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Minimal mistakes, hopefully all grammatical.
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"Oh, Twilight Sparkle! There's a party and Pinky Pie's house tonight!"
"I can't go, Fluttershy. I've got to read all these books."
"Are you sure?" I asked in my Fluttershy voice. I made the plastic horse bop across the carpet to the purple one clutched in Mia's hand. "Pinky Pie's going to have cake!"
Mia made Twilight Sparkle go off on this whole tangent about why she had to research, and I held back laughter. Griffin had asked if I wanted to come over after school to hang out, but as soon as I'd walked through the door, Mia had claimed me as her playmate. So, for the past half hour, it had been My Little Ponies time.
Just as the ponies were going to Pinky pie's party, someone knocked on the door of Mia's bedroom. I looked up to see Griffin grinning at us, and I gave him a "save me" expression. He nodded, and then came to sit down between Mia and myself.
"Is it my turn with Sawyer?" he asked Mia, making his eyes all wide and sticking out his bottom lip.
The seven-year-old frowned and scrunched up her nose. She looked from me to Griffin and sighed loudly. "Fine!" Mia said, "But we have to have another play date soon!"
"Of course," I replied, and Griffin helped me to my feet. "I'll see you later, Mia," I said, giving her a quick squeeze, and then Griffin and I walked out of her room. We walked downstairs together, and as Griffin led me closer to the front door, I asked, "Where are we going?"
"I thought we'd go for a walk," Griffin said, blushing. "We don't have to, though."
"No," I said, the corners of my mouth turning up into a grin, "A walk sounds perfect." Griffin smiled, and his fingers laced through mine. We slipped out the front door and started to stroll down the middle of the road. "Any specific destination?" I asked, the wind whipping my hair around my head.
"There's an old school about a block away," Griffin answered, "I figured we could go there." I nodded, and we resumed walking in silence.
I was so happy that Griffin and I were back together. I'd missed him, but I don't think I knew how much until we had reconciled. Now, I knew how much I cared about our relationship, and I didn't want to mess it up again. However, we still hadn't talked about what I'd told Griffin, and I couldn't figure out why he hadn't mentioned it.
We turned onto a different street and the school Griffin had been talking about came into view. It was one story and looked abandoned. There was cardboard in the place of some of the windows, and the bricks that served as the walls looked like they were crumbling. There wasn't a playground or bench in sight, which confused me.
"Where are we going to sit?" I asked, gesturing towards the empty space.
"There," Griffin replied, pointing towards the school.
"I don't think so," I replied, gesturing towards the doors, "There are chains around the doors. We won't be able to get in."
Griffin laughed. "I didn't mean go in the school; I meant go on top of it," he explained.
"Seriously?" I asked, gaping at him. "Isn't that trespassing or something?"
"Yeah," Griffin replied simply, "You're point is?" I opened my mouth to respond and call him crazy, but the idea of climbing onto the roof of a school was strangely thrilling, so I just nodded and followed him to the side of the school. We walked around the perimeter of the building until we came to the garbage pickup.
"How do we get up?" I asked, and Griffin gestured towards the old garbage cans and a couple stacks of crates.
"Put the crates on top of the garbage can, and then I'll give you a boost up," Griffin explained, and I nodded. Together, we picked up the crates and started piling them on top of the garbage can. I made sure that they were stable, and then I leaned against the brick wall as Griffin put the last crate on top.
"Have you done this before?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Griffin replied. "Are you ready to go up?"
I nodded and Griffin helped me climb on top of the garbage can. He spotted me as I climbed onto the crates, and then helped boost my feet up as I pulled myself onto the roof of the school. I looked over the side of the roof and watched as Griffin pulled himself up onto the garbage can and then lifted himself onto the roof like it was the easiest thing in the world.
"Wow," I commented, tightening my sweatshirt, "You do come up here a lot."
Griffin nodded and crossed the roof slowly. "I come up here to think when my house is too suffocating."
I tilted my head to the side. "How's that?" I asked, sitting down on the roof. Griffin came and plopped down next to me, and he leaned back on his elbows.
"Remember how I said my parents' got divorced a while ago?" I nodded, and Griffin sighed. "Well, it was a nasty divorce. I don't really talk to my dad anymore, but Jake does."
"Why don't you talk to him?" I asked curiously.
"He cheated on my mom," Griffin said, his jaw clenching. "That's why they got divorced. I know it happened awhile ago, but it just makes me so mad that he did that. I can barely get through a conversation without wanting to punch his teeth out. I just don't understand how Jake can talk to him like nothing happened."
I didn't know what to say, so I just slipped my hand into his and rested my head on his shoulder. Griffin pulled me close and kissed me on the top of the head. After a minute of just quiet and staring at the sky, Griffin pulled away so that he could look me in the eye.
"Will you tell me about your dad?" He asked.
"Sure," I replied after a moment. I knew that this was going to happen, and I'd forced myself to come to terms with it. "Seems only fair since I didn't tell you before and you just told me about your dad."
I took a deep breath and pushed the hair out of my face. "My dad's been in the drug business since before I was born. He isn't your idea of a drug dealer, I guess. He doesn't actually do the drugs he sells, and he apparently makes a lot of money."
"You don't seem all that thrilled," Griffin noted, and I shrugged.
"To me, the money never mattered," I said, "I never felt safe in that house. My dad's coworkers, I guess you'd call them, were dangerous people. There was more than one occasion where they threatened me to get to my dad. That's why I ran away. I thought the streets were safer than my house."
"Seriously?" Griffin asked, his jaw dropping.
I nodded, "Yeah, but now I don't think it's all that safer."
"What do you mean?" Griffin asked, and I averted my gaze so that I was looking at the old soccer fields of the school.
"Remember when I had you pull over? And I went and talked to that guy, Danny?" I asked.
"Yeah," Griffin replied slowly, "What about it?"
"Well," I said, pulling my knees up to my chest. I didn't actually know how to put what Danny had told me gently, so I guess I'd just have to be blunt. "There's a man named Marcus, and my dad owes him a lot of money, which is why he fled the country."
"How does that involve you?" Griffin asked.
"The last time my dad pissed him off, Marcus threatened to kill me if he didn't pay him back," I explained, "Now that it's happened again, my dad sent Danny to keep an eye on me. Apparently, Marcus is looking for me, and with the contacts that he has, I'd be surprised if Marcus didn't know where I was yet."
"Sawyer."
I looked back at Griffin to find his expression one of concern. "What?" I asked, wincing at the cold air that the wind pushed against my face.
"Why don't you call the police or something?" He asked urgently. "They can help you!"
"No they can't," I said, shaking my head. "Trust me when I say that getting the police involved will be more dangerous than without them."
"Why?" Griffin demanded.
"Because, I am the daughter of a wanted man!" I snapped. "Don't think for one second the police won't use me as bait, because they will if it means potentially bringing to criminals to justice."
"Sawyer, I'm not comfortable knowing that you're not protected," Griffin said, in an almost pleading voice.
"But I am," I said, and I let out a deep breath, my suddenly tense muscles relaxing. "Look, Danny is around, which means he's most likely got friends who are also around. Danny is like a big brother to me, and I know that he will do his best to keep my safe."
Griffin still looked skeptical, so I crawled over to him and wrapped my arms around his torso, resting my head on his shoulder. "I'll be okay, Griffin. I always am." Griffin didn't respond, but he pulled me closer.
We sat there for a while in silence, just watching the sky as the sun started to dip below the clouds. I could see why Griffin liked to come up here. It was so peaceful, and I had a view of the entire sky.
"Sawyer?"
"Hmm?"
"Were you and Danny ever a thing?"
"What?" I sputtered, my head snapping up to look at Griffin. "Are you kidding me? He's like ten years older than me! Plus, we're practically related. That's so wrong!"
"I was just curious," Griffin said, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.
"Were you feeling threatened?" I asked, trying to hide my amusement.
"N-no!" Griffin declared, "I was just curious!"
I laughed. "Yeah, sure." Griffin started to protest again and I shut him up by pressing my lips to his. As our kiss intensified, I climbed onto Griffin's lap and pushed him back until I was lying on top of him. I grinned against his lips and lay be head on Griffin's chest.
"Are you cold?" Griffin asked suddenly.
"Huh?" I replied, confused by his question.
"You're, like, shivering really badly," he pointed out, and I realized he was right. Even my teeth were chattering and I hadn't even noticed. The coldness of the moment hit me like a ton of bricks, and I sat up.
"I guess I am," I said, tugging my hood up over my head.
"Why don't we head back," Griffin said, and he peeled off his school lacrosse jacket. "Here, take this."
"Are you sure?" I asked, "You'll freeze."
"Nah," Griffin replied, "My shirt is pretty thick. Besides, you need it more than me."
"Thanks," I said, smiling, and I slipped the jacket on over my hoodie, the thicker fabric making an immediate difference.
Griffin pushed himself up so that he was standing, and then he helped me up. I crept over to the edge of the roof and glanced down at the garbage can only to find that the wind appeared to have knocked the crates off of the top.
"Griffin," I said, waving him over, "How are we going to get down?"
Griffin looked down and frowned. "Uh," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'll lower myself down to the garbage can, since I'm taller so it's less of a fall, and then I'll just restack the crates."
I nodded, and watched him swallow hard. Then, he shimmied over the side of the roof, and I held my breath as he let himself drop to the garbage can. Then, he hopped down to the ground and gave me a thumbs up. I smiled at him and after he finished restacking the crates, I crouched down and swung my legs over the side of the roof, but I hesitated.
"Don't worry," Griffin said, "I've got you. Just trust me." I nodded, and slid over the roof. My feet met the crates, and then Griffin helped me off the garbage can and into his arms.
Like he'd said, Griffin had me.
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Awwww :)
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