by Wiley, John
ROOFTOPS
The characters and events in portrayed in the book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Rooftops by John Wiley
Copyright ©2013 by John Wiley
Cover art by John Wiley
All rights reserved.
Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any mean, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1490357003
For everyone who has supported me in writing this. Thank you.
June
“OK you three, get together,” a woman with a camera says to her son and two of his friends. She brushes a stray strand of her shoulder length straight black hair out of her face.
“Ugh, come on, Mom,” moans Rhys.
She gives him the “mom look” and he quickly puts his graduation cap on his shaggy brown hair.
“I really wish you would have gotten your hair cut,” Rhys’ dad says, standing behind his wife. He holds the graduation program up to block the sun from his eyes.
“Ooh look, it’s the mascot!” says his mom, running across the quadrangle to catch the giant squirrel, which is wearing a graduation gown of its own. Well, she more quickly waddles, having difficulty running in a dress and high heels.
“This is so embarrassing,” Rhys says and he follows his mom with his two friends.
At six foot one, Joey is just about the same height as Rhys, but his blonde hair is spikier and shorter. “Yeah, it is,” he says. “You should be ashamed.”
“My family is probably looking for me, you know?” Erick, the shortest member of the group, says. He’s a pale guy that has a constant five o’clock shadow, no matter how recently he’s shaved.
“OK guys, hurry,” says Rhys’ mom. She has the mascot cornered between a large bell and a wall of shrubs. Rhys and Joey get on either side of the squirrel, and Erick stands in front of it. “You look like a vampire, Erick,” she says, looking at the image on the camera.
“Sorry?”
“It’s just your white skin against the black robe,” she says, mostly to herself as she gets the picture perfect. “OK, thanks!” she says to the squirrel once the picture has been taken. “I’m just saying that you probably should have gotten a base tan before moving to California,” she continues to Erick as she reviews the several dozen pictures she’s taken so far today. “You’re going to burn like a lobster once you get out there.”
“Erick!” A girl that is slightly overweight, with long curly black hair and equally pale skin comes jogging over to Erick. “Mom and dad are looking for you.”
“Oh that’s my fault,” Rhys’ mom says apologetically. “I just had to get a couple pictures of the boys in their gowns.”
Annie looks over at the woman and smiles at her. “Hi, I’m Annie, Erick’s sister.”
“You graduated today too?” she asks, noticing the black robe.
“No, I’m a judge and just took a recess from court to watch my little brother graduate,” she says with a smirk.
“Little?” says Erick. “You’re like three minutes older than me!”
“Younger is younger,” says Annie.
“Here, get with the boys and I’ll get another picture,” Rhys’ mom instructs. The four of them do as told and pose for a couple of pictures before being released to their own families.
“I didn’t know Erick was a twin,” Rhys’ mom says to him as they walk back to the car.
Rhys shrugs. “Yep.”
At the car Rhys’ sister is leaning against the trunk and lifting her long brown hair off of her neck to try and cool down a little.
“I’m really proud of you,” Rhys’ dad says, shaking his sons hand and pulling him in for a hug. When he lets go Rhys doesn’t speak, distracted by something two cars down. Rhys’ dad follows his son’s gaze to the unnaturally tan boy taking his cap off and shaking his head to try to fluff out the cap hair.
“Who’s that?” his dad asks, smirking at Rhys.
The guy checks his reflection in the side mirror and runs his fingers through his hair.
“Huh? Oh, just some guy.”
“Go talk to him,” his dad says, pushing him toward the guy.
“Dad, no,” Rhys says, blushing.
“Maybe I should tell your mother about him, she’ll talk to him for you,” his dad offers, a mischievous grin on his face.
“What’s that?” she asks, distracted by taking pictures of the buildings surrounding the quadrangle.
“Nothing,” Rhys sighs. “I hate you,” he whispers to his dad, a smile on his face, as he walks down to the guy now in a blue t-shirt and khaki shorts.
“Hey, Liam. Congratulations on graduating.”
“Yeah, thanks…you too.” Liam looks at Rhys like he’s trying to place him.
“Thanks. It’s Rhys, by the way. We had a couple classes together.”
“Yeah, I know who you are,” Liam smiles. “You made that B*Witched documentary for our film editing class.”
“Yeah, I did. And you made a film about how Japanese Americans were treated during World War II. It was really good,” Rhys adds after a few seconds of silence.
“So I gotta get going and meet my parents at their hotel.” Liam tosses his cap and gown in the trunk before getting in his car.
“Oh, right. Yeah, my family is waiting too.” Rhys turns toward them and sees his mom taking a picture of the guys talking. “Dammit.” He looks back at Liam and sees him smiling.
“Later,” Liam says, shutting his door and starting his car.
“Bye,” Rhys mumbles, turning and sulking back to his family. “That was so embarrassing!” he says when back to their car.
“Who was that?” his mom asks.
“Liam…just a guy from a couple of my classes.”
His mom smiles and raises an eyebrow. “Is that all?”
“Yes,” he says, getting in the car. “Unfortunately,” he adds under his breath as he shuts the door.
His mom opens it back up.
“We need to get going, our lunch reservation is in ten minutes and it’ll probably take that long just to get out of here,” Rhys says.
“Grandma and Grandpa can hold the table.” She grabs his hand and pulls him out of the backseat and leads him to a park bench outside of the campus police station on the other side of the parking lot. “I’m so proud of you,” she says when she sits down. He follows suit and she turns to face him. “I’m really going to miss you, you know that, right?”
“Yeah,” he says, eyes beginning to water. He knew this conversation would happen, and he knew he’d start crying when it did. “I’m scared,” he says, voice wobbly. “I’ve never lived so far away from you guys before.”
“Well that’s nothing to be scared of. You haven’t lived at home for four years now.”
“But you were within a three hour drive if something happened.”
“And now you’re a three hour flight.”
“Really?”
His mom shrugs. “I actually have no idea how long of a flight it is; we should probably look into that at some point.”
“And you aren’t upset with me for moving out there to pursue acting?”
“Of course not. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t scare me too though; living so far away and doing something so uncertain.”
Rhys nods. “I can’t wait for you guys to come visit in September.”
“You’re not leaving us yet,” she says, tears falling from her eyes. “We still have lunch with the family.”
He hugs his mo
m tight, not worried about who might see. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She wipes her eyes, careful not to smudge the makeup. “Now let’s go before they give away our lunch reservation.”
Rhys stands up and walks back to the car with his arm around his mom’s shoulders. “I thought you said Grandma and Grandpa could save it.”
“Please, they’re probably still trying to get out of the auditorium; you know how slow they are.”
***
Across the quad, on the steps of Alumni Hall, Joey sits with Cheryl, his short, blonde girlfriend; almost a foot taller than Cheryl, Joey sits two steps lower just to be head level with her. “I can’t believe Jeremy didn’t come,” he says, his voice laced with disappointment.
“Your brother would have been here if he could,” his mom says as she walks down the steps and sits next to Joey.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were there.”
“Mhmm,” she says, shaking her head.
“But if he’s going to be here Monday I don’t see why he couldn’t get here two days sooner. It’s not like I even care that much about the ceremony – I mainly walked just for you and dad – but since I did walk it would have been nice if he’d shown up.”
“Cheryl! Come get a picture with me!” Annie yells from a few yards away. Cheryl gets up and poses with her friend.
“So…,” Joey’s mom says.
“Yeah?”
“How do you feel about staying here another year, instead of going to LA with Rhys?”
Joey shrugs. “I can do art here just as easily as I can there.”
His mom looks at him, urging him to continue.
“I mean obviously I’d love to move out there and I’m super jealous that I can’t.”
“You don’t have to wait around for Cheryl.”
Joey gives her a sideways glance. “I thought you liked her.”
“I do – we both do. It’s just that I hate to see you putting your life on hold for her. She’ll still be busy with school and everything, but most of your friends are going to be gone in a matter of months.”
“So it’s a good thing Jeremy is moving into Rhys’ old room then.”
“OK, I’ll see you tonight!” Cheryl says loudly over the crowd as she waves to Annie and makes her way back to the steps.
“Just don’t lose yourself this next year, OK?” his mom continues.
“Of course I won’t.”
His mom kisses his cheek. “Did I ever tell you how proud I am of you?”
“Yes,” he laughs. He stands up and stretches his back. “So can we go eat now? I’m starved.”
***
“Pour me a shot of something,” Annie tells her brother as she leans across the breakfast bar separating her kitchen from the living room to get his attention.
“What do you want?” asks Erick.
“Something to make sure I have a good last night here!” she yells over the music, waving her hands in the air.
“C’mon Fanny Pack,” says Rhys as he grabs Annie’s arm and pulls her toward the living room where the beer pong table is set up.
She slaps him playfully on the cheek. “I’m never going to respond to that, jerk,” says Annie.
Rhys shrugs. “Blame your parents for naming you Annie Pack. They clearly weren’t expecting twins.”
“It’s true,” says Erick as he walks across the open plan kitchen and living room to give his sister her shot. “You were obviously a mistake.”
“Nuh-uh! Mom told me I was a miracle!” says Annie in a childish voice.
“Just a nice way of saying accident,” laughs Erick as he takes his shot.
“If I was an accident, then why was I born first?”
“That was me pushing you out so I could have a few minutes peace.”
“Alright Fan, you’re on my team. This beer isn’t going to drink itself.” Rhys tosses her a ping pong ball. Ten minutes later, after losing the game, Rhys walks back into the kitchen where his soon to be ex-roommate is eating pizza.
“Can I make you a drink? For old times?” asks Joey.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Flaming doctor pepper.”
“Bring it.”
Joey mixes the alcohol together and lights it on fire. He tries sliding it down the counter like they do in old westerns, but the drink spills, igniting the cheap linoleum floor on fire.
“Shit guys!” yells Annie as she comes running into the kitchen. “I knew it was a mistake offering to host the party.” She stops in front of the small fire and stares at it. “Um I don’t have anything to put this out with.”
“Here!” Someone throws a cup of water toward the fire, but misses the fire completely and hits Annie in the chest.
“Nice nips!” laugh some guys playing Kings at the dining room table.
Annie covers her chest and runs downstairs to her room. “Someone put that fire out!” she yells as she shuts her door.
Another cup of water comes flying and, this time, puts out the fire. Annie’s roommate Tiffany squats down to examine the damage. “Good news…looks like this floor is flame retardant.”
“You’re flame retardant!” yells a drunk from the crowd.
Rhys smiles as he walks away from the chaos and notices Joey walking outside. Rhys follows and sits on the railing of the deck while his friend sits on one of the steps and lights a cigarette. “I wish you would come with us,” Rhys says as he adjusts to the chilled late spring air.
Joey takes a drag off his cigarette. “Honestly… me too, but you know Cheryl doesn’t graduate for another year.”
Rhys nods. “I wouldn’t be so eager to leave if I was dating someone either. Luckily I’m what the gays call repulsive.”
“That’s not what Mikey had to say.”
“Shut up,” says Rhys, throwing an empty can at Joey. “You didn’t even meet him.” He walks to the other side of the deck and leans next to Joey. “Besides, he’s what I call repulsive.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“Well this beggar isn’t interested in dating someone with a tattoo of a Smurf on his arm. Well, what started as a Smurf anyway. Last I saw it was more the size of Babe the blue ox. But even more of an issue is why a grown man would have a Smurf tattooed on him!”
Joey laughs as he flicks his cigarette butt into the parking lot below. The entire complex is made up of three-storey town homes. The main floor is in the middle, with staircases leading to it in the front and back of the house. “It’s crazy though, how fast these four years have gone by.”
“I know,” Rhys agrees, thinking back to how nervous he was to be away from home for the first time and living in a concrete box with a stranger. “Luckily I got a good roommate. I don’t think I ever told you how nervous I was.”
“What about?”
Rhys sighs. “Being gay at college, I guess. I knew I would come out during my first year; the pressure of basically living a lie was eating away at me and making me incredibly depressed. I was terrified, though, that I would get some big homophobe roommate.” Rhys chuckles to himself.
“What?” Joey asks, smirking at the sight of his friend laughing.
“I had such a crush on you when I first met you.”
“Oh, I knew that.”
“What?”
“Erick knows that you used to have a crush on him too.”
“That’s a lie!” Rhys yells.
“What’s going on?” Erick asks, coming out to the porch with a beer in hand.
“I was just telling Rhys about that night we talked about how he was in love with both of us.”
“Love is an awfully strong word, guys. And besides, I never had a crush on Erick!”
“Uh, the first time we met you checked out my ass!”
“Oh my God, you saw that?” Rhys turns red. “Oh my God, that’s so embarrassing!” He covers his head with his arms and shakes with laughter. “I can never face you again.”
“That’s going to make li
ving together awkward,” says Erick.
“I probably set the gay rights movement back a few years, lusting after both of my straight best friends. Straights will never be comfortable around gays again, all thanks to me!”
“Lusting?” says Joey in mock horror. “God, Rhys, I’m not a piece of meat. You make me feel so dirty!”
“Shut up!” says Rhys, laughing so hard that tears run down his face.
“C’mon, let’s celebrate your going away,” Joey says breathily into Rhys’ ear.
Rhys pushes him over and stands up, wiping tears from his eyes. “I’m glad I’m leaving you!”
“You bitch!” gasps Joey.
“Oh, I’m going to miss you, dude,” Erick says to Joey. “It’s going to be hard to team up on Rhys and embarrass him without you.”
“Yes!” says Rhys, punching the air. “You guys will be separated and then I will be able to bring you both down! Mwa ha ha!”
“Come on,” says Joey. “Let’s make your last night here one you’ll never remember!”
Rhys chuckles at his friend. “Go on in. I’m gonna text Ali and see where she’s at. I’ll be right there.”
“Right. I’m gonna get you a giant cup of jungle juice. The longer I wait the more jungle and less juice.”
“He’s not playing around you know,” says Erick from the open doorway. Joey follows him and shuts the door behind him.
Rhys sends a quick text and puts the phone back in his pocket. Before going in he looks across the parking lot to his apartment – his home for the last three years. Out front is the moving truck loaded with his, Annie’s, and Erick’s belongings, ready for the journey to their new home in Los Angeles tomorrow morning.
***
“Omigod! We’ve been looking for you for hours!”
Rhys opens his eyes and looks around. What am I doing in the moving truck?
“Why the hell did you sleep in the moving truck?” asks Annie as she climbs in next to him. “You better not have thrown up in here!”
“I don’t remember anything from last night after playing that fifth game of beer pong.” He rubs his head. “What time was that?”