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Mark laughs as Johnny leads him into their favourite ice cream parlour, À La Mode they both get a scoop, Johnny mocking Mark playfully as he chooses to forgo his ice cream cone getting a tub instead. The two sit together in the grass of an open field talking, laughing as they quote songs by their favourite bands and exchange inside jokes that no one but the other understands.
They talk about their plans for when they finish school, Mark wants to bike the Appalachian trail, Johnny suggests he writes a book but they both agree that learning to sail would be cool. Under the afternoon sun the two best friends discuss everything and anything. Mark complains about a girl he wishes would notice him but never reveals her name, Johnny laughing at the closely guarded secret before looking around them.
When the older finally focuses on Mark again he speaks slowly. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,”
The younger responds quickly. “Me too.”
They sit a while longer watching the trees surrounding them as they talk, glad that the weather is so perfect before Johnny is on his feet racing across the field towards the tallest tree.
Mark only just hears when he calls “follow me!” Scrambling to his feet to chase the taller down. When he reaches the tree Johnny is halfway up the branches grinning. Mark takes a deep breath and follows him climbing higher and higher until the entire sun shines on his face and he basks in the beautiful gold.
Then the branch gives way, Mark tumbles to the ground with a thud, his arm goes numb once he’s on the ground and Johnny comes to get him. Suddenly everything is okay.
The two manage to get Mark to a hospital where Johnny has to leave as he is given x-rays and his arm is wrapped in a cast once they pronounce it broken. When Mark wakes up he spots the older boy's name scrawled on his cast in black marker but Johnny never reappears to take him home.
A doctor walks by and congratulates him for getting to the hospital alone and Mark is confused. He wasn’t alone, he had his best friend and then his Mom arrives, she fusses over him and takes him home. Mark tries to call Johnny to come keep him company but the olders contact information is gone, the wallpaper Mark set of them is blank too like the older never even existed and Mark is confused.
He sneaks out of the house whilst his mom is at work, past the orchard where he broke his arm to Johnny’s house and everything is wrong, his best friends beat up orange Chevy is replace by a blue Prius, his parents black BMW's swapped for silver Mercedes and his younger sisters bike has completely vanished and Mark knows he can’t have moved because they were here yesterday, Johnny laughed at Mark as he rolled a joint, the younger scared of his parents walking in and catching them with weed but Johnny just carried on laughing and smoked through his window so the smell wouldn’t linger on Marks clothes and there is no one else he would do that for.
Suddenly everything feels a lot different. Mark remembers yesterday, his mom nagging him to write the stupid letters to himself assigned by his therapist.
‘Dear Mark Lee, Today is gonna be a good day here’s why. ’ He remembers writing Johnny’s name at the bottom of the email, the older boy snatching the letter from the printer and taking off with it. Mark remembers before that, Johnny’s name on his cast from the cafeteria when he said at least they can both pretend they have friends. He remembers Johnny’s parents in the principal's office giving him back the email he had written telling him that their son’s final words were to him and Mark didn’t have the heart to tell them he had written them.
Mark remembers the summer. He remembers how he actually broke his arm, how he climbed the tree during his internship at the nearby nature park, how he sat there, and how he let go. Mark is reminded of how he fell, how it didn’t work. His arm spikes with pain in memory of what he did and he turns to leave feeling dirty because of his lies. Mourning a person he never got to know.