Love Letters

Dear Unknown,

You sound like a really cool person too. You’re a book nerd? I used to be one but then I got into sports and reading didn’t become as much of a necessity anymore. I would read all of the time. My friends never caught mewithout a book. If you think being an author would be good for you, you should go for it! I tried once too but I gave up because it wasn’t my passion, but I’m sure you could do it if you just find a plot you think you could really write about. Do you have any ideas about what you want to be when you get older or are you still deciding?

I think it’s cute that you get nervous around boys you like. Does your face go red even if you look at your guy friend, or do you actually like him? Like I said, I’ve had a few girlfriends, but only enough to count them on one hand. I first kissed a girl when I was in kindergarten, but it was only on the cheek. Chances are, she doesn’t remember or if she does, she just chooses never to think about it. The first time I kissed a girl on the lips was grade nine with my first real girlfriend, but I can’t say I liked it. She practically mauled me with her mouth and she was looking for a lot more than what I was willing to give. I would have preferred giving my first kiss to someone else but those kinds of things, sometimes you just can’t control.

Your best friend sounds like he cares about you a lot and if he means that much to you, it must be a good friendship you two have. Have you ever thought of him as more than that? I know that some people end up dating their best friends—sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t—but from what I’m told, those relationships are the best.

You have no reason to fear falling in love just because your parents’ marriage didn’t work out. I can understand it affecting you, for sure, but you’re not your parents and if you come across the guy that means more than the world to you, and vice versa for him, thenguaranteed you’re both going to make it work. Plus, any guy that cheats is just not worth it. I know he’s your dad but what he did wasn’t right. Maybe it worked for them that way and the separation came as a good thing, but you don’t have to settle for that when it’s your relationship.

-Anonymous.

P.S: it doesn’t make you a loser for wanting to save your first kiss for someone special. It just shows how much you care.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“Two weeks!” Christabelle exclaimed over the phone. “Are you excited?”

“Sort of,” I replied, glancing at Dalton out of the corner of my eye as he looked through my closet. He held out my first grade Halloween costume that I thought was just too adorable to get rid of, and raised his eyebrows. I just shrugged.

“You should be,” she said. “It’s your birthday. You ought to be pumped.”

I shrugged even though she couldn’t see. “It’s just another birthday.”

“Turning sixteen is an exception,” she said. “There are certain birthdays that are just that; birth days. But there are necessary ages to party. Turning ten is an example because you’re going into the double digits, thirteen because you’re a lawful teenager, sixteen because, well . . . it’s just a hundred times better than being fifteen and you get the whole ‘sweet sixteen, blowout bash’ kind of thing from all your friends. Then eighteen because you’re a legal adult, nineteen because you can drink, twenty because you no longer have to say ‘teen’ when you tell someone your age, and every birthday when your age ends in a zero after that point. But they become less and less fun to celebrate as you get older because, you know, you’re getting older.”

“You forgot sixty five,” I added.

“True,” she said. “Seniors sure know how to bring the party.”

I laughed. “So how’s University treating you?”

Christabelle paused for a moment. “It’s . . . all right. Really stressful though. I’ve been trying to find a job but no one’s called me back, even though I’ve applied for pretty much every place that had a ‘Now Hiring’ sign on their window.”

“You’ll get one soon,” I assured her. “Who wouldn’t want to hire you? You’re like the perfect employee.”

She snickered. “Hopefully. Thanks for the words of encouragement.”

“How’s Blade doing?”

“Pretty good,” she answered. “He’s at the top of his class, which is no surprise. You know how smart he is.”

“Oh yeah, I remember,” I mumbled. “When he was helping me study for my science test, he would hit me on the head with the textbook every time I got an answer wrong. I thought I was going to lose my memory after the first twenty hits.”

Chris laughed. “Yeah, he’s like that. But enough about me; what’s going on with you? Anything new on the Dalton-Amanda front?”

I looked at Dalton again, who was now sitting on my bedroom floor, flipping through the channels on the television.

“Not really,” I replied, trying not to drop names because if Dalton knew that I had been talking about him to my older sister, the fact that I was excessively attracted to him would come out and I would be humiliated for years to come.

“Has she harassed you yet?” she asked. “Do I need to kick her ass?”

I smiled. “I’ve already dealt with it,” I said.

“You have?”

“Yeah,” I said. “She kind of just showed up one day and started yelling.”

“I take it she found out that we’re related,” she said.

“Of course.”

“Is her brother like a mini-Amanda?”

“Not at all,” I said, laughing. “He can’t stand her.”

Dalton looked up at me and cocked a brow, catching on now that I was talking about him.

“Well that’s good,” Chris replied. “I suppose I should let you go now. You’ve probably got a full day planned, eh?”

“Sort of. We’re hooking up Mr. Griffin and Ms. Anderson.”

“Seriously?” Christabelle burst out laughing. “That’s awesome! She’s only been wanting it for like . . . ten years. Did he recognize you?”

“When he saw my last name,” I said. “He’s my math teacher. By the way, he told me to tell you not to seduce any of your professors.”

Chris shrieked, and I burst out laughing, imagining what her face must have looked liked. “That’s so unfair! It was to help a friend!”

“I’m sure he was just kidding,” I said. “I’ll give you updates later.”

“Good! I want to know how this is going.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too!”

I hung up the phone and tapped Dalton on the head. He looked up at me. “Find anything interesting?”

He shook his head. “It’s all baby crap,” he said, turning off the television. “I really hate Sunday mornings.”

I smiled and then there was a knock on my door. Anne didn’t bother to wait for me to reply before sticking her head inside. “Karlee, your friends are here,” she said, pushing it opened a little more. Pax and Andy walked in, and surprisingly, so did Trey.

“Knock knock,” Pax said.

“Who’s there?” I asked.

“Me.”

“Me who?”

“Me.”

I blinked at him. He blinked too and then shrugged. “That was actually just a general greeting,” he said. I laughed.

“Oh. I thought you were going to tell a joke,” I said. Then I looked at Trey. “What are you doing here?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I changed my mind. Maybe you were right,” he said. “They need a little push in the right direction. Why, do you not want my here?”

“No!” I exclaimed, standing up quickly and walking over to him. “Of course I do. I just thought you were still mad. I’m glad you’re here.”

He smiled.

Andy cleared her throat and we both looked over at her. “You guys ready to go?” I nodded and Dalton stood up. Pax clapped his hands together.

“Let’s get this show on the road!”

We all headed downstairs and I started to put my shoes on at the door but Anne stepped out of the kitchen and called me back. Everyone waited outside when we talked.

“Does your dad know your friend was over?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Please don’t tell him.”

She smiled. “You really like this guy, huh?”

My face went red. “A little bit.”

“All right, I won’t say anything. As long as you two keep it clean up there.”

My eyes went wide.

Oh God.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“They’re so in love,” Andy gushed, putting her chin in her hand, staring at Mr. Griffin and Ms. Anderson in admiration. “Bert” and “Ernie” had ditched them again and when Ms. Anderson had walked in, hoping to run into Mr. Griffin, she got her wish. Unfortunately for us, she showed him the paper and when he looked at it, his eyes went wide, and then he started laughing.

He must have explained everything to her because her face went bright red, probably from humiliation, and it made me feel so guilty. But then he had asked her to sit with him, and he ordered her a coffee so that kind of made the guilt wash away.

“We don’t know that yet,” Pax said.

“You’re a real downer,” Andy mumbled.

Dalton and Trey came back to the table with our drinks and handed them to us. We were sitting at the back so that we could see Mr. Griffin and Ms. Anderson, but they couldn’t see us. Trey’s jaw was set as he sat down next to me, and his face had contorted into someone who looked like they were in pain. I nudged him and he looked over.

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.

“Fine,” he mumbled, taking a drink of his coffee. "My stomach just hurts." Andy raised her eyebrows at me but I was just confused as she was. Had Dalton and Trey exchanged words at the counter when none of us were paying attention? I wasn’t sure. I looked at Dalton for a moment and caught his eye. He smiled at me and, just like Ms. Anderson, my face turned into a heater.

“So Trey, tell everybody about your directory project for the year,” Pax said, kicking him under the table. He scowled and sat up straighter.

“Oh yeah. Well, I have to go around and ask a bunch of people what they think about relationships and what’s important in their opinion,” he said, shrugging. “Seems too simple for me. Everyone else has things like ‘make a monster movie’ or ‘destroy a building’ but I’m stuck with some stupid documentary topic.”

“I think that sounds pretty cool,” Andy said, crossing her arms on the table. “It’s a good topic because, well, we actually have to deal with this stuff and it’s kind of like a he-said-she-said thing. Plus, you’ll get a bunch of dirt on people in the school if they say something mean.”

“I’m not going to blackmail them,” Trey said, frowning. “Besides, each interview I do stays between me, the interviewee, and my teacher.”

“We can help you,” I said with a shrug.

“You don’t have to.”

“Well we want to, right guys?” I said, glaring at Pax when he started to shake his head but Dalton and Andy were fine with full participation. Pax just didn’t like doing a project that wasn’t even his, although all he would have to do was answer a few questions.

Trey smiled. “Okay, thanks. That’ll make it a lot easier.”

“Oh shit,” Dalton said, eyes wide as he looked passed us. “I think they’ve spotted us.”

I whirled around and saw Mr. Griffin staring directly at me with raised eyebrows. He lifted a hand and waved. My face went bright red and I turned around quickly.

“We are so screwed.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“Hello Karlee,” Mr. Griffin said, leaning back against his car and crossing his arms. I bit my lip.

“Hi Mr. Griffin,” I said quietly. Dalton, Pax and Andy quickly scurried by without being seen by Mr. Griffin and mouthed ‘see you later!’ to me. I scowled at them. Trey stuck by my side, which I didn’t understand because he didn’t even want in on the plan until today and now he was willing to get in trouble with me? It didn’t make any sense.

“Holly just left,” he said, referring to Ms. Anderson. “You’re lucky I didn’t rat you out to her or you’d have two teachers pretty ticked off at you.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, staring at my feet.

“It’s not her fault.”

My head snapped back up again as quickly as I had lowered it, and I gaped at Trey. His eyes were fixed on Mr. Griffin, who cocked a brow.

“Really?” he questioned but it came out as just a statement because he clearly wasn’t impressed.

“Trey—”

He held up a hand, silencing me.

“So it’s your fault then?” Mr. Griffin asked.

Trey nodded.

“And what was the reason for that?”

“Ms. Anderson’s been crazy about you for years,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “Even when Karlee’s sister went to high school. We figured it was about time to get you guys together because you didn’t seem to be involved with anyone and, well, what better relationship than one where you’re dating someone who’s got the same general career as you do. And you didn’t look bored over there.”

Mr. Griffin’s eyes went wide. “She’s liked me for years?” he asked. We both nodded and he cleared his throat. “Well. I’m not involved with anyone currently. I was, a few years back but no one recently.”

“We’re sorry for getting involved,” I said. “We just didn’t want to see her suffer anymore, you know?”

He smiled. “I understand. And it’s not like I haven’t noticed her before. She’s a beautiful woman.”

Trey nudged me with his hip and I grinned.

Mr. Griffin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, removing his glasses. “All right, I’ll let you off the hook this time. Just don’t get involved anymore. I’ll handle it from here on out.”

“Does that mean you like her too?” Trey asked.

“She’s an interesting woman, that’s for sure,” he said. “So yeah, I’m interested but I don’t want my students being the masterminds behind any future relationship I have with her.” He eyed Trey up suspiciously. “Although, you’re not my student.”

Trey smiled.

“Anyway, can you two promise that you’ll stay out of it from now on?”

“Can you promise to send her flowers?” I asked.

Mr. Griffin laughed. “Deal.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“How come you did that?” I asked Trey, stepping into his house.

He slipped his shoes off and shrugged like he didn’t know what I was talking about. “Did what?”

“You took it upon yourself to have the blame put on you when you didn’t want anything to do with it in the first place,” I said, leaning against the wall. “Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t want you to get in trouble. Plus, Mr. Griffin’s never been my teacher and you have to see him every day so why make you put up with that when I could do it instead and not feel even a little bit embarrassed?”

“But—”

“Just say ‘thank you, Trey’.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Trey.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You’re back!” Pax yelled from the living room, stepping towards us with Andy and Dalton behind him. “Sheesh, you two took a long time. What were you doing, making out?”

I shifted uncomfortably.

Andy slapped him on the arm. “Do you ever know what to say?”

“Do I look like I ever know what to say?”

Trey kept quiet.

“So what happened?” Dalton asked.

“Well you guys ditched us,” I said. “Mr. Griffin’s not angry, per se. He just wants us to back off because it’s none of our business and he’s going to take over from now on.”

“Does that mean he likes her?” Andy asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

“I’d say so.”

“Well good! It worked!” she cheered, clapping her hands together. “Should we send flowers?”

“He’s got it covered,” I said.

“Yeah, and we’re not interfering anymore,” Trey said, shaking his head. “Just leave it to them now.”

Pax frowned. “Well that’s no fun.”

“Well it’s out of our hands now so deal with it.”

Dalton looked at his watch. “I should get going,” he said. “My older brother’s coming by for a visit with his family and I’ve got to spend some time with them.”

“You have an older brother?” I asked.

He nodded. “His name’s Sam. He’s twenty-eight but he acts like he’s our age.”

Anonymous had an older brother and an older sister. Dalton had an older brother and an older sister as well. He said so himself that his brother didn’t act his age so did that mean that Dalton was Anonymous? If so, that would mean that he knew I liked him. Oh God.

I inhaled sharply and then tried to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal. “I should go too,” I said. “I have to study for the math test.”

“Shit,” Andy mumbled. “I forgot about that.”

“See you guys,” I said, waving and stepping outside again. Dalton followed behind me once he had gotten his shoes on. I started to walk down the driveway but he called out my name and I turned around.

“Are you busy later?” he asked.

“Not that I know of, why?”

“Well, it’s just that I don’t really have anything to do and I like spending time with you, so I was wondering if you wanted to do something,” he said.

“Like a date?” I blurted.

Dalton tilted his head to the side and smiled. “Yeah.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

Oh my God. Dalton Tanner was asking me out on a date? This was unbelievable.

“Uhm . . . yeah, definitely,” I replied, grinning.

“Cool. I have your number so I’ll give you a call when I’m free,” he said.

“Okay.” I turned around and headed back to my house, giddy and frivolous. This day couldn’t get any better.