Survival Of The Fittest

((Tyrell Lahti continued from The Good in Everyone))

Most people were drinking out of those red plastic cups that were omnipresent at parties. They either smelled of cheap mouthwash-vodka, some jack, or stale beer. On his way to deliver Gina's treats to the kitchen, Ty happened to catch a glance of a mostly-ignored liquor cabinet. It was usually assumed at these kinds of gatherings that the house booze was off-limits, at least if it was closed up in a cabinet.

One look in a nearby cooler, and he made a point of doubling back to the cabinet. The beer in the cooler was the kind of cheap watery stuff he used to find scattered around the garage at home. Even if he didn't have that uncomfortable association with it, he still wouldn't drink the stuff. Given the income bracket that the owners of the house fell into, he didn't feel too bad about swiping some Maker's Mark and a couple drops of bitters. At the very least he could say that Mr. Quin had good taste in booze.

So Ty found himself in the backyard, sipping an Old Fashioned out of a red plastic cup. Someone would probably think it was heresy, but so was openly preferring Kentucky Bourbon over Tennesse whiskey in this city, depending on who you talked to. It was good; a few more drinks and he could see himself actually relaxing here.

Maybe not too many more. Erika's still around here somewhere.

He scanned the backyard, looking for a familiar face or someone who might know where she was. The night was still young; no doubt if he stuck around here long enough she would turn up, and he'd know how much he could allow himself to actually relax. Catching a whiff of smoke on the wind, he retrieved his vape pen and inhaled, a mote of tension leaving him as he exhaled.

This is not a place to be sober in.

"Crawling out the window, yeah, yeah~
Crawling out the window, here we go~"

As Kayla crawled out the window and took the short fall onto the roof like a champ, there was only one thing on her mind: maybe this was a mistake.

((Kayla Harris continued from a brief detour through The Mascara Snake))

She stood up and wiped the dust off of her knees. At least it looked like no one was out here, the biggest positive of her escape route after realizing how much of a dumbass she was for not figuring out the magic trick to Forrest's bathroom door sooner. With the anxiety of just needing to get out, not to mention the fact that, ya know, four people and probable other bystanders were watching and ready to spread the story of how she almost died in the bathroom for no reason, she had to take the second option and skedaddle out of there into freedom.

It was a good plan, except that now A) she had way less walking room than she estimated looking down from the bathroom because of this eldritch abomination of McMansion architecture, B) this roof was curvy as shit, and C) there were no other windows she could safely reach without even more risk of falling and breaking her neck.

This sucked. She was pretty much blocked in from all sides except for the front that sloped down to what looked like part of a deck.

No time like the present. She took one rocky step forward, and then another, and then slid and fell on her ass with some hushed expletives. After making sure she was still in one piece, she continued her slow descent by just accepting defeat and schooching down as she continued her whispered motivational ditty.

"Sliding down the rooftop, yeah, yeah~
Trying not to die at Forrest's place, here we go~"

Slowly and surely, she made it to the edge. The edge that was a bigger drop down than she expected. Fucksticks. She could probably drop down on her own, but um, she wasn't super feeling it now that she could see how big of a drop it was.

It looked like there was one person nearby, now that she was closer. He was vaping, so ya know he was probably trustworthy to help her down and keeping this a secret between the two of them, right?

"Psst, hey, up here!" Kayla whisper-shouted, just enough to hopefully get this dude's attention over the pounding bass reverberating through the house and out the exterior. "Can you help me out real quick?"

(Mackenzie Baker continued from Heavy is the Head That Wears the Crown)

This was it. Mackenzie had officially hit rock bottom. In the biggest party of the century, in her brightest pink blouse, wearing her favorite purple hat, she was STILL having trouble with being noticed. Were they ignoring her on purpose, or were they all simply absorbed in their own things? She didn't know, and the not-knowing was killing her, just eating her up inside.

She was disappearing, losing her cred. At this rate, Mackenzie Baker would cease to exist entirely, and she couldn't take that. Not again. She had to think, had to reevaluate her strategy. But how could she, when the music was thumping and everyone was dancing around without her? A scream was rising up, a shriek to the heavens for someone, anyone, to acknowledge that she was still alive. But she couldn't do that. Everyone would just think she was a nutcase, and that was the wrong sort of attention.

She needed some air.

And so it was that she found herself flying through the back door, only to come face to face with none other than Tyrell Lahti. She knew him, in the sense that she knew practically everyone at George Hunter. Had they even talked before? Maybe she'd waved at him in the halls once or twice. He had that look about him, the appearance of someone who was always ready to share a conversation with someone in need.

Or if not, he'd simply have to do.

"Tyrell!" Mackenzie exclaimed, oblivious to Kayla's plight as she strode forward. "What are you doing out here?" Her gaze traveled down to the cup in Tyrell's hand and she grinned widely. A cheeky grin, she hoped, not the serial killer sort. "Oh ho, I see! Yes, I noticed that they were serving alcohol at this party, but you know, we're still 18, right? Nobody KNOWS we're drinking, but what if someone tells, right? My word, it'd be all over everywhere!"

Yes, this was more like it. She was always better at one on one anyway. A brief scuffing sound from up above distracted her momentarily, and she wondered aloud, "Do they have mice?" before immediately turning her attention back to Tyrell.

"Sooooo, how are you? Having a good time?"

"Tyrell!" He bristled at hearing his full name. Friends usually used "Ty" or "T."

I know that voice.

Kenzie nearly ran into him, unleashing her barrage of rich-girl friendliness at point-blank range. Her presence seemed to suck the air out of his surroundings, her words even moreso.

What does it look like I'm doing out here?

He couldn't help but give her a wide-eyed glance as she accosted him. Regaining his composure, he downed the rest of the drink. There wasn't really space to respond, and the burn of the bourbon was enough to put the smile on his face that he needed to have. As she plied him with more questions he kept smiling, then took a small hit of his vape pen and tossed the empty red cup to the ground nearby. Though he only took a moment to do so, he suddenly found himself lost in the conversation as Kenzie seemed to be going on about mice.

"Not as far as I know. If someone tells we might have a rat probl-"

She kept going. He was mumbling a bit, and she was probably so enraptured in the sound of her own voice it didn't quite register. The scrabbling sound came from above, though it was too heavy to be anything with four legs. As he turned to face Kenzie, he glanced upwards and caught a glimpse of Kayla Harris, sitting by the ledge. He blinked, and looked back down to Kenzie. He made a point of speaking loudly, clearly, and in a way that was altogether friendlier-sounding than anyone would have expected from Ty.

"Okay. Hi. I'm out here drinking and pretending to be sociable. Could probably drink even a little more, but that usually makes me do dumb shit, and I promised my girlfriend that I wasn't going to get in any fights with anyone tonight - no matter how much I wanted to. Apparently she dropped a tab of acid before coming, which was definitely a great idea. I just walked out here to nurse my bad nicotine habit and see what's what; it's quite the party, if the girl on the roof is any indication."

He pointed to Kayla, turning to include her in the conversation. It was hard to resist the urge to make light of it, so Ty didn't.

"What's - what's up, Kayla?"

Shit. Either Tyrell ignored her or Kayla wasn't loud enough. She looked around the backyard again, and when the coast was still clear she gave it one more try.

Or, well, she was literally about to until Mackenzie rushed in. Kayla scampered back on the roof and rolled her eyes; of course it'd be her, of all fucking people. All she could do now was wait for her to finish.

Except she wasn't finishing. And probably wouldn't for a long time. Kayla was probably gonna die up here.

And it would probably be from embarrassment, since Tyrell decided to just announce her presence. Thanks, Ty; this was why you couldn't trust vapers.

She accepted her defeat by facepalming with one hand and waving with the other at the two people below. "Can one of y'all help me down, please?"

It was funny to Mackenzie that folks could so casually discuss dropping acid and drinking. Maybe it was the sheltered way in which she'd been raised, but she would never have just rattled off that kind of information, even in her most desperate of states. There was a certain subset of things that one kept to one's chest, and if she ever had a drug problem or the like, she would have been mortified to admit it. It said a great deal about Tyrell's disposition that he could confide such details with a complete stranger. Maybe he was just a naturally trusting and kind individual.

"Wait, did you say there's someone..."

Mackenzie followed Tyrell's finger and stifled a gasp as she saw what he was pointing at. Huddled up on the roof, seemingly trying to disappear out of sheer cringe, was Kayla Harris. Once again, Mackenzie just knew the name. She'd never spoken to her in person, and her mind burned with questions about what kind of person would climb up to the roof of someone else's house and then get stuck there. Was Kayla part-cat? That would be so cool!

Enough daydreaming. Kayla wanted down, and it was up to the two of them to get it done somehow. It was time for action, and Mackenzie was up to the task. Or at least she could sound like it.

"Just a second, Kayla! We'll think of something!" she boomed up to her. Years of theater class had done wonders for her voice, especially in a clear, calm evening like this one. Thank goodness it wasn't raining, or Mackenzie really would be scared.

"Okay, so what do you think?" she asked Tyrell in a much softer voice. "Maybe if I stood on your shoulders?" The roof didn't look too high up, maybe 20-25 feet or so. If Kayla hung herself down over the edge...no, even with the two of them together, Kayla would still be dropping at least five feet. Mackenzie wasn't a weakling, but she didn't think she'd be able to catch her. Maybe Tyrell would have a better idea.

[[Benedict Murray, Start]]

#SwiftBall has been going well so far, Benny couldn't complain. Even though he did not have high expectations or any expectations at all. It is better to not jinx anything after all. Benny will not say that this is gonna be the best party ever, because then it certainly won't be. But it's good so far. Couldn't complain.

As he slowly walked through the room, ignoring the people in the room as he walked into the direction of the backdoor, he thought, just for a short moment, about the fact that this house was ridiculously big. He quickly discarded the thought of Forrest's parents being big wheels the moment he went through the door and felt the fresh, cold air entering his nostrils. In a swift motion he swiped the sweat off his forehead and looked up from his phone to observe the figures in front of him, smiling as he recognized the faces of his classmates. After putting his phone back into his pocket he winked at Mackenzie with a smirk before breaking eye contact to look down at his hands where he held a shiny blue e-cigarette he quickly put in his mouth to slowly inhale the vape.

Benedict temporarily enjoyed this moment of calmness paired with the fresh air and the excellent weather (thank god, it is not raining!), before he felt a vibration in his upper leg lasting for half a second. Presumably one of his buddies messaging him to inquire about a location in the house where they should meet up later. But Benny chose to ignore his phone to stare at Tyrell and Mackenzie who were looking up for some reason. Maybe the weather was not that great after all and it is starting to rain?

"No, that's a terrible idea. You'd fall."

Seriously, stand on my shoulders? Are you high?

Tyrell stared up at Kayla, unable to help but make light of her predicament; she was like a cat stuck up a tree. How did she even get up there? Why couldn't she go back in through whatever window she crawled out of? Whatever he could do to bring this situation to an end quickly and give Kenzie someone else to bother was probably the best possible option.

He called up to Kayla, sarcastically offering his take on a solution. "Well, you could try just dropping down. Tuck and roll when you hit the ground, you might be fine. It's only like, twenty feet after all."

At least she hasn't tumbled off the roof already. That would put a damper on things.

"What are you even doing up th- oh my God."


Erika continued crawling across the rooftop, looking for some kind of extendable ladder or rope.

There has to be a way to get up there.

She occasionally stole a look at the bright sphere. It was bright enough that it was easy to see off the rooftop, though she couldn't make out its face. It was hard to read the Moon's emotions; it wasn't the most expressive celestial body. As she was looking up towards the moon, she didn't notice the small drop in the roof leading to a lower ledge near the backyard. Just barely catching herself, she noticed another girl sitting on the roof, looking down over the ledge. From the sound of her voice, it must've been the girl who was stuck in the bathroom.

Looking back up towards the Moon, she offered a thumbs-up towards the satellite. "Thanks, Pal. Trust me, we'll try and figure this shit out. We're not down for the count just yet."

Shuffling down the ledge, she ambled up next to Kayla. Her movements were slow and deliberate; the cannabis seemed to be keeping the acid trip on a good level, but she still didn't quite trust her motor functions. Briefly, she stopped to admire the roof tiles. Their grainy texture in the dim light twisted and crawled across her visions, like sand falling across the side of a dune.

Woah.

A small cloud passed the Moon, and she felt the moonlight dim briefly. She felt moonlight, and enjoyed the sensation. As the cloud passed she remembered her original intent in going out to the rooftop, though it looked like her help wasn't needed after all.

"Greetings friend! I see you're back from the Moon. How was it? I guess it's not all that angry after all, huh?" She noticed Ty looking up at the two of them with wide eyes. "Ty! You made it!"


Tyrell did a double take as he noticed Erika crawling up next to Kayla, clearly high as a kite. Rooftops were not a place for people on psychedelics. He thought this was common knowledge.

Then again, this is why I'm here, isn't it?

He looked around for something that could help, briefly locking eyes with Kenzie before immediately discounting her as one of those things.

"Hey you. Stay - stay up there, we'll figure something out."

[Jackson Sullivan Continued From The Mascara Snake]

Jackson continued to crawl after Erika on the roof. The ledge was getting more and more narrow the further he followed, and his anxiety about the whole situation was at an all time high. What had possessed him to jump out onto the roof to follow a girl he barely knew? This was insane. They could both fall and fucking break their necks. Erika was out of her goddamn mind. When he caught her he was going to absolutely lose it. Well... maybe he’d wait until after they figured out how the hell they were gonna get down off this deathtrap of a roof. Jackson let out a huge sigh as he did his best to keep his balance and find the girl who seemed to have vanished from sight. Even with the moonlight it was still pretty dark up here, and it was difficult to get your bearings. Even if he’d been fully sober he doubted he’d be doing any better. He felt his knee slip from the edge of the ledge and he caught himself before he toppled off.

Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. That was fucking scary.

His stomach jumped up into his chest there for a second. Jackson took some deep breaths to calm himself before pulling his leg back onto the ledge and slowly moving forward again. He had no idea where she could have gone at this point. Fuck, what if she already fell. Goddammit he’d feel like a real fucking piece of shit if that happened. What kind of man was he if he couldn’t keep this girl from hurting herself. The bad thoughts just kept pouring into his head. What if he looked over a ledge and saw her laying on the ground with her head cracked open?! Oh fuck, he needed to find her. He started to hear voices close-by, and he shimmied over to a part of the roof that looked like it faced the backyard. He felt himself release a breath in relief.

There was Erika.

But wait… There was another chick here too?

Why the fuck were all these girls on the fucking roof?!

Distracted by the sight of the girls, Jackson missed the fact that there was a slight drop in front of him to get to where they currently were. His hand moved forward and hit nothing but air, and Jackson let out a yell as he tumbled forward onto the roof below, falling hard on his shoulder, and no doubt startling the two girls before him. He grunted hard as he attempted to pull himself up back onto his hands and knees, painfully crawling a bit forward to the two girls.

“Goddamn… I finally caught you!” He said between heavy breathing. “What the fuck are you doing?! We need to get off of this roof! It’s dangerous!” He shouted at the girls. He wasn’t exactly angry with them, but his shoulder was killing him now and he fucking needed a drink so his fuse was short.

That was when he noticed that where they were currently looked over the backyard, and below two pairs of eyes stared up at them. Tyrell Lahti and Mackenzie Baker. Great. Now even more people knew the sheer fuckery that was currently going on up on the rooftop. Jackson felt his face burn crimson as he looked down at the two. He raised his hand up with a wince and called out.

“Y-yo!” Good start.

“A little help here, bro?”

(Disregard. I accidentally posted out of order.)

A crowd was starting to form now with the introduction of some other dude wandering outside. This was definitely somewhere in the top 7 greatest mistakes in Kayla's life (#3 will shock you). Now all she could do was resign to Tyrell's very inconspicuous taunts about dropping down and rolling like this was Zelda or some shit.

And then she heard a shuffling behind her. Kayla sharply turned around just in time to see Erika crawling up next to her higher than a fucking Alolan Exeggutor and talking about the moon or some shit. Shit; she must've crawled out the same window Kayla did. At least she'd probably be too high to remember though she was probably breaking even more safety regulations being out on a roof than Kayla was, considering the whole being high thing.

This also implied Demetri and the others broke through the bathroom door and knew that Kayla had escaped. Shit, shit, shit.

There was another shuffle coming from behind. This time it was a little white dude, falling on his shoulder and sliding down to join up with her and Erika. "You okay, dude?" Kayla spoke before getting cut off by him calling for help from the group below. A little late to the party, but thanks anyway.

It didn't look like anyone else would be joining them on the roof, thank Jesus.

Tyrell called up and asked them to stay put. "Yeah, fine," Kayla called back exasperated. "Y'all do that."

She was gonna die up here.

Mackenzie put her hands to her head in shock. The cat people were multiplying somehow. Without explanation, there were now three kids on one cramped section of rooftop. The situation was getting out of hand and something had to be done before someone fell and, well, probably just twisted an ankle. Still, they’d have to call the paramedics and the police would be there and they’d find the drugs and the booze and there’d be all kinds of awkward questions and-

No. It was clearly up to them. Mackenzie glanced around. There had to be something, like a rope or some vines or a-

Toolshed. Yes, of course. A small white-doored building stood at the end of a garden path. A green hose hung off a hook on the outside. There was no mistaking it.

“Just a second! Don’t fall or anything!” she cried, and took off like a shot down the cobblestone path. The door wasn’t locked. No surprise, since the backyard was within a fence surrounded by the estate’s fence in a fenced community. She wouldn’t feel safer in Fort Knox, which she assumed had a very large fence indeed.

Throwing it open, she saw...nothing. But then she turned on her phone’s flashlight and found what she’d been seeking: a solid aluminum multi-position 20-foot ladder in a delightful shade of red. Well, fine, all she wanted was a ladder, but she knew quality when she saw it. Now all she needed was a-

“Tyrell! Oh, TYRELL!” she cried in a sing-song manner. “Come here for a moment!”

She could probably carry the ladder herself. It looked like it had rollers, even, but waste not, want not, as the saying went.

After observing the people around him interacting, Benedict decided to look up and saw three people on the roof. That was certainly something. Some people seemed to be freaked out due to this whole bizarre situation - Mackenzie even cowardly running away, but Benny kept his calm while exhaling the smoke and shouted up to the roof-citizens, with a big grin.

"Don't worry, ladies! I'm gonna find a ladder."

With that he went inside again to find someone who would know where a ladder is located in this ridiculously big mansion. So Benny kept an eye out for rainbow-coloured hair.

[[Benedict Murray, continued elsewhere]]

Stop that!

"Please stop being so loud. The vibes..." Erika made a swishing motion with her hands, which then fell limply to her lap. "...they're bad vibes, my dude."

In truth, she was really thrown off by Jackson's outburst. Damn dude, it was just a rooftop. As long as you weren't falling off of it, it wasn't exactly dangerous. Besides, the Moon was clearly not as mad with them as she'd initially suspected, so they were really in no serious danger.

What did I do to make him so angry? Isn't that a bit much?

They suddenly seemed much further up than she had initially realized. The ground was far, and felt like it was falling further and faster the more she stared at it. Her wide eyes darted from side to side, looking for an exit from this situation.

"Like, don't do that... It's... It doesn't feel so great." She was still speaking to Jackson, though barely realized that words were coming out of her mouth as she became more and more preoccupied with the potential danger she might be in. Whatever they might have been saying, it melted into the background noise of the party. Her gaze briefly shot up to the moon, still making sure that it was in the sky and hadn't decided Jackson was so objectionable as to warrant dismemberment via tidal forces.

"Can't fly on acid. Everybody knows that."

That trope that he probably was running off of. That people on hallucinogens thought they could fly. Nonsense. Erika knew she didn't know how to fly. Maybe someone else did, but not her.

Wish I could get away from here. This doesn't feel good at all.

It was cold up here. People were starting to stare from below. There was a loud girl down there, too. Loud girl on the ground, loud boy up on the roof. Erika bit her nails, trying to think of a means to extricate herself from this situation. It wasn't immediately obvious what she should do. A comforting voice caught her attention.


That motherfucker. Ty was seconds away from finding a ladder for the sole purpose of climbing onto the roof and throwing Jackson off of it. Who the fuck did he think he was, talking to her like that? Talking to anyone like that, for that matter? Ty had never liked the scrappy little ginger. Prone to temper tantrums and he looking like a bad case of fetal alcohol syndrome someone that found in the bargain bin of a thrift store. No one seemed to have invested the time and energy to put him in his place, so he kept throwing shit-fits at every opportunity like it wasn't eventually going to cost him.

You're going to regret that.

Ty's rage was briefly stayed as he walked closer to the roof and got a clear look at Erika. Jackson's outburst seemed to have affected her more than it might've affected a sober person, and he could see the telltale signs of mounting anxiety. It wasn't hard to throw someone into a bad trip if you were inconsiderate human garbage, and this was probably the number one reason to never do hallucinogens at a big party like this. Still, he couldn't fault Erika for wanting to get out of her head.

This is why I am here. It'll be okay.

"Erika. Hey, Erika. It's okay. We'll get you down, just stay put, okay? Look at me."

She looked down at Ty, her wide eyes now glassy and glinting in the moonlight.

"Y-yeah?"

"Everything is alright. We'll get you down, you'll be fine."


Ty was looking out for her.

Of course is, he's a good human. That's what he said he'd do, and he keeps his word.

Her hands shook slightly as she tried to steady herself. She hung on his words, and forced a smile to let him know she was doing okay. He stood beneath the roof, waiting until he knew she was alright before going to get a ladder. Erika knew that. Still, it was hard to ignore the feeling that she needed to get off the roof immediately. There had to be another way.

What would the Moon do?

"O...okay. I'm coming down now."

"Wait, Erika!"

"Whee!"


Ty only had seconds to react as Erika clambered towards the edge of the roof, briefly hanging off the edge before dropping into his arms. It was apparent that if he hadn't reacted any sooner, she might've landed flat on the deck. His mind raced as he thought of what to say, if anything. How could she have been so stupid, even as high as she was? All she had to do was wait and they'd have gotten a ladder up there, if she just had taken a second to listen-

"Thanks love." Erika looked up at Ty, smiling with her arms around the back of his neck. She didn't seem upset anymore, as if the change in scenery had completely altered her mood. It probably had, knowing acid trips. Ty gave her an affectionate kiss on the nose, and let her down. Initially he'd intended for her to stand, but as he let her down she just kept sinking towards the ground, eventually taking up a comfortable spot leaning on the wall of the house.

Okay, that works.

"I'll be right back, okay?"

Erika replied mostly in giggles, but eventually offered an affirmative nod. Searching for Kenzie in the backyard, Ty saw her motioning towards the toolshed. Making his way over with a barely-polite smile on his face, he strode into the shed, grabbed the ladder, and rolled it out and towards the roof.

You're used to having people do things for you, aren't you?

Locking eyes with Jackson and Kayla, he set up the ladder and firmly planted it on the ground nearby. In a similar singsong voice, he called out "Kenzie! Oh KENZIE! Come hold the ladder."

Returning to Erika, he knelt nearby and held her hand as she had since curled into the fetal position. She was probably going through the peak of her trip - It wasn't a place for coherent words, and maybe not the best place to be, evidently. It was hard to see her like this, and Ty tried in vain to hide the look of concern on his face.

Why did you do this to yourself?

Another shot of pain came from his shoulder and made Jackson wince. He really hoped he didn’t do any major damage. That would be the icing on the cake of an already stressful night. He barely registered that the girl who wasn’t Erika had asked if he was alright, and he nodded at her in response. He’d live. He’d definitely done worse. Now that Jackson had calmed down a bit, he noticed that Erika was being a bit less fun-filled than thirty seconds ago. She said something about not feeling great. Jackson prayed that she didn’t fucking pass out and fall off the damn roof or something. He looked at her with worried eyes and reached out towards her, but stopped before touching her. He didn’t want to scare her and cause something bad to go down.

“Are you good…? Eri-” He got cut off by Kenzie down below hollering for Tyrell to come help her with something. Jackson hoped that something was going to help the three of them too, he wasn’t sure how much longer Erika was gonna last up here, let alone the other chick.

Tyrell approached the rooftop trio, and softly called out to Erika. He seemed to be able to calm the girl down a bit. That was good. Jackson couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt rise up inside him. Was this his fault? Fuck. He obviously didn’t help matters at all, but he was trying to stop her from doing something reckless, didn’t that count for something? He was just a useless fucking loser. Why did he even bother to follow her in the first place? Who did he think he was? Some sort of fucking hero? No he was just a fucking dumb, drunk asshole who didn’t realize when he was out of bounds. Goddammit.

All of a sudden the worst case scenario fucking leaped into reality.

While he was caught up in his own selfish fucking thoughts, Erika had decided it was time to say fuck it and jump. Jackson’s eyes went wide in horror as he lunged forward, letting loose a pathetic yelp, trying to grab the girl before she went soaring through the air.

“No!”

He missed by that much.

She fell into Tyrell’s arms, and Jackson had to catch himself on the edge of the roof to not join her down there. He pulled his upper body back onto the (relative) safety of the roof and had to take a few deep breaths to calm his erratic heartbeat. That was fucking scary. Before he knew what was happening, Tyrell had wheeled over a ladder, and leaned it up against the roof, offering the two left up there a means of escape, finally. Jackson looked over at the other girl, and held out his hand, gesturing for her to take the escape first.

“Y-you can go ahead.” He waited until she’d reached the bottom before following suit, slowly climbing down the ladder to the actual safety of solid ground.

At the bottom, Jackson took a few shaky steps away from the ladder before falling backwards into a seated position on the grass. His whole body was shaking after that shit. He had to pull himself together, and fast. A drink, that’s what he needed.

“A-anyone got something to drink?” He asked shakily. He needed something, anything, to calm his shot out nerves.