Chapter 2:

There's a pool on the roof

There's a pool on the roof.


It was a joy to be alone.

Everyday, I hid in my personal little area at lunchtime. I ate my personal little sandwich I got from home. I put my personal little headphones. This is the part where my world shrinks to a mobile game on my phone, where the rules and goals were simple.

"Hey, Caroline!" boomed a girl's voice. Oh no.

The door to my locker opened, and I poured out of it along with all of the loose paper and books. Yes, I was in the locker. Shut up.

The booming girl grinned 5 feet above me. Her name was Jessica. She had long brown hair made into a ponytail, a thin face, freckles, and no concept of personal space or time. 6 days ago, she didn't know of my existence, but now, I'm her best friend. She didn't have any friends from her old school because that was Alabama, and this isn't Alabama and will never be. Being new to the area didn't stop her from riding the elevator to the top of popularity mountain. Despite this, I was still her "best friend", according to her. She was as loyal as a dog.

I continued to play my game on the floor, which was where I belonged.

"Have you eaten yet?" she asked.

"I'm good, " I said.

"Good, because I heard that there's a pool on the roof."

"Where did you hear that from?"

"The seniors told me. It's the senior pool. Wanna go?"

"Not really. Anyway, we are freshmen. Therefore, no pool for us."

"That's quitter's talk. Are you content with just following the rules and losing the adventure from your life?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"C'mon, Carol. Let's go! I'll make it easier for you."

With unreasonable strength for a 14 year old girl, Jessica picked me up and placed me on her shoulders. I wanted off of this ride.

"I want off of this ride," I said clearly and loudly, but with Jessica, there aren't safe words.

This woman started running to the nearest exit. She kicked open the exit door. She weaved around all of the students who ate outside of the school. Now on the grass, she spun me around and staked my feet into the dirt.

"Also, here's your phone back." She handed me my phone.

"Thanks," I said. I was too dizzy for a proper remark, and I missed my pocket when putting my phone away.

"There!" She pointed at a tree. It stood near the school. Its peak reached well above the one story building.

She grabbed my arm, and we ran the 50 feet to the tree. I stopped to analyze how to climb the tree. It was one of those thin trees that didn't have easily visible branches to grab onto. It was like a tall bush. Jessica seemingly didn't make any of those observations. She just used her superhuman strength to throw me on the tree. I held on that tree for dear life. It felt like an eternity those couple of seconds.

"Hey!" the girl boomed from above me. I looked up, but it was noon time, and the sun shined directly at my line of vision. I only saw a black shape of a girl with her arm reached out to me and a completely white background. Instinctively, I reached out my hand, and I was pulled upwards.

I was on the floor again. My head hurt, and my vision had black blobs from the excessive light.

"Well, this is the pool on the roof," Jessica said.

I quickly got up. "Where?" I said. My vision slowly returned to normal, and I saw the roof. It was light gray and had plenty of rectangular prisms and cylinders whose use I didn't know of. But there was no pool.

"There's no pool," Jessica said. "I guess it was just a prank."

"I guess so." I said.

I looked out to the school yard. It was a place that I've gotten used to in the last few days, but it looked so different up here. Sure, it was just probably a 12 foot height difference, but it was different enough for you to notice. I reached for my phone to take a picture. I reached into my empty pocket. I patted around my pants in a panic until I realized exactly where my phone was. It was in the grass. I appreciated the view a little more.

I looked at Jessica. She was looking at one of the cylinders. This one had a cone on top of it like a hat.

"Hey," I said. She turned to me. "Thanks for taking me here."

She grinned.