James spoke to Jane alone for a moment.

“We’re going to go back with them. Keep your things close and watch your back.” they helped us pack our things and then led us deeper into the woods. We’d been walking for about an hour when we reached a clearing surrounded by a bunch of treehouses. There were eight of them in different trees, yet they were all connected by rope bridges. There were wooden ladders on each tree leading to the houses above. They had strung up lit candles encased in removable glass. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I could hear Jane gasping in awe. There was a campfire at the foot of the trees in the middle of the clearing. While looking around in awe at my surroundings, I hadn’t noticed that James had stopped walking and I walked right into his back. It felt like hitting a brick wall. I can hear the group giggle behind me. I turn and glare at them. James tousled my hair. I pushed his hand away and made my way over to Jane’s side. She gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Sorry, he doesn’t like physical touch. We may have followed you, but we don’t fully trust you,” she says trying to smooth this over. All of a sudden a girl came running from one of the trees. She looked to be a teenager around Jane’s age. I couldn’t quite make out her features though. She stopped running a few feet away from us and just waved. James nodded toward her and everyone began to make their way to her. Jane and I follow behind. Getting closer I started to analyze the girl. She was Asian, about five foot three, was really skinny, and had bad eyesight but for some reason didn’t wear glasses. She scanned the group and then her eyes fell on Jane and me. She walked right up to me.

“Aww, you are so adorable. Hi, my name is Astrid, it’s so nice to meet you. You are so small!” I looked up at Jane who was giggling at me. I rolled my eyes.

[I’m not small.] How embarrassing.