Skipping homework was incredibly stupid, and skipping class infinitely more so. Quinn would most definitely yell at him, but he’d probably help him finish it.

Maybe a part of him thought that, if he didn’t complete his homework, they wouldn’t let him go home.

It was the first of May, actually, just a few more weeks of school before he’d have to pack up and return to his mom’s apartment for the summer, and he looked at the tree and thought, what the hell, why not? He launched himself up into the branches, hand scrabbling against smooth bark, and once he got up there he heard a familiar, comforting voice.

“Well hello there.”

Meg smiled at him, eyes closed but knowing exactly who had joined her. She was already perched in the tree, her legs propped up on a higher branch, face tilted back to the sun. Everything about her appearance was golden and sweet, lit and shadowed by the rustling red leaves, and even though he knew her so well, she seemed almost unreal, something out of a storybook.

“Um, hi.”

She opened one eye. “You’ve found my secret spot. I don’t usually see other people up here.”

“Why exactly are you? Up here, I mean.”

“Why not?”

He straddled a branch, feet dangling, and frowned. He supposed it was a stupid question, really, but her presence was so unexpected that he couldn’t figure out what to say.

“Come here often?” He nearly bit his tongue against his even more banal question.

She laughed at him, a little unkindly, as he blushed. She closed the one eye again and smiled up at the air. “Yep.”

“Oh.”

“Sometimes I just need to...get away.”

He thought about her good grades, about how she was so well-liked, how she fit in perfectly here when he did not. He couldn’t imagine what she would need to run away from.

“So you climb a tree.”

“Not every tree. Just this one. My own private getaway.”

He frowned again, embarrassed. “I’m sorry to interrupt, then.”

“Jack.” He could see her roll her eyes, even under her closed eyelids. “I never need to get away from you.”

“Oh.” He looked down at the ground, uncomfortable.

“So are you going to come over here and kiss me, or what?”

He looked up, a little dizzy, and saw her warm eyes wide open and inviting. Something about her gaze made him feel that his world was unsteady, known and yet unknown in a mysterious way. He felt a light sweat break out along his hairline. He wanted to climb over and give her the kisses she was practically demanding, and yet...

“Uh...”

She snorted at him, misunderstanding. “Jack Gardner, are you afraid of heights?”

He supposed that was an easy way out, and he didn’t want to think about why he needed it. “Maybe.”

“Fine, fine. Stay over there, you big coward.”