“YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!” the music blasted through the speakers as the bell rang.

It was an unusual choice. Instead of the regular ring, the school had decided to play a song in between classes. Every student could vote and they were all excited to see which was going to win. Unfortunately, the principal didn’t care much, and just put one of his favorite songs instead, leaving the students disappointed.

Albert looked across the class and saw his best friend, Linus Gallagher, both hands on his face, shaking from laughter.

The rest of the class also seemed amused. It was such a shitty song.

But at least it marked the end of the class.

Albert sighed in relief, and hastily put away his stuff. He wasn’t really in a rush, but if he just lazied around too much he might draw the attention of the bullies. They didn’t particularly pick on him a lot, it’s more like they scanned the classroom for “too happy” and unsuspecting targets.

It was mainly two guys. Regis and Tom. The first was a tall boy with curly hair and annoyingly good looking features. The second was a bit shorter but had a built body, his short almost-shaved hair made him look like a maniac. And of course, both of them were vicious. If it looked like you were having too good a time, they just wanted to ruin it.

Albert picked up on this behavior and just avoided them.

See, he wasn’t as tall or athletic as Linus, but his brains would get him by.

Although there was one thing that his brain wasn’t really able to solve...

Linus was in the middle of shoving things in his bag when a couple of girls approached him.

“Hey Linus, what’s up?” said the first one giggling. Her name was Anyesse, a cool looking brunette that sat beside him.

“Not much, a bit tired from sitting down so much” he answered nonchalantly.

“Well, me and Valentina here,” she continued as motioning to the girl beside her “are going to hang out later with some friends. You’re welcome to join”. She finished that sentence with a malicious smile that would accelerate even the coldest of teenage hearts.

But Linus was immune to the provocation.

“Yeah, I would love to. But me and Albie are already doing something today” he said looking over to Albert as who was exiting the classroom. The girls looked back at him.

Albert just signaled that he would wait outside.

“Aww. C’mon” teased Anyesse. “You would rather hang out with Roth, than me?”

“Well, he is my best friend” said Linus staring her dead in the eye. Roth was Albert’s family name. “But most of all, I don’t like canceling on people. It just doesn’t sit well with me”.

“Oh, but we can have a lot of f...” continued Anyesse, but she was interrupted by Valentina who held her friend her shoulders.

“That’s okay, we understand” Valentina seemed a bit embarassed by her friend. “Maybe another day right?”

“Right” concluded Linus before stepping out.

Meanwhile Albert was leaning against the wall on the hallway waiting.

“So… How’d go?” said Albert with a bitter look on his face.

“How did what go?” answered Linus.

“Oh, don’t play with me.” Albert seemed somewhat angry “I thought she was gonna start popping her buttons to convince you”.

“Oh, that. Well, she was persistent, but I told her to leave it for another day. We already have plans.” upon hearing that Albert’s frown relaxed a bit.

“I thought I was going to have to go alone today”

“Please.” Answered Linus, discarding the idea “When have I ever walked out on you?”

Albert had to recognize he was right. Linus never skipped on him. Still, he continued to tease him.

“But I wonder how long that attitude of yours is going to last if Miss ‘Please-tear-my-clothes-off’ comes strutting to your side again” said Albert, shrugging his shoulders.

“Come on man. It’s just women. They're always like that. Besides, I don’t think I’ve met a lady, so far, that had the courage to follow us into our adventures.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Albert agreed halfheartedly. But inside his head, he thought bitterly:You mean they are always like that to you... You see, Albert wasn’t very tall, he also wasn’t very good looking. His jet-black hair was at shoulder length and it would hide his face giving him a gloomy appearance. He actually had a pretty toned body, but it’s not something people would notice while he wore a uniform.

Meanwhile Linus was 1,88m tall, he had short, blonde hair and broad shoulders. A stereotypical male model appearance, which made him a total heartthrob in school.

Still, even though Albert envied his friend sometimes, he was glad his body was how it was. It made him very light and compact. Ideal for their favorite activity.

Rooftopping.

They both ran out of the gates of St. Paul’s Institute of Education and into the underground station. After a quick ride on the subway the two boys found themselves downtown. Around them, the skyscrapers pierced the above and shining electric billboards helped brighten the dark evening. They roamed aimlessly for a bit until they found what they were looking for.

"Yes!" said Albert excitedly. The boys high fived.

In between the busy tall buildings was a construction site. The skyscraper being built was already 30 stories high, and Albert and Linus couldn’t help but smile. They sat down at a coffee shop on the other side of the street, to stake out the place. An hour later, a group of workers exited the site, and they made their move.

Albert waited for the street to be as empty as possible then signaled to Linus so he would cross the street.

They walked up to the hurdles surrounding the building and without hesitation climbed over them. The important thing was to look natural. On the other side they were faced with silence. No dogs. No alarms.

They waited 2 minutes quietly, nothing happened, and they heard no one.

After that, it was just 30 flights of stairs until they were walking the skyline. Up in the roof, the air felt cold and wild. The boys watched the people below moving about like little ants, to their works, homes and whatnot.

Standing on the edge, one foot hanging over a death drop. Albert drew a breath of the fresh air.

He felt alive.

Him and Linus started parkour when they were 12 as a joke. But as the stunts progressed, so did the height. Eventually they were invited by the veterans to train on the rooftops. At first they went into 1 story high roofs with other athletes. Who would’ve thought that 5 years later, the skyscrapers would be their playground.

Linus also had huge smile splattered on his face. He had his phone out, trying to take a picture of the street below.

“Yo” screamed Albert. He pointed to the 5m spire on top of the roof “I’ll go to the top”.

“Alright” said Linus. He turned his phone camera towards his friend. “Go on, I’ll film it”.

Albert stepped on the spire’s ledge. Looks firm... he thought, so he started climbing. The wind blew ruthlessly up there and he could barely hear Linus, so he just focused on the task ahead. A mantra repeated on his head: "Don’t fall, don’t die. Always three points of contact. One hand, two feet. Two hands one foot." With unyielding concentration, he slowly made his way up.

It was only when he was about to reach the top of the spire that he realized something was wrong.

His hand reached for the top but instead felt something weird. Albert looked up to his hand touching a pair of dark boots. And wearing those boots was a man.

A man who stood effortlesstly balanced in one foot on top of the spire.

A man who wasn’t there before.