the rooftop / g.d

6

GRAYSON'S POV

"How old are you?" She asks me.

I still can't comprehend the fact that I'm actually speaking to the neighbour I've always had a liking towards. 

She's more down to Earth than I thought she was, even a little vulnerable by the looks of things. 

I could immediately sense that she came up here to clear her head, just like me. 

She was upset about something, her boyfriend. The way she had her head hung low when she got here, the way she was staring into the city in a sombre mood. 

What did he do to her? I've always had a funny feeling about him. She really does deserve better.

I find it hard to believe that she's a virgin. She's way too beautiful to be a virgin, not to mention intriguing. 

And her reaction when she found out I was a virgin almost made me blush. Was she implying that...? No. 

I'm still reeling that I can finally put a name to the face I catch myself staring at from time to time. 

Ren. 

It's beautiful but I'm still convinced her name is short for something. Like Renee or Lauren even. 

Not going to lie, I felt butterflies in my stomach and my throat dry up once she said she sees me when I'm going to and coming from work. 

Does that mean she's noticed me before? Well clearly, dumbass. 

"21. "You?" 

"20. So when you say you're 'getting your life on track', what do you mean?" She immediately asks. 

I pull the sleeves of my hoodie up, sighing. "I want to be financially stable." I say, the thought of being jobless lingers in my mind. Not to mention the eviction notice. "Move out of the building one day and find myself a nice house in Manhattan and actually live in the city rather than staring at it from the outskirts." I reveal to her. That is the goal, move out rather than being evicted. 

She stares at me, long and hard. I almost feel like a test subject with the way she's looking at me so intensely. 

"How long have you lived in this building?" 

"Three years." I mumble, ashamed at this fact. If I don't pay the rent, I'll only be living in it for another week. 

"How have you managed? I've only been here for a year and I still can't stand the landlord." She groans and I laugh. 

Mr Rogers can be a dick when he wants to be. We laugh together before it dies down. 

As she laughs, I can't help but stare at her smile and the way her eyes crinkle with happiness. Something tells me she's not this happy too often. 

"So...why are you up here tonight instead of celebrating?" I ask her. She eyes me carefully before sighing, staring at the skyline.

"You already know what my plans for tonight were?" She says and I nod. "Well... it was a shit plan and I'm glad I didn't go through with it." She scoffs. "The alleged boyfriend yelled at me for not putting out and last week, he cheated on me. I came up here to clear my head." She peers at me before staring at the ground. "I just figured there's no point in celebrating. Big whoop, the Earth completed another orbit around the sun so we can one up the current year and celebrate time." 

Her voice is depleted of emotion and it makes feel upset. Everyone should feel happy tonight, can't say I feel the same. I'm being a hypocrite.

New Year's Eve won't cure 7.6 billion lives for celebrations to occur. If anything, it makes the unlucky ones feel even worse on this particular night. Ren and I are two examples. 

And the fact that her boyfriend, who's supposed to love and cherish her, wasn't patient with her in addition to cheating makes me want to track him down and beat the shit out of him. Who raised him for gods sake? 

"Time is just an illusion. It doesn't actually exist." I say. 

I've always been interested in these deep conversations and discussing the true nature of our planet. 

"Exactly. We have a deep intuition that the future is open until it becomes present and that the past is fixed." She mumbles quietly. 

As she stares down, fiddling with her denim jacket, I take the opportunity to stare at her. 

The girl who deserves better. She's so beautiful and even after this short period of time with her, she's shown how beautiful her soul is too. 

"I'm really sorry." I breathe out and she connects her eyes with mine. She waves me off. 

"Don't apologise for that asshole." She says before giving me a side smile to which I return one. "Why are you up here instead of celebrating?" She directs the question to me. 

For a second, I forgot about my unemployment and my eviction notice. But of course, reality is always there to punch you in the face. I cross my arms over my chest and I let out a deep breath.

"I...I got fired tonight." I say in disbelief, still wishing it wasn't true. 

"Your boss must be an asshole for firing you, especially tonight." Her face twists in anger and I put up my hands. 

"It doesn't stop there. I came home to a lovely, bright red paper taped on my door. An eviction notice. And I didn't want stay stuck in that shitty apartment and I thought, if I only have one week left, I may as well come up here." 

Ren's mouth drops open and her eyes widen. "One week?" I nod. "But, you can pay the rent right?" She asks with caution and I shrug. 

"I don't think so." I shake my head. 

Why did I have to get the eviction notice the same night I finally started talking to Ren? 

To think, we could've had a great friendship and now its all going to be ruined soon because I got to late work again and I lost my job and I'm on the verge of becoming broke. 

"Man." She groans, slamming her palm on the arm rest. "I hate the universe. It cursed the both of us tonight." She huffs. 

"It didn't completely curse you." I say with a smirk and Ren furrows her eyebrows with humour. "I mean, you got to finally meet me." I dramatically point to myself and she lets out a small laugh. 

"I gotta say, Gray, you're saving my New Year's Eve." She lifts an eyebrow, going along with my stupid sarcasm. 

I can't seem to shake off the fact that she called me Gray and not to mention, her words didn't sound as sarcastic as mine did. 

Then, I get an idea. Why should the both of us be stuck here and mope about how shit our nights have been? We deserve to party with the rest of the world, even if it's just for tonight. 

There's just under three hours left until the New Year. We should be spontaneous. 

"Let me legitimately save it." I determine, standing up from my seat. 

Ren stares at me with confusion, slowing standing in front of me. 

"Why did you get a burst of energy all of a sudden?" 

"Are you saying I don't have energy?" I joke and she playfully rolls her eyes. "Seriously though, we should party. Fuck my boss, fuck your ex and fuck our landlord. Let's celebrate the Earth's orbit." I offer with confidence. 

Ren looks baffled and speechless. She fights a smile as she raises her arms up to her sides before letting them drop. 

"Fuck, okay!" She replies enthusiastically and I'm glad she's agreed to. 

New Year's Eve just got a whole lot better.