Life's Little Teardrops

18. Rooftop

She smiled and stood up walking me to the door.

I walked through the hallway which lead to the key booth room where I assumed Deedee and Blaine would still be, instead Georgia-Rose and a tall guy sat at the table smiling happily. I walked up to them sticking my hands in my black hoodie.

"Hey. Have you seem Blaine and Deedee?" I ask her, the guy stares at me with a strange gleam as I notice his bandaged arm. She looks from the boy to me and laughs. "Umm I think they're on the roof. By the way this is Jarred." She looks back at him and he smirks, I stand awkwardly. They seem completely comfortable in this situation and are amused that I'm not. "Well bye." I say walking towards the hallway that leaded to the room Deedee and all them were in before.

Down further in the hallway is a stairway.

After a few sets if stairs I arrive at the roof . It's sort of cool, it has a pink carpet by the door, an above ground pool in the corner, a few lounge chairs and a kitchen area by the entrance.

It is about 6:30 and the sun is beginning to set. As I glance around I realize a smell in the air, one I haven't even though about in years. Hamburgers..

And Cheese.

I look towards the kitchen area and see Deedee behind a BBQ and Blaine sitting in a lounge chair devouring a burger as they argue back and fourth.

"You said you were single." Deedee says nodding with wide eyes, she does that when she's mad. Blaine looks a little irritated as he goes to the defense.

"The school shut down during the hight of the infection, she never Txted me and tons of people were dying so I kind of assumed." He shrugs and it becomes obvious they're fighting about Jenny.

Deedee adds another Burger to a plate of 3 and smiles. "Well that's great boyfriend behavior." She said.

I laugh and they turn to look at me. They didn't know I was here.

"Hey!" Blaine says eager to change the subject. He is wearing swim trunks and it occurs to me that they went swimming. "Wear'd you guys get the swim suits?" I ask walking towards the pool. Deedee sets the burgers down on one of the tables as she walks with us to the pool. "They have stuff from Walmart and they have us some stuff for the day. They said we could go home tomorrow." She climbs on the ladder and dangles her feet in the blue water.

I need to talk to them about staying. "Did they offer you a job here?" I ask her. She looks over the side of the rail across the town. "Ya they said if I wanted to stay here you guys could too. Why?" I walk to the rail and glimpse at our town which is now almost empty.

"I think we should stay. We could get our stuff and live here. They said me and Blaine could be scavengers." Blaine joins us at the rail and sighs.

"I think that's a good plan, but what about the research." Blaine says and I can tell that's not what he wants to say. "We can bring it." I say looking at him with a small smile. Deedee glances at the table across the roof where a pudgy bulldog is attempting to steal a bite of the hamburgers.

"What about Jenny?" He asks as Deedee walks away to salvage our Lunch. I look at him and I can tell he isn't sure what to do about Deedee. "She can stay here." I say trying to get off the topic.

Trin walks through the door in a tiny pink two piece and I smile at her. She looks at me and we have one of those conversations were we just know what each other is thinking and we can tell what the other will say. She nods and I know that Ridley told her everything and that maybe this is a good plan.

She sits down at the table and bites into a burger, Deedee knows she hates hotdogs. "So we're staying here right?" she asks through a mouthful.

Blaine nods and she smiles. "Okay cause I got our room keys."

After a long discussion and 3 flights of stairs we decide We all will have separate rooms and need another room key. I walk up to the window for my room key and see the green eyed guy from the infirmary smiling at me.

"Hey I need another room key." I say maybe a little too quickly. He's pretty cute. He nods, "What floor?"

"Second please." Everyone else is on the second too. He smiles even more and I see a dimple appear on his left cheek.

He hands it to me and I begin to walk away but he stops me. "I'm Jona." He says with a laugh. "I'm Ellie, or Eliza."

I smile and begin my hike back up the stairs.