After dinner, the adults sat in the living room. Hogarth was in his bed room reading his Superman comic, and it was getting good. He was at the part where Superman was defeating Lex Luther when he spotted something in the corner of his eye.

Out the window he saw Deidre nestled in the tree on the other side of the yard, reading something. He looked at her for a moment, admiring quietly admiring her from a distance. Hogarth thought of going out there and talking to her, to break the awkwardness between the two. He wanted to get to know the girl he had a crush on.

Without any more thinking, he headed towards his window and climbed out, onto the tree outside of it. He clambered down the tree a little and called out to Deidre.

"Hey! Deidre! Whatcha reading?"

Startled, Deidre jumped at the sound of his voice and looked up to find Hogarth in a tree at the side of the house. She narrowed her eyes in a slight glare.

"Gee, Hogarth! Could you not have scared me? I nearly felled out this tree because of you!" Yet on the inside, she was slightly amused at the boy.

"Sorry about that, I thought that you'd have the balance of a cat, judging by the looks of you."

Deidre softened her face and laughed gently.

"Well, you might be right. Come over here!"

Hogarth hurried down the tree and ran towards her tree. He climbed up to the thick, sturdy branch on which she was sitting, and sat beside her, slightly awkward being so close in proximity to her. He then noticed that what she was reading was actually a Superman comic. Hogarth was shocked with disbelief at this, and asked Deidre,

"Um Deidre, is.. that a comic book your reading? I never, and I mean EVER , see girls read comic books."

"Hogarth, I suggest that that you drop that stereotype RIGHT now, mister! Girls CAN reads comic books if they want to. It's supposed to be a free country after all".

Hogarth paused for a moment, taking that fact in.

"I guess you might be right. It's just that I never saw a girl read one before."

"Well, now you did. Just know that girls can do anything boys can do, if they just put their mind to it. You just got to believe in yourself. My Dad always taught me that."

"That is sorta some great advice. So, what comics do you like to read?"

"Of course my favorite one is Superman, but I like other, too like the spirit, Wonder Woman, the fantastic four, the list goes on."

"Those are cools comics. I read Mad magazine, Atomo the metal menace, a lot of them, but of course Superman's my favorite."

They sat there and talked about comics for some time. They also talk about their other interests, lives, and perspectives in life (It turns up that they also both like Twinkies overstuffed with whipped cream!)Then Deidre brought out a well-worn sketchbook. "You know, Hogarth. I don't only read comics, but I love to make them, too."

"You're serious!"

"Yes I'm serious! I make up my own super heroes; their powers, background origins, villains, everything. The one I'm working on right now is Nova. She has the powers of harnessing energy from stars to fuel her powers and to keep her alive. She can shoot gamma rays from her hands, and can fly at the speed of light. She can even teleport through worms old into different dimensions."

"Oh, that is so cool! Let me see."

Deidre showed Hogarth her comic and he read it. The plot was exciting, the background origin fitted Nova perfectly, and most especially the art work was fantastic!

"Deidre, this is very good. The artwork's amazing! I didn't know you can draw so well."

"Yeah I also paint, too. Art is one of my big passions."

Hogarth looked at the girl in front of him, admiring her. She was more better than he thought she was. Not only was she beautiful, she also was was very kind, spunky, mature, and most especially more strong minded than any other girl. Plus, she reads AND makes comics. That was the coolest thing about her. Getting to know her, Hogarth's feelings grew for her, and the butterflies fluttered in his stomach harder than ever before.

Mr. Franklin called out, "Deidre it's time to head out!"

"Coming, Dad. Well, looks like I have to get going. Give me your hour number and I'll call you tomorrow."

"Oh, okay." Hogarth wrote it down in her sketchbook, then Deidre chirped,

"See ya, Hogarth!"

"See ya."

Hogarth watched her climbed down the tree and went over to her father. His mom and Dean greeted them goodbye and thanked them for coming over, then the family headed to their truck and got in. They pulled out of the driveway and Hogarth watch the truck drive off until he couldn't see it no more.

Annie called her son inside, and Hogarth climbed down the tree and went inside the house. He felt so happy it seemed like he was floating. Annie and Dean noticed his obvious bright content and smile at each other, Dean winking at her. They knew Hogarth was happy to get to talk and get to know Deidre, and Hogarth felt more than joyful. He went to sleep that night happy. He couldn't wait to talk to Deidre tomorrow.