Page 55 of Steeling Her
“I’m sorry. I can get it cleaned up if you w—”
“Shut up! Fucking hell, I don’t want you anywhere near me or my clothes. You like to ruin everything that’s mine.” I send her a quizzical look. I haven’t ruined anything that’s hers. “You’re a clothes ruiner and a boyfriend stealer! You’re last name is so suited to you,” she angrily spits out while I stand there motionless. I thought they weren’t a thing?
“I didn’t steal anyone’s . . . boyfriend,” I mumble, and as if I thought she couldn’t get any closer to me, she stepped right in my face.
“You fucking stole mine! Stay away from me and him!” Sending me one last glare, she bumps shoulders with me and walks out of the crowd, her friends trail along like little ducklings behind her.
I watch them leave and think about what she said. I thought she and Nick weren’t dating? I look around the room and realize I’m alone in a crowded room. I don’t know anyone around me. I bump into people to get out of the way. I try to find Haley and walk out to the entrance where not many people are gathered.
I move around on my toes to see if I can find someone I recognize. I see nobody; not a single person. Where did Ryan even go? I look up the stairs to see Maya and her friends glaring down at me with so much hatred in their eyes. I cough and look away immediately but I still feel their eyes on me.
I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and fish it out to see my brothers’ names on it.
Austin: Stars! Outside now!
Chris: Going outside now!
Me: Me too!
I race back outside the door of the kitchen, weaving through the crowd. Every time one of us sees stars outside we message the other. When we’re under the stars, we feel closer to each other. It feels like we’re not away from each other.
Once I reach outside, I look up but I can’t see them clearly. “Dammit, I’ll have to go higher.” I walk around the side of the house and see an ivy vine with support in the back that I can climb. Putting one foot on, I start climbing up to get to the first level roof. Once I’m there, I can see there’s a little ladder on the side of the wall that goes up to the top roof. I start climbing that and the stars become much clearer. I take my heels off and allow the cold tiles to meet my skin. No way I was walking on a roof in heels, although it’s flat where I am. I pant and mumble “I’m so unfit” to myself.
Once I’m here, I look up and smile at how pretty the stars look. Specks of white and red, depending how close they are, all against a black backdrop. It’s beautiful.
Me: I’m here
Chris: Me too!
I miss my brothers.
I sit down on the ground and watch the millions of lights above me. I smile and close my eyes pretending that they’re here with me. I pretend to have my family here with me. The vibration pulls me out of my moment. Thinking it was my brothers, it was actually someone else.
Nick: Where did you go? xx
Me: I’m on the roof xx
It took a moment for him to reply. He probably wasn’t expecting one from me so soon.
Nick: Are you nuts? Why are you up there? Xx
I can almost hear his laughter. I allow my fingers to type back something.
Me: It shouldn’t be a surprise! Come join me and find out xx
A few minutes later I hear a few curses and grunts down below. I look over to the side to see it’s him. I leave my shoes where I was sitting. I don’t want to leave just yet. I see him climbing up the ladder I used to reach my level. Once there, he throws his leg over and allows his body to drop down on to the roof over the small wall that guards it. I walk back over to my spot and see him follow me.
“You’re crazy, you know that? So, what’s the big secret that I almost died for?” He grunts as he sits next to me. I point up to the sky and he looks up. “Woah! That’s amazing.” He sighs, admiring the natural beauty above us. We sit in silence for some time just admiring the show.
“You need to be above the lights to see this. The light pollution doesn’t allow you to see the stars well. It’s better when you’re in the countryside; there’re millions of them,” I tell him and look down at my feet. I wiggle my toes from the pain of my shoes. They’re free from them. I feel him shuffle closer to me because his heat radiates onto me. He’s not touching me, but I can feel him. I glance to my side and see he’s already staring at me.
“You’re not one for parties, are you?” he asks me. I shake my head, making my hair catch in my mouth. I pick it out and smile at him.
“No, I’m not used to them. The first one I went to was in high school and it was so bad. I’ve only been to two before the one I met you at.” His brows shot up and purses his lips. I couldn’t help but look at his lips. Realizing I was staring, I look back at the wall in front of us.
“I’m so over them. They were fun for the first couple of years in college. Now, it’s the same thing over and over again.” He sighs and picks up a pebble that was between his legs and plays with it. I watch his hand rub the pebble between his fingers, admiring it. “You’re not missing much.” He drops it and faces me.
“I just wish I wasn’t so awkward.” I giggle at myself. His eyes lock with mine and I feel a shift in the air. It feels heavy, like there’s something there, but I can’t put my finger on it.
