Mission completed, she saw their neighbor, old Mr. Finn, standing with a garden hose in his hand, his eyes wide, his mouth open. Lindsey gave him a wave as she passed the fence.

"Hey, Mr. Finn, how's it hangin'?"

He mumbled something and the hose jerked in his hand, sending water spewing skyward before he caught it again. She didn't stop to hear what he had to say. It was a half a mile walk, and she was already running late.

* * * *

Someone's dad built the treefort in one of the tall trees at the edge of the subdivision. It was secluded, down a well-worn path, fifteen feet off the ground with just a railing around the edge, the boards nailed to the side of the tree the only way up or down. Lindsey heard them before she saw them, someone's radio blasting not quite loud enough for the surrounding neighbors to call the cops.

"Coming up!" She put her foot on the first board nailed into the trunk of the tree, and began to scale the side. There were three of them sitting up on a blanket spread

over the platform, passing a bottle around. Brian, the one she'd met walking through the aisle at the grocery store earlier that day, gave her a wave and patted the platform next to him.

"Getting late." He draped his arm around her slight shoulders as she settled back against the railing. "Thought you might not show."

"My stepdad." Her tone was enough of an explanation. "I have to be home by midnight."

"Midnight? What can you do by midnight?!" One of the other guys snorted-he was cute, too, although not as cute as Brian. His hair was curly and almost as dark as his eyes. Lindsey took the bottle from him, meeting his eyes as she drank a swig, the alcohol making her eyes water before she passed it on to the third guy. He was smaller than the other two, his blonde hair almost as long as hers.

"Guess we just have to start earlier," Lindsey gasped, her throat still burning. The dark-haired guy gave her an appreciative look at her comeback, and they all laughed.