How I Met You

Chapter Forty Seven

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-Chapter Forty Seven-



My mouth slacked as I listened intently to the conversation on the other side of the wooden door. Oh my goodness. If it wasn't obvious enough... that girl? Yeah, she's goes by the name of Audrey Burns.



I looked down at my hands thinking. They were talking about me; I know that for a fact. Did the conversation sound like what I thought it sounded like?



I started to make notes in my head. Okay so... Jake thinks I hate him. He thinks that Brent and I are together. Audrey is actually helping Jake with our issues. So, then the two of them won't get back together? I almost jumped in joy.



If I wasn't so focused on Jake and Audrey, I would've noticed the woman that came up behind me. "What are you doing here, young lady?" she asked sternly. I turned around slowly and stood up.



I brushed my pants off, "I-uh, nothing, ma'am. I was just, um," come on, Alex, think... "looking for my brother... he ran off somewhere down the hall." I played with my fingers nervously, something I always did when I lied.



She looked me up and down as if to try and figure out what I was up to. "Well, when you find him, tell him not to run around the hospital-it's not a playground." She walked around me and opened the door to Audrey's room. "Kids," I heard her murmured.



I dashed down the hallway as fast as I could and rounded a corner, hiding there. "Alex!" Jake called out. I crossed my fingers and silently prayed to God that he wouldn't come down the hall in search of me.



When I didn't hear any footsteps coming down the tiled hall and the click of a door shutting, I released a breath I didn't know I was holding.



Then realization crashed down on me. Audrey's awake!



* * *



Nothing happened for the next few weeks or so, maybe even longer. I thought Jake would've come up with something by now, but no-nothing.



I'm not even sure if he was still going to go through with the whole "trying to get me back" thing. Was he?



Maybe today I'll be lucky? I stayed in bed for a few more minutes, lost in my own thoughts. Okay, maybe it was more than a few minutes... possibly thirty, even.



My phone buzzed next to me on the nightstand. If you knew me, you wouldn't be texting me this early in the morning. And yes, ten forty-five is "early" for me during the summer. Rolling over, I picked up my phone from the wooden surface. My eyes widened as I read the name on my phone: Him (with some heart emojis next to the name). Yes, yes, I know. You probably would have expected me to change Jake's contact name in my phone, but I just didn't want to. I wasn't able to.



The new text message I received from him showed up on the lock screen, "Want to play a game?"



I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Want to play a game? What the heck? I unlocked my phone to reply to him.



"What kind of game?"



"Go to your bathroom ;)"



I was still confused as I pulled the warm, soft covers off of my body. Obediently, I walked to my bathroom. I observantly looked around the bathroom, trying to spot something that seemed to be out of place. Soon enough, (I don't know how I didn't see it any sooner) I was able to spot the piece of paper taped to my mirror.



I pulled the paper off and read it, two times through, actually.



Dear Alex,

I know what you're thinking right now, "What is that hot boy that goes by the name of Jake doing right now?"-I stopped reading and chuckled at that part, then read on. But, trust me. Just follow the sticky notes ;) Make sure to take everyone with you, too.



At the bottom of the lined paper was a hot pink sticky note. On it, in neat handwriting, said: this is where we had to scrub for five hours straight.



For a few seconds, it didn't come to me, but then I knew he was talking about the kitchen. Memories of the food fight flooded my mind.



Before continuing this journey of mine, I stopped to text Jake again. "Am I allowed to properly get ready first?"



"Yes."



The only question that remained in my mind as I did just that was "how the heck was he able to get that note into my bathroom without me even noticing it?"



* * *



After taking the quickest shower of my life (new record, actually), brushing my teeth, doing my hair-which consisted of just a low messy bun- and all, I went to the kitchen, taking the noted paper and my phone with me.



Hmm, what was I supposed to be looking for? Just follow the sticky notes. Is that what I was supposed to find? Another sticky note?



There was a plate with a freshly prepared breakfast sandwich on it that was on the island countertop. And of course, another pink sticky note hiding under the plate. I took it.



You would prefer riding in this, rather than on my bike. And don't be afraid to eat up!



I smiled, knowing that he meant my car. Taking the plate, the sticky note, and the first note that was taped to my mirror, I went to my car. I slipped on my grey pair of Vans and grabbed my purse on my way out the door.



After unlocking the car, I slipped into the driver's seat. Now where is that next sticky note? I took a fast look throughout the car. I finally found it under the sun visor. Why didn't I look there before? I thought to myself.



The note read: Okay, if you found this than you're doing well so far. Now let's take another trip down memory lane... our very first kiss.



My heart clenched at the memory of that; that moment in the coffee shop, and I couldn't help the small smile that crept onto my face.



Once I had the engine started, I drove out of the driveway and headed straight to the coffee shop. I ate my breakfast sandwich on the way.



On arriving, I saw that Brent, of course, was there. He was trying to look all nonchalant behind the counter when he saw me come through the door, but I knew he was somehow weaved into all of this too.



I walked up to him. "Hello, there," he greeted. "You would just so happen to be craving your Caramel Frappuccino, extra Whip Cream on top right about now, correct?"



"Yes." I laughed. "How'd you know?"



"Lucky guess." Brent flashed a smile.



I rolled my eyes at him as he pulled out a Caramel Frappuccino, already prepared and ready to go, might I add.



On it was bright, pink sticky note. The place you and Lily made up.



When did Lily and I make up? Uh... oh yeah! That was when she found out Jake and I were together. It took me a second to recall the destination of where we made up. The bakery. I drove there.



The place looked so much better in the daylight.



Miller's Sweets & Treats is what the sign said. It was the same as last time.



The sticky note was stuck to the door. It said: Go next door :)



I took the note and looked next door. This whole street was a string of small shops, each of them lining the road. None of them looked quite the same; they all had different designs. Next door to Blake's shop was a floral boutique. An array of different colored flowers lined the outside of the shop, and flowers dangled above the entrance and lined the white pillars on either side of the front door.



I smiled and entered the shop. The scent of flowers engulfed me. It smelled so good in here! I walked up to the checkout counter, assuming that's where I was supposed to go. There was a small lady behind the counter.



"You must be Alex?" I nodded. She gave me a wide grin. "I'll be right back." The woman disappeared into a small room. When she came back, she handed me this beautiful bouquet of red roses.



I held them with both arms. This must have cost Jake a fortune! At least sixty dollars. A white ribbon wrapped around the green stems. In the plastic area where a note would usually go was a folded sticky note. I took it and scanned over the words written in black Sharpie. Where we came up with our little game.



Game... game... there was only one game that we came up with. And we only played it that one time at the park. It was the game where we would look at people and come up with a story for them. I got in my car and went to the park.



The grass was trimmed in a neat pattern, kids played on the swings, parents-mostly mothers-sat on the benches and chatted with each other, the ice cream vender was handing out his daily specials, and the large willow tree sat in the same spot as always, with its branches swaying in the wind.



That's the same tree Jake and I sat under that one day. I made a beeline towards it, and sure enough there was a pink sticky note attached to the trunk. This is where you caught your first wave... and almost drowned soon after.



That one had to be the beach. That was the time Jake tried to teach me how to surf, and it had also been the first time I had met London. I can't believe I used to be jealous of her! That whole mess that I created in my head seemed so silly now that I thought back on it.



Where would that sticky note be? I thought, parking my car at the beach. The only place to hide it would be either on the sand or in the water, and I don't think he would hide it in either of those places. I thought about the first time we came here... first we got off of Jake's bike, I remember that much. Second, Jake refused to let me pay for my own board-the board renting shack! Maybe that's where it is!



In a hurry, I went to the shack. That's when I saw it. The boards we had rented were standing up straight next to each other. Mine with purple and blue flames on it; Jake's with red and orange flames. The sticky note was right in the center of my board.



"Excuse me?" I said to the big guy behind the counter. He was short and fat and was sitting on a stool, flicking through postcards. "Could you hand me that note on the white and purple board?"



He looked at me with a confused expression before he shot up from the stool. "Oh, here you go." He gave me the note with a smile, like he knew who I was and what was going on. He probably knew Jake, but that was beside the point.



I looked over the note. This is where I somehow managed to get ice cream on your forehead. How I did still remains a mystery.



Ben and Jerry's. I laughed at the memory. I drove the few blocks there. Hopping out of the car, I walked into the small area and up to the front counter.



"Hi!" I greeted the woman.



She looked a little older than me. Maybe twenty years old or so. "May I get you something?"



I furrowed my eyebrows. "Uhm, yeah, I'm Alex?" I expected Jake to have told her about my arrival, like he told the lady at the floral boutique or something.



"Sorry, I don't know who you are... have we met before?" I shook my head. Maybe this was the wrong place?



"It's fine. I just thought that-you know, never mind. Thanks." She gave me a tight nod, obviously confused, and I exited the ice cream shop. Just as I was walking across the path and to my car, I saw a little pink flash that contrasted with the black outdoor tables out of my peripheral vision. I stopped in my tracks and turned.



It was a sticky note. I walked towards it, and sure enough, it was the one I was looking for. This is your final note. On each note, there is a letter. They make up a word. Unscramble the letters, and meet me at your last destination.



I flipped all of the sticky notes over. Sure enough, there was a letter on the back of each of them. Immediately, I went to work. I sat down in the black, metal chair, and set all of the cards down in the order I collected them, backsides facing up.



EURESEHTO.



What the heck? Euresehto? I started to unscramble them. I literally sucked at this, and I always have, honestly. What was this supposed to be? I thought about it for a while, moving the letters around in many different combinations. Eventually, the cogwheels in my head began turning, and I was soon able to figure it out.



Treehouse.



I took all the notes that I had spread out, got in my car, and sped towards the tree house. I was surprised I still remembered how to get there. It was in the middle of nowhere, really.



I parked my car on the side of the road and slid out of the driver's seat, grabbing my purse and the notes.



I found the entrance of the pathway by using the flashlight app on my phone, but soon turned it off. There were lanterns hanging on the lower branches of the trees that were on the sides of the pathway and solar-paneled garden lights stuck into the green grass on either side of the path, too. I can't believe the sun was already starting to go down! It wasn't too dark yet, but it would be soon.



Before long, I was able to hear the wind chimes and the faint rushing of water. I picked up my pace.



When I got there, all I could do was gape at the sight. The clubhouse looked completely different. Seriously. It was a different tree house. It's like he knocked down the old one and built a bigger, newer one in place of it.



Instead of a rope ladder, there was a small set of stairs going up at the back. A porch was at the front, facing me, and had metal railing going around it. There was a set of double doors, wide open, and inside, dim lights were on.



White Christmas lights dangled from the roof of the tree house and from the porch railing and on the staircase banisters. And I bet you can guess what was on the roof. Solar panels. I walked towards the small house, and up the stairs in awe. Windows were placed evenly on all the walls. I walked through the doors.



Inside, standing there like they were waiting for me, were Jake and Audrey standing side by side, bright smiles on both of their faces.



Jake walked straight towards me when I entered, and engulfed me in a warm hug, like he was holding onto me like a life line. He whispered in a hoarse voice, barely audible to even my own ears, "I've missed you."



Author's Note: Hey, guys. Sorry it took so long to update! I'm only four days past my updating date, so it's not that bad. I've been busy, and that's all I can say. Like I said, I was at camp for a week, then I was with my cousins and family for another week, then, I figured out I was moving. So, yeah. Sorry. First comment gets a dedication.

Also, if you need a cover, you can go to my graphic making thread. It will be in the external link. And the picture to the side was my inspiration for the new treehouse. One more thing, do not ask me when I'm going to update. There's a date on my profile, and if I don't update by then, there will be an update either shortly after the date, or before that date. Sorry, but if you knew how annoying it was, you would say the same thing.