“Amelia’s house.”

“Are we picking up Amelia?”

“Nope. She’s spending the night at my house. And considering she hasn’t texted me to find out where I am, she must still be out with DJ.”

“So we’re going to hang out with Amelia’s parents?”

“Amelia lives four miles from me. A little too far to walk. Without a car, I can’t see my best friend whenever I want to. I have to depend on her driving everywhere. In junior high sometimes I’d ride my bike here but even that took a while.”

“How long have you known Amelia?”

“Since the second grade. She has the most awesome tree house. We’d spend hours back there.”

“Are you going to show it to me?”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“You just throw out the words ‘awesome tree house’ and we are going to walk away?”

“Fine. Come on.” As we walked toward her side gate, I said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in it. It could’ve been my younger brain that found it awesome and now it will be lame.”

“Backpedaling already?”

We got to the gate and I gestured for him to reach over to undo the latch as I shined my phone for him to see. Soon we were in her backyard. It really had been a while since I’d been back there. But my memory wasn’t wrong. The tree house was awesome. It was built around a giant oak tree in the center of her yard. The back patio light was just bright enough for us to make it out.

“Wow,” he breathed. “You almost didn’t let me see this. There’s a way to get up there, right?”

“There used to be a ladder attached on the back.” I was already walking as I said this, and when I rounded the tree, I saw the ladder still there, waiting to be climbed. I went first, ascending the thirty steps. No wonder Amelia’s mom was always nervous when we were out here: this thing was high. Jackson followed close behind. It was more of a deck than a house. It had no roof, but a railing surrounded the wooden platform. It was dusty and some boards were rotted through, but when Jackson reached the top, he immediately lay on his back, putting his hands behind his head.

“If this were in my backyard, I’d be up here every day.”

And I believed he would. His joy was contagious. I took a spot next to him and stared into the dark twisted branches above us. Last time I’d tried to relax and enjoy a moment of beauty like this, my body wouldn’t let me. This time, I felt like I wanted to stay here forever.

“Do you hear that?” he asked.