Sitting in a Tree
"Whatcha doin?"
Wes screamed and dropped his camera, the strap jerking into his neck. He screamed again as he lost his balance on the branch he had been clinging to, slowly slipping from it, he was at least 50 feet in the air he was dead if he fell—
"Woah, there!" Wes felt a tug on the back of his shirt, and suddenly he was in a position where he could wrap his limbs around the branch, camera still swaying from his neck.
"You okay there?"
"What... the hell?" Wes cried between deep breaths.
"Um, I think you mean, thank you for saving my life."
"I wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't snuck up on me!" Wes still clung to the tree with his legs and one hand, but he used the other hand to pull up his camera, inspecting it for damage. "Who the hell sneaks up on someone this high up in a tree? How'd you even get up here anyways?" Satisfied that his camera hadn't been harmed, he carefully worked himself into a sitting position against the trunk of the tree and looked up to see who had nearly knocked him out of it.
The girl was small. In her baggy jeans, baggy hoodie, and oversized beanie, she looked even smaller than she probably was. She was sitting in the crook of a branch that was way too small for Wes to sit in, but it was the perfect size for her. Her black hair was messily tied in a ponytail that stuck out from under her beanie, and her blue eyes peered down at him.
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You know, I could ask you the same question."
Wes narrowed his eyes at her. "I climbed. Your turn."
"I flew."
Wes sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't have time for this. He carefully leaned against another branch, bringing his camera up to his face with one hand, focusing the lens with the other.
After a minute of silence, the girl spoke up again.
"You know, you still didn't answer my first question."
Wes rolled his eyes, but said nothing.
"Oh, come on, don't give me the silent treatment! I saved your life!"
Wes could hear the pout in her voice, but he ignored her. This was too important to entertain some kid. He needed to focus.
Unfortunately, focusing both the camera and his mind became harder when she started swaying her feet. Which rocked the top of the tree. Which bounced the branch he was leaning against for stability.
"Look, if I tell you what I'm doing here, will you quit bouncing the tree?" Wes snapped up at her, pulling his head away from the camera.
She grinned sweetly down at him, feet still swinging. "What, you mean like this?"
"Yes, exactly like this!" Wes waved his arm at her legs, but then quickly grabbed back onto the branch when he felt himself losing his balance.
"Okay." Her legs were still swinging.
"Then could you stop?"
"You still haven't answered my first question."
Wes groaned loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose again. Between Fenton and this girl, he was going to have permanent marks there.
"What even was your question?"
The girl leaned back, and then leaned forward, swaying the top of the tree. Wes grabbed hold of the branch he'd been leaning on. As she leaned towards him, smile on her face, she asked, "Whatcha doin?"
"Ugh, I'm staking out Phantom, okay? Now will you please stop?!"
The girl stopped her swinging, instead opting to pull herself up to a standing position on her branch.
"Phantom?" She looked around, scanning the sky and the ground. "I don't see him. He's probably somewhere else."
She hopped back into a sitting position, making the tree shudder. "Oops, sorry," she said not very apologetically. "Why are you looking for him here?" she asked, wide eyed.
Wes rolled his eyes again, turning back around and readjusting his camera. "Phantom always flies into that alley after school. This tree is a little far, but with my camera, it has the perfect vantage point to catch him in the act."
The girl leaned forwards, moving the top of the tree. Wes sighed and readjusted his angle.
"What do you mean, 'catch him in the act'? Are you gonna, like, take a picture of him picking his nose or something?" The girl giggled at her own joke, leaning back. Wes rolled his eyes again.
"Yeah, or something," he said. "Now would you please stop moving? I'm kinda busy here!"
The girl huffed. "Fine, whatever, boring-pants."
There was a full minute of blissful silence. Wes re-readjusted his camera angle, changing the focus. Why wasn't Phantom here yet? Did he just have to fight some other ghost the day Wes had called in sick so he could get here early enough to guarantee good pictures of the transformation? He should be here soon—
"Hey, why do hot dogs come in packages of ten and hot dogs buns come in packages of eight?"
Wes grit his teeth before turning to face the girl. "Obviously so they can make you buy more hotdogs and buns when you run out of them! Now would you leave me alo—"
"Oh look, there's Phantom!"
Wes turned around, fumbling with his camera. There was Phantom, now he just needed to get into position, readjust the focus—
The girl leaned on the branch he was bracing himself against, straining as if to get a better look. The branch leaned under her weight as a bright flash of light lit the alleyway— the transformation! He pressed down the shutter, listened as his camera took a burst of pictures. He then pulled back from the branch, frantically scrolling through the pictures to see if he'd caught anything.
Nothing but red brick wall.
He glared up at the girl who had ruined his shot at catching Phantom in the act of transforming to Fenton. Cradling his camera with one hand, he raised his finger in the air with the other and opened his mouth to shout— he didn't know what, he just knew that this girl had destroyed his chance at restoring his reputation—
"No wait, it's just my cousin Danny!" the girl exclaimed. "See you later, Wes!"
She grinned cheekily, saluting before leaning back from her perch in the tree, falling headfirst towards the pavement below. Wes could only stare as she fell— what the hell was she doing, she was going to crack her head on the pavement—
But then, she disappeared. Vanished from sight. Like a ghost.
Wes stared at the point where she'd vanished. How did she know my name? How did she—
But then he heard her voice, distant and shouting, but distinctly hers.
"Danny!"
He whipped around, staring at the sidewalk across the street, where the girl had wrapped Danny Fenton, bane of his existence, in a hug.
"Cuz! What're you doing here?" Danny laughed, grinning down at her.
"Oh, I was in the neighborhood! Hey, what's for dinner?"
As Danny grabbed her hand and turned to walk down the sidewalk, the girl turned her head and smirked up at the tree. At Wes. She finger gunned, and he could swear her eyes and the tip of her finger flashed green. Then she turned away.
Wes could only stare as they walked down the sidewalk. His eyes bulged. He saw red. He felt something build inside of him. And then it erupted in a single screech screamed into the sky.
"FENTON!"