Write Me A Letter

03 | f i r s t

CHAPTER THREE | F I R S T

Brie,

        I'm sorry. There's no excuse for what I did at American Gov yesterday. It was stupid. I just... I didn't know what happened. I shouldn't have embarrassed you like that. I don't even like the band. I don't know what to say. Let me make it up to you. What do you say? Burger King? My treat.

        BRIE FOLDED THE LEAF OF RIPPED BINDER PAPER THRICE. She folded it neatly, running her chipped nails on the bent edges to make sure that it was as tight as possible. Funnily enough, she had this notion that if the letter was displayed out in the open—the words would crawl out of the page and choke her neck until she couldn't breathe.

Asphyxia by Insensitivity and Extreme Irrelevance. It'd look fancy on her death certificate, definitely. She waited patiently for Xander's first letter like an astrologer waiting for a shower of stars, somewhat hoping that it'd have more substance than the lousy and poor bribe she got right now. Disappointment was an understatement.

"Yo, yo, yo!" Paula Anderson shut Brie's locker door with a clang, startling her.

Surprising people and arriving with multiple sounds of accompaniment were few of the distinct things that make up Paula. But the one thing that would always come on top of people's mind every time Paula's name was dropped, it was her liking for eccentric pink highlights and crop tops.

"The heck, Paula." Pursing her lips, Brie tucked the piece of paper in her hands, careful not to let her friend see.

Paula grinned, exposing her purple braces. "What's taking you so long, bitch? My legs are already shaking from hunger."

They both agreed to meet just outside the cafeteria for lunch last night. A moment of desperation willed Brie to type a quick text to her friend. She just couldn't imagine sharing the same table with Xander after that phone call. She asked him for a paper color for heaven's sake. And of course, to make things even peachier Xander just had to humiliate her this morning. Wow.

Xander's letter suddenly felt heavier in Brie's palm. She was itching to tell Paula about what happened, but her friend always had the tendency to forget that her mouth had the ability to shut up.

Paula had her brows raised, expecting her to say something. Should she? Brie took a deep breath, weighing down her choices. Yet before she could even thoroughly think about it, the words were out of her mouth, spewing like a broken dam. "Xander finally gave me his first letter."

Paula's gray eyes widened. "No shit. What did it say? Has he finally realized his undying love for you?"

More like undying disgust, Brie thought with a grimace. A love confession was what she was secretly expecting, but of course, that was just another fantasy.

"Uh oh," Paula said, clicking her tongue and wagging a finger. "That sigh sounds like bad news. Tell me more."

And that was exactly what Brie did. She relaid everything that happened to her friend, adding a few biased opinions and whine in between sentences of truth and facts. Paula remained silent, nodding her head at the right moments and frowning at the parts where Brie wished she didn't.

"What's that look on your face for?"

Paula blinked, feigning innocence. "What look?"

"That look! Your lips were pursed and your eyes were doing this weird thing! Stop judging me!"

Paula rolled her eyes. She leaned her side against Brie's gray locker and scoffed, exposing a bit more of her pale midriff. "I am not judging you, bitch. I'm just contemplating."