Dancing On Roof Tops

Chapter 1: Rooftop Meeting

   Lights flickered on, lighting up the dark streets of a quiet neighbourhood in Ablewood, California: a small town separated from the rest of the world. Fresh dew laid on the grass, blanketing the cold lawns of its inhabitants. Street lights illuminated the ground and the moon rested dimly in the sky.
    A noise made its way, disrupting whatever sense of peace Ablewood held. Music was beating loudly, muffled by the walls attempting to contain it with little luck.
    A party, that was obvious now, infested a large suburban house at the end of Charles Avenue. Sweaty bodies spilled out into the lawn, filling up the rooms of the vacancy. Alcohol was clearly present as people wobbled drunkenly, dancing with one another.
    A girl with hair red as fire sat carelessly spread out across a window seat, isolated from the comotion downstairs, her nose stuck in a copy of ‘Milk and Honey’.
    Her eyes scanned the pages as she read over the lines of poetry, but her mind kept straying.
The party underneath her causing a slight ache to manifest in her head. She sighed, rubbing her eyes before closing her book and standing up. She stretched her muscles, her joints popping in relief.
   “He wasn’t supposed to have anyone over, yet there’s a freaking party going on!” She spoke aloud to herself. “If mom and dad find out they won’t be happy. It’ll be my fault seeing as I was in charge.” Her brother Stephan was always doing things like this.
   Her body made its way towards her bed, she sat on the edge carelessly. “I can hear them already. Amara Elliot Watts, why did you let your brother have a party! You were responsible. You were in charge. You-blah blah blah.” Her eyes rolled in irritation.
All she wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep, it was already eleven o’clock. That, however, seemed unlikely to happen.
    She laid back so her head was touching her comforter. She couldn’t just lay around doing nothing all night, nor could she sleep through the racket -- and quite honestly, she was starving and in dire need of food. The fries she had for dinner five hours before were already digested.
   Her stomach gurgled and Amara groaned. She didn’t want to go downstairs, but at this point she didn’t have much of a choice. She didn’t want to starve to death in her bedroom. That would be a stupid way to die.
   She changed from her pajamas into jeans and a black shirt so she wouldn’t stand out amongst the crowd of intoxicated teens.
   Her door creaked slightly as she opened it, she took a moment, looking back and forth down the hallway to check for any party-goers. Luckily, they had listened to her brother’s request of staying downstairs. Amara shut her bedroom door behind her, taking gentle steps towards the stairs. She gulped anxiously.
   The trip downstairs wasn’t too bad if you consider almost falling down the stairs and spilling someone's drink onto their shirt a success. She had managed to make it to the cupboard and grab a bag of chips as well as a couple cans of pop out of the fridge before she booked it back up stairs.
Amara panted out of breath at the top of the long flight of stairs, as she bent over slightly. She was just happy she made it back in one piece.
   She stood back up, being able to breath somewhat normally again, and made her way back towards her bedroom.
   “Man was that a disaster, but at least I got some food- sorta.” Amara thought to herself, looking at the armful of junk food she had gotten. It was good enough.
   She stopped before entering, staring at the opened door. Amara could’ve sworn she closed it before she went on her little mission for food.
   She walked in cautiously, hoping no couple decided her room would be the ideal location for a rendezvous. Luckily, that wasn’t the case.
   She set down her food and drinks on her bed before searching her room suspiciously.
   A cool breeze from the window seat drew her attention away from inspecting her closet for any frolicking teens. That definitely wasn’t open when she left.
   Amara’s body shook slightly from anxiousness. Her hands finding the book she was reading early, and gripping it hard. “I mean, it’s sorta protection?” She spoke quietly to herself before slowly stepping towards the window.
   She peeked out the window and jumped back quickly. Someone was definitely out there. On her roof. In the middle of the night. Totally normal...
   Amara moved closer to the opened window, trying to get a better look at whatever weirdo was on her roof.
  Her breath caught sharply in her throat as she got sight of the stranger. Her hair was blowing in the wind wildly, a white dress following with it. She was barefoot, dancing by herself, and twirling in circles, eyes closed.
Crazy. That’s what Amara should of thought when she saw her but her mind was stuck on another word. Beautiful.
   Amara’s heartbeat quickened and she came back to her senses. Nervously, she crawled through the window onto the tiled roof, leaving the book behind. Her eyes never left the mysterious barefooted girl. “What am I doing?” She thought to herself. For all she knew whoever this person was could push her off the roof without hesitation. But she still climbed through the window.
   She wanted to continue walking, but she couldn’t do anything besides watch as she felt something happening inside her. What was that feeling?
   The barefooted girl twirled to a halt, her head tilted back as she was breathing heavily.
   Amara didn’t know what to do, she didn’t have to.
   The girl opened her eyes, the starlit sky twinkling in them. She noticed Amara standing near the open window, mouth parted slightly. She smiled and tiptoed her way towards her -- not embarrassed that somebody just witnessed her dancing.
  “Hi there,” She smiled sweetly before extending her hand. “I’m Emi.”
  Amara stuttered over her words before blurting out, “A-Amara.” She nervously shook Emi’s hand while blushing madly. “Why -- why are you on my roof?”
   “To dance of course! Why else?” Emi replied a smile still spread across her face, like it was an obvious answer.
   That only left more questions unanswered, but Amara nodded her head, taking what she could get, still blushing at their touching hands. Her mind raced, “What a beautifully strange girl.” She thought to herself.
    “You have a beautiful roof.” Emi spun admiring it, letting go of Amara’s hand.
    “Um- thank you?” Amara replied awkwardly. She didn’t know there was even such thing as having a ‘beautiful roof’ but it strangely made her blush.
    “You must come out here often. I know I would.” She smiled.
    “S-sure.” Amara lied. She’d never actually been on her roof before, she never really felt the need to. But something about this girl made her feel like that was stupid.
    “The stars are beautiful up here.” Emi glanced up, and they reflected in her eyes.
    Amara looked up for the first time from this strange girl and into the night sky. But that didn’t last long. She looked back down at Emi, the stars looked better this way. “Well, we should probably get off the roof…” She suggested.
    “I’m alright, thanks though.” Emi smiled before laying down and staring up at the stars once more.
    Amara was confused but intrigued. “Oh, okay. Bye then, I guess?” She started towards the still open window and climbed through.
   She made her way to her bed and flopped onto it.
   “What the heck was that?! Why is she just sitting on my roof?” She spoke quietly to herself and she began to stand up again. “And you mister, need to calm down.” She pointed to her chest, that seemed to be beating faster than she could keep up with.
    Amara paced around her room for a few minutes unsure of what was going on and what to do. She grabbed one of the pops and went to open the tab before pausing. She glanced at the other can on her bed and the bag of chips she grabbed earlier.
“Maybe I should bring them out to Emi… no no no. I can’t do that. Besides it’s cold, I don’t want to freeze to death. I don’t even know her” She looked back out her window at the girl that was still there. She seemed cold but comfortable.
    Amara sighed before grabbing a throw blanket, two pillows, and the snacks she got earlier. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. I’m going crazy.” She mumbled to herself before attempting to climb out the window without falling. She luckily didn’t.
   She made her way back towards Emi. “Hi again.” She smiled nervously. “I thought these might come in handy.” She gestured towards her occupied arms.
   “Thank you.” Emi smiled, grabbing the drinks and bag of chips out of Amara’s hands, setting them down beside her.
   “Here. Thought you might be cold.” Amara smiled handing her the blanket and pillow before setting her own next to hers. “Mind if I join you?” She scratched her head nervously.
    “Of course.” She patted the pillow with a smile. “It’s your roof.”
   Amara sat down next to her, her mind running 1000 miles per second. Emi covered her lightly with the blanket.
   “It is beautiful out here.” Amara looked around her.
   “It is.”