Impress

Chapter 2: Biking in the Woods

It was a long week. My friends were constantly asking for updates on the "Virginia situation" but I had nothing to tell them. My parents still hadn't said a word about it. I tried to forget that the conversation ever happened, but worry and fear clouded my brain.

When Friday arrived, I was relieved to just be able to do my favorite thing in the world with my favorite people. I hype it up a lot, but that's actually what it felt like to me. I was going to go biking. But first, I had to get home. I got a ride with Julia and her mom. While in the car, I had some small talk with Julia, but I was mainly focused on my phone. I texted Asher.

Me: Yo

Me: U ready?

I could have waited to text him until I got home, but he takes forever to respond. We arrived at my house. I waved and said thanks to Julia's mom. I was walking up the stairs to my door when my phone buzzed. Asher was earlier than usual. I looked at the screen.

Asher: Yea, meet at my place?

I typed a quick response.

Me: K, sounds good

I opened the door and my dog rushed towards me. I knelt down and pet him. Then I stood and quickly rushed to my room. I put my backpack down near my desk and grabbed my helmet. I was halfway down the stairs when my nanny, Mariana, appeared at the bottom. I slowed my pace and went down the last few steps.

"Let me guess..." she started

"Can I go biking?" I asked hopefully.

"Go." she smiled and stepped aside. I thanked her and ran past. I went into the garage, hopped on my bike, and put my phone in the holder. I put on the song "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay. I kicked off and went flying down the driveway. I pedalled as hard as I could. Past the pharmacy, and the train station, and the pizzeria, singing the whole way. I took a sharp turn onto Asher's street. I broke into a huge smile as I saw his house up ahead. I slammed the brakes and turned into his driveway. I put down the kickstand and walked towards his front door. I didn't knock or ring the bell. I just opened the door slightly.

"Asher?"

"Kris?"

"Yup."

"Come on in."

Ok, so, my full name is Christina. It doesn't have a K in it, but I like it that way. It makes me feel like I'm some sort of huntress or sorceress. I made Kris my nickname in 3rd grade.

I went inside. Asher was putting on his sneakers. We talked about shows that we were both watching and complained about plot holes as we walked out to the shed to get his bike. Finally, we were on the road.

"Let's round up the troops." Asher suggested, smiling.

"How many are we doing today?" I asked

"I'm not annoyed with any of them right now..."

"Me neither..."

"So, how about all of them!" said Asher. I laughed. We headed towards Rose's house. We were really hoping she didn't have swim practice. Even if she didn't, sometimes she would claim that she was "too tired" to go biking. We turned into her driveway and got off of our bikes. Asher was pretty sure that Rose's mom didn't like him, so I went up to the front door to do the talking. I rung the bell. Rose's mom answered.

"You looking for Rose?"

"Yes!"

She called up Rose's name up the stairs.

"Thanks, Mrs. S" I said as I put on my "perfect little angel" smile. Mrs. S smiled back. When I heard thumping, I knew Rose was coming downstairs. Her room was all the way up in the attic. She used to share a room with her little sister, but when she turned 13, her parents figured she needed her space, so they gave her the guest room. Rose hopped down the last few steps.

"Sup?" she did a little wave.

I stepped aside so that she could see Asher behind me in the driveway, "Asher and I were gonna go biking. Wanna come? We might grab the other guys, too."

She rolled her eyes, "Okay, dorks, I'll be right out." She closed the door.

I laughed and then turned back towards my bike. Asher saw me walking back and raised his eyebrows as if to say what'd she say? I gave a thumbs up and he smiled. It was rare that Rose was actually was up to going with us. The garage door opened and Rose wheeled her bike out. She gave a wave to Asher and he nodded back.

"So who are we picking up next?" asked Rose.

"I figured we'd pick up Aiden since he closest" suggested Asher. I nodded and we were off.

Once we had everybody, we were biking towards our old elementary school. There were woods behind the school that were awesome to mess around in. We would, play truth or dare, build forts, roleplay, or just sit and talk. Usually we opted to roleplay, but when we had everyone, it could get a little overwhelming. So, we were going to play truth or dare, when we came upon what looked to be a failed treehouse attempt. There was rust on the nails and the wood looked sort of corroded, so we figured that it was an old project.

"I think we could fix this up a bit..." said Dov, grinning.

"With what supplies?" Kade, always the practical one.

"I mean we have all of the things we need right here..."

"Aiden, are you suggesting we take this apart and just rebuild it?" I was skeptical. That would take a lot of effort.

"I'm with Kris. This ledge thing is super cool! We can't tear it apart!" said Asher, already climbing the tree to reach the ledge. I rolled my eyes. Not the same reasoning but I'd take whatever allies I could get.

"How many people do you think that ledge can hold?" asked Aiden. Asher was now laying down on the ledge.

I smiled. "Let's find out, shall we?" hopped up onto a branch and grabbed the edge of the ledge. I was pulling myself up when I heard a crunch.

"What was that?" called Rose from below me. I looked down. I thought one of them had stepped on a branch or something. I could now tell that was not the case.

"I should probably get down." I suggested, slowly lowering myself back onto the branch. Asher was silent but his face showed that he was worried. Yeesh, that wasn't a face I got to see often. I had one arm still on the ledge as I lowered my foot onto the branch. SNAP! The branch below me fell to the ground. The hand that was holding onto the edge slipped. I started to fall. My arms flailed in the air, trying to get a grip on something. At the last moment, Asher grabbed my hand. I sighed, relieved. I looked down.

"You can let me go, it's not that far a fall." I said.

"You sure?" asked Asher. I nodded. He let go. I bent my knees and landed in a crouch. Everyone was silent, still in shock about what almost just happened.

Dov was the first to speak, "I'm so glad everyone's o-" CRACK! That was definitely not a branch.

"Aaaah!" Asher! I turned to face the treehouse. Well, It wasn't a treehouse anymore. Asher was on his butt on the ground in a pile of wood.

"-kay" Dov finished. Rose rushed to Asher's side.