Love Letters to Write Before I Die

Tears welled up in her eyes to Nathan’s utmost surprise. Even though Haley was in tears, Nathan couldn’t help but transform his triumphant grin into an incredulous laugh. Angered by his reaction, Haley walked briskly away, making sure to bump her shoulder very hard against his arm.

“Wait, Haley!” He called out and taking her wrist in his hold, still laughing. “Hey, what’s the matter with you? I was just joking around. Why are you crying?”

“Jerk!” She spat out. “You’re such a jerk! You said you hated Haley, remember? The person who wrote you those letters a.k.a. me? And now you’re laughing, I feel as if you’re making fun of me or something!” She argued, pushing him back harshly and turning on her heels again. But once more, Nathan stopped her and turned her back around.

“Would you just quit doing that?” She scolded, agitated as she tried to run away again but Nathan had a firm grip on both of her arms.

And then he kissed her.

She staggered backwards, shocked by the sudden move that Nathan decided to take.

“Stupid, I was just doing that to get a reaction out of you. I had a suspicion that you were the one writing me those persistent letters. It gets annoying and I lost the point I was trying to make but I could never hate you. How could I?” Nathan whispered, brushing a lock of hair out from her view, tucking it behind her ear. And it was then he saw it in her eyes.

Haley staggered backwards, pushing away from Nathan.

No.

Nathan’s facial expression changed instantly. “I’m sorry for surprising you like that, I didn’t mean to—”

“Why now?” She cried. “I honestly thought you hated me, I honestly thought that if the truth got out that you would really, truly hate me!”

“Haley—”

“Read the letter.”

He looked at her for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out what was wrong before giving up and deciding to read it as she asked him to. And he realized that the first few sentences were a bit of a smack in the face.

It was really odd. The first few lines implied that she was the same Haley that Nathan befriended in real life. The next told him that she ‘hit a wall’ a few days ago. And in the spirit of the overly optimistic letter Haley, there was promise of hope that she would rise up and recover from the situation. Overall, the letter explained why she didn’t write to him for the past few days.

And then the last line struck him.

‘I’m happy that you’re trying, Nate. I really am. Even though it’s not much, but I can leave with at least that in mind now.’

When he looked up, she was blushing furiously.

“Don’t look at me that way, I never wanted you to read it in front of me, it’s…embarrassing. I thought you hated me and…”

“Stop. I don’t understand. What do you mean by ‘I can leave’? You think that just because I told you I hated you and once I found out the truth, I’d just be a complete asshole and never to contact you again?”

“That’s not it,” she said, looking up at him with teary eyes.

“You’re killing me here,” Nathan said through gritted teeth. “What’s going on? What is it?”

“I’m leaving.”