Chapter 1

A Chapter by ScarletRiver22

Alexandra Delacroix's best friend, Blake Desiderius, left her alone. All he told her was that he loved her and that he had to leave but he would be back soon, that was four years ago.

           "I love you." He whispers. As he holds my face in both his hands, his beautiful blue eyes looking practically into my soul.

"I love you to Blake." I said as he leans down to kis me, "Beep, beep, beep!"

I sit straight up "Ow!" I yelled.

I hate this alarm clock, I thought, slaming my hand down on it to shut it up. I hate this bunkbed I have to share with my brother, I thought, rubbing my forehead.

I haven't been happy in a while. Blake used to be real, now he's just a dream a memory. Yet, no matter how hard I try I can't get over him. We grew up together, me and him. We used to laugh and play all the time, never having a care in the world.

I haven't seen him in four years now, but, every night I have that same dream. Of me, and him, and a field of flowers, both expressing the feelings we knew we had for each other.

We both new that, after 14 years of technically being together as friends, the feelings have grown. We both knew that we liked each other for a while, but it all change when I found out he was leaving. Never knew why, all he said was he would be back soon and he couldn't tell me why, family related buissness. From what I knew I've always known his entire family we grew up together.

He says he was two when I was born, he had been there in the hospital when I was born, his family had been close to mine, so that put him in the picture.

After getting dressed I walk down the stairs thinking of the last day he left. I remember exactly what he said, "I love you Alex, I really do, but I have to leave, but I promise, I promise I will be back as soon as I can, I can't tell you why but, all I know myself is that it is family buisness." He got into the little back car that is going to take him away from me, "I promise I will be back."

I stop at the bottom of the stairs, look around for my mother, no where to be found, great. I look out the window to see if the car was gone, it was.

I now have to walk to school, i grab me some breakfast to take on the way, grab my backpack by the door, and walk out, pausing only for a moment to turn around and look at my little home.

Everything is tan, tan couch, chair, carpet, walls, everything is tan. When I leave I will miss this place, but ever since Blake left, nothing has been important, my mother hardly talks to me, no one at school has ever liked me anyways, I have no father from the moment I was born, and now the man I loved, and my only friend, is gone. I have no one, and Blake will never come back I know it. I will graduate highschool in two months, alone, go to college, alone, and live my life, alone.

Turning I lock and shut the door, beggining my walk for school. Walking through my little suburb of this crappy town, I look at everything I walk by. The birds, and trees, the houses, street signs, as I stop at a stop sign to let traffic go by, I turn my head to the left. I see the small place that we only have the trees. It's about two hundred trees or so, so it looks like alot, but it's not.

Remebering, the one day Blake had told me something. It was just a memory though. Standing there i remember it very clearly.

"Hey, look." Blake said, "Those are the only trees in all of the suburbs of
Payson, one day i'm going to build a tree house in there that no one knows of. It will be our little secret, just yours and mine.That is what he had said, standing at this very stop sign.

I stand there waiting, deciding, should I go in there and just look, or should I just keep walking to school? Maybe it's a mistake, but I need to know, maybe in my own crazy mind, it was a hint for something.

I look both ways before I decide to start across the street. I get across the street before I step into the woods. I look up the tree, the tree looks so high. If he did what he said he was going to do, I wonder how high he put it in the tree. I muster up my bravery and step inside of the little forest. Dodging branches, vines and leaves, hoping nothing is under the leaves. I looking around, not knowing how far it actually is into the woods to the other side, I think someone had said two miles, but it could be more, alot more.

It was deffinatly more than two miles. I'm very good at walking, I have very good stamina, and now I'm out of breathe. So considering my stamina this more than two miles. I sit down, having to catch my breathe. I know i'm now late for school, but what is the point anyways. All i ever do is get picked on, my locker sabatoged, and my face spat in.

Suddenly, a bird jumps out of the bush."Stupid bird!", I scream at it.

"Why does everything have to be so damned difficult." I shot toward the sky, noticing something in the tree. I stand up and look up.

"Oh my gosh." I was shell shocked, I had found it. I had been leaning on the tree that Blake had built the tree house on. I look at the tree to see if there is anyway i can get up there.

"There's no ladder, great, thanks Blake, you built the tree house but not the ladder." I sighed, "Lovely."

I run my hand around the tree trunk, thinking, hoping to see if there is anyway I can get up there. I stopped, I felt something in the tree, like actually in the tree. A piece of the bark had moved. It had actually moved! I go to where my finger is and poke the spot.

"No way." I say, pulling my pocket knife out and stick it in the tree. I long, deep pre-cut peice of bark comes ou tof the tree.

"Oh, Blake you sneaky jerk, nothing is ever easy is it?" I silently laugh to myself, then I remember that bird.

I turn around really quickly and scream into the woods, "Thank you you stupid bird!" remembering that if it wasn't for that bird, I would have gotten up after I rested, and kept walking and never found it. I turn back around and take out more pieces of the bark.

He had made the ladder from the tree, then put the pieces back, so i would be the only one to know. He was always a trickster and really good at hiding things.

I close my pocket knife, stick it in my mouth, and start climbing. I had to take out a few more, then there were no more I had to take out. I climbed up twenty notches, before I reached the bottom floor of the tree house. I was so excited that I finally get to see it, I didn't even know it existed. I wonder how long this has been here, it doesn't look new, but it doesn't look 4 years old like when he said that a long time ago, two weeks before he left.

I push the bottom door open, and climb inside. The wood smelled like cedar, my favorite smell, it was kind of dark, so I pulled the lighter out of my pocket, so maybe i could see in here. It has a little window, but it's so cloudy outside today, not much light is coming in through the tiny cut out window.

I struck the lighter several times before it finally lit. When it did I had to do my best not to drop the lighter, I had started crying.

"This is why, this is why i could never find pictures of you and me in your room. You were saving them here." Tears were pouring down my face. I had to let the lighter go, before it blew up in my hand.

Letting the lighter cool down again and trying to collect my emotions, so i could look at the tree house instead of being blinded by my tears, I turn a little, and strike the lighter again.

The was a little sleeping bag in the corner, maybe as if he had stayed here. but there was only a sleeping bag. I remember when we were little, he would come over and stay the night, but instead of slleping on the bed, we would laying a sleeping bag in front of the window and watch the stars as if we were outside.

I remember all those times, we would talk all night, or talk so much we fell asleep. My mother never said much about it, and his mother didn't care. So we got hang out all the time. Sleepovers, after school, late at night. He was my friend, and my savior, and now he left me alone. My knight in shining armor is, in reality, a villian in disguise.

I loved him yes, but i was so mad at him, so mad he left me, so upset that he's been gone this long. I swear he's going to hate me when he gets back. Ever since he left I have changed. I used to be the girl that loved and talked to everyone. Ignored everyone criticising me, and now, i don't care anymore.

      I don't talk to anyone, don't care about anyone, no one knows me and I don't know them. Ever since Blake left, no one talks to me, they always wanted to talk to him, not me anyways. Once he was gone, technically so was I.

I let the lighter go back out again, letting it cool down a little bit, then striking it again,slightly turning to look at the other corner. Now i can see a little box in the corner, but it has a lock on it. Turning to look and see in the last corner, there was a little table, but nothing is on it.

Turning back around, I start heading toward the box. Looking at the little box, it's actually really pretty. What shocks me is that my name is on it. Perfectly spelled out in old english handwriting. The little red velet box has a little golden lock on it, lifiting the box, I realize it's not very heavy.

"Okay, Blake I know you make everything very difficult, so where did you put the key?" I asked myself. I start to look for the key, thinking it maybe in the sleeping bag. Not there, I head towards the table and try to find it there, maybe taped to the bottom of the table.

"Nope, not there either." I said. "Hmm, maybe by the pictures." I head towards the fourty something pictures to look behind each one of them. No key was found behind any of them. After thrity minutes of looking for the key I decide to give up and head back towards the box, maybe I can break it open, since it's such a small lock.

'Squeak!' I stop dead in my tracks. The floor board of the tree house squeaked? it shouldn't squeak. I reach down, using the lighter one more time, realizing the board is loose. I get my pocket knife out one more time, using it on the side of the board.

As I lift the board, I see another floor underneath. He had added another floor so he could hide stuff underneath the floor board. There it was. The key and this little pin thing. I pick both of them up, excited I will finally get to see what is in the box.

Letting the lighter go out again, I put the board back and walk over towards the box. lighting the lighter again, there is a peice of notebook paper.

"Seriously, after all this time of waiting for you to come back and searching for this stupid key, all you leave me is a letter!" I yell into the empty tree house.

"You could have done better than this Blake," I say, "You know what, i'm not even going to read it 'till i figure out what this pin goes to." I stand up and start looking around, having to strike my lighter again.

"I'm going to need a new lighter."

looking around i start walking towards the table again, tripping over something, and falling flat on my face.

"What the hell was that?" I roll over on my side and look back, seeing to metal rings on the treehouse hatch. Crawling over there I stick the pin through, it fit perfectly.

"Why would you want me to lock myself in, you goober, if no one knows about this place," I said, "Which they probably don't because who would walk two miles into the woods, then why would i have to lock myself in?" I laughed it off and stuck the little pin in my pocket.

I walk over to the little window, looking outside just trying to get the bravery to either burn the note or read it.

"It's started raining." I said to myself. i turn back around and look at the box. gathering up my courage, and head toward the box, careful not to trip over the little rings he attached to the tree house hatch. Reaching for the box, I it and open it. Grabbing the letter one more time, I open and start to read it.

       'Dear Alex, you are my best friend in the whole world, you know that I love you wit all my heart and I hope you feel the same about me. I know you must be mad at me for leaving, but I had to. I can't explain now, but I will as soon as I get back.

        I hope you can still love me and trust me enough to let me explain. you know that I will be there for you, whether I'm there or not. I built this place for your safety, physical and mental. If you ever need to get away, just come here and think of me. I will be back soon, and I will explain. I will see you soon.'

                         ~Blake

       "No!" I crumple the paper into a tiny ball, throwing it across the room.

       "Lies, it's all lies, you said you were going to love me, you said that you would always be there for me, and you weren't. You never were I hate you Blake, I hate you!" I pulled my knees to my chest, sat there and cried for what seemed to be hours.

        When I got done screaming and crying to a person that wasn't there, I stood. I walked over to the pictures that were plastered al over the wall, ripping all of them down. I hated him, no matter what, I hated him. I didn't care what he had to say, he left me, he should care about what I have to say to him.

        I look out the window, the rain is pouring down even harder now. The lightening flashes, thunder booms across the sky, now I realize I may need to get home. I open the hatch, taking one good look around the tree house one more time, and close the hatch. Possibly forever.

      Considering it is a long way down the tree, I start slowly. While taking my time, my hands are getting drenched and the tree is starting to get soggy where they have been cut out for steps.

      About halfway down the tree, my foot slips. I manage to hang on, dangling ten feet from the ground. Although not that far, I notice and bunch of thorns laying all around the tree, along with some sticks, and something shiny.

       Grabbing back onto the tree, my heart is now racing, and I'm hanging on for dear life. My fear of thunderstorms isn't this bad but the be ten foot up in tree, with lightening almost touching the ground, rain pouring so hard it's going into your eyes, and the tree is getting hard to hold onto, I'm scared for dear life.

      I decide going back up into the tree house would be the smarter idea, slowly starting to make my way back up the tree, I almost reach the hatch, then, lightening strikes the tree, right beside my hand, burning my very badly, and catching the tree on fire.

       Luckily, the small fire that started on the tree instantly goes out because of the rain pouring down. I manage to hang onto the tree. I look at my hand, and I see it is completely burned on the side with blood pouring out of my hand.

     Hanging onto the tree with only one hand now, I try to reach, but can't or I will make myself fall. I quickly reach back down and grab the notch that I was hanging onto in the first place. I try one more time, pushing off a little with my foot, and almost fall again, but somehow manage to get up there.

    One more notch to go, eighteen feet high now, I can barely see through my hair and the rain, my hand in screaming pain, I push once more with my foot, reaching for the last notch before the tree house hatch, and I miss it completely.

    Falling, I know I'm falling to my death. There was only one thought that went through my mind, 'Blake lied.', before I slammed into the ground.

next chapter