Point Place, Wisconsin
July 20, 1970
5:30 p.m.
Location: Eric Forman's Treehouse
Eric, Hyde, Kelso and Donna were all running around in the backyard, taking turns climbing up into the tree house.
Ten year old Eileen stood in the driveway, aching to join them.
But her mom said Eric and his friends can play rough, and she could get hurt.
As if to discourage her further, she'd been dressed in a frilly white dress.
It was beautiful and brand new. It would hurt her mom's feelings if she ruined it by getting it dirty.
Still…
She fiddled with the bracelet of glass beads on her wrist, trying to ignore what she was feeling.
But Eileen saw them all having so much fun, and she couldn't take it anymore.
The young brunette took a deep breath, crossing the threshold between their worlds.
Which in this case, was a patch of grass.
Twelve year old Eric gazed down from the entrance of the tree house and waved. "Hey, Ells!"
A redheaded girl with pigtails was giggling and looking out too. "Come on, Eileen! Come hang out with us!"
Kelso shot her a grin through his retainer. "Yeah, just don't eat the candy or look at the magazines under the - OW!" He yelled as Eric punched him.
"Shut up," he muttered under his breath.
A boy with frizzy curls emerged from the entrance and descended down the steps, managing to keep his sun glasses on.
He didn't say a word, just shot her a secret smile and ruffled her hair before he passed her and went through the sliding doors to the Forman's kitchen.
Eileen stuck her tongue out at him. Ew. He messed up my hair.
She was distracted from her annoyance when someone called her name. "What are you waiting for, Ellie?!" Donna called, waving to get her attention.
The little brunette blushed, not responding.
"You're wasting your breath, kid," a voice said, making Eileen cringe.
She turned around to see her older sister, Laurie entering the backyard. "Ellie is afraid of heights. She's too much of a scaredy cat," she sneered, crossing her arms.
Eileen's face went bright red and she gave Laurie her nastiest look. "Am not!"
"Are too!" Laurie insisted, staring her down. "You're just a big baby who's afraid of everything!"
Eileen stepped down hard on her sister's foot.
"OW!" She yelled much to Ellie's satisfaction, but then shouted, "I'm telling mom! MOOOOM! EILEEN HURT ME!" She stomped back through to the kitchen and disappeared.
Eric came down from the treehouse in a rush, his cheeks flushed. "Don't worry Ells. MOOM! LAURIE WAS MEAN TO ELLIE!" He ran after his older sister.
Donna rolled her eyes and descended as well. "Tell your brother I said bye," she said, giving a gentle punch to Ellie's shoulder and running home.
Eileen looked up to see Kelso, the last to come down from the treehouse. "Laters," he said, bolting home. "Aw man, mom's gonna kill me if I don't make it home in time for dinner…" he kept mumbling to himself long after he disappeared from sight.
After they'd all gone, she gazed up at the top of the treehouse.
It was the ultimate achievement to make it inside. If you were brave enough to climb the steps, you officially weren't a kid anymore.
She could only imagine what precious goodies and treasures were kept up there. Eric's allowance stash, extra snacks, Donna's short stories, Laurie's makeup…the whole world could be kept up in that treehouse.
She stared at it with determined eyes. "I'm not a baby," she whispered to herself.
Eileen grabbed the first wood block to climb.
Her hands started to shake but she kept going, not daring to look down. "I'm not afraid," she said through her teeth, gripping tightly.
Halfway up, she wanted to stop, but it was too late to turn back now.
She could picture the look on Laurie's face when she saw her head peeking out of the treehouse's window, shooting her a smug smile.
It was motivation enough to continue on.
At this point, the interior of the treehouse was just out of reach.
She was almost there.
Eileen paused, took a few deep breaths, and grabbed the last wood block step.
The young girl tumbled into the treehouse, getting some dirt on her dress.
But she hugged herself, beaming.
She'd done it.
Eileen took in her surroundings.
There was a rolled up sleeping bag, stacks of books and magazines, a bean bag chair and a box filled with toys and board games.
From the looks of it, the kids had been playing a card game.
But when she looked out the treehouse window, she saw it was starting to get dark, and her pride started to morph into worry.
"KIDS! DINNER!" Kitty yelled.
Her stomach growled, a cruel reminder that it was in fact, dinner time.
Eileen immediately regretted her decision.
She hadn't given any thought to how she would get down.
She only looked down for a moment before quickly ducking into the safety of the treehouse, curling up in a ball.
It was WAY too high up. She wanted to climb down, but she just couldn't. It was impossible.
The little girl wanted to cry out to her mother, tell her she was trapped and needed help.
But as tears started to flow freely from her eyes and she shook with quiet sobs, she knew that wasn't an option.
It would just be proving Laurie right. Everyone would know how much of a baby she was, crying for her mommy.
So instead of calling for help, she wrapped the sleeping bag around herself and hugged her knees, crying like the little girl she was.
Eileen had no idea how long she was up there. It could've been an hour or two.
She heard Kitty ask where Ellie was, but Laurie just said she'd gone to bed, deciding she wasn't hungry.
Eileen wanted her parents find her so badly. But if they did, it would be even worse for her.
Eric and his friends would never let her live it down. They'd never see her as one of them.
She couldn't stop crying. All she wanted was to eat the wonderful food her mom made for dinner, maybe swipe a cookie and after dessert dress in her favorite Wizard of Oz pajamas and curl up in her comfy bed.
But as long as she was stuck in this tree, it wasn't going to happen.
There was only one choice.
She clasped her hands together and started praying quietly, like her parents taught her to do.
"Dear God," she said, barely audible, "please help me. Please send an angel to get me out of here. I just wanna go home," she cried, wishing with all her might.
She wasn't sure if praying actually worked, but it was all she had.
To her horror, she heard the sliding door and a rustling.
She hoped it wasn't Laurie.
Eileen gasped, quickly rushing to the corner of the treehouse, trying to make herself as small as possible.
It was clear someone was coming up the steps.
She shivered with fright, fearing the worst.
There was some shuffling and banging as someone entered the treehouse and reached for the sleeping bag.
She couldn't help it.
She gasped and shrieked, pulling it tighter around herself. "PLEASE NO!" she cried, a fresh batch of tears welling up in her eyes.
But a gentle hand rested on her back. "Eileen?" a voice asked.
It was a boy.
Not Laurie.
She took a deep breath, revealing her face from under the sleeping bag, flushed pink from crying.
He was wearing a black T shirt and Jeans. Surprisingly, no sunglasses.
"It's okay, it's just H – um, Steven," he said, clearing his throat. "What are you doing up here? I thought you were in bed."
Eileen sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Nah, I…I climbed up here to prove I could do it." But then a thought crossed her mind. "Hey wait…why are you up here?"
"None of your business," he said automatically.
Eileen frowned. "It's our treehouse. Yeah it is."
He paused, looking away. "Um…" he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Okay, if I tell you do you promise to keep your mouth shut?"
She nodded.
He bit his lip. "I've kinda been sleeping here. My mom's got this…boyfriend, er…I mean I've got an Uncle…uh…well, it's just…" he huffed, not sure what to say.
Eileen bit her lip too. "I won't tell," she whispered, presenting a pinky.
He smiled. "In middle school, we don't pinky promise."
She blushed, embarrassed. I should've thought of that.
But then she smiled. "Wait!" she said. She took the bracelet off of her wrist and took it apart so it was longer, leaving a single bead in the middle. "Here," she said, emerging from the sleeping bag to tie it around his neck. "There," she said. "Now whenever I see you it'll remind me of my promise, and I won't forget."
Steven looked down at the necklace in surprise. He'd never gotten a gift like that before. "Whatever," he said, looking away, not wanting to let her know how much he liked it. "So, did you ever plan on coming down?"
She tensed up again, not daring to look down. "Um…"
Steven grinned wickedly. "You don't know how, do you?" he started to laugh.
She shoved him. "Don't laugh, it's not funny! I missed dinner!"
He stopped laughing long enough to reply. "It's not that hard. Just go down the way you came up. Like a ladder."
Eileen looked at him blankly. "It's called an irrational fear for a reason," she pointed out.
"Well I gotta get some sleep and you can't stay up here forever so…I'll help you get down." He started to climb down, and he reached for her hand.
She couldn't see all the way down because his face was blocking her view.
All Eileen could see was Steven and her necklace.
But she was still afraid.
Without a word Steven simply scooped her up with one arm and held her tight. "Close your eyes," he ordered, making his way down the tree.
Eileen did as she was told, clinging to him. She didn't breathe again until she felt her feet touch the ground.
His hands went to her waist as she slid down and made it back to her own two feet.
When she opened her eyes, she was standing in front of him. With the angle of the moonlight, she could see his eyes were blue.
He shrugged, looking around. "See? Easy."
Eileen nodded, as if to reassure herself. "Thanks," she mumbled, looking off awkwardly.
But she had to be sure…
She looked back up at him. "Do you promise not to tell anyone? Even Laurie?"
Steven nodded. "I am sworn to secrecy, just as you are," he said with a stoic, expressionless face. "We have a pact now, you and I. And pacts are sacred."
Eileen nodded. "Okay. Well…goodnight" she said shyly, before darting into the house and up to her room, her heart pounding in her chest.
SIX YEARS LATER…