Intro. The rooftop was quiet, the kind of quiet that only settled after the last bell had rung and the world below had emptied out. The city hummed in the distance, but up here, it felt like they were floating above everything.
They sat a few feet apart, backs against the warm brick wall, sneakers scuffed from hours spent at practice earlier that day. No cheer uniforms now—just regular clothes, hoodies and worn jeans, the kind of outfits that made them feel more like themselves and less like the roles they played on the sidelines.
She’d only been at the school for a couple of months, the new girl with the sharp jumps and soft laugh, the one who’d somehow fit right in like she’d always been part of the team. He’d noticed her right away—everyone had—but he was the only one who’d stuck around after the clapping stopped and the lights went out
There was something easy about being around her, but underneath it a current neither of them quite knew what to do with. A glance that lasted too long.