A Rooftop Encounter (Short Story)

chapter eight.

I exhaled loudly as I reluctantly hauled myself up from the rock, hard ground. The first thing that I noticed was my bum was now aching considerably. But I think sitting on cold concrete for seven hours straight was probably the reason for that. I stretched my back and groaned, like a sleepy cat.

"I wonder if those guys are still waiting at the pub for you..." I chuckled, thinking back to Smitty's worker pals she said she would catch up with all those hours ago.

"Ha! I doubt it... They don't give a crap 'bout me really... they only suck up to me 'cause I sometimes change shifts with them..." She shrugged, a hint of sadness in her voice. Although she seemed to radiate confidence, in actual fact she was very vulnerable and quite lonely. I didn't like it.

I creased my forehead, knitting my eyebrows together and tilted my head at her,

"Why don't you just quit this job? You can find a better one, I know you can,"

"No... I don't think—"

"You're so much more capable than this and deep down... I think you know it..." I encouraged, offering her a sincere look. Her glowing eyes gazed up at me in awe and confusion. It was almost as if no one had ever told her she could be anything else or that she could actually make something of her life.

"I'm ain't good enough to—"

"Singing, you're good at singing" I interjected again, raising an eyebrow suggestively. I was determined to make her see how wonderful she was. And even though she didn't seem convinced, Smitty rolled her eyes in defeat,

"I doubt I'll ever become a singer though... that's just stupid,"

"You could try though, Cordelia" I replied knowingly, teasing her by calling her by her real name.

"Hey! Don't call me that" She giggled, covering her ears in a mixture of embarrassment and amusement. I let out a similar laugh, whilst also being completely serious.

"Cordelia! Cordelia! Cordelia!" I said in a sing song voice.

"Alright! Alright, fine... I'll try!" Smitty gave in, "I'll try and become a singer or whatever..."

I smirked in triumph, however this was soon ruined.

"But I'll only try...if ya promise to tell ya dad about not wanting to go to uni..." She placed a hand on her hip firmly and gave me the same knowing expression I had given her.

My throat suddenly went dry at this notion. I knew I didn't have the courage to do that. I didn't want to disappoint my dad, not when he had such high hopes for me. It would certainly take a lot of bravery on my end. However if Smitty was going follow her true dreams, then why shouldn't I?

"Ya could go to art college" She suggested honestly, giving me a shrewd look. I knew that that was something I wanted to do. I just don't my dad would really approve of it. I mean, you can't really get a stable job being an artist, can you? Nevertheless, I decided to give in.

"Fine okay..." I breathed reluctantly, "I'll tell my dad about uni and you'll quit this job and become a singer?"

She nodded sternly in agreement, her eyes still glazed over whilst staring at me,

"So we have a deal then?"

"Sure do!" She grinned, spitting on her hand quickly and holding it out for me to shake. My stomach flipped inside me at how disgusting that was. Her eyes widened as she motioned towards her hand. I couldn't believe I was going to do this.

Slowly, I spat into my own hand and crushed it against hers, cringing as I felt the cold blob of her saliva against my palm. She let out a sharp laugh as I quickly wiped my hand down my skinny jeans after we had shaken on it.

"That's sorted then" She smirked, before a thoughtful look replaced it "Remember you'll never leave where you are until you decide where you'd rather be..."

I wrinkled my nose up in confusion,

"What? Busting out the inspirational quotes now, are we?"

She belly-laughed quite loudly at this comment and nudged me playfully on the shoulder,

"Hey! Shut up!"

"Well, who said it then?"

"I dunno... Some old dead person..." She laughed, taking a step closer to me subconsciously. I watched as the wind blew her ebony hair to the side. She looked like almost like a gothic mermaid, but with shorter hair of course. I really liked it.

"I think that old dead person knew what he was talking about though..." I whispered, confidently taking a step in her direction and meeting her in the middle. I noticed how much she was glaring at me in wonder and I thought I would seize my chance. I knew if I didn't do it now, I wouldn't do it at all.

So ever slowly, I tilted my head downwards and Smitty lifted hers up in the same way without saying a word. Our faces were now inches apart and before I knew it, our lips had come into contact with each other.

Her lips were oddly quite warm, whereas I knew mine were cold. However I don't think she really minded. We were too caught up in the moment. I placed a hand gently on the side of her face and my heart skipped a beat.

How was I suddenly become this confident? I was shy and awkward less than seven hours ago and now I was like some apparently, mysterious arty boy. It was so weird.

I moved my lips rhythmically with hers until I felt something cold and mental against my lips, I pulled back in surprise.

"W-what was that?"

Gradually, Smitty poked out her tongue to reveal a small, silver ball impaled through the centre of it. I didn't know why I was surprised. It suited her look perfectly. Tattoos and piercings were usually paired together. Normally I would not like it at all. But I had grown quite fond of the idea of them.

I shrugged my shoulders and without saying anything else, reconnected our lips.

This time our kiss lasted for quite a bit longer, relishing in the sensual feeling. Then eventually we finally broke away from one another. Smitty was biting her lip in satisfaction, whilst I was stood in admiration. Had that actually just happened? It was sort of hard to believe.

"Well that was... um... unexpected..." Smitty smiled, her voice now soft and husky.

"Hmm...very..."

We were rooted to the spot, still in such close proximity to each other. Neither of us stepping away until a sudden gush of particularly cold wind almost blew us away.

"I-I really should be getting home..." I admitted awkwardly, breaking the silence. I felt bad now. Was I really just going to kiss her, then leave abruptly? Was I that much of a complete arse?

"Do you... err... want me to walk you home?" I asked politely. I watched Smitty's face turned from bemused to ecstatic. She nodded frantically, but didn't say a word. She simply intertwined our fingers together and held onto my hand tightly.

I squeezed her hand happily in return and we both began walking towards the stairway that led downstairs to the shopping centre below us.

It had been an incredibly long night, but one I knew I would never forget. And as I glanced around at the rooftop one last time, I realised how absolutely unpredictable life can be. I never in my wildest dream thought I would end up meeting someone so special when I climbed up here this afternoon. It was odd how one place can change someone so entirely and this rooftop really had.

I didn't know whether Smitty and I would been in each other's live in a year, or in five years or in even ten years, but that didn't matter. Because right now, at this very moment, I absolutely could not be happier.

THE END.

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A/N: thank you so much for reading this short story! It was weird for me to write a story which only featured two characters, but I liked it. I doubt there will be a sequel for this because it was quite a random thing. Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading it, bye! xx