German Boy

Chapter 17: Up The Tree

As we were both sitting on the chair and silence surrounded us, we both looked up at the tree above us. I smiled at it remembering the days we used to climb it.

Back when we were happy, free, confused, problem-less, innocent, and young. When nothing mattered but our food. "Do you remember?" He suddenly spoke.

I realized he was thinking of the same thing as I was. "Thinking of what?" I don't know if it's my hobby to play dumb all the time. But I seem to be.

"The days we climbed up on this old huge tree."

"Oh, that. Well, yeah." I answered.

He smiled and began looking at me. The way his eyes were darted at me was making me melt. I felt like the clock wasn't even moving.

Everything for a second felt fantastic. They were surreal. All of them. I was staring at the wind while he was watching me with a smile plastered on his face.

"Remember when your kite reached the top of it and I climbed for you but then I was too scared so you got it yourself anyway and then you fell on your way down?" I felt how he laughed at his own statement.

Turns out the smile I caught wasn't a smile of happiness. It was a smile of a funny memory. He was making fun of that old memory.

"It's not funny," I crossed my arms and frowned bossily.

"Oh, sorry." His laughter immediately vanished through the wind. He stopped for a moment and began being serious.

"What about when a cat went up there and you tried to get him but he climbed farther and farther until he fell?"

"She was a girl." I wasn't even sure.

I never knew if she was a girl or if he was a boy.

But I wanted to be grumpy. Showing how I found his laugh at my memory offensive. Which wasn't supposed to be taken that way.

"Yeah, girl! Right." He began doing the thing he does when he's annoyed. In twelve years of our friendship, I know he does this when he's humiliated, embarrassed, and when he's annoyed.

I find it attractive.

"So, umm... what... do... you... want... to do?" He asked. Speechlessly. It was evident how much he lacked words to use to ask me a single question that simple.

"Nothing."

"You mean like... sitting under an old tree while watching the wind?"

"Definitely!" I agreed.

But then, we both looked to our right side when we felt someone's footsteps getting louder all the way as they got closer to us.

"Hey there you too!" I heard Sofia's girly voice which made me plaster a small smile on my face.

"Hi," we both greeted.

"What are you guys doing?" She sat next to me.

"Nothing," again, Ven and I said together.

"What? There is a lot to do on the first day of summer! Duh!" She complained.

"Well, our girl boss just said she wants to do nothing," Ven explained to her with the voice of a kid trying to tell his mother how his sister didn't allow him to do such a thing.

"Jaraiah! Come on!" She tapped my back and I rolled my eyes sarcastically.

"What?" I reacted.

"Have you forgotten? I think it's time for our up-the-tree tradition! Come on!" She ran to the tree behind us and slowly climbed it.

One step at a time and not rushing.

This is what I didn't want to happen!

Last year, the tree was very slippery because it was very old already. And I wasn't even that far yet, but I already fell and hurt my arm on the chair. At least I didn't break any part of my body since that wasn't really high yet. And I am very grateful I was safe.

"Do it for yourselves. I won't attempt something I fell on before."

"Oh, come on! Do you remember how many times you fell here right even before last year? Girl!!! Pull yourself together and join me up here now! The view is amazing!"

I found Ven standing up as he made his way to the tree and climbed it. He took the same path as Sofia. It was just so perfect to see him carefully try to enjoy the way he was there.

He sat in one place and began watching the skies.

I was left down there watching the two of them.

But sooner, they both laid their eyes on me and I felt the urge to get up there even if I didn't want to.

The pressure was so much higher than last night when the people around me which I should consider strangers because I don't know them: made me drink tons of bottles of beer even after the game.

"No! I'm not! I won't!" I repeated.

But they both didn't seem to have it in them to let it slide. And half of me got the thought of complaining about the next time.

"We can do this some other time! Tomorrow, the next day, next week, next month, or whatever. We can do this anytime. Just not now! I'm not in the mood to, sorry." I said.

I saw Sofia shake her head slowly.

"You know our rules! We do this on the first day of summer! You're the one who made that!" She said.

"Yeah, but I'm really not in the mood right now as I said."

"So you wanna miss it?" Asked Ven.

"Fine." They celebrated by clapping their hands and laughing in joy. I gave up. They were too convincing. I couldn't bare it.

They were pressuring me so I had to climb up there and avoid the sleepiness. Once when I was almost there for them, I couldn't move anymore. The surface was too slippery.

I was already too high. But then, there he was.

He held his veiny hands. I looked at it. He was so pale. More than he was from the last year. I grabbed it and it helped me a lot to get up and sit beside him.

My heart was abnormally beating.

Not because of the place. Not because we were high up there. But because I was sitting two inches apart from Ven.

My Ven.

And I could even feel his breath. Which was supposed to annoy me. But it didn't. I thought being up there would kill me like last year, but instead, I ended up enjoying the view. The tall buildings, the birds flying by, and the billboards.

A lot of people don't find this interesting.

They all prefer nature.

But I prefer this as a city girl.