The Beautiful Ones

19- I Miss You

Alice

“I think it sounds like fun.”

“I don’t.” I huffed.

“Well, don’t be so pessimistic.” Zoey chuckled as we were in my kitchen after school the next day as I continued to complain to her about this stupid partner project. Today in class, we did something completely unrelated to this new project by starting a new unit on the different types of paints, so luckily, I didn’t have to interact with Jason at all.

“He doesn’t seem like a bad guy.” Zoey defended.

“He’s terrified of me.” I exclaimed. “And he thinks I’m dumb as a rock.”

“Well then prove him wrong.” She sighed.

“Yeah, I guess.” I mumbled, peeling a banana and chomping down on it as I heard footsteps coming into the room. I looked up to see Patrick coming into the room, shirtless and with messy hair, making it obvious that he’d just gotten up.

“What are you doing here?” He grumbled tiredly.

“I live here.” I chuckled.

“Don’t you go to school?”

“School ended half an hour ago, Patrick, it’s four.” I informed him.

“Oh.” He mumbled, looking down at his Rolex. “Wow.”

“Anyway, I think that he better stop freaking out whenever I open my mouth or this is going to be really suckish.” I continued ranting to Zoey.

“It won’t be that bad.” She assured me, rolling her eyes and stealing a bite of my banana.

“Sure.” I sighed. “Anyway, how’s it going in your writing class?”

She shrugged. “Fine. He-who-shall-not-be-named found a seat far away from me, so he’s not bothering me, which is good.”

“I think you’ll forgive him eventually.” I told her honestly.

“Well, I don’t think so.” She mumbled.

“Oh,” Patrick interrupted. “I forgot, um, that came in the mail for you today.” He told me, pointing to the counter where there was a small white envelope on the counter.

“Didn’t you just wake up?” I asked, grabbing the flimsy paper from the counter.

“I woke up for a little bit then went back to sleep. Being me is a process.” He defended.

“Okay, thanks.” I muttered as I started walking out of the kitchen as Zoey followed me.

“Maybe he’s still a little drunk.” Zoey whispered when we were far enough away for him not to hear us. We both erupted into laughter as I looked at the envelope.

“That’s weird.” I frowned. “It’s from Nebraska.”

“Isn’t that where Lance is based?” Zoey asked.

My eyes widened in excitement. “Oh my gosh, do you think it’s from him?!”

This made her laugh. “I don’t know, dummy, just open it and find out.”

With a feverish pace, I nearly dragged Zoey back to my room and closed the door behind me before ripping the letter open to pull out just one piece of flimsy notebook paper.

Dear Ali,

Hey there, darling. I know you haven’t heard from me for a while, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve left, but we’ve been busy, preparing to fly across the border. I can’t tell you exactly where we’re going and by the time you get this letter, we’ll probably already be gone, but I just wanted to let you know that I miss you so much already.