Young, mischievous Blaire Blackwood, waited on the roof of the Blackwood’s house, tapping her knees restlessly.

She really hoped he would come. He had to, right? He always did.

Blaire frowned.

Maybe he wouldn’t this time. After all, why would he want to play with her, a child, who didn’t understand him? Who didn’t understand his interests and didn’t want to because they always led to the fact that eventually he’d be leaving her there. Alone. With her grumpy grandfather and murky, gloomy weather.

The sky growled above her and began to weep. A few drops splashing hard beside Blaire. It was less than a second before she was trapped in a reckless shower.

Of course! she moaned inside. 

Now Cole definitely wouldn’t come. He would think she was inside, which sounded awfully tempting at the moment.

A sound, muffled by the crashing water, barely made its way to Blaire.

She squinted her eyes and looked forward, seeing a young boy running toward the back of the house.

He was sopping wet, his clothes sticking to his body. It was obvious he was on his way to Blaire’s when the rainstorm began, but he didn’t bother returning home and changing. He just continued to run…because that’s the kind of sidekick Blaire has.

“Blaire!” Cole’s voice became clearer the closer he came.

“Cole!” she shrieked back in excitement.

“Are you okay?!”

“I’m wet!” she yelled back and he shook his head.

“Can you get back inside?” Cole asked.

Blaire turned slowly from Cole to the window of her room, further off than she liked. She stood on one foot and slipped, smashing her face against the tiles.

“Don’t walk! Crawl!” Cole cried, fear evident in his voice.

Blaire nodded, too scared to speak, and tried to gecko slither her way up. But it was too slippery. The more she moved, the further down she slipped.

“I’m gonna jump!” Blaire decided. She’s done it handfuls of times before with Cole down there; what would make today any different?

“Don’t!” Cole shouted. “I can’t see and if I don’t catch you or if I slip…”

Blaire swallowed. Then what were they supposed to do?

“I’ll go get your parents!” Cole decided.

She paled, imagining what punishments would be in store for her once she was rescued. She’d much rather wait out the storm than let her parents know she had been playing on the roof again.

Blaire had promised them, she had promised everyone, that she was done with the roof jumping. But the more Cole read about the outside world and grew excited about leaving, the more Blaire worried of being forgotten. She wanted him to notice her, to play with her. What better way than to grab his attention than the roof? Who cares if she had been banned, so long as she could keep her sidekick?

“Don’t! Cole, don’t please!” Blaire squealed as she straightened and slipped.

“Don’t move!” Cole ordered and raced into the back entrance of the house, abandoning her.

No. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no.

Blaire was so dead.

She waited in dreary solitude, thinking of the good times and how she would likely never see them again in this lifetime, when she heard the creaking sound of her window opening.

Blaire tensed, refusing to look behind and see the terrifying face of her furious father.

“Blaire!” someone cried from behind and Blaire looked back to see Cole as he slowly exited the window.

“Where are my parents?” Blaire asked, confused.

“I snuck past them.” Cole held out one hand. “Take it and I’ll pull you up. Can you reach me?”

“I’ll try.” Blaire raised one shaking hand and slid it into his.

They sighed in unison.

“Okay. Move carefully.” Cole slowly dragged Blaire up with her occasional push. It was remarkable that Blaire hadn’t realized how strong he was before. He was older, taller, had big hands and big feet, but this was a noticeable strength she hadn’t appreciated before.

Blaire had reached the windowsill, now the safe zone, and eye-to-eye with Cole. As soon as they saw each other, their fear melted into laughter.

“Honestly Blaire,” he said with a glowing smile, “you never listen to what you’re told.”

Blaire shrugged. “It all worked out. I’m fi-”

Blaire slipped as she tried to enter the open window, returning to the dangerous water slide.

Cole lurched forward with her and wrapped his body around her, struggling to find something steady to hold onto. But there was nothing. It was smooth falling…right into the untamed bushes.

Due to Cole’s protection, Blaire’s injuries were minor, a few scratches here and there. Cole, however, had dived into the bottom of the bushes, a particular vicious thorn catching his face and dragging up behind his ear.

Both of them were grounded. Blaire’s sentence was much worse than Cole’s, the poor boy who ended up with a scar due to a child’s recklessness.

For the two months of imprisonment, Blaire was doomed to remember her last thoughts as she slid down the roof in Cole’s arms.

She thought they were going to die. She was terrified, and could only think of the word “Stop” and only that. Blaire wasn’t thinking about Cole, she was just thinking: “Stop! Stop, stop, stop!”

Fond memories still greeted Blaire when she looked out her window at the rooftop, but she never sat there again.

The feeling of having no control, of just the rush towards her death and not having a say in stopping it, wasn’t something Blaire was eager to experience ever again.