The Roof

Vanessa started her first day of work. She was able to wear what she wanted as long as it was appropriate. Her boss told her to leave the fishnets at home. She wasn’t sure if that counted as sexual harassment. But they both laughed it off. Vanessa liked Ryan because he was almost as awkward as her and didn’t know how to behave in social situations.

It was just her and John.

“So.. Where do you go to school?” She hated this question. She went to the most pretentious school in all of Arizona. Her mom had gone there, her grandmother had gone there, and her great grandmother had gone there. It was almost a mandatory thing.

“Notre Dame Prep.”

“Oh, I go to the local public school, Mountain Pointe.”

“I am zoned for there, but my mom wouldn’t let me go. It’s almost a tradition to go to NDP.”

Vanessa was proud of herself for not making any embarrassing slip ups. “My brother goes there though, he is a sophomore.”

“What’s his name, my friend Pat might know him.”

“That name actually sounds familiar. Um, his name is Sam King.”

John gave her a look of surprise. “You are Sam’s sister? He is the man. I have even hung out with him. He is awesome at boarding.”

Vanessa wanted to respond saying he learned from her, but Sam was already peeved about the last time that happened, so she just said, “yeah.”

“So what have you been listening to? I know you must have some interest in music, other wise there is no way you would want to work here.”

“You know. Good stuff.” She took pride in her music choice, but for some reason she didn’t want to tell him in case he would judge her. His opinion on her was important. She didn’t understand why.

“Mysterious. I have been really into Tom Petty. Well, I have always been. But that’s what I listen to right now.”

“My dad raised me on Tom Petty. We would take long car rides just to listen to him in the car. We didn’t go anywhere. We just drove.” Vanessa remembered the good old days. She and Sam would sit in the back seat with the windows down. Her dad would ask them which direction they wanted to go, and he would turn. They saw parts of Arizona they didn’t know existed.

“That’s awesome. I would like to do that sometime. You should come. You know because you’ve done it before.”

Was that a date? Did he ask her on a date? If he left it at ‘you should come’ she might have been inclined to think so, but the way he ended it made her see that he just wanted company. Or maybe he just wanted to know what to do.

“Yeah sure. That sounds fun. I am a lot less spontaneous now, but yeah.”

Vanessa used to be wild and care free. She then grew up and other things took control. Her need to do well kept her from doing fun things because she would be studying. She never did anything spontaneous anymore because she was always thinking of the after. What would happen after she acted? She never cut her hair. She never dyed it. She never rebelled. Her form of rebellion was going on the roof, but she had permission for that.

“Maybe the ride will get it back.” She hoped it did. She hoped more than anything. Vanessa was tired of playing things safe. She was going to start living. After she made a pros and cons list.

“Maybe.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes. Vanessa lost in her thoughts and John lost in his. It wasn’t awkward which surprised Vanessa. Most of what she did was awkward.

“Hey bitches!” Eric rounded the corner and spooked the two.

“Hey Eric.” Vanessa said.

“Halvo, you piece of trash.”

“Did I ruin a moment?”

“No” Vanessa said a little too quickly. It was the truth though. Nothing happened between the two.

“Alright. Well John, I am taking your shift. You can leave now.”

John gave him a look of thanks and made his way to the back to clock out.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Eric said to her.

Vanessa hated this question. She never could think of a good response. Did she say ‘nothing’? Did she say what she was actually doing? Did she then ask him what was up back?

“Not much, turkey lunch.” That is what she said. Just because he rhymed doesn’t mean she should too. Vanessa wanted to permanently bury her head in the ground. It was a combination of things that made her feel this way. She thought everyone hated her because she didn’t have people skills. She also thought people hated her because she was a mess up.

Eric laughed but stopped when he saw she wasn’t pleased. “You alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” How cliche? The ‘fine, not fine’ line. She just hoped it would work.

Eric saw through it, but knew she didn’t want to talk about it. He was interested in her. He wasn’t sure why. She was beautiful, but she hardly knew how to talk. Was that what attracted her to him? He thought she was hilarious without even trying. He knew he had to push these feelings back because he had a girlfriend. He had been dating Gillian for a few months now. He loved her. He thought.

“Did you see the Cardinals game?” She was there. Even though the team wasn’t too great, she supported them so much. She had season tickets to see them at home games.

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it for anything. They are my babies.”

“I went and it was a hard loss, but I love going to the games.”

“I go to every home game. I think they are going to win next game. I can feel it.”

“We should go together. Most of my friends have given up hope on them.”

Vanessa was surprised her coworkers actually wanted to do things with her. At the country club, they would go out of their way to not include her.

“Oh my God. Yeah. There is a game Sunday. Do you have tickets? If you don’t, I have an extra. Oh my God.” She was excited that someone actually wanted to do something with her. But mostly she was excited that someone would go to the game with her. Sam and her dad had something to do that day. Gissy had better things to do. So she was going to go by herself. Like the last few times. She would sit with her fellow die-hard fans. They were good company, but they were at least twenty years older than her.

“Really? That would be sick. I will pay you back.”

“Why?” Vanessa didn’t understand why he would. She was inviting him to go with her and she had an extra ticket that would have gone to waste. If anything, she should be paying him to go with her.

“The tickets are like $80. I am not letting you pay for my $80 ticket.”

The tickets were actually $200. They were near the sidelines. It was something her dad made sure to get. It was a tradition for them to go to all of the home games they could. Lately, her dad had been busy, but Vanessa made a point of going anyway.

“You are saving me money on this. Don’t question that logic. But, no really, it’s not a big deal and I want your company. If you didn’t go, the tickets would just be wasted.”

“Fine. But I am buying snacks.”

Vanessa always went to the store and stocked up on candy before games. She would then put it in her bag and sneak it in. She loved Sour Patch Kids.

“Sour Patch Kids or you aren’t coming,” she joked.

“Sour Patch Kids it is. I am excited.”

“Same.”

“It’s a date.”