all the good things

Pads or Tampons?

You know the movies where the establishing scene is in the middle of the city and you hear cars going down the street, and the sounds of the city, alive and thriving.

Imagine that except instead of the main character waking up with a smile on her face, she's sitting on the edge of a bridge overlooking the busy road beneath her dangling feet. No, she's not looking to jump. Not right now. Not yet.

Hi, I'm Tate Marie. Did you know, sitting on a ledge like this is the most exhilarating thing? 

Knowing that at any moment, you could fall, and that would be the end of you is scarily enticing. The city is alive under my feet. I can see at least four people walking along Main Street with their dogs. Two people running down the street exercising, Mrs. Shay setting up shop for the morning.

I stay there for a little while longer before carefully standing up and lifting my leg over the fence that's supposed to stop people from doing this. Hiking my bag over my shoulder, I set off at a slightly quickened pace to the library. It's a crisp Saturday morning, and there's still a thin whisper of fog in the air.

Finally reaching my second home, I quietly pull the doors open and head to mine and Alex's table. Alex was already there. 

"Sorry I'm late. I was... busy." I said while tossing my bag down, and reaching to ruffle his fluffy brown mop of hair. He stood up to give me a hug. Wrapping his arms around me, he whispered in my ear, "You need to stop doing that, Tate. One day, you're going to fall and I'm going to lose you."

I sighed. Grabbing his wrist, I pulled him towards the fantasy book section and start browsing through a book to read while he plops down in the middle of the aisle, watching me as my fingers nimbly search through titles.

He let out a small groan. "Fantasy books, again? Come on Tate, you're so predictable." I whipped my head around and shot him a look. 

"Fantasy books are amazing, watch your mouth mister."

He rolled his eyes, a smile pushing at the corner of his mouth. I plucked a title off the shelf and looked at the description. Satisfied with it, I turned and nodded at Alex. We walked back over to our table and grabbed our things. 

Now it was Alex's turn. He strode over to the poetry section, ran his fingers across the book spines, and pulled a book out. We walked over to the checkout desk and Danielle, a girl from our school who I was faint acquaintances with, smiles at us as I handed her my library book. 

"Throne of Glass and Empty Hotel Rooms Meant for Us?" I nodded and Alex handed her his library card. She took it and scanned the charges onto the card. She handed us our books back, and we left with a wave and a smile. Alex's home wasn't far from here. We were walking briskly, trying to get to his house as quickly as possible, as the air was chilly.

Finally reaching his parents home, we ran inside, kicked our shoes off, and while Alex bolted for the kitchen, I went up to his room, tossed the books onto his bed, went into his adjoined bathroom and grab my sweatpants and one of Alex's shirts from my backpack. I set them on the counter, used the bathroom, washed my hands, threw them on, tied my hair up into a bun and came out of the bathroom. Alex was already lying there, in sweatpants, and surprisingly no t-shirt, something I wasn't prepared for but also wasn't complaining about. His hair looked messier than ever, and he had a pair of reading glasses on. There was a bag of microwave popcorn sitting on the end table next to him. just as I was about to jump onto the bed, Alex glanced at me amusedly.