𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 -- s. harrington

→ seven.

IT WAS ALMOST midnight before Andrea returned home from the Henderson's. Valorie and Dustin had fallen asleep in the living room watching Ghostbusters and an hour after the movie ended and the house was quiet, Claudia returned home. She had quickly thanked Andrea, handed the girl fifteen dollars and said goodbye. Andrea had thought about leaving her sister at the house so she wouldn't have to wake her up and deal with her crankiness for the whole ride home but she knew her father would be upset.

          Andrea trotted up the stairs slowly, holding a glass of juice in one hand and a bowl full of noodles in the other. She pushed open her door that had been slightly ajar and walked in, nudging the door shut with her elbow before walking over to her bed and setting her snack down on the nightstand. The girl couldn't stop thinking about the slug in Dustin's room. Had she been too harsh with telling the kids they should kill it? Surely she hadn't been. Andrea hadn't seen the things her sister had told her about last year but from the way Valorie's voice trembled as she told the stories, she knew the young girl was terrified by them.

          Andrea's phone began to ring from her dresser and she shot up, rushing over and picking up the phone from the hook. She brought the phone to her ear and let out a small sigh. "Hello?"

          The girl's voice was like music to his ears. Steve smiled and looked down at the floor, his cheeks blushing. "Hey, it's Steve," he said and scratched the back of his neck. "I know it's late but I was wondering if I could come over? I'm in need of some cheering up and you're the only person I could think of."

          Andrea glanced over to the window that she had crawled through many times during the late hours of the night to sit on the roof with Steve and look at the stars while talking about whatever came to mind. Steve had mastered the ability to climb up onto the roof and Andrea had mastered the ability to climb out through the window without being too loud. "Of course," she replied and then squeezed her eyes shut. The two had told each other they were willing to fix their friendship so why not start now? "Meet me on the roof by my window - I'm sure you remember the spot." She added before hanging up the phone and grabbing a sweater from her closet. Andrea took a few sips of her juice before grabbing her bowl of noodles and heading toward the window so she could talk for hours with Steve like they had done so many times when they used to be best friends.

*  *  *  *

Steve arrived at the Matthews household no more than five minutes later. He climbed out of his car and shut the door quietly before peering up at the roof that was placed perfectly under Andrea's window. The girl stuffed a forkful of noodles into her mouth and then waved at Steve, causing him to smile. It had been too long since he had seen that view. The girl he figured he was supposed to end up with, sitting on the roof of her house, waving at the boy she only looked at as a friend.

          Andrea watched as Steve jogged over to the side of the house that had the easiest access to the roof. She let out a small laugh as he struggled to pull himself up and let out a grunt to show the effort he was putting in. "What's the matter, Steve? Ain't got the muscles anymore?" She asked and reached her hand down, clutching onto the sleeve of his jacket and yanking him up beside her.

          Steve ran his hands through his hair, fixing the mess that had formed as he jogged across the girl's front lawn and from the ridiculous climb he had done. "I've still got it," he breathed and looked over at the girl, smiling as he watched her shovel another pile of noodles into her mouth. "It's midnight, why are you eating noodles?"

          Andrea shrugged and swallowed her food, glancing over at the boy. "I was hungry when I got home from babysitting Dustin so I went to my kitchen and made some noodles," she explained and smiled at him. "They're really good too."