It's only the roof

The black office chair. The metal pipes. The white soccer jersey. The blinding light. These are the things I associate with that day. We got caught. We? My friend Rayna and I. The black office chair because that is where I sat when I cried. The metal pipes because we kept having to step over them while walking the roof. The white soccer jersey because it was my first varsity soccer game. The blinding light because it was the first thing we saw when transitioning from inside to outside. 

One climb, two climb, three climb, CAUGHT! Three strikes you're out! We entered that day through a door labeled "roof access" in the girl's locker room. A door unlocked, a door labeled for trouble, a door with a shiny silver knob. Once we thought we were good and safe in the room, ready to climb (3), with our backpacks off. Two girls entered the room with raised eyebrows and eager to boast egos. "See, I told you we weren't the only ones who come in here." One of the girls spoke, her mouth seemed too small to let out so many words at such a fast pace. She must have had a huge tongue that had gotten swollen from so much usage because she had a slight lisp and wouldn't shut up a second I was with her. "So you guys have discovered this place too? I've been here about ten times, I was the one who found it. This is her first time. I told her it's no big deal. Once you get up there, there's nothing to be worried about." She would go on like this for a while then just stare at us blinking occasionally to let us know her awaiting on applauds and cheer for an encore was hopefully soon to be. "Right, we've been up here a couple of times, on our own, without knowledge of you being here." I was hoping that my response came off passive aggressive and she would leave us the fuck alone. I was wrong. "Well yes, of course, it's just, I've been on the roof so many times before that I just know I was the first one. Anyway, I plan on crossing over to the other roof. You see, I want to cross on top of the sky-bridge to see what those cones on the roof are for." What the hell was she talking about? "I have a plan on how to not get caught. So, if you don't mind, can we go up first?" Rayna and I didn't even bother to watch them go up, didn't even think about observing to see how they operate. We stayed behind a little to laugh and mock the girl that went on and on about being number one. What shocked me the most at that moment, was her quiet friend who didn't seem to be fazed by anything or person in the room. She remained completely silent and obeyed orders whenever her friend would bark them out of her tiny mouth. 

I led the way up the latter, just as I had led the way down the hall, passing my 5th-period class to make it to this exact spot. Above my head, was the hatch, the one that led to clear blue skies and humid air. We entered the rooftop with blinding light welcoming us from the sun. I looked down into the small janitorial room that we had just climbed out of. Down there was hell, I could see the flames creeping up the wall, orange, due to only one lightbulb. Pathetic. Kids remained on balls and chains, respecting but not respecting their elders. Learning but not learning life lessons. Talking but not talking about the important stuff. 

Up there were the white beaches of Dover. And the two girls were already climbing one of the cliffs. As long as their vacation was over there, Rayna and I will be relaxed. To document this wonderful memory, Rayna had pulled out her phone and had it aimed at me like she always does. "Pose!" I did as I was told and stretched out my arms, ready to take flight, turned away from her so she couldn't see the joy of it all, my nostrils flaring, eager to smell the aroma of freedom. I knew the routine all too well, pretend like you don't see the camera, and when you do, act like it's not there, this makes the final product of all her short films on my life a true masterpiece to commemorate. If I don't stick to the routine, then it might show that I actually get quite tired of seeing the back of her phone instead of her face. 

The rooftop was a place of pure whiteness, except when you looked down at your feet and realized a maze of metal pipes had been set in place. Stepping over each one, carefully, Rayna and I made our way to the edge of one of the rooftops and sat with our feet dangling above another deck. I was glad I was doing this with Rayna. She goes through life with a smile on her face. She knows how to make friends, and to make them feel worthy of being her friend. She's always prepared for the craziest adventures. I knew she was the one to bring with me on the roof, I also knew she was the one to bring with me if our little adventure took a turn for the worse. Just as we sat down and got comfortable in the rhythm of exchanging daily topics, the two girls had emerged and joined us. "So, we just wanted to let you know that we are, actually just me, I'm going to cross to the other building while Claire watches and hides." Is this girl stupid? "You can't go over to the other building, literally the whole school will see you." We are only standing on 3 floors, the other building has 4, which means it can see over this one, which also means it can see everything that is going on on this roof. Rayna and I decided to stay on the middle section where we won't be detected by anyone. This girl, however, was insistent on taking an even bigger risk. "I have a plan, I will stick to one side of the wall, then quickly climb the latter to the next rooftop then do the same thing and stay close to that side of the wall until I can get to the top of the sky bridge." She is stupid, but I wasn't going to object anymore, because I really wanted to see how she was going to pull this off. "Ok," I said, then turned to Rayna and commented, "I have to watch her stupid ass do this." So, Rayna and I followed the two girls to climb the first latter that would lead to the first exposure. Rayna and I stayed at the latter, making sure our bodies were out of sight. We watched the girls crawl and waddle their way to the side of the rooftop, where they made sure to stick real close to that wall. I could see how their appearance would come off as hidden, I almost started to believe they could pull it off. Then, one of the girls made her way across the roof and started descending the latter opposite to us. At this point, I was sure the whole school could see her, she was completely exposed to the large windows of the other building. 

Rayna and I made our way back to our comfortable, nonexposed spot, where we continued our conversations. I knew that there was a serious possibility of those girls being seen. I knew that if they were seen, even by a student, we were done for. But at that moment, sitting there with Rayna, under the open skies, no one else, just us, I didn't care. I didn't even want to care. I honestly thought everything was going to be fine just because that moment was so much more than fine. 

Moments later, no not moments, years later, no not years, decades later, the two girls returned with exhausted expressions and red faces. "We're going to get some water, we'll be back." Why does she feel the need to report everything to us? We are not her friends. I stared at them because it's not my job to make sure they get the "ok!" from someone who isn't their parent. "Ok? Bye!" Rayna said this with an urgency in her voice, as she waved her hand at them to depart from us. This just proves how truly annoying that girl is because Rayna gets along with everyone, and if she is giving this girl an attitude, she doesn't like her. 

It had been a couple of minutes after they left when Rayna and I decided that it was time to make our way back to reality. The reality of loud kids filling up the hallways and teachers blocking the doorways as they urge the students to make their way to class. Rayna made her way down the latter into the janitor's closet first. Then it was my turn, I descended with caution and even made sure to close the hatch above me as I made each step down that latter. I stopped halfway with a feeling of unease, Rayna wasn't making any noise below me, so I looked down to notice her staring back up at me. Oh no, something is wrong. She didn't look worried, she didn't look mad or sad. She had the look of being caught between something, a mix of "I give up" and "I'm confused." I began to say "what?" but someone interrupted me. A deep voice said, "that's right, come on down." This voice had belonged to one of the security guards at my school. I continued my climb down with shaking legs and arms. My body had realized the importance of this tragic discovery and my heart had too because it was racing, but my mind hadn't caught up just yet. When I joined up with Rayna, I found three other large men had joined us. Two of them were security guards and one was an office administrator. "Is there anyone else up there," one of them asked. I told him, no, but of course, he didn't believe and started to make his way up the latter. We were brought out of the room and back into the gym, where we waited with a security guard, one that Rayna knew very well. "Oh, Rayna, I thought you promised you weren't going to get into any more trouble." He was calm and altogether cheerful, but he carried a look of disappointment in his eyes. "Yeah, sorry Mr. Brown." Rayna also remained calm, which was good, because if she had got hysterical, I knew for sure I would too. He turned to me and pointed at my white soccer jersey that I totally forgot I was wearing and said, "that's over whatever that is." He's right, I got caught, skipping class, on the roof of the school, I knew that the results would be severe. I was going to be kicked off the soccer team. I GOT CAUGHT! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! Everyone is going to find out about this, my parents, my friends, my teammates, and worse of all, my coaches. I started to tear up at the thought of handing all my soccer gear back to my coach but then decided that it wasn't the time or place to be doing that. Instead, I looked at my feet, I looked at the ground, I looked at the poeple in the distance, I looked anywhere but at Mr. Brown. Then I noticed the chatty girl from the roof stood behind me. She had been caught as well, of course, she did. She was the one who was seen on the roof, she was the reason why I stood there waiting to be moved to the principal's office. But where was her friend? I guess she made her escape while the other stayed behind and probably tried to return to the roof and that's when they caught her, then us as we were making our way back.

The other two men caught up with us and told us to follow them. We arrived in a room with a large table and black office chairs surrounding it. We were told to spread out then they started searching our bags for drugs because of course, the only reason for our being up there is to smoke. I knew they wouldn't find anything, so I sat there and stared at my hands resting on the table. Then came the questions, why were you up there, were you smoking, were you planning on jumping? All reasonable questions, I just had no patience. I kept telling them we were up there just to chill and skip class. I almost ripped out my hair when the stupid girl started talking. "There are cones on the other building, you know? I really wanted to find out their reason for being up there? Do you know? Because why would you put cones on the roof? I was just so curious. And once I get curious, there's no stopping me. That's all it was, really, just curiosity. Sorry if I'm talking a lot. I talk a lot when I'm nervous. Should I stop talking? I'll stop talking." The administrators all stopped and stared at her with the expression of "what the hell is she talking about?" 

"I don't even know what the punishment will be. We haven't had anything like this," this came from the Principal. Punishment? All I could think of is my soccer carrier at this school ending. I had just made the varsity team and that day was supposed to be my first game. I worked so hard for this. I spent days stressing out about tryouts and weeks training to get in shape. I actually made it though, a freshman made the varsity team. Only two made it, only two, and I was one of them. "Today is my first game, my first game, and all I want is to play in this game. Am I going to be kicked off the team?" I looked up at the principal with tears streaming down my face, hoping her response to be "no." Instead, she responded with "probably, but it's not up to me, it's up to your coach." I sat there and cried, thinking about the look of disappointment on my coach's face. Rayna was the only one who remained silent. With her silence, I received an understanding from her. She told me through the chill air "everything is going to be all right."