Strings Attached

Chapter Five

Theodore shrugged. "I don't think they'd mind. I mean, it's just a tree."

"You don't know that. The people inside could see it as more than tree. They could see it as part of the family! What if we break a branch or something? Wouldn't they think of it as an assault to their precious family member? What if they see the tree as an amputee and demand that justice be served, suing us for all we have and leaving us in the streets, or worse, sending us to jail?" I exclaimed, mortified.

Theodore raised one of his eyebrows. "Have you been watching too much T.V lately?" he asked.

I frowned. "You never know how the other person might react!" I exclaimed.

"Well, in the worst of cases, we'd go home with a warning," he said. "Unless you have already committed a crime before..." He raised one of his eyebrows.

"How dare you!" I exclaimed. "My record is perfectly clean, thank you very much!"

Theodore smiled evilly. "Are you scared of going to jail?"

"I'm not scared," I said. "I just..."

"You're scared!" he teased.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm not. I'll do it if you do it."

Okay, so maybe that had been pretty stupid of me to say, but when you hurt a girl's pride, you have another thing coming your way.

If you want for a girl to do something stupid, tell her she is scared, and she will more than likely do it. Well, that is, of course, if the girl is as stupid as me.

"You will?" he asked. "Are you sure you're not scared?"

I shook my head defiantly. "I'm not."

Theodore smirked. "All right," he said as he walked towards the tree.

I gulped. He was actually going to do it. I could not believe it.

Theodore started climbing the tree, and I hoped the people who lived inside the house would not see him.

Before I could even make out what was happening, Theodore reached the top and waved his hand at me.

"What are you waiting for?" he yelled. "It's very beautiful in here!"

I sighed. I could not believe he had convinced me to do it. Theodore made everything a challenge, and maybe that was what made it so exciting to spend time with him. Do not get me wrong, I still wanted to punch him most of the time, but at least it was fun to hang out with him.

"Chris, come on! We don't have all day!" he remarked.

I frowned and walked towards the tree. My competitive nature did not allow me to back down. I only wanted to show him that I could do everything he did, even if that meant risking my neck.

"I swear, if I fall, I will kill you," I said as I climbed the tree.

"Sounds only fair," he said, smiling.

As I reached the top, Theodore grabbed my hand, and I felt tingles. I do not know if it was because he was holding my hand or because I was standing on the top of a tree with fear of falling to my death.

Whatever it was, I kind of liked it, and I could not help smiling as I noticed that Theodore had been right. The sight was beautiful. I could see mostly ceilings, but somehow, from that height, they looked beautiful. I felt like I was on top of the world, like I could do anything I wanted.

Theodore smiled at me, but it was not an evil smile this time. It was a reassuring smile, as if telling me that I was going to be okay, that I was safe as long as I stayed with him. He looked willing to protect me, and I liked it. I liked how he made me feel safe, even though I knew that I could fall to my death very easily if I stayed in that position.