Morning came to me in a form of a teenager kicking me from my bed.
As I struggled to get up, his bored and sarcastic voice drawled out. " Don't want to be late to Hartmann's class, don't you? Hurry your skinny ass."
The asshole proceeds to walk out. I looked at the digital clock atop my cabinet : 4:34 AM.
Groaning, I sat up, grabbed the nearest shirt from the laundry pile, and put them on.
I tried to comb my ever-messy hair.. to no avail. Sighing, I put on my grey hoodie and glasses, shouldered my canvas bag, and walked out the wooden door. The grimy hallway, spotted with dust and mopd greeted me.
The place me and my friend are living right now is called the Sunny Sunflower Apartment. Don't let the name fool you - there is nothing sunny or flowery about this accursed place. It's made entirely out of once-red-bricks, blackened by decades of unhygiencs and smoke. Located on the very edge of Palm City, right next to the abandoned factories and overhead train railways... which meant it's always either noisy or smokey.
The residents are mostly junkies, thugs, poor, or depressed people. We're the third - close to the fourth - category.
I walked upstairs, all the way up to the roof. Opening the rusty steel door, I found him sitting at the edge , eating ...
"Cup noodle? Again? Really, dude? " I asked.
He shrugged as he slurped another portion of.. wait a minute.
" ASSHOLE- THAT'S MY NOODLE! " I fumed. He shrugged as he drank the broth from the cup, and threw it down the roof. "Should've named it, dumbass, " he said, while scratching his left cheek.
This asshole is my friend - Kouta Sagara. Due to certain circumstances, we became roommates on this wretched place. He's a year younger than me, but taller, with fairer skin. His black hair are streaked white. Today, he wore a pair of ripped jeans with a black shirt, sunglasses perched on his face, as usual.
He looked at me, then grinned. " Might want to look at your pants, though... ".
I glanced at the broken mirror leaned against the brick wall. A scrawny 16 year old boy with brown, unkempt hair and brown skin stared back at me. His glasses reflected the dawning sun. I frowned.
"There's nothing wrong with it."
" Shouldn't you change it to a skirt-"
"Mofo, you wanna fight?"
"You know I'll own your ass, dumbnuts."
Yeah, this is how we started our day. Trashtalking each other.
It's amazing what 10 years could do to a friendship.
I glanced around as we speak. The rooftop is cluttered with sacks of cements, roof tiles, and dust. Weed grew through the cracks on the concrete. On my left, the railway stood silently over the chainlink fence.
After a while, Kouta looked at the sun. "Yeah.. we should really go. Or else Hartmann would be pissed. " He climbed the chainlink fence.
" Yeah, yeah. " I said, as I walked towards the fence between me and the railway, and climbed it. The wind howled in my ears, as if beckoning me to jump.
I looked at Kouta. He nodded,
And we jumped.