Encountering Ember (Currently Editing)

Chapter 11.

cнαpтer 11.

            24 Days Until,

I forgot to tell you yesterday.

But I met a new face.

His name’s Mathew.

I think you would’ve liked him.

His eyes are a mixture of blue and grey.

Your two favorite colors in one.

He helped me with a good deed today.

Gave me his umbrella for the cute little kittens I found abandoned beneath a tree.

I could end up liking him, he seems sincere.

But that’d be unfair to him, wouldn’t it?

                                                    Love You, Hale.

            I fold the paper with my name on it and stuff it back in my pocket. It’s the only letter I took, out of the dozens I’d read on that rooftop. I couldn’t make sense of anything and the more I read the more confused and worried it made me. It was like a countdown of letters. That much I understood. But what was it counting down to?

            Walking into school, I see Ember. Her head is slightly tilted to the side as she gazes up at the huge banner hanging at the center of the hallway:

Come and Boo-gie With Us: Get Your Tickets Today.

            Beneath it is a long table with three girls seated from the Prom Committee, smiling as they make exchanges with those of the student body who are buying tickets.

            Ember steps forward, but then takes two steps back. Looking at her now, I smile, because it’s the end of the week and this is the first time I’ve seen her since Saturday’s brunch. It feels like forever; guess I was too busy reading letters then, to realize just how long.

            “Hey there, stranger,” I say stepping beside her; she looks up at me with her eyes wide.

            “Where have you been, Mathew?” She asks. I look down and examine her dark purple dress she’s got on; it looks like it’s swallowing her tiny body up into a sea of material. Still, I can’t help but notice how cute she looks in it with her hair set on the top of her head in a messy bun.

            Grabbing her hand, for a reason I’m not even sure of myself, I lead her to the line of people waiting to purchase dance tickets. “You know, I've just been catching up on some reading.” I say gripping my hand a little tighter around hers as she tries to pull away.

            “What are you doing?”

            Looking down at her, I smile, and then say, “Taking you to the dance of course,” I expect her to try even harder to pull away or to tell me she doesn’t want to go, but instead she looks forward with a smile on her face.

            “Thank you, Mathew,” She whispers. I feel my heart thumping inside my chest at the sound of my name being said. She’s said it hundreds of times, but this time, the way she said it was…different.

            “No problem, Ember.” I finally say after a long awkward pause. I hope she didn’t notice.