Love Letters to Write Before I Die

‘Dear Nate,

Everyone’s going to die. I’m just asking you to try to enjoy life a little bit more. It’s not like it’s going to kill you. And even if it is, we are all going to die someday. Whether we die out of old age, getting hit by a bus, being eaten alive by an axe murderer…

Or a disease.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have to fight or to live every day as if it was our last. Just my two cents.

Yours faithfully,
Haley.’

“They say they once found a snake on this tree,” Haley said, jumping up to reach the lowest branch. After a couple of tries, she grabbed it and kicked on the tree bark to swing herself up on the branch. Her palms were scratched after that but it was nothing too major.

Aisha, who was already a couple of branches up giggled. “Come on, Dan. Grow some balls,” she yelled, pulling her deep brown hair back into a messy bun.

Dan looked at his two schoolmates as if they were insane.

“Can’t we just eat here? On the ground? Like you know, normal human beings?”

Even as he said that, he handed the food over to Haley who placed them on a nearby tree branch. Haley then bent down again, her arm trying to reach Dan. Dan just looked at her hand for a while before groaning and grabbing it.

She hoisted Dan up and moved slightly to the right so that Dan could have a little bit of space. Dan took a wrapped egg sandwich and threw it up to Aisha who grabbed it, delighted that she finally could eat (she had been complaining about hunger ever since 3rd period).

“Anyone else feels their crotch is in pain?” Dan said, rolling his eyes as he made himself more comfortable.

“No, but my ass certainly is itchy.”

“Dudes! I’m eating!” Aisha said. She looked like a hamster stuffing sunflower seeds into it’s’ cheeks, honestly.

“Anyway,” Dan said, “sorry for not returning your call last night. It was in my bag. What’s the big emergency?”

Haley shrugged. “It’s cool. It’s just that, when I got home last night…my dad wasn’t there.”

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

Nathan was tired. Last night when he finally went back home with his parents, there was a tiny storm. And because he had low tolerance towards cold breeze, he ended up having muscle aches just because he coughed a lot on the way back home. And when he tried to sleep, he felt so uncomfortable that he ended up sleeping on 2 a.m.

And there he was the next day at school, lying face-down on the floor between the fiction shelves with a collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets as a pillow. Miraculously, no one seemed to discover that he was skipping class in the library yet.

Except of course…

“I know you have research to make on that lit paper, Nate, but this? Really?”

“I’m hoping the words somehow could imprint themselves on the side of my brain.”

Katie sat beside him, hugging her legs. “Let’s have lunch.”

“I want to sleep. Leave me alone.”

Nathan faked a yawn and closed his eyes. Katie seemed to be giving up as she stood up, brushing the invisible dust that was on her skirt before leaving. Which was good. He needed to think anyway, especially about last night.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Nathan asked a distracted Haley. They were standing in front of her doorsteps, away from the rain that seemed to hit the ground like bullets. Even the stars weren’t shining that night and the moonlight seemed to be dim.

“Yep,” she said, nodding. “Thanks for the ride.”

When he went back to the hotel, he took of his jacket, feeling a piercing ache behind his neck. Slowly massaging the back of his neck, hoping the headache would go away, he bumped into someone he wasn’t expecting.

“Dr. Dumont?” He said, blinking.

Michael Dumont’s eyes screamed panic for a brief second before disappearing. Nathan didn’t know if it was just in his head or not. Finally, Michael didn’t treat Nathan as if he might attack him and smiled. “How’s the party, Nathan?”

“It’s…I don’t know. Chaotic.”

“Where’s Haley?”

“I just sent her home. I don’t think she feels well though.”

“Any idea why?”

Nathan raised his eyebrow. “She didn’t tell me. What are you doing here, anyway?” Nathan asked, suspicion rang in his voice, tinged with a bit of anxiety. Was Michael Dumont that protective of her daughter that he felt the need to check the hotel out?

“I was meeting another surgeon from Seattle. She’s looking for a job at the hospital and asked for my recommendations.”

“Ready to go, Mike?”

Nathan nearly jumped out of his skin. A woman with long wavy auburn hair came by Dr. Dumont’s side. She had blue eyes and was wearing red lips, black pumps and a simple hot pink dress. Her speech was a bit slurred, as if she had been drinking.

Come to think of it…

“Pardon my manners, but are you drunk, Dr. Dumont?”

“Tipsy,” he said, nodding slightly. “I’m not proud of it.”

Nathan smiled, patting the doctor’s shoulder cautiously. “Take it easy, alright? I need to go back to the party. You know my mother, she’ll freak when she sees me missing even for just a second.”

Michael laughed. “Ah, that mother of yours.”

Nathan walked away but after a few steps or so, he sneaked a glance over his shoulder. The both of them were sharing a formal handshake.

He sighed, shoving his hands into his pocket. He didn’t know why, he just felt as if something was amiss.