Rob was still downtrodden about Mari's abrupt exit even as he saw his friends round the corner on their was to his house. "Hey Rob! Whatcha doin' out here huh? I thought we was meeting you in the house?" Zachary shouted, giving him a greeting. Rob shrugged and tucked his hair behind his ears. "I was sayin' goodbye to Mari, that's all. She's headin' to England for winter break." Rob looked among his friends and noticed a fourth head in the group. "Hey, who's the new guy? We don't invite new guys, man!" Rob shouted shoving past Landon and Freddie to see the small boy looking up at him with big green eyes.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked grabbing the kid by the collar. "I--um--I---" he stammered before Landon tapped Rob on the shoulder. "Dude, calm down. He's cool. His name's Mark." Rob turned towards Landon leaving Mark to catch his breath. "Lanny man! You of all people know we DON'T INVITE NEW GUYS!!!" Mark stumbled back a few steps, his eyes big as if he knew this was no time to get involved. Zachary gave a chuckle, taking Rob to the side, whispering something in his ear. "Well ya know Rob...we could put him through---the test." Rob's mood suddenly veered and he gave Mark a wicked chuckle.
"Yeah....the test...alright 'Mark'," he sneered. "If you wanna stay the night you gotta pass the test." Mark looked suddenly nervous. "There's a part of the treehouse we haven't finished yet. You see, it's not rightly balanced on its branches, and it'll sway with the wind pretty easy." As if the elements knew of the challenge, a harsh wind blew past the boys and the four friends chuckled darkly. "You stay alive up there tonight and you can stay through winter break and maybe, just maybe," Rob added, shaking a finger. "We'll trust you enough to join our group."
Landon whacked Zachary in the chest, chuckling to himself as Mark looked frightenedly between the boys before squaring away his chin and giving them a narrow-eyed look. "I'll do it. I ain't a wimp," he added and Rob grinned wickedly before staring at the boy. He looked familiar. The eyes mostly gave him up but he could swear he'd seen that look before. Freddie tapped Rob on the shoulder and nodded his head towards the woods. The sun was setting and they needed to get the new initiate up to the platform before dark or else they wouldn't find their way back to the secure area of the treehouse.
Rob knew it was wrong of him to be so mean. The guy couldn't be any older then Freddie at 16. He imagined how Mari would scold him when she came back and decided to be a little nice and help the kid out just as they were scaling the rope ladder. Once inside Rob took in a deep breath. The pine wood they had used to build their home hadn't lost their woodland scent and paused for a moment before proceeding back into the bitter cold, Rob revered in it. He snapped off a pine branch and fiddled it between his fingers as the wind blew a little harder and Landon passed up an oil lamp. Rob stepped back to let Mark in front of him and handed him the lamp.
"Keep walking..." he murmured, nudging the young man from behind with his knee. Mark stumbled forward and walked cautiously, holding the lamp out in front of him.As they reached their destination, Landon tossed Mark a piece of bread wrapped in a hankerchief. "Don't get too cold now, Markie." Landon chuckled darkly as he gazed over the rickety portion of treehouse, swaying in the breeze. A few pieces of wood hung loose from its foundation and snapped off to fall the 13 feet to the ground. Zachary and Freddie laughed as well, sneering to the smaller boy, following their friend. "Ain'tcha comin' Rob?" Freddie asked. Rob nodded. "Yeah...get a fire started in the common room and we'll cook up some dinner, I'll be there in a minute."
After the three boys had gone, Rob pulled out a thick quilt. "Ordinarily, I wouldn't be so nice." he growled, handing Mark the blanket and a better supply of warm food. Mark took the blanket and held it against him. "But why are you now?" Rob snarled deep in his throat. "Don't ask me that! I'm not entirely sure myself..." Rob looked out to the full moon and gripped his coat around his neck a little tighter. "It's a girl, okay? She's been---extraordinarily nice to me. I can only imagine how angry she'd be with me if she found out I was mean to you. So just be careful out here...lie in the center and you won't fall out."
"Who's the girl?" Mark asked, his voice deepening again with interest. "She moved here a few months ago. Her name's Mari Malone. And don't even THINK of movin' in on her!" Rob shouted, shaking a threatening finger at him. Mark nodded hurriedly, backing away onto the first bit of platform. "Don't worry, she's probably too old for me." he murmured quietly. Rob managed to hold the platform still while Mark settled himself in the middle. "In the morning when we come to get you, throw the blanket and basket onto the ground. If the boys find out I was being helpful, they'd expell me from my own treehouse." Mark nodded as he sat down. "I understand. You can go, I'll be okay."
Rob nodded once more and shaking his head, walked to the smell of cooking meat in the common room.