One Friday in September, Laurel ran right into David as she ducked through the doorway of her Spanish class, her last class of the day.

“Sorry,” David apologized, steadying her with a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Laurel met David’s eyes. She smiled shyly, until she realized she was standing in his way.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Laurel said, moving away from the doorway.

“Um, actually, I was…I was looking for you.”

He seemed nervous. “Okay. I just have to…” She held up her book. “I need to put this in my locker.”

They walked to Laurel’s locker, where she stowed her Spanish book, then she looked expectantly at David.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to, maybe, hang out with me this afternoon?”

Her smile remained on her face, but she felt nerves settle into her stomach. So far their friendship had been confined completely to school; Laurel suddenly realized she wasn’t entirely sure what David liked to do when he wasn’t eating lunch or taking notes. But the possibility of finding out held sudden appeal. “What are you doing?”

“There’re some woods behind my house — since you like to be outdoors, I thought we could go for a walk. There’s this really cool tree there that I thought you might like to see. Well, two trees, actually, but — you’ll understand when you see it. If you want to, I mean.”

“Okay.”

“Really?”

Laurel smiled. “Sure.”

“Great.” He looked down the hall toward the back doors. “It’s easier if we go out the back way.”

Laurel followed David through the crowded hallway and out into the brisk September air. The sun was struggling to break through the fog, and the air was chilly and heavy with humidity.