I don't hear anything from her for a week. I figure she forgot about me at first, that she'd been meaning to text me and just hadn't. But as the days rolled on, I became more and more convinced that she would never call; never text. At the end I thought that maybe I'd just gone crazy, hallucinated the whole thing. Maybe she never really existed at all.
On the morning of the eighth day, at precisely 3:37 in the morning, my phone lights up. "New Multimedia Message" flashes across my screen, and it's from a number I don't recognize, but it's from the 415, so I open it. The first thing I see is a picture of me eating a gigantic oatmeal raisin cookie, which thankfully covers most of my face. My phone buzzes again, with another picture, one of a metallic heart. I recognize it immediately, it's the same metallic heart that's at the entrance to Union Square Park, not more than 3 blocks away from my house. Underneath is a caption that reads "Be here in 15? –Angel" Finally, I think.
I immediately grab my hoodie and a pair of shoes, not bothering to change my pants or put on socks. My hood is up and my phone is in my hand as I walk out the door, responding to Tenshi, "On my way now. Coffee?" By the time i make it down the stairs and out the front door, she's responded "Please." I make my way to the park and about halfway stop at the corner Starbucks attached to the hotel my dad works for. Thankfully, Starbucks in the city is open at 3:45 AM. I order a hot chocolate for myself and a medium-roast with milk and sugar for Tenshi. The Park is only a block away from here, so I sit inside and warm up. The fog outside is thick and cold, and I taste the salt every time I breathe.
When the drinks are done I take them and walk out the door and over towards the metallic heart. It's at the end of the next block, so I shouldn't have to wait long for Tenshi when I get there. I sip my hot chocolate as I walk and it burns the hell out of my tongue, but it warms my heart and chest so I sip it anyway. As I near the monument, I see her sitting on a bench facing the Macy's on the other side, So I sneak up behind her and greet her with surprise coffee. She jumps up and turns around and smiles and hugs me, enthusiastic and relieved all at the same time.
"I wasn't sure you'd actually come," she said, looking down, "I almost didn't text you. I was scared. But today... Today I really need someone. You up for an adventure?" Her voice is soft and low, unconfident I'll accept. Without hesitation, I respond.
"Absolutely! Where are we going?" I ask as I hand her her coffee. She Takes it in one hand as her other hand slides into mine. She takes a sip as she starts walking, pulling me with her, alone on streets that are normally so crowded.
"Come with me" she says, with a devilish grin.
And I don't protest. I follow her. I follow her for four and a half blocks until we're about to pass into the Tenderloin District. My dad warned me about here, saying it wasn't safe at all and unless I was trying to get raped and mugged, I should stay far away. I stop, still holding her hand. She pulls me and says, "Come on. Trust me, It'll be worth the view." And just like that, I'm moving right beside her again, praying silently in my head that I'll be okay.
We only travel a few more blocks before she turns down a dark alleyway. I let go of her hand for the first time, out of fear, and move slowly against the wall.
"Please don't rape and murder me. Please. We can just be friends right? That's cool with me if that's cool with you... heh.." She bursts out laughing, and I start laughing a little bit too.
"James, I think I'm really gonna like you," She says as she flips her hair back. "Now, give me a boost so I can pull that fire escape down? This is it, cowboy." I stare at her in awe, and I scream at her in a whisper.
"Are you crazy? This is breaking and entering! It's totally illegal and we'll totally get caught!" She looks at me and laughs again. "Come on, I need you to give me a boost or else I cant get in. they finally chained the back door, this is the only way. Pretty please, James?" She looks at me and gives me a puppy dog face and I cant resist. I intertwine my fingers together in front of me to make a platform for her to get up the the fire escape. She grasps hold of the railing and I push up until she's all the way up. She lowers it slowly and as quietly as she can (as if there's such a thing as a quiet fire escape) and i climb up and follow her into an open window on the second floor.
When we get inside, she fumbles around inside her bag, finally pulling out a flashlight so we can see where we are. Instantly, the place has this bad science-fiction movie feel to it. There's dust that must be a quarter inch thick in places, and the smell of mold is almost overwhelming. But the thing that gets me the most is how abandoned the whole place feels. Things have been left behind. Furniture and pots and pans have all been left behind, the only things that appear to have been taken were a few appliances and family photos. Everything else was left behind.
"God," she starts, "I can't believe how run down this place has become. The Taylor's used to live here, I was here almost everyday. It's almost hard to see it like this." There's a soft and somber tone to her voice and the way she moves. it's slow until we make it out th the hallway, and she immediatel shoots up the stairs. I have to sprint to keep up, and soon it's become clear where we're headed. she isnt stopping until we get all the way to the roof. I follow her for 22 stories, wondering how I'm keeping up, until she bursts through a door at the top. I stop when I reach the doorway, watching her as she runs across the rooftop, stopping right at the edge. I smile and walk over to the the other side, where, shes's standing on the ledge, looking all the way down at the ground.
I grab her hand from behind, and she steps down beside me. She lets go of my hand and lies down, looking up at the sky. We're above the fog up here, so we get a nice view of the sky, the last few stars that are still out in the sky. She points to a larger, brighter one and whispers "That's Venus. It was always my favorite when I was little, because it was 'Earth's twin sister'. but then when I grew up i found out that the whole planet was pretty much on fire, and that Russia sent a probe there and it lived for 27 minutes before it completely melted. The entire planet is exploding, slowly."
I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. I wanted so badly to just know how to respond. It was like she was telling me something extremely personal and so fundamentally part of her when we've only first met, and I had no idea what to make of it. I haven't really had a friend in awhile and I guess this is the kind of thing friends are for.
So I just lay down beside her, clasphing her hand in mine, savoring the feeling of our fingers intertwine. And it is silent. Goddamn, it is silent. But it makes the moment even more beautiful, because it's not awkward anymore. Things just feel right, and that is something I havent been able to say in quite some time.
After awhile the sun starts to rise so we sit up and Tenshi walks towards the ledge. This time she just swings her legs over and sits down. I follow, and from up here, we get an incredible, unadulterated view of the yellows and purples and reds the sun gives off this early in the morning. And I am happy.
