here without you

39

"Is this even legal?"

Jade looks at me, grin on her face.

"Well, I guess not quite... But let's just ignore that," I say, grinning back at her. "Just climb up the ladder."

"Fine, if that's what you say."

She starts climbing up the ladder, with me following her. We quickly get to the end of it and reach the rooftop.

"So this is it." She looks around. "Your favourite place."

"Yeah, this is it."

I take her hand, and I guide her towards the edge of the roof. We stand there, taking in the view of the whole city.

"This is just crazy! How many stories does this building have?" she says.

"I think about ten, but I'm not too sure."

I take my eyes off the city below us to look at Jade. She looks genuinely amazed, which I find pretty cute.

"So one day, you just decided to explore a run-down building with about ten stories?" She turns her head to me. "I mean, how did you even find this place?"

"Actually, it wasn't me who found it. It was Olive who showed it to me." The memory of it makes me smile.

The day she first took me here we had to take this big maths exam, and it was freaking me out a lot. So that morning, when we were supposed to drive to school, Olive just drove us here instead. She told me I needed to relax, and she made me go up all the stairs of the building, to the ladder which took us up the rooftop. Somehow, it actually calmed me down. We missed the exam, but that didn't bother neither of us.

I tell the story to Jade, and she says, "That sounds exactly like one of those things Olive used to do. Skipping an important exam and walking up some run-down building instead." She shakes her head and lets out a laugh.

"Yeah, you're totally right."

I have to laugh too, but at the same time it hurts - only the strange thing is it doesn't hurt as much as it usually does. Maybe it's because of the girl standing next to me. I look at her, and our eyes find each other.

"I'm glad I am here with you," I say.

She smiles at me before she gently touches my lips with hers. Then, she puts her mouth to my ear. Her hot breath is tingling my ear, sending shivers through me. I'm expecting her to tell me something nice, maybe romantic.

She says, "You're so cheesy, Roze."

I give her a light shove, which makes her laugh. She doesn't stop, so I look at her and put on the best angry expression I can manage.

"You know, you're really cute when you try to act angry." She cups my face with both hands. "But you're always cute."

I suppress a smile, and I say, "You're so cheesy, Jade."

It makes her laugh and roll her eyes at the same time.

I decide to sit down, and Jade sits down as well. She rests her head on my shoulder, and I put my arm around her. For a while we just sit there, comfortable silence. I look at the city below us, buildings, cars, and tiny little humans. All of it looks small and almost unreal.

"You know what I love about this place?"

I look at Jade. She looks at me.

"Up here the rest of the world feels far away, and I can easily pretend that it doesn't exist. I can feel as though... it's just me. As though none of the other shit down there exists." Pause. "As though right now, it's just you and me."