Penpals

The Second Letter

Avery's POV

"Mama? Is the mail here yet?" My mama, the tall beautiful brunette with light brown hair chopping at the counter sighs.

"No, it still isn't here. Just like how it wasn't here an hour ago when you asked for the second time today." My mama says, with a note of irritation in her voice. She resumes chopping, cutting harder.

"Alright..." I sigh, disappointed. Theo hasn't answered my letters in weeks. Not a darn word! My best friend is ignoring me and it feels down right awful. Did I write something to offended him? Or did he just get annoyed with me and finally can't take writing to me anymore? I slump against the counter, feeling my face crumple.

"Ya know baby, this might be a blessin' in disguise." Mama says. Mama is definitely not Theo's number one fan. She can't stand that I write to a convict. She even called the high school to stop the new pen pal program. But, she allows it since she doesn't think I'll ever met Theo.

"Mama, please, not this again." I plea.

"It breaks my heart seeing you mope around the house waiting around for a letter. Especially from a convicted crimin-" Mama starts.

"He's innocent." I cut her off.

"Hmph, so you keep sayin' " She says dully. Theo isn't a saint but he was wrongly convicted for his crime, but I don't know what crime it was. Theo refuses to tell me in our letters. I glance out the window for the hundredth time today.

"You've been craning your neck so much lookin' out my windows, I'm surprised you haven't broken your neck yet." Mama says. My cheeks warm slightly and I smile embarrassingly.

"I can't help it, Theo hasn't written in two weeks and I'm just anxious is all." I explain, glancing outside the window again.

"Lord knows why." Mama mumbles under her breath. I feel my brows jump to my hairline and my hazel eyes widen.

"The mail is here!" I gasp loudly and suddenly, making mama jump in surprise.

"Avery! Don't shout like that! I'm holding a knife! You nearly made me jump out of my skin!" Mama shouts after me as I run out of the kitchen. I nearly slide into the front door from how fast I'm running. I swing the front door open and nearly crash into someone.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, excuse me." I apologize, awkwardly falling back into the front door. The stranger on our porch is a toned, tall boy. Tattoos cover most of his body, from his hands all the way to his neck. Light, bright blue eyes look down at me, over his nose and lip piercings. He has thick, long dirty blonde hair, shaved at the slides of his head. The stranger is dressed in black jeans and a back muscle tee with a duffel bag thrown over his shoulder.

"Ugh... no... it's fine." The boy says. Who is he? I've never seen anybody in town like this, they'd be famous for sure.

"Can I help you?" I ask. The guy swallows thickly and nods.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Avery Parker." The boy admits.

"Well, you're in luck. I'm Avery Parker." I say.

"... I know. You sent me your picture." He says sand I feel a twinge of fear spark up. But it dies away when he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the picture I sent Theo in one of my letters.

"Oh my gosh..." I breathe. "Theo?"