Somewhere Only We Know
Matt
“Dude, you’ve been moping ever since you got back,” Brian said, plopping down next to Matt at the card table. “What happened?”
“Just sparked a little homesickness,” said Matt with a shrug. “I’m fine.”
The tent was empty except for the two of them, the card table still covered in scattered chips and empty drink containers. Brian was in damp shorts and no shirt, a towel draped over his neck. Matt himself was wearing only his uniform pants and a white wife-beater with countless stains down the front and beneath the armholes.
It was nearly dark, the only light in the tent coming from the flickering lamp hanging from one of the tent poles. The sky outside looked slightly orange from the lights of a large city on the horizon. There was a military base in the city, but they were waiting on backup before they attempted to attack it.
Matt looked down at the scattered cards on the table, letting his mind wander back home yet again.
Although he had gotten a reply to his frank letter to Jane, he still felt like something was wrong. Something about her letter just gave him the feeling he was missing something – the same feeling he’d gotten from her first letter, so many months ago.
“Well, are you ever gonna cheer up?” Brian asked, crossing his arms on the table and looking at Matt without emotion.
“Eventually. I just...something seems weird.”
“How so?”
“Something about this letter,” Matt admitted, taking it out of his pocket and spreading it out on the table. “I finally told her about my concerns for our relationship and she just...took it. This says that she’s sorry for putting me on the back burner, that she really values our relationship, that she’s sorry she can’t be better for me...”
“Wow,” Brian breathed, his dark eyes flicking side to side as he read the letter.
“Yeah, it just...seems too nice for Jane. Every argument seemed to start from me bring up a problem and her getting angry that I said anything. It’s not like her to just...”
“Roll over?” Brian suggested, folding the letter and replacing it on the table. “I think I know why.”
Matt looked up. Something in his tone was off – he sounded nervous, and he had never seen Brian Haner anything less than shamelessly cocky. As Matt watched, Brian pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and held it in his hands, turning it over and over between his fingers. “What’s that?”
“It’s a letter,” he said slowly. “From Zack.”
Heart skipping a beat, Matt asked, “What is it? Did something happen with Jenna or Jane?”
“Yes and no,” Brian said, looking down at the letter in his hands. Taking a deep breath through the nose, he unfolded the paper and set it on top of Matt’s letter.
Matt picked up the letter. It was in Zack’s messy scrawl and it was fairly short. His mouth went dry as he read it, his mind racing a million miles a minute and certain phrases seeming to repeat in his head.
—don’t think she meant to keep it up—
—doesn’t seem like she’s ever even met Jane—
—think she means well but be careful—
—sorry, man, but no one’s seen Jane around for a long time—
—kinda funny their names both started with J—
For a long time, neither of them spoke. Brian picked at his nails and Matt read the letter what must have been a dozen times.
Jenna had been lying to him. He had suspected as much at first, but she had seemed so sincere beyond that. Too nice to be capable of deception. So much for trusting people, he thought bitterly. And, if Jenna had been writing the letters all along, that meant that Jane had truly given up on him or even forgotten about him. He wanted to be angry, to rage and throw things and hit someone, but all he felt was a deep feeling of hollow sadness.
“How long have you had this?” he asked flatly, dropping the letter onto the table.
“A couple days. I wanted to wait until you weren’t so...well, like Zack said that Jenna said, none of us want you to step in front of machine gun or something.”
Matt snorted. Suicide never would’ve entered his mind, but he could understand why people would jump to that. He had always been very free with his emotions and often let them drive him, but not now and certainly not here. Out here, the most important things were himself and Brian. He had just opened his mouth to say so when a distant explosion brought them both to their feet.
Exchanging looks, Brian and Matt simultaneously headed for the exit, shivering as the cold, night air washed over them. More explosions sounded to their left and they both turned, their eyes meeting a jaw-dropping sight.
The distant city was in flames, large clouds of smoke and fire blossoming from it like great balloons. The dark shapes of planes swooped over the buildings and more explosions sounded, more clouds bubbling up into the darkened sky.
“Friendly?” Brian asked quietly, his eyes following one of the planes.
“I’m not sure,” said Matt, “but they knew we were out here. We need to move, now. They’ll retaliate soon enough.”
“If any of them are still alive,” Brian commented, following Matt as he turned and headed to the center of the camp to speak with their commanding officer.
Jenna and Jane had been driven from his mind by the attack and were now only a tiny weight in the back of his mind, but he would have to face them eventually. When he did, he would have to accept two inescapable truths: Jane didn’t love him and Jenna was a liar.
“Just sparked a little homesickness,” said Matt with a shrug. “I’m fine.”
The tent was empty except for the two of them, the card table still covered in scattered chips and empty drink containers. Brian was in damp shorts and no shirt, a towel draped over his neck. Matt himself was wearing only his uniform pants and a white wife-beater with countless stains down the front and beneath the armholes.
It was nearly dark, the only light in the tent coming from the flickering lamp hanging from one of the tent poles. The sky outside looked slightly orange from the lights of a large city on the horizon. There was a military base in the city, but they were waiting on backup before they attempted to attack it.
Matt looked down at the scattered cards on the table, letting his mind wander back home yet again.
Although he had gotten a reply to his frank letter to Jane, he still felt like something was wrong. Something about her letter just gave him the feeling he was missing something – the same feeling he’d gotten from her first letter, so many months ago.
“Well, are you ever gonna cheer up?” Brian asked, crossing his arms on the table and looking at Matt without emotion.
“Eventually. I just...something seems weird.”
“How so?”
“Something about this letter,” Matt admitted, taking it out of his pocket and spreading it out on the table. “I finally told her about my concerns for our relationship and she just...took it. This says that she’s sorry for putting me on the back burner, that she really values our relationship, that she’s sorry she can’t be better for me...”
“Wow,” Brian breathed, his dark eyes flicking side to side as he read the letter.
“Yeah, it just...seems too nice for Jane. Every argument seemed to start from me bring up a problem and her getting angry that I said anything. It’s not like her to just...”
“Roll over?” Brian suggested, folding the letter and replacing it on the table. “I think I know why.”
Matt looked up. Something in his tone was off – he sounded nervous, and he had never seen Brian Haner anything less than shamelessly cocky. As Matt watched, Brian pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and held it in his hands, turning it over and over between his fingers. “What’s that?”
“It’s a letter,” he said slowly. “From Zack.”
Heart skipping a beat, Matt asked, “What is it? Did something happen with Jenna or Jane?”
“Yes and no,” Brian said, looking down at the letter in his hands. Taking a deep breath through the nose, he unfolded the paper and set it on top of Matt’s letter.
Matt picked up the letter. It was in Zack’s messy scrawl and it was fairly short. His mouth went dry as he read it, his mind racing a million miles a minute and certain phrases seeming to repeat in his head.
—don’t think she meant to keep it up—
—doesn’t seem like she’s ever even met Jane—
—think she means well but be careful—
—sorry, man, but no one’s seen Jane around for a long time—
—kinda funny their names both started with J—
For a long time, neither of them spoke. Brian picked at his nails and Matt read the letter what must have been a dozen times.
Jenna had been lying to him. He had suspected as much at first, but she had seemed so sincere beyond that. Too nice to be capable of deception. So much for trusting people, he thought bitterly. And, if Jenna had been writing the letters all along, that meant that Jane had truly given up on him or even forgotten about him. He wanted to be angry, to rage and throw things and hit someone, but all he felt was a deep feeling of hollow sadness.
“How long have you had this?” he asked flatly, dropping the letter onto the table.
“A couple days. I wanted to wait until you weren’t so...well, like Zack said that Jenna said, none of us want you to step in front of machine gun or something.”
Matt snorted. Suicide never would’ve entered his mind, but he could understand why people would jump to that. He had always been very free with his emotions and often let them drive him, but not now and certainly not here. Out here, the most important things were himself and Brian. He had just opened his mouth to say so when a distant explosion brought them both to their feet.
Exchanging looks, Brian and Matt simultaneously headed for the exit, shivering as the cold, night air washed over them. More explosions sounded to their left and they both turned, their eyes meeting a jaw-dropping sight.
The distant city was in flames, large clouds of smoke and fire blossoming from it like great balloons. The dark shapes of planes swooped over the buildings and more explosions sounded, more clouds bubbling up into the darkened sky.
“Friendly?” Brian asked quietly, his eyes following one of the planes.
“I’m not sure,” said Matt, “but they knew we were out here. We need to move, now. They’ll retaliate soon enough.”
“If any of them are still alive,” Brian commented, following Matt as he turned and headed to the center of the camp to speak with their commanding officer.
Jenna and Jane had been driven from his mind by the attack and were now only a tiny weight in the back of his mind, but he would have to face them eventually. When he did, he would have to accept two inescapable truths: Jane didn’t love him and Jenna was a liar.