Chapter 2: Friends in High Places

A cool autumn breeze swept through the undergrowth; causing the leaves that littered the forest floor to spin up into the air in miniature tornados. The sun was concealed behind the overcast clouds that loomed above the tall trees, and provided little light for the teenage girl hiking through the barren dirt trail.

Mindy's teeth chattered as she trekked; wrapping the thin neckline of her sweater tighter around her throat for warmth. The shrill whistling of the wind stung her eardrums, and she could've sworn that she had heard a coyote not too far away.

She took in a breath to calm her jittering nerves. It was most likely my imagination.

Mindy drew her attention back to the trail and quickened her pace to make up for the lost time.

It wasn't long before she spotted a familiar tree far off in the distance.

The great oak stood tall and proud in the center of an open grassy meadow; surrounded by other trees who appeared to be too intimidated to come anywhere near it. Its branches seemed to infinitely stretch up over the dreary clouds and beyond; with leaves as iridescent as pure gold. A long rope ladder could be seen hanging off the edge of the rustic wooden treehouse that sat in its high branches, along with a wide open window on the far left.

Mindy sprinted down the hill, through the clearing, and towards the ginormous treehouse. Eventually, she skidded to a screeching halt and approached the base. Her face blanched the moment she lifted her head upwards to gaze upon the pinnacle of the ladder. Woah… that's… that's higher than I remember it being.

She felt very dizzy all of a sudden which caused her to almost trip over her own two feet. Luckily, she caught herself before she was able to fall flat on her face. Ever since an incident involving a high-dive at a local swimming pool, Mindy had grown to have an irreversible phobia of heights. She hadn't climbed up a tree in ages, and she wasn't even sure if she remembered how.

Okay… just pull up your big girl pants… you've got this.

Against her better judgement, Mindy inhaled, and began to ascend the ladder with apprehension. Her knees buckled which resulted in it teetering dangerously from side to side throughout the entire climb. The fact that the wind was picking up as a result of a huge approaching thunderstorm didn't help in the slightest. Wisps of chestnut brown hair unraveled from the top of her ponytail and whipped unforgivingly in her face as she clung to the ladder for dear life.

Okay… you're fine… you're fine… you're fine… Mindy tried to reassure herself. Just … don't look down… don't look-

She took one tiny peek over her shoulder…and instantly regretted doing so.

Seeing how high up she was, made her stomach do a million flips. Her face turned a sickly shade of green, and her vision grew blurry as she froze in panic. What had made her believe that this was a remotely good idea?

Mindy yelped as her fingers started to slip from the ladder.

Just as she was about to plummet to her doom, a hand flung out of nowhere, and snatched her arm in a vice-like grip. Before she could process what was happening, she was roughly yanked inside of the treehouse, and landed ungracefully on her back.

"Mindy! You scared the living fu-"

"-Scarlett…language."

There was a drawn-out groan in response, "You scared the living fudge out of me."

Mindy could tell from the strain in the girl's voice that had been difficult for her to say.

Once her head had stopped spinning, she cautiously cracked open her eyes.

Her friends leaned over her with concerned glances.

The first was a boy with disheveled dirty-blonde hair and a million freckles dotting his face. He had clear wire rimmed glasses, and light hazel eyes. He donned a white T-shirt (that looked WAY too big for his lanky frame), some black-and-white piano suspenders, and checkered tights.

The second was the textbook definition of a hot babe. She had rich chocolate skin with cat-like amber eyes, and luscious beach wave curls. An ebony leather jacket hugged her curves nicely, along with a loose flannel skirt. She wore ruby-red lipstick and bold winged eye liner that brought out her feathery eyelashes.

"You alright kiddo?" The former offered her his hand.

"I-I think so." She was still trying to catch her breath as she accepted it, "Thanks Davendork."

"How many times do I have to tell you-" Mindy let out a startled cry as he gingerly hoisted her up onto her feet with a gleaming brace-face smile, "It's Davenport, Dakota Davenport! Why is that so difficult for you to remember?"

"Uh, because it's hilarious and we're never gonna stop reminding you of how much of a dork you are." Scarlett leaned against one of the decrepit wooden walls with an impish grin, "What can I say? It just…stuck."

"Har, har, very funny Bloom and Gloom."

She pretended to inspect her nails, "Oh wow, how original."

The interior of the treehouse was as basic and as ordinary as anything else in the black-and-white town of Mulberry County. It only consisted of a small wooden trunk and two white plastic chairs placed in the corner. Cobwebs hung limply from the ceiling, and dust bunnies littered the floor.

Mindy's mouth curved into a thin smile when she saw the white banner taped to the wall. In spindly cursive lettering it read: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINDY! and was decorated with an array of cartoon roses, daises, and sunflowers. On the mildewed paneled floor was a plastic Tupperware container filled to the brim with an assortment of homemade macrons.

"What's all this?" She asked.

"It was Davendork's idea." Scarlett placed an elbow on his shoulder, "Said something along the lines of: "It's not every day our little ray of sunshine turns eighteen after all!" only it was moreover-the-top, more high-pitched and overall more sickeningly whimsical than that."

"You'd better believe it." Dakota chirped, "Bloom and Gloom did the banner, and I baked some gourmet macrons for the occasion."

"Scarlett's vegan." Mindy pointed out.

"Don't worry." He assured, "After what happened last time, I made sure to remember to use an animal-free recipe."

"Thanks for going through the trouble of not poisoning me."

"You're very welcome you beautiful, beautiful human being."

"And that's my cue to head into a corner and puke my guts out."

"Take as much time as you need."

Mindy wheezed as she took a seat at one of the chairs, "Seriously, you didn't have to go through all this trouble for me."

"Who ever said that it was any trouble?" Dakota questioned, "Look, we know that your dad's the strong and silent type and doesn't typically throw you any elaborate shindigs, but we wanted to shake things up a bit this year!"

"Yeah, but-"

"-Ah, ah, ah!" Scarlett put a finger to her mouth, "You do this every year every time we try to do something for your birthday! You are now officially a full-grown adult, and we need to celebrate! Enough of this stupid: "You didn't have to do this for me." Or "It's my birthday but I don't wanna feel special." Or "I'm Mindy, and I don't care if my friends threw a party for me because they love me, I don't deserve it bleh, bloo, blah."

"I do not sound like that."

"Of course you don't hon." She opened up the container, picked out a chocolate macron, and stuffed it into Mindy's mouth, "Now be grateful, let us spoil you, and eat your macaroons."

"Actually." Dakota piped up, "A macaroon is a completely different-"

"-Davendork." Scarlett cut him off, "Shut your trap...we're not going to get into that right now."

"Aw, you never let me have any fun!"

"I know." She brushed her knuckles against the collar of her jacket, "It's one of the many things you love about me."


Mindy withdrew a shimmering key chain from the satin pouch, and dangled it before her eyes. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was in the shape of a Minnie Mouse headband, "Aw, this is so cute!"

"Isn't it? I figured that it would make finding your car keys a hell of a lot easier."

"Thanks Scarlett." Mindy said as she drew her friend into an embrace, "I love it!"

No you don't. The nerve-grating voice in the back of her mind huffed. You hate it, but of course you're not gonna say anything because you're just that nice of a person. You're too old to concern yourself with such childish nonsense! After all, Disney is for little kids.

You're right, Tears pricked the corners of Mindy's eyes as she reluctantly agreed. It was a phase; that was all it was. I outgrew it twelve years ago, and it's time for me to…to…what? Wait a second…no, no this isn't right. What is going on?! I loved Disney! Heck, I still love Disney! I love Scarlett's gift darn it! Ugh! Why can't I-

"-Hello?" Dakota waved a hand in front of her face, "Earth to Mindy!"

Mindy blinked as she came back to her senses, "Sorry, what?"

"I was just saying that it was my turn next!" He exclaimed as he handed her a neatly wrapped bundle with a glittery bow on top, "Happy birthday kiddo! I have a feeling that you'll find my present to be quite the blast from your past."

Mindy raised an eyebrow at his odd choice of words, but didn't question it as she tore open the packaging, and unraveled a silver necklace…

The pendant itself was about the size of her palm and five radiant jewels were encrusted into it with each of them represented a different color of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Six of them were placed in an even circle, while the violet gem was placed in the center of it.

For some bizarre reason, Mindy began to rub little circles over the jewel with a reminiscent glimmer in her eyes. Something about this pendant seemed so familiar and yet so unfamiliar to her…but, she couldn't figure out why. She had never seen it before, and yet a tidal wave of nostalgia had washed over her the moment she laid eyes on it.

It didn't make any sense…

She flipped it over, and found a single phrase engraved on the back. "Growing up is optional?"

She glanced up at Dakota for an explanation, when a pulsing white light exploded from the necklace and shot into the rafters of the tree house. Mindy dropped the pendant as the breath hitched in her throat and the light shifted into vivid psychedelic colors that whizzed around them in fuzzy disorienting swirls.

Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as the wind picked up out of nowhere, and her muddy hair escaped from its ponytail. Her breathing grew short and ragged, and her heart was beating a thousand times per second.

Mindy wanted to scream. She wanted to scream more than anything else in the whole world. But no matter how hard she tried, all sound refused to escape her mouth. It was as if she had gone mute out of nowhere, and she was starting to think that she had inexplicably gone deaf as well on account that she couldn't even hear her own thoughts anymore.

Desperately, she turned toward her friends to make sure that she wasn't going insane.

She was both relieved and terrified when she saw the collective looks of horror plastered on their faces.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Scarlett demanded in a high-pitched shriek.

BOOM!

Mindy leapt at the sound of thunder crashing from outside and tripped over her own two feet in the process. Her pupils shrunk as she reached for Dakota's hands, but it was too late. His fingers merely brushed against hers as she disappeared into the void.

Before she knew it, she was free-falling towards an island at supersonic speed.

Mindy could feel the adrenaline pumping rapidly throughout her body, to the point where her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. The world whizzed around her in a sea of green and blue, and the air flooded into her lungs so quickly that she couldn't even breathe or screech properly. Her hair flapped wildly in her face, and she went into full-panic mode when she saw the ground coming closer and closer.

Her head crashed into a nearby rock, and the blow was enough to knock her out cold.