Dear Unknown

“Aaron, give me a minute so I can call Ginger and see if she can come” I yell down the stairs as I get ready to go to the club.

“Hurry up, I’m going to be late!” Aaron says impatiently.

I straightened out my tight purple dress. It goes to about mid-thigh and has a gold tone belt at the waist. Around my neck I have a number of gold toned chains. As a last minute touch I sprinkle some sheer glitter on my body for effect. I grab my phone as I spray a quick squirt of hair spray around my head to give my hair extra hold. I have my hair knotted in a bun on my head and there are strands sticking out of the side. When looked at from the front the fringe seemed to frame the right side of my face.

I pressed one on my speed dial and I hear it ring immediately. After about two more rings I started to get annoyed that she hadn’t picked up yet. By the fifth ring I was about ready to hand up when I hear a rushed hello on the other end.

“Don’t, don’t hang up!”

“Hmm” I chuckle, “I was about to.”

“Good thing you didn’t because I need to ask you a question” she says out of breath.

“Shoot” I say looking around my closet for a pair of shoes.

“Bang” she jokes, “Anyways, are you going to the club tonight?”

“Just what I was about to ask” I begin before finally finding a shoe that matched my outfit, “Yes!!”

“What?” she asked confused.

“I found a pair of shoes to wear” I look down at the shoe, “Oohh” I whine realizing something.

“What?” she asks confused yet again.

“It’s only one shoe” I say pouting.

“Well take your time finding it ‘cause I need to get ready” Ginger says hanging up.

***Later that night

When I finally get back home it’s about two in the morning. Now because my brother works there I am completely sober. We’ve been home for about half an hour and Ginger is passed out on my bed. Ginger, like me is completely sober at this point, but she doesn’t handle partying well.

I have no clue why but I feel the strong urge to look at my email. This would be the second time today. I look behind me to make sure she is still asleep. I roll my eyes at myself, it’s a school project and I’m being stupid. I guess my fingers had been working on their own accord because when I focused again I was already logged into my email. The newest email flashed and I clicked on it.

I read it all the way through and then read it again this time slower. He’s from Germany? And he’s touring Europe? How the hell am I supposed to know an artist who doesn’t even perform over here in America?

I finished reading it the second time through and finally read his P.P.S. “Far sexier” I say to myself quietly trying not to wake up Ginger. This guy makes me smile. I close my eyes for a second and then decide to write the response tonight instead of tomorrow morning like I had planned.

Dear Tom,

You want to know about my family so here it goes. Let’s see if you can follow along. I live with my older brother and younger sister. My mom left when i was nine. My sister was five and my brother was thirteen. After she left my dad got a bit lost and all three of us were in the system by the time I was twelve. As soon as he could my brother got me and my sister out and adopted us. We rarely see our dad. In fact I don’t think I’ve seen him since I was fifteen or something.

I’m happier this way though. I’m super close to my brother and sister and I know that if we hadn’t been through all this together we wouldn’t be this close. My brother, Aaron who is twenty-two, is what I think the perfect parent is. He’s relaxed when it comes to certain things like curfews, but can get strict about the whole grade thing. Basically as long as my grades are good and I’m not becoming a junkie or get arrested he doesn’t care what I do.

My sister Lee-Ane is fifteen. When my mom left she got really close to me. Our relationship started out as me being kind of the mother figure but as we got older we became closer in a friend way. We are so close right now that she might as well be my other half. We look a lot alike and just get each other to a point where we should be twins I swear. We listen to the same music and dress the same (pretty much). She’s never been super in love with a band before but you should see her when someone mentions this band Tokio Hotel. She goes crazy and you just have to see it, it’s the funniest thing.

I play the piano too. It’s what makes me a sort of musician. I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember. My mom made me practice every day, even the day that she left. Actually it’s the last thing she did before she left. I remember the last thing she said to was, “Always play the piano and you’ll always have me.” I didn’t understand what she meant when she said that and when she left I didn’t play for the longest time but one day I just started playing again. And ever since then I’ve been playing every time I need to get something off my mind.

P.S. Tell me about your family since I told you about mine.

Sincerely,
Lenny

I clicked send on the email and looked at the little clock in the bottom right hand corner of my computer. Three o’clock and I’m about to pass out. I didn’t even bother to turn off my computer as I take all the bobby pins and clips out of my hair. I’ve got the most massive head ache from my hair being pulled so tight. I take off my dress and rummage through my drawers until I find and over sized t-shirt to wear. I slip it on and then pull out a pair of Soffe shorts. I put them on. I walk toward my light switch and flick it off. As I’m about to crawl into my bed I see that Ginger is sprawled out over it and change my mind. I grab a blanket off my chair and snatch a pillow from underneath her head and lay them on the floor. I lay down on top of them and fall asleep instantly.