The Treehouse

The sweet smell of oak fills my nostrils as I climb into the old treehouse. A slew of memories make their way to the front of my mind as I make myself comfortable on the shag carpet decorating the wooden floor. 

I lean back onto my elbows, taking in the old decor. Posters of boy-bands, fairy lights and bean bag chairs span the majority of the modest space. I take it all in, wanting to memorize all of it before I go. 

“Ava?” 

A sleek, blonde ponytail pops into view as my best friend, Bella, climbs in and sits beside me. She mirrors my motions, folding her knees up to her chest and leaning backward onto the south wall. 

“It’s weird, coming up here again.” She looks forlornly around the room that we’ve spent so much of our time in growing up. 

“Yeah...” I agree, laying my head on her shoulder. She’d been accepted into a university in California, hundreds of miles away from where I’ll be.

“It’s kind of sad though...you know?” I add. “We spent all of our time here, and now we’re just leaving. This part of our lives is over...” 

The words bring a sadness as I speak them, reminding me immensely of just how far away I’m about to go. 

Washington is a long way from Pennsylvania. It’s a long way from everything I know...everything I love. I can feel a heaviness settle into my chest and I struggle to keep tears from falling at the thought.

The sound of footsteps on the wooden pegs of the rope ladder brings me back from my thoughts. I glance up just in time to see Devin’s dark, shaggy hair appear into view.

“I thought I’d find you up here.” He says with a dimpled smile. “Hey, Bella.” 

“Hey, Dev.” She scoots over a bit so that he can take a seat between us, and then grabs for one of the bottles from the six pack in his hand, cracking the top.

Dev passes one my way before opening his own and we all sit in silence, taking in our sacred space. There’s a mix of emotions in the air, both good and bad, at all of the memories within these four walls. 

“Remember when we tried to throw a party that time your parents went out of town?” Bella breaks the silence, putting her now-empty bottle into the cardboard holder. 

Dev snorts, remembering that night. 

“Then they came home early so we all hid up here.” He adds.

“I had to pretend I was asleep while you guys all piled into this little room.” I can’t help giggling along as I recall that night as well. 

Bella nods, a smile playing at her lips, and we each grab one of the last three beers, opening them quickly. 

“You text me like a hundred times, asking when you guys could leave.” I nudge Dev playfully.

“It was pouring outside and the roof was leaking!” He defends himself as we fall into hysterics on top of each other.

I lean into Dev, trying to catch my breath as our laughter subsides. There’s a comfortable silence as we each delve into our own thoughts and memories of our time here. For a while, there is only the occasional sound of one of us taking a drink that interrupts the quiet. 

I think back to one memory in particular, from just a few weeks ago, that has resonated in my mind since. 

I had just received my acceptance letter and had come up here to think. It was a lot to take in, moving so far away and starting completely over two-thousand miles from home. I was feeling overwhelmed and excited all at once and had needed something familiar to calm my nerves. 

“Hey...” Dev offers a sheepish smile as he climbs into the square space, a similar piece of folded white paper in his tanned fingers. 

“You got your letter.” I observe, my brown eyes scanning his face for some indication of whether or not he’d gotten into his school. 

“I didn’t open it yet.” He says, reading my thoughts. “I, uh...I wanted to do it with you.” He scratches nervously at the back of his head. His words send a burst of butterflies loose into my stomach. 

“Yeah?” Is all I can say. The words come breathlessly in my excitement, and I have to remind myself that this means nothing. Just because he waited for me doesn’t mean he has feelings for me. 

“Yeah.” He confirms,breaking the seal and slowly unfolding his letter. 

Subconsciously, I hold my breath as his brown eyes scan the page. 

Once, twice, three times, he reads from the top, as if confirming what he’s seeing. I can feel my patience thinning as the excitement bubbles up. I know he got in, He had to. He’s worked too hard not to get what he wants. 

I wait as patiently as I can for him to process the words. The seconds feel like minutes as he reads it once again, and it takes everything that I have in me not to tear the page from his fingers to see for myself. 

But finally, he looks up, a wide smile growing on his face. I can feel mine matching his and I know the answer even before the words leave his lips.

“I got in.” 

He breathes the words to life, his eyes sparkling with true excitement. 

“I actually got in.” 

Dev hands over the page, his dimples on full display. I take it gingerly and quickly read the lines once, twice, before looking back up to meet his gaze. 

“I knew you could do it.” I pull him quickly into a hug, reveling in my excitement for both of us getting what we want. Getting everything that we’ve worked for; that we deserve. 

We hold each other for a while, reveling in this achievement...and then, reality sets in.

Dev is the first to pull away, a worry line growing between his thick brows. 

“You’ll be in Washington...” He states the fact as if it hurts him to say those words. 

I nod. 

“And you’ll be in New York.” I murmur, the charcoal rug now my main focus.

He lets out a slow breath, but says nothing; only joins me in my quiet realization that in just a few short months we are going to be on opposite ends of the country. I absently pick at the soft fibers, not trusting myself to look up into his eyes without tears falling from my own. 

“Ava, I-” His voice wavers and then stops. 

I look up. Deep brown eyes meet honey brown ones and, right then, I realize words are not necessary. The way I’ve been feeling about him is immediately validated as I observe a similar sadness in his expression. 

Dev’s hand brushes mine lightly as he moves closer, and now our knees are touching. My heart beats wildly in my chest, and I hope that he cannot hear how deafening the sound is.

His large hand brushes softly against my skin before he cups my cheek, his eyes never breaking contact. 

“I...” 

He trails off again and I feel as if my heart cannot take another moment of this. I lean in, nearly falling on top of him, and our lips connect. And just like that, every ounce of worry, every moment that has been too heavy on my mind, erupts in an explosion of fireworks as we kiss. It’s everything I dreamed it would be, if not more. 

This particular memory, for me, will be the hardest one to accept as part of my past. While Seattle has been my dream for as long as I can remember, even that pales in comparison to that kiss. 

I sigh, taking the final sip from my bottle and dare to glance in Dev’s direction. Our eyes meet, and I know he is thinking of that kiss as well. I reach over, gingerly intertwining our fingers. 

We haven’t spoken about the kiss since, and I don’t think that we ever will. That long of a distance would never work and neither of us would ask the other to give up our dream school for something closer. 

So I take the feeling, along with that moment, I wrap them up in a tight bow and I tuck them deep in my heart; in a place made especially for Dev. 

“I love you guys.” I say to the pair of my friends sitting next to me. 

Dev’s hand twitches in mine, and he squeezes lightly. 

“I love you too.” He whispers, his quiet words falling in line with Bella’s. 

Again, we fall into silence, reveling in what will be some of our last moments together, and appreciating what memories we’ve made over the years. 

Of all of our college preparations, who would’ve thought that leaving each other would be the thing we were least prepared for.