Ren & Wade

 

After a sneezing fit that makes Ren look like she might be a punk rock dancer, she heads for the mysterious entrance they have found.

"Why are our phones in our lockers in the breakroom?" Ren says they need a light.

"Hold up, wait a minute," Wade catches up, crushing books in his old trusty Chuck Taylors to the entrance where there is a stairwell. "Let me go first."

He tells her she needs to stay with him.

"I want to get out of here," Ren makes a face of disgust. Her pale legs against the black shorts make her look like a goth ghost,  a helpless one at that.

Wade holds up the lighter like a torch.

"We can go up or we can go down."

Wade turns to give options. He says maybe she could just hang on to his belt loop. He promises he won't leave her.

"Go up." 

Ren frets as she brushes the back of her hand across her wet nose. She coughs til she is practically wheezing. She even surprises herself.

"I've never had asthma in my life." She squints hard.

"Hang on, it's gonna be fine. He gets his footing on the metal stairs. "Crap. This is kind of dingy." But he goes on and Ren wraps her hands around his waist. 

Now he's coughing, but she thinks it might be a laugh. She knows he can feel her boobs on his back and they might as well be stones at the moment. But she keeps telling herself, it couldn't be because of him.

They take the steps slowly up the back stairwell. It's an awkward dance but somehow they suffice.

"This better be a way out," Ren mumbles into his back.

"You said you wanted to go up. You didn't want to go down," Wade reminds her. She senses a new ease in his voice and it makes her smile. Suddenly, she feels they are in it to win it.

"That damn door better be unlocked," she says under her breath.

"Look at you, a potty mouth, after all," He laughs softly, and she feels his laugh shake her gently. But she has to clear her throat again. They keep going and she feels safe. She closes her eyes, She hasn't felt safe in a long time, but she knows it can't last. She'll have to go back to an old witch of woman with her Betty Davis eyes who claims she can take care of herself, and wants to be left alone. If only she could let Ren alone be at night.

Finally, he reaches for the door and there is sunshine waiting for them at the roof.

"Who would have thunk it," Wade says. Ren finally lets go. 

He looks around as if it might be their personal real estate. "Best Place ever!"  He stretches as if this is a safe place to be.

"I guess," Ren isn't that crazy about heights, but she's with Wade and that makes all the difference.

"Now give me one of those cigarette, or a joint or whatever you got," Ren orders as if she'd light it herself if he'd let her.

He looks down at her with an open smile as if wonders what has gotten into her. "I didn't think you liked cigarettes." 

He tells her he has a variety. He picks cloves from the woods and dries them."And I've found a few weeds that do exactly what ganja can do, but it's smooth."

"Do you have a farm or something?" She watches him light up take a drag and finally hands it to her. "Are you really sure about this," Wade promises it won't give her the munchies. Just a sweet little zen.

"I don't really smoke," she then confesses after she takes a short puff.

"I can tell," he watches. "I just do it by myself. My parents don't know. And it's always at the lake or something."

"Don't you have any friends?" She takes another drag with ease. It's sweet and it makes her slightly dizzy but kind of alert at the same time. She's smiling. She doesn't mean to.

"What are we gonna do? Our stuff is still in the bookstore," Ren remembers. Ren's frown is small. 

"You know, you need this job as much I do, but we gotta stand up to that Miss Lily. We are not going to that basement." Wade talks with the cigarette in the corner of his right lip. He means business. He lets her have another drag or two.

"Well come on, we got to get down from here," he motions her to come with him. He tells her he's been working on a moped this whole year and he finally got it up and running. "I'll get  you home." 

But first, they need to make a jump to the next building. He grabs her as if they were in this together. He pointed to the fire escape.

"Just don't look down." Wade tells Ren.