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And he was so embarrassed, his cheeks turned completely red. I went to bed that night thinking of the kiss that might have been. I mean,it was clear he had feelings for me, but he was just too shy to show them. My mother said boys were like that. - So I decided to help him out. - Bryce? Youre here. I would give him plenty of opportunity to get over his shyness. By the sixth grade, Id learned to control myself. Then Sherry Stalls entered the picture. Sherry Stalls was nothing but a whiny, gossipy,backstabbing flirt. All hair and no substance. And there she was. .holding hands with Bryce. My Bryce. The one who was walking around with my first kiss. My solution was to ignore her. I knew a boy of Bryces caliber. .would eventually see through a shallow conniver like Sherry Stalls. It took all of a week. They broke up at recess. She didnt take it well. Now that Bryce was out of Sherrys evil clutches,he started being nicer to me. - Hi,Juli. - Hi,Bryce. He was so shy and so cute. .and his hair, it smelled like watermelon. I couldnt get enough of it. I spent the whole year secretly sniffing watermelon. .and wondering if I was ever going to get my kiss. Seventh grade brought changes,all right. But the biggest one didnt happen at school. It happened at home. My grandfather came to live with us. Mom said he stared like that because he missed Grandma. That was not something Grandpa would ever talk about with me. As a matter of fact,he never talked about much of anything with me. That is,until Juli appeared in the local newspaper. - Oh,Bryce. May I speak with you? - What? Have a seat,son. Tell me about your friend Juli Baker. Juli. Shes not exactly my friend. Oh. Whys that? Why do you wanna know? Now,Juli Baker did not wind up in The Mayfield Times. .for being an eighth-grade Einstein. No,she got front-page coverage because she refused to climb out of a sycamore tree. Juli Baker and that stupid sycamore tree. She always thought it was Gods gift to our little corner of the universe. Hey,Bryce. Wanna come climb the tree with me and my brothers? No,thanks. Bryce. Come up here. Its fun. I cant. My dad needs me to help him fix. .a thing. Thats all I needed. Climb up a tree with Juli Baker. Id be dragged right back into the second grade. Bryce and Juli sitting in a tree. Why dont you just make me eat lima beans for the rest of my life. Its three blocks away. Two blocks. One block away. - Like thats valuable information. - I hate it when she does that. I like to think theres at least a chance the bus wont show. I think the tree looks particularly beautiful in this light. Dont you? If by beautiful you mean unbelievably ugly, then,yes,I would agree. Youre just visually challenged. I feel sorry for you. Visually challenged? Visually challenged? This from the girl who lived in a house that was the joke of the neighborhood? They had bushes growing over windows and weeds all over the place. It bugged my dad bigtime. Oh,there he is. The bricklayer who thinks hes a painter. That trucks not ugly enough in real life? Hes gotta make a painting of it? No,he does landscapes. Sells them at the county fair. People say theyre beautiful. Landscapes? Let me tell you something. The world would have more beauty in it. .if hed do a little landscaping on that piece of crap he calls a yard. I feel bad for his wife. She married a dreamer. Because of that,one of the two of them will always be unhappy. Yeah,fine. But why do we have to be unhappy? As annoying as the yard was to my dad. .it was nothing compared to how annoying Juli Baker was in that tree. Three blocks away. Every morning we had to listen to the sound. .of her blow-by-blow traffic report. Two blocks. There you go. Why do they call it The Three Stooges? - I mean,theres five of them. - What? Well,yeah,theres Moe,Larry,Curly, Shemp and Curly Joe. - Yeah,but they only have three at a time. - Yeah. You know,I hate Curly Joe. I mean,he shouldnt even be a Stooge. Listen,girl, Im this close to calling the police. You are trespassing and obstructing progress on a contracted job. - Whats going on? - Either you come down. .or were gonna cut you down. - You guys,come up here with me. They wont cut it down if were all up here. - Bus,bus,bus. - Juli was frantic. They wanted to cut down her tree. I couldnt understand why that mutant tangle of gnarly branches. .meant so much to her. - Bryce,please. - I felt bad for her. - Leave her. But I wasnt about to cut school over it. Come on,bro. Why isnt she your friend,Bryce? Youd have to know Juli. Well,Id like to. Why? That girl has an iron backbone. Why dont you invite her over sometime? An iron backbone? Shes just stubborn. .and shes pushy beyond belief. Is that so? And shes been stalking me since the second grade. Well,a girl like that doesnt live next door to everyone. Lucky them. Read this. Without prejudice. Like I needed to know anything more about Juli Baker. Juli wasnt at the bus stop the next morning. Or the morning after that. She was at school, but youd never know it. - Little Joe? Hes got so much makeup on. - He doesnt age. I told myself I should be glad about it. I mean,isnt that what Id always wanted? But still,I felt bad for her. I was gonna tell her I was sorry, but then I thought,hey,no. .thats the last thing I needed: Juli Baker thinking I missed her. I see why you like to come out here. Would you mind explaining it to your mother? I loved to watch my father paint. Or really,I loved to hear him talk while he painted. I learned a lot about my dad that way. He told me all sorts of things. .like how he got his first job delivering hay and how hed wished hed finished college. Then one day he surprised me. Whats going on with you and,uh,Bryce Loski? What do you mean? Nothing. Oh,okay. My mistake. Why would you even think that? No reason. Just that you. .talk about him all the time. I do? Mm-hm. I dont know. I guess its something about his eyes. Or maybe his smile. But what about him? - What? - You have to look at the whole landscape. What does that mean? A painting is more than the sum of its parts. A cow by itself is just a cow. A meadow by itself is just grass, flowers. And the sun peeking through the trees is just a beam of light. But you put them all together. .and it can be magic. I didnt really understand what he was saying until one afternoon. .when I was up in the sycamore tree. I was rescuing a kite. It was a long way up, higher than Id ever been. And the higher I got, the more amazed I was by the view. I began to notice how wonderful the breeze smelled. Like sunshine and wild grass. I couldnt stop breathing it in. .filling my lungs with the sweetest smell Id ever known. Hey,you found my kite. Bryce,you should come up here. Its so beautiful. I cant. I sprained my,um. I have a rash. From that moment on, that became my spot. I could sit there for hours, just looking out at the world. Some days the sunsets would be purple and pink. And some days they were a blazing orange. .setting fire to the clouds on the horizon. It was during one of those sunsets that my fathers idea. .of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. .moved from my head to my heart. Some days I would get there extra early to watch the sunrise. One morning I was making mental notes. .of how the streaks of light were cutting through the clouds. .so I could tell my dad. .when I heard a noise below. Excuse me. Excuse me. Im sorry,but you cant park there. Thats a bus stop. Hey,what are you doing up there? You cant be up there, were gonna take this thing down. - The tree? - Yeah. Now come on down. - But who told you,you could cut it down? - The owner. Why? Hes gonna build a house, and this trees in the way. - So come on,girl,we got work to do. - You cant cut it down. You just cant. Listen,girl. Im this close to calling the police. You are trespassing and obstructing progress on a contracted job. Now either you come down, or were gonna cut you down. Go ahead. Cut me down. Im not coming down. Im never coming down. Bryce. You guys,come up here with me. They wont cut it down if were all up here. Bryce,please dont let them do this. Come on,you guys. Bryce,please. You dont have to come up this high. Just a little ways. Bryce,please. Please. What happened after that was a blur. It seemed like the whole town was there. But still I wouldnt move. Then my father showed up. He talked a fireman into letting him come up to where I was. Sweetie,its time to come down. Daddy,please dont let them do this. - Sweetie. - Daddy,look. You can see everything. You can see the whole world from here. No view is worth my daughters safety. Now,come on. I cant. Julianna,its time to come down now. Please,Daddy. Its time. And that was it. I mustve cried for two weeks straight. Oh,sure,I went to school and did the best I could. .but nothing seemed to matter. - Juli? - Huh? Do you know the answer? Uh,the Peloponnesian War? Im sure thats the answer to something. .but I was looking for the area of a rhomboid. Somehow,rhomboids and isosceles right triangles. .didnt seem so important. I rode my bike so I wouldnt have to pass by the stump. .that used to be the earths most magnificent sycamore tree. But no matter what I did, I couldnt stop thinking about it. Are you okay? It was just a tree. No,it wasnt just a tree. I never want you to forget how you felt when you were up there. Thanks,Dad. It was the first thing I saw every morning. .and the last thing I saw before I went to sleep. And once I could look at it without crying. .I saw more than the tree and what being up there meant to me. I saw the day that my view of things around me started changing. And I wondered, did I still feel the same things about Bryce? Ive never been a huge fan of eggs. I mean,I could always just take them or leave them. That is,until one day in Skyler Browns garage. .when my feelings about eggs were solidified. Hey,hey,hey. Guys. Ednas found her breakfast. I mean,if a slimy reptile found them appetizing. .there was certainly no place for them in my diet. Oh,man,thats so cool. She doesnt even have to chew. I mean,think of all the time youd save. I couldve gone my whole life not knowing that snakes eat eggs raw. .if it hadnt been for Lynetta. She had a major-league thing for Skyler Brown. I think its gross. He and Julis brothers, Matt and Mark,had formed a band. And Lynetta would watch them practice. That is so neat. How about that,huh,Bryce? Yeah. Neat. So,Brycie,how do you think hes gonna digest that? - Stomach acid? - Youd like to think that. Wait,everybody quiet. Here he goes. Eggs over easy. Gross. Gross,gross,gross. Wait,wait. You havent seen the best part. Ugh! Gross. I tried to be casual about it, but it didnt take. I started having bad dreams. Id be trapped inside a huge egg. .and this monster would open his jaws and start to devour me. Id wake up just in time. Then the real nightmare began. Hi,Bryce. I brought these over for you and your family. - My chickens are laying eggs. - What? You remember Abby and Bonnie and Clyde and Dexter and Eunice and Florence? - The ones I hatched for the science fair. - How could I forget? It was classic Juli Baker. She totally dominated the fair. And get this,her project was all about watching boring eggs hatch. I mean,here I had a live-action erupting volcano. .and all anyone cared about was Julis boring chicks. .breaking out of their boring shells. Oh,I think the last ones hatching. - Its hatching. - Oh,its hatching. Kids,come over here. But hey,she won. I lost. Ive never been one to dwell. Here it comes. But that didnt mean I had to eat her lousy eggs. I think it was very sweet of Juli to bring us those eggs. I dont care. Im still having cereal tomorrow. Yeah,how do we know theres no chicks in one of those eggs? I used to eat farm-fresh eggs when I was a kid. They were delicious. Yeah,well,thats all well and good. .but what if we crack one open and a dead chick falls out? Do they have a rooster? If they dont have a rooster the eggs cant be fertile. And if they had a rooster,wed know. The whole neighborhood would know. Maybe they got it de-yodeled. De-yodeled? You know. De-cock-a-doodle-dood. What the hell are you talking about? Like they de-bark dogs. Bryce,why dont you just ask Juli? What? - You afraid to talk to her? - Im not afraid to talk to her. I know you are,but what am I? - Okay. Just talk to her and find out. - Bryce. How do you tell if ones a rooster? - Well,a roosters bigger. Longer feathers. - Mm-hm. Theyve got that red stuff growing out of their head. - And around their neck too. - That shouldnt be too hard to spot. Although,come to think of it, chickens have the rubbery red stuff too. Just not as much. Garretts expertise in roosters. .was the cornerstone of our plan to avoid contact with Juli Baker. The balance of which involved spying over her back fence. - Come on,come on. - Shh. Shh. Over here. I cant see the stupid chickens. We gotta get them out of the coop. Is that a rooster? No,it looks like a chicken. How can you tell? It just does. See what I mean? Expertise. - Shh,shh! - What? Juli. Here,guys. Go on,there you go. - Here,guys. Go on. - Yeah,theyre all chickens. - Theres no rooster? - What did I just say? How can you tell? - Well,none of them are strutting. - Here,come on. - Roosters strut? - Come on,guys. - What did I just say? - Here. Plus,hardly any of them have any rubbery red stuff. - What are you doing? - Yeah. Theyre definitely all chickens. Theyre all chickens. Im proud of you,Bryce. - You overcame your fear. - Huh? - You talked to her. - Oh,heh. Yeah. Its no big deal. Thats what she told you? Theyre all chickens? Yeah. Shes a genius. Youre both genius. Of course theyre all chickens. A roosters a chicken. The question is: Is one of them a rooster or are they all hens? Hens? Who said anything about hens? Then it hit me. Garrett didnt know jack shit about chickens. - Do roosters strut? - Yes,they do. What does that have to do with anything? Theyre all hens. Well,the main thing is the eggs are okay. Its all settled. Not for me. There was no way I was ever gonna eat anything. .that had anything to do with Juli Baker. Im not eating them. Well,why not? Have you seen their yard? Its. Theres not even any grass. Its all mud and chicken turds. Ew. Gross. Salmonella. Do you suppose they could have salmonella? - Its not very likely. - Why take the risk? What do we do with the eggs? Give them back. - Give them back? To Juli? - Sure. You talked to her before,right? It didnt kill you. Well,what do I say? Tell her we dont eat eggs. Uh,were allergic to them or something. Come on,use your brains. It didnt feel right to lie. Besides,even a seventh grader would know that entire families arent allergic to eggs. But I didnt wanna hurt her feelings either. So that left me with only one option. And thus another near-death experience. .in my ongoing saga with Juli Baker had been successfully avoided. Until one week later. Hi,Bryce. Brought you some more eggs. Wow. - Thanks. - Did your family like the first batch? Do you even have to ask? Great. See you at school. What I hoped would be a one-time event. .was just the beginning of a life consumed with lies,intrigue and deception. Every morning Id be on the lookout for Juli. .so if she happened to come,I could whip the door open before she knocked. Thanks. Then Id dump the eggs before anyone noticed. And why? Why couldnt I just face her? Why couldnt I just say: No,thanks. Dont want them. Dont need them. Give them to the snake? Was I really afraid of hurting her feelings. .or was I just afraid of her? Now,you wanna make sure you get it. When Mrs. Brubeck first suggested hatching eggs as my science project. .I was less than excited. That is,until I saw my first sign of life. Is that it? Wow. - It looks like a bean. - It does. Lets try the other ones. Suddenly it felt real. All the eggs were alive. There were,like,little bean babies inside every one. On the day of the fair, all six chicks hatched. What are the odds? This years top prize goes to Juli Baker. .for her wonderful project: A Chicken is Born. I won first place. And that was cool, but all I really cared about were my chicks. There you go. There you go,guys. My mom wasnt crazy about us raising chickens. But I begged and pleaded. I told her I would take care of everything. And I did. Wheres Clyde? Clyde? Hey,Clyde. Whats the matter? Are you okay? Arent you hungry? Come on. Come here. Whats wrong,baby? Come here. Hey,youre not Clyde. Youre Clydette. Mom! As it turned out,my hens laid more eggs than we could eat. At first we tried to keep up. .but after a month of boiling, frying and deviling. .like that movie The Blob, we were being overtaken by eggs. Then opportunity in the form of our neighbor,Mrs. Steuby,knocked. Hello,dear. If you ever have any extra, Id be happy to buy them from you. - Really? - Certainly. And I happen to know that Mrs. Helms would be interested as well. - Great. - Nothing like fresh eggs. - Thanks,Mrs. Steuby. - You bet,dear. Bye. Between Mrs. Steuby and Mrs. Helms, my egg overflow problem was solved. Then I realized that Mrs. Loski deserved eggs too. But I didnt think it would be right to charge her. She had been such a good neighbor, lending us supplies when we ran out. .giving my mother a ride when our car wouldnt start. .it was the least I could do. Besides,if I happened to run into Bryce, that wouldnt be the end of the world. Hi,Bryce. By the third time I brought eggs over to the Loskis. .I realized Bryce was waiting for me. Waiting to pull open the door and say, Thanks,Juli. See you at school. And in return, I got a few moments alone. .with the worlds most dazzling eyes. Thanks,Juli. See you at school. It was a bargain. Until the day it wasnt. It was two weeks after the sycamore tree was cut down. .and I was just starting to feel normal again. Hey,Juli. Right on schedule. Yeah,well,neither rain nor sleet. - Huh? - You know,the mailman thing? Oh. Right. So,um,will you start riding the bus again? I dont know. I havent been up there since. It doesnt look so bad anymore. Its all cleared away. Well,um,I better get ready for school. Guess Ill see you there. See you. Maybe Bryce was right. Maybe it was time I started riding the bus again. After all,didnt he just tell me he wanted me to? Could it be that Bryce Loski actually misses me? Juli? What are you still doing here? I was just thinking. Its pickup day. The cans are in front. I know. You need some help? No. Maybe Ill do it later. Are those my eggs? Ye
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