May 17, 2013
Dear Collin,
Hey there stranger! It was nice to finally hear from you. It’s great that you’re in love, but I never would have guessed that you’d be such a romantic. Some of the things you said were kind of poetic. Laura is a very lucky girl.
Yes, I have been busy. Some of my classes have been extremely challenging, and there’s been a lot of drama between my dad and my stepmom, but what’s been occupying most of my time has been Donovan. He didn’t turn out to be a jerk, thankfully. We play volleyball together and he really likes to cook, so I’m learning to make a whole lot more than my mom ever did. We’re planning a trip to Vegas this summer. (Not to get married, just to have a good time together.) I still don’t think I’ll ever get married, but it sounds like you’re pretty close. Send me the invite! Wouldn’t it be crazy if the first time we actually met was at your wedding?
Sincerely,
Glory
Chapter Twelve: Junior Year
September 21, 2013
Dear Glory,
That’s cool that you’re dating a guy that likes to cook. Laura seems to make a lot of frozen burritos and Hot Pockets. I guess processed food is kind of her thing. Except when she goes out to eat (which is a lot). Then fish tacos are her thing.
It’s been a year since Laura and I started dating, and it feels like once we hit that milestone, she suddenly became really annoying. Things that I used to think were cute and quirky really bother me now, like how she uses the word “divine” to describe everything and how she wears a pair of jeans for a month before washing them. We’ve been talking pretty seriously about marriage over the past few months, and now thinking about it gives me indigestion. Maybe I’m just having second thoughts. Maybe this is normal. What do you think? Are you still dating Donovan? Does anything about him annoy you?
Anyway, how are your classes going? A few weeks ago I put together a band with my roommate Logan (the drummer), and we go out and play around Times Square when we can. Usually the police will tell us we have to play somewhere else, and if the police aren’t there, there’s a handful of regular street performers who edge us out. There’s this human statue guy who’s pretty vicious, he even threatened us with a knife a couple times. I guess he probably needs the money more than we do. But sometimes on a weeknight or when it’s colder we can get a good spot and play for a couple hours.
Hope you’re doing well,
Collin
November 14, 2013
Dear Collin,
I’m sorry you’ve “lost that loving feeling” with Laura. (Sorry, I watched Top Gun last night. I couldn’t resist.) Maybe you just had a really long honeymoon period and now it’s over. Maybe you were imagining she was someone else, and now that you know who she really is the magic is gone. Maybe she’s changed. Maybe you’ve changed. Or maybe you’re just going through a weird phase and one day you’ll wake up and be madly in love with her again. Love and relationships make no sense to me. Like how my dad could love my mom for years and years and have a family with her, and then suddenly love someone else. So I try not to analyze all that too much.
Things with Donovan are actually great. I mean, he does annoy me sometimes, but we never talk about marriage, so maybe that’s what helps everything be bearable. If I thought about how I’d have to listen to him sing surfer rock songs every day for the rest of my life, it would probably give me heartburn too.
My classes are okay. The engineering ones are getting more difficult, and I find I enjoy my art classes a lot more. Speaking of art, I started working at this kitschy place called Monet Cafe. I get to teach mini art classes while people snack on sub par sandwiches and smoothies. It’s kind of lame, but I enjoy it, and I’m sure it’s only temporary.
That is so awesome that you’re playing in Times Square, and the fact that you’re defying the police and dudes withknives makes it even more exciting. Could the police actually arrest you or do they just ask you to leave?
Hope you work out your feelings for Laura.
Sincerely,
Glory
February 2, 2014
Dear Glory,
So, I broke up with Laura. It’s something I should have done months ago, but I kept hoping that things would get better. Last week I took her out to this really nice restaurant, kind of as a last ditch effort, and things were going pretty well until we got our food and she started screaming at the waiter because there was poppyseed in her chicken which she was convinced was going to give her a positive drug test. The waiter let her go on for 15 minutes until he finally informed her it was just pepper. It was so embarrassing. I let her regroup for a couple days and then I broke up with her. I expected to feel kind of sad about it, but I just feel numb. So I write a lot of music. That helps.
What kind of surfer rock songs does Donovan sing? Does he bust out the Beach Boys while he’s cooking dinner, or does he just incessantly hum Wipe Out? I like to listen to surfer rock every once in a while, but listening to it all the time would probably make me sick of it.
The cafe you work at actually sounds pretty cool. I bet something like that would do really well in New York. As for the police in Times Square, they only really ask us to leave, but they could technically write us a ticket. If we were really belligerent, they could arrest us, but I don’t see that happening. We’re pretty friendly with them.
Bye,
Collin
