Jenna

"I'm sorry that I can't come to your practice, but my parents want to take me grocery shopping," I tell Tyler over the phone. "My other siblings are busy except for Brennan and me. I'm sure you'll do great, though," I add with extra enthusiasm in my voice.

The other end of the line is quiet for a moment. "It's okay," Tyler finally replies. "It's just...today was the day that I was going to present Trees to Mark and Josh. I've finally got most of the music written for it."

This makes me feel worse. "I'm sorry," I sigh. "I've tried talking to my parents, but they're pretty firm on taking me shopping."

"As I said, it's okay. I'll just show you another time. I guess I should let you go now."

I pull back the curtain and glance out the front window, where Brennan is climbing into the car. "Yeah. My folks are waiting for me. Good luck with practice!"

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye!" I say.

"Bye."

Pocketing my phone, I lock the door and close it behind me. I hurry around to the back door of our vehicle and climb inside.

"Dude, you need to be faster next time!" Brennan says. "We don't have all day."

"The store isn't going anywhere," I scoff. "Why are you so excited to go shopping anyway?"

He shrugs as my dad starts backing out of the driveway. "I don't know. It's just another chance to get out of the house."

I turn to the window. "Whatever."

The four of us climb out of our SUV and walk through Sam's Club's parking lot. "What all are we getting here?" I ask my parents.

Mom shrugs. "I was thinking about getting a few bulk items."

"Ooo, can we get one of those automatic paper towel dispensers for our bathroom, like the kind they have at school?" Brennan asks.

"Do you want to come back here for refills every time you run out of paper towels?" I reply.

My brother is quiet for a moment. "I guess you have a point." We walk through the front doors where people hurry back and forth with carts for various necessities.

"Bren and I can take half the list and pick up some items if you want," I offer.

Dad nods. "That sounds like a good idea." He tears the list in half and hands part of it to us. "Call one of us if you need anything."

I nod. "Sounds good." Brennan leaves my side to grab a cart, then returns a few seconds later. His chin hovers by my shoulder to read the list.

"So, what should we grab first?"

"Um, well, a lot of stuff on here is like laundry detergent, dryer sheets, air freshener, and toilet paper, so I think that we should head to that general area."

He nods. "Sounds good to me." I walk behind him as he takes the cart over toward the towering shelves on the right side of the store. We pass the freezer area. "Hey, maybe we should get a deep freeze for you to keep your murder victims in. I mean after a while, Febreze won't cover up the dead body smell in your closet."

I glare at him. "Maybe we should. I'm sure I could make room for my little brother." I turn back to the list. "Okay, laundry soap and dryer sheets are down this aisle." Brennan makes a sharp left turn with the cart and zooms down the aisle, his maturity dropping to a five-year-old level quicker than the cart's wheels can turn. I roll my eyes and walk faster to catch up to him. My brother triumphantly waves a bottle of detergent around in the air before putting it in the cart.

"That isn't even the right brand, Genius. We get Tide, not Snuggle. And we need two bottles, not one."

Brennan raises his hands in defeat. "Fine. I'll leave it to the women to do the shopping."

"Thank you," I reply smugly. Leading him further down the aisle for dryer sheets, I whip around when I suddenly hear a wolf-whistle from behind me. "Zack!?"

Sure enough, Zack Joseph is standing behind me smirking, Maddy smacking him on the arm. Brennan steps forward and the two of them do a bro-hug.

"What are you two doing here?" I ask.

Zack rolls his eyes. "Our parents made us go grocery shopping."

"Same here," Brennan says, pointing to the both of us.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Josh's house watching Tyler play? He was mentioning something about it during dinner last night," Maddy chimes in.

I sigh. "I was until my parents asked me to go grocery shopping with them."

"That's too bad. He was really excited about a new song of his," Zack says.

"Yeah," I reply. "I might stop by to see him later, though."

Maddy nods. "That'll be good."

There's a brief awkward silence until Zack breaks it. "Well, I guess we'll see you later."

"Yeah," Brennan replies.

"Bye," I say. My brother and I continue to walk down the aisle. "It was nice seeing them."

Brennan nods his head in agreement. "So...what's next on the list?" he asks.

I look at the piece of paper in my hand. "Toilet paper and paper towels."

My brother wriggles his eyebrows at me, his grip tightening on the cart handle. "Race ya."

I grin at him. "It's on."

Brennan and I climb out of the car about two hours later and walk around to the back to unload the groceries. Taking four bags, I walk up the sidewalk to our porch where Mom is just unlocking the door. I drop the bags in the kitchen then walk back out for more. Brennan purposely bumps my shoulder as we move past each other through the doorway. I roll my eyes and continue my walk outside.

A weird smell lingers in the air. Someone must be grilling something. If they are, then they're doing it wrong because whatever it is they're cooking is burning. I shrug off the weird smell and grab more grocery bags. I walk inside to see Brennan gazing out the dining room window, which overlooks the backyard.

"Uh...Jenna? Could you come here?" he asks worriedly.

I put my groceries down in the foyer and walk toward him. "Yeah, what is it?" I scan the backyard, which looks the same as it always does. My eyes widen as my brother points above the trees at the edge of the woods. Something's not right.

Tyler

"This was a good rehearsal, guys," I say, putting my ukulele in its case.

"Yeah, I really like Trees," Josh says from his drum kit.

"I agree. With a few improvements, I think it could be a real crowd pleaser," Mark says from Josh's desk.

"Well, I'm glad you guys liked it." My phone vibrates in my pocket. Jenna's caller ID pops up on the screen. "Jenna's calling," I state. I walk out of Josh's room and stand in his hallway. My thumb hits the green answer button.

"Hey Bab—"

"Tyler!" Jenna says before I can even finish my greeting. "Come over here now, no questions asked. It's important." Her voice sounds desperately urgent.

"Okay, Babe, I'm coming. Whatever it is, I'll take care of it."

I pop my head into Josh and Mark's room. "I've got to go." I run downstairs and out the door to my car before they can stop me.

Jenna is standing at the curb when I pull into her driveway. She grabs my hand and practically pulls me out of the car, barely giving me time to unbuckle my seatbelt. She leads me around the side of her house, dragging me at an almost-full-speed run.

"Jenna, what is going on!?" I exclaim in confusion.

"Just follow me!" We run down the trail at the edge of her yard and through the woods. She skids to a stop in the clearing where we first met, causing us to almost collide. I catch my breath, a weird smell making my throat hurt.

Jenna's chest heaves. The air quality doesn't seem to be helping. She faces me and grabs both of my hands like her life depends on it. "Tyler, first of all, I'm sorry. Really...really...sorry. Second of all, whatever happens next, I'll be with you and support you every step of the way."

"What—"

She puts a finger to my lips and continues to run again. I lose sight of her after she rounds a bend in the trail. A wave of heat sweeps over me, making my skin prickle, and the weird smell increases. My brain puts two and two together when I round the corner. I feel my stomach plummet as my eyes take in the sight before me.

My treehouse is on fire.

A/N: I'm sorry, I've had serious writer's block lately. I knew what I wanted to do by the end of this chapter, but I didn't know how to make it happen, so the beginning turned out really crappy. Sorry!