"So how was your first few days of class?" Scott asks me.

I situate myself so that I'm comfortable on the hard wooded panels of the tree house floor. "Average, I'd say. The photography stuff is amazing and I can't wait to see the equipment. I'm going to have a photography orgasm or something. And the girl that I'd met at orientation, Haven, she's in my Principles of Photography class so that's nice."

"That is nice," He confirms. "What about that guy that you don't like?"

"Felix," I mutter. "He's only in my Intro class, so I'm free of that pest on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I didn't see him at all today, it was a miracle."

He laughs beside me as we just look up at the stars through the open panel on the roof. "If his mission is to get under your skin, he's doing a really good job at it."

"Yeah," I groan. "I know that but I can't help it. Tomorrow when I see him again, I'm just going to ignore him. Jasper thinks that it will work."

"It might," He shrugs.

"Anyway, how are you?"

"What do you mean?" Scott asks me, turning to look at me instead of the stars above us.

"I mean with Macy," I remind him. "Have you talked to her at all?"

"No," He sighs. "But I'm fine. Really. I'm better than I should be, really. We used to be really good together, you know, and it was great but lately- even before you got here- she'd started getting really controlling and vapid. I tried to dismiss it as the stress of graduation and then the stress of having to move her whole life to Massachusetts but it was just a lot to deal with."

"I'm sorry," I tell him genuinely. "But I really do understand where she was coming from. I would have wanted to keep you on a tight leash too. Although, I know that relationships aren't pets, you don't keep them on leashes at all but I'm just saying that if I was Macy, I wouldn't want to lose you either."

Scott lets out a breathy laugh. "Well, anyway, she's at MIT now and it's over. I'm fine with it."

"You don't miss her at all? Come on, you have to miss her at least a little bit."

"I do," He confirms. "Being with Macy was comfortable, I guess. And I really did love her for a while there but I don't think that I've really loved her in a long time. And I mean that really big love, like the I'll-give-you-the-world-just-ask type of love. I didn't have that with her. I miss her, yeah, but I'll get over it soon. I feel bad for thinking that way, but I don't know."

"I've never had that kind of love. Romantically, I mean. The whole giving the world thing, that's just so intense," I explain. "And probably unrealistic."

"Probably."

"Except that sometimes it's not. I mean, I love Jasper like that. I love him more than anything but it's not romantic, obviously. It's possible to love somebody like that so I just don't think that you should give up. It's out there."

"Right. I think so."

"Are you sure that you're alright?" I ask Scott, looking over at him but he is already looking back at the stars, the moonlight shining in through the roof and illuminating the right side of his face, making the few freckles on his cheek stand out more noticeably than they usually are. "You could talk to me about it if you wanted. I'm a really good listener."

"I'm okay. Honest," Scott assures me. "It just feels weird. Not sad or empty, just weird. Being single again, I mean. Not having to check in with Macy like I used to."

"I know a great bar downtown if you want to go get drunk," I offer him. "Granted, it's a gay bar but I'm living proof that you can find straight girls there."

"I don't want to hook up with anybody," He shakes his head at me. "I just want to focus on school."

"Loser," I tease him. "Although, I guess that makes me a hypocrite because that's what I'm going to do too. I ended things with Noah before they really even started and so now I'm completely single. And with school starting and Felix up my ass, I think that I need all of the sanity that I can take."

"Are you saying that being in a relationship takes away your sanity?"

"Most definitely," I confirm. "At least a little bit. Love just makes people crazy, that's just how it is, I think."

"I agree with that completely," He nods with a bright laugh. "A complete lunatic."

"But I like it. Being crazy in love, I mean. I've never really been so in love that I completely lose my mind but I've had some really nice boyfriends. It's nice to lose your mind like that," I say quietly, turning my gaze away from Scott and back to the stars.

"Sometimes, it's just worth it," He agrees.

"Hey," I say, my voice just above a whisper as if I talk too loud, I could wake up the whole universe with my voice. Everything seems to peaceful right now, I don't want to destroy it with a voice too loud. "Tell me something."

"Anything?"

"Tell me something that you remember," I clarify, changing the subject completely as this pops into my mind. "About us. Back then."

He's quiet for a while and I wonder if he's going to answer me but then he starts speaking, "I remember," He began, his voice quiet and soft as he thinks and recollects the old, dusty memory. "Waking up one morning with the police at our door asking questions about the whereabouts of your dad and the cops had told my mom that he had bought a plane ticket to California. I freaked out because I knew that that's where you went and I knew that he was going to get you. I ran upstairs and I put on my superhero cape and I tried to leave but my mom wouldn't let me. I can't remember what she said but I just kept fighting her, screaming at her 'I have to save her! I have to save her!' But I obviously never got passed her to save you."

"Scott," I mutter, looking over at him again and this time, he's looking at me too. "You already had."

"Really. You think so?"

"Of course I do," I assure him. "Gosh, of course. I wouldn't be who I am now without you. Without this tree house. I would have been stuck in that house at all hours of every day. I would have gone crazy- really insane. I would have grown up timid like a scared puppy, afraid of anybody male. But you taught me that it was okay to not be afraid. You were the one that taught me that not everybody is cruel and mean like he was. I know that we were only seven but oh my God, you gave me so much."

"Wow," He breathes. "I never really thought of it like that."

"I've always wanted to tell you that," I say quietly. "All this time growing up, I'd always formed a little speech in my head. I had it all planned out, how I would tell you how much you meant to me. It was always so important to me that you know how insanely important you had been to me back then."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner then?" He wonders.

I didn't realize that we've been holding hands until now, when I find myself squeezing my fingers around his. I don't know when that happened but I don't take my hand away because it feels so safe to be holding his hand. And I don't mean that romantically either. I feel safe when holding Jasper's hand too, it's just a thing.

"Because," I finally answer Scott when I think of an intelligible response. "It's scary to let something out like that. Like 'oh, yeah I know that we were just seven but you also just meant the world to me.' It's not really a conversation starter."

"I think that you should have opened with that," He jokes, holding my hand tighter in his. "Because then I would have told you that you changed me too. Maybe not as drastically as you had changed but you taught me some things too. Like, for example, how to hide from my parents when they were about to yell at me."

"Shut up," I say but I'm laughing.

"And also, that sometimes, not everything is perfect. Sometimes, things get hard but that's okay because you can get through it. No matter what, no matter how awful it seems, it is sufferable," Scott continues.

"You grew up too fast."

"I grew up," He says. "That isn't a bad thing. It's not like you told me that Santa didn't exist, you just showed me that bad things can happen but that it will be okay in the end, so I shouldn't be afraid."

"That's sweet of you to say," I sigh although I know the truth. No seven year old should have to be the backbone for another kid who's going through what I went through. He shouldn't have had to look out his window and see my father screaming at me just for laughing too loud. He shouldn't have had to comfort me when I ran to his house countless times when my father started throwing punches. He shouldn't have had to be there like I asked him to be.

"I'm not just saying it for your benefit, it's completely true," He tells me. "I showed you that you could love somebody and be okay. You taught me how to be brave. And you were seven too, you know. You didn't know what you were getting me into any more than I knew what I was getting into."

"You really don't regret it," I mutter. It doesn't sound like a question but I still look over at him, expecting a response.

"I really, really don't," Scott insists and I guess that makes since because if he regretted being my friend, he wouldn't have gotten that tattoo that will forever be an image in my head, a symbol of our friendship. A promise that I would return.

"We were a really awesome team," I say with a sly smile as I remember all of the vague memories that I can remember with Scott. We were young so most of my memories of back then are really fuzzy but there are a few moments that really stick out to me and I can remember them as if they had happened yesterday. Like that night that we stayed together in the tree house the night before Sienna came back to Georgia to rescue us from our father.

"We were," He agrees with me. "NASA would be nowhere without our explorations."

"We're basically the reason that men landed on the moon," I say with an undeniable giggle. I didn't mean to giggle, it really just slipped out. I immediately think back to when I asked Jasper to borrow the truck since Conner was over so he really wouldn't need it and Scott had called me after class to ask if I wanted to hang out. He's just broken up with Macy so I wanted to come over just to be there for him. Jasper had warned me that it was risky business, being alone with Scott when I could maybe be forming a crush on him although he has just gotten out of a serious relationship.

Like always, I am playing with fire.

"Yet, we were never able to reclaim Pulto's planet status," Scott reminds me.

"That's true. Our biggest downfall," I sigh sadly, going along with him. "But for two seven year olds who had landed a spaceship on a freaking shooting star and claimed it as our own, I'd say that we did alright."

"That we did," He says.

"On a completely different note," I say, deciding yet again to change the subject. I'm on the verge of nostalgic tears now and I don't want to cry, especially for no reason and especially not in front of Scott. "Have I told you about the student expo next month?"

"I don't think you've mentioned it. What is it?"

"It's a showcase that shows off all of the best student work at the Art Institute," I explain, looking back up at the stars and letting them take me to another world. Just me and Scott, in our own little world, like it used to be. Like it should be. "Because I won this scholarship, I get to present my work and it's open to the public. You know, if you want to go."

"Yeah. Of course I'll go," He confirms. "That's really cool, Joey. Congratulations."

"Thanks," I offer him a shy smile. "Sebastian King said that my collection had blown him away."

"So you've mentioned."

"Sorry," I mutter. "I know that I've probably talked about that a billion times but I just think that it's so cool. The best moment of my life, really. At least, one of the best. It's at least in the top ten moments of my life."

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize. It's nice to see you so passionate about all of this. Your photography and everything," He explains. "You clearly really love what you're doing."

"I do," I agree. "It's amazing, to be able to tell a story just through an image or a collection of images. I can just tell a whole story. I can make people feel emotions that they never even thought that they had. It's incredible, the whole art of photography. Capturing moments forever. I don't know, I feel like if you capture a moment on camera then you never really lose the memory, you know? That moment in time is going to live forever, and I think that's beautiful."

"It is."

"You shouldn't have gotten me started. I could talk all day about how awesome photography is," I say to him with a small, shy smile.

"I don't mind," He assures me. "Like I said, I like it."

"I think it runs in the family, the whole 'artist' thing," I explain to him. "My sister was a dancer and now she has her own dance studio for little kids and now I'm a photographer. Even non-blood family. My brother-in-law's sister, Ana, she's a painter. It's amazing, really, how she travels the world with her boyfriend to paint."

"Is that what you want to do? With photography, I mean."

"Yeah. I think that'd be really amazing," I nod in confirmation. "I'd absolutely love if I could get firsthand pictures of mountains and the Great Wall and all of those worldly things. I'll wait though, to do all of that stuff. I want to open up my own studio, so I'm going to have to pay my dues first like being an assistant and becoming a photographer for some commercial agency or something."

"I'm sure you'll make it," Scott tells me. "You are a pretty amazing photographer."

"You haven't seen anything that I've done," I remind him with a little laugh that almost seems like thunder in our tiny, quiet, peaceful world.

"Sure, but I can just tell. You won that awesome scholarship, right? And you blew away that guy that you look up to. I don't need to see any of it to know that you're pretty great," He confirms.

I don't know why that makes me blush, but I can feel the heat on my face and I wonder if he can see it. I sincerely hope not. "I should go," I find myself saying in my moment of panic. "It's getting late and I have to get up early tomorrow."

"Alright," He sighs and we both sit up from the hard floor but I don't make a move to get all the way up, I just sit there with Scott and we look at each other. I'm not sure why I can't look away but I know that if he keeps looking at me like that, bad things could happen that would jeopardize my current no-complications rule, so I clear my throat and force myself out of the daze that his eyes had put me in.

"Goodnight, Scott," I say as I stand up and make my way to the door in the floor that leads to the latter nailed to the truck of the tree.

"Goodnight," He offers just before I disappear down the trunk. He doesn't follow me out of the tree house which, right now, is probably a good thing considering how shaken I feel by the way that he was looking at me and the way that he just made me blush.

I walk around the house to where the truck is parked out front by the curb and then get in and drive myself back to the apartment.

As I'm driving, my phone starts to ring in my pocket so I carefully pull it out of my pocket and push the 'answer' button without taking my eyes off of the road.

"Hello?" I answer, not knowing who's on the other end. Probably Jasper considering it's too late for either my mother or Sienna to call me.

"Is this Jo?" Somebody on the other end asks.

"Um. Yes? Who is this?"

"I can't believe that you don't recognize my voice. I'm personally offended," And then I realize that it's Felix on the other end and I want to throw my phone out the window and pretend like it's his face.

"How'd you get my number?"

"Don't worry about it. I have a question for you," He explains and then he doesn't even give me a chance to respond. "Are you busy Thursday night?"

"What for?"

"Dinner."

"No."

"So you're not busy. Great."

"I'm not having dinner with you," I say. "God, what is wrong with you?"

"Not as a date, get off of your high horse," He grumbles with a little laugh.

"I don't care if you think it's a date or not, I'm not going to dinner with you no matter what," I tell him as I focus on driving down the highway.

"Just think about it, sweetheart," Felix continues, completely unfazed by my statement. "I'm just curious as to how you work. Don't you want to know about your biggest competition? To see really what you're up against?"

"I'm not a competitive person."

"Oh, come on," He says with a little laugh. "Humor me."

"No."

"I'll pay for your food."

"Jeez, I'm really not in the mood for this," I tell him with an aggravated sigh. With thoughts of Scott clouding my thoughts, I really don't want to have to deal with Felix too. Not right now. He can bug me tomorrow when we're at school, but right now, it's just too late at night to be stressed out about this persistent asshole.

"I'm not going to hang up until you agree," He taunts me.

"Then I'll do it for you," I say before taking the phone off of my ear and pushing the red button that ends the call. Does he really think that I can't hang up on him too? When I think that I'm free of Felix, at least for the rest of the night, my phone starts ringing again and instead of ignoring it, which I should do, I push the green button and answer the call. "Leave me alone."

"I'm going to keep calling," He warns me. "Until you agree to go to dinner."

"Are you stalking me or something? Are you really that obsessed?" I snap at him.

"Stalking you? No. Like I said, I need to know who my competition is so that I know how difficult it's going to be to beat you."

"You won't."

"Ah. And you said you aren't competitive."

"I'm not. But if you're only into photography just to beat the people in front of you, your work can't really be that good because you're not focused on the art. You're focused on being a jerk. You have to put her heart and soul into it, not just snap pictures of what you think people want to see. Which is what people like you do."

"People like me," He restates. He doesn't say it like a question but he expects an explanation.

"Yes," I confirm. "People who only want to win. It's pathetic."

"I think," Felix tells me. "That you don't want to go to dinner because Hickey Boy wouldn't like it."

"That's none of your business," I sigh. "And if you think that you can just take me to dinner and then I'll mess around with you, you're even more delusional than I thought."

"Really," He says with a small laugh on the other end. "I thought that that's all that it took."

"You don't know anything about me," I remind him. "I've literally only met you twice."

"Right, but I know people like you too," He says, using the same phrase that I used on him although, I don't go for the bait. I don't ask him what he expects me to ask him, which is the 'people like me?' question so he just continues to explain anyway. "You know, girls who think that they're so much better than everyone else but secretly, they'll sleep with anybody."

"Ah. Is that who I am?"

"That's who you are."

"That's good to know," I assure him sarcastically. "I wasn't sure, so thank you for letting me know and getting all of that cleared up."

"You're welcome. So, dinner?"

"You're disgusting," I snap before hanging up on him for the second time and this time, I turn my phone on silent so that although I can see my screen light up with another call, I just ignore it and sit my phone down with my bag on the passenger seat until I get to the apartment.

He's calling again as I get into the apartment and sit my bag down on the coffee table. I can hear deep laughter coming from Jasper's room so I assume that Conner is still here but I'm really tired and it's late, so I just grab a bottle of water from the fridge and then go up the stairs. I keep my eyes closed when I'm passing Jasper's room to get to mine and then open them again when I'm safely behind the blanket shield to give Jasper and Conner their privacy.

Once upstairs, I look at my phone and see that I have four missed calls. Seriously, what was wrong with this guy? First, he basically tells me that he wants to take me out so that he's the 'best' photographer at the school and then he just assumes that I'm a slut (my personal decisions may be questionable to some people but he still has no right) and now he still thinks that I'll go to dinner with him? As if I have no self-respect at all?

After the fifth call, he finally gave up, which I am grateful for. I make sure that my alarm is set for tomorrow morning and then get dressed in pajamas and then start getting ready for bed, making sure that nobody is calling me.

As I'm going to sleep, I hope that Felix backs off because I don't want to go to jail for murder at such a young age.

--------------------

Song: Girls by Miranda Lambert
Picture: Darren Criss, who plays Conner