‹ Prequel: Seashells
Palm Trees
glad you put your clothes on
Ding dong.
No answer. I tried again.
Ding dong.
I waited a few more minutes and was about to ring again and be annoying as shit but then the door swung open.
"...Aden? What are you doing here?"
"It's a long story."
"Well, you came at a bad time. I wasn't exactly wearing clothes when you rang the doorbell."
"Yeah, but when do you ever wear clothes, Matt?"
"...good point," he said predictably. "So. Why are you here?"
"It's not the prettiest thing. Or the nicest thing to talk about." I was struggling, because I didn't know the right way to put it. So I just came out and said it. "It's Cassidy."
"Oh," he said. "Come in, I guess."
I did. His house was really clean. Like, really clean. I thought maybe he had a girlfriend or something that cleaned it, since he didn't live with his mom anymore, but nope. He lived all by himself. When I learned that he was still single, I wondered why he wasn't wearing clothes earlier (because having a girlfriend is the most logical option) and I decided it was better not to ask.
I showed him the letters. We read through them together, trying to analyze each and every one of your words. He got tense at some parts, but so did I. When we were done, he was quiet. I found it unsettling. Then I noticed it was just how you described it in the letters - he had a quiet, calmer side to him that most people didn't get to see.
"Why?" he asked. It was the same question he had asked you the last time you had seen him. He could have been asking why I was here, why I came to him specifically, why I had hurt you so much, and many, many other things.
But they all had the same answer - "I don't know."
He nodded slowly like he understood. Maybe he did. I doubted it. "I've kept in touch with her.
"I know. She wrote it in the letters."
"Yeah." He shifted through the papers much like I had earlier today.
"I need to go visit her," I said, more to myself than to him. "Do you know her address in Ohio? Is it still the same as before?"
"No. She doesn't live in Ohio anymore."
That was a shock to me. It didn't occur to me before. There was no return address with the letters, but I figured that was because you wanted to make a point or something. Or maybe you just forgot to include one. "Do you know where she lives now, then?"
He didn't answer immediately. He looked at the last letter again, the one with the picture, for a while before saying, "I do, but..."
"But?" I questioned.
"She told me not to give it to you."
No answer. I tried again.
Ding dong.
I waited a few more minutes and was about to ring again and be annoying as shit but then the door swung open.
"...Aden? What are you doing here?"
"It's a long story."
"Well, you came at a bad time. I wasn't exactly wearing clothes when you rang the doorbell."
"Yeah, but when do you ever wear clothes, Matt?"
"...good point," he said predictably. "So. Why are you here?"
"It's not the prettiest thing. Or the nicest thing to talk about." I was struggling, because I didn't know the right way to put it. So I just came out and said it. "It's Cassidy."
"Oh," he said. "Come in, I guess."
I did. His house was really clean. Like, really clean. I thought maybe he had a girlfriend or something that cleaned it, since he didn't live with his mom anymore, but nope. He lived all by himself. When I learned that he was still single, I wondered why he wasn't wearing clothes earlier (because having a girlfriend is the most logical option) and I decided it was better not to ask.
I showed him the letters. We read through them together, trying to analyze each and every one of your words. He got tense at some parts, but so did I. When we were done, he was quiet. I found it unsettling. Then I noticed it was just how you described it in the letters - he had a quiet, calmer side to him that most people didn't get to see.
"Why?" he asked. It was the same question he had asked you the last time you had seen him. He could have been asking why I was here, why I came to him specifically, why I had hurt you so much, and many, many other things.
But they all had the same answer - "I don't know."
He nodded slowly like he understood. Maybe he did. I doubted it. "I've kept in touch with her.
"I know. She wrote it in the letters."
"Yeah." He shifted through the papers much like I had earlier today.
"I need to go visit her," I said, more to myself than to him. "Do you know her address in Ohio? Is it still the same as before?"
"No. She doesn't live in Ohio anymore."
That was a shock to me. It didn't occur to me before. There was no return address with the letters, but I figured that was because you wanted to make a point or something. Or maybe you just forgot to include one. "Do you know where she lives now, then?"
He didn't answer immediately. He looked at the last letter again, the one with the picture, for a while before saying, "I do, but..."
"But?" I questioned.
"She told me not to give it to you."