The narrative point of view switches back to Bryce. He sums up seventh grade by explaining that his grandfather, Granddad Duncan, moves into the Loski home. Granddad is a quiet, somber man who frequently wants to stare out the window. He and Bryce are not close. Bryce sees Juli each morning at the bus stop up the hill. A massive sycamore tree grows in a vacant lot adjacent to the bus stop; Juli loves to climb high up into this tree. She has been playing on it and climbing it for years. In fact, in fifth grade, she rescued Bryce’s kite from the high branches when he was too nervous to fetch it himself; curiously, when she brought it down to him, she simply gave it over and backed away instead of making a fuss over him. Bryce gets irritated over Juli’s gushing about the beauty of the tree, wondering why she does not care about the unaesthetic appearance of the Bakers’ front yard and property instead. According to Bryce’s parents, the Baker home is a mess, yet Mr. Baker spends his spare time painting landscapes.

In seventh grade, Juli gets in the habit of climbing into the tree and counting down the bus’s approach from blocks away.