The Girl On The Roof

Hazel

After our first conversation, seeing Hazel around school became a lot more frequent, and we grew closer over the next couple of weeks. We stopped and talked to each other in the halls (conversations of which were usually prompted by me), we joked (again, usually me), and we planed our English project.

As light and happy as our conversations seemed, I noticed something in Hazel. Something like a dying ember, of what might have once been the fire of a lively, wonderful girl. I now saw only the remains. She would laugh rarely, which was not because of my bad jokes, her smiles were guarded, and her eyes didn't seem to light up as much as they did when I first saw her.

There were still good parts about her, though. She did joke a lot, but I could tell she was struggling on the inside. She'd also draw these amazing images in a small spiral notebook she carried around, most of them of the moon. I'd always ask her about them, but she'd simply say, "another time, detective Brown. Another time," and then would walk away. I didn't understand it. She would also fall asleep in class, which I found hilarious, and a distraction from the fact that I was falling asleep myself.

That was later on. Our story for today begins in an English class deep in Oregon, a day after Hazel revealed to me her knowledge of my creepy stalking.

I must say, that was not how I'd hoped our first conversation would go.

Hazel walked into the classroom and slid into her seat, dropping her bag down as she did so. I moved my head from her to my desk, wondering what she must have thought of me after our first encounter.

Did she think me insane?

Creepy?

A weirdo?

I couldn't bear the thought of being known as a stalker.

When Mrs. Berkely announced that we were working on our projects that day I jumped up from my seat and walked over to Hazel, sitting down in an empty chair nearby.

I cleared my throat, unwilling to show the girl how nervous I truly was. "Hey," I said, in a much deeper voice than intended. Crap.

Hazel looked up at me and crossed her arms. "Well, lookee here. It's the stalker boy."

I bit my lip, almost shaking with nerves. I was a stalker. It was a horrible truth, but I couldn't deny it. I'd literally stared at a girl through a window without her knowledge of my staring. The only thing missing was a pair of binoculars. "Listen, I am truly sorry about that. Honestly, I didn't—"

Hazel raised a hand to stop me, and I resisted the urge to make a face. Who did she think she was, a queen? Why the sudden formality? "Listen, Marty. Usually someone in this situation would try and never speak to you again. But I'm not most people." She cocked her head to the side. "Now, I would like to know why someone like yourself would completely destroy their reputation as a normal person to watch me climb a house." She eyed me carefully. "Care to explain?"

I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it. There was no way in hell that I was going to tell her that I was watching her because she watched the sunset while I never did. Who would believe that? "Um... I'm really sorry," I tried again. Hazel rolled her eyes at me.

"I want the truth, stalker. Why were you watching me?"

I looked around, hoping that no one heard her and that I wouldn't get a reputation as 'girl watcher'. Thankfully, all the students were too engrossed in their phones to notice or care what we were saying.

"Look," I said, lowering my voice to ensure that no one would overhear. "I was watching you because I thought it was interesting, you know? It's not everyday you see a girl climbing a roof. I might just ask what you were doing there."

Hazel's eyes sparkled, as if in delight at my accusation, but she kept her arms crossed and her gaze sullen. "I'm not the one who watched a girl half naked climb up a roof, Marty."

Half naked?

"What the hell are you talking about?" I whispered frantically, almost jumping up in shock. My heart raced at the thought of myself creepily watching a girl half naked climb a roof. "I never saw you half naked, what are you saying?"

Hazel stayed quiet for a moment, then shrugged and toyed with a pencil on her desk. "I don't know. It seemed like a more interesting story instead of you watching me just out of interest. This adds more to your stalking character."

The bell rang and Hazel gathered her books, leaving the room and me behind, myself utterly confused.

What was with Hazel Meringuer?