A/N: Happy Easter, y'all! Stay Alive! |-/

•Tyler•

On Monday, I wake up from a decent amount of sleep, yet I feel like I've run a marathon. It feels like a sandbag is crushing my chest, and every movement I make is like trudging through mud. So I just lay there, staring at my ceiling. I don't realize how late it's getting until my phone chimes with a text from where it's charging on my nightstand. It takes all of my strength to reach over and open it.

Jenna: Hey, are you OK? Where are you?

Me: At home

Jenna: I'm coming over.

I sit and stare in utter shock at the three simple words displayed on my screen. I don't have any strength to protest. She'd really do that for me? I mean, I guess I'll wait and see in a few minutes.

•Jenna•

I sprint around the house and through the backyard, praying that none of my siblings or my mom sees me. They'd kill me if they discovered that I'm purposely skipping school.
I don't breathe deeply again until I reach the safety of the trees. Hands on my knees, I take a few deep breaths before resuming my dash through the woods, my school bag violently banging against my back.
According to Tyler, Mrs. Joseph and the others leave for school before he does, so I expect the house to be empty when I reach the back door step. I turn the knob to find it unlocked, then whip it open, slam it shut, dash through the kitchen, and finally take two steps at a time down the basement stairs, fearing what I'll find at the bottom.

•Tyler•

Jenna. My Jenna would skip school, run all the way through the woods and break into my house to see if I'm okay. My heart tears a little.
The blonde is gasping for breath when she dashes into my room, flipping the light on as she passes the landing. She puts a hand on her heaving chest. "You're...you're....what's wrong?"
I shrug, staring at the ceiling.
"You're still in bed."
"Thanks for noticing," I snap. A hurt look crosses Jenna's face, causing regret to shoot through me. I sigh. "It's not the best morning for me."
Jenna sets her bag down with a muffled thump, then walks over and sits on the end of my bed, rubbing my feet. "We all have those mornings," she whispers.
"I have them more often then others, apparently." We sit quietly for a moment. "Sorry that I worried you."
"It's oka-"
"I'm sorry you had to come over."
"Tyl-"
"Sorry I'm such a burden."
Jenna lurches forward and grabs my shoulders, making me flinch. "Tyler, STOP. You are NOT a burden, you are my friend and boyfriend, and I'm just looking out for you. That's what friends do. Now, apologize one more time, and I will be forced to do something that I really don't want to do."
I raise an eyebrow. "And what is that?"
"Tickle you," she hisses her face inches from mine.
"Anything but that," I beg.
"Oh yes." She sighs. "I had to run over here! Do you realize I could've been kidnapped in that time span!?"
"I'm sorry," I mumble without thinking.
She raises her eyebrows. "What was that?"
"Nothing," I say hastily.
"It's too late now!" she shouts. Her fingers wiggle their way to my sides where they start tickling my ribs and armpits.
"No! No! Stop! Please!" I cry as I squirm. I curl into fetal position, laughter escaping my body.
"Never!" Jenna flings my comforter off of me, chilling my shirtless body. I kick and squirm, then roll onto the floor.
"Stop! Pleassseeee!"
She hovers over me. "Only if you get up."
I roll my eyes and sigh. "Fine." She offers me a hand and pulls me up, then just stares at me.
"Oh, um, I should probably put a shirt on. I don't want to be more of a distraction than I already am." I wink and walk into my closet for a shirt before she can protest.
"So, what are you going to do with me, being that you're holding me captive for the day?" I ask, pulling my shirt over my head as I walk out of my closet.
Jenna crosses her arms and taps a foot. "We could go to the treehouse."
I consider the option. "We could."
"We need to make breakfast first. Do eggs sound good?"
"Man, I don't know!
"Have you cooked before?"
"I cooked McDouble over a bonfire once. Does that count?"
Jenna laughs. "No, but I'll show you." She takes my arm and leads me upstairs. "Now let's get cooking!"

"So after you drop the butter in, you let it melt, then spread it around until it coats the whole surface." Jenna demonstrates how to get started on cooking the eggs. She wiggles the pan around to get the butter to spread a little bit, then passes it to me.
I take the spatula and spread the square of melting butter around. "When do we put the eggs in?" I ask.
"When all the butter has melted." I nod, then crack an egg when Jenna tells me. The inside lands in the pan with a hiss, then a sizzle as the egg white actually turns white.
"So, do you like your eggs whole or scrambled?"
"Scrambled," I reply.
Jenna takes my hand holding the spatula and guides it around the pan. "Okay, then you're going to break up the yolk." She still has a grip on my hand as she uses the spatula to start separating the yolk.
"So you're going to let it cook a bit, then you're going to stir it." I nod, then proceed to stir the eggs as she gets orange juice out of the fridge.
"This is nice," she declares. "I needed a day off from school, anyhow, and you definitely did."
I change the subject. "I feel dumb for not knowing how to cook an egg. It's so simple."
Jenna rubs my shoulders. "You'll learn, young one."
I smirk. "I'm pretty sure I'm older than you."
I feel her shrug. "Girls are more mature."
"Says the girl who makes me get out of bed by tickling me."
She sticks her tongue out at me, making us both laugh.
Jenna finishes cooking the egg as I grab plates, forks, and cups to set the table with. She walks over to the table and scoops eggs onto our plates before soaking the pan in the sink.
"Thanks for forcing me to get out of bed this morning," I say, my fork hanging limply in my hand.
"It's no problem," she replies happily. "I'm at least glad that you were okay. I was expecting worse for some reason."
We continue to eat out eggs and drink our orange juice (A/N: Is it weird that I put ketchup on my scrambled eggs?). After putting our plates in the kitchen sink, we turn to each other.
"So...what are we doing now?" I ask. Jenna glances at the clock. 8:30.
She shrugs. "Whatever you want. We have until three o'clock."
I think for a second. "We could go to the treehouse, like how I mentioned earlier."
"Sounds good to me." We then head toward the door and out into the woods.

"Dude I bet Josh is worried sick about me," I say as we climb up the treehouse's ladder.
"You ought to text him," Jenna suggests from below me. "Let him know you're okay."
I nod, then continue to climb, finally rolling onto the treehouse floor. Five messages-all from Josh-appear on my phone when I take it out of my pocket.

My Fren: Dude where r u?

My Fren: You okay?

My Fren: mark hasnt seen u.

My Fren: Jenna isnt here either.

My Fren: Is she with u?

I smile at Josh's concern for me, then text him back.

Me: I wasn't feeling good this morning, so Jenna ran over to check on me. We're skipping.

Josh replies almost immediately. I smirk from picturing him having his phone out in class.

My Fren: Aye, OK. Hope u feel better.

Me: Thanks man.

"I told Josh what was going on," I tell Jenna, who has climbed inside with me by now. She puts an arm around me.
"That's good. At least he's not worried."
"Yeah." We're both quiet for a moment. "I forgot the uke."
"It's okay."
I yawn. "I got eight hours of sleep, but I feel exhausted. It's part of the crap depression decides to dump on you."
"I'm sorry," Jenna says, massaging my shoulder with her thumb moving in a circular motion.
I raise an eyebrow. "What did you say?"
"Umm..."
"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily," I start to tickle the pretty blonde as a look of terror crosses her face.
"Tyler! No!" she cries. "I only did that to get you out of bed!"
"And I'm getting revenge. Mwahahahaha!" She squeals as my fingers wiggle against her sides and arms. She thrashes on the wood floor.
"Now, what did you say about apologizing?"
"Fine, you win," she admits, the last of her giggles fading away. We sit down at the treehouse's entrance, our legs dangling over the edge. A cool, fall breeze blows through the trees, causing their boughs to creak. "What do you want to do?"
"We could play hide-and-seek," I say mischievously.
"Here in the woods?"
"Well, the house is empty. We could do it there instead."
Jenna smiles. "Who's the little kid now?" she jokes. "Anyways, I'm game."
We climb down and head back to my house for a match of hide-and-seek.

"3...2...1...," I listen to Jenna counting from my hiding place under Maddy's bed. She decided to count in the bathroom across the hall.
"Ready or not! Here I come!" Jenna's shoes appear in the doorway of my sister's room. I hold my breath as she steps inside. Her feet pass by the bed and move to the closet. When I think she's gone, I let out a sigh of relief, only to feel a hand latch onto one of my ankles.
"Gotcha!"
"Dangit," I mutter, sliding out from under the bed.
"That was an obvious hiding place, you know," she says, smirking. "My turn."

We play for a few more minutes, then agree to have lunch around eleven. Jenna shows me how to make melted ham and cheese sandwiches in the oven.
"It's a go-to snack in my family," Jenna states at the table after swallowing a bite.
"My family is going to be shocked to learn that I know how to cook eggs and ham and cheese." We chuckle.
"We still have about four hours to burn," Jenna says, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Any ideas?"
"There's MarioKart," I suggest, finishing the last bite of my sandwich.
She shrugs. "That works." We both clean up the table, then head downstairs to my room. I turn on my TV and gaming system as Jenna takes a seat on the floor. I pass her a controller as we sign in.
"I'm Mario," I say.
"I call Peach."
I laugh. "I rescue you, apparently." I let Jenna choose the first course. "Rainbow Road!? That's like the hardest one!" I complain.
She smirks. "I know. And I happen to be a MarioKart veteran."
I grin. "It's on. Loser gets tickled for one full minute."
"Deal." The countdown finishes, and the race begins. I'm ahead for the first lap, but then Jenna comes up behind me and shoves me off the track.
"Dude! Stay in your lane!" I exclaim.
"Ha! I go where I want to. Ramming people off the track is the only way you're gonna win."
"You won't be the one saying that when I ram you off the track," I threaten.
She rolls her eyes. "I'm already like a lap ahead of you. Just surrender already."
"Never!"
To sum it up: Jenna wins, which results in a full minute of me being tickled.
"I'd like to see you play against Josh," I say after my one minute of torture. "That would get intense."
Jenna laughs as we start Mushroom Gorge. We play through two more rounds until she stands up, setting the controller down. "Are you thirsty? I am."
"There's Gatorade in the fridge upstairs. You can go grab some. I'll pick the next course."
I watch her hop upstairs, then turn back to my TV. Silence surrounds me for a few minutes, only to be broken by a blood-curdling scream.
"Jenna!?" I yell as I dash up the stairs, my hair standing on end. I reach the top to see Jenna standing in the kitchen, catching her breath in shock.
"Babe, what happened!?"
A hand covers my mouth. I whip around and throw a punch at my attacker, only causing my eyes to widen at the sight of a familiar face with flaming orange hair.
"Josh!? Dude! What are you doing here!?"
"I narrowly missed that swing, bro," Josh says, ignoring my question. Jenna's laughter rings in the background. "You're getting good at your punches."
"You still haven't answered my question. Why are you here? You're skipping?"
Josh spreads his arms and shrugs. "Seniors are allowed to check out after lunch. You weren't feeling well, so I decided to stop by and see you."
"Way to scare me, though. What did you do to make Jenna scream?"
He smirks. "I asked about Bon Qeesha as I stood behind the fridge door that she was slowly closing."
"I threw my Gatorade at him, too."
"I'll have a scar forever," Josh jokes, gesturing to a scratch on his bicep. Jenna tosses me a Gatorade.
"So, what have you guys been doing?" Josh questions, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Playing MarioKart," I reply curtly.
"Who's winning?"
Jenna and I share a look. She flashes a triumphant smile.
"Oh, girl, it's on," Josh challenges. "I am the MarioKart king!" He flexes both arms and kisses each bicep. Jenna and I roll our eyes.
"So...are we headed back downstairs?" Jenna asks. Josh and I nod, and the three of us head downstairs.
"Yo, I think I left a pair of basketball shorts in your shower or beside it," Josh says on the way down.
"I don't remember seeing them, but I'll look." I walk into my bathroom and toward my shower. Glancing around the tub, I don't see anything, so I draw the shower curtain back. A scream flies out of my throat like a caged bird being set free.
"Mark!? You're here, too!?"
Mark slaps a knee and doubles over laughing. "You scream like a girl!"
"Shut up! Did you come here with Josh?"
He nods, still laughing. I take Mark by the arm and drag him into the main room, where I find Josh and Jenna doubled over laughing as well.
"Your scream is girlier than mine," Jenna says. I roll my eyes.
"So both you and Mark are here,"I say, stating the obvious. "Now what? We have about three hours to burn before the rest of the family gets home."
Josh glances toward a corner where lone foam bullet lies on its side, covered in dust. His eyes sparkle with an idea. "Two words: Nerf war."