TORYN SAT ON THE EDGE OF her bed, crying. She wept into her hands making sure to keep it down since Davina went back to bed. After she explained that she didn't let Takashi in and that he snuck through her window, she didn't get into trouble; but he was also banned from coming back to the house.

"Toryn you okay?" Trouble asked, sitting next to her and rubbing her back.

Toryn shook her head side to side 'no.' She wasn't. She couldn't believe Takashi told her to go kill herself.

"Damn, bitch he told you to go jump off a bridge." Trouble, the voice in Toryn's head remarked. A schizophrenic often times didn't interpret the original message. So in Toryn's mind, she heard 'I want you to jump' when those technically weren't his words. So now she sat on her bed contemplating it.

"I thought you said he was your friend, why would he say that." Trouble said.

"I-I don't know. I have nobody now. He hates me." Toryn cried, getting off her bed. She grabbed her glasses and put them on, so she could see better. Her head was pounding and now she was thinking about what she should do. Takashi obviously didn't know her that well, she would do it.

"I mean, we can if you want. Isn't everybody always calling you a punk? Let's show them that you're not."

Toryn looked over at her, that was true. But killing herself was a little extreme. She didn't exactly want to die.

"Girl, your schizophrenic and losing your memory...your life isn't glamorous. I say we do it, then haunt Takashi since he wanna play." Trouble stated as if she had read her mind.

Toryn began biting her nails.

"And guess what? You can go to Heaven and meet your dad. Remember him?"

Toryn looked at Trouble, that idea catching her attention. She didn't remember much about Sean, but she did remember he babied her a lot. And he was pretty nice. It was much better than being with her mother. She could bet her dad was still like that. She dreamed about him a lot; but it wasn't really anything she could personally remember happening. He did die when she was only six.

"What if he's not as nice anymore?" Toryn said out loud.

"Trust me, he is. You're his daughter girl. He wants you to come where he is anyway."

Toryn glanced at Trouble, tilting her head up. "How do you know?"

"I asked him." Trouble said leaning against the door.

Toryn's eyes widened and she walked over to her, shaking her shoulders. To an outsider it would look like she was crazy, just making random hand movements—but she wasn't. "You asked him? And what did he say?"

"What did I say he said? He said he wanted to see you. All you have to do is jump off the roof. Just like Takashi said. Then bam, your dad will be waiting right there for you."

Toryn looked at her own reflection who smiled. She smiled back and began to grab a pair of shorts and some slippers from her closet, to head onto the roof with.

*****

TAKASHI WALKED DOWN THE STREET with his hands in his pockets. He kicked a pebble out the way, mumbling things under his breath. Toryn's outburst was a surprise to him and her attitude was something he was not trying to deal with. To be honest Takashi really saw no wrong in the situation.

Why apologize for some shit other people did? She got made fun of by other people. But all he did was laugh, not make the jokes. So why was she mad at him?

A car suddenly flew by on the street, looking like a speeding bullet. The sound made him jump and furrow his eyebrows. It was dark and desolate outside so he could see why the driver was driving so recklessly; but if anybody was on the road then that person was dead, no questions.

Takashi's fingers turned into fists inside his pocket and that was when he suddenly stopped walking. Shit, my phone. He thought, patting himself down and realizing it wasn't on him. He looked over his shoulder in the direction of Toryn's house and huffed as he turned around. She didn't live far from him, but it wasn't smart for him to be walking up and down the streets in the wee hours of the morning. He was still only fifteen.

Takashi however needed his phone back. He was just hoping his mom didn't wake up and catch him out of the house. Takashi turned back and started to jog. He knew Toryn wouldn't be that crazy to break or do something crazy to his belongings because she wasn't that kind of girl. She just cried a lot.

It was easy going to the house, but how was he suppose to get inside? He knew her grandmother wasn't going to just let him through the front door. He was just in there arguing with Toryn. She might think he was there to hurt her or something. But he couldn't just leave it there. He needed it, that's what happened when you were on your phone so much. It felt like a part of your soul.

Takashi cut some corners and ran up some blocks, coming up on Toryn's block shortly after. He stared at the house to see if any lights were on but the house was dark. He walked up and just stood there wondering if he should knock on the door or go by the window again.

Damn, Takashi thought looking up at the sky as he tried to come up on a decision. When he looked up his eyes caught a glimpse of something on the roof. At first he thought it was just him, until it came into view again. He couldn't really see that well because it was dark and he could barely see the thing moving along the roof.

Toryn felt woozy and despite the warm Summer weather, there was a breeze that seemed to be blowing extra hard. She was higher up so she would feel the wind currents more. "Trouble I don't wanna do this anymore, let's go back inside I think I'm gonna faint." Toryn announced.

"We have to do this, Tee. How else will you show Flower, her hood rats and most of all Konichiwa that your about your business? They don't care about you. Didn't Takashi tell you to jump?"

Toryn looked at her, rubbing her arm up and down. "Yeah...I guess."

"I know I am. So come on, don't be dumb. Okay you don't do it, then what? You just sit in your room all day with no life? It's not like anyone likes you anyway."

Toryn knew that last part was very true. It's not like she had anybody left. Takashi and her were now ex-friends and without him she knew she was nothing to his mother. Plus her and Davina weren't even close. It was like Toryn just lived there. She was more like a tenant then a granddaughter to the elderly lady. So with a few more minutes of convincing from Trouble, Toryn was on board.

She travelled close to the edge and peeked over just to see how long the drop was. She didn't even get a good look because a wind suddenly blew making her pull back immediately.

What the hell? Takashi said to himself, seeing Toryn peeking over from on top of the roof. He walked closer and stared for a long time, hoping he was just seeing things. But when he saw her slowly walking up to the edge of the house again, the cereal he ate two hours ago was suddenly bubbling in his stomach.

"Toryn!" He yelled, not caring how loud he was being.

Toryn peeked over when she heard her name and saw Takashi standing in front of her house down below.

Trouble popped up in front of her, floating in midair with her arms crossed and a no nonsense look on her face. "You better not listen to anything he has to say."

"Toryn what the fuck are you doing?!" Takashi shouted, he could feel himself sweating immensely. The first thing he thought about was the last thing he said to her. The fact that she took him dead serious meant she was not on medication and hadn't been for a while. She would never do something like this in her right state of mind. "Toryn get down, please."

Toryn looked at Trouble who shook her head from side to side. "Come on jump! What are you waiting for?"

Toryn lived in a normal house but it had two floors. A downstairs and an upstairs. Plus an attic, which led up to the roof. Her house was surrounded by concrete. The sidewalk along with the driveway at the side of the house. Takashi didn't know if she jumped or fell if it would kill her, but he knew she could split her skull open or definitely break something. And that was not a risk he was willing to take.

"Toryn get down before you fall!" Takashi yelled.

She clenched her fist tight, "You told me to jump!"

"I never said that, Tee Tee. Please just get down. I said I wouldn't care if you did and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I would care, just come here, please?" He said, he felt his skin getting hot. He had to take his sweater off to keep from passing out. What he really wanted to do was start screaming 'help' but that might make her jump. He had to really talk her out of this.

Toryn disappeared for a split second and returned with a small rock, she dropped it and watched it fall as if to test the drop. Like it would have the same affect on a human anyway.

Takashi saw a light turn on upstairs in her house and he assumed her grandmother was up again. He hoped she was. He couldn't really see into the room, he could only see the ceiling fan spinning. About thirty seconds later a light downstairs turned on before the front door cracked open.

"Ms. Davina!" Takashi called out to her.

Davina was taken back by someone shouting her name out in the middle of the night. The panic in the person's voice made her squint her eyes so she could get a better look, but she still couldn't see and she was no about to go investigate.

"Toryn jump!" Trouble encouraged.

"Give me a minute, I'm scared." She whispered to Trouble, annoyed that she was becoming so irate. "I thought you were my friend."

Trouble sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I am. Fine, I'll give you a few seconds."

"Ms. Davina, Toryn is on the roof. She's not on her medication. She's saying she wants to jump."

As soon as Davina heard that, she slowly came walking outside. She had just checked Toryn's room since some commotion had woke her up again. She assumed it was Toryn but when she checked her room, she wasn't in there. So she thought she must have went to the bathroom. Davina came outside and in fact saw Toryn standing on the edge, nervously looking down.

"Toryn?" The old woman cried, "come down here! What are you doing?"

"You see!" Trouble remarked, "your making this worse. Now everyone is gonna come and try to confuse you and make you feel like they care about you. All their gonna shout is 'get down please' but they don't really care. They just don't want your blood on their property."

"You think so?" The schizophrenic girl questioned.

"I know so."

Takashi ran toward the house, making Davina look up at him, "Where are you going?"

"My phone is upstairs in her room." He replied, dashing inside and skipping the stairs two at a time.

He nearly busted his ass but he made it up the stairs and ran into Toryn's room. It didn't even take three seconds to locate his phone face down on the floor. He picked it up and with shaky hands, quickly found Laura's contact as he dashed out the room with the phone ringing to his ear.

Whenever he was in Toryn's house Takashi never took the liberty of walking around much. So he had no clue where her attic was to even get to the roof. Since Davina was a Senior citizen and no longer working, she was always home; because of that the only places he ever really hung out was downstairs in the living room or in Toryn's room. He could never walk up and down the house with Davina right inside. So right now he was lost on where to go to get to Toryn.

The phone rang six times before Laura finally answered in an annoyed, groggy voice. "I know you are not right across the hall, calling me at two—"

"Ma! I'm at Toryn's house! She's on the roof!" He shouted. Immediately all sleep was erased from her system, as she jumped up frantically looking for clothes.

"Wait, what? Tee what the hell are you doing out of this house at—"

"Mom please! I'll explain later. She's having an episode this time. Forreal!" He shouted running back down the stairs. "Just hurry, please!"

"I'm on my way." Laura said hanging up.

Takashi was back outside with Davina and this time, a few more people were outside as well. Some watching the scene taking place.

Toryn was still on the roof with her hands over her ears as she ignored everyone trying to get her down. She didn't necessarily want to jump, but she would to prove a point. She was not as scared as everyone thought she was. When she did jump, what could everyone say then? It wouldn't be that she was a punk. Because this would prove that she wasn't.

"Toryn, if you fall you could get paralyzed. Just come inside; I'm sorry for what I said to you!" Takashi stated, hoping she could hear him over the ears she was blocking with her hands.

She could—and she closed her eyes, ignoring him. Ignoring everybody. The only person she was able to hear was Trouble. She was the only one no matter how hard she tried to block her out, her voice kept ringing in her head.

"Look at you. You're dad is in that big scary war all by himself and here you are. Standing here being a baby. He needs your help! He could be getting tortured by the enemies right now! Are you gonna jump already or keep standing here to try and get attention."

Toryn's heart clenched violently. Her dad. She tried to picture him but she couldn't. All she could come up with was a blurred face. She couldn't remember what he looked like...but he was nice she did remember that. He needed her. He asked for her. And here she was, wasting time. She took a step toward the edge.

"Toryn please don't, look at that thing on your chest. It's a symbol of our friendship. It's says Takashi and Toryn. We been together since we were five. How you gonna end that? I was wrong and I'm sorry. I should have stuck up for you and I promise I will never do something like that again. Don't do this to me. You wanna hurt me? Hurt my mom? You know how much we love you Toryn. We're a family, don't do this to us."

Tears leaked out Toryn's eyes as an aching feeling settled in her chest. You wanna hurt me? Hurt my mom? You know how much we love you Toryn. We're a family, don't do this to us. His words rang in her head. And that was true, Laura was like her mom. She did everything for her. Did she have the heart to hurt Laura? Maybe there were people who cared about her.

"Toryn!"

Toryn looked down and saw Laura standing next to Takashi. Her black Buick jeep was still on, the driver side door wide open and parked in the middle of the street with the engine going. She had on a silk red and pink pajama set with a robe over her and a leather belt in her hand.

"Get your behind off that roof and come down here! Are you crazy?! Get down!"

Takashi looked at his mother and smacked the hand down that held the belt, harder than he meant to. He looked at her with a screwed up face. "Ma what the hell are you doing? You're scaring her."

She yanked her hand back and glared at him as if she already knew that it was his fault. He glared back but she took a step forward and stared up at the mentally ill girl, with tears forming in her eyes. "Toryn honey come here, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to see my dad," Toryn cried out. Laura was the only one who was able to make her feel like garbage when she was doing something wrong. Not even Takashi could do that. Toryn guessed it was the motherly side of Laura that had that affect on her.

"Baby your dad doesn't want to see you yet."

"Trouble said he does," Toryn cried, she watched people whispering to each other and others shaking their head at her. She felt like she was a lab experiment. Everyone had their eyes on her. Their stupid opinions just going from what ear to the next.

"Well she's lying, baby. Sean is in Heaven right now looking down on you. That's his job, to watch you grow and be something great. You don't wanna break his heart and fail him. You have a long life to live baby girl, okay?"

Toryn took her glasses off and began rubbing her eyes once she heard the pitch change in Laura's voice. She was too high up to tell if she was crying, but that change of voice confirmed it. And once Laura cried, she did too.

"Don't listen to her. Jump."

Toryn didn't know what to do. She didn't want to jump, but Trouble has been there for her in numerous situations. Who was she suppose to listen to? "Trouble's telling me to jump, Laura. I don't know what to do."

An anger that came from Laura's feet shot up to the top of her body like a speeding bullet. She felt like steam could come out her ears. "Toryn Knight you get your behind down here now! I don't care what anybody else says! You listen to me and get down right now!"

Toryn's lips trembled and seconds later she disappeared from sight. It seemed as if time stood still as everyone became dead silent. Takashi didn't even realize he was holding a breath in. Most people became tense, expecting her to come bolting back into view and jump.

When the front door suddenly opened up, exposing a timid Toryn that came walking guilty onto the lawn, everyone erupted into cheers. Takashi and Laura rushed her with a hug as Laura and Toryn cried their eyes out. Davina sunk down in the grass with a hand on her chest. She wasn't close with Toryn, but after losing her son she didn't know how she could take his daughter going right after him.

"I'm sorry," Toryn cried, her tears soaking into Laura's shirt as Laura stroked her hair.

"Don't you ever do that again, do you hear me?"

"Yes." She said. They rocked back and forth for a while before Laura finally let her go and she turned to Takashi.

They looked at each other and without words, melted into each other's arms. It was a feeling of warmth and love. One that was so strong Toryn herself could never question it again—whether it was her good or bad side.

******

"OKAY, WHAT HAPPENED?" Laura questioned, standing with one hand on her hip and the black leather belt dragging on the floor as she held the metal buckle with a tight grip, looking between Takashi and Toryn with red, puffy eyes.

After the spectacle on the block and almost making everyone's heart explode in their chest, Davina decided it would be best for Toryn to go back with Laura at her house for the night. So the two teenagers stood in front of Laura in the living room, scared as fuck knowing at any given moment she would start swinging her belt.

"I told you what happened." Takashi said.

Laura huffed, rubbing her temples as she narrowed her eyes at a timid looking Toryn who was standing with her legs crossed, rubbing her arms up and down as if she had gotten hit. Laura's voice was low and hoarse. "H-how'd you get on the roof?"