you if she comes in here.”
I really doubted it. Mom usually left us alone to settle down and sleep once she kissed us goodnight.
“Love you Hales, but scram,” I said to her.
“Your funeral,” she said and retreated to her room.
The boys and I snuggled down together on my bed.
Julien still had a stuffy nose, but they sounded and looked much better than they did earlier that day.
Jayson doubled a pillow over and laid on his stomach beside me, propping his head up on top of his folded arms. I reclined back against my headboard and Julien sat next to me before laying his head on my lap.
I knew he must be tired from being sick, so I rubbed his head by sliding my fingers through his thick, soft brown hair.
“Would you rather...” Jayson began. We loved playing this game.
Jayson continued. “Would you rather eat a bowl full of maggots or three spiders?”
“So gross!” I threw my stuffed dog at him.
“I’d eat the spiders because they’re small and there’s only three of them. I don’t think I could eat an entire bowl of wriggly maggots,” Julien stated after considering the question seriously.
“Still gross,” I said, pretending to fake vomit, “but I see your point. I agree. Okay. My turn. Hmm.” I spent a second thinking and then it hit me. “Would you rather... kiss a girl or kiss a toad?”
Jayson slid his eyes to Julien as Julien tilted his head up at me. Jayson then looked at me and said, “We’d kiss the girl but only if she were you.”
I knew I was only nine years old, but after first grade when Jayson, Julien, and I became the best of friends, I discovered that boys were not as icky as I once thought they were.
I also saw Samantha kissing boys all the time behind the jungle gym on the playground at recess, and it made me think about whether I want to kiss a boy.
Or have a boy kiss me. My mom and dad kissed all the time.
Mom said that people kissed when they really liked each other.
Samantha must have really liked a whole bunch of boys then.
I liked Jayson and Julien, and they were boys.
Would I want a boy to kiss me? I don’t think I would.
But then I would see Julien racing across the playground after Jayson, or I would think about the color of their eyes that had always fascinated me, and I would change my mind.
Yes. Yes, I did want to kiss a boy. Well, two boys.
And yes, I wanted them to kiss me back. I actually talked to Hailey about it one night.
She still thought boys were super gross and that I should keep my feelings a secret.
Most boys in my class thought girls had cooties, and I’m afraid if I tried to kiss Jayson or Julien, they would stop being my friends.
Hearing Jayson say what he just said made my tummy feel like worms were crawling all in it. Before I could say anything back, Hailey came back into my bedroom and told the twins it was time for them to skedaddle back home before we all got caught and got in big, big trouble.
Before getting off my bed, Julien pecked my cheek quickly, followed by Jayson, and they both climbed out of my window.
Jayson poked his head back in. “Samantha tried to kiss us on the playground, but we told her no.” Then he smiled at me and pulled his head back out.