Forever Is Fine

Today, for the first time in weeks, Destery would wake up at five o’clock a.m., get ready, and then drive to school. Today, for the first time, Destery wanted to stay home. Groaning, Destery rolled over and glanced at her clock, four fifty-nine, one minute short of five. She swung her feet to the floor, stood up, and yawned. Her hair was a mess across her head, and her eyes were shut tight even though it was still dark. Padding to her dresser she opened her eyes and, grabbed her clothes while dressing slowly. It was still snowing outside, Destery was sure of it. She made sure to wear a light pink, long sleeved t-shirt, thick jogging pants, and boots. She pulled a brush through her hair, and then went to brush her teeth.

Destery was always efficient, even when doing simple things like washing dishes. She had a routine for almost anything. After brushing her teeth she would grab her book bag, jacket, a cup of coffee, and her keys before heading out the front door, but not before giving her mother a quick kiss on the cheek. She yelled a quick good bye and then excited the house. The snow had stopped, and the roads were clear. Things were defiantly looking up. Destery walked stiffly to her car as she tried to not to slip on the sidewalk. She opened the car door and slipped into the drivers’ side, placing her cup into the black cup holder and her jacket, and book bag on the seat next to her. She turned the car on and sighed when the warm air hit her face.

She backed from her driveway and crept down the road, towards her school. Destery wondered if Kyle would be at school since he had been home a few days now. His mom would probably make him stay home another day, she was a worry wart. Giggling to herself, Destery turned into her school’s parking lot. Juniors and seniors were pulling into their assigned spaces while sophomores and freshmen got off from the busses. From the time Destery ever stepped into Loudon County High School she knew she would accomplish all of her goals. LCHS was a respectable school, excelling in sports and the foreign languages program. Her first year in the school was hectic though. Trying to balance the track team, the school newspaper, and her school work was enough to make her fumble her goals. As the months passed though, Destery learned how to juggle everything, and still managed perfect grades.

Grabbing her bag, coat, coffee and keys, Destery got out from her car, making sure to lock the doors after her. Some people waved at her as she walked up the steps, others didn’t notice her. Melissa, another friend of hers, walked towards her with a huge smile and said, “good morning.”

Looking at Melissa, Destery smiled. Melissa was a good genuine person. She was always happy, always liked to help new people out, she tutored, and sometimes volunteered to help with the animal shelter not too far from the school. Destery wasn’t saying that Melissa was a perfect person, but she was close to it. “Morning Melissa, you look nice.” Her chestnut brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, she wore a Nike sports long sleeve t-shirt, and a pair of dark washed jeans, with knee length boots.

Looking down at herself, Melissa blushed, “Thanks. You look good yourself. How was your break?”

Destery and Melissa walked to their lockers, “It was okay. Yours?”

Melissa’s brown eyes lit up, “It was amazing! Charles and I spent most of the time down at the lake, ice skating. We drank hot chocolate and everything.” Charles was her boyfriend of two years; he was everything to Melissa.

Destery gave her a small smile and opened her locker to grab some books for her first block class, American Literature. “Well hey; I have to get to class. I’ll see you later though.”

Mondays always went slow, especially when you wanted it to go fast. Destery tapped her pencil as she sat in her last class of the day, Art. She let out a heavy sigh and looked at the ticking clock, two forty five; she had ten minutes go to.

“So I heard Kyle was in a wreck?” Destery looked to where James sat and nodded her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t like James because he was a friend of hers, but right now all she wanted to do was get out of class and go check the mail at her house. James gave her a questioning look, “It must have not been that bad if you’re here and not with him. I mean you two were practically joined to the hip.”

“Yeah, he should be back tomorrow.” Destery’s voice was quite but sharp, giving off the hint that she did not want to talk. The bell rang then, Destery gathered her bag and scurried from the room; usually she was the first person in the room and the last to walk out. Quickly she walked to her locker and opened it; she grabbed her homework and shoved it messily into her bag, afterwards grabbing her coat and slamming her locker closer.

Nancy, the newspaper’s president, stood beside her, “Hey Destery, I was wondering if we could get together tonight and work on some ideas for the next articles?”
Mentally groaning, Destery answered, “I don’t know. I have a lot of homework.”

“It’ll only take an hour. I promise!” Destery knew how important these articles were to Nancy; she lived and breathed them.

She smiled and told her sure, but she needed to stop by her house first and then she would meet her at the coffee shop. Nancy nodded and walked off, probably going to talk to someone else. Sighing Destery walked from the school building and out to her car, snow had began flurrying again. She hurried to unlock her car door and slide in before any snow could seep into her clothes and make them damp. She jabbed her keys into the slot and started the car, hearing the rumble on the motor; Destery backed up from her parking space and slowly proceeded out onto the main road. There weren’t many cars, even though school had just let out. Destery squinted and narrowed her eyes on the road, she did not want to wreck today.

Ten minutes later, Destery pulled into her drive way and got out from her car, but left it running. Her mother wasn’t home, so she ran into the house and quickly scribbled a message onto a piece of paper; she left it on the kitchen counter. Sprinting out of the house, Destery slid into a halt by the mailbox; snow still covered the top. Her breathing was fast, her chest rose taking in the icy air as she opened the box and retrieved the mail; Tanner’s letter sat on top. Giving a sigh of relief, Destery walked to her car and threw the rest of the mail in the back; she would defiantly need to remember to give her mother the mail when she got home.

She backed up and started driving to the shop, snow sprinkled the trees and all the animals were still hibernating. It was quiet; nothing special seemed to go on within the small, populated town. Destery’s fingers itched to read Tanner’s letter, she itched to know what was going on with him; he interested her. Looking ahead she could see the shop; dozens of cars were parked in the parking lot. Groaning out loud, Destery swerved into the area, and parked at the only spot available, right beside a sleek black Chevy. She grabbed her things; got out from her car, and hurriedly walked into the one place she could be calm and not stressed. Nancy wasn’t there yet, so Destery quickly took a seat by the door and took the chance to read the letter.

The envelope was stark white; it was clean and new. The edge was sealed, and on the back a stamp was stuck in the corner, and her address was scrawled directly in the middle. Tanner’s writing was neat, robotic even, but nice. Destery took a soothing breath before turning it back over to the sealed edge, her finger caught an opening…

“Hey can I get you anything?”

Destery jumped in surprise, she didn’t realize she had tuned everything out. Looking up she saw that Nancy stood there, her eyes zeroed into the letter. She dropped it to the table and answered, “Sure um- a vanilla latte. I always order it.” She smiled and watched Nancy walk away. Looking back down to the letter Destery snatched it and pushed it into her bag; she replaced the empty spot with a notebook and pencil.

Nancy walked back with one cup, and a scone, “So what I wanted to talk to you about.” She sat down and got straight to business. “We need some more ideas, you know? Funny ones, interesting ones, ones that people want to read.” Nancy looked at her pointedly, and then slid the frothy cup to her side of the table.

“And I agree. What do you think we would be writing about?” Destery tapped her notebook with her pencil, took a sip of her drink, and looked into Nancy’s eyes.

“Sports, clubs, something interesting, you know? We could do information weekly’s, or an advice column.”

“An advice column would work. Kids at school need guidance and who better to help them than someone trustworthy, and their age. Who do you think should do it?” An advice column wouldn’t be bad; Destery thought it was a wonderful idea.

“Well..I was thinking...that maybe-that maybe you could do it?” Nancy looked at her; those big brown eyes pleaded silently.

“Sure?” Destery said this more of a question than an answer. She liked giving advice sometimes, but then other times she dreaded giving her opinion because it could be wrong or completely screw someone’s life over.

Clapping her hands Nancy stood up and exclaimed, “Thanks! I knew I could count on you! Well I have to get home but I’ll see you after school for the newspaper meeting, right?” Destery shook her head yes. “And your drink is already paid for.”

Destery watched her walk from the shop and to her car before pulling the letter from her bag and finally opening it. Her hands greedily ran over the coarse paper before opening it.

“Hey! Back so soon, you missed me right?” the voice was familiar; rough, sort of quiet.

Destery sighed and looked up, “Oh yeah! I missed you so much.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice, which was something you never heard from her mouth.

Walker laughed, and said, “Just kidding.” Destery looked him once over, blue jeans, black t-shirt, name-tag, and white shoes. He looked good, sort of. His hair was a moppy mess across his head, and now that she had a perfect view of his face, Destery noticed his nose was slightly cricked; probably from a fight or something from long ago. It wasn’t noticeable unless you zeroed in on it, but it was slightly attractive. “Well I better get back to work unless you need anything?” Destery shook her head and looked down at her letter; Walker’s eyes followed hers, “Must be from your boyfriend.” He said it more matter of factly than anything else.

Before Destery could answer, he walked back to where customers were lining up. His eyes were cast down while he took their orders. Shaking her head, she opened the letter and began to read.

__________

Destery finished the letter, and immediately snatched her pen and paper, and began to write.

Dear Tanner,

I feel like I know you very well too, but how are you? First, how’s everything with your sister? Are you two doing okay? Has your mother done anything?

I do value our relationship. My mother is all I have; she’s all I ever need. She’s lovely really. We’re nothing alike. She loves to sing and dance, she likes to have fun. All play and no work, although, she does work. She just likes to play more than the average person.

For me, well I am a busy body, I like to work. But I also have friends, people who I hang around with and talk to, but never mistake that for anything. I only have one true friend. His name is Kyle. He thinks this is a bad idea; for us to be writing each other without knowing anything about the other. He thinks you might be dangerous.

I like to do lots of things, most things indoors. Writing, writing is a passion. It’s more of informational pieces though. I work for my school’s newspaper so it’s something I have talent it. I like to look outside for long periods of time, I guess. Its fun to watch other’s enjoyment, how they do things, how they think. And coffee, I love drinking coffee, it’s something I will never give up.

I should stop for now. I’m sure you have more important things to do that listen to me ramble on in a letter. And to your….friend Kat, thank you. You have a lovely name as well.

-Always,
Destery.

She didn’t bother re-reading what she wrote. Destery folded the piece of paper into a half, and slipped it into an envelope; one that already had the stamp attached. She gathered her stuff, scribbled her number down on a napkin, along with a message. She quickly left the shop and walked to the little post box across the street, dropped the letter in, then made her way back to the car.

She knew she would be staying up extra late to finish all the work her teachers laid on her.