text: It was a raucous rooftop party in sweaty downtown Baltimore that was packed with hipsters. A sea of red cups bobbed and tipped while beards and flowered dresses jostled and milled in a cloud of skunky smoke. “Eleven!” Janie shouted, “Eleven of twenty on the goddammed assignment, just fuck that class!” Ben took a long drink of his beer and did his best to look interested in her college grades; he even heard the words coming from her lips, but she could have been reciting alien poetry, the only thing he wanted was the body that fit beneath her thin summer dress. Others around them were clearly drunk and laughing too loud or shouting themselves raw over the deafening dance music, so they didn’t notice the girl. The girl came out of nowhere. She was a blur of a whirling violet dress with matching makeup and greasy brown hair. Ben recognized her at once and stared at her, it was Lisa. Janie frowned. “Sorry, I know her, we went to high school together,” Ben said. That was a lie, they met in fourth grade--his first love, his first kiss and his first date. They broke up in high school and it tore him apart. Now she was just a spoiled rich girl from a rich family at college until they kicked her out; for now she lived in a haze of substance abuse. Her dirty bare feet danced in graceful circles, and in a zombie-trance she closed her eyes, inhaled the music then opened her blue eyes to watch her skirt spin and stare at the stars above. Ben loved her but knew that was all in the past, he was only a child back then and didn’t know any better. Janie grabbed his hand and pulled him away to dance. He liked holding her hand, if only for a moment. But suddenly the girl bounded onto the parapet and skipped on the narrow ledge, a balance beam ten stories up, the wind from below whipped her hair around violently. People gasped and the crowd fell silent. “Lisa, get off there, for fuck's sake, please!” someone shouted, but she continued, walking heel-to-toe then spinning. A gymnastics show for the crowd. Ben sensed the danger and ran to the edge, his turn to be superman. He had to rescue her, the fragile drunk maiden from her deadly dance on the ledge. He fought his way through the crowd to save the girl who stole and broke his heart. But he blinked as he saw it, as if it was slow motion. She slowly turned and smiled at him then took a step off the ledge. In an instant she was gone, he didn’t get there in time. The music stopped and a girl screamed, others started sobbing. Ben looked down and watched her dance one last time as she spun in the air as she fell, her purple dress a rag doll in a storm. He closed his eyes and started to sob. He sat on the ground and felt the tears well up in his eyes. His superman skills simply didn't work that day.