#tuck everlasting reader insert

As the summer slowly turned into autumn, you decided to start doing some of your homework outside. Try to get as much fresh air as you could before the winter set in and ruined any outside activity due to the cold. You were in your backyard, facing the treeline of the forest that you had grown up with. You were looking through one of your textbooks, taking notes, when you heard a strange sound from the forest.

Peering through the trees, you thought you saw a flash of movement. Furrowing your brow, you set your book aside, wanting to take a closer look. Even if it was nothing, a nice stretch of your limbs wouldn’t hurt. You set out and walk the winding path that you know by heart, but don’t seem to find anything. After about half an hour, you turn to go back and finish your notes when you hear something overhead.

Looking into the branches above you, you’re surprised to see a face looking back at you. “Uh… Hi?” you say, unsure what this boy was doing in your woods. He just smiles at you and carefully starts climbing down, until he’s able to just hang and drop off of one of the branches.

Landing gracefully in front of you, he sticks out his hand to you. “Jesse Tuck, and you are?”

“I’m… (Y/N),” you reply, warily shaking his hand. You look around you, as if there could be more of him hiding somewhere else in the forest. “What were you doing?”

“Climbing a tree. What were you doing?” he asks in a teasing tone. You cross your arms at him and he seems to smile even wider.

“I came to see what some strange boy was doing in my woods.”

“Strange isn’t the worst thing I’ve been called,” he responds and walks past you. You turn to look at him walking away and start after him.

“Well, now where are you going?”

He turns around and walks backwards as he says, “You want to know where the ‘Strange boy’ is going? I’m going to find the tallest tree to climb. And I guess you’re joining me?”

You stop in your tracks. Why were you still talking to this guy? You should just let him be, but he seemed interesting, and this is definitely more entertaining than homework. Even with some of your instincts telling you to be wary, his eyes held a kindness that you couldn’t help but trust. You start to take a few steps after him. When he sees that you’re following him, his smile grows and he turns back around to walk forward.

You pick up your pace and start walking next to him. Glancing at him every once and awhile, you just follow his lead. He sometimes stops to look up at a tree, but after some consideration, continues walking. After the sixth tree you decide to take over the lead. Since you grew up exploring these woods, you knew the tallest tree. You start to head in the direction you knew it’d be in, and Jesse notices your shift, and starts to follow you.

You get there in about ten minutes, and when Jesse sees the tree, he has to stop to take in just how magnificent it is. With the season’s change at hand, the leaves were a rainbow of colors. Some were still green, while others were fire red, or daisy yellow, or orange, or brown. They blended together perfectly to form a stunning image.

Walking up to it, you place a hand on the trunk and think back to the first time you climbed the tree. It had been after a particularly stressful day one spring, and you had wanted nothing more than to just get away from the world. Climbing from branch to branch and emerging above everything else in the forest gave you a sense of how miniscule some things really were in life. As Jesse stepped up next to you, he rested his hand on the trunk as well, you knew that he understood the thoughts going through your head.

After a few minutes of just appreciating nature, Jesse’s hand moves to the closest branch and grabs a sturdy hold, pulling himself up. He looks at you with a twinkle in his eye, “Race you to the top!” he shouts, before taking off like a shot.

You gasp and start climbing. With your familiarity of the branches, you’re soon caught up to Jesse. It seems like a tie for as to who gets to the top first, but the view is a prize enough for the both of you. From your perch you can see all the other trees and their changing leaves, along with the life that each of the trees hold.

The two of you just sit there and take in the majesty that is the world, and even though you don’t really know Jesse Tuck, you know that he’s someone worth getting to know.

You do end up getting to know him over the course of the month. Meeting at your treeline after school everyday, you explore the woods like you never did when you were younger. You play games and ask each other stupid and deep questions. But even after getting to know him, you still don’t know where he came from, or all that much about his family, You know better than to push something that you don’t know about, but you still wish that he would open up to you more.

With the weather getting colder and colder, and the nights becoming more and more prevalent, you try to convince Jesse to meet you at the library, or somewhere else that there’s heat. Instead, he brings you to his tent. You raise your eyebrow when he first suggests it, but after finally getting to see it, it’s actually really nice.

It’s similar to a popup caravan, but it’s been modified for comfortable living, including a wood stove that keeps you both warm as you talk about everything and nothing. Winter comes and goes, with you giving Jesse some books, and him gifting you a drawing he did from the top of your tree: the tallest tree in your woods.

Spring comes and you know that your friendship with Jesse is growing to be more than that, but you stomp down those thoughts, not wanting things to change between the two of you. That doesn’t last long though, when Jesse gives you a bouquet and a kiss on Valentine’s day. You’re left awestruck, but finally kiss him back when your senses come back to you.

After that day, you spend more time with Jesse, and it seems like he’s trying to make the most out of the time before the summer. Still sharing stories like when you first met, but you notice that Jesse doesn’t seem as enthusiastic as before. You try to cheer him up with plans of the future, but that only seems to make him even more somber. Finally, you decide to confront him. It’s been about nine months since you first met Jesse Tuck, and you aren’t about to let him be sad on your watch.

You make a picnic, complete with sandwiches, chips, cookies, and a blanket. When Jesse sees the basket in your arms when you meet him, you can see his eyes light up. As he takes your hand, you can’t help the smile that makes its way to your face. Deciding to eat at your spot at the trunk of the tallest tree, you set out the blanket and prepare your special meal. You sit in relative silence, sometimes broken by your giggles and quiet jokes.

When you’ve finished eating, you find yourself in Jesse’s arms and can’t help but wish you could just stay there forever. His head is resting on top of yours, and you can only imagine what’s going through his mind. Your hands in his, you give them a squeeze, and when you know you have his attention you take a deep breath and ask the question you’ve been dreading the answer to.

“You have to leave when summer comes, don’t you?” Your voice is quiet, but still shatters the peaceful time you were having like a siren.

Jesse doesn’t respond right away. He clutches to you tightly and buries his head into your shoulder. You carefully run your hand through his hair, knowing that this is just as hard for him as it is for you. Hearing him mumble something, you turn so you can look at him. “What?”

You see the tears in his eyes as he repeats himself, emotion laced throughout the bold statement, “I love you.” You can feel your adoration for Jesse well up and you’re kissing him with every fiber of your being.

“I love you, too,” you reply when you finally pull away. His hands cup your cheeks, and he kisses your forehead. You relax into him, and you just sit there, absorbing the magnitude of what just happened and what is to come. When the sun starts to set, and the night air causes you to shiver, Jesse finally gets up and helps you pack up, still not saying a word.

You walk him back to his tent and you give him a kiss on the cheek. As you turn to head home, he grabs your hand and pulls you back to him. Kissing you roughly, you can feel everything he’s feeling. His desperation to hold onto today. His sorrow at having to say goodbye. You give him everything you have in that kiss, every ounce of love you can muster.