"So what do you want as a future?" Jasper asked me as I lay my head on his shoulder. The scent of apples and my curly blond hair mix in the breezes. I'm pretty average, curly, dishwater blonde hair and flushed out green eyes. Jasper looks average too. He looks like Davey in a way you could tell he was related to Davey. It's true, he is Davey's half-brother.

"I'm not totally sure," I sigh and put my hand over his, trying to keep our balance since neither of us want to fall out of a tree without knowing. His skin is rough and course from selling papes and climbing trees. We made good money today selling by Medda's theater. Elsie still wants to be like her. She hoists herself up into the apple tree with Les, her boyfriend.

"Found you," she giggles as Les peeks at us from a higher branch. She climbs up to him and gets out of view. She shakes the branch in a way loose petals fall.

"What do you want as a future?" I ask quietly. I look up at him for an answer as he looks into my eyes.

"You," he smiles. "Not now though, in a few years, after a few fights and a few tears."

"And a lot of cat calls from Race?" I smile, taking his hand.

"Yea," he smiles, stroking my hair. After a moment of silence, he starts talking again.

"So is this going to be our place?" he laughs.

"Guess so," I smile as we jump down. He takes out a pocketknife and carves a heat into the tree. It looks kind of weird, but he lets me carve my E into it as he puts plus J. I kiss his forehead and call Elsie and Les down. Very fast, I see them sneak a kiss and jump down, without knowing it, Elsie is beside me. We all hear a small clap of thunder as we look up. Lightning bolts flash through the sky as I pull up my umbrella, Elsie does the same. Take points from Crutchie, always. We start walking from our tree. Jasper points something out as he steals my umbrella when I'm not looking. He dances around me, splashing water from the puddles on me as I'm giggling, knowing Les would carry Elsie over every one. I really want to yell at him, but I know I can't stop laughing. He finally comes around to me with my umbrella and kisses my cheek. I don't yell at him, it was funny. He got soaked and I did too. We look at Les and Elsie for a second as they are seeing everything we do, they laugh at us as we shake off the water like dogs. We all walk to our apartment, holding hands the whole way. Elsie and Les follow behind us; probably for certain Dad won't completely embarrass them. I unlock the door and we all walk straight in. Dad greets us with big smiles. Jasper and Les take in my injured Dad; he seems to get better day by day. We say goodbye to the boys as I sneak a kiss. Elsie isn't as careful as she blushes, getting caught by Dad. He takes her into his room for a minute when we are left alone with Les. I catch this for a second as something just pops into my brain. I don't notice Elsie crying. Les and Jasper see this and start heading out.

"Oh wait," I pause, putting my hand on Jasper's shoulder. "This may not be the best time to ask you this, but, if I fall, will you catch me? For sure," I look deep into his eyes as I wait for the answer.

"For sure," he smiles.

"Good," Dad says as he happily walks into the room. He gets something from the kitchen and heads out again. I freeze, not sure all of what he heard, but I could tell he liked the way things went.

"Way to kill the mood," I smile; I take my hands away from him as Dad doesn't look. Elsie catches me sneaking Jasper a smile as they head out. Elsie runs up to Les and hugs him, looking for Dad's approval. He nods and she hugs Les tight, blushing scarlet,

"Want us to walk you to Davey's apartment or wherever you're staying?" Elsie asks, looking toward me. She gets a twinkle in her eye as if saying 'please let me go'.

"We are men, we can handle the rain," Jasper smiles. Les sadly nods in agreement as we notice the rain had died down.

Elsie and I go to our room to change into something dry. I go to our closet and pull out something for her. I pull out a blouse, skirt and socks. My undergarments are soaked but they will dry eventually. Elsie cares though as I pull them out for her.

"You cannot kiss," I laugh as she gripes a bit.

"How did you not get caught?" she frowns.

"Oh, Dad noticed, I just don't think he cared." I reply.

"Why?" she pleads, "tell me."

"I don't know, maybe because you're the youngest, and we are all he has. He doesn't want us to go so soon." I say slowly. She looks at me and pouts a bit.

"I'm not a kid," she says, taking her clothes.

"Technically you are, but you can argue all you want, you're still a little girl." I say.

"I'm not a little girl." She says. "Fannie is."

"Fannie is your teddy bear you sleep with," I say, pointing to her bed. She frowns as she gets dressed angrily; "thought you would give her up two years ago."

"I'm not a little girl," she pouts, ignoring my last remark; she heads to the kitchen, most likely to get away from me.

"That's what you think." I call down the hall, not caring what Dad hears. Mom could help; she liked me a bit more. That is, until she died when I was eleven.

"And to think I finally found my role model," she scoffs. I don't see it, but I can feel her eyes pierce me. I brush it off after a while. If she only knew how society worked, I snickered.