“I’m not crazy. I’m a teenager!”
My best friend Taylor Willis whispered fiercely as her converse collided with my shoulder.
“Teenagers aren’t usually climbing up trees in mini skirts.” I poked at her grabbing her leg to steady her.
“What books have you been reading Jules?” She called down to me. She looked at me quickly, stilling for just a moment. Her grey eyes were shining with happiness, freedom, and fun. Her black pixie haircut was slightly in her face and now had a leaf in it that the tree had graced her with.
“The textbooks you haven’t bothered with.” She stomped on my shoulder. Again.
“Ouch, Taylor, that was on purpose!” I exclaimed, but she was now climbing up the tree like a monkey. She was a gymnast. A tiny one at that and she moved agilely through the tree. I sighed as I reached up into the tree for her help.
It had been buzzing around school all week about how Harry Clemson was throwing a party at his house on Saturday night. All the cool kids were invited of course, leaving me, Julia May Clark, and Taylor out of the race. But this didn’t stop Taylor. Oh no, far from it. She thought it would be easy enough to crawl up the tree in his front yard walk over the rooftop and quite literally jump into the party from there. She had tried to convince me that people would be too drunk to realize what just happened and she might be able to talk to Todd.
Ah, yes, Todd Ferguson was the hottest kid in twelfth. With perfect brown hair and perfect blue eyes, and a perfect nose, and perfect teeth, and the perfect body…well, you get where I’m going. Taylor had been in love with him for years, long before the moment now where she was now helping pull me up into the large tree with so many leaves, I couldn’t see Taylor, let alone the branches that I was supposed to grab.
“Come on! You are so heavy!” She growled at me as she guided my hand to the nearest branch. I grabbed on and pulled with all my might, finally getting into the tree.
“No, I’m average weight. You on the other hand, I was born at about as much as you weigh now.”
“Pmph,” She snorted as she was climbing higher. I didn’t have much chance of getting up this tree. I was the smart girl. The smart girl who hates sports with such a fiery passion it could burn through Hell. I didn’t do things like this. I was good. I followed the rules; I know where I wasn’t wanted. I stayed out of any place I wasn’t invited to.
I stretched out as far as I could until I got my leg onto one of the branches and wrapped it around it, my other leg wrapped around it as well. I was almost hanging upside down but I didn’t care. I had a death grip on the branch I had started with. I was so sprawled across the tree, I must have looked quite like a roll of toilet paper thrown up there.
“Jules, do you need help down there?” Taylor called from where she was standing on the roof.
“Oh no, no. I’m super right now.” I said out of breath as I let one of my arms untangle from the branch and reached for the one my legs were wrapped around.
“Oh my God, it’s Todd,”
“Taylor Haley, don’t you leave me,” Before I could even finish my sentence she was off. She had sprinted and was now preparing a round off from the roof. She always did know how to make an entrance. She ran full speed ahead and “POOF” she was gone.
I sighed as I pulled myself up onto the bough. I was now completely on top of it and didn’t feel like moving. On my own at least. The branch however had other plans.
I heard a crack, much like the crack of fire and I knew that my life was going to be in danger if I didn’t get off the branch. So, I reached for the branch below that was sitting nicely on the roof top. I started to move when suddenly something was holding me back as I looked on the branch. My knee high socks, this time, striped blue and red were unraveling and better yet, the sock was completely tied around the branch. I heard the branch give me a frustrated yell as it finally cracked and sent me down.
I screamed waiting to hit the ground. I felt the air rush past my face when my head hit the roof, my foot still stuck on the part of the branch that didn’t break off of the tree making it so I was hanging upside down from it. My head and shoulders were lying on the roof. I sighed in relief until I heard the sound of steady laughter.
I looked around and noticed that there was a boy sitting behind the window that I was hanging right across from. But not just any boy, no this was my life we were talking about. It was none other than Harry Clemson.
“I like Joe boxer. I wear them too.” He said suddenly sitting in the chair next to the computer desk in the room.
I furrowed my brows and then looked up at my miniskirt that Taylor had forced me into. There, sure enough was my yellow Joe Boxer underwear with the little smiley faces covering them. The jean skirt had fallen down so that it was wrapped around my stomach to my dismay.
I squealed in embarrassment, reaching up trying to pull the skirt down, well technically up, to hide my underwear. I reached causing me to rise off of the roof top for a little, I was still hanging upside down. The skirt wasn’t moving.
So, I was stuck here with my skirt around my stomach hanging upside down from a tree, with the most popular guy in school laughing at me. Perfect.
“They are very cute.”
“What?” I asked him. He pushed the chair out from under the desk and walked toward the open window. He sat on the sill a few feet away from me.
“Your underwear. One of the cuter pairs I’ve seen.”

“Stop!” I yelled as I covered my underwear with my hands.

He gave me one of his famous crooked smiles as he said, “Stop what?”

“Stop,” I fumbled around in the tree. “Just…stop.” I was absolutely, positively stuck. I wasn’t going anywhere soon. I flopped back down onto the roof spread out.

He just laughed.

“If you are just going to just watch me struggle will you at least pull up my skirt?”

Harry’s green eyes opened wide as his mouth hung open in a shocked expression. He quickly recovered with a tumble of laughter falling from his mouth. I crossed my arms across my chest, which was at least covered. Thank God the top was tight.

“It would be my pleasure.” He muttered as he nonchalantly got up and walked to wear I was. All I could see were his jean covered legs. When he got to me he just stood there.

“What are you doing? Not practiced on putting clothes on a girl?” I asked with sarcasm. If it was even possible, I thought I could hear him smile.

“No, I am very skilled. I was just enjoying the view.” I hit his leg with all the strength I could muster.

“Fine! Fine!” He called as I felt him grab my skirt and pulled it up to its place around my hips.

“Thank you. Now, if you would remove my sock from the tree.” He walked back and sat in the window sill.

“Not until I know your name.”

“My name?”

“Yes, did I stutter?”

“Why do you want it? For the reason to tell your friends?”

“No,” he said, his eyes darkening. “For me.”

“Jules.”

“Jules. It suits you.” He told me.

“Now, will you get me down from the tree?” I asked.

“Why would I want to do that?” Harry snickered. His blond hair was lying neatly just in his eyes. He flipped his head backwards to get the bangs out of his face.

“Why?” I said exasperated. “Why? Because I’m hanging upside down!” I yelled at him.
“Well, why are you in my tree in the first place?”

“I failed at a suicide attempt.”

He laughed openly and I couldn’t help but smile just a little.

“I never realized how difficult it would be to sneak into one of your parties,”

“Well, just a flash of your underwear could get you in anywhere.”

I sounded as if I growled at him. “Taylor didn’t have any problems what so ever. This was her idea and yet I am the one hanging upside down in the tree.”

“Taylor Brownlow?”

“No, Taylor Willis.” I corrected him.

“Oh, that Taylor.” He said as he leaned back in the window sill.

“Yeah, that one.” I looked back up to him. “Wait, isn’t this your party?”

He nodded his head, still pondering Taylor.

“Then why are you up here instead of amongst the masses.” I said exuberantly throwing my arms around while speaking. It’s a habit, I suppose.

He looked at me and sighed. “That’s a good way to describe them, as a mass.”

I tilted my head, raising one of my brown eye brows. “Really? I thought that they were your friends?”

“Some are. Todd’s the only good one.”

“Todd Ferguson?” I asked, dumfounded.

“Yeah, that one.” He told me with the exact same tone as I had told him about Taylor. We both sat in silence for a minute.

“Can I ask you something?” I looked at him. His eyes were slightly downcast, but at the sound of my voice, he immediately looked upward and gave me a look that bore into me. I never realized how green his eyes were until that moment and I almost forgot my question.

“Um, why are you sitting up here instead of at your party?”

He cracked an insincere smile as he leaned backwards.

“Because it isn’t nearly as fun as being up here.”

“No, seriously.” I asked crossing my arms over my chest. He then he crawled out of the window and pulled out a pocket knife as he stood at where my foot was stuck. He quickly started cutting the sock out of the branch. When he finished, he had a hold of my leg and gently set me down, but he didn’t let go.

Harry sat down next to me as I sat up and his fingers slowly traveled up to my knee. His eyes never left his hand during the time and I caught my breath. Never before had I been touched like that and felt this way. His hot hand then left my knee and he gently caressed my neck and then cupped it pulling my face up to look at him. His breathing had quickened as well as he lowered his mouth down to mine.

I had been kissed before, but never like this. He was so gentle as his lips molded against mine. His mouth was as hot as his hand. Maybe hotter.

I broke away from the kiss first. “Wait, this is crazy! I don’t even know you!”

“I’m not crazy. I’m a teenager.” With that he once again found his way to my mouth and kissed me this time with more passion and desire and I knew from that moment on that I was in love.