[~~~Posted Mar. 10, '21]
[A/N thanks for your feedback! We're going to go with the middle ground—their interactions start getting intense next chapter. We're almost there. Stay with me!
Also, there's a soundtrack to this chapter. ☝️☝️☝️ Aurora's "Different Kind of Human." My favorite super-dreamy song about feeling different. Cuz this school full of rich and ambitious students—it's been making Kai feel like she's some kind of alien alone on a new planet]
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It's afternoon now.
By now, Kai's dashed up to the top floor of ten different Gaffigan entryways. At the top landing of each, she's tried heaving open the metal fire doors that should open to the roof. But each time, the door's been locked. Sometimes even chained shut.
No luck.
Her thighs are getting sore from all the stair-climbing. But she has one more idea.
Kai heads to the back of the cafeteria in Gaffigan. Only authorized cafeteria workers are allowed back there. But the manager recognizes her, waving.
She heads to the pantry room. It's full of cereals. Dry pasta. Flour. All stored in big plastic bins. The room smells like baked bread and dusty grains.
Kai slides open a window and crawls out. She's standing on the metal fire-escape. Right away, a gust of early evening breeze ruffles her hair. The cafeteria workers who smoke—this is where they take their cigarette breaks.
She gazes at the street traffic below to make sure nobody's watching. It's not clear if what she's doing is permitted.
But no one notices her. So she climbs the rickety metal fire-escape stairs.
Up, up, up.
Until she reaches the rooftop.
She's made it.
Clambering over a ledge, her feet hit a flat patch of tar.
Then she draws herself up to her full height, surveying the rooftops across campus. The university's tall bell tower, in the distance.
The air whooshes by her like wind on a plateau.
This is it.
Kai exhales. Just at that moment, a bell tower begins chiming a song. It's a song by Aurora. One that Kai's been listening to on repeat at night, while she falls asleep.
And suddenly, there on the roof, a feeling of magic overtakes her.
It's perfect. This rooftop. It's perfect.
Sun streams all around, and everything glows in its warmth. There isn't anything to block the sunlight. Sure, there are a few small chimney-pipes and metal vents. But mostly it's just an expanse of blacktop. A wide flat roof.
Then she thinks, I just need a little shade. For the plants who get overwhelmed under too much sun.
Kai notices a wide, flat aluminium vent in the distance. It should cast a good shadow for several hours each day.
So she walks—onward, onward—until she reaches the vent.
Standing over there, she's now far from her starting point.
I must be over an unfamiliar section of Gaffigan, she thinks.
She rests her hand on the vent, considering the scene.
I can get a little greenhouse going here.
And for the first time since getting to school, she feels free.
Until now, she's been feeling like....
... Well, she's been feeling like a heartbroken alien from another planet.
All these other students—obsessed with grades and gossip, money and power. They're ambitious. And social-climbing.
Kai just wants to be outside. With plants. Standing on a lonely windy hilltop. Holding dirt in her hands.
But this rooftop... is almost that dream...
It's really perfect.
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Shoving open the metal door to the roof, Lukas realizes: He's not the only one up there.
About 10 meters away is a girl's figure. Her back is toward him. Staring into the distance. Like she's surveying the land.
That navy wool coat.
A rush of recognition...
Something tugs inside him.
In the distance, the bell tower begins playing its 5 o'clock song.
The girl stands upright. There's a wildness to her posture. A fierce determination.
One corner of Lukas's mouth lifts into a slight half-smile.
Kaia—What are you doing?
Whatever it is, Lukas gets the distinct feeling: she doesn't want to be disturbed.
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🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
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