Jake wakes me up the next morning.

"Time for school!" I open my eyes and he is standing by the door. I have the impulse to fling off my covers and run into his arms, but considering the fact that my pajamas consist of a bra and a pair of spandex discourages me. Instead, I say,

"Morning, Babe. I'll be out in a minute, I just need to get ready." Jake laughs and says,

"I'll be waiting outside your door." I wait for him to close the door before jumping out of bed and getting ready. I pick out a cute outfit and braid my hair. A little makeup finishes the look.

"So, Babe, how do I look?"

"You look like my girl!" Jake says. I grab my backpack, which he takes and gives to the maid standing there to put in the limo. Then, he sweeps me up bridal style and walks down the staircase. Into the dining room we go, where his dad is sitting at the head of the long table.

"Her own chair, Jake."

"I know, Dad." Jake sets me down in the chair farther away from his dad and then sits in his own. The breakfast casserole on my plate is still steaming, and I look at Jake's to see if his is, as well. That's when I notice that Jake's has the same hot peppers that Archer eats all the time in it. Is this Jake's dad trying to build his son's strength? I say,

"I didn't know you liked hot peppers, Jake."

"What? I don't."

"But your casserole has habaneros in it!" Jake looks down and then at his dad, a frown on his handsome face.

"Dad?" His dad looks slightly panicked as he says,

"Oh, bother! Ask the maids to fetch you some of the regular." One of the maids steps in and says,

"There isn't any left. There's only the habanero casserole left." Jake's dad's face flickers with victory for a moment before transforming into a sympathetic expression.

"I'm sorry, Jake, but it looks like the only thing we have left is the habanero. Do you think you can suffer through it?"

"He doesn't have to suffer through anything!" I say. "He can have half of mine." Before Jake or his dad can protest, I scootch my plate in between the two of us and load a bite of my casserole onto his fork. Mr. Easton's brow furrows as he says,

"You really don't need to, Monica. Jake doesn't need that."

"Needing to isn't the point, sir. I want to share with him, and that's what matters." Jake reluctantly takes the fork from me and eats the bite, but then says,

"You should eat the rest, Monica."

"No! You get half of it." After a minute of hesitation, Jake wolfs down his half of the casserole, and I eat my half. Then, Jake grabs two brown paper sacks labeled Jake and Monica and we rush out the door. Once we're in the limo and the screen separating us from Ernest is in place, I whisper,

"I don't think I could stand living there."

"I almost can't. And now, it looks like things are getting worse." I stare at him in sadness. My life has changed drastically in the past few days: I have a boyfriend who really, truly loves me. One thing's for sure though; Jake's life has suddenly taken a turn for the worse. As if sensing my thoughts, Jake says,

"Hey, don't worry about me. I'm okay. You make sure that you're doing okay."

"I'm not going to be completely okay until you're okay, Jake!" I try to say more, but Jake shakes his head and puts his hand over my mouth. He keeps it there until we're parked in the school parking lot. When the driver opens the door, Jake grabs my backpack and his and helps me out of the limo. All the students are staring and whispering.

At my locker, Jake hands me my backpack but won't give me my lunch. It's causing quite a stir in the hallway.

"Why won't you give me my lunch?" I ask, annoyed.

"You haven't given me anything in return."

"Well, what do you want?"

"Offer me something worth your lunch." I sigh and start to try to think of what he'd trade. Finally, I say,

"You can have a kiss every passing period as long as you don't make me late and you can feed me at lunch."

"Deal," Jake says with a grin. "I get my first kiss right now."

"Oh, no you don't. It's not a passing period."

"It's five minutes till homeroom starts, that's what it is." Mallie's voice comes from behind me. Jake and I turn to find Mallie and Archer standing there. Mallie has a triumphant grin on her face, and Archer is staring at Mallie like she's the only thing in the world. I smile back at Mallie and then pull Jake forward.

"I don't think you've met Jake Easton?" I say with a smile. Mallie and Jake both laugh and play along. Mallie says,

"I'm Malibu O'Brien, but please call me Mallie."

"Pleasure." They shake hands and then I turn to Mallie and say,

"I'll obviously still hang with you two, but I need to eat lunch each day with Jake and his crew because I'm not going to get lunch if I don't." Jake cuts in,

"You're right, Monica, you won't." I laugh and say,

"I have to get to my homeroom, but I'll see you guys later. See you in Chem, Jake."

"See you there, Babe." He leans down and kisses me and then I walk away, a smile on my face.

In Chemistry, Mrs. Alex seems to be having a good day. She hums as she passes out the lab instructions. We will be timing reactions of different acids and bases mixed together. Jake and I grab our worksheets and materials and walk over to our work station. I start the Bunsen burner as Jake measures out the different acids and bases. As we let the burner simmer, I look around to see what the others are doing. Rosie and Leon are stirring something that looks slightly suspicious. Jonathan and Delia are fighting over what to mix. Jake looks up and watches with me as Jonathan grabs every single acid and base and dumps them all into their beaker.

"Uh oh," I say as Mrs. Alex runs over to try to stop them. It's too late, though, and as she skids to a stop in front of the concoction, it blows.

Acidic liquid spills over the counter and onto the floor. Delia is covered in the mess, as Jonathan used her as a shield. Mrs. Alex is groaning,

"You six are the bane of my existence!" Turning to Jonathan, she says,

"Principal. Now." He sheepishly trudges out the door. Delia is crying, and Mrs. Alex has Rosie walk her to the office to get a change of clothes.

"Jake and Monica, can you go to the supply closet and grab the mops?" She has forgotten about Leon, who stands dejectedly in the corner.

"Of course, Mrs. Alex!" I assure her that we will be quick. We walk to the closet at the far end of the hallway and I grab the mops. Jake carries the bucket of a disinfectant and water mix. We're walking and talking, me a couple of paces ahead of Jake, when Eben walks past.

"Hey, Daddy's Boy and Nerd Girl." I almost want to laugh at how stupid it is.

"Eben, if you want to be popular, you shouldn't go around insulting the king of the school."

"Puh-lease, Nerd Girl, I can still be popular with the sophomores even if the juniors hate me." Then he continues to walk. Five seconds later, I hear Jake's surprised groan, and the bucket of cleaning solution pours down on my head. I scream, but when I pull off the bucket, I see Eben laughing and Jake on the floor facedown, groaning. He rolls over, clutching at his chest. Eben sneers at him,

"Weak." Anger strikes me like a lightning bolt. I grab Eben by the collar and shove him into the wall with more strength than I knew I possessed.

"Never call him weak again. You have no idea how strong he is." I get right in his face as I say, "We all have our weak spots. I think you would do well to remember that you have no idea what mine are, and yet I know all of yours." I let go and walk away. He glares and then storms off. I immediately run to Jake and ask,

"Jake? What can I do? Are you okay?" He groans and opens his eyes. He puts his hand on my dripping cheek and then runs it through my sopping hair.

"I'm sorry, Monica."

"No! This was not your fault. It was all Eben's fault. Now, is your chest okay?"

"Even if it isn't, nobody can do anything about it. Then, people would know."

"Maybe people should know, Jake. You don't deserve this."

"Monica! You can't tell anyone, and that's the end of the discussion." I sigh and lightly rub his chest, careful not to rub too hard on the bruises.

"Okay, Jake, I won't tell anyone." He smiles a relieved grin and I help him up right as Mrs. Alex comes running up.

"Monica! What happened? You're soaked!" I wince and say,

"Jake tripped, and I got splashed." Mrs. Alex sighs and says,

"Maybe you should go home and take a shower."

"Really? You'd let me?" I say excitedly.

"Yes, and Jake, you probably should go, too. I'll send an update to your next period teachers if you'll tell me what they are." I tell her,

"Mine's American History. Jake has College Government."

"Okay. You two go get changed, okay?" We smile and thank her, and then walk outside to the main entrance. Jake calls Ernest to pick us up.

He drives up within a minute. We slide into the seats, squelching noises filling the silence as our wet shoes slide against the rubber mats on the floor. It takes about two minutes to get to the garage of the mansion, and then Jake takes my hand and shows me to my room. I blow him a kiss and then get out yet another cute outfit and take a warm, soothing shower.

After I get dried off, I use a curling iron Jake borrowed from his mom's suite to make my hair fall in nice waves. I redo my makeup, and walk right into Jake's outstretched arms. He buries his face in my hair and I put my hands in the front pocket of his sweatshirt.

"How long did she say we had until we have to go back?" I ask, my face pressed into the fabric of his sweatshirt. Jake doesn't reply immediately as he rubs my back. Then, he says,

"She said we have all of this second period as long as we get caught up later." I pump my fist in the air with glee. Jake grabs my wrist while it's still in the air and pulls me in again, lightly brushing his lips to mine. The hand not holding my wrist strokes my cheek. He pushes me against the wall, kissing me more deeply before a voice booms in the dark hallway.

"Jake and Monica?" We break apart and there stands Mr. Easton. My face seems to burn up with embarrassment.

"Mr. Easton, I can explain!" I say, and then, not giving him a chance to protest, I jump into my explanation. "We were helping our Chem teacher clean up a mess, and Jake was holding a bucket of cleaning solution. Then, this boy in my grade named Eben Davis tripped Jake, and the bucket spilled and got Jake and I soaked. So our teacher told us to go and shower. We just have to be back by third period." I look at Jake's dad, hoping that this is enough to satisfy him.

"Eben Davis, hmmmm?" he says.

"Yeah," I say. Mr. Easton nods and says,

"For once, I don't care what you two do, just stay out of my way. Nobody treats my son… or my son's girlfriend," he adds grudgingly, "like that and gets away with it. Tell me when you're leaving." We thank him and rush away, holding hands and giggling as we run down many different hallways.

"I want to show you something, Babe," Jake says, leading me to a doorway on the ground floor. He opens it and we walk into the most amazing indoor garden I have ever seen.

"Everytime my mom comes back from an exotic place, she plants one of the native plants in this garden. There are different rooms for different climates." I look around, enthralled by the different plants. Color blossoms all around me, shades of every hue imaginable peeking out at me. Jake grabs my shoulders and steers me towards a giant tree rising in the middle of the dirt. It has a giant treehouse in its upper branches that is obviously one of Jake's favorite spots in the world, based on the look of love in his eyes as he stares at it. He walks up to the long, dangling ladder and motions for me to come with.

"Nuh-uh," I say. "I'm not the 'climb the ladder, save the day' type of girl. I'm just a normal, scaredy-cat sophomore." Jake laughs and then bends down.

"Climb on!" he says. I skeptically raise my eyebrows, but he just motions for me to climb on, and so I do. Yes, my boyfriend piggy-backs me into the treehouse.

Once Jake is at the top, he sits down but doesn't put me down, and so I'm stuck between the wall and Jake's back.

"Jake!" I laugh, pushing on his back, "let me out!"

"But I don't want to," he says, a smirk materializing on his face. "Besides, Smartie, I never got my kiss last passing period. And no, that one in the hallway does not count."

"What if I don't want to be kissed, Rich Kid?" If he's going to use the old nicknames, I will, too. Jake replies,

"It doesn't matter. There's no escape in here, Monica." He leans his head back so that it rests on my chest.

"Jake!" He doesn't respond, but instead pulls my legs up into his lap so that they wrap around his waist.

"Jake! What are you doing?"

"Relax," he says, sliding my sneakers off. I gasp,

"What the heck are you doing?" He laughs, his hands clenching my ankles. All at once, he grabs my right foot and starts tickling the bottom of it. I jerk, my body pushing against the wall of the treehouse. A giggle erupts from my mouth. I twist and swerve, trying to get free, but I just succeed in making Jake laugh. He spins around, grabbing my hips and pulling me onto his lap as he leans against the wall. I sigh, soaking in the amazing moment. I mean, we've only been dating for two days, but we are already so close. I mean, I never would've dreamed that I would be here in Jake Easton's treehouse, but here I am. All the things I've always dreamed of are within my reach.

"Babe?" Jake's voice asks as he squeezes my waist.

"Yeah?"

"Do you like it up here?"

"Yeah. It's a good place to get away from everything."

"Yeah. It's like everything in this house is my father's, and we don't get any of it to ourselves. But this, Monica, it's ours. No one's going to steal it from us."