Treehouse

twelve; mackenzie ceal

"I can't believe we are actually doing this. This is going to be added onto my list of mistakes I have made in my lifetime. That list did not exist until now!" Mackenzie freaked out.

"Breathe," Hudson breathed out the words as he parked the van at Target. Hudson looked at his watch. "It is 10:51. Target closes at 11:00. In and out, guys." We slid open the doors and ran in. We sprinted to the back of the store into the toy section. Hudson led the way to the girls' toy aisle.

"This is just sexist. I mean, what if guys like ponies? Why is it gender categorized? EQUALITY BETWEEN THE SEXES!" I shouted. Mackenzie and Hudson gave me the signature will-you-please-focus glare. Mackenzie found a pink, glittery stuffed pony. We all thought it would perfect for Ocean but the only thing stopping us was our budget of 22 dollars. We then ran to the all things a dollar section. I rummaged through all the shelves that had items that look like lame last minute Christmas presents.

"I've got it," Hudson held the package of plastic ponies up in the air. "Glorious purple and pink ponies for the price of a dollar," he whispered.

"Awesome. Let's g-"

"Need any help, Hudson?" Mackenzie was cut off. I looked to see who it was. Brittany. She was dressed in a red polo and khakis. This was the worst I have ever seen her dressed. Man, I wish I had my phone on me to sneak a picture. I somersaulted into the next aisle because you got to do it in style.

"Actually, we are good. Thank you," I heard Hudson say.

"You guys are here pretty late."

"Same as you," Hudson stated.

"Why are you guys here together so late? Its weird if you're just friends" Brittany emphasized "together."

"We are cousins," Mackenzie spoke. I was so shocked I had to take a seat on the ground. "And lovers."

"I'll leave you two to it," I heard Brittany say with disgust in her voice. I rolled back into the aisle they were in.

"Mackenzie, what the hell was that!?" I blurted. Hudson was laughing so hard that he fell to the floor.

"She was annoying me. Just used the element of awkwardness to get her to leave," she replied nonchalantly.

"I didn't know you had the ability to do that. My best friend is growing up," I choked back my fake tears. "Anyway, I am so hungry. I'm going to grab some chips." They groaned at me. "I'll be quick!" I ran and grabbed a bag of Tostitos and salsa dip. I came back to find them waiting for me at self-checkout. Mackenzie slid 6 dollars into the money slot and we were out the door. In the van, we celebrated that we got everything we needed before closing hours. I opened the jar of salsa and Mack opened the Tostitos bag. She sat in the passenger seat to navigate the road with Hudson. He made me hand feed him the chips. Which I was okay with at first because he needed to keep both hands on the wheel. But he is like an eating machine, chip after chip, giving no eating time for myself. I shoved a handful of chips in his mouth.

"Alright, alright," he laughed, "I'm full now."

An hour later, we had to stop at a gas station because of Mackenzie's bladder. I didn't have to go but I got out of the car anyway to get some fresh air. As I waited for Mack outside, this guy kept looking at me from his truck but I didn't pay any mind to it. A minute later, my backpack was yanked off my back which caused me to fall onto the ground. It was the old creep from the truck. I sprinted and jumped onto his back. I heard Mack scream "hey" and she kicked the guy right it the balls. He dropped my bag and I quickly picked it up. We both charged for the van. I turned back to look at the old dude on the ground and hollered, "Good luck peeing!"

Mackenzie and I jumped right into the back seat. "Drive, drive!" Mack ordered. Hudson stepped on the pedal. Once we were back on the highway, he asked us what just happened.

"I saw September and she was trying to get her bag from this guy, and I don't know what I was thinking and UGH!" Mackenzie's words were toppling over eachother.

"Mackenzie kicked this bastard where the sun doesn't shine," I stated. He gave Mackenzie a high-five.

"Damn, I can't believe I missed the show," Hudson sighed. We laughed. Mack placed bandages on little cuts I got from my fall. For the rest of the ride, we sang along loudly to radio music, talked about nonsense and honked an air horn at whoever started to drift off to sleep. About another hour passed and Hudson pulled the van over near the woods.

"Why did we stop?" I asked.

"The GPS said we arrived," Hudson answered. I searched the woods and saw nothing. I was expecting it to be in the city or some place downtown in New York.

"I am not going into the woods," Mackenzie protested.

"Yes you are," Hudson said. He gave her a flashlight. I reached into my bag and grabbed my flashlight. We walked through the woods and all we saw was, well, woods. We walked for more than 15 minutes and saw nothing but trees.

"Let's just go. There's nothing," I said. Right after I spoke, there was a loud thud.

"Found it," Mackenzie called out. I jogged over to her. She was rubbing her forehead. I'm guessing she ran right into it. I shined my light onto the structure. The wooden house was supported and lifted up by three trees. There was a ladder leading up to a small balcony.

"It's a fucking tree house," Hudson sighed.

"Well, duh, that's kind of the title of this story," Mackenzie said nonchalantly.

I began to climb up the ladder as Mackenzie and Hudson followed behind. The interior was extremely empty. There was nothing in it at all. It seemed like it was just built and abandoned.

"Hey look I found something," Hudson called. Mackenzie and I walked over to him kneeling on the floor. He held up a framed picture of a teenaged guy and girl.

"That's my mom."

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(Did you notice that Mackenzie broke the fourth wall?)