My Prison Pen Pal

Chapter 7

"Stop talking to me. I can't believe you even have the audacity to talk to me after what happened."

Kyle looks stunned and rubs his thumb across his bottom lip.

"Ohp so we're going there, alright. Look Lucy, I just saw you and I wanted to say hi. It's been a whole year since I've talked to you and I have grown a lot as a person."

I look him up and down with a judgey look.

"You look the same."

He smiles and giggles.

"There she is, my sassy Lucy!"

I frown.

"I'm not your anything. At least I was until you decided to cheat on me after, what, four years? Stop acting like you are the victim when I was the one brokenhearted."

I look away from him and order a vodka soda from the bartender that asks if I want something else. Kyle turns towards the bar, takes a deep breath, and fidgets with his fingers.

"You're right Lucy. I messed up. I sucked. I don't even know what happened that night. I was waiting for you to get to the party and then all of a sudden I am making out with another girl. For the past year I have been beating myself up about it everyday."

I turn to smile at him.

"As you should be. That killed me, seeing you with that girl."

Kyle looks deep into my eyes.

"Lucy, I'm sorry. A lot has happened this year that put things into perspective and made me grow as a person. By coming up to you, I am really not asking for another chance. I just want to be able to talk to you again. I've known you since middle school, and it's weird for me not to know what's going on in your life. I know it's my fault it is this way, so I want to make sure that it isn't also my fault that I haven't reached out. Please, just let me be a little bit in your life again."

He looks genuine. I'm surprised. I have known him for years, so I can easily know when he is being truthful or not.

"What put things into perspective this year?"

I ask, wanting to know if he has anything to back his words up. Kyle leans back in his chair and runs his hand through his blonde locks.

"Umm Sherrie was diagnosed with breast cancer about a month after we broke up."

Wow. My heart skips a beat as what he says sinks in. I really like his mom, Sherrie. She was always kind to me.

"I'm sorry. Is she going through chemo? How bad is it?"

Out of habit, I slightly lean in towards him.

"It was stage two, so not the worst, but cancer is horrible, so it felt like the end of the world. The doctors were really worried about radiation not working fully so they decided to have her go through eight weeks of chemo. She did really well, and she finished cancer free earlier this year."

I smile and hesitantly nod. I am so thankful that Sherrie is okay.

"Through all of that I have realized what is most important in my life. I regretted all through her treatment what I did to you because having you there for support would have been amazing."

I sigh. Cancer sucks and it does have a huge effect on people when they or a loved one go through it. Maybe he has changed a bit.

"Wow Kyle. That's a lot. Are you doing okay now?"

"Yeah, I feel healed and ready to move forward. Again Lucy, I am not asking to get back together right now. I just want you in my life again."

Honestly, would having Kyle back in my life again be that bad? He seems a little different now, and resenting him might cause me more stress than letting him back in. I look into his eyes and mumble,