The Tree in the Forest

Chapter One

                                     ~~~

  "Hey, Karkat. What are drawing?" You ask, looking over at the crayon scribble on your friend's paper.

  "Nothing, idiot." He brushed you off, nudging you away with his elbow.

  "Oh. No need to be harsh about it." You mumble, slouching a bit while you sit at his side, still looking at what he was drawing with his grey crayon.

  It turned out to be nothing but a bunch of tornadoes. Just a whole page of plain, grey funnels.

"You want to come over to my house tonight?" You ask him.

"Uh, sure. I have to go home and tell my dad, though." Karkat answers, shoving his things into his backpack.

  You let out a small cheer and wait at the door for your friend.

  You and Karkat used to absolutely hate each other. You two couldn't sit next to each other in class and couldn't be within 9 feet of each other without starting a fight.

  You think everyone was relieved when they noticed the two of you started getting along with each other and soon becoming best friends.

  When Karkat finished putting his things into his backpack, the two of you waved farewell to your teacher and were off on the walk home.

  The two of you talk about things that you both like such as Pokèmon and your Bro (even though he has a lot of friends that he brings over).

  Soon, you began gossiping like a bunch of balloon-headed teenagers. You talked about the bullies, the kids you deemed 'stupid', and the weird noises that sometimes come from your Bro's room at night.

  "I have to go now. I'll see you there if my dad lets me go." Karkat called as he veered onto a different path and towards his house. You wave and turn to go to your house.

You hope he can come over. You guys have a lot of sleepovers during the summer, but don't really have as many during the school year.

Speaking of which, fifth grade is almost over. You only have a month left of school before summer break. You can't wait.

School was never really your forte, but you at least tried. You got A's and B's which aren't all that bad.

There were a lot of bullies at your school. That's how you and Karkat started becoming friends; while you were getting beaten up by a whole group of them, Karkat pounced on them and helped you get out of that mess. He claimed that he dealt with them too, and then complained about how much they sucked.

  It's a pretty predictable story, honestly, but it's how it happened.

The teachers were nice enough, but you don't think that they can deal with the way you and Karkat act sometimes.

You make it home without incident, which is what normally happens. As far as you know, none of the bullies live anywhere near you.

You open the door to see Bro sitting on the couch polishing his katana. He calls it the 'shitty ninja sword' and you do too. You just can't say that in school.

"Hey lil' man. How'd school go?" He asked when he saw me walk in, his thick Texan drawl as strong as ever.

"Same as always. Would it be okay if Karkat stayed over for the night?" You answered.