Then I open it.
Dear Coastal Quill,
I’m proud of you. For choosing courage. For writing the true story. For believing that maybe—just maybe—she’ll love the real you even more than the version you thought you had to be.
My hands are shaking.
I have news: there’s going to be an event. A reveal night for the Letters to Local Authors program. August ninth, at the library fundraiser. Anonymous pen pals finally meeting face-to-face.
I’m inviting you. I’m also terrified.
She’s scared of disappointing me, that she’s not enough.
She has no idea that I already know her. That I’ve been falling in love with her in person while she’s been falling for my words on paper.
That I’m the one who’s not enough.
Will you come?
I find a pen and start writing.
Dear Between the Lines,
Yes. I’ll come.
I’m terrified too. I’m probably not who you expect. I’m definitely not who you deserve.
But you asked me to be brave. You asked me to show my true self. You asked me to trust that vulnerability is worth the risk.
So I’m trusting.
August ninth. I’ll be there.
And whatever happens—whether you’re disappointed or angry or wish you’d never written to me at all—I need you to know that your letters have meant everything. That you’ve made me want to be better. That you’ve made me believe, for the first time in years, that maybe my story can have a happy ending.
Even if I don’t deserve one.
Yours in hope and terror,
Coastal Quill
I seal the letter.
Tomorrow, I’ll mail it. I’ll show up at The Fiction Nook for the planning meeting and try to help organize the event that will either make or break everything.
I’ll start learning how to be brave.
But tonight, I let myself remember the fireworks. The way Jessica looked painted in colored light. The way she said “you’re one of us now” like it was simple, like belonging was something I could just...have.
One month to figure out how to tell her the truth, to become the man she deserves.
Starting tomorrow.
SEVEN
JESSICA
The planning meeting starts in twenty minutes, and I’ve changed cardigans four times.
