When lunchtime came strolling by Wendy thought of something that could be a cool way to hang out rather than walking all the way to the park. "Hey Max, I have an idea," Wendy said as she put her bag of chips down and finished chewing. "What? If it has to do with me doing something embarrassing I'm not doing it," Maxine said. "No it has nothing to do with that. What if we made a tree house? Wouldn't that be cool? We wouldn't have to walk back and forth to go to our-" Wendy said as she was quickly interrupted by Maxine. "Shh! Don't say it my mom could hear you," Maxine whispered harshly. "We could just go to a treehouse," Wendy whispered. "But where would we put it?" Maxine said as Wendy stopped for a moment and remembered that they didn't live next each other making her idea difficult. "If you put it in my yard you would have to walk all the way there. If you put it in your yard I would walk all the way there. Where are we going to put it," Maxine said still waiting for an answer. "Let's just put it in your yard since we are here anyway," Wendy sighed. "Are you sure that's okay with you?" Maxine asked as Wendy nodded. "We need materials and we first need to ask my mom before anything," Maxine said disappointedly since they had neither of those things. "Don't worry we'll build the treehouse and we will have it done as soon as possible," Wendy reassured Maxine. "I'm going to ask my mom if she will allow it. For now you can draw a model on how it would look like," Maxine for up and left, walking toward her mom's way. After talking to her mom for which seemed like ten minutes Maxine came walking towards Wendy's way this time with a smile on her face.
"So how did it go," Wendy asked knowing the answer by the way Maxine was looking at her. "My mom said that we could have the treehouse." "Great now how are we going to build it?" Wendy asked Maxine. "She said that today at four we could go to Home Depot and buy the supplies," Maxine said still smiling. Later that day at four like planned, Maxine's mom took Maxine and Wendy to Home Depot. They bought a bunch of wood and nails with tools like screw drivers and hammers. Last they bought paint for decoration. It took three days to complete the treehouse and when they did it looked amazing sitting there on the tree branch. A shinny red coat of paint shined and their roof was a dark purple that blended well. "It looks great," Wendy proudly stood in front of the treehouse, rubbing dust off from her shirt from all the work. "It does," Maxine's mom said coming from the house handing Wendy and Maxine drinks. "Well I'll let you two girls play and I'll be inside reading my book. If anything happens come in side. Have fun," Maxine's mom said opening the door and leaving Maxine and Wendy alone. "Let's go inside," Maxine said as she began climbing the ladder that was built against the tree. Wendy followed behind and went inside. The smell of freshly cut wood filled the treehouse. "So why don't we play a game of truth and dare?" Wendy said as both girls sat criss cross on the floor. "Sure, I go first. Dare or dare?" Maxine said grinning. "Dare dare dare," Wendy said giggling. "I dare you to... Go up to my mom and do a silly dance," Maxine said putting her hand against her mouth to cover her big smile. "Ugh please don't make me," Wendy whined. "You picked dare you have to," Maxine said nudging her best friend.
"Fine," Wendy groaned getting up and leaving the treehouse. Two minutes later Wendy came up, back to the treehouse with her face as red as a tomato. "So how did it go," Maxine laughed at her friend. "It took ages just to get to the house and when I went to your mom I did it and your mom joined in my silly dance. It was so embarrassing," Wendy sighed. Maxine laughed non stop as she no longer could hold the urge not to laugh. "Now my turn. Truth or dare," Wendy said hoping she would pick truth so that she could question her friend. "Truth," Maxine said to Wendy's surprise but she was thankfull. "I'm just going to ask you a few questions? What do you think of life?" Wendy just wanted to know what she thought. Answers were all she needed, because those answers could be ways that could give Wendy the cure to Maxine's sadness. Maxine's face got red but not in a good way. It looked like she didn't want to answer the question. "Well are you going to answer the question?" Wendy waited impatiently. "Um... It's good..." She lied. Wendy couldn't believe she was lying!!! The more she lied the more frustrated Wendy got. "What makes you feel sad? Those things. For me it's death. What's it for you?" Wendy pushed Maxine even more. "Why are you asking me these questions?" Maxine nervously played with her hair avoiding any eye contact between Wendy and her. "I'm just curious. You still have to answer the question. What's the answer?" Wendy waiting still getting no response from Maxine. "Honey it's getting late!! Wendy, Maxine get inside! We can watch a movie inside," Maxine's mom saved the awkwardness. Maxine sighed thankfully, unlike Wendy who got up upset at her friend for not answering her question.
She wanted to help her friend but she wasn't getting any help whatsoever. "Come on Maxine can you tell me?" Wendy tapped her friends shoulder as they entered the house. "Later," Maxine whispered. "Later?! When is later, a million years?!" Wendy angrily thought to herself. They watched a movie as Maxine's mom promised and Maxine avoided any conversation with Wendy, just in case she was going to ask about the question that Maxine still hadn't answer. When Maxine's mom turned the lights off Maxine was about to sleep but Wendy stopped her. "You still haven't answered my question, and I'm still waiting for an answer. I won't sleep without one," Wendy said getting into a sitting position. "It's getting late. I want to go to bed," Maxine said putting a pillow over her head. "Maxine," Wendy sighed. "Please answer my question. I need to know the answer," Wendy said almost crying. She cared about her friend so much and she didn't want to see her friend in the condition she was in anymore. "Why do you want to know so badly?" Maxine asked getting up in the same sitting position Wendy was in. "I just want to know," Wendy sighed holding in the tears. If she told Maxine the truth Maxine might avoid Wendy for good. "Please just answer the question. All I want is an answer." Maxine sighed looking at her friend with sad eyes. "I... Err... Have you ever had moments... Where you.... Forget it," Maxine said going back to sleep. "Wait tell me!!!!" Wendy said reaching her hand out to her friend. Maxine didn't wake up. She didn't even complain about Wendy keeping her awake. The only thing you heard was Maxine sleeping. Wendy threw herself to the couch and sighed angrily. "Why can't you just tell me?!!!!!" She thought to herself. The whole night she was wide awake.
At the middle of the night Wendy could hear Maxine get up. "This again," Wendy thought to herself. As usual she went to her window and cried. Wendy hid behind the door and watched. "Should I tell her that I know? No that would be bad idea," Wendy thought. Maxine wiped the tears off her face even though more and more came uncontrollably. "What if I pretended to go to the bathroom and pretend to see her crying as if I don't know anything?" Wendy said and she began to start her plan. She walked a yard away from her door, and pretended to be tired. As she walked towards Maxine's room she stopped and looked at her. "M-Maxine?" Wendy acted. Maxine looked at her shocked that she was there but she didn't say a word. They stared at each other and a silent atmosphere filled the air for a while until Wendy made the first move. "What's wrong?" Wendy said as she walked closer to Maxine. Still Maxine stayed silent. "Come on Max tell me. Please. Why are you crying?" Wendy came in closer and held Maxine in her arms. Maxine then started to cry on her. Now you could hear her sobs as she cried even more. Wendy wanted to cry with her she couldn't bear seeing Maxine like this but she knew that if she did it would make the situation worse. "Tell me please," Wendy cried out to her own surprise. A few tears fell down Wendy's face but she hid it. As Maxine cried on Wendy's chest a few mumbles came from her but nothing else. The rest of the night just tore Wendy's heart apart seeing Maxine like this especially up close. "Everything's okay. Please just don't cry," Wendy pleaded.
Maxine continued to cry but the way she cried seemed different. It was more calm, relieved. Soon the crying stopped altogether. The only thing left was a few sobs every now and then but nothing else. "Maxine please tell me. Why were you crying?" Wendy said getting no respond from Maxine at all. Maxine got up from Wendy's hug and went back to the couch. Wendy stayed for a few seconds wishing she would answer, but she got up and went to sleep. When morning came Maxine was the happy Maxine Wendy used to know. She wasn't anything like the way she was in the middle of the night. The way she did that still confused her. It's like Maxine totally ignored everything that happened. As if she doesn't even know what happened. Wendy didn't speak though, she was affected by what happened unlike the way Maxine was acting. "Hey why don't we go back to the treehouse," Wendy suggested to Maxine after they both finished breakfast. "Sure," Maxine said as she slowly got up. They walked out of the house and went to their newly built treehouse. "Can I ask you some questions, not like a truth or dare thing, just questions in general," Wendy asked Maxine as they both sat down on the floor. "Okay..." Maxine said nervously. "First you have to answer the question I asked you yesterday, if you forgot it's: what makes you sad," Wendy said getting started. "This time I'm not going to wait. Please answer the question." Maxine sighed as if she needed a way to put her words in place, yet she didn't know how.
"Innocence, and being young and free. That's what makes me sad." "What? That makes no sense Max. How does that make you sad?" "Wendy, I answered your question. You didn't say I had to explain." Wendy sighed, she was right. "Now answer this question. You can't run away and I'll make sure you won't," Wendy said as she was blocking their only exit. "Max, answer this. Why were you crying last night." Maxine flinched at the question as if someone was going to punch her. For a moment she stayed silent. During that moment Wendy just got extremely impatient. She only wanted to help Maxine but she was going to need Maxine's help as well. "Please... Tell me why. Do you know how much pain I went through seeing you cry and cry each night and hearing you say awful things like you're going to kill yourself. Max I don't want you to die, you're my best friend," this time Wendy was the one crying, and as she said those words Maxine began to look at her as her eyes widened. Never has she seen confident, tough, Wendy this way. The way she cried just made her want to cry as well. "The... Reason... In good time will I tell you. At the right moment," Maxine said changing her mind about telling Wendy. "But Maxine!!! This is the right moment, because if you tell me later there might not be a later for you!Please tell me," Wendy sobbed. The tears on Wendy's face dried and she wiped away all that was left. "Please... Just tell me," Wendy said as she looked at Wendy with a serious face. "Just tell me why."