Love Letters

“This is so frustrating,” Andy groaned, gripping her hair with both hands. “How do you get this stuff?”

I shrugged and put my elbow on the table with my cheek in my hand. “It’s not too hard,” I said. “Just remember everything from last year. Like here.” I leaned over the table and pointed to the equation in front of her. “In this case, you don’t follow the order of BEDMAS because you can’t take away twenty-three from x since x doesn’t have a definite value. You have to multiply the number directly in front of the brackets by each number inside. So do seven times x and then seven times twenty-three.”

“Smartass,” she mumbled as I sat back and went into my position from before. I smiled and flipped the page of my philosophy notes. Trey walked up to us and sat down next to Andy with a wide grin.

“Hello there,” he practically sang. “My name is Trey. I wear button up shirts and have a constantly sarcastic attitude. I laugh at Andy’s lame jokes and can’t make up any of my own. My running shoes are three sizes bigger than what my feet need and my pants are too tight.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Hello Pax.”

He frowned. “How did you know it was me?”

“Because Trey doesn’t talk like that,” I said.

“And his greetings aren’t that stupid,” Andy added.

“And his pants aren’t too tight,” I said. “Plus, he’s funny. That was just weird. You two are twins but Andy and I have known you for years. There are defining qualities that dignify each of you as your own person.”

Pax scoffed. “We’re twins. If I didn’t say anything, you wouldn’t have noticed the difference.”

I shrugged. “Maybe not.”

“And Trey’s not funny.”

“Yeah I am,” Trey said, sitting down beside me. “And thanks for stealing my favourite pair of jeans, man. I appreciate it.”

“You’re joining us today?” Andy asked. He nodded.

“I’m funnier than he is,” Pax said.

“Tell us a joke, then,” I said.

“Okay, what has eight legs and four eyes?” he asked.

“I don’t know. What?”

“Two cats,” Trey said, crossing his arms.

“Two cows,” Andy said, shrugging.

“Two lions,” I added.

“Four two-legged, one-eyed monsters,” Trey put in, smirking.

“Shut up! It’s my joke!” Pax yelled, slamming his hands down on the table.

Trey let out a loud fake laugh. “You’re just so funny.”

“You didn’t even tell us the end of the joke,” Andy said.

“It’s not funny anymore,” Pax grumbled.

I smiled and went back to my math homework but it was hard to focus because shortly after, Dalton walked in and sat down at the table right in front of mine and he sat so that whenever I looked up, the first thing I saw was him. And I looked up a few times throughout lunch—every time I did, his eyes met mine.

Andy turned around once she caught me staring, and then looked back at me with a smirk. “You and Dalton have some love affair thing going on now?” she asked. “It’s only reaching the end of the week and already she’s made a new friend.”

“They’ve hardly even spoken,” Trey said, crossing his legs, slouching down into his chair comfortably and putting his hands behind his head. I shot him a glare to which he answered with a massive grin.

“Say Trey, how’s Ruby doing?” Andy asked, folding her arms over her work.

He raised his eyebrows at her. “Why do you two keep asking me that?”

“We’re curious,” she replied. I looked at her and there was something in her eyes that told me she knew something I didn’t. I was going to have to ask her about it later. Trey shrugged his shoulders.

“She’s fine, I guess. Nothing really new, though,” he replied. Andy nodded and glanced at me.

“What?” I mouthed. She pointed to the door of the cafeteria when Trey was looking off across the room. I cleared my throat and stood up. “Well, Andy and I are going to the bathroom together now.”

“Thanks for the info,” Pax said. “Didn’t need to know that.”

Andy jumped up and speed-walked to the doors with me following quickly behind her. She headed down the ramp and around the corner before she found a safe spot to talk and leaned against the wall.

“What’s going on?” I asked her, crossing my arms. “You looked like you couldn’t have gotten out of there fast enough. Is something wrong?”

“Sort of,” she said, shifting. “Okay, uhm . . . I was walking down the hall during second period, right? I was just heading to the bathroom to do a mirror check and, well, I ran into Ruby and Dalton.”

Confusion must have been evident on my face. “Okay?”

“They were kind of . . . really close to each other.”

I shrugged. “Well they’re friends—have been for years. Maybe that’s normal for them.”

Andy shook her head. “No way. This was different.”

“What, do you think Ruby’s cheating on him?” I asked.

“I don’t know but it’s worth investigating,” she said. “The way they were touching, that isn’t something that friends do. I mean, Trey doesn’t run his fingers through your hair or stand so close to you like he’s about to kiss you.”

“That would be weird,” I said. “All right, I’ll check it out.”

“Maybe you could talk to Dalton?” she suggested. “I can’t. I haven’t said even two words to him. At least you two have had conversation and you and Trey are better friends than he and I are so Dalton would understand you being pissed off. If I confronted him, he’d probably just ask who the hell I am and completely forget what the point of me talking to him even was.”

“I guess,” I said. “But I hardly talk to him as it is, Andy. It’s only been like, twice.”

“So?”

I sighed. “Okay, fine, I’ll talk to him. You big chicken.”

She grinned. “I know.”

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

Easily enough for me, when I headed up to my locker five minutes before the bell rang, I ran into Dalton so that I didn’t have to seek him out and spend that time trying to find him all around the school or wait until fifth period when, guaranteed, Roxy would be listening in on what I said to him and then they would start to bicker at each other.

“You know that Ruby has a boyfriend, right?” I said, folding my arms.

He looked confused. “Yeah, why?”

“Is she cheating on him with you?”

He burst out laughing. “Not even a little bit.”

“My friend Andy told me that you two were getting really close today,” I said. “I don’t know you well but if you’re attempting to screw up Trey’s relationship with her, I will kick your ass.”

Dalton smiled. “Okay, first of all, there’s nothing going on between Ruby and I. And second, I don’t mean this in a rude way but I really doubt that you could kick my ass.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Is that a short joke?”

He shook his head. “It’s not. Look, Ruby and I are close. We practically grew up together but there’s nothing romantic there. She’s like my sister. That’s just disgusting.”

“Then why were you ‘running your fingers through her hair’ and ‘standing close like you were going to kiss her’?” I asked, using air quotes. Dalton laughed.

“Who told you that?” he asked. “It never happened. I’m very OCD with certain things and she had something in her hair so I got rid of it before I freaked out over it. And she was just telling me something that Roxy said about me but she didn’t want anyone else to hear it. I wouldn’t even consider kissing Ruby and I respect a guy when he has a girlfriend. Trey’s a good guy and I don’t want to get in the middle of his relationship with her. She’s happy. They’re both happy.”

My arms dropped. “Oh.”

His lips twitched upwards. “You’re clearly a good friend if you’re threatening me like that.”

I bit my lip. “Well he’s important to me. And if you and Ruby were seeing each other behind his back, nothing would stop me from kicking your ass, and hers.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever been this scared by a tiny little redhead like yourself,” he said sarcastically, grinning at me. He was right, because he was about a foot taller than me and there weren’t many recorded beatings done by redheads. Christabelle got our dad’s dirty blond hair, whereas I got my mom’s red hair. I didn’t mind it at all but when it was pointed out the way Dalton was doing it, it kind of came as a disadvantage.

“That sucks,” I mumbled.

“Not at all. Redheads are cute,” he said and my face burned. “Well it was nice talking to you,” he added, chuckling lightly. “I’ll see you in English.” He gave me a light punch on the shoulder and walked around me, heading down the hall to wherever his fourth period class was. That made three, and as I watched him walk away, I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be the last.

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

Mrs. Hull walked around the class and put a blank white envelope on all of the girls’ desks. When she got to where I sat and placed it in front of me, I practically dove for it, pulling the letter out and starting to read. I was really excited to read about whoever my classroom pen pal was.

I actually think that this project is crazy because, well, what does she expect us to say? There is only so much you can write about yourself before you completely give away who you are and I’m betting that she wants us to keep it a mystery until the end of the year and then we’re just going to guess who it is. Well, whatever. Here it goes.

I’m sixteen years old and celebrate my birthday in the summer. My favourite holiday is Christmas and my favourite people in the world always have been and will always be my friends because they are there for me through the thick and thin. I love them to death. I have the normal crazy family; older brother that doesn’t act his age, older sister that only comes around whenever she wants to, distant relatives that I haven’t seen since birth and it’s not like I can remember them either. After all, I was getting someone else to change my underwear. If I couldn’t do it by myself, chances were I wasn’t good for much of anything back then and my memory must have stunk as well. My parents are the types of people that you know are absolutely perfect for each other in every way and I doubt anything is ever going to come as a threat to their relationship or tear them apart. They may seem normal if you were to meet them, but I see them as those parents that are always trying to get into their kid’s business. They always ask me if I have a special girl and if I say no, they assume I have a special guy instead.

I’m not the type of person to say ‘I love you’ unless I mean it one hundred percent, and there has only ever been one girl for me to be that crazy about. I’m a fairly nice person, pretty protective, moderately attractive and I like to think that I have a sense of humor even when I try to be funny. I have been told that it only shows when I’m not thinking it over in my head.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

-Your anonymous pen pal.

P.S: I enjoyed reading your letter.

The problem with the letter I had was that I couldn’t narrow it down to a specific few people because if Mrs. Hull left it to anybody, I would be saying “oh well hey, at least I know it’s a guy” but now, I couldn’t really get anywhere because she had done it for us. I didn’t want to think about it for too long because I was allowed to keep the letter and my time was limited here so I just picked up my pen and wrote.

Dear Anonymous,

It’s nice to hear from you. I agree with what you said about only being able to write so much about yourself before you give your identity away to your pen pal. I can’t say I would be surprised if you already knew who I was because I think I wrote more than what was needed in my first letter.

I’m fifteen years old right now but my birthday is about a week and a half before Halloween so it’s coming up pretty soon. My family isn’t particularly crazy but they’re not very calm and relaxed either. My dad is a really overprotective cop, always looking out for his daughters. I have an older sister who is now attending University with her boyfriend so I’m actually the only daughter my dad actually has his eyes on to make sure I don’t act recklessly. He’s very “anti-boyfriend” when it comes to us. I also have an older brother who is now married and has one daughter. I’m pretty certain they are expecting another one as well so I’ll be an aunt times two. My mom lives out in British Columbia and I, obviously, live with my father and my step mom.

I’m also not the type of person to say ‘I love you’ to just anyone. I’m not one to throw the words around to a point where they hardly even mean anything. As for my love interests, I don’t really have any. There’s someone I’m attracted to but I can’t say I have feelings for him when I hardly even know him that well. I’ve been told that I’m a great friend and have a wonderful personality, and I find that I have an okay sense of humor but I’m not laugh-out-loud funny either. I’m not one hundred percent happy with my looks but then again, there aren’t many people who are. I’m happy with who I am, of course, but if I could make myself taller, I definitely would.

It was nice reading your letter as well.

-Your unknown pen pal.

P.S: tell me about this girl!

I handed the letter to Mrs. Hull and she gave me a nod, slipping it into an envelope and putting it in her desk drawer. I turned around and walked back to my desk. Roxy tapped me on the shoulder suddenly and I looked over at her.

“Hey, are you busy today?” she asked. “I wanted to know if you were okay to hang out.”

My eyes widened slightly so that she understood I was shocked but not so shocked to a point that it made me seem like I had no friends and having anyone ask me to hang out was considered a new experience for me. But it was shocking. After all, it was Roxy and I had known of her for years but I had only talked to her maybe twice in my life.

“Uhm . . .” Any other day, I would have said yes but today, I had made plans to hang out with Trey at his house and I wasn’t one to ditch a friend just to spend some time with someone popular. “Actually, I have plans,” I said. “Sorry.”

She shrugged. “It’s okay. Maybe on the weekend?”

“Yeah, definitely,” I said, nodding.

Roxy smiled. “Cool.”

“You sure you want to do that?” Dalton asked from behind me. I looked back at him and he raised his eyebrows. “If I remember correctly, she stuck gum in your hair in elementary school.”

“We were in the third grade,” Roxy hissed. “I thought it was cool. I’m sorry about that.”

I shook my head. “No problem.”

“Wait a second, is that why you had to get the mushroom cut?” she asked.

“Sadly, yes.”

“I remember that,” Dalton said, smiling. “It made you look really cute.”

My face flushed. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Shut up Dalton,” Roxy growled, glaring at him. “Stop hitting on everything that moves.”

“I’m not,” he said. “I have some sanity. If I was hitting on everything that moves, I would be hitting on you and I have more brains than someone who would even consider doing that.”

She winced. “That’s harsh.”

“So are you,” he said, shrugging. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. Then he looked back at me. “If you know what’s good for you, you might want to avoid hanging out with this one,” he whispered, pointing his pencil at Roxanne. “She has a way to her that makes people’s lives a living hell.”

“Did she do that to you?”

“Sort of,” he replied, crossing his arms on his desk and leaning closer to me. “You’re good at math, right?”

“I’m not bad, why?”

“Well I need a tutor,” he said. “Our teacher’s been riding our asses really hard lately even though it’s only the first week in but if things keep going the way they are in that class, then chances are I’m going to fail or have to drop down to a lower level and I want to stay in the one I’m in now. So do you mind helping me out? I remember that you were always at the top of our class when it came to math and I could really use the help. So do you mind?”

I shifted. “Are you sure you don’t want to just hire one from the school? I’m positive that there are people ten times better at math than I am.”

Dalton smiled. “No because, see, I’m asking the best there is right now.”

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

“Tutoring him, huh?” Trey asked, nodding his head. “Not bad, not bad at all.”

I smiled and put the nail polish back on the floor. “Okay, done,” I said, lifting his foot. He looked down at it and smirked. He was lying down on his bed with his elbows propping him up with the radio blasting behind us while I painted his toe nails. I had done it before while raiding his mother’s makeup cabinet when we were younger and whenever I got bored, he let me go for it. At first, it was just for a joke and he was very defensive—kicking me every time I went for it—but after I managed to pin him down, he knew that he wasn’t going to win these fights. Now, he just gave in and usually ended up getting rid of the nail polish by the end of the night.

“That’s not my colour,” he observed. “I think I pull off the orange better.”

“If you say so,” I said, climbing onto the bed and laying down beside him. “I’ll remember that.”

“You better,” he responded. “My turn.”

“Don’t paint my leg like last time,” I said, sending him a glare.

He looked up at me and grinned, before grabbing my foot and the bottle of nail polish and going to work. “So do you think anything is going to happen with Dalton while you’re tutoring him? Chances are, he just wants into your pants. That’s what always happens when someone tutors another person. They hook up and the person being tutored ends up failing their class anyway.”

“That’s charming. Thanks for the insight,” I mumbled. When he started drawing a flower on the center of my foot, I kicked him in the shoulder and he laughed. “It’s nail polish, Trey. Not foot paint.”

“Multiple uses,” he said, grabbing the acetone and pouring a little bit onto a cotton ball.

“I’m surprised that you have that stuff,” I said. “It makes you seem girly.”

“Well after the first time, I figured it would happen again so I prepared myself,” he replied, shrugging. “Now shush. I’m concentrating.”

“Temper,” I teased, smirking when he sent me a killer glare. “Is someone on their period?”

Trey let out a low growl. “That is not funny.”

I chuckled. “You’re not the only one who can make jokes.”