The Treehouse - Chapter 3

"Treehouse time?" Mrs. Trousdale guessed, judging by the way Brie had spoken to her when she answered the phone. Mrs. Trousdale secretly hoped that Chris and Brianne would get together someday, but so far, it hadn't happened. She still kept the thought in the back of her head, just in case. "I'll drive you," she offered.

Another tradition from back in the day was sleeping that night in the newly refreshed treehouse, hence the reason they always waited until it was warm enough. When that ritual started, Chris and Brianne were innocent enough so that it was allowed. Now, they're parents had to be especially trusting, although they really didn't think anything would happen.

"See you tomorrow!" Chris waved goodbye to his mom and rang the doorbell to Brianne's house. It wasn't an especially big house. It was a two-floor white one, containing approximately ten rooms total. Chris's house was nothing exceptional either, considering they lived in the same neighborhood, so most houses were built similarly. His was blue, and a little differently shaped.

Brie nearly pounced on Chris with excitement when she opened the door. One of the reasons he liked her so much was because she was such a happy person. Everyone came to her for a sunbeam on their rainy days, and most walked away with full-blown sunshine. It was a wonder she didn't get depressed with all her friend's problems!

"Ok, I was thinking…" Brianne began, leading Chris inside. She tied her loose dirty blonde locks in a high ponytail, one of Chris's favorite hair-do's on her.

"Uh oh…" he teased.

"Hey!" Brianne said, releasing her hair and taking a swing at Chris. He ducked, but Brie fell over because she threw her fist with so much force. Chris caught her before she reached the ground and stood her back up.

"You were saying?" he laughed.

"Yes, I was saying…" she continued, taking the elastic out of her hair to fix the ponytail. "We should paint the inside of the house, too. But I wouldn't know what colors. Any ideas?"

"Um… green?" Chris suggested.

"The trees are green. Too much green."

"Yellow?"

"Too corny. Haha, get it? Corn is yellow…" she stopped when Chris looked at her funny. "Ok, go on…" They finally decided on two different shades of light blue. When they began painting after they got all the stuff, Chris was suddenly covered in spots of paint from Brianne's brush.

"What was that for?" he laughed, knowing it wasn't intentional.

"Accident, ACCIDENT!" Brianne screamed, covering her head, as Chris dipped his brush in the paint and speckled Brie's shirt, too. Pretty soon, Brianne's navy blue T-shirt and Chris's black one were both covered in two different colors of light blue speckles.

"New fashion trend!" Brie yelled, looking at their shirts. She knew that now those particular shirts would be special to both of them. A symbol and memory of their friendship, perhaps. Returning to civilized states, Brianne and Chris finished painting. They brought in the furniture, being mindful of the wet walls, and decided where everything would go. They had lime green and navy blue bean bag chairs, a low table, a desk and chair, a CD player/radio, games, books for solo visits, paper, pens, you name it, they had it. The back wall had built-in shelves so all of the smaller junk could be arranged somewhat orderly. The desk went in the left corner of the door, the beanbags in the right corner and the table was placed in the middle of the room. Luckily, Brianne's dad had let them run an electrical cord to the house so they could have some light when it got dark.

"Brianne! Chris! Come inside for a minute!" Brie's mom yelled from the ground. They climbed down the rope ladder and entered the warm kitchen through the glass doors leading to the backyard.

"I want you to be ready for bed soon, ok?" Mrs. Morro informed them. "And don't stay up too late."

"Yes, ma'am!" Chris said, saluting. Brianne giggled. At nine-thirty, they returned to the treehouse and pulled up the ladder so Brie's little brother, Xavier, couldn't sneak in. He had done it once before because Brianne rarely even let him up there, so Chris and her were always careful to bring it up so it wouldn't happen again.

"Just for the heck of it, let's play truth or dare," Brianne suggested, sitting in the lime-green bean bag chair. Chris sat down next to her in the navy blue one and agreed. "Truth or dare?" Brie asked him.

"Dare," he replied, with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Ummm… jump out the window. No, wait, don't… um… do a quadruple andeor turn without killing yourself." In dance class, Brianne and Chris had been working on that specific type of turn, and quadruples were very difficult.

"Are you crazy?! I'll break my neck!"

"That's why it's a dare!"

"Ok, fine." Chris got up and attempted it, but fell over after three and one-quarter. "Not possible," he reported, crawling back to the chair. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Brianne said. Chris took a minute to think.

"Sing a song for me."

"No. No, no, no. I refuse." The only thing Brianne would not do in front on Chris was sing. Ever since he made it into Dream Street, she felt like she wasn't good enough and was afraid to show him how horrible she was against his vocal experience.

"Please? I'll be your best friend…"

"You are my best friend, and no."

"Why not?"

"Because! You're so much better than me! Let's face it, against you, I suck!"

"Is that the only reason? Just because I made Dream Street?!" Chris asked. Brianne nodded, embarrassed. "You can't say you're not good. As soon as there are auditions for a girl group, you'll try out and make it," he assured her, hooking his arm around her neck and pulling her head over so he could lightly kiss her forehead.

"Really? And how would you know if you've never heard me sing before?"

"Ummm… sing so I will know then."

"Gimme a song," Brianne gave in with a sigh.

"How would I know what you can sing? I don't know, 'The Star-Spangled Banner?'"

"Well, since it's the only thing I can think of, too, I think I will. Here goes…" Brianne took a deep breath and began to sing the national anthem. She had never taken vocal lessons, so she accidentally switched keys a couple times, but for the most part, it was great.

"See? That wasn't so hard! With a few lessons, you'd be even better!"

"Ah! You're still better than me, you might as well have just flat out said it instead of critiquing me!" Brianne turned away, pouting. Chris crossed his eyes in frustration.

"That is not what I meant," he insisted, taking hold of Brie's shoulders and turning her back around, looked deep into her bright blue eyes. "I would never say that to you."

"I know…" She sighed again, leaning back on Chris and turned her head up, gazing into his deep hazel eyes, reflecting the long-forgotten memories of the two of them. "I think I'll stick with dance though. I'm at least decent at that."

"That works, too." Chris reached over to the desk, which held the CD player above the floor and turned on the radio with a flick of a switch.

"I JUST WANNA ROCK AND ROLL!" Kiss came blaring through the speakers. Chris's smile grew huge as he got an idea.