Rooftops - A Year In The Making

Chapter 8 - Little Badass

It's been a week now, since I last saw her and today is the first of half term holidays. A holiday forcing me to stay here. She hasn't been on the roof at all since I ran away from her so I decide it is safe to go out. The sun is glaring down on the tiles and I lay out my big hoodie to sit on so I don't burn.  It's coming up to Halloween but the weather is being nice, to most people.  The roaring hot sun a monster to my long sleeves I refuse to roll up.

The sun, that usually shines a single yellow colour is projecting a beautiful array of every colour imaginable. More than a rainbow. The colour beats down on the small wooden box-shed in the garden behind our house. It turns the pale silvery shade of wood into a beautiful sea of colours. I sit with my legs crossed and just stare at it as a shadow starts to appear at one side of the shed, the sun making it's way around us.

I only notice she is on the roof as she sits down next to me. It isn't even the noise or movement she makes as every move she makes is so seamless, so elegant.
"I'm sorry" I say simply, as she starts to crouch on the roof. I stop her and roll out the folded part of my black hoodie for her to sit on. I don't look at her but I know she smiles that beautiful smile of hers.

"Don't be sorry" She says, it's meant to be comforting but it doesn't bring me any comfort. I am sorry, and I need to be, it's my fault that I don't have friends. My fault I don't fit in.  The voice starts to return and my hand finds the sleeve of the cloth beneath me and started to fidget.

As if she reads my mind she quickly changes the subject,
"So have you got any plans for the holidays?"
"No" I reply. But not the same as before. Whereas my voice used to be sharp and sudden, I reply softly, slowly. And Cass obviously notices. She notices everything.

"No plans with friends?" She asks. I don't reply, don't look at her.
"D-do you have any friends Riley?" Usually that would be considered rude. Not from Cass, she could make anything sound soft and gentle. But even through her sweet tone I can tell she knows the answer. I shake my head.

She looks away, I continue to look down but can see her shadow on the red tiles. Then her head tilts towards me again.
"You've got me."

The second time she says that has just as much impact as the first.  Sending shivers down my spine as my body clings onto any hope it can reach, and this time it's reachable.

It's approaching 1 o'clock and I hear Cass's stomach rumble. With my new found confidence of having a new friend, I ask,
"Do you wanna go out for lunch?"
"I thought you weren't allowed out?" She asks, not in an accusing way, but in a concerned way.
"I can sneak out." I say, unaware of what her reaction is going to be.

She giggles.
"Someones turned into a bad-ass in the past week."
I laugh with her.

"Come on, let's go through my window." She says getting up.
"Nah, I think I'll just jump down" I say, I've done it before. Many times. But she won't have it. She grabs my hand and pulls me towards her little window and I only just have chance to grab my hoodie.

When we get inside her room it is so bright. Unlike my little box room her past-bathroom has been knocked through into another room which our house doesn't have, creating a spacious room with another window. All the walls are white except the back wall which has a double bed pressed against it which is pink. Although she has only just moved here everything is immaculate. Her obviously new carpet is so soft in comparison to my hardwood floorboards.

She sees me staring into her room and smiles that beautiful smile.
"Lemme just grab a jacket" And she moves quickly towards her white wardrobe and takes out a denim jacket that crops at the waist. Then she leads me out of her room and into the kitchen where she finds her mum painting. She is dressed in denim dungarees with white paint stains on and a white top with a bird print.

"Hey sweetie" Her mum says before she notices me.
"Hey mum" She kisses her mum on the cheek and I walk in behind her.

Cass's mum seems shocked that there is another person that she has never seen before in her kitchen, which for some reason I find hilarious and start to laugh quietly. Great first impression!

"Mum this is Riley, my friend" Cass manages to say before bursting out laughing. I'm obviously not the only one that finds this situation funny.

Not long after her mum joins in. After we finish laughing, Cass explains that we want to go out for lunch and Samantha (Cass's mum) agrees, giving Cass some money for both of us. Instantly her mum has the same aura about her as her daughter, elegant and kind, she notices everything and is a very good 'people's person'  We decide to go to the chip shop because the only other place to eat here is a Chinese, and it looks really dodgy.

Then we take our chips to the pond to eat because no-one else goes there. The water isn't nice and the grass is littered with weeds and moss patches. But the murky water and array of green in the soft carpet somehow appear beautiful despite their flaws.

We sit and talk for about an hour, the chips long gone before I start to get agitated that my mum may find out I'm gone. As I say we should go Cass calls me back for 'one more question'
"Why have you suddenly started talking to me?" I look down, not really knowing an answer myself. Have I just got more confidant or am I finally able to open up to someone?  Am I changing, am I getting better, or more vulnerable?

"I don't know" I say.
"There has to be a reason" She says, persisting.

"Maybe I just got a bit more confidant" I say, becoming increasingly uncomfortable. She looks away, upset, almost hurt.
"What did I do" I say concerned, the thought of upsetting her clenching my stomach.

"I still don't know you" She says, still looking away.
"What do you mean"
"I don't feel like we're really friends, like your open to me"

I get up, not angry and neither is she. It's only about half 2 now. We walk along the road and get to her house where I stop.
"You need to come in, you sneaked out remember?" She says with a smile on her face. I reluctantly climb the stairss and make my way behind her to the window which she opens for me.

"Can we hang tomorrow" She says in her usual cheery tone. It continues to amaze me how she can change her mood so quickly and I nod. She then embraces me into the softest hug I've ever felt. Before I make my way out the window and into my own house.

I slowly tiptoe into the corridor past my room and listen. Hearing a great thunder cloud of a snore I sigh with relief before going downstairs and... stepping on the creaky floorboard.

"Riley! Come here now!"

Great.