Authors Note: This chapter was written by Trouble and edited by Double.

Chapter 3: A couple days later; Finny's PoV

Only as if class cannot be over faster. I am so bored.

'I hate Latin,' I think to myself. 'It is so hard.'

I look over to my left and I see Gene copying down notes faster than a Cheetah can hunt down a gazelle. What a dork he is. After what felt like a lifetime, the bell finally rings for dismissal for lunch, and then after lunch we have free time, which is when we go to the tree and hang out or go to the field to play blitzball. Today for lunch we have cheeseburger on whole wheat bun, ice cream sandwich, french fries, milk or juice of our choice, and also we have a side of vegetables of our choice.

When Gene and I meet up in the cafeteria, I notice Gene looks so worried, so I walk over to our table in which he was sitting down at and I ask him, "What's wrong, Gene?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just stressed out over the damn Latin studying. I have never studied more vocabulary words at once, and now I have to do a quiz on it in a couple of days. God! This is hard."

I wrap my arms around him, and I say, " It's okay, you just have to relax. Why don't we skip lunch and go to the tree for a little? Or even play blitzball?"

Gene looks up at me, and then back at his Latin paperwork."Blitzball first and then we go to the tree. Is that okay with you, Finny?"

"It sure is," I reply.

Just as we finish our french fries, Gene and I head off with Brinker, Leper and a couple of other friends to play blitzball in the field near the tree. We play blitzball for at least a good hour to an hour and a half. I am so sweaty, so I take off my shirt. Brinker follows my lead and takes off his shirt too. We look at each other and then smile. I look over at Gene, and I find him staring at me. His face makes him look a little bit jealous and angry all at once. Suddenly, he gets hit in the face with the ball. Hard. So hard that I can feel his pain.

I run over to him yell, "Gene!"

He sits up and he says, "I'm okay it just stings a little."

We all laugh it off. I was really scared there for a moment. I didn't know I cared for him that much. Do I like him more than I think I do? Is that even possible? I don't know; I just don't know.

Brinker, Leper, Gene and I all head towards the tree. The other couple of friends left because they were tired and hot.

I take off my clothes. "Gene, you are going to climb this tree today and you are gonna do it now."

He looks at me in shock and says, "No. Why should I do it?! I don't want to. I'm afraid of heights."

I say, "Come on, it's okay. Just try not to look down; I will be here right with you. If you have any problems, I'll be here to help you, okay?"

Gene finally replies after two minutes of thinking, "O-Okay."

We both finally undress, and we climb the tree. My heart is racing; I am afraid that Gene will have a panic attack, fall off the limb, and hurt himself. I am so scared for him. I am either scared for him, or I care for him a little too much. I finally reach the top of the limb and start to walk across. Just as I start to raise my arms to balance myself, I feel the limb shake. I slightly lose my balance, but I catch myself just in time. My heart is thumping so loudly and so hard, it feels like people would be able to hear it miles away. The limb shakes again just as Gene gets up on top of it. I turn around to face him, but Gene shakes the limb again just as he was trying to stand on the limb, only two feet away from me. He shakes the limb for the fourth time, and I lose my footing and slip and fall. Just as I start falling, I hear Brinker and Leper gasp and scream my name.

I scream and hold onto the branch, and I start slipping again because I didn't get a firm grip on the limb and finally I scream "Gene!"

The next thing I realize is that I was being pulled up onto the limb, and I notice Gene pulling me up after what had felt like a lifetime hanging onto the limb, just seconds away from having my fate be determined. I lean against his warm and sweaty skin. I never have felt so safe in his arms before. I hold his hands, not wanting to ever let go.

Gene's voice sounds very quiet. "Finny, are you okay?"

I reply with an equally quiet tone. "Gene, You saved my life. I was about to fall to my death, and you saved my life. Thank you."

My heart is thumping so hard, I feel it in the back of my throat. I lean my head against Gene's chest, and I feel his heart thumping as hard as mine. I hold onto him as hard as I can, and I realized he was the first and only person to have saved my life.

I start to cry. "Thank you for saving my life, Gene," My voice catches it in my throat.

I hear Gene say something but it sounds distant. I think I'm falling asleep. I am falling asleep. We stay on top of the tree together while our hearts beat together and create a cadence. I realized something. I do love Gene. I love him, and I never want to let him go. Ever.