Chapter 7

Chapter 7 PART TREE! PART HOUSE! PART RECYCLED MATERIAL! Normally, Morgan loved weekends. But all he could think about now was getting back to Doc's goggles—and back into Minecraft. He was able to play at home, without the goggles, of course. But his screen time was limited, and Po and Harper weren't available to join him for multiplayer. He logged on for a bit and reviewed crafting recipes. He even fought some zombies. It was all good practice. They needed better gear in their shared VR game. Weapons and armor would keep them safe. He'd suggest it on Monday.

In the meantime, he saw Minecraft everywhere he looked. On Friday night, he went to the grocery store with his dad. In the cereal aisle, he crossed his eyes. The cereal boxes blurred. Now they looked like blocks of colorful ore. He saw emerald and gold and his favorite, lapis lazuli. On Saturday morning, he helped his parents with yard work. Trees swayed in the breeze. He saw the trees as green blocks stacked on top of brown blocks. He imagined all the things he could build with their wood: a shield, a raft, an entire cabin. On Sunday afternoon, he felt his life force drain away as surely as if a venomous cave spider had poisoned him: Ash Kapoor was having a party. And as his sister kept reminding him, he was invited.

"It'll be fun," Jodi promised. "Ash is so nice. And our whole class will be there." Morgan grumbled. When he and Jodi arrived at Ash's house, they heard shrieks of laughter coming from the backyard. They followed a narrow sidewalk around the house and through an open gate. Their entire class was there, just as Jodi had promised. Kids were climbing up, sliding down, and crawling all over a huge structure. "What is that thing?" Morgan asked. "It's a tree house!" Jodi answered. "It's the most glorious tree house I've ever seen!" Morgan had to admit it was impressive. The tree house was big and colorful, with rope bridges and trapdoors, a big plastic slide, and turrets.

Through the second-story window, Morgan could see cozy cushions and a bookshelf. It was like two playgrounds and a library all shoved together. Po was in a tire swing. He waved madly at them as he swung past. Harper looked down on them from an upper level. She waved, too. "Hey, come on up!" she called. "You've got to see this view." Morgan and Jodi grinned at each other. "Race you up," said Morgan.

"I'll go up the climbing wall!" said Jodi. Jodi beat him to the top, but only by a few seconds. Harper wasn't kidding. It was a great view. Ash's house was next to a big stretch of woods. The tree house looked out over a bright green canopy. Morgan noticed the letters QAV etched into the wood railing. "What's that mean?" he asked. "Quite a view?" "Quinn Alice Vega," said Ash. Morgan turned to see her standing close by. "Quinn was a friend of mine back in California," Ash said. "She helped me make this platform and the railing. She said the best part about being in a tree house was being able to see for miles around." She paused for a second. Morgan noticed she was absentmindedly rubbing the Carpentry badge on her scouting sash. "Here. Follow me." Morgan, Jodi, and Harper all followed her to the other end of the platform. She stood beside the door to the cozy reading room. She pointed to another set of initials ornately etched into the old

doorframe: LWE. "Luanne was a big reader. She said a tree house needed a space for books." "Hold on," said Morgan. "You built this whole thing with your friends?" Ash nodded. "I built it with my Wildling Scouts troop back in California. We all worked together. A little bit of each person's personality came out in the section they worked on the most." "No wonder it's so great," Jodi said. "It's a house of friendship!" "Also, it's very sturdy," said Harper. She hopped up and down and nodded her approval. "That's a compliment, coming from her," whispered Jodi.