Chain

Charlie Matherson walked into her room and threw down her backpack. She kicked off her worn out sneakers and slipped out of her jeans. She pulled on her sweats and then sat down to her computer. She knew what she'd find when she opened her email, more or less, but still it had to be done. When she logged in the stupid voice announced it. "You have one new message."

With a sigh Charlie opened her inbox. Sure enough the message was from her old pen pal Bartholomew. He had an obsession with chain mail and even after they had stopped their regular correspondence he still sent them to her. It didn't matter how many times she had asked him to stop, they just kept coming. However, sometimes his messages were real messages, so it's not like she could just ignore the emails. His subject was always blank. She had to read them. Frustrated, Charlie opened the email.

"Now that you have opened this email you have exactly 24 hours to decide whether you wish to pass it on or not. I promise that if you don't, you will regret it. If you make the choice to pass it on, you must pass it to ten people. If you do not pass it to ten people by the end of 24 hours, we will talk again."

Charlie snorted. That one was original. She deleted the email and opened up a new message which she addressed to Bartholomew.

"Batholomew,

I'm asking you one more time to please quit sending me chain mail. I know that you have enough friends that you don't have to keep sending them to me. This is the last time I'm asking. I like talking to you, Barty, so please don't make me spam you.

--Charlie"

Charlie sent the message and logged out of her email feeling a bit peeved, but mostly just tired. With a groan she reached over and grabbed her backpack to pull out her chemistry homework. She worked on that until dinner, ate, and then came back up and finished the rest of her homework. As soon as she was done she called up her best friend, Brier.

"Hey Brier, do you want to go see a movie after school tomorrow? It will be Friday, so it's not like we'll need to do homework right away." Charlie twirled a piece of her copper colored hair around one finger.

"Sure, but can we meet up an hour or so after school instead of right after? I've got to watch Jamie for about half an hour so my mom can go to some appointment. Besides, then you have time to check you're email. You won't be as obnoxious as you normally are when you don't get to."

"Shut up, Brier. I just don't like to let it pile up in my inbox. Especially Bartholomew's stupid chain letters."

Brier laughed. "Speaking of which, did you get another one today?"

"Yes," Charlie sighed. "This one was really short and to the point. Send it or regret it."

"You didn't send it, did you." It wasn't a question. Brier knew Charlie well enough to know she never sent them. "Charlie, why don't you just send them? Why tempt the fates to throw a curve ball at you?"

"You're entirely too superstitious, Bree. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow. But seriously, if you still have time to send it, send it. Just this once. For me?"

"Whatever. I'll think about it. I've got to go."

Charlie hung up the phone. Her eyes wandered over to her computer and for a moment she actually pondered sending the email to ten unfortunate individuals. Then, she laughed at herself. Brier had almost rubbed off on her.

Charlie glanced at her watch and cursed. When did it get so late? she asked herself as she grabbed a towel and headed into her bathroom. Once there she washed her face and brushed her teeth before climbing into a shower. She got out ten minutes later and put on some cotton panties and an over-sized t-shirt she had stolen from her father. She climbed into bed and switched off her lights. It wasn't long before she slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.

_____________________________________________________

The next day at school was just a normal day. Sure, the teachers were a bit more stressed than normal because the end of the year was drawing nearer. For the teachers that meant cramming in the last of the necessary lessons. For the students it meant extra homework and extra studying. It also meant that they were already in summer mode, even though there was still a couple of weeks left.

So, when she got home she was tired. She threw down her backpack as usual and trudged over to her computer. She logged in to her email and was again greeted by that obnoxious voice. "You have two new messages."

"Oh, shut up. I can read, you know. I get that there are two messages in my inbox." Does it count as insanity if the machine started the conversation? she mused silently as she waited for her inbox to load.

The first message was from Bartholomew.

"God, you're such a party pooper. Yeah, I'll stop with the chain mail. Are you happy? Cause I know I'm not."

Smiling, Charlie hit reply.

"Yes, I am a party pooper. And proud of it. =P Thanks for stopping with the chain emails, Bart. I'll make it up to you somehow."

She sent the message and then looked at the next one. Her eyebrows immediately reached her forehead. Under sender it said "Anonymous Sender" and there was no address to reply to. She didn't know that was possible. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened the email. Inside was a single sentence.

"You should have forwarded the email."