Just Good Friends

Chapter 37

We walked up the restaurant stairs which creaked after each rusty step. I've never been in this building before. The staircase has no lights whatsoever so I have to grab onto Jake's coat so I know where I'm going. After another flight of stairs, we reach a door, and the faintly illuminated night sky lights up our faces. We walk through the door and we're on the roof! How the heck did this dude get us on the roof?!

I looked around the rooftop then slowly walked toward the edge of the building looking down onto the performance stage feet below. "Ah, this is the best view in the world," I say.

"Yeah, it is."

"How do you even know about this place? Do you come up here all the time or something?"

"Actually, my grandpa used to own his restaurant in this building and he used to show me the 'secret' passageway to the roof. Ever since then, if I happen to walk past this restaurant, I sneak up to the roof to think about things," Jake reveals.

"Things like what?" I stick my cold hands into my coat pockets and look at him.

"Like family situations, or school..." He walks up beside me and whispers, "...or girls."

"Hmm... interesting. Is there a special girl you have in mind?" I ask with a flirty tone.

"Yeah. She's on the basketball team and I've known her for quite some time. She has a big mouth, big personality, and... you know, her head is actually shaped like a basketball," he jokes.

"Really?" I hit his chest at his teasing remark, then put my hand back into my pocket.

He smiles before letting out a huge sigh and looking up at the sky. I gaze over the New Year's Eve crowd below. I move side to side to the music band currently playing and look up at the stars. I always liked watching the stars when I was little. Sometimes my mom would drive her car to the park and we'd get out and lay a blanket on a patch of grass. My mom would only do this on weekends because we'd stay up until midnight just watching the stars, and as soon as I fell asleep, she'd gather up the blanket in one arm, me in the other, put us both in the car, and drive back home...

Jake found a spot on the rooftop's ground to sit down, moving snow out of the way with his shoe and creating a dry space. Stretching out his legs and leaning back on his hands, he continues to look up at the night sky. I look down at him with a disgusted look on my face.

"You're gonna sit down on this dirty roof with all this snow?"

"Yeah. You can join me, too."

"I'm not getting my clothes dirty," I decline.

"You can sit on my lap." He smirks and waits for my response.

I glare at him and cross my arms, weighing my options. 

"And if I don't?"

"It will be your loss." He shrugs and averts his attention to the stars again.

"Hmm..." I stand in front of his feet and kick them. I give him a grin which he returns and he spreads his legs apart so I can sit in between them. When I get comfy, I lay back against his body and rest my head back against his shoulder.

"I said you can sit on my lap so you didn't have to sit on the ground." His voice vibrates through my back, causing me to feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Same difference. Don't act like you don't enjoy me between your legs." Pause. That sounded wrong. Jake laughed and I smacked my lips. "You know what I mean. Stop being nasty!"

"You said it," he accuses, still laughing.

"Whatever."

Silence fell between us. Nothing but the cheers from the happy and possibly drunk crowd below filled the atmosphere. Although the New Year's Eve festivities gave us a sense of reality, it felt like we were in our own little world, away from problems and responsibilities. But this feeling of being on top of the world soon faded when the horror of senior year came racing back into my mind.